A Walk in the Park
I was going to stay home all day today, but apparently I did such a good job at work yesterday my boss wants me to work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. So this morning I decided to explore the city park across the street from my hotel.
Despite the plentiful greenery and ponds with fountains in their middles (water and land divided the park about 50/50), it isn’t a place for meditative peace and quiet, even if one brave soul was trying. There are Latin and Vietnamese dance clubs whose sound systems compete with each other and the busy streets surrounding the park. People are playing bat mitten, using body weight exercise gadgets, a few are jogging, and a plurality are just walking. It also has a lot of statues that look like abstracted Vietnamese art.
The most interesting part for my parents would be the four bird condos. Imagine stacking bird houses 5x10x3 and then putting those stacks on poles. They have green walls and red, Asian-style roofs. Not as many birds as you would think; I suspect those structures are there to encourage the bird population, not because there are a lot of them.
I’m going to make a point of going once a week because it is the only place with pull up bars. For better or for worse, the handles are so smooth I’m doing sets of one because my grip isn’t strong enough to hold up my body weight without any helpful friction. One old man did a set of ten right in front of me; I don’t know if he was trying to demonstrate proper form or show off, but I gave him a thumbs up anyway.
Despite the plentiful greenery and ponds with fountains in their middles (water and land divided the park about 50/50), it isn’t a place for meditative peace and quiet, even if one brave soul was trying. There are Latin and Vietnamese dance clubs whose sound systems compete with each other and the busy streets surrounding the park. People are playing bat mitten, using body weight exercise gadgets, a few are jogging, and a plurality are just walking. It also has a lot of statues that look like abstracted Vietnamese art.
The most interesting part for my parents would be the four bird condos. Imagine stacking bird houses 5x10x3 and then putting those stacks on poles. They have green walls and red, Asian-style roofs. Not as many birds as you would think; I suspect those structures are there to encourage the bird population, not because there are a lot of them.
I’m going to make a point of going once a week because it is the only place with pull up bars. For better or for worse, the handles are so smooth I’m doing sets of one because my grip isn’t strong enough to hold up my body weight without any helpful friction. One old man did a set of ten right in front of me; I don’t know if he was trying to demonstrate proper form or show off, but I gave him a thumbs up anyway.