Fishin' in the Pool

     Lots of things happen around our condo swimming pool.  On Monday afternoons, a swimming coach comes in to give a lesson to the children of the young Japanese mothers who want their kids not to fall behind their counterparts back in Japan.


     The local kids just shriek and hoot and have a noisy good time.  The Japanese kids, always accompanied by an adult, as per the pool regulations, are shushed and kept quiet by their parents.  Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks!

You shoulda seen the one that got away!

   However, until yesterday, I'd never actually seen anybody FISHING in our swimming pool.  He did this for hours and never actually caught anything.  Imagine that! 


   Our low-rise, low-density condo complex is constantly undergoing some kind of modification or repair, and for this we are most grateful.  They're always plucking weeds, rebuilding stairs, re-doing walls and so on.  This is very reassuring to us because it's the sign of a well-managed  complex.  Since this is our home, we need it to be well-managed! 


     This complex is apparently popular with Japanese families here for 2-3 years on a company assignment.  I've often wondered why, besides the "birds of a feather flock together" syndrome.  Recently it was explained to me that 1)  it's along the route taken by the Japanese school bus, and 2) the Japanese wives are often not allowed to drive by their husbands and from this complex they can walk most places they need to go.


   But unusual things happen here, too.  Just after we arrived, a drunk barfly gal followed an Australian bloke back here and took a drunken nosedive off the third-floor balcony.  She wasn't too seriously injured, thanks to the nicely-maintained shrubbery that broke her fall.  Last month we had five cases of dengue fever in our well-maintained complex here, necessitating a visit from Public Health .

    And then yesterday our friendly, but super-strict gate guardman, Simon, stopped us as we entered, wanting to give us something.  The "something" turned out to be a boxed set, plus two additional albums, of signed records by Joan Sutherland, the noted Australian opera signer.  The signatures say things like, "Happy Birthday, Suida.  Best wishes, Joan Sutherland."  They aren't in mint condition, but they aren't all scratched up, either.  I wonder if they're actually worth anything and how I can find out?


    Life is never dull here in Penang!