I'm going for a swim - but not here

Heatstroke Friday

It's another boiling hot day here in Hong Kong. Work is slow at the moment, and I can go a little stir crazy sitting at home with my face glued to the computer screen. My air-con isn't working properly, and the repairman can't come till next Wed.

The only respite is to find somewhere to cool off, like a shopping mall with their near to freezing air flow. But I don't want to do that. They're way too crowded, and I'll probably end up buying something I don't need. You can almost guarantee it. 

My home is filled with its fair share of useless crap. Exercise machines doubling as filing cabinets, weird little electronic gadgets like cigarette lighter spy cams for whenever I’m in a James Bond situation, and an assortment of clothes I thought were cool at the time of purchase. I’m almost embarrassed to take them out to the donation bin.  I digress.

I could go for a swim. The beaches here can vary from disgustingly shocking trash magnets to glorious, little pieces of paradise, hidden and far from the city and its crowds of office workers bustling mindlessly through the streets. But I don’t want to travel too far. It defeats the purpose, a two-hour journey, which in itself will verge on heatstroke levels of intensity.

The other option is a swimming pool. But you’re taking a chance at this time of year with the public pools. Googling through some of HK’s pools a few minutes ago, I somehow found myself gawking at this photo.

!

 I’ve seen it before, but it never fails to amaze me. The seething mass of rubber rings and human flesh – Jesus! I can imagine the noise too. Terrified youngsters calling out for their mums and dads, getting squeezed under the putrid, ammonia scented water, gasping for breath – Good God!

Granted, this shot is from a pool in mainland China, not HK. That’s another topic if you don’t know the difference.

But really - what possesses anyone in his or her right mind to indulge in this kind of “swimming?”  Your guess is as good as mine. So thanks for reading my lunchtime babble, pseudo-whinge. 

Time to dig out those board shorts. Speedos are another phenomenon I can’t wrap my head around. Or maybe I don't have the balls. No pun intended. I'll leave that to Borat.