The story so far:

We're covid-positive; we're still fine; and we're in quarantine at the "step-down" unit of Sarawak General Hospital.

All of which means we can travel absolutely nowhere. It's a really big deal these days going down two flights of stairs for a blood test.

But all is not lost, because we have a balcony. Yes, it's minuscule. Yes, the aircon unit drips over most of it. But it's our window onto the world.

Welcome to PT's balcony tour...









Of course, as with any topnotch destination, you get good views:







Different times of the day paint other people's homes and workplaces in interestingly different lights:





And there's always lots of room for speculation...:



The Unimas City Campus, which houses the Unimas Business School and I don't know what else, is situated on Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce. This road is named after the fifth Yang di-Pertua Negeri, or Governor, of Sarawak (Malaysian states without monarchs have these appointed heads instead). His is an interesting story:

"Before his appointment as Governor, Ahmad Zaidi had a turbulent political career. Ahmad Zaidi’s aversion to colonist ideology and experiences of discrimination brought on turbulent times with plots and threats to arrest or assassinate him. He was dubbed a traitor by British authorities and supporters including many of the expatriates in the Sarawak government because of his strong influence and involvement in Barisan Pemuda Sarawak and suspected connection with Indonesia during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. This resulted in Ahmad Zaidi’s self-exile to Indonesia until 1969 when he was granted amnesty by the Malaysian government."

He then went on to be Governor from 1985 to his death in 2000.




Beyond the campus there's one of those derelict buildings that we always find so photogenic, but in this case haven't been able to identify:




If we look hard right from our balcony, we can see part of the Kuching Aquatic Centre.


(Somewhat confusingly, this is not the only "aquatic centre" in Kuching... Across the river is the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre, named after Sarawak's very own diving champion. When I still thought this was the one next door, I did some research on this sportswoman. Fascinating. She was jumping off diving boards before she could even swim, and she sounds really lovely -- very down-to-earth and sensible. It must have been heart-breaking to miss out on the Olympics this year because of the covid scourge, but her philosophy could not be bettered: "Live in the present, worry not about the things you can't control, be kind, take good care of yourself, and pray for the world." She's absolutely right. There's no other way to go right now.)

I hope you enjoyed our balcony tour. I don't recommend you join us, though...