A couple images struck me today which indicate how quickly things change around here, one of the changes being natural and the other being manmade. The manmade change is the incredible rate of progress being made on the new flyover. The images alongside and below are from 12th and 24th November respectively. During the intervening 12 days the construction workers have completed the concrete work, welded the steel barriers and removed much of the scaffolding. The target operational date of Chinese New Year looks easily attainable.
The second change affected the beach at the boat club, 11 days ago it was covered in a thick layer of wood chippings. The picture below of the beach today shows how the chippings can be scoured off the beach, the waves are actually breaking up to the 3rd step on the stairs from the beach to the club terrace.
This high tide is the local result of storms which have hit the South China Sea area this week. The effect could also be seen this morning at the sea wall which protects the front of the Marriott hotel.
The storms around us did not spoil the weather, we enjoyed another sunny day of around 30C, but it did turn the triathlon at 6:30 this morning into a biathlon since the sea was too rough for the swim. It is the aankomst of Sinterklaas tomorrow morning, I assume that his traditional arrival by boat will be adjusted to take account of the conditions.
