The Garden of Eden...

As promised here is the post about the local garden of Eden. A few days ago while on our way out though the apartment lobby one of the guards (all of which are very friendly) stopped us and began to wave his arms and speak broken English excitedly. You should note that the guard that stopped had up until this point been the least interactive and certainly the most subdued of the motley security staff, so his actions came as a double surprise. He escorted us back into the elevator, and pushed the "P" button. The "P" floor had been a bit of a mystery. It's one floor up form the lobby, just below the real first floor. I assumed it stood for parking, but we were yet to see anyone exit on this floor, let alone a way for vehicles to get in or out of the building. As the doors opened we were bathed in daylight, the guard opened a glass door and led us out onto a little patio. While we were only a single story above the street, there was a quiet energy about the place. It was a sort of roof top garden, with a playground for kids and a lot for nice places to read. The buildings tower up all around the small platform, shading it from the sun, almost enormous metal trees. The true beauty of this veritable garden of Eden was yet to be revealed however. As i turned a the corner, the meaning of the guards gestures became clear. He had been miming hitting a ball with a paddle, for standing before me was a table tennis (ping pong) table, just sitting there waiting to be used. No longer would I have to trek to the park and pay for a single hour of ping pong fun, I could play all day long. It was a great moment.
Since then we have been playing everyday. It's a lot of fun, though we have to be careful not to hit the ball off the roof, or into a pricker bush. This is definitely the best New Years gift I could have received.