Bwaaahh pheeuuuuwwwww!!!! (2)

I woke at 3 this morning and gagged. My apartment was reeking. I presumed it was the toilet burping again, or the shower drain (down which I regularly pour copious amounts of bleach), or from a drain or some other source outside. Or a combination of all of these. I still don't know.

I shut the windows, turned on the (windowless) bathroom extractor fan, dripped eucalyptus oil all over my pillows, sucked a menthol throat lozenge, and took short, shallow breaths. But I could only breathe through my mouth for short periods before being parched.

I just could not escape it, nor do anything about it. I felt powerless. It was just horrible. Eventually I fell asleep again, but the stench was still evident in the morning. Then after a cautious, exploratory sniff, I was able to open the windows again. To greet the morning smog.

Then a few minutes later, as I was getting dressed and ready for a full day's teaching, the power went off. It stayed off for 12 hours. (At least it's on again, now!) (You see - I think that the bucket is half full, rather than half empty!)

Speaking of stenches, and buckets, the Chinese sewer system cannot accomodate it seems, toilet paper, and so the local habit it to leave the soiled paper in a bin provided for the purpose, beside the bowl. I just wish the management of most establishments (otherwise relatively hygienic) would dispose of the bin contents frequently and periodically. Or better still that the sewer system was upgraded!

This is the entrance to the ground floor of my apartment. We are greeted by our own garbage bags (usually collected daily), in which, theoretically, is the aforesaid used toilet paper.