Family Week

On Sunday night I travelled to Kovan and Michael brought the family along to meet my "Singapore Family" over dinner at Bliss restaurant. Bliss is in the Community Centre,  does not charge the ++ and serves very tasty western style food so there is something for everyone without being excessively expensive. It also gave the visitors a chance to share in a beer tower!

On Monday morning Michael took some time out from family to join the walking group for a trek from Choa Chu Kang to Bukit Batok. By the time they arrived at the Rail Mall they had decided that the Thunder Tea Rice served in one of the restaurants was calling so that was their end point.

While Michael was sweating it out I lead the rest of the family in to town and we did the heritage loop on the Hopon Hopoff bus before having lunch at the food hall in Esplanade. We then wandered underground to City Hall to catch up with Robert and Maria over a coffee. Michael caught up with us there. The visitors wanted to have a look at Raffles so that was the next stop before a drink at Sque, a bum boat ride and then back to Sque for Dinner.

Tuesday was a busy day with a trip to Singapore Zoo and the River Safari, a first for all of us. It certainly lived up to all the positive comments I have heard about it although I think tackling both in one day was a bit ambitious. While you wander around the Zoo it is difficult to believe that there are 5 million people in very close proximity. The River Safari was interesting although I would hazard a guess that if the pandas were not there, their visitor numbers would be much lower!

Of course Michael could not resist what he thought was a very appropriate joke!

A sign they don't need to worry about.

After the Zoo I went in to town for the final Social Committee meeting of the year and Michael brought the rest of the crew along later for a drink and Dinner in Smith St with the extended family. Smith St is an outdoor eating area in Chinatown  which was renovated at the end of 2013. The entire street has a roof over it so there is no need to worry about tropical storms ruining your meal. We topped off our night with drinks at SQUE BAR IN Clarke Quay where other members of the social committee had adjourned.

As I start work at 2 o'clock on Wednesdays everyone enjoyed a morning swim before travelling to Punggol to have lunch with me before work. From here the girls went shopping in Chinatown while Michael took Morrie for an exploration of the Punggol area.

By the time I arrived back from work they were both pie-eyed having started in the early afternoon! Mum had also arrived safely for her 2 week visit, staying with my brother Robert.

On Thursday it was strictly no breakfast as we were headed in to the Shangrila for High Tea. We celebrated a number of milestones as it was Elizabeth's birthday, Mary and Morrie's 25th wedding anniversary and a gathering of family. As usual it lived up to expectations but I have decided I can't do that amount of food any more...famous last words probably!

 
















By Friday morning we were all feeling a bit knackered so the rest of them got off to a slow start while I headed in to town for the second Bollywood Dance lesson. I had a lot of difficulty co-ordinating my arms, feet, shoulders etc and feel that I'll be making a fool of myself...again! After the dancing I met up with the others in Chinatown where the 'three sisters' had our feet chewed on by the fish at the Fish Spa. Kim couldn't handle the sensation and lasted about 20 seconds before giving up. Then it was over to a basic hawkers for lunch before heading home to get ready for work.
I said goodbye to the family before I went to work on Saturday morning as their flights were at various times during the day. Michael spent the day sorting the washing etc and preparing bags for our next trip (Bali) before meeting up with Kathy and Peter for dinner in Kovan. Peter even persuaded us to sojourn to his place for a nightcap but we were strong and it wasn't a late night

A very busy October -Week 1

The month of October has turned out to be an extremely busy one and I have barely had a moment to even think about keeping my blog up to date.
The first Monday of the month saw us out with the usual walking group for the 12 km walk from Bukit Timah to MCrithcie Reservoir on a hot humid and very busy morning. It turned out to be a public holiday and with the recent closure of the walks around Bukit Timah, the paths were very busy with families and large groups.

After a quick nana nap in the afternoon we headed out to Libby and Erics where we were joined by Peter and June, to enjoy a delicious meal of Sri Lankan curries cooked up by Eric. It also gave the boys the chance to finish off their bottle of Sullivans Cove whisky, with a taste for June, before it evaporated!

Tuesday morning we got off to a slow start, and a few apologies to our previous night's hosts, before heading in to town to have a look at the Peranakan Museum. 

The Malay term ‘peranakan’ which means ‘locally born’ also refers to other communities that developed in Southeast Asia like the Chitty Melaka and Jawi Peranakans.The Peranakan culture is a unique hybrid culture that is still part of Singapore’s living heritage.

The museum has areas for the important aspects of life...death, marriage, daily life etc. and some interesting bronze statues out front.

One Peranakan craft is bead work

My working week passed by while Michael readied things on the home front for the arrival of family visitors.
On Friday morning I went along with a group of about a dozen to a Bollywood dance lesson in preparation for our MAE Annual Dinner. This years theme is Bollywood and the company has paid for 2 lessons...somehow I think 2 will not be enough!
After work of Friday night it was out to the airport to meet the first visitors to arrive, my sister Margaret and her sister-in-law Kim.
Saturday night it was Michael's turn to do the airport run to collect another sister, Mary and her husband Morrie.

Sque and Shagrila

The end of our working week saw a small number of MAE staff meet up at SQue Bar at Clarke Quay to catch-up and share tales from our recent holidays. A number of our regulars were away in Penang for the weekend and others were suffering post-holiday illnesses so the turnout was small, but it was an enjoyable night anyway.
Monday morning we were up early to make our way to Kent Ridge MRT to start our walk. Again our regular numbers were down due to doctor's appointments and breaks away, but Maria brought along her sister, Carmen and Carmen's 2 daughters, Emma and Rachael, to boost our numbers. It was a pleasant walk,of about 8km, although the humidity and temperature with both high. Fortunately Michael was there to keep us on track as Peter, our usual leader was away and we may have gone the wrong way at least once without Michael! Michael's reward was his favourite Green Tea Rice for lunch at Harbourfront.

MAE walking 'family'

related family

Tuesday saw us heading in for a High Tea at the Shangrila with Robert, Maria and their vistors. On the way home I stopped in to visit Libby and get some advice re blogging.
On Friday we decided to explore the northern section of the Rail Trail with Libby, Eric and Bev. This trail follows the original train line that went from Malaysia into Singapore and has now been turned into a walking/biking trail...well most of it has! Before our recent holiday we walked from the end point back to Bukit Timah and today's plan was to walk from the northern end again finishing at Bukit Timah. We got an early start because of the heat and started walking at 9.00 having put in an hour to get to the start point. The walk was quite an adventure...from the walk along the edge of the canal with a bank slope of about 40 degrees, only to be confronted at the end of this with a barb-wire topped fence and a >2metre high padlocked gate. Eric and Bev climbed over but the other three of us sidled passed some razor wire coils and then climbed a much lower fence. Later in the walk we ventured along a rapidly narrowing path through sugar cane taller than Michael. Eventually the path disappeared altogether and we were pushing aside sugar cane plants for a few hundred metres...a machete would have been useful. After 11km in 2 and half hours on a very hot humid morning we were very relieved to arrive at our lunch destination. By the time we arrived home there was time for a bit of a nana nap before heading off to work. 

Negotiating the canal edge

A comfortable walking path...

Who ever said Singapore was a boring place!

Path becoming narrower...

then disappearing all together!