Chinese New Year...No.1

On Thursday morning Helen and I explored the area around Community 6, near my doctor's surgery. There were many Chinese New Year decorations and stalls to buy them as well. As we explored we heard drums and saw a brightly coloured parade, complete with marching girls passing by. Of course I stood in the middle of the road to take some pictures and only discovered after the colourful vehicle passed me by that it was of course, not a CNY parade but a...funeral!

Stall selling CNY decorations

Another goat!

Head of the funeral procession

Right behind this truck was the coffin

kampong home

At last I instigated a walk that was dry and stayed on track. After meeting at Hougang, Peter, June and myself ventured through Punggol Park to the Park connector before following the LRT over to Sungei Pungol. Finally I got to visit the last kampong in Singapore, which I found to be reminiscent of many Australian beachside areas of years gone by, with small timber houses and dirt roads. 

Entering the kampong

After work on Saturday night Libby, Eric, Peter and I travelled in to Chinatown to check out the New Year decorations and ate in Smith St. This meant many more pictures of goats...this could become a bit of a theme in this years blog. It was extremely busy so we headed over to Sque bar for a nightcap before having an earlyish night as 3 of us were flying back to Australia the next night after work.

A BusyWeek

Even after last weeks long, adventurous Friday walk I was still allowed to 'lead' another one. This time we ventured out to Punggol Point, an area that is only accessible by car or bus. I had been told there were a number of bars/restaurants overlooking the Johor Strait which proved to be correct. Unfortunately we had no sooner left the dryness of McDonalds at Farmway when the drizzle began...and it continued in earnest as we walked. Some of us were smart enough to bring umbrellas but not all! Still it ended dry and we now have more possible eating/drinking venues.

Peter feeling water-logged!

Kathy has been "on the case" regarding my upcoming birthday so Monday saw Bev, Kathy, June and myself sailing off to Bintan for the night to look at possibilities. We viewed several places and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon of massages and have found a place to follow up. There was a lot of laughing, but not much drinking as the cheapest wine was $50+ so we made do with a cocktail over dinner.

June, Kathy, myself and Bev

 

Me and the goat!

Yusheng Salad assembly

Tuesday night was the Morris Allen Chinese New Year Dinner. One tradition at Reunion Dinners is Yusheng. It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. It is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor. After the ingredients have been added to the plate all diners at the table then stand up and on cue, proceed to toss the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while saying various "auspicious wishes" out loud. It is believed that the height of the toss reflects the height of the diner's growth in fortunes, thus diners are expected to toss enthusiastically.
There are many goats on display for the Chinese New Year and as I am a 'goat' I seem to be gathering a number of photos of me with a goat!

Tossing the salad

Wednesday was Peter's birthday so after work a few of us headed to Grapevine Bar at Kovan to help him celebrate. Robert and Peter had a head start on the rest of us but it didn't take long for the rest of us to catch up in preparation for our rendition of We will Follow Him especially rewritten for the occasion! Peter appeared to enjoy it then some of us , erred a little and retired to the Smiths abode for a nightcap...or 2. Thursday was a very slow day!!

Peter's birthday

Moroccan Dinner and Thaipusam

The build up to Chinese New Year is well under way with the condo looking very colourful at night when the lanterns and lights are all lit up. At work Belinda and Catalina have been busy creating decorations for our front office area and it all looks very colourful.



 

Purple heron

I was allowed/encouraged to set a walk on Friday so we met at Fernvale LRT for what I thought would be a shortish, easy walk around the old airport at Seletar. Perhaps relying on a 3 year old street directory is not such a great idea in Singapore as we found that some areas that appeared to be accessible were not and so we continued to walk forward when it may have been wiser to turn back. In all we walked about 12 km and by the end it we were all a little weary. However we did manage to see some interesting birds, and I even identified one, the purple heron.

Long-tailed shrike

Collared Kingfisher

Last year we often finished our Sunday nights at Bliss restaurant in Kovan but unfortunately it closed at the end of the year. There is another Bliss in Ang Mo Kio where we have another branch so on Sunday night a number of us from 4 branches gathered there to start our weekend . It measured up to the Kovan Bliss and has definitely been added to the list of places to eat/drink.

Mondays walk this week was from Buona Vista to the Rail Mall along the Rail Trail, which is a stretch which used to be the train Line from Malaysia into Singapore. It was decommissioned several years ago and the tracks have been removed. It is a pleasant, shaded walk and Eric generously bought his binoculars along for me to share. Unfortunately as the day was rather overcast, although we did see some bird varieties, they were difficult to identify as it was hard to pick up the colours. One we didn't need the binoculars to identify was the Laughing Thrush as it was in the trees right beside the track.

Laughing Thrush

After finally finding my preserved lemons it was decided it was time to put them, and my tagine to good use so a dinner was arranged for Monday night at Robert and Maria's new home. Everyone contributed something towards the meal and over dinner the decision was made that we should do this every second month, with a different food theme...so next one will be at Rio Vista with a Sri Lankan theme sometime in early April. I'll have to get a cookbook while we are there in March.

On Tuesday Helen and I went in to Farrer Park to experience Thaipusam! Thaipusam is a Hindu celebration which sees Hindu devotees in Singapore seeking blessings, fulfilling vows and offering thanks. The festival is celebrated in honour of Lord Subramaniam (also known as Lord Murugan), who represents virtue, youth and power, and is the destroyer of evil.The Thaipusam ceremony starts in the early hours of the morning. The first batch of devotees carry milk pots and wooden kavadis. Some pierce their tongues with skewers and carry a wooden kavadi decorated with flowers and peacock feathers balanced on their shoulders. Other devotees carry spiked kavadis that require elaboratepreparation. 'Kavadi' literally means ‘sacrifice at every step’ in Tamil. They then walk from one temple to the other, a distance of about 5km. We entered the temple where the preparations are made and witnessed some 'astounding' sights. We watched the transformation of one young man from beginning to end. His sister assured us he had done it many times!

After such an exhausting afternoon I headed back to Little India for MAE mid-term dinner  at the Banana Leaf for a delicious Indian meal, before ending the night with a nightcap in Albert Court.