Sri Lankan Dinner

Sunday night saw just 4 of us eating an Grapevine before an early night. This weeks walk was great for me as it was only a 15 trip to get to the starting point to walk through the last remaining Kampong in Singapore. I had a discussion one day with a neighbour about her growing up in a Kampong near Changi. She expressed sadness that there were none left and was very surprised when I said I had visited one very close to home...I'm not sure that she even believed me!

We finished our walk at my local hawkers for lunch, after a circuit of Punggol Park. I was able to put my binoculars to good use and even identified the Pygmy Woodpecker by myself.

After a morning of Great Race investigations, which have to remain secret for now, I spent the afternoon preparing for a Sri Lankan dinner at Rio Vista. With contributions from Libby, Eric, Maria and Helen we had a delicious meal. It was also Nepalese New Year so Peter decided we need a photo of the Trekkers for Cule, which turned out to be one of the more sensible photos of the evening.

The number of empty bottles in our kitchen the next morning could have accounted for the slowness experienced by many of us the next morning.

A number of us had been lucky enough to see a family of Spotted Wood Owls some time back but Helen had missed out, so on Thursday a few of us headed off to Eco Green and Pasir Ris Park to see if they were still in residence. While we were out of luck on that score we did see the baya weaver birds at work on their amazing nests and a coppersmith barbet feeding its young. The binoculars have earned their money already!

Blue throated bee eater, coppersmith barbet, baya weaver bird

We have also discover that the single tree remaining across the river from us, is a resting place for quite a variety of birds. I was able to identify a small flock of blue throated bee eaters which make regular visits.

I spent Friday afternoon at the Smiths working with Libby on the P3 Community lessons as many of us agreed that the unit needed a revamp. We had a successful afternoon and are both happy with the unit we can hand on to Renee.

We were all surprised to learn that the directors of MAE have granted us a holiday on August 7th in honour of LKY and we also have Sunday August 9th off for the SG50 NAtional Day. I'm expecting that Renee will be inundated with requests for LSL for Saturday 8th August. 
On Friday night the first of the Great Race quizzes was sent out. This one was anagrams of celebrities celebrating their 50th birthdays in 2015...an easy one to get the teams talking!