The Great Race has arrived

With the Great Race happening tomorrow Sunday night called for a quiet night so I joined Libby and Eric at Saturdays for dinner. After returning home it was a quick check to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything before retiring for the night.
Monday morning dawned rather overcast and by the time I arrived at the starting point at Dhoby Ghaut it was bucketing down. Luckily there had been some sort of event in the area over the weekend and the marquee was still in place so we took advantage of it to stay dry. By the time teams had arrived in all their splendour, photos taken and tasks handed out the rain had stopped. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves although there had been a couple of changes in Gardens by the Bay in the last 2 weeks which caused some minor hiccups.
Despite Libby assuring me that Keep Calm Until Fifty (red) were not planning to win they couldn't help themselves and managed to beat Fifty Shades of Great (black) by 1.5 points. The costume award went to Jubilee, (white) who were channeling Greek gods/godesses.

Because the Great Race took up Monday this week our usual walk was moved to Tuesday...no rest for the wicked! Fortunately it wasn't such an early start as many of the places/activities we wanted to see don't get started early. We began with a walk around Geylang where the shophouses along Geylang Road are protected from redevelopment.

It is also a red-light district of Singapore. The houses in Geylang operating in sex practices are easily identifiable; their house numbers are large and bright red. There are many temples, churches and mosques in the area often side by side, all with interesting individual touches and architectural details.

After a short break for a reviver, we moved in to the Joo Chiat area. In 1993, Joo Chiat was gazetted as a conservation district. As a result, shophouses and bungalows reflecting the typical architectural styles of the turn of the twentieth century have been preserved, as well as many unique and straits eclectic style Chinese shophouses which give the area its true flavour. The area is also known for eateries specialising in Peranakan delicacies.

In 2011, Joo Chiat was declared Singapore's first Heritage Town. It was chosen, in part, because of strong efforts to promote its Peranakan culture.
We finished off with a very tasty chicken rice lunch at Kalang plaza before an early night after 2 rather tiring days.

On Wednesday I had to go back to TTS to make my colonoscopy Appointment after signing the permission papers. They do love their queues in Singapore...you take a number to register, then join the queue to wait to be seen. One and a half hours later I had signed a permission slip, bought the mixture for the colonoscopy and made an appointment!

On Friday Libby and I travelled out to Sembawang to check some of the finer details of the start/finish points as it is going to be on the walk list for term 3. 

Aptly named Canon ball tree, locals playing Pentaque, a real beach

The Beaulieu House is a house built in the 1910s, as a seaside house for the David family. When the Sembawang Naval Base construction began in 1923, the British took over the house. It served as a residence for the senior engineers during construction, and during operation of the Naval Base, the senior officers resided at the Beaulieu House. Now, the house is gazetted as a Conservation Area by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. It houses a seaside restaurant and venue for weddings and parties.

At one point we thought we were in the middle of The Amazing Race but it turned out to be a school children's version. Of course Libby couldn't resist reading the clue!

Beaulieu House, The Amazing Race (not), one of the many black and whites.

As we made our made our way back to the MRT we passed through a large area of black and white houses which are still used by military personnel from Australia, NZ and America.

After work on Saturday night LIbby and Eric generously shared their genuine pasta with bolognaise sauce which Eric had whipped up earlier. We washed it down with some very tasty homemade sangria.