Duncan's Visit

Today we saw a sign that there are expectations for increased traffic on the Purple Line on the MRT. For the first time I saw carriages where the were no seats, just standing room only. These types of carriages have been used on the busier lines for some time now and will just increase in frequency on the Purple Line over the next while. 
Duncan came along for our Monday walk and it was nice to be able to introduce him to my MAE 'family'. Despite the early start I think he enjoyed the walk and exploring an otherwise unvisited area of Singapore. Sembawang Park has the lovely Bealieau House which has been mentioned in a previous blog and boasts one of the last natural beaches left in Singapore...being guarded by a very fierce dinosaur!

After a quick turn around we met with the McRae's and Marias extended family at the Shangrila for one of their famous high teas. This was an opportunity to celebrate Maria's and Emma's birthdays. Somehow the staff got wind that I had also recently had a birthday and before you knew it there were three little birthday cakes on the table each with a card signed by all the staff. After we had eaten our full, and some, the younger members of the party went one way and the oldies headed to the Fullerton for an evening drink. The plan was to head up to the rooftop bar and soak up the view. The girls took the rather small, and very slow lift, up to discover the bar was closed for a private Daimler function so after a few snaps of the scenery we headed back to the boys. Meanwhile they had got tired of waiting and used the stairs only to find themselves in the middle of the private function, unchallenged! Of course they returned to us in preference. We then took up residence along the waterfront area and enjoyed a tipple.

After a less than early start on Tuesday we met up again at The Cat Cafe in Chinatown. You pay $10 to spend an hour with the cats, mostly rescue cats, with a cold drink thrown in. I know to many this would be a waste of an hour but it was a request from Duncan...he takes after his father as far as cats are concerned.
I said farewell to Duncan on Tuesday night...I will see him again in a couple of weeks when I have a long weekend in Australia due to Singapore National Day. 

Libby and I are doing some rewrites on one of MAE units of work so we spent a bit of time on that on Thursday and we had a day off on Friday for Hari Raya, "), also called Feast of Breaking the Fast. It is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (sawm). The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. 
I celebrated by going for a walk around Macritchie ending at Thompson Plaza, with Peter and June. I spent most of the afternoon/evening catching up on some nana naps!