Mum's visit part 2

Robert and Maria took mum to Hong Kong for a few days to catch up with Elizabeth and Andy, to celebrate Elizabeth's birthday. They did invite me to go along but as I am off to Oz in a couple of weeks I though I would stay put. 
After dinner at Joe's on Sunday night it was up early for the Marsling to Woodlands walk as there was an hours travelling to get to the starting point. Even though the haze was still in the unhealthy range there were the die hards ready for a stroll. The walk took us to the Singapore end of the Causeway across to Malaysia which was a hazy blur in the distance.
I arrived home to the news that Kathy's tests had confirmed a bout of Dengue fever so she will be resting up for a bit longer.
On Tuesday I went to the recently re-opened Coney Island (also known as Pulau Serangoon) with Eric, Libby and Sally. It lies just 100m off the north-eastern coast near Punggol with Pulau Ubin further out. 

It hosts a wide variety of habitats, including coastal forests, grasslands, mangroves, and Casuarina woodlands and is known as a stop for migratory birds. The different habitats in the park allow for a high diversity in bird species, which should make it an ideal location for bird watching. Apparently there is a chance to see the nationally endangered spotted wood owl. Today we saw Baya Weaver nests, the pied fantail, Oriental Magpie-robin, a flock of parakeets, a lone tiger shrike and a number of kingfishers and woodpeckers among others. Thanks to Eric for the great shots of the collared kingfishers, tiger shrike, and brahminy kite below.

Remains of the villa

The island was purchased in the 1930's by the brothers who developed Tiger Balm and Haw Par Villa and they built a beach villa here but then the war came to town. Sometime after WWII an Indian businessman, Ghulam Mahmood, purchased the place with the intention of turning it into a resort like the one in Brooklyn, however his plans failed too, and the place was once again left idle, some locals visited for boating and fishing. With recent reclamation works, the island has almost doubled in size and the URA's Master Plan reveals that a part of the island (about half) is going to be developed for residential purposes while the other half will be left as an eco bird watching and fauna/flora sanctuary. The area on the map to the right below that looks like a big sandy beach, isn't. It indicates the area set aside for residential waterfront development. I hope that by the time the bulldozers are ready to move in a large number of residents will rise up and say enough is enough and save it....not very likely I know but one lives in hope! The villa stands in a mangrove area and is only accessible on a guided walk conducted by NParks now as the building is structurally unsound.he 2.4 km pathway on the island is part of the park connector network and it is hoped they will make a connection to the one through Pasir Ris Park. We tried to negotiate our way but ended up calling a taxi! We were all getting too hot and tired and had walked too far on sealed road. We had lunch at Pasir Ris Lake and then I went home for a swim and a spot of cooking for a change. 

In the evening I met up with some of my colleagues at the Kazbar in Capital Square near Telok Ayer MRT. We shared the Cold Mezze platter then each had a very delicious main course.
The rest of the family returned from Hong Kong in time for work on Wednesday and had an outing to Gardens by the Bay on Thursday. The chrysanthemum is the Chinese flower for autumn and there was a magnificent display in the flower dome. I also saw many new sculptures in driftwood and stone since my last visit.

We had planned an outing in to Arab street on Friday but the haze was particularly bad so a day indoors at Robert and Maria's condo was as far as I ventured. I returned there after work on Saturday for dinner, to find Maria feeling very unwell and staying home on Sunday. After work on Sunday night a group of us convened at the Five Rabbits in Pasir Ris Park for dinner, an opportunity for Mum to catch up with some of our colleagues who she had met on previous visits. It was not a particularly late night as Mum had an early start for her return to Australia on Monday morning.