A Free weekend in Singapore

My first real weekend (ie Saturday/Sunday) in Singapore began very slowly with a 2 hour sit at the nail place where I had my Xmas toes done.

The afternoon was spent at the recently opened National Gallery of Singapore. Situated in Singapore’s Civic District, the Gallery consists of two national monuments, the former Supreme Court Building and City Hall, and has a combined floor area of 64,000 square metres, making it the largest visual arts venue and largest museum in Singapore. A total cost of S$532 million has gone into its development. The restoration is magnificent and the two buildings have been linked in interesting ways.

I ran in to Robert and Maria shortly after arriving there and together we meandered through looking at some of the great variety of artworks. There were a few pieces that Robert wanted to add his special sticker to..."this is an artistic wank!' One piece was a tall tube which spewed forth foam creating a constantly changing display around it!

We gradually made our way to the Roof Garden which has fantastic views overlooking Marina Bay. The area in front of the Gallery is the Padang and preparations were well underway for a Marathon on Sunday morning. While admiring the view we discovered Libby and Eric were doing the same...from the cool of the bar, so of course we joined them for a pre-dinner drink. 
From there we moved on to Chimes to meet with others who had also been to the gallery, including Deb who was a previous MAE staff member back for a short visit. As we left, this choral group were doing their best to entertain the crowds with Xmas carols, but in typical Singaporean fashion there was no attempt to turn off the music blaring from a number of bars and restaurants so you could not hear anything from the choir.

Some of us then moved on to a recently opened Nepalese restaurant in Little India. By the time we return from our break the walls will be adorned with pictures provided by Eric, including some from the trek we participated in, to Annapurna Base Camp.
On Saturday, Kathy and Deb, who is staying with us, went off to do their own thing and after a morning swim, I decided I had better get the rest of my Xmas shopping done. It didn't take me long to appreciate the fact that my normal weekend is on Monday/Tuesday...the crowds were horrendous. Then it started to rain so the congestion underground intensified to the point where I had to go up and just walk in the rain! I got a bit of shopping done before meeting Kathy and Deb at Somerset for dinner. I also encountered my first ever Santa Claus dressed in blue!

After a decided lack of success on the shopping front on Saturday it was time to bite the bullet on Sunday and just get it done. I met up with Maria and by the end of the day it was all done and dusted. We then met up with Deb and Kathy for dinner at Satays by the Bay for a tasty feed before staying on for the Xmas Light/music show at the Supertrees. The light display is truely stunning!

After a leisurely start on Monday morning, Pip, my new housemate, delivered her belongings and then we were off to Jamie's Italian at Vivo City to celebrate Robert's birthday.

After an afternoon nap I met up with Peter at the Excelsior Peninsula for a Xmas drink. Although this was where we stayed when we first arrived in Singapore I had not had the opportunity to visit the Sky Bar before. Again it is a spot with stunning views of the Singapore night skyline.

First thing Tuesday morning I decided it was time for a walk to Punggol along the PCN, something I hadn't done for a while. I saw a number of birds including the sooty-headed bulbul, magpie robin, water hen and olive backed sunbird. The highlight of the walk was definitely an encounter with a pair of otters frolicking on the river bank. They were not in the least worried by my presence and were having a wonderful time rolling around in the sun.
Disappointingly Belinda was not in the office at work so the lady in the furniture shop happily accepted a bunch of flowers, which she promised to hand over to Belinda when she arrived. Santa was still sparkling on the lawn outside the shopping centre.