Final week of Term 1

As this weeks walk was scheduled for Tuesday night I was able to have a little sleep-in before meeting up with the Smiths for a bird walk through Venus Drive a section of the Central Catchment area. Unfortunately the birds were rather scarce although we did see a few monkeys. By the time we finished the walk Libby was quite unwell, a theme that seemed to continue through both Punggol and Kovan for the rest of the week.
After a 'nana' nap I headed in to town for the MAE end of term drinks at WineBos. At $40 this was one of the cheapest nights out in Singapore, $20 for free flow wine and $20 for a pork knuckle you couldn't jump over. In fact after the meal, Robert declared he wasn't ready to go home so a few of us found a whiskey bar for a nightcap...this cost $30 for one drink! Robert and Eric shared a whiskey 'flight'!

On Tuesday I had to wait around for our new washing machine to be delivered so I took my binoculars and sat down by the river for a little while. I was lucky enough to see a flock of blue-tailed bee-eaters catching their lunch over the surface of the river. Unfortunately they never sat still long enough for a picture but I did get a close up view of the Sunda Pygmy woodpecker.

The washing machine was delivered and installed and works well! 

Our evening walk was around Chinatown ending with dinner in Smith Street, an outdoor undercover area which was extensively renovated recently. The walk was not long but made people aware of how close and interlinked areas they may have visited, really are.

Wall mural

Smith Street decorations for Year of the Monkey

On a recent day walk Libby and Eric had seen some light installations around the Marina Bay area so some of us went to investigate them after dinner. They were installations for a sustainable Light Art Festival. Many of them were solar powered and it is quite amazing what you can create with a stack of the inner tubes from toilet rolls and some coloured cellophane and tissue paper. 

My personal favourite were the angel wings...where I was briefly able to channel my inner angel... there is one in there somewhere!

The news had come through earlier in the week that mum was to have an operation after all so it was scheduled for Thursday. She is in the Mater hospital in Sydney and we were pleased to hear on Thursday that all went well. My sister Bev apparently commented that she had more staples than a stationery shop! On Friday morning she had a visit from the Physio to start her moving again...they certainly don't muck about. 
I had catch up lunch with Kathy and Helen in Hougang before we all head in different directions for the holidays, then followed up with an afternoon coffee with Robert and Maria before heading to work.