Michael's visit

After a very hot, humid walk around Macritchie Reservoir I headed home to await Michael's arrival for a week-long visit.

He arrived in very good time and after a short catch up we headed over to District 10 where we caught up with Syd, Kim, Libby, Eric and Peter.  It is a very pleasant spot at Buona Vista which will be the venue for our mid-term drinks in a couple of weeks. When we return we will keep a closer eye on our spending as it turned out to be one of my most expensive outings in Singapore!

We had a slow lazy start to Tuesday before doing some shopping Michael had been tasked with from a friend back home. Who would have ever expected Michael to be shopping in a Pandora Store! We convened at Sque Bar for drinks and the opportunity to catch up with work colleagues that Michael knows. It was lovely sitting by the river and about half the cost of the previous evening! Kathy and Michael also got to indulge in their favourite after dinner snack...a papa beard...custard filled pastry puff!

After lunching with Robert and Maria in Kovan, before some us had to got to work, Michael and Robert met Peter at Lau Pa Sat for dinner.
We spent Thursday afternoon wandering around the newly opened National Gallery admiring the fabulous job they have done merging the old Supreme Court building and City Hall. We didn't have time to do any of the exhibitions before I left for work so Michael decided he wanted to revisit after dark to get some photos from the roof.

Daytime at the National Gallery

Nightime from the rooftop of the National Gallery

We decided that it was time to get some exercise so on Friday morning we rode the blue line out to Hillview. There was an ulterior motive as this is the stop closest to the Rail Mail, which just happens to have a health food shop/cafe that serves Thunder Tea Rice! But first we earned the food by following the Wallace Trail.  Alfred Russel Wallace, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, is the other "father" behind the theory of evolution. In 1858, Wallace hit upon the idea of evolution by natural selection, and promptly sent his theory off to Darwin. It was the same theory Darwin had dabbled with for some time, but he had yet to publish it. Wallace’s letter spurred him into action and two months later, Darwin presented a paper on the subject, acknowledging Wallace’s contribution in it. Wallace is a renowned naturalist. During his journeys to the Malay Archipelago, he made several stopovers in Singapore in 1854 and collected about 700 species of beetles in the vicinity of the Dairy Farm site. The Wallace Trail, celebrates his contributions. 

The walk is pleasantly shady although the day was extremely humid. There is an informative display in the Wallace Education Centre housed in a restored cow shed. Wallace would be spinning in his grave if he could see Singapore today as even back in the 1850S he said:

" future ages will certainly look back upon us as a people so immersed in the pursuit of wealth as to be blind to higher considerations."!

We did see a few birds, including the Greater racket-tailed drongo and a pink necked green pigeon, and Michael got to enjoy his Thunder Tea Rice at the end!

Pasta night

This weeks walk was in familiar territory for me, starting at the new shopping centre at Punggol MRT and finishing at Punggol Park just around the corner from home. It is a very exposed walk for much of it, as it winds along beside the canals around Punggol where the trees have not yet grown enough to provide shade. We did see a few birds and the finish around Punggol Park is always refreshingly shady. There are always people participating in a variety of activities in the park and we saw the musicians from last week again but without their singers.

long tailed shrike

Activities in Punggol Park

After lunch at our recently opened hawkers around the corner, Helen and Kathy came back to Rio with me so we could discuss our team plans for the upcoming Great Race. We have chosen the name, The Cavies, as Duncan had christened our  home last year as The Lady Cave, so the name seemed appropriate. We selected a book and discussed costumes but they have to remain secret for the time being!
Helen and I managed a game of cards before we took the bus over to Tampines, where we had dinner at Harry's Bar. As they are not allowed to have visitors in their unit I got to relax in one of the meditation pods by the pool while I waited for Helen and Jo to get organised. After dinner we had a nightcap in the bbq area of the condo.

meditation pod, mural at Harry's Bar

Almost 12 months ago Robert and Maria spent a holiday in Italy where they purchased a pasta making machine. Maria has been itching to use it and with a Canadian/Italian colleague on hand to give her a few lessons an afternoon of pasta making was decided on. A couple of people went along to learn the art of pasta making...and the rest of us went along later to eat it! Of course there was heaps of food, not all pasta, and a pleasant evening was spent with colleagues from Punggol and Kovan.

Week 2

Our term began in the usual fashion with a Monday walk from Bishan to Ang Mo Kio through parkland and around a reservoir. We encountered some wildlife including a very relaxed couple of monkeys! We also walked passed an area where the locals take their pet birds so the birds get fresh air and sunlight and the owners get to sit around and socialise. Most of the birds in these cages were zebra doves but the cages are lovely.

Chinese Pond Heron top left

After a brief rest I met with Helen and Jo for dinner in Hougang before going to June's for an evening of cards. The world has been restored to rights as Helen won the evenings game after finishing in last spot at our previous night..an unprecedented result!
After a lazy Tuesday Pip and I met up with the Pinks and Smiths at SQUE bar on Clark Quay for a pleasant relaxed dinner and drinks. 

Before work on Wednesday I had lunch with Robert and Maria in Hougang to catch up with news on Mum. Good to hear that she is mending well and hopes to go home next week.
After my regular Doctors visit on Thursday I took a stroll through Punggol Park and despite not having my binoculars to hand I did manage to spot some birds including some olive backed sunbirds building a nest in the reeds. As soon as I entered the park I could hear music and singing and tracked it down to this group of musicians enjoying time together under one of the shelters. They were happy for me to take their photo and even gave me a wave as I did.

My photos piqued Libby's interest so on Friday morning I met with her to revisit the park. Before she arrived I received a text saying she had to cancel as she had tripped on the stairs and broken her finger. Of course I fell for it forgetting it was April 1!
Luckily the birds didn't play jokes on us and we saw a variety of species, although the nest from yesterday was empty. We did see a pair of sunbirds collecting fibres from the top of the reeds. The male has a brilliant blue throat when you get it in the sunlight.

Yellow bittern, olive-backed sunbird (male), Sunda pygmy woodpecker

After work on Saturday night June and I went in to Little India for dinner and a wander around. We passed the Indian Heritage Centre which opened in May 2015. The centre is the first museum in Southeast Asia to focus on the diverse heritage of the Indian community. Although it was closed it looks like it could be worth a visit at a later date.

detail of entry door, statue at the entrance

First week of Term 2

After a morning of domesticity, and discovering that I had left a drawer fully of clothes in Australia, I met up with June and Joy to visit Envision. ENVISION is part of iPreciation’s mission to promote, exhibit and integrate  public art in Asia. The exhibition trail starts from Arts House, Asian Civilisations Museum, Empress Place, The Fullerton Hotel, Clifford Square, The Fullerton Bay Hotel  and along the Marina Bay Boulevard.
The first display was an installation of 24 ‘ru’ stones in different shapes and sizes, weighing from 500 – 8000KG. These huge pieces of natural stones come from the sea bed, billions of year old lime stone corroded by the sea water. Each stone is inscribed with a simplified stroke of a Chinese calligraphic character that reinforces Chinese solar terms. The area was overrun by primary school students, with one particular group totally ignoring the pleas of their frustrated teacher. 

We then moved on to a series of bronze and stainless steel sculptures from the Living World Series, which aimed to capture everyday scenes of people coming together, playing and going about their daily lives.
 In the same area we found some giant saga seeds. Saga seeds are commonly found across Southeast Asia, sometimes they are called “love seeds” because of their vivid red colour and round heart-like shape. Continuing the 'giant' theme we also found some local myna birds!

My personal favourites were the set of Living World Series behind the Fullerton Hotel and the Javanese kebaya, the traditional women's blouse.The butterfly featured prominently on the sculpture as a brooch is a metaphor for change! 

One of my Favourites

Even without this temporary installation there are quite a few interesting sculptures in this area including the 'Window of Hope'.

Before our combined 'back to work' meeting on Wednesday I had lunch with Robert and Maria to hear about their holiday and to bring them up to speed regarding mum's progress. The good news was that early Thursday morning she was transported by air ambulance to Coffs where she will spend a period time in Rehab before they let her go home. I had arranged to walk to Punggol Barat with Liiby on Friday morning but by the time I got home on Thursday I was feeling decidedly unwell so I cancelled before going to bed by 10.30...a first for me on a work night. By lunch time on Friday I was feeling a lot better so we rescheduled for 3.30. Being Good Friday we didn't have to work and it seemed a shame not to do something on our day off. Plans for a pre walk drink were abandoned due the enormous numbers of people and we were happy to escape the crowds. It was a hot and humid walk to an open area where were saw a variety of birds, but the definite highlight was a pin-tail whydah, a small songbird with a conspicuous pennant-like tail in breeding males. It is a resident breeding bird in most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. You may well ask 'Since when is Singapore in the Sahara?' but the bird has obviously been released here and is breeding. We saw 2 males and at least 1 female, with both males competing for her attention. We, along with several camera toting locals, were treated to an elaborate courtship flight display, which included hovering over the female to display his tail. The species lays its eggs in other birds' nests especially the waxbills, which we also saw a number of. 

We ended our 1st week back at La Nona, a new venue in Holland Village. After a slow start with the service the night improved and could prove to be a place to revisit.

Siblings

Holidays

After a long flight, interspersed with the screams of a very tired child, it was great to touch down on the Gold Coast before catching the bus to Byron. Sue very kindly picked me up and before heading to Ballina we had lunch at The Farm.

By the time Michael got home I had had a nap but I still didn't last long after dinner.

As I was carless, and Michael no longer has any days in Ballina, I was reliant on my legs and others for transport. I met Pam at The lighthouse cafe for lunch before she collected me in the evening for dinner in Lismore with the group. We had a pleasant evening and it was an opportunity to catch up with everyone at once.

The weather was wet and windy so Sue, Pam and I spent Wednesday at the movies seeing The Lady in the Van. It was an interesting movie kept moving by the performance of Maggie Smith. We followed up with lunch and a game of cards at home before Sue dropped me in town for a bit of shopping. The price difference between Singapore and Australian Taxis was brought home to me when the 2KM ride home cost me $15...a trip to work in Singapore of about 6KM costs around $5!

We caught up with Chris and Steve over dinner at the RSL and I made arrangements to walk with them, weather permitting on Thursday. It was pleasing to see that Chris has made good progress since her recent mini-stroke and is still getting in some golf although she did admit that by the second 9 she tends to lose focus, and skill. Fortunately the weather had cleared considerably so we were able to get in a walk on Thursday and she was able to tick off her 10 000 steps for the day. It was quite noticeable that she has a tendency to drag her left foot and must concentrate to stop herself doing it. We were lucky to see a large pod of dolphins chasing fish in the river and a bit of other local wildlife.

Walk with Chris and Steve

When Michael returned from work we took a stroll along the beach and I had the opportunity to get my feet wet. The initial contact took the breath away but in fact the water was quite warm. On the way back we found some rainbow lorikeets feasting on seeds and decided it was time for us to follow suit...not seeds for us but champagne and hummus instead.

I had changed my travel plans, forgoing the Gold coast to Canberra flight, for a direct flight to Sydney. Departure was at 6.30 on Friday morning so it was an early start and by shortly after 9 I was sitting in mum's hospital room in North Sydney. She was looking pretty good considering it was only a week since major surgery, but still having a few digestion issues.  By 12 it was obvious she need a bit of a sleep so I took a walk up to Crows Nest for some lunch and a window shop. By the time I returned she was looking rested and fresh after a shower. She had 2 nurses on the ward looking after her, both from Northern Ireland and sounding just like Michael's cousin Barbara. By the time I left at 4.30 they had made contact with her surgeon and returned with the news that he would be removing the drain and staples over the weekend with a view to transporting her to Coffs for some rehab time, possibly on Tuesday.  That gold Card is invaluable as she will be transported by air ambulance and it will all be covered.

It must be rainbow lorikeet season as there were several of them flitting around the trees outside her window.

I caught up with Anna for a quick drink before catching the train to Canberra. I decided to go first class, a great decision, as I was able to relax with some wine and cheese, get in some nap time, do a bit of reading etc before Duncan picked me up at Queanbeyan and took me round to Margarets. He was about to head out to collect Michael from the Airport when he got a message to say he was still on the Gold Coast. He eventually arrived at 12.45, an hour late!
Duncan collected us for brunch at one of the trendy areas of town. It would appear Canberra has realised that there is plenty of potential for this type of thing and is redeveloping many areas close to Civic. Bev joined us there for a coffee before we made our way to the Craft Beer and Cider Festival at the Mecure. Some people dressed especially for the occasion! while the rest of us just enjoyed the many and varied offerings. It seemed to come as a surprise to Bev that Yes cider is alcoholic!! It was good to see her looking so well and getting on top of her health issues, although she is hanging out to start work, with still no start date in sight.

After a few hours of tasting we strolled back to Duncan's place for a rest before heading back to Queanbeyan, where we met my grand niece Frankie. She is a happy little soul who likes to keep moving. She and her mother, Mistie, joined us for dinner at the Queanbeyan RSL.
As Duncan had a birthday coming up on Tuesday he met us at Ikea so we could buy him a few furniture items. He is now the proud owner of a bed, desk and set of drawer. Then we crossed the road for my first ever visit to a Costco which is a membership warehouse club. They sell pretty well everything and Duncan joined as he can buy diesel for 90cents/litre. Not my idea of a fun place to visit, at least not on a Sunday! The boys spent several hours building some of the purchases while Margaret and I stayed out of their way...2 people with their own way of doing things is enough!
We had arranged to have lunch with Bev at her local pub, so after Michael spent a short time tinkering with her computer we headed down to The Duxton for a late lunch. Michael has decided that Canberra could be a pleasant place to spend some time...although I would restrict that to the warmer parts of the year.

Fortunately our flight back to the Gold Coast was on time so we got a good nights sleep before we went our separate ways...Michael to work in Byron and me on the return flight to Singapore.

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.

Birds, cards and community art!

On Friday morning I met up with the Smiths for a birdie walk around Eco Green at Tampines. We had a very successful morning seeing quite a variety of birds, including some that aren't supposed to be here. 

sooty headed bulbul, scaly breasted munia, sunda pygmy woodpecker, crimson rumped waxbill

After a quiet weekend it was off to Bukit Gombok for Mondays walk. The neighbourhood consists of two hills. One of them stands at 133m while the other stands at 113m. They are Singapore's second and third highest natural point after Bukit Timah Hill.
The walk took us through Bukit Batok Town Park, a nature park, located in the precinct of Guilin.  The park was created from a disused granite quarry. As such, it has a resemblance to the granite rock formations in Guilin, China. Hence it is also known as Little Guilin or Xiao Guilin among the locals. 

We then continued on to Bukit Batok Nature Park another area developed on an abandoned quarry site. The pond runs deep and still – a relic from the mining days of the region. There is a memorial plaque in memory of soldiers and victims of World War II.  During World War II, the Japanese selected the Lorong Sesuai site as a memorial for the soldiers who died. All that remains are two pillars and 120 concrete steps leading up to a transmission tower. 

As we were about to leave the park an elderly gentleman drew our attention to some wildlife in the trees...a colugo, also known as a flying lemur...despite being neither a lemur nor a flyer! In fact it glides between the trees using the skin between its body and arms like wings. They did not appear to be particularly worried about our presence. Our walk concluded at Jurong after a short stop under a flyover to stay relatively dry!

After an afternoon nap I was off to June's for a game of cards where i was the winner. Most unusually Helen came in 6th place, an unheard of event in card circles!

I had planned for Tuesday to be a quiet day in, but when June suggested a walk around the Community Art at Jurong I had a change of heart. This self-guided Art Trail is part of the National Arts Council Community Arts and Culture Nodes initiative with Taman Jurong Community Club, which introduces visitors to community-based and commissioned art works created by artists and residents, on display across Taman Jurong landmarks. Despite the less-than-helpful self guided map we managed to see all the works listed without getting lost.

The shopping centre had the remnants of '50 Bridges’, Australia's contribution to Singapore's 50th anniversary, which is also the 50th anniversary of Australia-Singapore diplomatic ties.‘50 Bridges’ comprise three elements: ‘50 Walls’ - which brought public art to 50 Singapore heartlands locations; ‘50 performances’ - a program of puppetry performances and film; and ‘50 BBQs’ - 50 simultaneous BBQs, offering a meal of Aussie steak on a special night in June.

Aimed specifically at Singapore’s “heartlands”, the ’50 Bridges’ programme was fun, contemporary, and an apt reflection of the modern Australia-Singapore relationship.

A cohort of professional Australian street artists in collaboration with Singaporean artists brought their artistic talent to walls in hawker centres, HDB blocks, the Kampong Glam enclave and even schools.

not part of the árt'walk just some sculptures in the gardens of a HDB

My Favourite

We had extended an invitation to Kathy to join us but her morning was already scheduled but she did invite us to join her for lunch which we did.

 I spent the rest of the week finishing off some MAE work so only left the house to go to work. 

Lucky for us we have an excellent landlord as our washing machine gave up the ghost on Thursday night and by Friday they had organised a new one with delivery on Tuesday...and as far as we know at no cost to us. Generally, and according to our lease, we are supposed to pay the first $150 of any costs incurred but we have never been asked to do this.

By Friday I was happy to see the MAE work finished, at least for the time being, with just a check over before I submit it to the office.