Back to work

After the events of last week we found life pretty mundane this week.  Back in the work routine everyone wanted to know all about the wedding and see pictures.  We found our replacement teachers had managed quite well but the students were glad to see us back.  This might be due more to the fact that they had to complete tests last week than any high popularity rating for us. We did manage to bring back a few more books, stickers and odds and ends that will be good to introduce to the classroom in the future.  This week has been teacher topic week so we've covered topics as diverse as 'War of the Worlds' and 'Rainbows'. Highlight of the week was finding Luke and Tahlia on skype one morning.  They were in the library (first time I've ever found Luke in a library) because that's where the internet connection is strongest on board. They both sounded very relaxed and happy.  Had been onshore in Thailand and spent the day in Pattaya, were on their way to Vietnam.

Other items we brought back include 4 tennis racquets that we plan to bring out when we have friends over.  Rule No 1. If you don't hit the ball to Libby she won't play! Eric's big disappointment was that he put a large jar of Vegemite in his carry on luggage and it was confiscated at Darwin Airport.  When will he learn?

This week's walk was an exploratory one from Khatib MRT to Upper Seletar Reservoir Park. It took us along the water's edge and then through some quiet bushland.  One interesting encounter was with a man training guard dogs. Chun Jiao had never been this close to large dogs before. We saw and heard a number of birds including a majestic white-bellied sea eagle and what we think was a juvenile.

We finished the walk at the rather peculiar Bottletree Seafood Restaurant by a pond where you can fish for your own prawns. The place was established by Mr Neo, a tree lover who selected rare trees and other exotic plants from Australia back in 2004. They include Boabs, Grass Trees and Cycads; its quite weird seeing these plants in such surroundings. The Yum Cha lunch was our selection from a wide range of small dishes which Chun Jiao advised us on. We had congee rice porridge, dumplings and yam cake then finished with fresh fruit, iced lemon tea or barley water. 

In the evening we joined work colleagues at a mid term gathering at Casa Verde, the restaurant in the middle of the Botanic Gardens.  It was a beautiful evening to sit outdoors and we've certainly been close up and personal with nature this Monday. Peter joined us and so did his son Tim who has worked for MAE but now teaches at one of the International Schools.  Tuesday was spent mostly at home, we've confirmed a tour in Turkey for July, had a plumber check out the leak in the bathroom (promises to return tomorrow am)  and Eric had some health tests (just as a precaution) and so far has the big tick for cholesterol and resting heart rate.  Other results of Friday. 

We went to Serangoon Gardens this evening for dinner.  This area is renowned for its famous hawker stalls and plenty of choice among other food outlets and bars. We have decided our favourite hawker centre is the one called Chomp Chomp, we had satays, pad thai and thai olive fried rice but later found bbq stingray flaps and prawn mee hoon (the best in Singapore according to the locals).  We will have to go back, it is very easy to get there by bus or only 2.5 km to walk in the cool of the evening.

Luke and Tahlia are newlyweds

Who would have thought?  Luke and Tahlia unknowingly chose the same date as Eric's late mother's birthday.  It was a Friday too, the same day of the week that we married in '79.  Family members commented that they had only been to 2 Friday weddings - ours and this one.  And although it was Fri 13th it didn't rain, in fact at 2pm on the Esplanade it was blazing sunshine. They did all the organizing themselves and nothing was overlooked, right down to bottles of water under each chair at the service.  The lads looked resplendent in their dark suits with bright bow ties and kerchiefs.  This all coordinated with the girls gorgeous outfits and the bride's simple yet stunning dress. The colourful party stood before a backdrop of the porcelainite rock wall, sun sparkling on the Arafura Sea and a clear blue sky. There will be photos to share with you on Picassa when they return from the SE Asia cruise but in the meantime here are a few from our camera.

Of course the families all scrubbed up pretty well too.  These two had to get their good looks from somewhere.  Unfortunately my brother Col and his partner Beth couldn't make it but my mum Iris and sister Jude and her husband Rog did from the Caddy side.  All of Eric's Smith brothers and their wives made it too. And then there are all the members from the Brown/Fraser families.

Their friend Troy, Pastor at INchurch Darwin conducted the service, his first. Tahlia's brother Jarrah did the bible reading from Ephesians and Luke's brother Adrian played during the interlude while the certificates were signed. We did have to get him to turn the amp down initially, he's never played that quietly before.  And then they had the audacity to finish the signatures before he had finished his set! First time I've ever known anyone to get a round of spontaneous applause after playing at a wedding. The couple were surrounded by so many happy friends and family who all went on to celebrate at the Frontier Restaurant in the evening. The Dad's both managed to get through their speeches without too much quaver in the voice, yet there was obviously heartfelt emotion in their words. A beautiful day, followed-up on Saturday with lunch at SkyCity for the newlyweds and all the relatives.  Most of the wedding party also gatecrashed.  Then we took them to the airport and they departed for Singapore to join their cruise.  We will have a few days here with them when they return in the first week of May. 

We had left here feeling pretty good, confident all our prep was done for the replacement teachers and not overwhelmed with loose ends to tie up.  On arrival in Darwin though we were not impressed with the state of Koolpinyah and set about for the next 2 days cleaning and working in the garden. Thank goodness it is no longer to be a bachelor pad! Not that we expect Tahlia to be the housekeeper, but that she wields the whip that keeps it in shape (Are you reading this Luke?). After 2 days we were reasonably happy for Mum and my sister to share it and that night we had all the smith family join us for a bbq on the back verandah. 

By the time we left, and after 4 trips to the tip, it was back in shape and it better stay that way. Ali at first seemed a bit confused that we were back but she was soon getting spoilt all over again. Now she is having a holiday at Adrian's place. 

It was great to get the opportunity to catch up with a few of our treasured  friends, but also disappointing that we just couldn't fit others in. Eric managed to see some of his colleagues from Humpty Doo but I just couldn't
get to TEGS on the Monday, too many chores to tick off the 'to do' list.

Easter in Singapore

Happy Easter Everyone. I know the teachers in The Territory are happy as it also marks the start of their break. It could easily go by here and you wouldn't even notice other than the public holiday for Good Friday. Very few Easter Eggs or displays in the shops, though there were some special efforts made by the cake shops.

When we arrived at work on Sunday morning to discover that Easter Bunny had hopped all through, depositing eggs and leaving trails of footprints and strewn shredded paper behind, the kids and parents thought cats must have got in.  But we were really delighted and it helped get through the last day of the week cheerfully. It had been a pretty busy week because we needed to leave everything in place for the replacement teachers next week as well as prepare for the following week (which is the one in the term we actually plan ourselves) and have any marking completed.
Sandy flew in Fri night and since we were not working we were able to meet her and share a cab back to Serangoon together.  Over the weekend while we worked, she enjoyed the pool, went to Sentosa and took a flight on the Singapore Flier I mentioned last week. We met after work and had dinner each night and then on Monday she completed her shopping list and then joined me at the MAE book club meeting.  Now you might be wondering why anyone would do that, but this was a bit special. Since we had been reading 'A Different Sky' by Meira Chand (which is a wonderful read leading up to the fall of Singapore and through to independence) the meeting was held during High Tea at Raffles. Sandy and I managed to get there early enough for a cocktail in the courtyard first and then joined the ladies for tea and petits fours. You only do it once, so you might as well enjoy it and have a glass of wine as well we figured. Forgot to take pictures but I am hoping others will share theirs and I can upload one then.  Here's one of the courtyard from an earlier visit.

Sandy left last night and today we have been getting read to leave. The beds are changed, the place is clean enough and we are putting some things together in the carry on.  I'm a little slow getting around as I managed to strain my hamstring yesterday, nothing too serious but I wont be dancing all that much at the wedding I'm afraid. We are so looking forward to catching up with many NT friends and those in our family who are travelling north to hear all the news first hand. Thanks to all of you who keep in touch via email, we always expected to skype much more often than we manage but the times just don't seem to work well. We have a list of things to bring back with us but don't need to take much.  It was wonderful to skype with Luke and Tahlia this morning, they look relaxed although I think I did detect an edge to Luke's voice on some topics. We were looking forward to sharing today with Joan and Jim who were to be cruising around India next week but unfortunately that trip had to be postponed by the company.  Hopefully it can be rescheduled for sometime in the near future and we will have more time to share with them too.

Sensational Singapore Flier

I won the work place raffle this week! Did I mention I'm the social club rep? So each wk at the mtg we have a raffle for which I purchase the prize.  It took me more than a term to take home a prize; not going well considering there are only 7 of us and I'm the organiser. So far all but one winner has been happy with a bottle of wine, for them I selected a Body Shop voucher - everyone's a winner except the poor Geelong supporter but she's had her good times, right Glenice? We've had a lot of rain this week. And not just the short afternoon showers that are typical of here. More big downpours that last quite a long time and make it more difficult to get around without a car.  Still we can walk almost all the way to the station undercover and have discovered the buses at the back entrance to the condo a very convenient option. I managed to skip out between downpours to get back to the shops to collect my dresses (yes I ended up with 2) after having the hems lowered. And we have a woman in the local shops across the road doing some alterations to Eric's purchases and a few items we picked up cheaply in Laos. We also managed a walk around the local area one morning this week, orientating ourselves better with the local suburb and wandered as far as Peter's place in Lorong Chuan where we stayed when we first moved out of the Peninsular Excelsior Hotel.

Bianca was back on Wednesday, she stayed with us overnight this time, on her way to Europe now for 8 wks.  Perhaps stayed up a little late Wed night catching up on all the news from Darwin - heard about the flooded TEGS schools, tough job at Maningrida etc.
It was so wet Monday morning the group walk was cancelled. I didn't really mind as it had been a big last 2 days of work and I enjoyed a sleep in.  We had also been out on the Sunday night with those who like to socialize from 4 of the different MAE branches.  We tucked into the Sunday night special at Wine Boss, Parkway which is NZ steaks and chips for $9.  Sounds like a cheap night out until they talk you into the wine special as well!  But it was a fun night.
We capped off wk 13 with a Moet and Chandon Champagne Flight on the Singapore Flier this Monday. The kids had thoughtfully given us a voucher for this as a Christmas present and we've been saving it for a time that suited us both. The Flier is situated beside the Marina Sands Complex, I uploaded a picture of that  in an earlier post - a tall complex with a structure like a boat on the top supported by 3 towers. So the Flier is the world's largest Giant Observation Wheel from which you can see the best views of the city and beyond. For the half hr journey we enjoyed a capsule all to ourselves with flutes of champagne and since it was at 6:45pm we saw the sunset and then the city lights turn on. Just perfect, recommend it to everyone.

Having missed yesterday's walk, this morning we headed off to Bedok station and then a bus to Sungai Buloh Wetland Reserve in the NW corner of Singapore. Quite an excursion to get there, and at one stage we had to take shelter from more rain, so we were wondering if it was all a very bad idea...but when we eventually arrived we were met with a very warm welcome and the good news that hardly anyone goes there on weekdays and the entry is free.  It has been recognised as a site of international importance for migratory shorebirds and is part of the east Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership. So, obviously a good place to find these species (though the best time is September to March) but also the locals that enjoy mangroves, mudflats, marshes and brackish water rivers, all up over 230 species. We had a wonderful walk and the weather was kind, though the light a bit dark. Apart from birds we shared the area with giant mud skippers, jumping fish, crabs that squirt water like Archer fish, squirrels and water monitors.  One of these gave us a big fright, they don't look that unlike a croc really at first glance, and when they are only 30cm away and 2m long they get your heart beating!

This week we are looking forward the arrival of Sandy on Friday.  We have the day off as a public holiday so a short week for us. We will have to be careful to save ourselves for work on Sat and Sun in her company! We also have Crisps arriving on Sunday as they head for a cruise around India. And we fly out on Tue on our way to Darwin so it is full on! And we are loving it. A pity the Cherry Hill Condo is looking very shabby while it is being repainted, but it will look good in a month or two, so plan your trip for then.