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.