It is Teacher's Day here this week. The Company took us out for lunch ($12 per head) to start the week yesterday and some of the students brought gifts. Here is what my Primary 4 class did for me. You probably can't read it but they got to the room early and wrote a poem on the board, which was very complimentary. What a nice way to start the working week.
We are both over the colds and managed to join the walkers back up Bukit Timah on Monday, though it was a bit of a stretch and I didn't have much energy at the top. We keep bumping into this same group of ex-army Singaporeans at the summit and have a bit of a joke with them. One of them owns a stall in a Hawker Centre and we have been saying for weeks now that we will drop by one evening. On Tuesday night some of the walkers and a few other friends met at Yishun MRT and we walked to his stall. Funny, one of the others was worried she would have to front up to pigs entrails or chicken foot soup and there I was assuring her she would find something palatable. And then, when I looked at this stall my belly did a flip-flop at the sight of all the precooked fare. He serves each customer a plate of mee hoon noodles and then you add your selection from a choice of florescent pink sausage, battered prawn crackers, fish balls, squid balls, spring rolls......and a whole lot of other things I have no idea what they are made from, but all deep fried and who knows how many hours ago? I have always avoided these stalls but was obliged to participate last night or he would have lost face. I guess it wasn't that bad as this morning I feel fine, perhaps my gut is now happily well oiled! Probably palm oil too. After all 8 of us ate he wouldn't accept any money from us to pay for our meal! How embarrassing. Eric snuck off and bought him some Heineken to compensate.
I was talking to one of the friends who joined the group and somehow Healesville came into the conversation' she asked if I knew Dr Willox, turns out his son was the best man at her wedding. Not that I knew him as he didn't go to HHS but to know of Dr Willox! On the way home in the train we went right up the front to where you would normally have a driver's cabin, but in these computer controlled trains there is no such thing. I took this shot as we were approaching a station where the doors of the carriages always lines up perfectly with the doors on the platform. (But its not really worth inserting is it?)
The other thing we did on the weekend was track down a t-shirt printing company, as the trekkers for Nepal have decided we should have a team shirt. Eric and I found ourselves in a very industrial neighbourhood, quite unlike anything else we have seen so far, and eventually found the workshop on the 7th floor of a building which probably houses something like 150 different businesses. Once we found the right building amongst all the others it was easier. If you think that was difficult, getting the group to decide on a fabric, style and colour for the shirts looks like being even more of a challenge. As for the logo, Eric and I have decided to just do it and they can wear it! Speaking of trekking we have one of Eric's Hash House Harrier mates coming to stay for a few nights, he has just been canoeing in the Arctic Circle and hiking for 12 days from sweden to Norway. Should have some interesting experiences to share.
To top it off we got an email from Mum explaining how she has discovered her neighbours taught at MAE here in 2003, they knew the Crisps and would know Peter who is the Principal here now. Such a small world.