All the Comings and Goings

Unfortunately work resumed again on Wednesday even though our visitors are still here. The morning was just spent at home with Jude, enjoying the relaxed company of each other. We have so enjoyed having her here and not sad about her leaving as she will be back in about 6 weeks after their trip to France and Prague. Roger is not due to meet her for a few days yet so the last few days of finding her way around Singapore on her own will hopefully be useful when she is navigating Paris on her own. She returned to Gardens by the Bay for the afternoon and then headed to the airport. Meanwhile Sandy and Trish returned from Batam and met up with an old work colleague of Sandy's, who is now teaching here at one of the many International Schools, in town. By the time we got home from work they had already eaten, so we grabbed take-away and shared the evening and a few bottles of wine together at home. Well, you couldn't send them back with those two bottles of Moet duty free now could you? Reports of Batam suggest it is quiet and relaxing (read old and tired). A number of the facilities advertised were unfortunately unavailable at this time (read not maintained and no longer safe). Sandy managed to talk the staff into reinstating the vouchers I had cancelled and were upgraded to villas. Not a bad result for $38 a night. Not likely to be returning to Batam, think my email address has probably been redirected to Spam at their end anyway!

On Thursday it was a bit hard for some of us to get going but we enjoyed just relaxing at home and catching up on news of people and work in the NT. Not likely to be returning there either I'd say. Eventually it was really too late for Eric to go anywhere with us anyway as he was due at the Social and Curriculum mtgs from 1:30pm. Sandy, Trish and I went to Gardens by the Bay for a quick whiz around on the tourist train (only Sandy can talk me into these dinky trips) and then we visited the Cloud Forest. 

You'll never guess who else was visiting the Gardens today! Bindi Irwin has just had an orchid named after her, the youngest celebrity to be chosen by the National Parks Board to achieve this status. Her green and gold bloom will sit alongside those named after Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Sir Elton John and many other dignitaries and celebrities. 

For lunch we ate at the beer garden of Raffles. Unfortunately I had to leave them there and head to work. They made their way to the airport after a spot of shopping. 

It seemed like an awfully long Sat and Sun with us just managing to drag ourselves through after those late nights and full days. On Monday Eric was due back at Tan Tock Seng hospital for his 6 monthly check-up so only I joined the walkers at McRitchie Reservoir where we completed the 10km circuit. Perhaps that was a bit much to tackle on so little preparation but it was a beautiful walk on boardwalks and through forest or bordering a golf course. We even tackled the lower levels of the viewing tower just for the photo opportunity. Can you see us on the lower level, it was a long way up those steps.

On the way there I had heard the news that Adam Scott won the US Masters, the first Aust to do it and it was so good to learn knowing Roger was there to see it. By now he will have met up with Jude in Paris. 
After the walk I needed to get into the pool to stretch and relieve some pretty tight muscles and aching joints, then Bev came over and I altered one of her new outfits for her on the trusty Singer. Eric has been given an excellent health report so we celebrated with dinner at our little local makan with Bev and Peter.  

 Jia Hui our Tiger Girl

On Tuesday it was the annual MAE trip to Pulau Ubin. Last year we missed it because we were in Darwin celebrating Luke and Tahlia's wedding. The island lies off the coast of Singapore to the north east, in the Johore Strait. Our group was asked to meet at the Changi Village Jetty by 9:30am. Fare for the bun-boat is $2.50 per person one way and they depart as soon as they have 12 passengers.

Legend has it that the island of Pulau Ubin was formed when three animals from Singapore – a frog, a pig and an elephant – challenged each other to a race to reach the shores of Johor (Malaysia) from Singapore.Those that failed to reach the other side would be turned into stone.According to the legend, all three animals encountered problems along the way, each separately failing to reach Johor. The result was that all three animals suffered the same fate, and were turned into stone. The elephant and pig merged during the transformation to become the island of Pulau Ubin. The frog became Pulau Sekudu or Frog Island. 

Ever since the founding of Singapore by the British, the island of Pulau Ubin has been largely left alone except to exploit its vast deposits of granite. These have been mined to build, amongst other things, the Singapore-Johor Causeway and the Horsburgh Lighthouse on Pedra Branca which marks the eastern entry to the Singapore Strait. As a result, Pulau Ubin represents one of the last areas of Singapore that has avoided extensive urban development and the general spread of concrete. Many people now take a Bumboat ride across to explore what Singapore used to look like in the days of kampongs and quiet fishing villages. The fact is, its now abandoned quarries have gradually become attractive geographical features and there is a hornbill rescue program in place because there are many significant old trees here. Articles suggesting the gradual development of Ubin have already appeared in the paper so it is hard to believe it won't inevitably lose its current unspoilt appeal. Mind you, it doesn't fulfil the romantic idea of the “unspoilt island” either. As soon as you disembark and turn left you find yourself on the town centre high street (if you can call it that), just a chaotic muddle of cafes and  bike rental shops. Being midweek it is quiet, most of the cafes won't even open we soon discovered. 

We checked out the Information Centre while waiting for the last of our group to arrive, then some of us hired half-decent bikes for about $5 while others chose the taxi method of navigating the island. The plan is to reconvene in town about 1ish (Island time). Leaving the town centre behind, our group trundled toward the Chek Jawa Wetlands, 3.3 kms away. This is the tropics in the 1960's - we pass simple kampung houses, swaying coconut palms, chickens under the house, dogs lying in the shade. These people haven't even had to pay rent until now, but that is one of the changes coming. 

We left the bikes in the racks at the gate.  We had been warned to lock them up, not so much because they may be stolen, but that monkeys and wild pigs are likely to ransack any bags we leave with them. While we were there a family of pigs trotted up, heading straight for the spot where a taxi driver had laid his fresh cut tobacco out in the sun to dry. You've never seen a taxi driver move faster.

First stop was a traditional Tudor Cottage built in the 1930's by the then Singapore Chief Surveyor as a holiday retreat. It has some adaptations for the tropical climate but does have a functioning (though not functional) fireplace!

Its position affords a nice view across to the developing Singapore

The house is now the Visitor Centre for the Chek Jawa Wetlands visitors with a viewing jetty built in the 1970's. This joins a 1.1km boardwalk through the Coastal and Mangrove Loops. The fresh smell of seaweed surprised me at the lush seagrass lagoon. It is not something you smell often in Asia and reminded me of days combing the rock pools at Skene's Creek or Mt Martha as a child. 

While we walked the boardwalk through the mangroves we heard hundreds of bird calls, most of which we are still unable to identify, but we saw few for long enough to identify them. One new sighting we have today is the white rumped sharma.

  
We also climbed the 20-m Jejawi Tower hoping for the chance to see Hornbills in the canopy but no luck today.  By the time we had meandered over all of this it was time to head back to the town and find the rest of the travellers. On the way we passed by one of the beautiful quarry lakes but we didn't linger long as it was very hot by then. 

Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves as we caught up over a cold drink then returned to the main jetty for our trip back to the mainland. 

Changi Village is well known for its gastronomical delights. Available here are a multitude of coffee shops, cafés, pubs, Western or Chinese restaurants and hawker centers to suit all budgets.We ate at Jacob's Cafe specializing in salads and sandwiches, something you don't often find. 
At home we had time for a swim and cool down before meeting Tina, Scott and Scott's brother Gavin at Clarke Quay. Tina and I worked together as IT consultants for a few years but she was based in Alice while I was in the Top End. Sandy sent me down to accompany Tina on her first school visits which included Imanpa, Yulara and Mutitjulu. How fortunate was I? We have been good friends ever since. I remember I received my one and only poor school report from the headteacher at Imanpa because I refused to let him leave the school for the afternoon while we taught the kids! That was not the intention of the visit. Yulara was an eye-opener; very well resourced and all white kids! Finally Mutitjulu where Deb Ollie was headteacher (I would spend more visits with her at Mamaruni, TEGS). This was the first time I would come face to face with petrol sniffing. It was hard to deal with that and have Uluru looming over us in the background. 
Scott has just finished 3 months in Canada on a secondment from Ranger Mine in Jabiru. They had a holiday together in The Rockies and are now on their way home.  We met at The Crazy Elephant and then went to Kampung Glam to eat at Beruit Grill then finished off the night with the wine fairy at Park Mall.