Eric rolls over again

The work week resumed with a number of interested and potential parents visiting classrooms. If the company are serious about making the most of this, they need to advertise more widely. At the moment we are not being very proactive about drawing in new clientele however, having just returned from a weekend away, I was happy to have only limited numbers of visitors observing my classrooms. Punggol, being a newer branch, had much higher numbers than Kovan. Lucky them is all I can say.
On Fri Yve and John spent the day with us, having more than a few hours in transit on their way home from Denmark. It was so good to see them again, looking refreshed after the holiday, though John is in pain management having some medical conditions that need attention. The rest of us walked to the bike shop in the afternoon and at last we have our longer bike seat poles. John would have assembled them for us except we have no tools. Next task is to get some allen keys. It never stops! Is owning a bike the same as owning a boat (bring on another thousand)?
We noticed on the way home that the local temples are celebrating something but it took us until much later in the week to find out that it is  known as the Qiqiao Festival. It originated from a romantic legend featuring Zhinu (the weaver girl) and Niulang (the cowherd). Their love was not allowed, thus they were banished to opposite sides of the Silver River symbolizing the Milky Way. Once a year, in the 7th lunar month, a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the lovers for the one day. It is a very important festival, especially for young girls, and is also celebrated in Korea and Japan.

 puppet show in action

 the puppeteers

 embroidered lanterns and banners

It was Eric's birthday on Saturday, he took his new camera as he headed off to work in the morning. We met up with Peter and Bev at City Hall and walked to the Peninsula Hotel where we first stayed. Being on the executive of a company who annually make significant bookings, Peter has access to the bar and restaurant on the top floor. The view from here was fantastic. To add to the spectacle we were able to watch the fireworks that were exploded as part of the rehearsals for the National Day celebrations. The real thing will be held early next month, but in the lead up, rehearsals take place each Saturday and all P5 students get to attend.

 Glammed up

 Fireworks rehearsals

 And I thought it was for his birthday

 Did Peter really organise all of this?

 Oh, this is the usual show

 Here's the birthday boy

The view was great, the food was lovely and the company very companionable. As if that wasn't enough we went on to Boat Quay for coffee and port by the riverside. How beautiful the evening was with all the lights reflecting in the water and the temperature just perfect for being out in the fresh air. But Peter still had a surprise in store. Next he took us to 1 Altitude on Level 63 of 1 Raffles Place which claims to be the world's highest alfresco bar. The triangular shaped floor space provides an unobstructed 360 deg view of the city from the heart of the financial district. We thought we had seen it all from The Eye last year but this was phenomenal. 

Sunday was a very long day! But you just have to rally don't you? After all, there is another function organised. Punggol branch have invited Kovan out to their end of town for a celebratory meal for Eric and Kathy (she is on our staff and shares the same day for her birthday). On the train I bumped into Angie who manages the wine bar just around the corner from home. We haven't been to the bar for a few weeks and she got chatting, deliberately missed her stop and travelled all the way to Punggol just to talk to me and meet my work mates. Now I'm really feeling like a local when you meet up with people you know in a train carriage here! I promised her we would frequent her business very soon. It was a lovely evening but not a very late one!
On Monday we really needed a sleep-in but it was not to be. The walkers struck out through Bishan Park and Lower Peirce Reservoir then back to Ang Mo Kio Hub for lunch. We had a few extras along to expand the numbers this week which is great. I wore my new pedometer and clocked over 17000 steps (roughly 13 kms) by the time we had lunch and then ambled home. 

In the afternoon Eric adjusted the bike seats and tightened a few other connections with our new allen keys. Then he cooked a lovely dinner from his new Spanish cookbook. It was so nice to have a night at home for a change.  I feel like I spent most of the afternoon prone on the couch but I did manage a few accomplishments for the day, like finding the online Chinese visa application forms, our next venture. Also had fabulous skype sessions with some very special friends discussing possible locations for 2014 vacations. Never been considering plans this far in advance before!
The day of the first bike ride arrived at last. Not wanting to be too adventurous on our first attempt, decided on a trail from home to and around Punggol Park Lake; only about 20 kms and all pretty flat. The lake is where we hired bikes from once before. It turned out to be a good decision as coming home beside the waterways the wind was straight into us and surprisingly strong. 

 At Punggol Park Lake

 More colourful festival flags

We had both had enough when we got back for lunch. We thoroughly enjoyed it though, and finding a family of tiny Sundra Pygmy Woodpeckers (13 cm) in the trees by the lake was an unexpected bonus. Lucky that I have my new glasses. We had the lake pretty much to ourselves, apparently we're the only ones silly enough to be out riding at this time of the day. We were even advised by a local fellow sitting in the shade that the best time to ride was morning and evening. True, but also crowded then, and actually we were in shade all around the lake. 

In the evening we upheld the promise to return to Angie's Wine Bar. After all, we felt obliged to. Angie shouted Eric his first drink as she remembered I had told her it was his birthday when we met on the train. Peter joined us there, as did Heather and Michael. We thought we had ridden by their condo this morning and now it is confirmed, they are not very far away at all. They have invited us over for a Portuguese meal at their place in a few weeks to relive some of the recent experiences, some shared in Lisbon.