Serangoon Snippets: We begin Term 4

We enjoyed a sleep in and just being home on Tuesday, it was so tiring being on that tour last week. But well worth it. We still don't think we would go back to China unless we were on a tour as you would waste so much time just trying to achieve the basics like getting from A to B. In the evening we went to Chinatown to check out the lanterns as we are coming to the end of the Mid Autumn Festival here now.

Thursday was Adrian's birthday and we managed to catch him on skype for the first time in ages. He was busy building himself a workbench to make creating his guitar models easier. Always knew that the talents he showed building with lego blocks as a kid would come in handy. He's developing quite a collection of power tools too, thanks to generous donations from his loving parents.

initial stages

after our contributions

On Friday we headed to Toa Payoh to follow a trail from 'Discover Sg on Foot'. It started at Lian Shan Shuang Monastery, the largest as well as the oldest Buddhist monastery here. It is a beautiful and peaceful place with exquisitely trimmed gardens and colourful architecture.

We moved on to Balestier Rd. There are some beautiful blocks of shophouses with wide walkways and ornate plasterwork. There were also many temples and walls topped with green glazed tiles shaped like bamboo. Apparently this is an example of how the principles of feng shui are applied in buildings. The green colour represents trees whose foliage represents colour, growth and prosperity. Think Green Dragon in game of mahjong. Bamboo represents longevity and strength.

Just off Balestier Rd we found Sun Yat Sen's Villa, a beautifully restored 1880s mansion. In the early 1990s it was the Singapore headquarters of his revolutionary movement. It is now a memorial to the man hailed as the founder of modern China, having overthrown the last imperial dynasty and introducing a republican government. The most stunning feature of the villa was the amazing embossed bronze garden wall featuring the history of Singapore. I cant believe we didn't get a photo of that!

Oh, and yes we did return to work and shared lots of travel stories with our colleagues; the kids genuinely seemed happy to be back too. 10 weeks to go now and we will be heading off to Nepal and then Melbourne. In preparation we walked up and around Fort Canning Park and then on to Gardens By the Bay on Monday. As we approached Marina Bay area we could see where they were beginning to dismantle all the temporary infrastructure put in place for the Formula 1 race that took place over the weekend. It was an evening walk, we were hoping some lanterns would still be on show but they were also being removed as we arrived. Still, the gardens were beautiful at night.

Fort Canning