Big Bike Ride

We took the bikes out for a spin on Thursday. Eric planned a route that took us mostly along park connectors beside the Kallang River, all the way to the new stadium building site. From there we could easily see Marina Bay Sands and the Flier.  

The part of the trip where you were sitting on the seat was very pleasant, the difficult bit was where you had to dismount and carry the bike up and down flights of stairs to cross highways. There were 6 of these in all and some were tough. The one that crossed the PIE had six flights of stairs and beneath us flowed 16 lanes of traffic.

There was absolutely nothing left in the tank by the time I went to work that afternoon. 
After lunch Friday the mahjong lessons continued. We have had a few interrupted weeks due to visitors and other commitments between the players, so for some it seemed like going back to first base. There is probably only one more chance to play before the end of the year. They all need to buy their own sets for Christmas. 
The walkers returned to Bukit Timah this Monday. Surprise, surprise, the steps remain just as deep and difficult. It was steamy after recent rain so we all looked drenched when we finished but still very smart in our new team shirts, don't you think? Eric rode his bike over and collected them from the printers on Friday morning while I did the housework. (Anything not to use that bike again so soon!). 

We heard plenty of birds and saw the Black Crested Bulbul for the first time . 

Since we were so well dressed we had lunch at a bakery just off Sixth Ave in Bukit Timah called Simply Bread. A very nice change; its not often you sit down to a fresh sandwich with great bread here. Most of it is disappointingly sweet and has no substance. We bought home a loaf of sourdough for the freezer. 
In the evening we had been invited to Heather and Michael's for a whisky tasting evening. Not sure why, since we are not really whisky drinkers, maybe it was to stop Michael drinking all the bottles of Duty Free that visitors keep leaving behind. Peter and June joined us, now they would consider themselves more experienced in this particular field. As it turned out, between all of us I think there were 8 different whiskies which Heather carefully spot labelled and then doled-out in shot glasses for comparison, two at a time. Bushmills was an early favourite but in the end Johnny Walker Black label took the honours ahead of a 15 yr old Glenfiddich and 2 Jamesons, amongst others.  I refrained from participating, after all one of us needs to get everyone else safely home! Actually, to be honest, I still have vivid memories of a terrible wet, stormy night camping at Anglesea and being very unwell after a night out on whisky. Climbing back into a sleeping bag with sandy feet and soaked through after making a number of visits to the public conveniences in the rain was not pleasant. Monday night was a lot of fun and the food was fabulous. They were all very sensible and Eric shaped up pretty well on Tuesday morning. 
Today I have sent off my Separation Advice Form to NT DET. Feels really strange but also no point in prolonging that status. If everything goes to plan I am not expecting to ever be working for them again. 
In the afternoon we walked one of the trails around Little India. We began at the Tekka Market. Downstairs is the lively and colourful produce market though most of it was closing up by this time of the day. 

If you thought it was colourful there though, you need to go to the top floor where fabrics in every conceivable colour and bejewelled in every way are on display in fashions best described as Bollywood. 

There is so much colour in this area of town, the buildings are often bright and then the goods seem to tumble onto the sidewalks too. To add to the spectacle the area is celebrating Deepavali with street decorations and a number of bazaars are set up in laneways. 

 buying a lei for the Hawaiian night

 in one of the bazaars

 henna tattoos are popular

 Deepavali Street Decorations

We wandered by a couple of Sikh Temples, typically they have a plain fascade unlike the richly adorned Hindu Temples. Then we made our way up to Mount Emily Park and back down to Albert Court by which time we needed refreshments. This area is close to town so many of the traditional homes have been torn down to make way for superstructures. Those that remain add a charming contrast.  

 traditional and modern

 How's the pool? 

 traditional villa

We wandered along Serangoon Rd and watched as the skies darkened and the lights came on. We found the temple where Hindus assemble for the annual Thaipusam festival early in the new year. We haven't seen that festival here, only in Penang. A walk wouldn't be complete without at least one Buddhist Temple and we found two right beside each other. The Dragon Mountain temple was built in 1917 and typical of that time, the main frame was assembled without the use of nails. Across the road is the Temple of 100 lights. Apparently during the Japanese Occupation, British POWs would volunteer to collect roadside rubbish here and would secretly pass notes to the monk who saw that they were sent on to their families. Nice story.
Back on Serangoon Road we returned to Mustafa Centre where Eric couldn't resist going in to purchase Turkish Delight and then we ate at a simple Indian Restaurant across the road. By this time the lights were beautiful.  

Golf again

Teacher topic this week in class and the junior classes also presented show and tell. It is always interesting to see and hear what they choose to share. We give them a topic as the focus. In K2 it was 'Something you have made' and one big surprise was being presented with a hand-made invitation to a family home for Deepavali in a few weeks. It was so unexpected and will be a lovely opportunity for us to experience this 'festival of lights', the most important Hindu celebration of the year. I chose to do 'Wonky Donkey' with the P1 classes and they really enjoyed Craig Smith's book and song. We had lots of fun making up other ridiculous rhymes. 
June, who walked to Gudel with us last year, is volunteering for 4 weeks in Dec with a division of The Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation, to help up-skill remote teachers in Nepal. She will spend some time in Kathmandu, meeting the others and establishing what her role in the party will be, then they all trek out to remote locations, work for 4 days then trek on to the next. She and I spent a few hours together on Thursday (while Eric was at a seniors mtg) trawling through hundreds of ESL resources I have collected over the years. I brought them with me thinking they might be useful, but haven't used much of it at all. It reminded me of many useful tips and tools I could use here too in the early classes. 
Peter returned from his holiday on Saturday and came over for dinner bringing with him his 2 ukeleles he has bought for Gudel Sch. Eric's also arrived by delivery during the day so we all got them out and thanks to the wonders of technology we were able to tune them and learn a few cords. Lots of laughs, on reflection perhaps they should have got larger sizes as the boys are having trouble getting fingers between the frets. We will probably carry them with us on the trail since they are so light so we need to get some songs sorted between now and then. Of course there is also the annual dinner which has an Hawaiian theme this year........... Peter loves to perform and he thinks we can accompany him with Somewhere over the Rainbow/Beautiful World by then. 2 weeks!

The walking group was suspended this Monday as a number of us crossed the Johore Strait to play a round of golf in Johore Bahru. It was a nice cool morning but we missed most of that taking almost 4 hrs to get to the first tee. First, one in our group missed a connection as we passed through the Singapore and on to the Malaysian Immigration posts. We reunited as a group but then lost two more between there and the taxi stand. On arrival at the course we discovered that the pro shop was closed, so we couldn't hire clubs until the owner was phoned and he arrived. Having lost so much time we all agreed to play Ambrose so we could get home before dark! It was a long day, we left home at 8am and got home about 7pm. Both of us shot some nice balls and some we would rather forget, we'll go back again but not for awhile. The round trip is just exhausting. 

So the walkers who were up to it met up on Tuesday and we walked from Pasir Ris Park Lake to Bedok Reservoir and finished with a lap of it. All up it was 11 kms and all on Park Connector walking paths. An overcast morning was just what we had hoped for. 

In the evening on Tuesday we went to Bugis with the friends we met up with in Lisbon earlier in the year. Wine Bos is having an October special on Sangria and Tapas. We shared stories again of our travel adventures in June and a few more besides. 
Having watched the end of the fourth season of Off-Spring (oh my that was emotional) this week we began watching Serangoon Road, the joint production between ABC TV and HBO Asia. Set in the 1960s, the first thing we recognised was Sam's vehicle. We had come across the very same combi being used in a photo shoot on a Bidadari walk in July. 

Then in episode 2 there were the shop houses of our recent Joo Chiat walk. 

For us, these details make it compelling though the story itself has yet to get us enthralled. It reminds us of the No1 Ladies Detective Agency series, different location, different politics but same, same. On the other hand, the music is good, Motown at its best. We discovered Irma Thomas as a result of hearing snippets of her 'Anyone Who Knows What Love Is' through episode 2. 

Closed for renovations, sorry for any inconvenience

Friday we joined up with Michael and Heather at Kovan to walk with them to the Japanese Cemetery. A Japanese visitor dressed in traditional kimono arrived while we were there and a small service was held in the little chapel. A grave site was adorned with folded white paper tributes. Then we continued on through Serangoon Gardens where I had a coffee in mind but the hawker stall was closed for renovation. We walked on, back to our local hawker stall for lunch. Guess what? As of Monday one of our two hawker complexes is closed for about a fortnight, being completely gutted and renovated. It will be lovely and fresh when it eventually reopens. 

I can't believe we completely missed the Festival of the Nine Emperor Gods last year. It is so unusual, one of the most colourful and exotic folk festivals in Singapore, and yet it is hardly publicised in the papers.  Although 50% of Singaporeans are followers of Taoism and Buddhism, this festival is mostly celebrated by devotees of a select sect at just a few suburban temples, one of which is in our area, a small crumbling temple built more than a century ago. By Sunday the Emperor Gods had been entertained for the final time around the temple, with proper tribute made by the worshippers, before being returned to the river. We drove past about 9pm just as hundreds of worshippers were emerging onto the street.  There were brightly coloured banners, red lanterns, joss sticks, and giant candles everywhere. Dragon and lion dancers performed their glorious tributes to the Gods, to the deafening beats of drums, crashing of  gongs and smashing of cymbals. Finally the temple was emptied and everybody began a procession along Upper Serangoon Rd northwards to Sengkang on the northern coast. The procession included the paper boat I had seen earlier in the week, plastered from bow to stern with the scribbled wishes of devotees.  Apparently once towed 200 metres off shore, a follower sets the paper boat alight in the sea, while the thousands of devotees cheer.Then, turned to ashes, it sinks. The Gods are home.

With Peter away in Taiwan for a break, we coordinated this week's walk across the Southern Ridges which begins at Kent Ridge. Joan and Jim walked this same trail with us when they were here. For the first time we found a coffee shop near to the meeting point. To our delight we found an Asian Paradise Flycatcher, the first time we have seen the white variety here as they are very rare in Sg. We also found the white crested laughing thrush, a very gregarious bird who is not concerned about people in close 
proximity. As you can see from the map we were elevated much of the time so most of the way you have great views across to the water and beyond. 

 On top of Mt Faber

After a massage in the afternoon we met up with Bev at about 6pm and followed a walking trail around Chinatown that focussed on religious sites of the first settlers. Tucked in amongst the ultra modern buildings, the shophouses and dockside godowns (warehouses), the guided walk explains how important these houses of faith were to the early migrants. 

I was particularly keen to visit the Thian Hock Keng Temple, one of Singapore's oldest Hokkien temples, finished in 1842 and completed without the use of nails. It is dedicated to the Goddess of seafarers and features in one of our P1 classes but I hadn't ever seen it. Unfortunately it was closed, no not for renovation, but just because we were too late in the day. 

Another quite different one we discovered was the Fuk Tak Chi Temple dedicated to the God of Earth. It was quite a contrast, being built by Hakka and Cantonese migrants but at the same time and is now a museum.

The Chulias, who were Tamil Muslims from Southern India, also built a number of mosques in the area at the time. We found the Nagore Durga Shrine on Telok Ayer Street which was a sandy beach crowded with sailing craft when this shrine was first built. Hard to imagine now. 

We found all sorts of other curiosities as we followed the trail, as you would imagine in a Chinatown. Plenty of Traditional Chinese Medicine halls selling all manner of herbs and animal parts. One shop that intrigued us was called The last Time One, which is a second hand dealer. Anyone interested in a pair of old lion dancers masks?  

There were also many street sculptures depicting scenes of olden days, this one  represents the street parades which have always been popular. 

We made our way up the Ann Siang Hill Park walkway then down Club Street which is named after all the Chinese Clan Associations that had their headquarters here. These days it is home to restaurants and bars so still seems very appropriately named. We made our way to The Scarlet on Erskine Rd, a boutique hotel we had discovered when walking with Judy in April, preparing for the Great Race. It has a rooftop terrace bar and I thought it would be a nice place for a rest but unfortunately it was closed for renovations! We returned to Club St and chose the Screening Room which also has a terrace bar. Very nice, very expensive drinks! 

Good thing we did so much walking on Monday because we were woken by a huge storm on Tuesday so chose a sleep-in and then just didn't get going all day. Bev came over in the afternoon with her new laptop and we sorted out a few programs and helped her negotiate Windows 8. Hmm, that was a challenge! But good for me too, to keep up to speed - how quickly things change in the land of technology. In the evening we took Heather and Michael to Chomp Chomp that we had all walked by last Friday. Even though we had arranged to meet early, knowing how popular this hawker centre is, we still had to line up for a table. Then when we were finishing, people were lurking about, ready to pounce as we made a move. 
Today was a public holiday for Hari Raya Haji, where practising Muslims celebrate this auspicious day to mark the end of Hajj, the annual holy pilgrimage to Mecca. After performing the ceremonial prayers and other customary practices at the mosque, families united for lunch and then joined the merrymakers at local bazaars set up in Geylang and Kampong Glam amid dazzling local decorations. We saw some families, in their beautifully colour coordinated outfits, walking together in the streets while we went out for dinner. 
As always, one festival is always quickly followed by another in Singapore. The lights have already been strung up in Serangoon Rd around Little India in preparation for Deepavali. 

It was testing week at Morris Allen so we must be due for Parent Teacher Interviews soon. The new timetables have gone out to families so they can select the teacher and timeslot for classes next year. It has set some staff on edge, rumours abound over what changes will take place for what staff. Good time not to know too much. Meanwhile I have sent off to NT DET to enquire about how to resign since we have ongoing contracts and my 2 years leave without pay will expire in Jan. 

Tax return is completed

Feeling very happy to scrub that task off the 'to do' list. It's funny how the task always falls to me these days and I procrastinate for weeks, loathing the whole idea, and then find its not as hard as I was expecting. Last year it was really worth doing but this year there will be little gain for the effort. But its done!
From 'Discover Singapore on Foot' this week we chose the Joo Chiat area, between Geylang and East Coast. In 1993, Joo Chiat was gazetted as a conservation district and as a result, there are also many unique and 'straits-eclectic' or Malay style Chinese shophouses which give the area its true flavour. The area is also known for eateries specialising in Peranakan delicacies. Peranakans are the community resulting from the interracial marriages that took place between Chinese men and non-Muslim women of Malaya, Burma and Indonesia (also known as Straits Chinese). In 2011, Joo Chiat was declared Singapore's first Heritage Town, chosen because of strong efforts to promote its Peranakan culture. We met up with Heather and Michael at the Joo Chiat Complex which was the original market in the district and saw an amazing array of food, spices and flowers. Along the walk, apart from all the eye-catching shophouses, we came across many traditional Peranakan food outlets including a popiah skin maker (like fresh Vietnamese rolls), bao (steamed buns), Nonya rice dumplings and laksa. I set myself a limit of only 6 pictures of shophouses, I could include so many more. Who still thinks Singapore is just a big city full of steel and glass skyscrapers?

For the past week I have been coming home in the bus along Upper Serangoon Rd and seen the local Taoist Temple elaborately dressed up with lanterns and crowds of people milling about the temporary Chinese Opera stage that has been installed. We saw floats, each lit with thousands of coloured lights, take part in a street procession and wondered what it was all about. Asking locals from the other side of the street or on the bus has proved useless, but just today I have discovered they are celebrating the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, held annually from the first to the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (4-13 Oct in 2013). The Hougang Tou Mu Temple happens to be the oldest Nine Emperor Gods Temple in Singapore. The festival begins with the welcoming of the gods into the temple where they are to be worshipped for nine days (and entertained with opera performances), and ends when the gods are sent off on the ninth day. The festival is well known for the processions that take place during the celebrations. The identity of the Nine Emperor Gods is shrouded in mystery but devotees believe the they bestow wealth and longevity on their worshippers. Followers are expected to abstain from meat in order to purify their bodies throughout the celebration. To welcome the deities, a street procession started from the temple and proceeded to the Serangoon River where the gods were officially invited. The procession that we saw consisted of lion and dragon dance troupes and devotees following behind in open vehicles carrying statues of accompanying gods and the sacred urn. The ritual to send off the gods will take place on the ninth day (Sunday) with the transfer of the sacred urn in another procession returning to the river. 

 The arrival parade floats on Fri

I wandered up for a closer look on Monday evening while Eric went to the Esplanade Theatre with Richard to see Steve Gadd, a drummer who has worked with lots of other artists in a wide range of music genres. He was very impressed with the band but found the music played was all very similar. They returned to the Crazy Elephant Blues Bar and enjoyed the end of the night there with the session band.  

Eric had to miss the walk on Monday because he was due back at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for his regular check up. The good news is, in all the blood tests conducted, his results came back in the optimal range. Excellent news. He's in peak condition it would seem. Bad news is he had a long wait between blood test and Dr's appointment so he went shopping and couldn't resist yet another bargain or two. Meanwhile, the rest of us slogged it out up to the Bukit Timah summit once again. I got home just in time to catch him about to leave for a walk to test out his new hiking shoes.