Go Hawks

This week we returned to the t-shirt printing company to place final orders for the team shirt for the Annapurna trek. Biggest decision was what colour the ink ought to be and as one would expect, the adage 'You can never please all the people all the time' is as true today as the day it was first penned. So be it, they'll get over it. 
The Friday Mahjong class resumed, but this week at our place as only 2 came over to play. Heather has successfully roped Michael into playing and thus Eric had to make up numbers. She is so keen they have now bought a card table to go with the mahjong mat!  
On Saturday we managed to get updates on the AFL Grand Final between classes. It still seems so strange to be working rather than sitting with friends watching it. We were very happy for all our Hawks supporter family and friends. That night we had dinner with Peter and his daughter Katie who have just returned from Sri Lanka. They visited Dilip and family in Galle and found the computer which we helped buy for them in March is still working and even Norlanka, the Mum, has a go on it when the kids are at school.  

Damn it I have sore feet! Have managed to stub a toe on each foot would you believe? They are both purple and make getting around difficult, not to mention keeping up with the walkers. I have done more swimming than walking of late. This week by chance a bike ride was scheduled around Pasir Ris Park so that gave me a bit of relief. It is a beautiful park way out on the east coast, the term 'pasir ris' is Malay for narrow beach. There are lots of shady Rain Trees through the park which I have learnt this week are named because their compound leaves fold together when the sky becomes overcast, indicating rain. I always thought it was because the tiny leaves fall like raindrops in strong winds. They are also common in the Top End of NT and I think they might be declared a pest in Qld because they adapt so well and spread into native forests. They are native to Central and South America but have been widely planted for shade in the tropics as their canopies can reach 40m across.

We didn't see many birds, probably because of the fast pace (just joshing) but we did see Red Junglefowl. 

Now you might be thinking that the Red Junglefowl is simply a chicken that happens to be living in the wild, since it looks very much like a regular domestic chicken, but it is actually the ancestor of all domestic chickens. It is believed to have been domesticated thousands of years ago, not for the eggs and meat so much as for cockfighting and religious ceremonies. This honorable chook is, however, now endangered in Singapore and so quite rare except on Pulau Ubin.

On Monday afternoon we had been invited to watch the AFL replay at Michael and Deb's in Jurong. I just needed an afternoon at home so stayed home and caught up on guitar practice and emails but Eric had a good time that lasted well into the evening. 
Today we met up with about a dozen friends at a book club gathering over lunch. The book was 'And the Mountains Echoed' by Khaled Hosseni which most people seemed to have enjoyed except for struggling with so many characters. I have to admit I haven't finished it yet but wasn't going to let that stop me enjoying lunch at Wine Connection in Robertson Walk.  Eric and I then went to the Singapore Art Museum but found most of the exhibition space closed while they replaced the installations. Not good timing but a cool place to wander on a very hot afternoon. 

It is my turn to provide afternoon tea at our branch this week and I have been saving up some treats we brought home from China. No pressed duck tongue or dried abalone but some packets our Singaporean colleagues recommended yet couldn't find English words to explain. Since we have been home we have mustered up the courage to open them and found some are nice nutty rice crackers, some are chewy tamarind bars and the others are called biscuits but are soft and gelatinous. Not sure what the substance is and the flavour is bland. Might as well not bother eating them really. hopefully someone will enjoy! We'll see.