Day out with the birds

What a wonderful bike ride enjoyed through Pasir Ris Park on Monday morning! 4 cyclists and 4 walkers met at the MRT and spent a couple of hours in this park on the northeast coast. The birdlife was prolific. As we were hiring the bikes we could see a number of keen photographers nearby with their lenses trained on a branch. Through their viewfinders we were able to locate the nesting hole where a pair of Coppersmith Barbets are raising their chicks. I'd like to claim these images as Eric's but they were taken by the group we met with their oversized lenses.

So, within 5 mins we felt like we had already received our gift for the day. Then, as we rode on, we were drawn to the sight of sunbirds nesting, an egret colony feeding their young, the rousing call of the jungle fowl and the warning of rain by the koel. The highlight though was finding a family of pied hornbill in the mangroves. What a morning.  

 Jungle Fowl

 Pied Hornbill

The walkers also found another lot of photographers who had found an owl nesting but we didn't see them. Great day for birds, not to mention a pleasant ride in the shade of the raintrees and the cool of the mangroves. 

 Tree climbing Mangrove Crab

Last Thursday Eric met with Renee, the MAE Principal now that Peter's role is more aligned to the Kuala Lumpur branches. She wanted to discuss the composition of the downsized leadership team for 2015 which not only still includes him, but she also offered to promote him from Annex Head to Academic Director to oversee both the Punggol and Kovan Branches. We had to remain very quiet about the changing structure until all the staff were told in the first week of May. There are a number of staff whose current contracts finish at the end of this year and before Renee goes recruiting in June they want to have a clear indication of what positions need to be filled. We have the papers on the table to sign. 

On Friday morning he met with a number of other MAE staff to attend the ANZAC Day dawn commemorative service. Last year, when we both attended, it was hosted by NZ, this year it was the Aussie's turn. He found it very moving but also admits he found it hard to focus on classes in the evening. 

He felt the crowd was even bigger than last year, some of these bikies were from Cardiff. In the afternoon, before work, we watched the start of the Bombers V Magpies game. Bombers got off to a good start but it was never going to last. 

We've had a number of visits from the local health authorities this week as they try their best to put a stop to the growing Dengue Fever cases in our area. Dengue Fever is a mosquito borne disease and there is a constant campaign to reduce the risks by eliminating good breeding conditions. Our condo is fogged once a week all year round but we have also had door knocks to inspect for damp pot plant saucers etc and offers to spray the rooms with a Baygon insect spray. You dont need to worry about us, while we do take it seriously, it seems the Aedes mosquito prefers the blood of the locals over Caucasians.

For a few weeks now I've had a hankering for corned beef of all things. On Tuesday we made our way over to The Butcher in Holland Village and found not only this, but lamb shanks too. As I type this the smell of vinegar laced with cloves is emanating from the kitchen. It is going to be fabulous, though it's not like we've been lacking in dining opportunities of late. last night was the mid-term staff dinner at Wine Connection in Robertson Walk and today while we were in Holland Village we found a lovely bakery for lunch. Tonight we are checking out the menu at the venue selected for the end of the Great Race. its a tough life.  

We are looking forward to a day with Luke this time next week when he breezes in and out on his way to becoming a cruise expert for Escape Travel. We also have Doug (our best man of almost 35 yrs ago) and wife Kay arriving Friday, they are here for a few days so we will have plenty of time with them next week. 

Testing week again

It was testing week again, usually turns up about the 4th week of each term. They are probably one of the easiest weeks to administer, you just need to carefully juggle your time so that tests are being marked as you conduct the next class. Some students excel and finish very quickly, others struggle and you have to try to reduce the pressure or the little ones dissolve into tears. Then I do too, fancy getting these pre-schoolers to sit still and fill out pages that they don't understand! They are so stressed at the idea of not being successful. 

Eric had a senior staff meeting on Thursday at Jurong and while he was away a funeral procession left the HDB and proceeded past our condo. Hearing the drums and trumpets I grabbed the camera but was still too slow to catch the start. The funeral procession was lead by a band of musicians.  The music is meant to frighten away malicious spirits lurking around the funeral site. This snap just manages to catch the leading walkers, appearing to be pushing the hearse. This would be the sons and daughters in the first row, followed by other family members. What intrigued me most were the costumes which looked to be made of hessian hoods rather like the ku klux klan.  In Singapore, the procession will walk for a short distance as a final gesture of farewell and then board vehicles to proceed to the crematorium, rather than a graveyard, with land being at such a premium.

This was a short week with Good Friday falling in the middle of it. We held the second inaugural Cherry Hill Tennis Championships at our condo in the morning and had a fun hit and giggle session. It wound up with lunch across the road and then in the evening we went over to Jurong to have a lovely home-cooked dinner at Bev's.  

My hairdryer fell to bits in my hand Saturday morning so after work we met at Mustafa's in Farrer Park where I was able to get another one and while we were there found a few other discounts, as you do. We ended up in the food section and not surprisingly we parted and couldn't find each other again without the help of the mobile phones. I was in aisle 62 so that gives you some idea of the magnitude of the store. Aisles are tiny and it is a crush of trolleys, kiddy strollers and people in fabulously coloured clothes. Prices are cheap but it all just gets too much too quickly. We got outside and met up on the street then chose a nearby restaurant for dinner. The Copper Chimney turned out to be a very good choice, from our table we could watch the cooks stretching and molding the breads or stripping the meat off the long skewers as they came out of the tandoori ovens. 

After work on Sunday  a small group returned to Joe's. Michael Munro is in Byron Bay readying himself for the big swim across the bay. Peter is in Bendigo visiting his Mum. At some point during the night I woke up and remembered we had caught a cane toad in the garden of Koolpinyah Cres, Tiwi. I had grabbed it with a plastic bag and tied it up. Eric insisted we put it in the freezer of the drinks fridge on the verandah, to give it the humane death sentence. Personally, I would have just binned, it but there you go. Anyway, what alarmed me was that I suddenly realised we hadn't told Luke and Tahlia about it! But it gets worse, we turned off the fridge before we left! In the morning I managed to shoot off a message to Luke to tell him to check the freezer. The reply was 'All taken care of'. So then I asked him what state it was in. His reply 'Liqified!'
The walk on Monday saw us back at Bukit Timah. At the summit we met up with another regular local group which includes a chap called Ng Kok Tai who we speak with regularly. His group have just returned from a walk around Annapurna too. We put him in the middle of our summit pic and called him leader which he really enjoyed.

Found this Black Bat Flower which belongs to the yam family. The unusual black flower is sort of bat-shaped, with long 'whiskers'. 

After the walk we showered at home then headed to Plonk, a bar in Serangoon Gardens run by two Aussies. They have a a big screen tv upstairs where they televised the AFL. Since it was Easter Monday we caught the big game between Geelong and the Hawks. The packed MCG looked and sounded fantastic. The game was close all day, Cats lead at every change but there was really only one kick in it so everyone enjoyed it. I sat between avid supports of either team so just barracked for the underdog. We had the whole upstairs to ourselves and it was very pleasant on the couches. Food was fabulous (no hot pies though).  

Tuesday morning was spent at home and then we walked another leg of the Great Race to check it on our way to the movies. This week we saw The Grand Budapest Hotel which I found unentertaining but Eric thought had just the right mix of quirkiness and sentiment. Each to his own. We had dinner at Newton's Circus which we first visited with the kids in the 90's. It was closed in 2005 for a big refurbishment and doesn't look at all familiar now but the food was delicious. 

Funny how the world turns

On Thursday we retraced our steps over some previously set legs of the Great Race. Eric teamed up with Michael and Heather and I did another leg then we all met for lunch at Suntec City Mall. The construction of the whole complex closely follows feng shui principles with the five towers and the convention center arranged so that they look like a left hand when viewed from above. The bronze Fountain of Wealth appears as a ring in the palm. The fountain was once listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest fountain in the world, but now the category has been removed apparently. Situated right in the hub of the mall, the fountain is turned off at certain periods of the day and visitors are given the chance to walk around a mini fountain in the centre. At night, the fountain is the setting for colourful lights and laser performances. The last time we came to see it, while Adrian was visiting, it was closed for maintenance. 

On our way home we called in to the Post Office at Kovan and collected our new passports which were posted to us registered mail. So easy. then we just had to fill out a form and our office staff made the arrangements so that our thumb prints still match as we enter and leave the country - we hope! The best thing about that side trip was discovering a continental baker in Kovan, so now our freezer is full of wholemeal and sourdough loaves. Still no date scones though! I've been looking around for one of those for months now. Enjoyed one in Darwin but had to share it! This lead to desperate measures - on Friday morning, I found my hands in a bowl of sticky dough and the results were good but not fantastic. Just a little bit undercooked and doughy I announced. Not good enough to share! 

On Saturday night we had dinner at Michael and Heather's as Michael is due to fly home this coming week to participate in the annual swim across Byron Bay and catch up with friends. Peter and Kathy joined us. With work on Sunday we had to be pretty careful not to over-indulge. Home-made trifle has become Michael's specialty. 
Monday's walk was postponed to Tuesday this week to make way for the social committee's day on St John's and Kusu Islands. I was not interested as it meant more travel over water and reports of what you had when you got there didn't excite me. Instead I returned to Bukit Timah on my own. Who would have thought? Here's the girl who always complained that those steps were doing my knees more damage than good. How the world turns, I think I have ground away all the old scar tissue and they give me less trouble now than i can ever remember. I was just keen to see if I could find my way around the tracks without getting lost and for some mind space where I didn't have to think about or talk to anyone. Selfish maybe, but thats what I wanted. I was very happy too, until I discovered on the train as I headed to BT, that my phone was flat. I'd been planning on taking a summit photo and also using it to work out which bus to take to get to another leg of the Great Race that needed checking. Not to worry, I managed quite well without the technology and turning up at Holland Village unplanned at about lunchtime was a bonus. I've also since discovered that the butcher there sells corned silverside so we will shortly be making a return visit. Sandy had offered to send a cryovaced piece over with a friend doing a weekend visit, but now there is no need. 
Eric enjoyed his day on the offshore islands. St John's Island was originally a quarantine station for cholera cases. Later, victims of beri-beri were also brought to the island and eventually it also used to house victims of other diseases, like leprosy. When mass immigration was closed in mid-20th century, the island was used to house a penal settlement and a drug rehabilitation centre. In 1975 the island was transformed into a peaceful weekend getaway for locals with swimming lagoons, beaches, picnic grounds and walking trails. The group that went shared a picnic, swam and took a stroll. 

The trip then takes you on to Kusu Island which is a turtle sanctuary, has a temple and three shrines at the summit of 152 steps. Devotees will climb the 152 steps leading to the shrines to pray for wealth, good marriage, good health, fertility and harmony. The temple houses two deities who between them are said to have the power to confer prosperity, cure diseases, calm the sea, avert danger and promote fertility (especially for sons). 

 Then they finished up at Sque Bar in Clarke Quay. 

The walking group met at McRitchie Reserve and walked a 14 kms trail that included a canopy walk, not open on Mondays. This is the first time we have done this walk. It begins with a lovely boardwalk beside the catchment dam and continues through the forest on trails. Unfortunately, as we were ambling along, we heard a limb fall and crash through the understorey. I had visions of the Red Gums along the Murray River doing just that and yelled at everyone around me to run, fearing an injury. Despite my best intentions i actually caused Leonie to spring into a sprint and she snapped her hamstring. Ouch, and we didn't clear much ground either. Fortunately the limb finished up well clear of us but Leonie had to be escorted back to the closest park exit (which really wasn't very close) by her husband Peter and Peter Scarrott. The rest of us completed the walk which was mostly shaded, thankfully. We were far too late in the day to see any birdlife in the canopy but there were plenty of other examples of wildlife close at hand (this Wagler's Pit Viper was only about 30cm from our boardwalk). They are venomous but not considered aggressive. 

All Souls Day Celebrations

Qing Ming Jie or All Soul's Day for the Chinese, is held in the third lunar month - usually on 5 April or 106 days after the Winter Solstice. It is a time to remember the dearly departed and to pay respect to one's deceased ancestors and family members, so reinforcing the ethic of filial piety. Qing Ming is a major Chinese festival with many Chinese visiting the cemeteries of relatives to make offerings of food and drink. Many burn joss money and paper images of houses, cars, servants, treasure chests etc at the graveside, or in special fire pits in the neighbourhood, to ensure that the deceased have all that they need in the other world. The latest paper effigy offerings include laptops, ipads and mobile phones. After prayers, the food is gathered together and taken home to be consumed by the worshippers themselves. When we were walking home last night through the HDB you could have been mistaken in thinking a shop had caught fire, there was so much smoke to wade through. 

I've been really enjoying my P2 classes this week in which we are doing a Birds theme. We are not really teaching them about birds per se, but the language associated. A bonus is if they learn new scientific or environmental snippets of information on the way. I took my ipad to each of the classes this week and showed them pictures of birds we have been able to photograph while walking around the island and they were all amazed that there were so many and of such variety. Mostly they recognised the crow, the sparrow and the white vented mynas. All of which they confidently told me were dirty and poisonous. Hopefully I have enlightened them and now they are going to keep their eyes open for the bright yellow and black oriole which is very common even in suburban trees.

On Friday we brought Eric's brother Reg and his wife Alison back to our place and across the road for chicken rice at lunchtime. This is their last day in Singapore and most of the group are either resting or shopping in Mustafas. While Eric took them back to the hotel I had a foot reflexology session. This caused me great pain but I kept hoping it was going to be beneficial. Look how much the therapist enjoyed making me grind my teeth and squirm. 

Turns out the parts that were hurting before the session just hurt worse after! But it must be good for you they say. I just studied the chart and wondered what dire diseases I was infected with but really I think it is just tired tendons and ligaments from all that gardening and walking. 

Speaking of walking, the Monday group tackled Bukit Timah for the first time this year. We had an enthusiastic group of 11 who all made it to the summit but we took alternative paths depending on our goals. 

I don't mind telling you I was ready for a kip on the couch when we got home but instead I finished a photobook I have been making to thank Clyde Fenton Students for all the effort they put in last year to sponsor the Gudel school with over $1000 raised through SRC events. I have saved a proof which you can view it if you click here 

In the evening we returned to New Everest Kitchen, also for the first time this year. It has been a busy social calendar so far. Even this event clashed with Book Club so we had to make a choice. The food was fabulous but the service very slow and disappointing. A riot took place on the streets in this area on Dec 8 last year and we are wondering to what extent the recently enforced controls in the area have affected trade and patronage. One enterprising local trader who was in the restaurant noticed we were drinking wine and encouraged us to buy from her outlet next time we were dining out. On the way home we dropped in to check it out. What a store, she did warn up it was a bit untidy. One might call it a treasure trove but we didn't spot any bargains this visit.  

On Tuesday we walked with Michael and Heather through Bidadari, where we saw a large flock of beautiful rose ringed parakeets, then had a Great Race meeting. Legs and final destination are coming together. In the afternoon we joined Leonie and Peter Evenden for their joint birthday celebrations over High Tea at the Shangri La Hotel. It was a beautiful afternoon with sumptuous food, not to mention flawless service.  

From there we met up with the Social Club Committee for their meeting at Sauce Bar which is nestled on the waterfront in the Esplanade Theatre Complex. A very full day and then this morning I rushed off to see 'Mandela: Long walk to Freedom' before work since today is the last day of screening in Singapore, only to find it was no longer showing at our local. Bugga!

Return to Reality of Work Life

We landed home late Tuesday evening to find the house-fairy (Kathy), who had been staying at our place for a few days with her daughter, had done all the ironing. How good is that? Have already booked her for any other holiday we're away and she isn't. 
So on Wednesday afternoon we returned to work for the 2pm meeting to mark the beginning of term 2. By 4 pm, just before the classes started I was feeling like it was time to down tools for the day and have a dip in the pool - that's the routine we had followed all the week before. It was a long evening. Hope you had a great birthday celebration Sandy.
On Friday we took the red line to Orchard MRT and walked to the Australian High Commission. It was very hot by the time we got there and we were rather cross with ourselves for having misread a sign that meant we walked at least 2 kms further than we needed to. The process of renewing our passports was very efficient though and they will deliver the new ones to us by registered mail within a fortnight. I was expecting to at least be able to read an Australian newspaper while I was there but there wasn't time and besides, only the local paper was available.  From there we walked back through the Botanic Gardens to the yellow line. 

What was a very pleasant surprise was to see how the gardens have bounced back to life after the recent rain. We were here just two weeks ago and were struck by how browned-off everything was. 

We chose different pathways to the familiar ones and discovered two amazing heritage listed trees. One was a heavily buttressed Kapok Tree near the bandstand.

The other was the same Tembusu Tree which features on the $5 note. It has a very low branch, just perfect for group portraits. So popular has it become that now the branch needs support and a barrier fence has had to be erected to protect it. Singapore has recently made a pitch for its first Unesco World Heritage Site - these beautiful 154-year-old Botanic Gardens.

There are so many fabulous sculptures in the gardens, every time you visit you find more. This one is simply titled 'Girl on a Bike'.

As we wandered it felt rather strange to be living in a foreign country without a passport. Of all places, I think Singapore is probably one the easiest to do that in. 

On Sunday night many of the staff met up from the different branches to celebrate one week down, only 11 to go at Sque Bar in Clarke Quay. This is a long term. There were lots of travel stories shared and talk of the upcoming Great Race which will be the biggest social event of the term. Team entries are due at the beginning of next week. I am hoping people will write up quick reviews of their recent travel and save them in a Google Drive Account I set up for all the staff. We hope to make this a useful online place to visit for tips on holiday planning and weekends away from Singapore, but it will only be useful if people bother to add their experiences. 
The Monday walkers met at Kovan and walked to Kampong Lorong Buangkok, the last surviving kampong on the island. Only about 30 Malay and Chinese families remain. The timber houses, connected by dirt roads, have rusting corrugated iron roofs and are in varying states of disrepair. Since the residents pay only a small, monthly rent of about $30 to the landlord, Madam Sng Mui Hong who inherited the plot of land from her father decades ago, no one seems to mind. 

 Found this parang wedged conveniently at Bev's height.

The Govt are keen to raze it for redevelopment, claiming the land is flood prone and poorly serviced but the local residents are standing firm. I'm not sure how much time they have left in the face of modern urbanization. The region of Buangkok is filled with modern HDB flats in stark contrast to the humble kampong.

 

While we were walking Eric was attending a check up at The Atrium, Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He has been doing this every six months since he first arrived. Again, all his results are in the desirable zones so he was expecting to be told he no longer needed to return, but then he mentioned that we are planning to walk to Everest Base camp so they do want to see him again in September. 

In the evening we met up with his brother Reg and wife Alison at the Park Royal in Farrer Park. They are enjoying a few days stopover, breaking the return journey after a cruise on the rivers of Scandinavia.  Reg and Al were always very generous to us when we visited the folks in Central Victoria, especially when we had young children in tow. In those days their holidays invariably involved hitching the van to the back of the car and they would go up the river, fishing. More recently, they have been enjoying a number of cruises which they do with a party of about 20 other Maryborough (or thereabouts) locals. We thought we were going to have a quiet dinner with just the two of them but to our delight everyone wanted to join in. A few have chosen not to do the stopover and already headed home, but in all there were 15 of us who decided Chinatown would be a good place to start. Since Reg spent his working life driving trains (starting on steam trains) we used the MRT for transport. Everyone was fascinated by the cleanliness and efficiency though a few were not so thrilled when they heard that it had no driver.
Getting them tickets and then through the 'tap and go' gates was a challenge but they were very good at staying in a group, I guess going on organised tours does that for you. We ate al fresco in the recently revamped Smith St (of course) and everyone seemed to enjoy the dishes we chose from the shophouse restaurants and street kiosks. 

 Eric and his brother sitting opposite, pretty easy to identify

 plenty of choices

 plenty of people

satays were popular

On Tuesday the group took on Jurong Bird Park and the Singapore Flyer and we met them for the 7pm 'Wonder Full' sound and light show at Marina Bay Sands. Unfortunately we got the arranged meeting point mixed up and they arrived just as the last notes were fading into the night.  Not to be discouraged, they all agreed to a coffee or a beer while we waited for the next show at 9:30. I'm sure many were exhausted either by the long visit to the park or the exhilaration of the flyer, but everyone seemed to think the wait was well worth it. 

Tomorrow they are off to the Zoo and will have done the cable car to Sentosa by the time we see them again on Friday!