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.