Teachers Day to end the term

We began the working week with a lunch provided by the company to celebrate teacher's Day. Our branches both chose Ivins Peranakan at Heartland Mall and through the rest of the week a number of students brought in gifts that ranged from hand-made Rainbow Loom key rings to beautiful ball point pens. It is nice to be appreciated and I hope our company does the right thing and reciprocates on Children's Day. There was a suggestion that we would not provide a company gift as they have always done in the past, as a cost cutting measure this year.
Peter had purchased a group booking to go Prawning at Punggol through an online deal. It was planned for Thursday morning but I mixed up the times and we didn't get there. First we were late leaving home and then we just couldn't find a taxi or book an available one. Only four friends managed to get there and apparently they had mixed results. Fortunately Michael had the knack of jagging them so they managed to bbq enough for a feed afterwards. 
On Friday Peter and Eric made one more trip to the summit of Bukit Timah and repeated the full circuit we did last Monday. I opted to do housework instead! What a choice to be faced with. Actually, when I had finished I went to the ArchAngel store that sells recommended footwear for dodgy feet. I was impressed with the range they sold though many did look very 'corrective', which was not what I was looking for. I came away with a neat looking pair of work shoes but am still looking for a sandal. 

We are now in the midst of the Mid Autumn Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival or Mooncake Festival. After work on Saturday we took the MRT to Bayfront with Michael and Heather to visit the Gardens by the Bay where the best of the lanterns is on display this year. The theme centered on cultural diversity. Some were on the lawns and others floating on the lagoon. It is a surreal place to be any night but with these added colourful attractions it was very impressive, but also very crowded. 

 The Aussie exhibit

 Cavalia tent across the road

 On the lagoon

 Indian exhibit

 Just the usual lights

 

On Friday evening we made a great discovery for an alternative after-work drinking and eating venue. Bliss Restaurant at the Kovan Community Centre has a very decent menu and all prices are nett so you avoid paying ++ on everything which can make tallying up a bill difficult when some prefer not to split. Their specialty is lava stone grill and I tried their Dory on the Friday night and the steak when we returned on Sunday.  To Eric's delight they also do a very nice lamb shank and these meals are all less than $20.  Tasted even better with a McLarenvale shiraz. How good does it get on the last Sunday of the term?

In the last few weeks we have been collecting donations of pre-loved picture story books from our MAE families to take to Siem Reap in Cambodia. Our dear friend and ex work colleague, Judie McMillan, is now teaching back in Waddington in Victoria but has set up a small charitable organization to donate these books to kids in need there. We have offered to take a bundle (turned out to be about 40 kg) with us on Monday as we begin our visit. We are looking forward to meeting up with Socheat who is the Book Buddies Cambodian coordinator.