So on Thursday Eric was able to return those shoes and replace them with a new pair. I'm happy to report "so far, so good." We both went out to Jurong that afternoon for a seniors meeting, my first time to that branch. But so far away! It is huge and so much better appointed than Kovan. Newer facilities and nicer toilets by far. They arranged a replacement teacher for my first class of the day or I would never have got back in time. We had planned to meet Peter at our usual Kovan Grill that night but the Hawker Centre's alcohol licence has been rescinded for some reason, so we had to find another spot. We all just hope our very friendly Vietnamese Tiger Girl, Hoa, has been moved to another location rather than lost her job.
On Friday June and I set another leg of the Great Race and Eric went out to complete one he had started. The first of the quizzes will be circulated this week, we have 7 teams. Eric was setting another leg and his replacement pair of shoed fell apart too! I try not to smirk, mine are fine.
After work on Saturday night we had dinner at our local with June, Michael and Heather. Unfortunately on Sunday my left knee gave me lots of trouble, for no apparent reason, so we had to have a quiet night at home.
I rang Adrian to check-in after his first full week at work. He managed on the borrowed pushbike for 2 days but then went out and bought a second hand scooter on Gumtree. He is working as a labourer on an LNG Plant construction site located at Blaydin Point on the Middle Arm Peninsula and seems pretty happy, especially at being paid weekly after managing on a fortnightly pay for many years. The gas arrives there from an 889 km pipeline from the lchthys Field. Reports were positive, though the early starts take some getting used to and it is more than a 12 hr day by the time the bus returns him to the airport in Darwin. In his first week he saw the world's biggest crane in action. He spent most of his week placing mesh around the fourth storey level to prevent serious mishaps from levels above. It certainly is a big project.
Resting on the couch with my knee elevated and iced, I was able to enjoy a show on Australia TV about the museum of art at Tarrawarra. To think I used to pass this location everyday on the school bus and now I am sitting in Singapore enjoying the beautiful views of the Healesville Ranges and the fabulous artwork collected by the Gesens. In just a few weeks I have watched 2 programs centred around this location and the pivotal role the Barak and Wandin families of Coranderrk played in its history. I knew descendants of the Wandins when I was at High School.
Monday walkers postponed their walk this week to avoid a clash with the social club's annual High Tea. This year we enjoyed a sumptuous meal at the Shangri La. They serve up a complete meal at this event on the Rose Veranda so we skipped breakfast and only needed mushrooms on toast for dinner. I always love the way the ShangriLa does their flower arrangements and I wasn't disappointed this time. The roses smelt beautiful and i was very impressed with this style of arrangement, think even I could manage that.
The blue line of the MRT is becoming increasingly well used although it is still a long way from completion. We would be using it a lot more regularly if we were walking Bukit Timah as often as we used to, but they are still working on the trails there and it is closed during the week. The rest of the line to the east of Chinatown is still under construction and so is the brown line. They have also recently announced that they will be connecting Harbourfront to Marina Bay which will make the yellow line completely circular. I'm sure all this makes sounds like goobledygook to people who haven't visited, but for those who have used the MRT here, they will appreciate how much this fabulously efficient system is developing as the population grows. On the map below the incomplete lines are dotted.
The walkers went out to Yishun and walked through Sembawang Park and the black and white houses of the estates on their way back to Sembawang mrt. Apparently it was very hot, I gave my knee a rest and swam a few laps instead. Seeing anyone pushing a lawnmoer here is a very rare sight, they usually operate whipper-snippers, even in large parks.
We were delighted to see a bunch of our good friends walking the Great Ocean Rd Walk lately. The pictures were magnificent and the walkers were impressive too. Looking forward to joining them in another venture on home soil one day.
The Great Race is high on our list of priorities at the moment and we are spending a lot of time planning the legs or arranging the preliminary quizzes. It is all in good fun and we enjoy the challenge of involving lots of our colleagues in an entertaining afternoon. We have 6 teams with a possible 7th still to notify us and it includes 2 staff from the KL branches. The old adage: 'you can never please all of the people all of the time', is clearly evident already. So be it. I can't reveal too much to you as there may be spies lurking. Perhaps in a few weeks I could share one of the quizzes here.
On Saturday Luke and Tahlia returned from Krabi to a very wet Sg. We were pleased to have the rain as it has been very hot lately and becoming quite hazy again. Fortunately they had great weather in Krabi and even a bit too much sun on their backs while snorkeling in the crystal clear waters. Eric cooked a delicious beef tagine dinner and we enjoyed our last night together before they left very early on Sunday morning to return to Darwin.
They have inspired us to try to find a weekend to get to Krabi as it is only a 2hr flight. We each have a long service leave day owing so we confirmed with Renee that we could use Eric's on a Wed and we are now booked to fly on 25th of this month. It means we will miss attending our the last ANZAC dawn ceremony here but we wanted to go before the wet season moves in up there. Apart from the beautiful beaches the bird life looks exciting.
Meanwhile, Adrian rang on Friday after he had spent his first day of orientation at Inpex, a worldwide oil and gas explorer and producer. He will be working on the Bayu-Undan/Darwin LNG project. I am concerned that the source of energy for this refinery might lie within the disputed sea border with East Timor, an issue for which we side with the little guy. Adrian needs to get himself to the bus pick up point at the airport each day by 5am, so he has borrowed one of our pushbikes for the time being, as he doesn't own a car these days. At least there wont be much traffic at that time of day. He will work long shifts, 6 days a week for 4 weeks and then have a week off. He thinks he can adjust to the lifestyle but the early mornings will be difficult. We are looking forward to him visiting here, on one of the weeks off, before the end of the year.
The walkers did a circuit of McRithie Reservoir on Monday. It was hot, but beautiful. A huge number of students were participating in a canoe regatta on the lake which added colour and energy to the usually serene environment of the rainforest we walk through. Water pump at the rangers' station was out of action but fortunately they handed out some bottles they had on hand. Needed a swim in the pool when we got back from that - knees and feet aching after more than 17, 000 steps, roughly 12 kms.
Had recovered enough in the afternoon to meet up with Syd and Kim, Peter and Heather and Michael at District 10 at Buona Vista. A very pleasant evening was had by all.
Tuesday saw us having a very lazy start and then we took the train to Sentosa to partake in the High Tea at Movenpick Hotel. This was a gift for my birthday that we have had trouble finding a spare day to attend. It was served in the the Galleria of the restored colonial building that dates back to the 1940s. We had a late breakfast and skipped lunch to make the most of it.
On our way home we stopped off at Clarke Quay where a sports shoe store in the Peninsula Shopping Centre had a huge sale. We both bought walking shoes at greatly discounted prices and felt very pleased with ourselves. Unfortunately when we walked the following morning, Eric's new pair completely disintegrated. You get what you pay for sometimes. Hopefully we will be able to return them tomorrow. But for now, it is time for work.
On Wednesday I had arranged to meet Renee about some curriculum matters and so we chose to walk there from home. We discovered some lovely treed avenues with magnificent homes in the suburb of Lorong Chuan. By Thursday it was time to tackle legs of the Great Race again so we set off in different directions and met up afterwards at Dhoby Ghaut.
On Friday morning I joined Heather for an early walk around Punggol Park. We found Yellow Bittern, Sunda Pygmy Woodpeckers and Olive-backed Sunbirds in the mix. The sunbirds were collecting nesting material from the seedheads of the bulrushes. We didn't have our expert with us but managed some shots to keep even so.
Look closely. There's someone home!
Luke and Tahlia had arrived by the time we finished work on Friday so they joined us down at the Hawkers across the road. We had a lovely time catching up on all their news and sharing in the exciting plans for the new home. Ali is still going well, she continues to enjoy her walks but is getting a bit shaky in the back-end. Sound familiar?
It wasn't easy getting up to go to work the next two mornings and leaving them in bed. They assure us they got up soon after we left! They visited the Aquarium then joined us at Saturday House the first night and after a day at Universal Studios on Sunday they met us at Sque Bar in Clarke Quay.
It turned out to be the day of the launch of Huntsman, Winter's War so they saw the stars Chris Hemsworth and Jessica Chastain in the hall which was transformed into an ice palace usingcardboard. They got pictures and were interviewed by E entertainment as they waited for the red carpet event.
On Monday they were happy to have a quiet morning in, so we walked with the usual group from Punggol MRT station to Punggol Park which is really in Hougang. It was a pretty walk, the whole way following either the canal or the river but very hot. At the park we enjoyed the shade and breeze off the water while searching out the birds.
In the afternoon we went exploring with Luke and Tahlia. We began at City Hall and dropped into Raffles Hotel. We walked through the Beer Garden and went up to the Long Bar but there was a queue for tables so we gave the idea of a refreshing drink there a miss. Next we crossed over to Chijmes and ambled around in the coolness of the interior and the chapel. Then we made our way past the newly restored Capitol Theatre Complex to the National Gallery. My legs were getting tired by this time but together we all enjoyed the Reframing Modernism exhibition which is a collaboration undertaken with Centre Pompidou, Paris. The rest of them then did a quick visit to several other galleries while I went in search of a coffee and a comfortable chair.
From there we took the red line to Lau Pa Sat in Raffles Place. We were quite early so we shared a lamb murtabak while we waited for the satay stalls to fire up. Turns out there were visitors from Darwin on the next table so we got chatting and I shared the duty free alcohol he was trying to get rid of. Bonus.
Once it got dark we headed up to 1 Altitude on top of One Raffle Place. There are 3 buildings in Singapore that hold the record as the tallest, each standing 280m tall, but only one has an alfresco bar on top. 1-Altitude was the highest al fresco bar in the world, but has now been outstripped by one in Hong Kong. The 63rd floor is completely uncovered and the views, even on this hazy evening, were fantastic. There’s nothing but a five-foot glass wall to keep you from walking off the edge and plummeting onto a banker below. The hardest thing is deciding which pics to select the next day! In the image below it is the third tall building in from the left.
On Tuesday Tahlia was resting up, trying to throw off a cold, so we took it a bit easier and spent the day at home. We were all planning to go to a pasta night with our work colleagues in the evening. Eric made up some salads and headed over to their place mid afternoon to partake in the pasta making. Maria brought the pasta maker back from Italy and Melisa is an excellent cook of Italian parents, though a Canadian.
It was a delicious meal but unfortunately Tahlia wasn't up to it so they stayed home and got take-aways from the hawker stalls across the road.
On Tuesday morning they packed their bags for a few days in Krabi and then we had time for a game of mahjong before they caught the bus to the airport.
