Luke and Tahlia in Sg

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.