Happy Australia Day

The first birthday celebrations began as we sang along in each class on the weekend with the ukulele. Then the staff shared a cake between last classes. I am starting to appreciate that Maria never leaves anything undone and the set up was impressive. 

All the family have been in touch and many friends joined us on Monday night at Plonk to celebrate another one of my birthdays. Some went to a lot of trouble to dress up in appropriate attire for a National Holiday celebration even though they weren't invited to. They were adorned with clinging koalas and other icons like Uluru and outback dunnies. Where do you find these fridge magnets? She must have some sort of dress-up box! Despite saying 'no presents' I now have the cutest elephant, we ate a stacked lamington, jaffas and caramelo birthday cake (the lamingtons were made from scratch), flowers and I was given a walking stick (but it didn't make it home unfortunatey). Peter innovated the lyrics to the song 'Mama' by B. J. Thomas (remember "Who's the one who tied you shoes when you were young...... " and sang to me. 

Mahjong the elephant is the newest addition to the open-air exhibition dedicated to saving the Asian elephant from extinction. For one or more months, hundreds of painted elephant sculptures specially created by artists are placed in the streets of one or more host cities with the aim of increasing public awareness of the plight of the elephant and gaining support for Asian elephant conservation. They are then auctioned off, with the proceeds going to The Asian Elephant Foundation. They were here in Singapore from 11/11/11, a herd of over 100 brightly painted life-size elephants for two months so we saw some of them when we first arrived. You can purchase somewhat smaller replicas and a percentage of the money raised also supports the foundation. Kris chose Mahjong because on the trek to Annapurna I taught her some of the fundamentals of the game. 

It can be very hard to make a choice from the range

A strange thing happened this week. I had ordered 5 bluetooth selfie sticks for Sandy, our very own gadget-fan friend, for the students at Alawa Primary who will use them with their ipod touches for digital projects. We were expecting them to be delivered but the SingPost man arrived at the door Friday morning to tell me the 2 packages had been stolen! He thinks he must have put them down while sorting letters at a big array of private boxes like our condo, and someone swiped them. To avoid the hassle of police reports and big trouble for him he insisted I sign to say they had been delivered and paid me the value out of a wad of money he carries around. I was so surprised a) that he carried that much money on him b) that he insisted this was a much better solution for him and c) that there is any crime in Singapore. And now I know why there is no crime in Singapore. They don't report it. Anyway, the sticks are back on order so we wait and see what happens next time. 

We met Helen and Jo for lunch yesterday at Novena before my MRI. They are preparing to go to Cambodia and are happy to take more books to the Book Buddies project in Siem Reap. We offered some ideas regarding their itinerary and told them more about Socheat and his charity. We will lend them a suitable bag that can be used to transport the books.
The MRI went off without a hitch and then we met Peter and moved on to Chenguan's for dinner. His wife and daughter are in London for interviews, hoping Hong Yi will get into Medicine. Chenguan cooked up a lovely meal finished with copious amounts of Chinese tea. 

Adrian has been in touch to say that he has arrived safely in Alice Springs to begin the next chapter in his life. His mate Jacob (ex Katherine High) drove up in a work ute and closed-in trailer. They filled it to the brim and headed back with the dog sharing the front seat. After 1,500 kms and a big night along the way with friends in Katherine they got back in time for Jacob to head out bush for the week of work. Good to be young. When we spoke to Adrian he was under Loretta's (Jacob's wife) orders to mow the lawns. It will be good for him to do some physical work in the very different climate. He was then heading off to enroll in a welding course and hopes to be on the job, travelling with Jacob as soon as next week. They will be doing all sorts of metal fabrication work, mostly out of town. They worked together some years back doing similar work, mostly fencing, in the remote communities of the Top End.

It's a shame we will miss him when we arrive in Darwin for a few days over Chinese New Year. We will also miss Yve and John who have just relocated to Adelaide and Sue Rose who is supporting her Dad in Nar Nar Goon. Never mind, I'm sure we won't be lonely. 

Singapore stopovers

I jumped on the usual train for work on Friday and to my surprise there was Carolyn looking very relaxed and happy after a wonderful holiday in Spain and Morocco. She arrived here with us and spent her first 2 years at Kovan, the third at Bishan/Ang Mo Kio. Her contract finished at the end of November and she is now on her way back to Geelong to look for work. A few days here on the way through helped her to rearrange her luggage and catch up with friends. Many of us made it along to Clarke Quay on Saturday night. 

We sought out a new Sunday 'after work' venue this week and found Grapevine Cafe Bar and restaurant quite pleasant. They serve draught Japanese Asahi beer in a bubble which is very good value and have a few wines to select from including some Australian. They have a food promotion on at the moment but it seems that at anytime they have an extensive menu to choose from. Looks like we might be returning as it is conveniently located on our way home.Melisa managed the Asahi Bubble like an old hand.

One of us is keeping up the exercise routines with regular walking. He has walked a couple of times with Peter midweek and on Monday the group walked from Choa Chu Kang to the Rail Mall. It took them 3 hours so there are a few newbies who are going to be feeling it after that. They ate at one of my favourite outlets for Thunder Tea Rice so I ordered take away and Eric turned up with it. Very good service (though about an hour later than I was anticipating).  

 This before the tea is added

In the evening we met Peter and explored the Telok Ayer area finding lots of food and beverage outlets all offering tempting deals as it is very competitive around here. After sampling at a couple we settled in at 'Food on Fire' where the host was very attentive and the food very reasonable.  

They don't serve wine at this particular outlet but were only too happy for us to get a bottle from the local 7 Eleven store.






The good news is my knee is improving. I measure this by degrees; I got through this last Sat and Sun at work without pain killers so that's a big improvement. 

 While sitting down to recover I have finished scanning photos from the 1994 reunion trip to Penang onto the computer. How small the boys were then!

And what about us!














On Tuesday Night we joined a group at Robertson Quay to meet up with Deb and Michael Canaway who, like Carolyn, finished their contract with MAE at the end of last year and have been to Sri Lanka, Sicily and Thailand before now heading home to resume their lives in Point Lonsdale. 

 Eric with Michael

Deb between Kim and Syd Pink.

Couch Surfing

So that little stumble I had on the way home last Tuesday night has put me on the couch. I am managing to get to work and complete my duties there in a brace but other than that I mostly move from the couch in front of the tv to the couch by the window to read. I've finished two books already; one about the Royal Kumari of Kathmandu (by an ex-Kumari - living goddess) and another beautiful pictorial book by a group who walked much the same trek as us to Base Camp. It bought back so many memories of both the beauty and the hard slog.

I'm pretty sure I have a torn medial cartilage in my left knee, something I have been managing since November but now impacting on everything I do. It is amazing to think you can climb to the top of Kala Patthar one week and be on the couch so soon after. I've found some rehab exercises to do while I await the specialist appointment Thursday week. And I made it to the pool yesterday while Eric went walking with the usual Monday group. 

It is good to see so many fresh faces in the group but Peter and Eric were clearly outnumbered in terms of gender and it is very obvious to us here, that the company are actively recruiting a younger staff. Perhaps our days are numbered. Peter is still here. He can stay up to a month after his employment pass expired on the 4th Jan and then has to leave and return as a tourist. He is investigating employment options and also starting his own business. Keeping pretty mum about it all as you would expect. I'm sure he is feeling it though, not having much purpose each day in this dollar driven society. While I adjusted to being a 'wife of' in Malaysia with that whole community of others in the same position, he is on his own. It is a big adjustment and one he wants to transition out of pretty quickly. Meanwhile, this week he has become a grandpa for the first time so that has added a nice distraction. His son Tim is teaching in Korea this year but the baby was born in Ireland, that being the homeland of his wife Naomi. After the holidays they will return to Korea but then hope to come back to Singapore in July. 

So with this time on the couch I have started looking ahead to the March holiday. We are thinking it might be good to get to Myanmarr before the elections later in the year. March and April are usually the hottest months of the year when temperatures can reach 40 deg but our itinerary will take us north which will hopefully be cooler than the southern lowland and coastal regions. In Yangoon we can expect higher humidity and temperatures in excess of 40°C at that time of the year.

Thinking about regional elections (excluding Australian, I don't want to get into that state of affairs in this blog, ties my stomach in knots) I feel optimistic about the outcome of the recent election in Sri Lanka and the peaceful handover of office. The outgoing president may have gained a lot in terms of achieving peace with the Tamils after 37 years of civil war in his early reign, but it appears that then power went to his head and he lost his way. There is still a lot to do to steer the country forward and it was time for a new leader. I was particularly happy to hear that Packer's licence to build a Crown Casino would be rescinded. Like they need a casino! 

We finished up the weekend at Sque Bar in Clarke Quay. Eric ran a social committee meeting there and Heather and I went along to enjoy the ambiance at a discreet distance and then joined them for a meal. The committee have a mix of old and new faces so should come up with a plethora of activities to stop us from becoming mouldy (like some of our leather objects at this time of the year). 

Gearing up for another year

Happy New Year everyone! That means Mum's birthday has come around again! It was wonderful that she found me on skype this week and we were able to have a chat. She is a remarkable woman, enjoying life still in her 90's and not too daunted by new technology and how fast things are changing around her. 

When I was pushing myself through some tough limits on the recent trek I was thinking of her and her stubborn determination that saw her repeatedly knocking on doors seeking a way into nursing training and staying committed to her husband and family through some tough years while Dad was so unwell. I think I have more of her in me than I ever realized. 

This is a picture of her on her last visit to Singapore. We'll be seeing her in a few weeks when we go to Melbourne for my niece's wedding on Feb 7th.









I seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time sitting these last few weeks; at the computer sorting through photos or writing blog posts and emails. I've also had lots of fun making little animations to celebrate Christmas and New Year. And then there's the drudgery of chasing up docs for the tax returns. My knees have been happy in the sitting position though. We did venture out with Bev one night to catch the Christmas lights in Orchard Rd. 

Peter came over to share dinner with us one night, he had brought back some mince pies from his Aussie celebration in Sydney. Over dinner we discussed the fact that he has a real oven at his place that he has never used and that we have a leg of lamb in our freezer that needs cooking. So the next afternoon Eric walked to his place carrying the leg of lamb and all the raw vegetables and all the condiments in his backpack. When they turned on the oven nothing happened. It appears the oven was never wired in correctly so they both came back here and started again (in a bus this time). Our little bench top oven managed quite well and Peter supplied Christmas pudding and brandy sauce to boot. 

Eric shared breakfast with the new MAE recruits on Wednesday morning then took those who are joining us at our branches out to Kovan. There will be two new staff at each branch and at Kovan we have Robert and Maria transferring from Tampines. I waited at home for the plumber (one of our water heaters is corroded and needs replacing) and then relieved him at Kovan so the rest could move on to Punggol. I got a shock when one of them asked me if I was in my 4th year, I almost denied it and then had to agree. That's amazing. 

We celebrated New Year in the evening by returning to the Boomerang Bar where our colleague and good friend Jo won a voucher at the  Melbourne Cup Day function. She generously shared that with us over dinner and then we made our way along the river towards Marina Bay where the fireworks were held. We only made it as far as the Crazy Elephant Bar. Looking for a taxi afterwards was threatening to spoil a good night so we took the MRT instead which fortunately we found was still running until about 2:30am.

We only worked the Fri, Sat and Sunday of week 1 and then most staff from all the branches made it to Penny Black on the river at Boat Quay to celebrate a good start to 2015 (or commiserate the fact that the holidays are over). Eric is running the social club again and it was good to see so many show up to the first event. Our new staff are noticeably younger than we 'pasties'. 
The Monday walks resumed and this week we walked through the beautiful Botanical Gardens. Last year we saw them at about the same time, when Singapore was experiencing a dry spell and they looked like they were really suffering, but this week they were glorious. We finished up at Tanglin Mall for lunch.

 No new faces this week, most of the new staff are arranging to move out of the hotel and into their new condos this weekend. 

 At Swan Lake, Ive not seen white swans here before, only the black ones and some of these are sculptures.

A common kingfisher, not that common in Singapore actually.












In the evening we returned to Wine Mansion for dinner and farewell drinks for Michael Munro who is returning to Lismore after 2 years here as Heather's unemployed spouse. He has understandably had enough of twiddling his thumbs and is going home, planning to spend his days more purposefully. On the way home I stumbled and woke on Tuesday morning almost unable to walk on my left knee. Good thing I have an appointment lined up with a specialist in a few weeks.