Sobering week of news

We awoke Saturday morning to the dreadful news that a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, only 77km from Kathmandu and quite shallow, causing immense damage and killing hundreds of people. We immediately thought of our friends and their families in Kathmandu and also Gudel, hoping none were involved in the rising numbers being reported. The news only got worse over the following days as we learnt about the avalanche at Everest Base Camp, the mudslide devastating a whole village and the rising death toll. It was sickening. As far as we know at this stage everyone from our trekking company and the villagers in Gudel are OK. But so much heartache being suffered in the country! And it isn't just confined to Nepal but also in neighbouring India, China and Bangladesh. Our hearts go out to the people in the guesthouses, little shops and tea houses that have made our visits to Nepal so memorable. It is hard to accept the images we are seeing of ruined buildings, so many of them of such cultural significance and the suffering on the peoples' faces.  Coincidentally our EBC photobook arrived this week, we relived the trek again through the photos on the pages but with very mixed feelings. Earlier a book had arrived with our front cover but we were quick to discover that the rest of the pictures were not ours. Oops! Big mistake by the company. Somehow they have given us pages full of someone else's trip from Singapore to Lijang and Shangri-La in China. Looks like a great trip, just not ours.

On Friday Heather and I went to the Botanic Gardens essentially to go birding but also just because it is always a beautiful setting for a walk. The place seemed to be busier than usual, full of people out exercising and school groups. The latest outdoor sculpture exhibition closes this weekend so it was good to catch that although most of the 15 bronze installations didn't really inspire me other than the fact that they were monumental in size. This is the Taichi series of Ju Ming, a Taiwanese sculptor, featuring abstract blocks representing the human form. 

Ju Ping also created the 12 Gentlemen standing tall as the permanent feature at the Metropolis in Buona Vista, which I like a lot more. 

  




We didn't see a lot of different birds but it was a pleasant morning. In the afternoon the rain bucketed down and we had a brilliant thunder and lightning show. Was very happy to be home to watch it, not out in it.

Around 1,000 people gathered at Singapore’s Kranji War Memorial for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service, hosted by New Zealand in collaboration with Australian counterparts. We were unable to attend this year since as it fell on a Saturday and we work out to the east while Kranji is in the north west. 

On Sunday night MAE staff met at Wine Connections in Robertson Quay for a mid-term dinner. There were a good number enjoying the evening under a glorious sky .






Monday saw the group of regulars walk around McRitchie Reservoir, from the Mushroom cafe in a complete loop. Peter was away for a second week, this time in Korea with son Tim and his wife and baby. Heather brought along friends from Bangalow in NSW who did well considering they have just spent over a month in the northern hemisphere. We saw a number of birds including an orange-bellied flowerpecker for the first time. 

In the evening we joined a small group at Blu Jazz in Kampung Glam for dinner and then finished the evening at Divine in Park View Square where the latest wine fairy did her thing again. Once again I have failed to get a good picture. It must be something to do with the bad feng shui of the building.