Silvesters in town

Was surprised last week by a call from Colin to let me know Mum has had to have a few days in hospital. As the week progressed the news got better and she is on the mend, but it might be awhile before she has the strength to tend her garden or walk the dog. Too cold outdoors anyway they tell me. She is now tucked up under warm blankets and the loving care of Col and Beth so must be much happier. I'm so appreciative of my big brother and Beth who are doing a great job caring for her. Take it easy Mum; enjoy the balcony views, the songbirds and the great home cooking.

After work on Saturday we came home to sit on the couch and watch the Wimbledon Women's final. It was good to see some new blood challenging at the top though the result was never in doubt. On Sunday night, after dinner at Grapevine, we planned to watch the Men's Final but fell asleep. It was a pretty full-on first week back.

On Monday we took the walkers to Sembawang on a new route we developed last term. There were a good number in the group and everyone seemed to enjoy it, particularly the park, Bailleau House and the black and white housing estates. 

In the afternoon Bill and Robyn Silvester arrived on the last leg of a trip first in Darwin, visiting their son Luke who came over from Nhulunbuy, then in Port Dixon near KL. They were at Butterworth with us in '85 with their 5 children so of course we had a lot to catch up on. The last time we saw them was at the reunion in Penang last September which might not seem a long time but when you have 5 children, and then most of them have families of their own........   In the evening we went to Chomp Chomp for hawker food then finished off the evening at Plonk. 
On Tuesday we walked all over Gardens By The Bay which they hadn't seen before as it is many years since they were last in Singapore. 

We haven't been there for some time either and we were impressed by the number of extra sculptures and verdant growth. The dragon is wood but the two below are Lego!

We continued on to Telok Ayer area to walk through some of the more interesting streets and ten Chinatown before meeting up with MAE social club members at Sque in Clarke Quay. We came home to Serangoon to have dinner at our local hawkers as this is what they really preferred after staying in hotels in both Darwin and Malaysia.

Wednesday arrived all too soon. We walked down Paya Lebar Rd to Prata King to have a roti breakfast then walked home through our neighbourhood before the two of us went off to work and they got ready for the flight home to chilly Woolongong.
On Friday we enjoyed a public holiday for Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which marks the end of Ramadan, the day when Muslims break their month-long dawn to dusk fast. In the morning I went to the Chinese Gardens in Jurong for a walk with Bev while Eric caught a train to Stadium and walked home. I hadn't had a chance to catch up with Bev since we returned from holidays and so we made the most of this opportunity. I was gobsmacked by the number of cricket games already well underway on the open field just outside the gates when I arrived at 10 am. No less than 4 wickets were being pounded by balls, surrounded by fielders and the batting teams were sitting in the shade nearby. All these Indian and Pakistani construction workers were enjoying a rare day off. 

The gardens had many visitors, mostly Singaporean and Chinese, having picnics on the lawns. The pagoda, which has been closed since November last year is looking beautiful with a fresh coat of paint just in time for the SG50 celebrations. 

On the way home I saw many Muslim family groups in coordinated dress travelling to visit other family having been to the mosque in the morning. The celebratory meal begins at sundown. Special treats include ketupat, a malay dumpling made from rice packed into woven palm leave pouches and 'kueh' (cakes). 

In the afternoon I spoke to Judy, who has just returned from a trip to Europe. She visited Mum at Colin's yesterday so it was a good chance to catch up on her steps to recovery and Judy's holiday.