SG50 hits Fever Pitch

We traveled out to Punggol on Wednesday for joint branch meetings where announcements were made about changes in leadership and positions for next year. It has caused some unrest among a few colleagues but means little change for us as we see it. There may be further developments yet to come. Early days, we'll keep you posted. Taking the light rail to Coral Edge, which Eric regularly does on his way to the Punggol Branch, we saw this sewing project hung on an HDB through the carriage window, pretty impressive. Each individual flag is regulation size. And walking under the HDB across the road we found the preschool children out on a hunt looking for SG50 symbols. All students from the primary to tertiary level, will receive the SG50 Lego gift set from the Ministry Of Education. It is called Building My SG: Reflect, Celebrate, Inspire.

On Thursday we went for a walk along the Punggol River looking for birds. We saw plenty, the highlight being a close call with the Lesser Common Flameback, one of the woodpeckers here. In the afternoon, before we went to work, Richard came over and made good use of the guitar. Amazing how well it stays in tune when no one has been playing it.

The good news is that my Mum went home to Yarra Glen on Friday. Over the last few weeks she has been quite unwell and is now on a long slow road to recovery that sees her spending a lot more time in the recliner taking it easy instead of attending classes, growing fabulous veggies she shares with all the neighbours, coffee mornings and regularly walking the dog. At one stage it didn't look like she would get back to the Glen so we all have our fingers crossed she can manage OK, as this is what she insists she wants. Don't overdo it Mum! 

The 2015 Singapore Food Festival theme is ‘A Fresh Taste of Tradition’. There are a number of events taking place, one of which is 'A Wok down Memory Lane at Ellenborough Market'. Apparently, during the 1800s through to the 1960s, the Ellenborough Market (Teochew Market) was home to some of the best local hawker and street food before it was burned down in 1968. To relive the good old memories of this very special market, it has been recreated for the festival at Read Bridge, Clarke Quay. 

For 10 days the bridge has been crowded each evening with diners enjoying local treats. Heather and I went in after work on Saturday night and the array of food on offer was impressive; popiah, char kway teow, wanton noodle dishes, braised duck ..... but I was too tired to cope with all the people and piles of used dishes.The durian creme brulee or DurianCanBoleh was tempting.....just kidding. 
Instead we ended up back at Senor Taco for authentic Mexican, just beside the belly dancers at Shiraz who serve authentic Persian cuisine. There is no shortage of food options in Singapore. Meanwhile Eric and Richard relaxed together at Serangoon and even got to see more of the SG50 fireworks from the parade rehearsals as they take it around the suburbs. 
On Sunday night we had dinner 
with Peter and June at Saturday 
House and then went out

to Terminal 3 at Changi Airport to meet up with Judie MacMillan who had a few hours in transit between flights. She is on her way to Gallipoli to attend the commemorative service to mark the centenary of the Battle for Chunuk Bair, in which her grandfather participated. Judie walked to Gudel with us in Dec 12 and we last caught up with her after Jason and Georgie's wedding late last year as she now lives back at Ocean Grove. Bev made the journey out to the airport too. It felt really strange since we weren't about to go anywhere but we discovered a massive underground area with food and beverage outlets as well as the Giant Slide a number of our students have mentioned. The Slide@T3 is the tallest in Singapore at 12m. The latest in a diverse range of attractions at the airport and explains the growing popularity of the location as a family weekend destination. Yes, that's right, families go there for entertainment, not just arrivals and departures. 


We woke to showers on Monday but figured they never last long so the walk went ahead. We met at Macca's near Raffles Place MRT then walked all around the temples of Telok Ayer. 

 The ERA Building is always interesting, their models of the island always developing. This time we enjoyed all the sketches of Singapore displayed on the building's external columns, an SG50  “Let’s Draw! SG” project. At least 50 artists have contributed their own unique drawings of locations in Singapore, many of which we are familiar with. Do you recognise any of them below? 

We finished at the Maxwell Food Centre across the road. Unexpectedly the rain just kept on falling all morning but it was light and we actually enjoyed the cool conditions for a change. 

On the way back to the station Steve showed us  Erich’s Wuerstelstand, an Austrian butcher stall, he sells bratwursts straight from the grill along with pretzels, sourdough and muffins in Banda Street, in the heart of Chinatown. We had just eaten so settled on returning sometime soon. Steve is a regular relief teacher at our branches with a Welsh background and laconic sense of humour.

Then Steve led us to the doorway of The Olde Cuban. Tucked away on the second floor of a shop house in Chinatown where we have often shared a cool drink and a meal, this seems the least likely spot for a Cuban style bar. Apparently inside you can expect a good range of vintage whiskey and a full range (over 250) of specialty cigars. Steve is proving to have a wealth of information for things most unexpected in Sg! In the evening we enjoyed lovely Sri Lankan curries that Eric cooked up and listened to all the Cilla Black hits of the '60s. Another one gone.

The annual MAE HIgh Tea was on Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt in the heart of the shopping centre on Scott's Rd. We left home without breakfast and I drank several pots of white tea while Eric chose a Darjeeling variety and we ate plenty for both meals. After coming home we went for a walk through Bidadari which was very pleasant in the late afternoon after rain. 

No sign of snakes this time but we did meet a man who was training with his drone. We mentioned that we had seen one operating at this year's Chengay Parade and it turned out it was his. Small world! He was filming for the media as they don't have one.