On Thursday we had a mtg at the branch in Westmall, Bukit Batok. This is the first time I have visited this branch which only opened at the beginning of this year. It has lovely new carpet and hygenic toilets. Can you tell I was a bit jealous? Also had a quick chat with my sister Judy in the afternoon. We have been playing tag on the phone of late. She is really looking forward to a trip north to escape the cold.
On Friday morning we had quite a long chat with our financial adviser in Darwin over the phone. They are going to gather more definitive figures about our situation and get back to us with advice and some estimates of how much we will have available week to week to live on once we return and retire. If my job eventuates it will just be our play money, not enough to count I imagine.
For lunch we met up with Tina and Jenny who left Rhodes after us and travelled on to Crete and were passing through Singapore. We met up at NamNam in Plaza Singapura in Dhoby Ghaut the had a bit of a wander but it was raining and we soon headed home to rest my knee before work. Coincidentally Sandy was here too, passing through the day before, but we didn't get a chance to see her as we were working.
On Sunday Judie arrived safely from her return trip to Siem Reap. She dropped her gear at our place then joined us a Kovan. We have gathered quite a collection of books for the Book Buddies Charity she is a founder of and I wanted her to check them before finding a means of delivering them to Cambodia. They might go in the post this time as I have not heard of anyone planning a trip there in Sept. Then we all went to Joe's for end of the week drinks. Judie used to work at the Simei Branch and trekked with us to Gudel. Our buddy Ann in NZ provided the bottle of plonk.
On Monday Eric and Judie went walking with the group and once again got caught in the rain; a very common occurrence at the moment, but no one is complaining. As yet I am not up to that. I had a chance to chat with my brother Col and discovered he and Beth are off to Toronto in August. His big news is that Anna and Yaaran are expecting their second child. Then I went to Chinatown in search of a few Year of the Monkey mementos. In that endeavour I was successful but not so other quests. Not to worry, saved my money.
In the evening we met up with many other colleagues and friends to celebrate Eric's 60th and Kathy's birthdays. Fancy being born on the same day, though not the same year Kathy keeps reminding us, and working in such a small group. We had a great night at Wine Mansion in Outram Park where they were both roasted through song and we had a small trivia quiz for Eric.
The next day we had a slow start, but roused ourselves by lunchtime as Peter wanted to take us all out to lunch. The 3 of us met him at Bras Basah and walked to Hotel Grand Pacific for a Peranakan Buffet luncheon. I'm always amazed by the fact that you can turn up to one of these amazing feasts thinking you really aren't that hungry, but in an hour or so you have managed to plough your way through three courses. I really enjoyed their mural depicting the 'good old days' which actually depicted 'bloody hard work'.
We spent the afternoon with Jenny and Wayne Gould. Jenny was the principal at Cobram Consolidated while Eric was there, and both she and Wayne were avid golfers. After retiring from the Education Dept they bought and operated one of the motels in town for a number of years and have recently sold it after building their new home on the golf course in Barooga. It was wonderful to catch up with them and hear news of their family and many other friends from Cobram. Wayne is the captain of the club for a second time. Their itinerary included a full day tour of Singapore the following day so we were relieved of tour guide duties and in no time ended up in Clarke Quay by the river, enjoying the view and conversation around the 'good old days'.
We returned to work Wednesday and started the week with a joint mtg at Kovan so that all Eric's staff could enjoy another birthday cake and spread of food. Meanwhile Judie caught up with the owner of the HDB unit she shared when she was here and then she and Peter joined us for a quick dinner after work at our local hawker stall. Peter returned home with us to share a tipple of whiskey on the true birthday.
Walking to and from the MRT we can see the funeral ceremony is being held for the mother of Bernard and Gary, our florists on the corner that many of you have met. She passed away on Sunday and as the week has progressed the tributes have grown bigger and bigger. The flowers were amazing and by Thursday all the banners and quilts were delivered and hung from the pillars of the HDB void deck. Sending condolence blankets is a custom continued from ancient China. There, scholars would write beautiful poetry and couplets to honour the departed. They were written and pinned on the textiles and displayed for all to admire. In more modern times, the custom has evolved to sending blankets and comforters. After the funeral, the bereaved family can distribute the blankets and comforters to each branch of the family, who keep and appreciate the goodwill of the senders and remember their dearly departed. There was also a band playing in the morning.
Judie left on Thursday to return to Ocean Grove where the weather will require some brisk walking to keep warm. While she was here we managed to post another huge box of books off to the Book Buddies Project in Siem Reap thanks to the generosity of Morris Allen and their parent body. We have loved having Judie stay; your walking buddies that you endure hardships with mean so much to you as the years go on. We said at the time we would one day laugh about the crappy toilet, the inadequate sleeping bags and the aches and pains. And we certainly did that while Judie was with us this time! Relived the whole trek to Gudel again through photos.
For lunch we met up with Tina and Jenny who left Rhodes after us and travelled on to Crete and were passing through Singapore. We met up at NamNam in Plaza Singapura in Dhoby Ghaut the had a bit of a wander but it was raining and we soon headed home to rest my knee before work. Coincidentally Sandy was here too, passing through the day before, but we didn't get a chance to see her as we were working.
On Monday Eric and Judie went walking with the group and once again got caught in the rain; a very common occurrence at the moment, but no one is complaining. As yet I am not up to that. I had a chance to chat with my brother Col and discovered he and Beth are off to Toronto in August. His big news is that Anna and Yaaran are expecting their second child. Then I went to Chinatown in search of a few Year of the Monkey mementos. In that endeavour I was successful but not so other quests. Not to worry, saved my money.
In the evening we met up with many other colleagues and friends to celebrate Eric's 60th and Kathy's birthdays. Fancy being born on the same day, though not the same year Kathy keeps reminding us, and working in such a small group. We had a great night at Wine Mansion in Outram Park where they were both roasted through song and we had a small trivia quiz for Eric.
The next day we had a slow start, but roused ourselves by lunchtime as Peter wanted to take us all out to lunch. The 3 of us met him at Bras Basah and walked to Hotel Grand Pacific for a Peranakan Buffet luncheon. I'm always amazed by the fact that you can turn up to one of these amazing feasts thinking you really aren't that hungry, but in an hour or so you have managed to plough your way through three courses. I really enjoyed their mural depicting the 'good old days' which actually depicted 'bloody hard work'.
We returned to work Wednesday and started the week with a joint mtg at Kovan so that all Eric's staff could enjoy another birthday cake and spread of food. Meanwhile Judie caught up with the owner of the HDB unit she shared when she was here and then she and Peter joined us for a quick dinner after work at our local hawker stall. Peter returned home with us to share a tipple of whiskey on the true birthday.
Judie left on Thursday to return to Ocean Grove where the weather will require some brisk walking to keep warm. While she was here we managed to post another huge box of books off to the Book Buddies Project in Siem Reap thanks to the generosity of Morris Allen and their parent body. We have loved having Judie stay; your walking buddies that you endure hardships with mean so much to you as the years go on. We said at the time we would one day laugh about the crappy toilet, the inadequate sleeping bags and the aches and pains. And we certainly did that while Judie was with us this time! Relived the whole trek to Gudel again through photos.
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