8 Apr 2015 – Jalan Keramut Telisai

Mon: met with Lawrence for late breakfast at the airport as his flight to KCH was taking off an hour before mine. Looks like the Easter bunnies are still around at Changi 🙂

SIN-MYY just over 2hrs on AirAsia, with a slight delay for takeoff due to late incoming flight. The few back rows were not too packed and was glad to be placed there where I had 3 seats to myself and could take pix during the descend.

Appreciations to Justin for picking me and putting me at the Tropical Inn smack in the middle of town, a stone-throw from Merryland Cafe with  good Kolo mee. No WiFi at the inn or the cafe, but Starbucks is just around the corner and a perfect location for for morning coffee. There is a mall with Parkson with Meritx Hotel too.

Tue: Central Market at 0700hrs where one can still double, parallel, vertical park at the same time 🙂 Breakfast noodles costing MYR2.50/US .65cents, OK but the one at Merryland Cafe taste better.

YuLan Plaza in the background is one of the few skyscrapers here. A delightful taxi stand and part of the sidewalk all app 5mins walk from the Inn.

Drove by much greenery. After the boarder into Brunei were some controlled burning to prevent wild jungle fires on the way due to the very dry season.

App 90k east of MYY at Jalan Keramut, Telisais, another dirt-road Simpang 44 (app 20k from Tutong) leads you to a Sea-Bass hatchery and nursery belonging to Justin and manage by Leonard. Looks like I will be in for a new adventure and some real fishy business the week ahead 🙂 Will share the info bit by bit as I learn…

Satay dinner at Tutong where the guys decided to have their hair cuts and a shave for S$3 per person. S$ and BN$ are exactly the same exchange rate and the S$ is accepted here.

5 Apr 2015 – Easter Sunday, The Holiest Day For Christians

Good Fri is about betrayal & crucifixion and the most holy week leading up to Easter Sunday for the Christians.

The family in US are having a blast, left in a van and a station wagon with 7people, 1dog, 2tents, 5bicycles, 2kayaks for Edisto Island/SC.

The family in Norway are in Trondheim. Was on skype yesterday and was told that there is still snow. Olai even remembers that I like minions as he was showing me a minion as he now owns one!

Memories of those Easter days when the kids were little in Norway. I had to stock up food for the week as all grocery stores were closed then! Many would have gone to their cabins to catch the last of the snow for skiing season. Pix of Linn’s 1975 and May’s 1979 first winters and 1983 of our last family winter together once upon a time… 🙂

Fri: it is a public holiday here in SIN and tkx to Clem for getting his family together for a delicious Cantonese Good Friday lunch. It must have been a decade ago since my last meal at LeBai****at Sheraton Towers.

Appreciations to Daisy who works at Disney for a new adventure at the Sandcrawler building recently opened in Fusionopolis.

In 2012, WaltDisneyCompany acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion and announced that it would produce three new films, with the first film, StarWars: ForceAwakens, planned for release in 2015. How exciting for Disney and Star War to join forces. May the force be with them.

The StarVista located within one-north, SIN biomedical, infocomm technology and media hub is a stone-throw from the BuonaVistaMRT station.

An urban mall with more eateries than shops. Supposedly naturally cooled mall but it was way too hot for me and felt dizzy. A 5,000-seater performing arts centre is located here.

Dinner at Les&Ivy as Lawrence is in SIN on transit to KCH

Sat: thank you Gel for gift from Iceland. Cannot have enough of these BlueLagoon mineral moisturizing cream. Glad to hear that you enjoyed Iceland.

Pity that Campers’Corner did not have my size for the Chaco sandals’ sales. This is a very good sale. Tkx to Calvin, I now own a pair of ‘city Chaco’, a lighter version than the usual ones. Will test them out!

Wishing them at CC a profitable sales and Happy Easter with devilled eggs, roast chicken, salad, cheese, banana bread and mocha swiss-roll. Freddie has promised to make me a cup out of this pink Moscate bottle. Looking forward to it when I return from the US

Sun: woke up to this, but did not have time to stay. Felt like the whole MP police force was gathered here! Very safe in my neighbourhood this Easter Sunday. Marine Parade Neighbourhood Police Centre Rollout of Community Policing System and installing U-Locks to bicycles!

Appreciations to Les&Ivy with Lawrence and Jo for brunch at OldTiong Bahru Buk Kut Teh****the family’s favourite ‘Buk Kut Teh’ joint 肉骨茶=meat bone tea consists of meaty pork ribs simmered for hours in a complex broth of herbs and spices, including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic!

A must to WuHuAquarium just across the road to those rearing fish, but of course not for eating 🙂

Lawrence has not been to the NationalMuseum since it was renovated! Took him for the LKY exhibition and there is also a good exhibition on Singapura 700 Years. Must return to have a more detail look before it is packed up by 10Aug

Easter is meant to be a symbol of hope, renewal, and new life – Janine di Giovanni

2 Apr 2015 – Goodbye March

Tue: met up with Jennifer in the heart of CBD at Raffles Place. In the 1950s it was a car-park then. When green parks were there, I was no longer in SIN. Today skyscrapers surround the green area.

While sitting by the swings, thoughts of the places in the 1950s with Change Alley, John Little, Robinsons etc, and where I went to look at Christmas decorations in Robinsons. Left SIN years before the Robinsons fire in 1972.

Great to catch up with Jennifer. We were class mates in Alex-Dublin days and it has been a while ago since we had some time together. Would see her at the Irish functions now and then, but then those functions are not really a time to chat and catch up.

Wed: All Fools’ Day – many trace the origins of April Fools’ Day back to 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII adopted the Gregorian Calendar, effectively moving New Year’s Day from the end of Mar to 1Jan.

Though the change was widely publicized, some people didn’t get the memo, while others simply didn’t want to transition to the new calendar, so they continued to ring in the New Year at the end of Mar. Those who didn’t make the change were mocked for their folly and called ‘April Fools.’

Tkx Henry for dinner company and for helping me to eat up some of the food. No more space in the fridge or freezer

Thu: need to run errands, taking care of travel insurances with Traveller Shield Promotions 50% off with MSIG. Deadline is today, so let’s see if this will be for me…

RafflesPlace pix downloaded except for the one with Jennifer and the 2 before her.

Apr birthdays:

2 Apr – Happy Bday Marianne HUSTAD

4 Apr – Happy Bday Richard YUNG

8 Apr – Happy Bday Torill WISTNER

12 Apr – Happy Bday Peggy TAN

15 Apr – Happy Bday Lynne ONG-MICHEALS & Aileen KOH

17 Apr – Happy Bdays Anne STENSETH, Sharon KOH & Sara LAM

22 Apr – Happy Bday Ike LAM-BOROWSKY

29 Apr – Happy Bday Stanely LAM

30 Apr – Happy Bday JohnWT CHENG

Sitting quietly, doing nothing,
Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself
– The Gospel According To Zen