3 Jan 2016 – On Orchard Road

Sat: Happy Bday to grand-nephew Darryl. Dropped by to Les&Ivy to check that things are OK as they are away until tomorrow. Tkx for T with Daisy and good to catch up with Raymond.

The choices and taste of the cakes at Brunetti***Tanglin Mall has yet to disappoint me. Today they had this new cute cake name Walk With Me – looks good and rich but was not hungry enough to try it.

After Walk With Me, decided to walk from Tanglin Road down Pedestrian Night on Orchard Road. Quite a novelty to be able to walk in the middle of this usually busy traffic road. To my surprise it was not as crowded as I thought it would be.

Strange but nice to be able to stand still in the middle of Orchard Rd to get some decent shots. Other shots in the camera were from a moving bus thru’ the glass windows.

Thought it was going to be the whole of Orchard, but as as it turned out, was only from the junction from Scotts Rd to Cairnhill Rd – 660m.

After The Heeren at Cairnhill Rd the traffic resumed and most of the Christmas displays were already down around Centre Point and Gateway. Good to still see people enjoying this pleasant evening. Walked from Tanglin Mall to Plaza SIN, app 3+K

Sun: another cloudy and lovely day keeping the temps comfortable to open windows and no AC needed in the pad! Nice day to organize paper-work, etc before starting on the logistics for E1, which will be one of the last big challenges in life’s journey!

On the tenth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Ten Lords a Leaping

And yes I need those 10 Lords not just leaping around but to make themselves useful and help me put away decorations and clean up this pad 🙂

1 Jan 2016 – Welcome 2016

Tue: need to rest the muscles and joints after yesterday. Just show how unfit this body is. Have to do something about it before the heart and the rest of the organs like the stomach unfriends the mind…

Wed: Before We Go***two strangers stuck in Manhattan for the night grow into each others most trusted confidants when an evening of unexpected adventure forces them to confront their fears and take control of their lives…

Carol****based on the novel The Price of Salt, the movie is set in 1952 following a young dep-store clerk, Therese Belivet, who dreams of a better life. She then meets and falls in love with an older, married woman named Carol, an alluring woman who is trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage…

A tad slow pace but excellent acting from the women.

Thu: on this last day of 2015 and the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me 7 Swans a Swimming – the exact origins and the meaning of the song are unknown, but it is highly probable that it originated from a children’s memory and forfeit game.

After qualifying the MDA Assistance Scheme and M1’s visit, decided to shop around for a small affordable HDM1 ready TV. Another learning and new experience as this will be my first TV here in SIN.

11.00hrs: started with the Expo and there was nothing there within my choice or budget. The MRT station is more interesting than what was inside the Expo!

11.30hrs: continued to Mustafa in Little India. Lucky me, 3 choices there. Do like shopping there when there are no crowds – the only 24-7shop of this kind in the world with everything under one roof. And there are as many entrances as there are exists to get totally lost!

Slightly disoriented when I got out and had to ask for directions to Tekka Centre! A young lady who gave me directions back to the main road advised me to take the MRT. By looking at me, she thought it would be too long a walk!!! How sweet and considerate – I thank her for directing me back on the main drag and took an enjoyable stroll.

Always enjoy this colourful and glittery stretch on Serangoon Rd passing Sri Veeramakaliamman temple, now newly painted.

The goldsmiths on this road seemed never-ending with beautiful Indian women decked in their finest painted on the pillars and walls. Somehow, this is what I kinda imagine what India is a little bit like, but somehow I also know that it is also an illusion knowing the poverty issues there! The ironies of life…

Tekka Centre, where my favourite biryani chicken rice and mutton soup are located and to be packaged to eat in the comforts of my ‘bechelotette pad’, term used by my nieces and nephews referring to my living quarters 🙂 Yummy NYE’s dinner. Another fun 5-6hrs day on the feet feeling grateful to families and friends who have crossed 2015 life journey’s path and made days, weeks and months memorable. Am blessed and ready for 2016.

Fri: Happy New Year from Kiritimati, the first location to have just passed midnight. Doubt that I will be able to stay awake to keep the mid-night clock going around the world.

Thank you Henry for his company and for sharing a New Year’s dinner with me.

With 40 different local times in use, it takes 26hrs for the New Year to encompass all time zones. And much of US Minor Outlying Islands including Baker Island, Howland Island are finally in 2016. Happy New Year to all around the world. May PEACE find a place to us all and also to the world.

2 – Happy Bday Darryl

5 – Happy Bdays Gerald  & Leonard

6 – Happy Bday Cindy

9 – Happy Bdays Judy & Lee

10 – Happy Bday KeeYang

15 – Happy Bdays Angie  & me!

18 – Happy Bday Isabelle-SunSun

19 – Happy Bday Kari

21 – Happy Bday Michael

22 – Happy Bday Katy

24 – Happy Bdays 15th uncle  and Ole K