The Shepherd Returns

21 Dec 2016 – A Cathedral Restored

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Fri: TGIF – a wonderful weekend to all. ขอขอบคุณ khob kun ka (Thai) for these lovely orchids (Rnst. Bangkok Beauty) to brighten the day. Know of only 2, but there are many more, with a fragrance Aranda bertha braga (Spider Orchid) is one of them. Appreciations to Neo Tuanhong for the names.

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The Winter/Christmas village is finally in place – on the piano and have not had a real Christmas tree since the children moved away (19yrs ago). These are my Eco environmental friendly annual Christmas trees.

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Sat: 고맙습니다 gomabseubnida (Korean) to Les&Ivy for a night of fine dinning and fiery dessert!! at Dempsey Road La Ventana****where Michelin-starred Spanish cuisines are served.

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Lovely evening in good company of Clement, MeiPin and the owners of this location!

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A stroll thru’ SBG –

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Good to see so many trees lit and decorated, now called Trees of the World. Vivid memories of the days when Wendy & I started the idea during our OSSEA days! It was like pulling teeth to even get the Embassies to sponsor and decorate a few trees then!!

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4peaceSun: today is the last Sunday of Advent – less than a week to Christmas day and just less than 2 weeks left of 2016.

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill is to have the true spirit of Christmas.

Getting to see the end of the light in the tunnel where making and wrapping of gifts are concerned 🙂

Interesting results of my dominant personality trait – answers reveal that:

bf0c88e5-7a83-4cf8-9d99-69967b4637dckindness is your most dominant personality trait. You are very sensitive to others and rarely have a bad thing to say about anyone. People are constantly impressed by your thoughtfulness. If someone is having a bad day, you always seem to know how to make it better.

Just remember, these stuff are just for the fun of it. How nice to be able to be kind, but of course not all the time…

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Mon: @MtE to reschedule app and to drop off a gift to KokSoon. Tickets to OSL via Istanbul on TurkishAir (SIN-IST-OSL-IST-SIN S$800) booked for Jan2017. PS Cafe where my favourtie Key-Lime pie can be found in SIN! Great to catch up with Larry, Michael and Vincent. Safe journeys back to the US for Michael.

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The festive glitters and glows at Paragon are cheerful to look at.

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Tue: Cathedral of the Good Shepard is now finally fully renovated and restored after being damaged by the constructions of the MRT and SMU. This SIN oldest catholic church is built in 1847.

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Have been here when there was no AC during 1960s student days in CHIJ across the road! The spiral stairways here are similar to that across the road at CHIJ where I have tried to climb!

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/restored-cathedral-a-feast-for-the-eyes

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The Nativity scene is quite amazing, created by a businessman husband and retiree wife – it took them 5months to create this.

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The religious figurines were flown in from Rome and the structure was fully hand-built by them.

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Appreciations to Carmel for ice-T & ice-cream@SBG Casa Verde in good company of Ivy.

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SBG, SIN 1st UNESCO World Heritage Site and my favourite gardens to be in SIN. Fond memories from childhood playing around the band-stand and the setting up of all the shows in this location.

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