31 Jan 2018 – Hello Blue Moon

Sun: Project 33 Potluck – Neighbourhood Foraging and from Alexius’s garden – a seldom time to capture a red dragonfly. Edible plants pix credits to Alexius.

Alexius&Isbelle’s Secret Garden!

False Ginseng, Money-chai, Sweet-potato and Blue-Pea

Appreciations to Alexius for sharing his organic tropical edible garden and to Isebelle&Michelle for their hospitality to an interesting&informative morning. Tkx to all for their potluck contributions.

Wood-apple & Beet-rice new taste for me.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness – Dalai Lama.

Mon: : condolences to  Carlo&family for the passing of his mom Carol (pix credits to him) who was a friend&X-teaching colleague from the 1970s days in Tromsø/Norway. Tkx to Unni for forwarding the obituary.

Condolences to the family of IngvarKamprad (91), the farmer’s son turned multi-billionaire who founded IKEA. Started shopping there in the mid 1970s when I moved to Norway and still shopping there now in SIN as can be seen with some of the furnishings in my 4-walls here.

Tue:  appreciations for the privilege to taste Gel’s pineapple tarts – good job for a first timer, dough just needs a bit more butter! Collage pix credits to Gel.

Managed to carry my favourtie roast-piglet (tkx to an IKEA bag) in pouring rains on bus65 from Ubi Ave to Waterloo St! Got some strange looks on the bus, not the first or the last considering that it is my main means of transport!!

Belated Bday celebrations for Yoshie & I here@CC before Jan is over and before the rush of the CNY reunions and celebrations. Tkx to Seb&Adrian for the noodles and to Calvin for wines.

Birthdays can be an irony, especially when you were older than the country you are living in, also is a reminder to celebrate life as well as to update the life 🙂

Wed: last day of Jan on this hump-day and tonight would be 2018’s first lunar eclipse with a rare lunar eclipse offers glimpse of super blue blood moon.

Thank goodness the rains stopped in time and manage to walk from 1830-2200hrs following the sunset and the moon. Nice to see that ppl are out enjoying the fresh air while waiting for the moon.

It was amazing to see the eclipse with the naked eyes but could not get a decent shot.

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass – Anton Chekhov

27 Jan 2018 – Something Old Something New

Tue: after a morning of grocery-shopping and taking care of foods, it was time to head downtown. The sky opened up while on the bus, but no worries, this kind of heavy torrential showers do not last too long.

A delightful river-walk in these comfortable temperatures without winds, sleet or snow and best, all to myself. New sculptures opp the Fullerton Hotel – A Great Emporium by MalcolmKoh and Chettiars to Financiers by Chern LianShan beside Anderson Bridge.

Wed: yummy dinner – beef&tendon noddles@Authentic HockLamSt Popular Beef KwayTeow‎ now also at N Canal Rd. Have not had it for a while, last time was@SeahSt and now my first time here in this location. Hit the spot on this wet night.

Molten Chocolate Cake – warm chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling topped with vanilla ice-cream@Chili’s Clarke Quay Central for dessert. The only thing missing was a sparking candle on top which will get me to feel like a volcano erupting – will try to remember it for my 70th 🙂

Glad to rediscover sticky here@Central – have missed it@Cathay Cineleisure Orchard on GrangeRd, the previous location.

Nice little gifts for occasions, and in this case Valentine’s Day and CNY around the corner. All their candy is handcut and there will be variation in the size of each piece. Packaging for these need to be air-tight, otherwise they will become sticky!

Thu: tkx to HS for this performance@VCH.

Refreshing&enjoyable programme with this group of young talented performers led by Ike See.

Pleasant evening walk, light gazing with a half-moon peeping out.

Light to Night Festival 2018 Colour Sensations@ACM and UOB along the SIN River. Enjoyed a claypot-chicken-rice (portion enough to doggie-bag for another meal) dinner@OneRafflesPlace food junction on the top floor (the best place to be when there are traffic-jams!) overlooking the rush-hour traffic on BatteryRd, 

Fri: Happy Australia Day to those down-under and TGIF to all. Good to see Brian again after all these years. He is looking well and has not changed. Hoping to catch up more now that both daughters are away in boarding school.

Appreciations for a decent bowl of HKG-style wonton mee@Mak’sNoodle here at CentrePoint which used to serve taste of local dishes with the Prima sauces.

Been some time ago since inside CentrePoint and was pleasantly surprised with what is new, especially this decent bottles of bubbles @Bottles&Bottles – could not believe my eyes when the Veuve is under S$60!

Orchard Rd underpass connection from CentrePoint to OrchardCentral.

All these fancy places in OC are fun for the eyes and the camera as long as the wallet remains close!

Favourtie cheese-cake@Henri Charpentier which melts in your mouth can be found here – did not give in to temptation – hahaha!

Occupying 3levels, the largest UNIQLO here in SIN which was launched in 2016 – just goes to show how long ago I stepped into OC.

Thoughts of Hannah when this bicycle-clock pix was taken and strangely enough received a wedding invitation from her in the evening! Another strange incident this month too with the plate broken by workman a week ago! Received news yesterday from Rita who was with me when I bought this plate in Spain nearly 10yrs ago – she just underwent brain surgery!! Wow what is happening???

Was blessed as the rains died down after sunset. Returned to see the Light To Night Festival Colour Sensations in the Civic District before it is all over – was too late last night after the concert, except for ACM, these lights went to sleep then!

Victoria Theater and Concert Hall.

On the way to the bus-stop along Queen Elizabeth Walk – used to jump, run&played around this TanKimSeng fountain in the 1950s with its original colour off-white then. Good to see it still standing, even though in blue, but my knees no longer stand as well as it used to, not to mention jump! especially after having been on my feet for nearly 8hrs, except for the hour+ with Brain.

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts – Alan Cohen

22 Jan 2018 – Resolve & Renew

Before starting with this posting, must not forget to thank HiHills&EagleEye for this lovely Bday gift basket. Was so focus with all the breakdowns, shopping, appointments with workmen, travel, etc – NO excuse for being rude, especially when their thoughtfulness&friendship mean a lot to me. Thousand apologies.

Fri: workmen to start on all repairs before the CNY – the smell of epoxy-paint was enough to kick me out of my 4-walls! Had this done 18yrs ago – the kitchen is still good, but the bathroom&backroom needed to be redone. Took the chance to catch up with a movie The Post****highly recommended – with Spielberg directing staring Hanks&Streep.

Sat: tkx for belated Bday dinner with family&friend. PekingDuck by my request@AsiaSquare – Imperial Treasure Super PekingDuck. Appreciations to those who know how crowds get to me and being in the CBD on weekends, this location was perfect and the surroundings like ghost-town. Durian-Shaved-Ice@MeiHeongYune/VictoriaSt, another perfect quiet place where we can have conversations without straining voice-chords!

Sun: tired looking at the mess emptied out from the back-storeroom and now total chaos within 4-walls, and without space or peace for the eyes or mind! Going thru’ what needs to be thrown out or giving away things will take another week!! If one person can hoard sooo much junk, think of what a whole family has??

Bathroom (2 walls+floor) & back-storeroom(floor) completed and will take at least 24hrs to dry, but I prefer to wait for at least another 2more days! Epoxy coatings are formulated based upon the performance requirements for the end product. When properly catalyzed and applied, epoxies produce a hard, chemical and solvent resistant finish which is resistance to water, alkali and acids.

Gate – repainted 🙂  kitchen cabinet – fixed 🙂 broken plate – irreplaceable  🙁

Kitchen and bathroom faucets replaced 🙂 bedroom-sink plumbing replaced 🙂 Yes they looked pretty decent even before, but unfortunately was told that they had to be replaced, quite a shame as I do like the old ones, especially the kitchen. Such is life and there is no doubt that I will get used to the new ones when they are not leaking.

Mon: Happy Sweet 16th to #1, first grandchild Katy who can now officially be in the driver-seat on her own. Looking much forward to seeing them all this spring.

It seems like yesterday! when Linn celebrated her Sweet 16th@Park Ave Olive Garden MCO/FL 1990.

19 Jan 2018 – KCH Rotary Clubs

Sun: after checking-in and going thru’ immigration@T4, this is my first experience here.

Evolution of the Shop-House Architecture, the Heritage Zone is a six-minute long cultural mini-show that is played on a 10 metre by 6 metre LED screen.

Interesting windows which keep you guessing which one will be opened next and what can be happening behind them…

Most expensive salted-eggs salmon fish-skin@Discover Shop. It was good but was it worth S$17+???

http://nowboarding.changiairport.com/discover-changi/10_things_not_to_miss_at_T4.html?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Linkad&utm_campaign=Best2017&utm_term=t4&utm_content=SG

Uneventful AirAsia 1+hr (perfect to nap) flight, with app 1/2 plane of ppl arriving 25mins ahead of schedule to KCH and grateful to Lawrence who was already waiting for me at the airport.

Some of the buildings on the way from the airport to town which I do not recognize – it was 4yrs ago since the last visit!

Yummy pomfret fish dinner in Chinatown across the Cantonese Assoc, KwongWaiSiew where grandfather&granduncle were members there.

Mon: Happy Bday to me! Picked up HongSze from the HiltonHotel and had my only bowl of KCH laksa for this time round.

A drive into the country-side to check out Lawrence’s project for a retirement resident.

Delicious lunch (much too much food!) in good company@the SarawakClub.

Appreciations to the KCH Rotary Clubs, the Rotarian, their family&friends for the overwhelming support (70+ppl)@Telang Usan Hotel for the Nepal talk&Power Point Presentation of my own slides. Pix credits of me to Chuan.

Tkx to Lawrence&Mabel for sponsoring the dinner, to Chuan for his help and to HS for his presence. A good evening was had by all.

Tue: KoloMee breakfast@NoodlesExperts.

Interesting eye-catching display of hair products for a hair salon.

Jalan Reservoir in KCH like 5 Temenggong Rd in SIN are prime properties once owned (no longer now) by the family and both are still green and lovely. Do make it a point to visit saying hello to the trees, hoping and praying that they will be there as long as there is life in me. Whoever owning these locations, plx let them stay as they are.

A drive along Main Bazaar where KwongLeeBank was once located at #30, today Star Company.

Along the RiverWalk with this lovely tree opposite the CourtHouse.

RM35mil DarulHanaBridge at the waterfront – a unique 336metre S-shaped pedestrian bridge is supported by two cables that are 45metres high from two 48-degree outward angled steel towers topped out with stylised hornbills, denoting the emblem of Sarawak.

Astana, (my favourite building in KCH), the official residence of the yang DiPertua Negeri Sarawak and New Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building, beautiful on its own but somehow is misplaced (designed-wise) between the Astana and Fort Margherita.

Like that I can stand in the middle this bridge to take pix of the river in every direction.

Many tkx to Chuan&family for a lovely afternoon and evening – delicious Midin&Galangal (Alpinia officinarum) Chicken, a Teochew dish for lunch@JooHim Cafe. And for the visit to the tuition center, Aurora – good luck to his venture.

Nerf-guns competition, drone-flying, yummy dayak food@AwahCafe for dinner and durians for dessert. Sorry to miss JiaJia who is away for boarding-school. YongDi is now 10 and has stretched!

Wed: FuzhouMee by the river for breakfast, a visit to the handicapped school Perkata. This paper bouquet is made by the students and the shop has crafts, etc donated to be sold with all profits going to the school.

Had to go back to AwahCafe for their soup TiyangDayak (made with local yellow egg-plant, yellow, lemongrass, torch-ginger, etc).

Their Kedondong (Spondias dulcis, known commonly as ambarella, is an equatorial or tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit) juice (mixed with sour-plums) is absolutely refreshing and agrees with my pallet.

Fort Margherita is an old fort constructed in 1879 by Charles Brooke and named after his wife. Charmingly located on a hill and over looking on to the river, it is one of my favourite forts to visit. Unfortunately it is under renovations and is closed today.

Local fruits for T-time hit the spot – who can ask for anything more when the quality of these local tropical fruits at the open-marekt are as fresh as you can get them.

Rubutans (Nephelium lappaceum), for this fruit, have been thoroughly spoilt having grown up with a whole orchard in the garden which also explains why I am good at climbing trees 🙂

Langsat (Lansium parasiticum)

Durians – https://amylamsg.com/2014/07/10/ode-to-durians/

Dinner@TopSpot – undeniably the most well-known seafood eating place in the heart of KCH. How can HS leave without at least stepping foot in this location even just for a tiny bite as we were so filled up! Safe journeys back to SIN for him.

Thu: heavy rains while we were sleeping, still raining when AirAsia took off 0800hrs with views of the scenic mountains. App 1/2ppl on an uneventful flight arr SIN 20mins ahead of schedule in blue sky.

There is not other airport like Changi where efficiency&cleanliness surely make it the world’s best.

Random shots from early breakfast, drives outside the city and in rush-traffic! Tkx to Lawrence&Mabel, Chuan&family for their hospitality, to HS for good company and nice to see Angelina.

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted – Bill Bryson

14 Jan 2017 – To  Geylang Road Again

Fri: the rains are relentless but still loving it – are we going to sink soon? TGIF with temps of 21°C and 27°C from tropical SIN – enjoy it for the moments. Drive with caution and patience with the MRT constructions&mess in the MarineParade area – the worst traffic back-ups are by the CHIJ&TN Schools, junction of MP&StillRds. do avoid driving around there, if you can.

Would usually not take the main road when walking to Parkway, more peaceful behind the CC and in between the HDB blocks, especially now with the MRT constructions! Tkx to Leng & Bian learnt that these are not Flame of the Forest but Peacock Flowers.

A trip to IKEA@Tampines to discover the changes@Bedok Interchange, mall and hawkers where the free shuttle goes to IKEA, Giant & Courts. Did not have the energy for the crowded hawkers (lunch hour!) this time round. Bought this bathroom corner shelves S$30 and had to get it done before taking off to KCH on Sun as workmen will be repainting my bathroom when I get back.

Considering with all the unlucky incidents recently, found a bathroom faucet and the same brand as the old one (on display and the last piece) at HomeoneEuroTrading Geylang Rd. Got it for a deal, from $160 cut down to $90. With both faucets and shelves purchases, am tired but satisfied.

A slow stroll (can never get enough of this mosque!) towards Lor29 discovering that all my favourite local&seafoods can be found here.

Its sure is my lucky day, must come here more often – life king-crabs, oysters, bamboo-clams, durians, including the HokkeinMee which was opened and being early (before 1800hrs), only 2 other ppl in front of me.

Sat: nice visit from niece Kat&family who will be heading back to the US tomorrow.

Appreciation for a go away party per request of Devon, my contribution – gravlaks. Tkx to Les&Ivy for yummy mussels&clams, fantastic champagne&wines and to Kat&Greg for delicious juicy rack of lamb. A combination of celebrations for Jan bdays too – Lee, Isabelle and I (3generations). The other family bdays for this month are – Darryl, Judy, KeeYang and Katy. How could 3weeks have come and gone by so quickly?

Sun: need to figure out what I need from today till Thu when I will be in KCH (last visit was 2014) without the laptop. Safe journeys to all travelling. Updates next weekend.

Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving ― Terry Pratchett

11 Jan 2018 – Flashfloods

Mon: the first working full week here in SIN and it started with heavy downpours in my neighbourhood – have not been outside yet, just enjoying it all indoors! Will venture out when the rains have died down and giving time for the water to run off. Pix credits to CH&CNA

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/flash-floods-heavy-rain-singapore-9841246

Tkx to DaisyC for her visit with lunch, pineapple tarts&shredded dried-crabmeat from Vietnam, looking forward to tasting. Good to catch up to hear news of her 3boys, Josh will be 20 and Jordan&Jagger just turned 15. She also runs her own yoga school –  The Yoga Shala School, been there a couple of times and highly recommended.

Belated Bday greetings to Leonard. Tkx for dinner@G Hotel and for getting my laptop+mouse in top speed&condition so that I can work on the PowerPoint presentation for next week’s talk.

Pleasant evening stroll along BencoolenSt to catch the bus. Have not walked on this street since the road closure due to MRT constructions. BencoolenSta/DowntownLine is up and running and road reopened since Oct last year.

Tue: Happy Bdays niece Judy & nephew Lee. 1991 pix – 10 out of 18 OrangeG here from my father, LAM TinYue’s BlueG branch. The seldom times (besides the 2Pats’ wedding) L&M were together with so many of their cousins from their maternal side. Here for the occasion for father’s 80Bday in 1991.

Sad and annoyed that one of the workers from Vincent (contractor) broke a ceramic plate from Els Ceramistes Eugenio Mira, Altea/Spain. Do not even have much within my 4-walls and why are workers so careless lately?? first the kitchen cabinates (which is now perfectly fixed) but this can never be fixed or replaced as Mira’s works are individually hand-made.

http://amylamsg.com/2010/08/04/alteaspain/

Wed: Happy Bday grand-nephew Ang KeeYang on this non-stop rainy day. Finally most if not all traces of Christmas are packed, stored and now into PowerPoint to get notes and slides ready. Amazing how much is forgotten even when less than a year ago for the Nepal trip (Apr2017). Inspite of making only to Tengboche and not all the way to EBC, it was a memorable one.

Thu: another non-stop wet day but pleasant to walk. Was on the bus by 0700hrs headed to Mustafa, Little India.  No luck with faucets, but still enjoyed the walk in this lovely breeze with light drizzles. Only in SIN can one find a temple, mosque, 24hrs shopping, Hilton&ParkRoyal Hotels all within 5mins walk from each other. The diversities with culture, clothing, foods, etc on this RedDot makes it so unique and enjoyable.

If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity – John F. Kennedy

7 Jan 2018 – After 18 Years

Sat: what are the chances that all these breakdowns happen one after another?? The advantage is that now I can justify calling Vincent, my contractor to give me a quote for all the fixtures – oh how I dread shopping. Being particular and knowing what I want can sometimes lead to frustrations.

Looking for mat-finished faucets was not that easy 18yrs ago and 18yrs later, it is still not that easy. Both the kitchen and shower faucets are leaking and have been told that they will need to be replaced. What happened to the days when a new gasket was all it needed??

IKEA does not have shower faucets but they have kitchen ones. Bought this step-stool and got some funny looks from others by taking it on the bus –  not heavy, just bulky! Have been eyeing this step-stool for a while – today it was $39.90 instead of $60, tkx to nephew for gift certificate.

Geylang Rd to shop for shower faucet and saw one@Heritage.

Always an adventure to walk down this road.

Lunched@SoonHuat/Lorong29 but my favourite HokkienMee was not opened yet. Had the Meepok which was quite good, but not sure if good enough to wait 20mins???

Tkx to Zarina for a lovely visit and for gifts. Good catching up to share some bubbles and life’s experiences. Appreciations to Lawrence for 2bottles of bubbles (1 for Christmas and the other for my Bday).

Sun: enjoy getting fresh produce@the local wet-market before the crowds. Find it amazing how resourceful the coffee-stalls are in many places. They use recycled condensed-milk cans for take-away hot-drinks but i usually bring my own cup when not drinking at the location.

Satisfied with this strong new step-stool for multi-purpose – stand for fresh-produce, stool for the kitchen-table and step to reach for the higher shelves. Was busy making a 3-course lunch, pumpkin soup, shrimp pasta+salad and chocolate sponge pudding with brandy sauce that the camera was neglected.

Tkx to niece for the chocolates.

12th night was Fri, 5Jan marking the end of Christmas and signalling households to take down their Christmas tree and decorations ahead of Epiphany. That is usually the time my Christmas things get put away. Somehow for this year, the weekend fell just after that and since family&friends were still visiting, decided to keep the decorations until Sun night when they were put away – now quite ready to jump into the shower and to bed…

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world – John Milton

5 Jan 2018 – Starting A Happy&Healthy New Year 

Mon: always good to start a year with a Mon, a public holiday to gather and reflect on if any resolutions for the new year before a new work&school year. Tkx to Gel for her home-made acar, a local veggie pickles – both acar (pix credits to Gel) and rojak, another local veggie but this one with fresh veggie (downloaded pix). These are my favourtie local veggie dishes, just minus the pineapple and or any other fruits as they do not compliment these dishes for my taste-bud.

How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them – BenjaminFranklin

A day to remind how blessed we are and these 2movies are my favourites to watch whenever I need a pick-me-up. Both give a message with  a heartwarming celebration of human possibility.

The Intouchables/2011, not sure if this is a true story, but Breathe/2017, directed by the main character’s son is a true story.

Tue: Happy Birthday to grand-nephew Darryl who is celebrating his last teen year! Visited in the hospital when he was born, where has the 19yrs gone??? Polyclinic day to check on blood tests’ results and looks like blood is in the clear to plan for another long-distant hike! the problem is that the heart might not agree!! Senior grocery shopping day@Giant/Parkway with 3% off, any savings in a saving and today it is S$2+and redeeming S$6 from PassionCard. Must learn which local fish is best for steaming.

Wed: 05.30hrs – Good Hump-Day morning to all, the first 2018 pix taken from the kitchen window where there is a full moon and from the front door where the traffic is still calm, also before the rains!

By 1530hrs, this was the pix, not much traffic of any sort and a nice afternoon to stay indoors listening to the heavy downpour.

Thu: Have you ever thought of walking the whole of Singapore Island and wondering how long you would take? How many Km you could cover? 100km hike hosted by SGTrek Expeditions&Adventures: 6Jan-15:00 to 7Jan-18:00. Tempting, but the heart tells me that it will be suicidal to attempt it now, so will have to give it a pass for this time round, not ready to go yet! Who knows, if this is still on for my 70thBday, might give it a shot then…

Fri: Good morning on this 1st 2018 TGIF. Tkx for this beautiful pop-up card from #6&his parents. Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss was the medieval name of Trondheim in Norway when it was the capital of the country’s first Christian kings.