31 Jan 2022 – Will I Get To See Another Ox-Year??

Thu: appreciations&tkx to USA flock for these goodies which took only slightly more than a week (record for snail-mail) despite of repackaging – postal service must have thought it to be something else in the package, hahaha!

Love the drawings from #1-5

Fri: SGH-Blood tests, managed to combine with the researchers to get this round of blood to be done together for another check-up next week. Also learning about and hoping that in future blood can be used to check on cancer thus saving a bunch on CT-Scan which cost up to $$$$.

Short walk for breakfast to TiongBahru for a cuppa+my favourite almond croissant@TiongBahruBakery S$15. Bus16 to Spotlight/PlazaSIN to pick up some sewing stuff, could not resist the sheet-set for S$18, have not bought any new sheets since 20+yrs ago and probably will never have to buy new sheets again after this! using my BdayS$10coupon before expiration. Bus16 to Bedok to pick up more stuff, pleased with 3new dresses (will need to do some minor alterations) for S$42. All in all a productive day, glad with the energy level and using less than S$5for transportation.

Safe journeys to grandnephew Darryl who will be flying off tonight, will miss him this CNY. Good Luck to a new chapter&adventure in his life.

Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone – Wendell Berry

Sat: Oh dear! have neglected some favourite local foods (only 1dish~S$5) from outdoor Hawkers/MarketFoodCentre (max 5 vac ppl for now!) in SIN. Here we are back on track again before the Ox gets out for the Tiger to leap in! CommonwealthCrescentHawkersFood: #02-96ManTianXiang满天香 FriedBeancurdSkinRoll 3pcsS$3.80

Up bright&early to get fruits at the local market for tonight’s fruit cocktail. Coincidentally same hair&outfit colours as Calvin but younger men still have much to learn – hahaha. Nice to catch up with QX who entertained me with his first go on cross-country skiing bringing back fond memories of my cross-country skiing days in Norway. Learnt that he is unable to return to his place TheBivy/TaiwanRock Climbing due to some silly regulations about not more than 1ppl being able to stay there, so that explains his normadic life at present.

Amongst good friends&good foods, 3men cooking last night in an ambience of a festive kitchen with yummy fish+other seafoods in the menu; Iyas makes good Malay food and tonight’s laksa was yummy.

Helen’s banana pie contribution from DonManis+delicious grapes&strawberries from others and my fruit-cocktail were the desserts for tonight’s reunion’s dinner@CC. Tkx to Pat for CNY-goodies.

Sun: finally some needed rains on this humid muggy afternoon, can never get enough of these short heavy tropical showers. The house@Rochalie is beautifully decorated with potted-flowering plants for the CNY.

Early reunion dinner@Les&Ivy+family, missing Kat&family. Starters 1.LoHei,

2.SteamedPomfret, 3.冬菇髮菜BraisedMushroom&BlackMoss,

4.臘味LapMei (Chinese preserved meats, also known as waxed meat), 5.BraisedPorkKunckle, 6.Prawns – with wines to compliment the meal, and all 6dishes have their own significances – Google if interested to know about them!

Mon: last reunion dinner for the Year of the Ox with Judy, Clement & Stanley@FeastRoxy/Grand MercureHotel – missing Vincent&fam, Daisy+Darryl. Not your usual reunion foods, but a decent early dinner sharing a mixed variety of dishes with 3generations of LAMs! Do miss our annual family Xmas&CNY gatherings.

First time seeing all these TigerBeers with the different local district label, did not know that they existed, but then not a beer drinker.

31Jan2022: WorldOmeter of COVID-19 deaths are as follow:

26 Jan 2022 – Flammkuchen

Sat: appreciations&tkx to these young ppl for yesterday’s yummy Flammkuchen (FlamingCake/Pie/Pizza, something new to me) lunch in their lovely new home. Interesting&inspiring to hear&see pix about Hannah&Heiko’s 1+yr cycle trip (their honeymoon) from Germany to SIN.  Refreshing to be in the company of ppl who enjoy nature and are adventurous with other cultures –  makes me want to travel again.

Also had the chance to explore ChongBoonCentre&Market which is a first-time for me. Delighted to discovered Cockscomb (tkx to CH&Paul for providing the name)  in minitures – grew up with them (ie the big pots!) every CNY. Could not resist getting a miniture one S$6.

Appreciations to Paul for this info – The genus Celosia has a range of species, some of which are edible (possibly all?). The generic name (appropriately) is derived from the Greek word for burning. The vernacular Cockscomb is for this (very) ornamental which we can grow as annuals in the UK for summer flowering outdoors (needs starting off in a greenhouse though). Bit easier getting them to flower in time for CNY in SG! Anyway, if it dies on you Amy, remember this is because it is an annual and _not_your_fault_

OK HokkianMee – quite a crowd during lunch, back for late tea when the crowds were gone, but will not be repeating this HokkianMee! Bus55 ride took ~1hr.

Sun: 1st LoHei@LoHei@ImperialTreasure/AsiaSq – nice stroll in this area with no crowds on a Sunday.

Family dinner@Rochalie, quite delightful to be in grandniece, Kiera’s company who has grown to be a fine young lady with a wonderful sense of humour. She has applied to study overseas and will certainly be missed when she leaves. Grandnephew Darryl will be heading off to Sydney/Australia next week, and will miss him this CNY – where has all that time gone???

Mon: nice quiet day by myself. Relaxing alfresco HorFun picnic dinner with Gel by the SiglapCanalPier in our lovely EC Pk – she needed to destress from a project and I needed some fresh-air!

Cooking and eating food outdoors makes it taste infinitely better than the same meal prepared and consumed indoors ― Fennel Hudson

Tue: SGHappt and all is well with results of the CT-scan. Chinatown to soak in more of the CNY ambience since in the area, and not too bad a crowd, but still too many ppl for me.

An ambundance of cookies, Chinese sausages, flowers, etc…

Checked out the artsy tigers on SouthBridgeRd.

BuddhaToothRelicTemple with the sea of red lanterns.

Happiness is your inherent nature. In the hustle and bustle of life, you have forgotten a part of yourself, and looking for it outside. Fill this void with happiness that is sustainable, not transitory; that illuminates your life and that of others – Sanchita Pandey

Tis the season for PineappleTarts/PT and they don’t keep well, so should to be made&consumed within a few days of the CNY-period. Sue/SIN (2011)&Chuan’s KCH/Sarawak (2012) made an impression then. Have tasted many thru’ the years until I discovered CK’s LimpehBakes/SIN (2021) with his delicate balance of ingridents baked to perfection, just tasted the 2022 batch – highly recommended.

PT are popular here in SIN&Malaysia around CNY as in Chinese dialects Hokkien(OngLai) & Cantonese(WongLai), pineapple, and a homonym for wealth arrives thus gifting PT is a gesture intended to bring about prosperity&wealth.

Wed: at Les&Ivy’s where their CNYplants (Cockscomb) are in place, riding with them to dinner – tkx to Theresa&CJ for delicious steak dinner.

21 Jan 2022 – Eat Till You Drop!

Mon: severe snow and rare ice storm expected to hit the US EastCoast. Family&friends who are affected plx take care to be safe&warm. Post office to mail off a package of old B/Wphotos to Lock CanadaS$21 – wonder how long it will take to get there? Old pix of ancestral hall touched-up, scanned and printed S$25 (+6colour prints) to share with family. Tkx to Irene for her share with the copy by the pond.

OldChangKee dinner@CC. Tkx to Helen for Wingstop (good coleslaw) and for delightful stroll with the tigers in Chinatown under a lovely breezy beautiful full-moon.

That’s actually very nice. Normally they all looked a bit weird and cardboard like according to cousin Karen who is an architect with good taste and it was exactly my thoughts and what I said to Helen too!

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/chinatown-lights-up-to-usher-in-year-of-the-tiger-with-lanterns-in-shape-of-tigers

Tue: Happy Thaipusam to those celebrating&marking the day. Grocery shopping@Giant/Tampines and pleased with decent promotional savings of S$12.25 and SS$3.58. New stick vacuum S$25 – the old one just broke down after over a decade. Tkx to Aileen for gifts+lunch@IKEA.

Wed: have been wanting to check out HockTeckSee Temple

https://www.roots.gov.sg/places/places-landing/Places/surveyed-sites/Hock-Teck-See-Temple

and HajiMuhammadSalleh Mosque ever since I returned here 2decades ago; located at 37 Palmer Road, is the largest&most highly regarded Muslim place of worship in SIN with pilgrims visiting it from as far as China. The mausoleum sits on top of a flight of 49 steps.

https://www.roots.gov.sg/places/places-landing/Places/surveyed-sites/Masjid-Haji-Muhammad-Salleh-and-Keramat-Habib-Noh

working then with H&H@former MarinaHouse now a completely new EON-ShentonCondos. Never too late as long as both are still standing intact despite being overwhelmed by skyscrapers. A pleasent morning stroll down memory-lane!

Tkx to Aileen for getting me out of my 4-walls 2days in a roll. In good company but not inspired with this SAW-Exhibition – https://www.artweek.sg/

more impressed with the selection of food in this vending machine there! Do not usually get food from vending machines unless there are no other choices and I am starving! Have not seen a vending machine with this kind of salad selections – Ceasar, Greek, SobaNoodle, ThaiPapaya, on top of the selection of sandwiches, but not starving nor in the mood to flirt!

A N T I N O D E S

Bad Imitation

REFUSE

At I12 for lunch and the new basement food court looks pretty decent – fasting today and not too hungry, the plum juice was refreshing&good. Aileen had the KwayTeow&Chendol and liked them. Will be back to try the foods from some of these stalls.

Thu: lunching on 4 different taste for starters+fresh crispy baby arugula salad, delicious SotoAyam made from scratch+fried salmon-belly and fresh fruits for desserts.

Appreciations&tkx to Calvin@CC for Iyas’s Bday dinner – yummy dumpings, fish-head, giant-shrimps, quids, scallops and vegetarian dish from Iyas.

AgarAgar+a bottle of IKEA Swedish wine from me and all pix credits to Helen, except for the one of her! As usual, a good time was had by all.

You’re not as young as you used to be. But you’re not as old as you’re going to be – Irish Saying

Fri: TGIF thank goodness the major drilling&hacking from some renovation@5level is finally done when I have been busy&out the past 4days – was not planned, just happened. Today can at least hear myself think and music without headphones – also need to fast to let the system rest before more celebrations over the weekend.

16 Jan 2022 – LAM  Museum In The Making

Thu: early Bday celebrations tkx to Carmel for breakfast&gifts by the beach. What a beautiful morning to have a yummy alfresco picnic breakfast of scones+smoked-salmon with Ireland never far from our memories, appreciations for 2022calender from Ireland! Such a delight&luxury to be in such good company with no crowds or enclosed-walls.

Sinfully delicious fusion pick me up – this perfect surroundings in the shade under a lovely tree with a pleasant breeze listening to the waves chatting with a friend counting our blessings, a total feeling of bliss&peace.

Fri: TGIF and a good weekend to all. Happy Pongal to those marking the day. Last day age 71 must be one of the best days since I returned to this part of the world to research on my roots in China&Sarawak, and the best Bday gift to start my 72nd year. Tkx to cousin Irene works have started at the LAM ancestral hall in the village of Sun Wui (新會) in Jiangmen (江門) Guangdong Province/China. Thought I was fighting a losing battle when I tried to convinced the family that our heritage is something to be proud of with the good deeds our granduncle’s&grandfather’s did for their village.

https://amylamsg.com/2009/07/14/lam-heritage/

The exact location of these buildings: TangbianliVillage, DanzaoTownship, PengjiangDistrict, JiangmenCity, GuangdongProvince, PRC

A plaque has now been installed at the entrance to the building, designating it as Jiangmen Historic Architecture. After so many years of effort&frustrations, this is indeed a very happy moment. In order to know where you are going, know where you came from first!

A person without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots – Marcus Garvey

Sat: Happy Bday to me and to AngieS (50!! where has all that time go, seems like yesterday that we were celebrating our day together in FL/USA); EstellaC, JoshuaL, JohnT also share the same day, Happy Bday to them too. Still on Cloud9 after news about China and feeling so blessed&grateful for all the kind well wishes from family&friends all over the world for the day – delighted with drawings from grandchildren.

Appreciations&tkx to family&friend, started the celebrations with lunch at TheSocial@Forum TheShoppingMall. The food on the menu looked interesting and they had quail which I have been wanting to taste. No recommendations from me, and will not be returning for another visit – more for the younger generation who are there taking pix of food for their social media!

Have not been into this mall since I do not even remember when but glad to have found this BananagramsS$36@TheToyFolks there, have been looking for it since I was introduced to this Scrabble-like game but without the board.

Man oh man these cookiesS$25 (butter+M&M) are soo cute and irresistible, but Leonard (belated Bday to him, 5Jan) is so right about the younger generation being more into presentation than taste. Bought a box and will not be getting more.

Did not even know that HiltonHotel has been rebranded to vocoOrchard, thank goodness the cakes at the lobby lounge has not changed still taste good.

Discovered this gem 辉记 FaiKeeFishHeadBeeHoon@CommonwealthCrescentMarket&Food Centre. Had their BlackBeanBeefBitterMelon, HorFun,PrawnPasteChicken highly recommended.

Sun: need the day to rest this body&mind to catch up with world news. There has been undersea volcano eruption near Tonga and tsunami warnings have been issued in many areas around the Pacific. Ppl  affected, plx take care and be safe – pix downloaded.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-16/hunga-tonga-haapai-volcano-eruption-tsunami-warnings/100759488

12 Jan 2022 – A Gracious Talented Man

Sun: a sunset scene only known by me as to where&when it was taken from, otherwise could also be sunrise. Watching the sunrise or sunset gives such feelings of total peace to be able to appreciate&see such natural serene beauty and that the darkness that follows a sunset is never so dark that it can change the inevitability of a sunrise – – Craig D. Lounsbrough

Mango tree@sis Jo’s has delicious mango when in season, she also has calamanis – tkx for a handful of fresh calamanis to last me for a few days.

Tkx for dinner@Jo’s with my bittergourd+celery contribution – pleased with my new concoction of a tasty&healthy BeetAgarAgar, ie if you like agar-agar&beets like I do! Working towards keeping with my 2022-resolution to eat less&healthier but with ups&downs like everything in life!!

Sad to learn of the passing of Sidney Poitier age 94, am a total fan of his graious charming&charismatic acting and will take some time to listen to some of his autobiographical books and rewatch some of his movies. The 2handsomest&sexiest AfricanAmerican men in my eyes are these 2 – pix downloaded.

Mon: appt@NHCS for a CT-Scan to make sure that things are OK after the last infection! A walk to Chinatown to check out the CNYdeco in daylight. Passing by PearlHill which is under construction after demolishing PearlBankApt where it was home to 4th-auntie&uncle – WONG cousins from my paternal side. The new upcoming On-PearlBank is expected to TOP in Feb2023.

Tkx to DaisyC for lunch@OriginalChewKeeEatingHouse(ChewKeeSoySauceChicken)钊记面家8UpperCrossSt, dessert@MeiHeongYuen味 香 园 甜 品 ChinatownPoint. Lines@LimCheeGuan林 志 源 NewBridgeRd have started and tigers are ready for their leaps into the CNY, but I am far from ready…

Tue: cousinYeng gave me these 6pix. I am keeping four – BG1/SIN, BG5/Canada, BG12/USA, BG15/Canada (hope to pass them on when travelling is possible for me). Hope that cousins from BG17&18 will contact me if interested – if not will offer to other cousins who might be interested

Must have been exhausted, napped all afternoon! Rewatched To Sir With Love1(1967) which is still quite vivid in the mind; was just out of boarding school getting ready to start U in Dublin/Ireland and it made quite an impression on me then – glad that I still enjoyed it. First time watching 2(1996) and liked it too, probably partial being a total fan of his.

Wed: The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography(2000) written&narrated by SidneyPoitier ~7hrs and I could listen to him all day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sRdwTZkOQE

I’ve learned that I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me. There is a certain anger: it reaches such intensity that to express it fully would require homicidal rage–self destructive, destroy the world rage–and its flame burns because the world is so unjust. I have to try to find a way to channel that anger to the positive, and the highest positive is forgiveness ― Sidney Poitier

8 Jan 2021 – Where’s Wally

Wed: world’s 1st indoor-atrium-net-playground opened in 2018 and have been wanting to try this playground that span over levels 2-6@CitySquareMall. With nets connecting one level to the next and slides to get down it was no problems getting up&down holding on to the nets on both sides. Yes, did enquire about the age limit and with Les’s clinic just around the corner@FarrerPkMedicalCentre, it should be OK incase of emergency – hahaha!

Finally an excuse to play here, tkx to grandneices Devon&Eliot who are such a spot, but not easy to take pix trying to balance when there are 12others moving about (max 15). https://airzone.sg/

To be&stay in&on this playground, I had to look forward or upward and NOT down. And like life, live your moments looking forward&upward! And when I was down, it was not easy to get up again to look for Wally lol – surrounded by balls pix credit tkx to one of the younger crews who could stand and take this pix!

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing – George Bernard Shaw

Since in the vicinity, bought food from DonDonDonki, their ready-to-eat-ChukaKarage/jellyfish being one of my favourites to share@CC but was too tired to stay.

Thu: need a few days to recover from the Airzone – feeling the aches from trying to balance&stay upright walking on the nets yesterday, not the usual way of using certain muscles! Naybe age has something to do with it, lol. SIN-Flyer was in the plan today to use the RediscoverVoucher – Oh well! so its not meant to be and like everything, the aches too will soon pass.

Old man pushing seventy,
In truth he acts like a little boy,
Whooping with delight when he spies some mountain fruits,
Laughing with joy, tagging after village mummers;
With the others having fun stacking tiles to make a pagoda,
Standing alone staring at his image in the jardinière pool.
Tucked under his arm, a battered book to read,
Just like the time he first set out to school – Lu Yu

Fri: TGIF and a good weekend to all – the consquences for starting my day after sunrise!

No hurry&no worries, still got my weekly produceS$12 cleaned&stored before 0900hrs!! Also enough bonesS$5 for a big pot of stock&collagen for the week. For someone like me to usually start my day before sunrise, I have forgotten how heavy the traffic is around this area where many of the good schools are located – a reminder to start earlier! Was actually awake&up by 0600hrs today, but was procrastinating not remembering that schools have started.

The benefits of broth-bones is a rich source of gelatin, methionine, glycine, and chondroitin – each of these substances supports specific health-related functions. Proteinaceous structrures within the body such as collagen and the soft tissues in joints use huge amounts of these substances, so do bones and teeth.

Sat: weekend of putting way the Xmas-Deco and taking out the CNY-Deco, organizing the season’s greetings+gift lists for 2022 and other paperworks;

papers have not been filed since Aug2021 – ouch! Appreciations&tkx for call from M1 to remind about re-applying to IMDA’s HomeAccess3.0Programme/S$9monthly, what I  pay monthy to be online.

4 Jan 2022 – Staycation@Capella/Sentosa

Sat: Happy New Year –  a perfect pix from yesterday for me to insert text in for my 2022 greetings, non-text pix credits to KK, my oldest friend from 1954 and yes we are still friends today! Pouring buckets on the bus today, but nice to be the only passenger to start the year!

Thank you for Darrly’s yummy home-cooked 1-day-early-Bday dinner, and with cooking like this, he will no problems to survive his future overseas study in Australia even when mother is not there to do the dishes – hahaha! Good luck and all the best to him, hopefully things will work out and he is able to fly off end of this month.

Lovely view in good company on a cool breezy night from a HDB-22nd floor to start 2022 – tkx to nieces Judy&Daisy, nephew Clement &grandnephews Stanley&Darrly for including me – am sooo totally blessed with my caring extended family+old&new friends here in SIN.

Sun: bus to VivoCity walking to Sentosa via the boardwalk. Looking back on to Masjid Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim (the tiny green-roof in the background on top of the road-signs) where once upon a time was our neighbour in an era long gone.

Underpass from ResortsWorldSentosa and headed left after the toll-booth, to only realized on hindsight that it would have been a more direct and shorter way on the right! But then was in no hurry and exploring by feet is enjoyable for me, nice to see such lush greeny. Fortunate enough that someone thought I looked trust-worthy enough to let me in via the gate facing the beach!

With a room+room-service-dinner like this – Heaven must be a place on earth…

Fun time with Kat, Devon&Eliot+MeiPin. Games&night swimming, have now taken this great game Bananagram to a new level – must introduce this game to my flock.

Mon: 2hrs early morning walk to explore before the rest of the family is awake, ie 0700-0900hrs. like the National Museum, Capella have done a decent job here preserving the old colonial style by adding on the new beside&behind keeping the beautiful grand-old facade.

Being monitored by peacock on the roof was interesting – glad that it was not too borthered with being shot by this camera!

Down to ArtilleryRd where I should have walked yesterday but glad that it was not the case. Now I have the chance to see these building in drier conditions&better lights – FormerPowerStation

Former RoyalEngineers’Yard and these 2buildings I do vividly remember.

The Barracks&MessHall are vaguely somewhere at the back of the mind – beautifully restored and will be back for a longer visit another day. https://www.thebarrackshotel.com.sg/

Around the corner towards PalawanBeachWalk with the contemporaries…

Sentosa at its best in the early hours

Even this man-made beach looks inviting when you can have it to yourself!

Ready for breakfast&playtime – as long as there is energy&life, using it to enjoy the moments.

Appreciations to Kat for asking me there and to Les for arranging the accommodations/Villa5 – first&probably my last experience staying in this location. Has been raining relentlessly over the weekend but was blessed with no rains today until we checked out of the resort.

There are certainly no lack of choices for pools for this staycation in this resort – 2above pix downloaded.

Tue: 8+hrs sleep last night does help this old-tried body to rejuvenate! Nice quiet day to update this posting (took 80+pix over this staycation!) and rest.

Always take time out for rejuvenation and redirection.
Inquire as you move along the path.
There is no one best way. Different paths—different solutions.
Refinement is a constant process of growth for better results! ― Joseph S. Spence Sr.

Jan’s Birthdays

2 – Happy Bday Darryl
5 – Happy Bdays Gerald  & Leonard
6 – Happy Bday Cindy
9 – Happy Bdays Judy & Lee
10 – Happy Bday KeeYang
11 – Happy Bday Mick
15 – Happy Bdays Angie  & me!
18 – Happy Bday Isabelle (SunSun)
20 – Happy Bday DavidLam & Mayven
21 – Happy Bday Michael
22 – Happy Bday Katy
24 – Happy Bdays 15thUncle  and Ole K