31 October 2016 – Goodbye Oct
Been so busy that postings for the blog have been neglected. A whole load of pix uploaded now before more hectic days with cousin Yun’s visit.
Mon: need a quiet day to relax…
Tue: welcome Huang back to SIN. Arr safely and ahead of schedule, a quick bite at T3 Kopitiam where there is a 10% discount! The beef hor-fun there is actually quite decent. My favourtie from these Kopitiam chain is the calamansi juice with sour-plums. #36bus to MP Rd directly in the rains.
Wed: good of him to be such a sport walking EC Park with me. Most overseas guests are amazed how clean and graffiti-free SIN public places are, including this underpass.
Pleasant morning walk to discover that Red House Seafood Restaurant (1976-2015) is no more there. It was one of the first seafood locations in that area and I remember being here with father. B/W pix downloaded – now a green piece of land.
Of course BeeBee Carrot Cake is a must if you are early enough to avoid the lines, unless you are Joseph Schooling 🙂
UOB and what a good way to display the past by pasting on top of the present. Tkx to Daisy for lunch@Maxwell Food Centre.
A brief walk thru’ Chinatown for the yummy Taiwan durian shaved-ice@Mei Heong Yuan Dessert. MRT to CC to discover that Huang’s feet is too small to get any Chacos. MRT to National Stadium (favourtie MRT station) for a quick look about.
Thu: 10+K walk in wet weathers starting at 1045hrs from EC Pk.
Marina Barrage, 2panoramic pix credits to Huang.
Was fortunate to see the release of water to prevent flooding;
and to see people out flying kites made my day – good windy weather for the kites.
Gardens by the Bay, light lunch@Satay Club
Noisy lion-dancers did attract some attention at some opening of a new shop@MBS and The Water Tornado Fountain is a must if you are in the area at 1700hrs.
At Mustafa, bought a mini turbo fan/Sona 8″by 5.5″for S$30 and Huang got a pair of sandals – his shoes are very wet from yesterday’s walk! Deepavali lights in Little India lights are magnificent this year and worth the time to visit.
Got take away chicken biryani @Tekka Market – too crowded, hot and tired to eat there.
Fri: tkx to Clement for lunch
Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant****
with views from the 60th storey/UOB Plaza.
Breezing quickly thru’ National Gallery.
Civil Defense Museum, the former main fire station.
Sat: Happy Bdays cousin Lock and grandniece Kiera. Old Airport Road Food Centre for Prawn Mee, bought some paus for Ivy. The sky opened up pouring buckets while we were enjoying our breakfast.
Journey East for wine tasting (Doctor’s Sauvignon Blanc is good) and yummy canapés beautifully presented by Paz Campos De Zemella.
Checked out their new shipment – a corkscrew the size of the coffee table (who ever said size does not count do not know what they are talking about!), rabbit chairs, lamps with stands made from old biscuit-tins, etc. Tkx to Daisy for dinner, appreciate that she took the time and trouble to dine with us at Blk 51.
Sun: Happy Deepavali/Dewali – celebrated by Hindus across the world to mark the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. Safe journeys to Huang and tkx for a lovely visit.
Visited Ivy and was sooo exhausted by 1400hrs that the snooze button went. Dinner with Lawrence and Les@Rochalie – good champagne with tiny bubbles. Champagne Salon is a small producer of critically acclaimed Champagne made in the blanc de blancs style. Salon, along with Delamotte, is part of the Laurent-Perrier group since 1989. It is regarded as one of the greatest Champagnes on the market.
In bed just before mid-night and this time the zzzz button hit hard!!!
If life brings you troubles, drink some Champagne, then your problems will just become bubbles –
The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that can never make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. The myth is likely to have originated from 17thC nautical folklore. The oldest extant version dates to the late 18thC. Sightings in the 19th and 20thC reported the ship to be glowing with ghostly light. If hailed by another ship, the crew of the Flying Dutchman will try to send messages to land, or to people long dead. In ocean lore, the sight of this phantom ship is a portent of doom.
Sat: visited bro 
Mon: MtE to get blood test done and to get hooked up with the Holter equipment to monitor Afib. Movie Inferno***Tom Hanks returns to play Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor and symbologist who has to decipher clues in Florence along with his ally doctor Sienna Brooks in order to stop an engineered disease by a lunatic geneticist who wants to drastically reduce the world’s overpopulation. Too much action for an irregular heart…
Tue: could not wait to get the Holter off. After 24hrs, felt like a suicide boomer with all these wires hooked up to the body 🙂 Would have been stopped and imprisoned if I had to go thru’ any metal detector! Blood tests OK but the Afib still persistent, such is life when one ages on top of bad genes – family history of heart problems. 
Sully****have seen this on my laptop not long ago, but wanted to see it on a big screen.
Privé@ACM***by the SIN River – nice location with a lovely breeze outside, and if you want AC, indoors can be quite cosy too. Was not hungry but needed some greens. Had only the Caesar Salad, food and service OK but then I did not try the other dishes. 
Wed: movie The Girl on the Train***Rachel, devastated by her recent divorce, spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple who live in a house that her train passes every day, until one morning she sees something shocking happen there and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds. Wonderful in a mediocre movie. 
Café Society***in the 1930s, a young Bronx native moves to Hollywood, where he falls in love with the secretary of his powerful uncle, an agent to the stars. After returning to New York, he is swept up in the vibrant world of high society nightclub life. 
Family and friends in FL, GA, SC and NC have reported that they are safe from ‘Matthew’. Have been following closely with the news and see that there are wide-spread floors. 
Tue: arr SIN airport, objective thoughts – my favourite airport so far! Plane landed ahead of schedule but was parked slightly off-alignment to the jet-way, error from Qatar airlines pilot. Waited app 10mins to be tugged to place and everything went smoothly after that. Was even offered drinks FOC while waiting for the luggage which took app 5mins. Caught the bus (costing less than S$1) and was back in the flat less than an hr after d-boarding the plane.
Wed: usual thing to do is to get a hair-cut (S$5) when back in SIN. Had to watch Wild Oats***(S$4for seniors@Shaw cinemas, S$4.50@GV+others) before it is taken off the big screen. A senior-citizen adventure-comedy where Shirley MacLaine (do usually enjoy her acting and this was no exception) stars as a woman who heads off the Gran Canaria with her best friend after receiving $5mil cheque by mistake. Pleasant entertainment when jet-lagging and did not fall asleep 🙂
Thu: believe it or not, but this time round most of the unpacking was done by this morning – wonders never cease, or maybe am just so tired about living out of a suitcase. Shopping in Parkway and bought myself a present (S$275). Have been wanting one of these for over a decade. It is actually not as big as this image shows, just the size of a small coffee table.
