From Bugis to Civic District 7

While Alyssa continues her lesson at Jiang's, I started to venture to the outskirts of the Civic District  :)

Where MPH Bookstore used to be

Stamford House

Outside SMRT HQ

Bugis Plus

Lovely Tote Bags, I Luv you!!!!!

Couldn't resist these these lovely Japanese Tote Bags from Feis Japan @ Bugis Junction. 

So I bought 3 at $24 each after 50% discount. Father said the discount is bull-shit.

It's worth it because the workmanship is so gooooood! and each of the bags has got a  side pocket.

The one with a ribbon was for Janet. She would luv it....

Alyssa: "Will Uncle Richard say we are Japan Siow?"

From Bugis to Civic District 6

From Bugis to Civic District 5

This is the Hindu Temple situated next to Guanyin Temple in Bugis area.

From Bugis to Civic District 4

CHJIMES, formerly Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ Victoria St). I'd been inside once on World Red Cross Day when I was in Primary School. Besides being a convent, it was also a girls'school (primary and secondary). According to older folks, some poor who couldn't afford to keep their infant daughters either due to social-economic reasons or superstitions would leave their children at the door step of the Convent. The girls would be brought up by the Catholic nuns in the convent.

Sometime in the nineties, the school was moved out and the building now houses eateries, shops and bars. Is has become a tourist attraction.

C.H.J.I.M.E.S. along victoria st 

Love Bites from Sand Flies

Joined Richard for a jog at Changi coast. Got s few love bites from Sand Flies. The affected areas became more swollen and itchy after a day. And I'm still scratching away.

From Bugis to Civic District 3

Outside the Guanyin Temple at Bugis

Our National Museum - must go back one day =)

Relaxing at SMU Campus Garden

One of the many faculty buildings at SMU

Former Middle Road Church - not sure what it is now but will find out

Well restored but not in use at the moment.

Former St Joseph's Institute - now Singapore Art Museum

Front of the SAM

Closer up

Trip top Velocity

Dropped by at Velocity after attending Novena, hoping to get bargains from Adidas Factory Outlet. But was turned off by the long queue! Went for a light lunch at Soup Spoon and headed back to the east.

Alyssa looked like she was fascinated by something...

At Soup Spoon. I liked the salad.

From Bugis to Civic District 2

Here are some shots taken inside the Catherdral of The Good Shepherd on Saturday, 5 May 2012.

 This reminds me of "Pieta" by Michaeal Angelo  - though it's a far cry from it....

This is one of the 2 spiral staircases that lead up to the organ.

From Bugis to Civic District

Since Alyssa commenced her Chinese lesson at Jiang Education Centre at Fu Lu Shou Complex, I had been roaming the bugis area while she was in class. 1.5 hours are quite a long while. And for a fast walker like me, I can easily cover some major shops in Bugis Junction to OG to all the nearby street stores. Having done that for several weeks, I ventured further and explored the campus of SMU. I was impressed with the infra structure. Along the way, I decide to rediscover the Civic District for the next few weeks. I must say I used to comb this area when I was in school - to hunt for second-hand text books at the now demolished bookshops along Bras Besah Road at the beginning of the school year, OR to go for movie after the final examinations. I also frequented the Red Cross HQ which was located somewhere near Clemenceau Road - not far from the Civic District.

Some of the landmarks in the Civic District that I had revisited include the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd which is the first purpose built Roman Catholic Church in Singapore. It is now raising funds for restoration work. I also spend some quiet moments alone inside the cathedral in the past three weeks.

Changes

Someone suggested that I could plan to stay at my next post till my retirement. I advised her that while there is such a possibility, we must not be so sure that things would remain status-quo for the next 2 years. In my working life, I had seen many changes - particularly removal of job posts because they were deemed obsolete, or because of the need to downsize, job enlargement and job enrichment, saving, leverage on technology, outsourcing etc etc. We cannot be too complacent, but have to be mentally prepared to face the changes as they come.

Terrible event

I had to attend a event last night. It wasn't necessary for me to go but had to.... The event turn out to be boring and I had to struggle to keep myself awake. That gave me a splitting headache half way through the event. But I had to endure it.Thank goodness, a colleague offered to give me a lift home. Back home, Alyssa rubbed some Kwan Loon Oil for me because she did not want me to take panadols. Her little hands did some wonders and it helped me fall asleep. But alas! the headache was still there when I woke up at about 5 am.....No choice but to pop panadols. Otherwise I won't be able to work.

I'm Moving On

I'm about to enter another phase of my career. This career move is a lateral one - meaning it's not a higher posting. But I'm contented. This career option appears to be the most suitable for my plan at this point, and I'm prepared for the steep learning curve. Work stress would be higher at the beginning.


I dislike change. But it is unavoidable and I've got to manage it. 


I've toyed with the idea of resigning and stay home. But I'm not prepared to be a person of zero economic value just yet. I would like to have a moderate income for a few more years.  

I'm Back!

I've not been blogging since I've gone for my vacation in Italy. Christmas, CNY etc...overwhelmed with so many things going on. I've also slackened in my exercise and drawings. Got to settle down to recount the wonderful trip. For Alyssa, her activities had picked up - preparing for ballet, signed up for Chinese class at Jiang Education Centre, and resumed her Catechism class. She has problem fitting in Maths Tuition. Will need to figure that out soon. Her CA1 is approaching. Alexus is waiting to start his semester at Temasek Polytechnic - Aviation Management and Services. Hope he'll be more sensible. Savier is looking forward to his soccer trip to Macau.

Finally

We'll be taking off tonight!

The luggage have been packed, except for a few items like shoes, toiletries. Also had a hard time deciding what to put in the hand-held luggage. I'll need to keep some photocopies of the passports. The maid has flown back to her home town, so today we will have our meals outside - will be having lunch with father and Alyssa. Alexus is still sleeping soundly. Most probably have to pack lunch for him. As for dinner, I'm not sure yet.

Good thing I had dinner with my dear friend Richard and Alyssa last week.

Alyssa should be able to attend her ballet class and piano lesson before leaving. But I shall let her give ballet class a miss, while she'll need to go for her piano lesson.

I had passed the travel insurance certificate to Savier. He asked "What am I supposed to do?" I replied, "You'll need this should something happen to me."

I shall remember to buy some interesting gifts.

One main concern is that I will not be exercising during the trip! How to keep off the pounds?

If everything goes on well, I shall be back by 14 Dec 2011. Hope we would all enjoy ourselves. And hope I'm able to shop more smartly this time round.

Twilight Saga

When the first three parts of the Twilight Saga was shown in Cinemas, I did not bother and wasn't exactly sure what the hype was all about. Later I dismissed it as some kind of teenage romance nonsense. Somehow I managed to catch the the newmoon cable TV during leisure and could not help intrigued and was quite drawn to the storyline. Consequently, I managed to piece together the story from the 1st 3 movies. Hope I'll be able to catch the Breaking Dawn in the Cinema.

Alexus is Hogging the Com

Since his Os are over, Alexus had been hogging the com set whenever he's at home. this is one rare opportunity to update my blog.....sigh

Italy Trip is confirmed

The trip to Italy has been confirmed. Attended a briefing by the tour agency this afternoon. The briefing was quite detailed and helpful for inexperienced travellers like me. Now we are all excited about the trip except when we were given cold shower such as "why not China?'' kind of comments. I foresee myself going on lonesome trips (provided I could afford and still strong enough) when the kids grow up.

Shall not dwell on the negative for now. Need to find out more about Italy and get prepared - cold wear for Alexus, shoes etc...Besides getting souvenirs, also hope to get something special from Italy as Richard's and Janet's birthdays are around the corner.

Advice from Alyssa?

One of the boys from Alyssa's class having a crush on another girl. He asked her for advice on how to show his love to another girl from the same class. Instead, she went to advise him to "be himself"blah blah blah....It seems someone else had advised him to "act cool". *faint*

Told her to advise the boy to stay out of BGR at such a tender age.

Alexus Prom

Alexus attended his prom. Father was happy and proud to see his grandson donning such a nice outfit (on FB) for the first time.