Bukit Brown Cemetery

Yesterday Tcina and I decided to forego our usual Thursday walk in favour of a Tuesday one mainly because of flights. Like I've said before, it is impossible to pin someone down at this time of year, and we've both got trips to the UK booked.
Tcina is a much better planner than me, so when she suggested a walk around Bukit Brown Cemetery I instantly jumped on board.  The cemetery is currently being dug up and bodies exhumed to make way for a larger road.  You can find out more about the cemetery here.  I hadn't read about it before going, but now wish I did as I would have understood the burn marks on the ground (where people would burn 'money' as a sign of respect or looked out for specific plots,) this is somewhere I think Mark would love to come with the good camera too.
Tcina suggested taking Monty, a dog she helps keep an eye on, and I jumped at the chance to go on a proper walk with a bigger dog. I love my Daisy dog, but she would not be able to cope with any of our walks and I just couldn't take her (serious Pet Mummy guilt). Tcina found a taxi that would take a dog and we set out, unfortunately I forgot Lornie Road can be terrible in rush hour so we wasted some time waiting about to get turned into Kheam Hock Road.
Once we arrived we walked past the construction works and along the road without looking at any maps, being hemmed in by busy roads on all sides makes you reckless like that! We walked back and forth and occasionally wondered into a dead end road, but we kept moving for 2 hours and didn't get bored. Whilst out the heavens opened and I got caught in yet another downpour, but at least it kept cool and there was no thunder or lightening.  The only other people was a couple we kept passing as we criss crossed our way around the place and three horses and 2 riders taking a leisurely stroll.
I'm so glad I got to see this before it was lost forever, as a westerner I'm so used to regimented straight lines in a grave yard and so to see memorials placed in no particular order (to my untrained eye) within a jungle setting was so interesting to me.
When the time came to get a taxi home we all looked down at our muddy feet/paws (yeah, I'm pretty sure Monty looked with shame at his sodden paws) and prayed we'd have a kindly  Uncle. Well the first one wasn't, though we never got to give him sad puppy dog/please take us home eyes as he said we were a no show aka he saw as and kept driving! The second guy must have been in a good mood as we took us all to our respective homes where as soon as I got in I dived in a warm bath.
The tolerance I have for the cold i.e. the temperature drop to 26 with a slight breeze fills me with fear for the upcoming UK trip. Keep me in your thoughts!

Dover Canal Walk and Labour Day Off

Hope you're having a good Labour Day!  Marks had the day off, but planned on taking it easy until mid day when I'd head home then we could do something fun together.  He had originally planned to take Friday off too, but it was too late before we thought of it.  However any extra day that we can spend together having fun is a bonus!
Our walking group headed off at 9:30 from Dover MRT and walked along the canal.  We came up from the canal shortly to cross Clementi Road and walked past some more estates.  We visited a community vegtable garden where a really kind Uncle took us along an old abandoned railway line to a Buddhist Temple where were able to look around for a little while.  We then continued the canal route, past the AYE to Bukit Batok.
Apparently lots of people have seen kingfishers on this walk before, but we never saw them this time, but there was lots of lizards lazing in the grass and we saw a large one cross the river.
Malavika who I know from RDA had to head away quickly too so we got on the red line at the MRT and switched to the green one to get home.
Mark said he'd pick me up at the station, but due to series lack of communication I headed home one way and he waited at another exit at the MRT!  Eventually it was sorted out and we took Daisy to East Coast Park where it was super busy but really nice to see as the last time we were there it was right after picking Daisy up from the airport.
By this time we'd decided it was time to head home and into the pool.  I was pretty tired after our day of walking and felt more than ready to chill out with Mark and eat fried chicken....seems all that good work was for nothing!

Hey, I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything's right

My new trainers for the walking group...no more sore baby toes for me!  Mark got them for me when we were up at the Navy Exchange meaning that they were really quite cheap for some super comfy trainers.  Right, show me a hill and i'll climb it!

Wandelen Dames

When I headed away from RDA yesterday I saw that Karin was heading in the same direction so we struck up a conversation on the way to the MRT.  Although I see fellow volunteers every week it's quite difficult to get chatting as we are so focused on the kids.
Karin also lives on the green line so we had to switch stations which gave us adequate time to ask each other questions about how we're finding Singapore. I love these chats as there Is so much tacit knowledge we just don't take advantage of (that's probably the librarian part of me coming through....)
One such tidbit was Karin's walking group, the wandelen dames.  It's a Dutch group of women that plan weekly walks all over Singapore. When I found out about them I jumped at the chance to join as a walking group has been on my to do list since I got here.
I was told to meet them at Pasir Panjang which is on the circle line so a two and a half hour walk along the Southern Ridges.  The walk was really good and I'll do another post with lots of pictures describing where to go and each stage.  As someone who hasn't walked very far in ages, let's just say blogging is all I'm good for today.
At the end of the walk we came down from Mount Faber and went to Vivo for juice. I stayed to get an orange juice and chat to everyone, but was also really wanting to get showered and changed into fresh clothes. I used to adore hill walking and love the freedom of getting lost out of doors for a couple of hours, but there's always that moment you get back to civilisation and find you don't look (or smell) like anyone around you!
I hightailed it out of there and hot home ASAP for a quick shower followed by a long bath....heaven!
I'm so grateful I get to go on these adventures and have the opportunity to make new friends, once again Singapore-you delivered!

Daisys Morning

Daisy and I go for a walk every morning and evening.  I read that you shouldn’t let your pet outside if you find it too warm to hold the back of your hand to the pavement for more than 7 seconds, so we try to get out before it’s too warm each day.  (If you want to see some ideas for keeping your pet warm look here.)

We normally go for a walk around Medway Park as Daisy can’t go that far as it’s too humid for her, which means she’s exchanged her 5K walks in Aberdeenshire to about 2K here.  When Mark is able to take us all out for walks at the weekend I love to ‘show’ her new places to play, but as I can’t drive we spend the week together in our own little neighbourhood.

Today we found a new walk which is just a little bit away from our house.  I really love how open the space is and how quiet it is too.  I haven’t seen another person here meaning all this space is ours.  Daisy can stop and sniff anything she fancies and I can plan out the day or make mental lists in a wide open space.

This is my new favourite spot and I’m already planning an Easter picnic here!

Before the Next Move

Source

After Friday being so gloomy and rainy all day long I wasn’t looking forward to the weekend as much as I should have been.  I had been itching to get outside on Saturday and ended up exploring our new area (having moved once again, back into serviced apartments this time).  Its in an area of town called Mannofield which is full of very pretty houses which were starting to get decorated for Halloween.



Mark had been a little bit poorly so wanted to stay at home and have a little nap, but Daisy and I went out and about.  I had an idea in my head that I wanted to walk over to Hazlehead Park as I hadn’t been there for so long and I roughly knew how to get there so off we went.

Daisy did very well on such a long walk for a little dog with short legs.  She had a snuffle about the houses going up over the hill and then ran along a little path we took which led from Johnston Gardens to Walker Dam.  We walked along the back of houses and that path led out to the playing fields at the park.

By this time Daisy was dragging her little paws every so often, but cheered right up when I took her off her lead.  She threw herself into the leaves happily as I walked along beside her.

One of the (very few) good things about moving about so much is finding new areas that are really beautiful in our own home town.  I don’t know if we ever are coming back to Aberdeen to live, but I feel like if we do we will be able to cast a larger net over places to call home.