Corporate Animals

After 4 years in the company, I've finally lucked out and successfully balloted for the company's corporate zoo pass! Yippee! Must be my birthday luck rubbing off. A great start to the decade, that's what it is!

One of Ah Meng's successors doing a song and dance...

An old fogey of an orang utan, sitting sullenly in a corner, refusing to munch on his brekkie.

The lioness, relaxing on a hot and humid morning. Feeding's over, so nothing much else to look forward to all morning....*yawn*

Zebra crossing...the pen...HAR HAR.

A banana flower

At last! We've arrived at the white tiger exhibit! The very same place where a taunting keeper was mauled to death! These aren't the same white tigers though. Those, sadly, have had to be destroyed after tasting blood..

Ah Mao...enjoying a scratch in the afternoon, mid-nap. :)

Decade

It's been the best of times, it's been the worst of times.

At the start of this decade, I was the prodigal daughter, ready to return from my escape from home via a stint overseas. In the past 10 years, I've bought (and sold) my first immovable property (spawning a hobby which has become a bit of an obsession), bought my first set of matching mugs (no more free mugs from petrol stations!), changed a career, lost both parents, re-prioritized my life, set up a roof over my head and surrounded myself with the things and people that matter to me.  At many points in this journey, the scenery and cast have been changed many times. 

I find myself ending the decade in a great place in life. Not bad for 10 years.

The sending off the end of the decade started at mid-day, with a dum briyani lunch at Tekka Market.

A walk through an exhibition after a nice nap in the afternoon in a cool dark room

Wrapping our minds around the abstract artistic expressions on display

And of course, what's a birthday without a cake send-off/welcome? My first candle-lit dinner, carefully planned and researched by Our Friend (albeit upon my instructions to do so). But much brownie points given, since thought was actually expended. My expectations have been exceeded! :)

Mother Nature's Many Gifts

It's funny how I'm a little more observant when surrounded by nature now. It's not just about the panting and raised heart rate, and the burning off of calories. Occasionally, I stop in my tracks because something in nature has caught my eye.

Sometimes, it's a palm frond many times my own palm size. 

And sometimes, it's a spectacular colouring of the sky at the end of a hot, hot day.

Labrador Park, June 2009

Day Out

A precious weekend with no "obligations" or "set routine".

We slept in, travelled westwards for a long-forgotten dum briyani, hunted down a much-remembered Norwegian cheese, trawled through a retro secondhand store, ogled at an exhibition, then arrived at an early birthday celebratory dinner. An eventful Saturday, rounded off with a migraine (probably from too much sleep and missing my usual caffeine hit early in the morning!).
Hunting down an obscure little mission for Norwegian seamen, which had a little church sitting right on top of a hill.
Getting excited when we sighted the flags!
Ah, an anchor! Surely we must be at the right place!
Received a warm welcome from the surprised regulars, who probably rarely see any dark-haired visitors hanging around the vicinity. Heh heh. Success! We've finally acquired our half block of Brunost cheese! Now, let's hope it's worth all the "hype". :)

Lorgan's. Fondled a Flensted mobile, and pondered over its acquisition. Regretfully returned to shelf to allow further pondering on its purchase...
Decorations on a riverboat for the River Festival. Interesting, and a little bit creepy. :P 
Arriving at the entrance to the exhibition - The Kangxi Emperor - Treasures from the Forbidden City. I've always been fascinated by history. This treasure trove went someways towards satisfying my curiosity and fascination.
Taking a break, killing some time, before heading off to dinner with J2. The atrium at Funan the IT Mall.
At the end of the night, after a satisfying dinner, shoo-ing out my 30s. One more week to go before it's truly over...

First

Our first birthday celebration :)
Paella Valencia at The Tapas Tree
Tapas galore, and a tad too much sangria...*burp* Most enjoyable evening!

Dinos

A dinosaur (Baryonyx, I think) in our midst! Moving and growling, it was rather more impressive than I'd thought it would have been. With the school holidays upon us, most public places were filled with activities to keep parents and their kids busy. This dino display next door really brought in the crowds.
Fossil dig for the kiddies. It was hilarious, watching them cluelessly sifting through the sand while the parents exhorted them to "dig your hands in and look here, darling! Pose!". Haha!

Run, Forest, Run!

Thanks to the generosity of the Repatriating Expat, we are now in the running for "most obstructed corridor" and "breach of fire safety rules" unit contest in the block. After a full last LAST farewell dinner for the departing family, we managed to get our hands on some movers' trolleys and a van, and with some hard graft from the muscle men, all under the cloak of night, we have created a jungle right outside The Cave (getting more and more aptly named by the day).
The "delusions of grandeur" potted plant that used to welcome visitors (and me) to The Cave seems dwarfed by the new additions.  

Even Len and Squig's got a new plant to frolic around, and new leaves to balance and sleep on at night! :)

Latest Karaoke Obsession

Even found the Cantonese version!

HOURS of "hard work", singing along in the privacy of the Cave... :D