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geylang - where retirees spend freely







































when i walk along orchard road, somehow i feel that i do not fit into the crowd - swarms of young, energetic people. but, geylang makes me feel so much at home, so welcome. the young women from china are so friendly; they come right up to you and whisper into your ears. it is a pity that i do not understand mandarin, so my usual response is "wo bu hui jiang hua yu."

today, i took bus service 67 to sims avenue where i was supposed to meet nah chuan wee at the durian stall opposite lorong 13. as i stood at the bus-stop waiting, i watched the people as they alighted from the buses. there was a good mix of young and old men, a lot more young chinese women than older women and people of different races, with the chinese outnumbering the rest.

when nah finally appeared, we had some snacks at 'wan dou sek' on 126 sims avenue. we had char siew pau, siow long pau and fried chee cheong fun with chinese tea.

as i was going back on the bus, we decided to eat the durians at the stall. we chose 3 small d24 durians for $10. nah bought four more to take home together with some malaysian and thai mangoes.

the bus journey back from geylang lorong1 took nearly two hours. i boarded the bus at about 6.30 p.m. and reached home at around 8.30 p.m.

seems to me that geylang is the place where quite a number of retired people spend their free time and these same people also spend their money quite freely.

lower seletar fishing jetty
















the orchid country club's golf course adjoins the lower seletar reservoir park. i wonder if this part of the course is undergoing upgrading because it does not seem to be playable at the moment.

















the fishing jetty is a popular spot with anglers who live nearby. most of them either walk or cycle to the jetty. the north-south mrt trains can be seen passing by every few minutes. some of the fish caught are baby-size but the anglers appeared intent on taking them home. to rear?

beneath the surface of the water there must be a big mass of hydrilla. i watched the dredge fill the floating trough with 'tons of hydrilla'. i won't dare paddle a canoe in this part of the reservoir; if i capsize i may get entangled with the mess of weeds. when the canoe centre was first opened to the public in may last year, someone drowned after his canoe capsized.

this place is managed by the pa. it is open every day except monday. members of the public can rent the canoes from water venture.

saw this floating islet at the edge of the reservoir.

cauliflower with cream cheese



when i was in melbourne, i was impressed with a simple dish that ida prepared: white cauliflower florets baked with cream cheese. i told myself that when i returned to singapore i would try to cook the dish.

my experiment produced a dish which was different in appearance from ida's. ida had used kraft cheese; i chose to use grated cheddar cheese.

first, i melted the butter in a frying pan. then i added two tablespoonfuls of corn flour and i stirred in some milk, a little at a time. i had to keep stirring so as not to let it boil. when it appeared to reach the boiling state, i removed the pan from the fire and added the grated cheese.

earlier, i had sliced the white cauliflower into florets and packed them at the bottom of a dish. i poured the creamy cheese over the cauliflower. then i sprinkled some pamesan cheese and more grated cheese on top.

instead of baking it in the oven, i used the oven toaster and baked it until the crust appeared to be golden brown.

i should have pre-cooked the cauliflower to make it more tender.

what's wrong with exotic plant species?

when i first read the notice, i was slightly taken aback. why are they removing exotic plants? are all exotic plants invasive?

when something is described as 'exotic', we tend to think of it as something coming from an asian or a tropical country. but the words 'exotic species' actually refer to plants or animals that are introduced into the local community. exotic plants are not necessarily strange or unusual; they are just alien or foreign.

so the npark people are getting rid of plants that are not native to our country and replacing them with local species.

new use for bukit timah fire station



the bukit timah fire station, built in 1956, is due to be converted into a cafe and restaurant with alfresco dining. the fire station and the living quarters have been vacant since its move to bukit batok road. chun see's blog mentioned this station in september last year.

in singapore, quite a number of disused buildings have been turned over to private schools. the global indian international schools occupy at least three former school buildings, one in moulmein, one along tanjong katong and one in queenstown. the chinese international school, which initially used the name 'united chinese international school', occupies the former swiss cottage schools.

this may be the first state building that is going to be re-used as a food outlet.

one place fewer for fugitives to hide.

accident at pedestrian crossing
















a lot of people take it for granted that when the green man comes on at the pedestrian crossing, all vehicles will definitely come to a halt. this is evident from the way they look straight ahead as they nonchalantly make their way across the road, not bothering to check if everything is okay by looking to their left or right, as the case may be.

this kind of assumption is akin to saying that no aeroplane will fall from the sky but planes with mechanical problems have done that, ploughing into people and houses. a vehicle may fail to stop in time because of a mechanical or human error. the brakes may be faulty or the driver may be daydreaming or engrossed in some other task.

when it comes to crossing at pedestrian crossing, some people switch to a mode which is atypically singaporean. we are a people who seem to be in a hurry though not as hurried as hong kongers but, at pedestrian crossing, you see 'small' people who enjoy the 'power of exercising their right of way' by taking their own sweet time to cross the road.

i always make it a point to cover the pedestrian crossing in as brisk a manner as possible but there are exceptions. like, when i encounter motorists who do not show much care and concern for pedestrians. you can recognise such motorists; they do not slow down when approaching a pedestrian crossing. when such a motorist is compelled to stop for us, i will walk across at my normal pace.

switching on lights in the tunnel

one traffic advice that goes almost unheeded by most motorists is 'switch on your lights' when driving through the tunnel, especially long ones like the kpe and cte. it is not that people do not see the notice or they do not understand the instruction. it seems that they have total faith in the system, the electrical system. also, they have not heard or do not remember murphy's law about "anything that can go wrong will go wrong."


up to now, nothing has gone wrong but one of these days, it may just happen. can you imagine what will happen if there is a total blackout in the tunnel? the short window period before any emergency lights come on, you will be in total darkness, unless you are near the entrance or the exit.


you will be so completely disoriented that you cannot feel or find the switch to turn on the lights. by the time you turn it on, it may be too late. somebody's vehicle may have crashed into yours or you may have hit something in front of you. if traffic is heavy and everyone has been going fast, a chain accident or multiple crashes are not unlikely.


if you drive through the tunnel at any time during the day, you will find less than 10% of the vehicles, not counting the motor cycles, with their headlights switched on. the people who do not switch on their headlights may be trying to prolong the battery's life at the risk of their own lives.

walk at east coast park























































my weekly walk with my retiree friends at macritchie reservoir park is called off at the slightest hint of inclement weather; like yesterday, i ended up the lone walker (in my group) along the prunus-petai trail. the others were snugged in their beds at home. their excuse: it had rained earlier, just before dawn.

however, for my monthly walk, with my former students and ex-colleagues, we are not so easily deterred. in fact, the last walk at bishan park 2, we carried our umbrellas as we walked in the drizzle. today, we could have aborted the walk because it was threatening to rain. in fact, there were drops of it but we decided to brave it.

the assembly area was car park b1, the one just before ford road. our usual early bird, kwan, was not there. later, we found out that he was at east coast park at 7.30 a.m. but at macdonalds, which is a few kilomtres from car park b1. upon receiving the call from me, he walked to meet us. today, it was the pastor's turn to lose the way. albert surprised us by turning up with his wife. jennifer could not join us today because she was rushing some presentation for her usa trip.

we 'refuelled' at the very popular macdonalds outlet at east coast parkway. the majority of us had not eaten at fast food joints for more a decade, so when it came to ordering of food, we looked quite lost. most of us went for either the muffin or the pancake.

our next walk will probably be held on 5 july because seck yeong will be away in suzhou in june, see thiam is going on a mission trip to cambodia at the end of may and albert will be in melbourne for two months.

the trusty old raleigh

today, a light bicycle is a good bicycle. by this standard, all old bicycles like raleigh, hercules and robin hood are not good bicycles because they were much too tough and heavy. but, old bicycles were built to last; they were designed for durability and utility, not speed and transportability. can you imagine carrying one of these old roadsters on a rack at the back of your car; don't talk about on the roof.

those trusty old bicycles came with a lot of accessories, like a chainguard which completely encased the chain, a built-in lock, a rack at the back, a dynamo to light up the headlight and a bicycle stand. some were even equipped with a pump, like the kind used for inflating balloons. of course, there was this relector at the back.

you needed some effort and/or technique to put the bicycle on the stand because it was not just one leg leaning to the left. when the stand was in place, the rear wheel would be off the ground. you had to use your foot to press on the base of the stand and, using your body weight, lift and shift the bicycle backwards.

in those days, the difference between a lady's bicycle and a man's bicycle was very straight forward - the man's bicycle had a horizontal bar from the seat to the handle. and the seat was not the padded and slim type; it was ample and made of some tough material.

the policemen would go on his patrol and the postmen on his delivery round riding one of the bicycles. the shopkeepers also used this kind of bicycle to do home delivery.

these bicycles were built for adults; they were not meant for children. however, when we children did get a chance to ride one of these tall machines, we managed by gripping the handles and pedalling without our bum on the seat. we rode with the left leg on the left side but the right leg went under the horizontal bar to make contact with the right pedal.

sandwiches, tar pau food and home-cooking

in my more than two weeks stay with my daughters at clayton, i have observed how they take care of their own meals. ida is into her first year's second semester at monash and ivy is working at frankston hospital. they take care of each other; sometimes ida will prepare a packed lunch for her sister and at other times, the sister will get something for ida to take to the university.

there are certain practical practices that they have picked up here. when we eat out at restaurants and there is leftover, they will automatically get the restaurant people to tar pau the unfinished food. when they cook at home, whatever is left is not wasted. they will pack the remainder for lunch the next day.

they have also become very adept at making sandwiches. ida makes very nice smoked salmon and philadelphia sandwiches. she will first spread the philadelphia cream cheese on one side of the sliced bread. then, the piece of salmon goes on top, to be followed by thinly sliced white onion, spinach leaves and a slice of tomato. another piece of bread is placed on top before the sandwich goes into the toaster.

ivy prepared an egg, ham and avocado sandwich for me to take on board my meal-less, drink-less and entertain-less tiger airways flight back to singapore.

they stock these brown lunch bags, which are used for packing their sandwiches, pizzas and other similar stuff.

most expensive & lowest parking charges

they highlighted the exorbitantly high charges for parking at some australian international airports; to be fair, the media should also make known that some of the lowest levied charges are also found in australia.

"according to the government statement, short term car parking fees at australian airports range from $4 in adelaide to $13 in sydney. jfk international airport in new york charges $6.55, while heathrow in london is $8.50."

what i like about this place is the choice that they give you. for example, my friend's daughter can opt to pay an exorbitant rate to park in the city or park for free next to the railway station and take the train to the city. to enjoy these savings, she drives to the car park next to the huntingdale station at 6.00 a.m. and takes a free ride on the train to the city.

nearly all railway stations have a car park adjacent to it, where you can park the car the whole day without paying a cent. to reap this benefit, you have to be 'the early bird to catch the worm'.

i was so surprised when we drove to the market at dandenong town the other day. the charge for parking for one hour..... 20 cents. if you still want to save the 20 cents, you can park for free slightly further away.

at most of the shopping complexes, you do not have to worry about parking charges. they do not charge at all although they do limit the duration you can park at the same car park, usually the limit is about two hours.

home-made tau foo fa (bean curd)






















on our return from the wilsons prom's trip, we had claypot rice at one of the restaurants in springvale. after dinner, ivy dropped off ida at the house of one of her church friends, calvin.

calvin was going to teach ida and dorcas how to make tau foo fa (cantonese) or tau huay (hokkien).

the soya beans had been soaked and steeped in water overnight. ida mentioned that this had to be done away from sunlight.

the beans had to be washed clean before they were put into a blender. water equalled to the amount of beans was added. the blending was repeated; the second time around, water was again added.

the soy milk was filtered and squeezed through a cloth bag. then it was cooked over a medium fire. sugar, followed by gelatin, was then added to the soy milk. you had to keep stirring when these are added.

footscray - capital of the western suburbs

i think i have been to the main vietnamese enclaves in melbourne - springvale, richmond and box hill. today, i went to the one where the vietnamese's tet festival is celebrated - footscray.

footscray is the unofficial capital of the western suburbs in melbourne. learnt about it from chris who recommended a visit to the big footscray market. he did not tell me that it was closed on mondays.

footscray used to be an industrial area but now has an increasingly multicultural community, with the influx of vietnamese in the 70s and 80s, and lately, north africans from sudan, algeria, morocco and ethophia.

i should have guessed that the place was infamous for drugs, especially heroin but did not know that it was a place you go to get illegal fireworks.

to get to footscray, i took the train to southern cross station. i alighted at platform 12 and crossed over to platform 11 to wait for the sydenham train.

remember this car?

this car looks almost new, with a fresh coat of paint. but, if you look at it closely, you can tell that it is not exactly in mint condition. a bit shy though, because both times when i walked past the car park, its front was facing the wall. my encounter with her took place in monash medical centre.

many who learnt to drive in the 60s must be acquainted with this model.

in the older models, when you signalled to turn, a small arm flipped up, either on the left or right side, depending on which side you are turning.

advertisement in the sky














































in melbourne, it is common to see advertisements in the sky, especially on a weekend. sometimes, it can be a big banner carried by a plane.

i did not wait to see all the words, but i think the final message was "1300 real estate"

albert park in melbourne

albert park is home to the australian leg of the formula 1 race. it is held in march and the first race in the formula 1 yearly calendar. that's how i come to know about albert park.

to get to albert park, i took the train to armadale station. walked about 120m to the tram stop. took tram no:6 towards melbourne university. stopped at tram stop 27, which is at the end of high street. walked along lorne street to queen street. was not aware that there is such a large lake so near to the city.

there are a number of walks around the 4.8km lake edge and the lake is home to over 120 different species of birds including swans, ducks, coots, cormorants, herons, grebes, ibis and the occasional visits by pelicans. there were at least 50 black swans in the lake. they feed by plunging their long necks into the water, with their backsides showing above the water. black swans are vegetarians, so they feed on algae and other aquatic plants.

there is a public golf course within the park. the driving range is at another part of the park.

watched weekend cyclists, fitness freaks, paraplegics on specially modified bikes, roller bladders and some on a family outing having fun going around the circuit. a big flock of pigeons feeding nearby was so affected by the racing mood that, once in awhile, they would stop eating to have a race of their own.

the park seems a nice place for wholesome fun. there are free bbq pits, playgrounds for children and grassy patches by the lake for picnics.

a walk to the summit

ivy's choice for the daytrip to wilsons prom was to cater to one of my primary interests since my retirement - nature walk. i have been telling her that i walk practically every day except sunday back home in singapore.

after eating our packed lunch outside the visitor's centre at tidal river, she asked me which of the many walks available from tidal river i wanted to do. since we had about two hours to complete the activity, i opted for the mount oberon summit walk. the distance is given as 3.4km and the walk is rated moderate to hard.

the start of the walk is at the telegraph saddle car park, which means you start about mid-way up the 558m mountain. you follow an unsealed road that climbs gradually uphill. a short series of steps below the summit's rocky outcrops leads to a rewarding view of the tidal river, the coast and the islands off the prom.

i was denied this panoramic view because of my fear of height. i kept myself low and did not dare stand up on the platform which affords a 360 degrees view of the surroundings. ida, ivy and ian posed for pictures at the cliff edge while i stayed firmly a few steps below the summit.

'the prom' in victoria

this morning we made the 200km trip to wilsons promontory. started off, after a macdonald breakfast, at around 8.00 a.m. and reached the park entrance to wilsons prom at 10.30 a.m., travelling the m1, a420, a440 and joining the c444 at meeniyan.

wilsons promontory or 'the prom' as it is affectionately known to victorians, is the southernmost tip of the australian mainland. from sun-drenched summer beaches to secluded winter walks among the rainforest, the prom is a park for all people during all seasons.

to give you an idea of the size of this protected national park, you have to travel about 30km to get from the park entrance to the visitor's centre at tidal river. its 130 km coastline is framed by granite headlands, mountains, forests and fern gullies.

walking, camping, swimming, fishing, snorkelling, scuba diving, photography, nature study and simply relaxing are among the many things to do at this beautiful park.

we first went for walk on squeaky beach. the rounded grains of quartz on squeaky beach make a 'squeak' when rubbed together. this happens when you walk on the dry sand. we also explored the tidal river a bit before we set out for our 3.4km mount oberon summit walk.

tea at emerald town, dandenongs

took bus service 730 to knox city, stud road, where i waited for chris to pick me. we drove to the cardinia reservoir. it is a huge reservoir which supplies water to the southern and south-eastern suburbs of melbourne and the mornington peninsula. chris was trying to show me the grey eastern kangaroos that are found in large numbers in this area. saw only a couple of them on the grass slope.

from there we made our way to emerald town, which is the second stop for the puffing billy. i remember visiting the emerald lake a few years ago. we had afternoon tea at one of the cafes in this small town.

i wonder if this could be one of the pull factors that made chris decide to migrate to australia about 30 years ago. lazy afternoons in a small town up in the mountains where everyone seems so relaxed and nobody seems to be at work except the waitresses.

as we were making our way back to wartina south saw this wondrous colour of nature in the sky.

chris, del and i had dinner at asian gourmet hut at 12 mitchell street, doncaster east.

fireballs outside the crown casino

i have been to the crown casino complex about five times but have yet to step inside the gaming rooms. you do not have to gamble when you visit the casino entertainment complex. once we went there for a meal and a couple of times we went for the free entertainment. twice we went there in the evening to watch the fireball display by the bank of the yarra river.

fireballs are released from the top of the towers. there are eight towers, 10 metres high and 50 metres apart along the promenade outside crown. the fireballs are of varying sizes. they usually start as small ones, becoming progressively bigger as the night gets later.

the hourly display begins at different times, depending on the season. in winter, it starts earlier, at 6.00 p.m. and in summer, later, at 9.00 p.m. it is on seven days a week.

cruises down the yarra

european tourists seem to appreciate and enjoy river cruises more than asians. although there are many asian visitors to melbourne, i do not see many asians taking the cruise down the yarra river. i met a few of groups from mainland china near the art gallery yesterday.

river cruises start as cheaply as aus$25 and go up to $130 for a 3-hour dinner cruise into the sunset. there are cruises that take you to williamstown and other evening cruises which take you to watch the fairy penguins, so you do not have to go to phillip islands to do it. i think they take you out to port phillip bay to watch the little penguins coming in from the sea.

there are some ferries that are small enough for you to charter the whole ferry for your own function. those that can take up to 20 passengers charge about aus$350 for a 2-hour hire, food not included.