Never again ....Mandai Orchid Garden

Orchids
Originally uploaded by swee.

All right, I'm sure someone has warned me about going to Mandai Orchid Garden, but I must have forgotten. I thought it would at least be as nice as the Botanical Gardens and National Orchid Garden. But no, it was more like an orchid farm with the orchids growing in rows. The place wasn't too big either... a very disappointing trip for us and it was really hot, but at least the place wasn't too far from home.

opening rehearsal and birthday

Last night, a few of my close friends from secondary school met up and it so happens to be Yaomien's (girl in the middle in jeans and green&white tee). The birthday girl and her friend Jo, were also having a rehearsal for the opening of their pub, so we were celebrating Yao's birthday at the soon to be completed pub. They started a successful Chippy's shop (yummy fish and chips franchise) a while ago and hopefully their new business will take off too. So seated from L to R: Jo, Margaret, Lisan, Yaomien, Georgy, me and Faraz.

Birthday of Baha'u'llah

Today, on 12 November, Baha'is around the world commemorate the Birthday of Baha'u'llah. We were lucky to be able to join 2 local communities in Singapore for the commemoration of this Holy Day. There was a nice dramatic performance and we enjoyed a tea buffet after.
After the event, we met Aunty Christine's son and family. Aunty Christine's youngest grandchild is soooooo cute.

never again

We've been busy since we got back to Singapore. Some Baha'i activities, visiting relatives, applying for new drivers license, shopping and eating. The good thing about Malaysia and Singapore is that its much cheaper to watch movies here than in Israel or Australia. We watched 'The Prestige" and "The Departed" in Malaysia. Today we watched "Sinking of Japan". Interesting movie and was better than I expected.

Oh and I told Irfan that I wanted to show him how steep Skeleton Gorge was. When we were in Cape Town, we took a cablecar up Table Mountain and we decided to walk across the plateau and climb down the mountain via 'Skeleton Gorge' to get to the Kistenbosch Botanical Gardens. It wasn't the best idea for someone as physically unfit as I was, and my legs were aching for days after. But I'm still glad that we did it and I don't think I'll attempt that again. If anyone ever decides to climb up/down Table Mountain, going up might be much better than climbing down coz it was so steep. Check out these photos, courtesy of Faraz. poor guy, he's resting now because he ate something wrong today. But i'm sure he'll be up and about tomorrow.

Back in Singapore again

My parents, Faraz and I just came back from a week long stay in Malaysia. We attended my cousin, Paul's wedding. The photo above was taken after a long chinese tea ceremony and shows my uncle, aunty, cousins and Joyce, the new addition to the family. I never knew I had so many relatives as my dad has lots of uncles and aunties, there were some with 6 or even 9 children each. It was a great big family reunion and Faraz's (and sometimes my) first time meeting the extended family. I was very thankful that Faraz and I had a small wedding ceremony last year. But of course, it is a good thing to have a big wedding so that all the relatives can gather and celebrate.

Altogether, we had a great time in Malaysia. Cheap food (yummy local food and seafood!) and movies, lots of shopping and meeting up with some friends too. Unfortunately, my bag was stolen while I was there, so there goes Faraz's new camera :( but hopefully we can get a replacement soon. For now, we will enjoy Singapore for another month before moving on to Australia. Oh and just to finish up this post, here's a photo of a roast suckling pig.