August Part Deux

Yay!!!

I'm finally catching up on my blog posts!

This should cover the few weeks after China.

Visiting Stamford American (18th Aug)

The boys had to go for their school's orientation and I tagged along because I wanted to see the newly built campus at Potong Pasir.

I was very impressed with all the facilities. Not even my college was this high-tech! 

Also, they have an angmoh teacher who speaks fluent Chinese. Her pronunciation is even better than most Singaporeans.

=O

Round Island Skate (18th - 19th Aug)

After checking out the new Stamford American campus, I headed over to East Coast Park where a group of skaters and I were going to start our Round Island Skate. 

This was the first time I'd attempted to skate all around Singapore at one go.

Wasn't sure what to expect. 

The only thing I was told was that it was a 123km journey. That's about 77 miles. 

Gosh Singapore's small... 

We stopped for supper along the way.

Went through some HDB areas.

Stopped for even more food.

The famous Thasevi Prata at Jalan Kayu.

It was quite surreal skating through deserted parts of the island around 3 or 4 in the morning.

Because we weren't able to keep with the schedule, we had to stop along Bukit Timah Rd. I ended up getting home around 6-6.30 in the morning. 

Prawning @ Punggol Waterway (20th Aug)

Since that day was a public holiday, I went with my family to Punggol Waterway- now one of my favourite spots in Singapore.

We went to the Hai Bin there for some prawning. Luckily, even though it was a public holiday, the ponds weren't too crowded.

It took some time to learn that patience was a virtue.

We brought home a total of 5 prawns at the end of three hours. The first 5 prawns were lost when Max dropped the basket into the water and all the lucky critters escaped.

Oh the satisfaction of catching something with your bare hands!

Nanyang Tech University (21st - 24th Aug)

I was at NTU for that entire week for work. Got to meet Mandapanda =)

Hangout With Talia (25th Aug)

That Saturday, we had a date to go get our violins cleaned and maintained.

This is the store where we bought both of our violins. 

It's been about 11 years since. 

Being here felt like we were being transported back in a time machine. 

Just like secondary school days.

Like we're still wearing our school uniforms and talking about random stuff.

A road filled with memories...

So it turns out that Gramercy has now moved their workshop from Katong to their headquarters near MacPherson. 

We decided to walk there.

The map they gave us stank and we ended up walking much longer than we should. 

We were so relieved when we finally got to our destination!

New Hair (31st Aug)

This is probably old news, but I got my hair cut, styled and dyed. 

It's a big change for me, considering that I haven't coloured my hair in the last four years. 

That's about all for now. 

I hope to be back shortly with a post about this past weekend. 

Netball & Basketball

Finally! A weekend where I didn't skate at all!

Saturday morning, I went to my ex-secondary school Tanjong Katong Secondary to meet up with some alumni netball players and the current team.  

It was nice to get to meet the current team members, most of whom aren't even sixteen years old yet. 

Man I feel old...

Got to see some faces that I haven't seen since I left TK.

Thankfully, unlike my primary school, TK hasn't changed much over the years. The campus grounds still look the same as when we left it about eight years ago.

It was a surreal experience to be back here again with the same people that I used to see everyday. It was as if we never left.

How I miss those days!

The current teacher in charge of the netball team is Ms. Syikin. She's really sweet and actually organised this entire event for the current team of champions and for us (alumni).

I couldn't believe the amount of work that went into preparing the library for the celebratory lunch.

Someone had painted the lanterns into paper netballs!

We watched a video about the current TK team.

So this year, TK netball made history by winning the C Div championships against long-time giants Nanyang Girls' High, 32-25. Not only that, but they won the finals without losing a single game before that!

I'll just say that the team has come SUCH a loonnggg way and I am very proud to have been included in a small part of the history and tradition. Great job girls!

The principal even came to give away prizes for the girls who won this years championship. 

Back then, we'd never experience this kind of support for the netball team. Apparently this principal had been to several games to support the girls. Years ago, our principal never did that. I was pleasantly surprised at this change. It really means a lot when parents, administrators and teachers show that they care in the welfare of the team. 

 The alumni that showed up.

Current champs.

Met Mr. Anwar who is a familiar face.

Our made-up team of alumnis, "Powderful", won third place out of four teams that morning against the current TK netball girls. Not too bad considering that we're old and crickety eh? Our prize was a small packet of chocolates and snacks. As you can see, Ruth is very excited about it.

We were blessed with beautiful sunny weather all morning and afternoon. 

After the games and lunch, Fat, Nurul, Ain and I went to Bedok Central to chill.

Just like the good ol' days of carefree secondary school...

In the evening, met up with Benedict, his booboo and Kat for dinner at Mana Mana Beach Club.

Talia and I were dog tired.

All day Sunday I was in church and Enkoosh (who is visiting from Jersey) came with me to House of Bread as well. 

After House of Bread, I rushed down to Sakae Sushi in West Mall to hang out with the girls from Davidians (group in church). I was about an hour late and they had started eating sushi before me. Check out the crazy pile of plates they created!

After getting bubble tea at Gong Cha, we walked to the basketball court area next to the community centre to chill.

It's been even longer since I've been in the Bukit Batok area. I consider this neighbourhood as the place where I spent most of my childhood. Since about twelve years ago, things have changed a lot. Even the basketball court looks unrecognisable.

I guess if there was a word to sum up this entire weekend, it'd be "nostalgia".

I revisited lots of old haunts and reconnected with friends that I used to see daily or weekly. In a way, it's nice to see each other again and to talk as if time never passed. But on the other hand, it's bittersweet to know that those times can never return and we are getting further away from them with each second that passes.

I just want to be a kid again...