Bliss Part 5

... is about to end.

Returning to work on Monday. NOT looking forward to it.

But a week of leave has been a godsend, despite spending half of it - or maybe more - mopping, vacuuming, dusting, wiping and getting soaked in detergent and dirt.

The upside: meeting up with Australian friends for a tiring but fun day at the Jurong Bird Park, where numerous pots of festive flowers were on display and we had a ball getting swarmed by excited lories ( that's the Lory Loft for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about ), followed by afternoon tea at a posh hotel ( felt really bad about ordering a $14 pot of Singapore Sling tea, but they wouldn't let me get away without drinking something! ), and a tummy-busting dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant.

They were particularly thrilled with a dessert called "momo ice-cream", which comprises peach-flavoured ice-cream covered with a shell of white chocolate coloured to look like a real peach ( very creative I must say ), with a core of what looks and tastes like Ferrero Rocher.

Mmmmmmm. :)

Last night was feast #2 - a reunion dinner with relatives at a seafood restaurant along the Singapore River. Great location, terrific ambience, and heavenly food for a very reasonable price, complete with 10% discount if you have the right credit card.

Last but not least, I've finally submitted that pesky journal article, ONLY because I want a pay hike, nothing else. :)


Things I CAN look forward to - Jamie Cullum's upcoming Esplanade gig in April, and Joshua Bell's performance at this year's Arts Festival. Playing Beethoven and Mendelssohn, yech. I'll probably choose Beethoven. Lesser of 2 evils. Why no Tchaikovsky or Mozart?!

Also, the annual JC class gathering at our teacher's home, complete with spouses and kids, and a long overdue BBQ with clinical group mates.

Need to exercise like crazy over the next couple of weeks!