People who know us, know we attend New Creation Church in Singapore.  The main Pastor is Joseph Prince, who is well known internationally, taking the message of Grace worldwide through his books and broadcast ministry. His latest book, Grace Revolution, was released today and we were able to get a copy signed by the man himself!

It took a long queue, for a very short time signing, but Teddy is happy to have his booked signed!

This is just the two of us, rather than the wider family - but it still counts! On Good Friday, as we had a day off school, we decided to do something different.  We booked ourselves into i-fly, an indoor wind-tunnel that mimics sky-diving. The Singapore centre apparently has the largest such wind-tunnel in the world!  The website for further information is http://www.iflysingapore.com.

We had lots of fun, although the time 'in the air' is very short.  The three flights each have been woven into the short video below.  Enjoy!

Routines have returned – life is busy at school, as always, and with my course. We did reinstate the ‘Saturday Walks’ – this is a chance to simply go out into the Singapore countryside. So, these pics cover two Saturdays – a 
treetop walk in one of the many national parks, and a trip to the Turtle Museum inside the Chinese Gardens – both 
great places when the sun is shining!

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I have written before (I think) about Singapore positioning itself as a "garden city" with a stated aim of all residents living no more than 20 minutes from a park. As a result, there are neighbourhood parks in every region of Singapore, all very different to one another. Ang Mo Kio / Bishan are large residential estates, and this is the park that connects them.

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Another of the Mandai Reserve parks is Bird Paradise, the new home for all the birds that used to be in Jurong Bird Park - also found on this website! The new park has larger spaces where the birds have more freedom to intermingle. It does mean there are lucky days where you see everything and unlucky ones where the birds all seem to be in hiding; however, the sheer size of the site means there will always be something special to see.

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Singapore is a relatively flat country. The highest point is Bukit Timah Hill, just 164m (538 feet) above sea level. Having said that, the climb is relatively steep - so you certainly feel the incline. With the connections to other parks and nature reserves, it can be a very nice part of a walk.

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Bukit Timah Nature Park is one of the old quarries which is now a small park filled with little brown and white birds! Not the most exciting park, but Shanhong loves to come and see the birds here - and the quarry itself is quite spectacular for photos.

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Singapore is a city-state - but one that claims, and proves, to be a "garden city". The government mandate is that every citizen should have a park within 25 minutes' walk and new parks are being continually added. Gardens by the Bay is one such area that has been developed over the last ten years (with new bits still be developed). Built on reclaimed land - these parks have become a landmark area with the flower dome and cloud forest displaying ever-changing floral landscapes and the 'super trees' - actually rainwater collection reservoirs, becoming a display in their own right. 

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Jurong Lake Gardens have been re-developed of late, with extensions, new areas, and re-design of some of the existing Chinese and Japanese gardens within the site. Always good for a walk, we have now spotted both toucans and otters among the more usual wildlife.

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Keppel Hill Reservoir is known as the 'hidden reservoir' in Singapore as it disappeared from maps for many years. Still 'untouched' it can be reached through a gap in a fence and a short hike, and is a lovely area of true natural beauty. From the reservoir a further walk uphill brings you to the cable-car at Mount Faber Peak.

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One of our favourite walks in Singapore is Labrador Park. One route goes through forest at the top of the coastline - past historic guns and battlesigns from the Japanese occupation. A second route goes through mangroves via a boardwalk - and both end at the seafront. Here are some pics, from just one of many trips along this route.

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As I was on holiday, and Shanhong was not, I took the opportunity to go and explore a new corner of Singapore!
Grabbing my HelloRide Bike (public rental bikes all over Singapore - scan and ride) at Springleaf MRT, it was time to explore the North Cycle Loop.

I followed the map and directions provided at bike-a-local.com under their "Secret Pedals" Ride #12. This took me to a variety of parks following the PCN network for the most part. The parks included the Lower Seletar Reservoir Park, Yishun Neighbourhood Park, Sembawang Park, Woodlands Waterfront Park, Admiralty Park and the Sembawang Hot Springs Park. A total of 36.1km taking around 3.5 hours.

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Pasir Ris Park is one of Singapore's many 'neighbourhood' parks. These are dotted all over the island - ensuring Singapore remains a 'garden city'. However, as Pasir Ris park is also coastal, it is really a beautiful place to visit with a small mangrove, views of the sea and plenty of trees. This is the only park where I have seen an owl, and also a lot of green parrots. 

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Sentosa is the beach island at the foot of Singapore, home to Resorts World, a mega resort of multiple hotels, a casino, theatre, exhibition centre, seaworld, etc... but also home to nature walks, beautiful beaches and a historic fort. It's a lovely place for a walk, with forest and coast, and also a lovely place to sit on the beach with a cold drink. Also, for those who are interested, a rope bridge will take you to the southernmost point of South East Asia! These pics are taken from a couple of walks through Sentosa - hence the changes of clothing!

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Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve is a the first wetlands reserve to be gazetted in Singapore (2002). Home to its own collection of crocodiles, monkeys, monitor lizards, and local birdlife, it has global importance as a stop-over point for migratory birds. The reserve, with an area of 130 hectares, was listed as an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2003. Just outside the park is Singapore's only goat farm, so of course we had to go feed the goats! Pics from multiple visits have been added to the gallery. 

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Summer 2009 proved to be another busy summer. With the Beijing job not working out as hoped, we accepted positions in Singapore, but my official starting date was to be the 13th July. As I had already booked to finish a course in London, and also a chance to see Mum, we agreed with the new school to start on the 27th July.

So, the summer began, as last year, with me completing my certification in order to become a school principal. The two courses this year were 'Instructional Supervision - Planning and Assessment' and 'Leadership and Group Dynamics'. Once again, I got to meet Shanhong's new boss, also on the course with me, and also a colleague from Thailand was also on the course. Both courses went well, and I now have a nice plaque! The decision now is whether to attend more courses in the next few years to qualify for the advanced certificate, or to finish there; particularly as my current role has no management responsibility whatsoever!

As last year, Shanhong took the opportunity to see a few shows... I managed to see Oliver, Peter Pan and Sister Act with her, but the rest she saw on her own - getting half price or day tickets each day. She also picked up another free CD when she visited Hillsong church at the Dominion Theatre.

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We then went to Shrewsbury to stay with mum - she's still doing well - getting out to visit members of the family, walking to the shop or post box, there are even rumours of her dancing at a church event and testing a bouncy castle. The physiotherapist has said that in another 6 weeks or so she should be walking much more confidently and normally - so we hope for continued improvements. We'll be back at Christmas, so will see how things have moved on by then, but really hope to get mum out to Singapore sometime - it's a place she says she has wanted to visit for some time.

We did a bit of shopping - both in London and in Shrewsbury - nothing very important, but some new clothes, some nice chocolates and an unbelievably cheap coat for Shanhong. Trouble is, with the weather like it is here, I really cannot see us needing coats at all! You can see from the photo on the left that teddy was with us as normal throughout the summer - he got a new top from the Build a Bear Workshop in Covent Garden. He made some new friends too, as Harrods and Hamleys both had sales in the toy department.

Our New Home

We arrived in Singapore late on Wednesday evening, and checked into a hotel for a week. The hotel was in a great central location - but a long way from school. Thursday we met with a housing agent and viewed 11 different apartments. Some we liked, some we didn't! It certainly looked like we were leaning towards the larger apartments - but after weighing up other costs, and distance from school for the daily commute, there were pros and cons to them all. The agent took us to see two further apartments in the evening and we decided to go for one of those. A few negotiations later, it was all signed Monday evening and we checked out of the hotel Tuesday morning and moved in. Our shipping then arrived from China on Saturday, so we've been unpacking, sorting and making this 'home'.

The apartment is quite small, on the eighth floor of one of a pair of towers, just 10 minutes from school, and even less distance from the nearest metro station and shopping mall. The towers have good security, and some good shared facilities including a small gym, sauna, tennis court, barbecue pits and most importantly, a rather nice swimming pool. We've been down for a quick swim every night and hopefully, as well as being enjoyable, it may help with the lack of fitness and excess weight!

The following pictures will give you an idea of what the apartment is like inside. We have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small kitchen and a small living/dining room. Not big by any means,(around 750 sq ft or 75 sq m), but fine for us, especially given the location - and we still have a spare room for visitors.. anyone interested?

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Just one word of warning for anyone who is thinking of visiting... you are very welcome, but start saving! Of course we are not going to charge you for staying, but Singapore is proving an expensive place to live. We are finding that typical supermarket prices here are dearer than London - and about 4 or 5 times what they were in Beijing. Having said that, there are plenty of food courts - and prices are reasonable - so we've been eating out a lot - including Indian, Korean, Chinese and 'Fish & Chips' - something for everyone!

Keep in touch!

Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy

xx

Not too much has happened since the big trip to the US, so this report may be a little ‘bitty’, but at least it will fill some gaps and keep you up-to-date.

Immediately on return from the States, we moved into our new ‘work apartment’. The big difference is we no longer have a pool, which is a pity, but we do have nice views, and the apartment itself is a little more quirky and more comfortable.

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Eagle-eyed observers will have noticed the address on ‘Shrewsbury Road’ and the barbecue cooking nicely!

We went back to China for Christmas this year – the first time in 5 years – and spent some time with Shanhong’s parents. We did a little construction work on the apartment we have bought there, but after much discussion – have decided not to finish it – but leave the bare concrete as an investment – and hopefully in a few years, sell for a little profit.I did see the perfect apartment while I was in Beihai, so my dream now is to be able to afford that one – it is smaller by far – but a view to die for!

Anyway, being Christmas, we had to put up the decorations, and we had a few friends of Shanhong’s mum and dad come to visit too, so I got to show them off.

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As you can see, Teddy dressed up for the occasion, in his new Santa Suit from the Bowen’s – thanks guys! The last picture is nibbles – a gingerbread house and a chocolate house – they may not sell Turkeys but Chinese supermarkets don’t miss out completely on the chance to make some extra cash! Our Christmas meal was not traditional, I couldn’t find anything so we ended up gathering friends and heading out to a Mongolian restaurant for a good meal.

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I had to come back to Singapore on the 1^st January, and was in school on the 2^nd, but Shanhong got to enjoy a couple of extra weeks in Beihai.We are both back now, and already getting into the routines of the new school year.However, it was Shanhong’s birthday last week, and it was Chinese New Year yesterday, so we needed to do something to celebrate. So, Friday night saw us enjoying the Singapore version of Wicked! and yesterday we spent the full day in Universal Studios. The following pictures are all from our day out.

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For anyone thinking of visiting, the secret is to be there as it opens. We managed the 4 main roller-coasters in the first 20 minutes of arriving (although we did then need a break while our stomachs recovered!). It was a good day out – tiny compared to the Disney parks in Florida, but still enjoyable.Now it is back to work for a few weeks, until March, when we head back to Israel on a school trip, and then UK in April.

Take care and keep in touch!More photos on the website.Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy xx

I'm not sure if we'll be able to keep up 'a report a month' but, being new to the island, we certainly wanted to get out a little more and see a few things, and so, up to this point, we've had a bit of an explore, and have had two major 'tourist trips'. The first was to Jurong Bird Park. Established in 1971, it is one of the first public parks dedicated to conservation of different bird species - very similar to Loro Parque in Tenerife for those of you who have known me for some time!

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The exhibits include penguins, free flying African birds in the world's tallest aviary (with the world's tallest man-made waterfall inside an aviary), free-flying parrots, flamingoes, storks and plenty of other birds I cannot remember, together with fish and turtles. Do visit the website www.birdpark.com.sg for more details.

We 'made friends' with one set of birds - mainly because we had their favourite food - but one bird in particular really seemed to want to have a conversation - we got quite a few amusing photos of this one!

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You'll have noticed Teddy featuring as always... he is enjoying himself in Singapore. Our other 'tourist visit' was to the Singapore Night Safari www.nightsafari.com.sg. Owned by the same group as the bird park, this trip offers the chance to visit the Singapore Zoo at night, and see some of the nocturnal animals while they are awake and active. Again, it's a nice place, and a good trip, but unfortunately my cheap camera does not take night pictures, and so we don't have any evidence. This row of photos is courtesy of the internet.

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The other photos are relatively random images of Singapore from our early exploration. It is a very well-organised country, clean, easy to get around, with endless shopping opportunities. Unfortunately it is also very expensive. My brother will appreciate the pineapple rice - food here is superb - and food courts reasonably priced at around $6 (GBP 3) a meal, so we are eating well. Only one meal in a proper restaurant so far though, when Shanhong met an ex-student, and that was over 50 pounds - London prices!!

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So, there you have it, our first three weeks in Singapore. We are already both busy at work, so our free time is limited, but with the slightly unusual holiday schedule, there seems to be lots of opportunities for going out. We have booked a trip to Bangkok for the end of August/beginning of September, and we'll be seeing 'Michael Learns to Rock' (or MLTR) in concert on the 4th September. We hope to go back to our house in South China in October, and maybe even look at apartments in another area. Then, the main Christmas holiday should see us back in the UK.

Do keep in touch. We are using the school address for mail, you should see an address sticker on the other side. Let me know if you want some stickers sending - you can use them on the envelope and save some writing!

Love n Hugs

Trevor, Shanhong and Teddy

It has been a busy month or so! March saw us leading a school trip to Israel. We mainly covered the same places as our tour in 2010, so I won’t be creating lots of reports – you are welcome to go back and view the old ones – but I can update you with a few new photos. We did get to one or two new spots – such as the seaside of Tel Aviv, the city of Joppa and the Hula National Park.

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The trip was a great success, so much so that school has agreed to build it into the calendar as a biennial trip, and so plans are already in place for Israel 2014 with an even better itinerary including Petra in Jordan.

We got back from Israel late one evening and the following evening we were back on a plane travelling to the UK to visit mum and the family in England. As always it was nice to see everyone and to catch up with news and gossip. The biggest news is that mum has moved in with my brother and the old family home will be put up for sale. This led Shanhong and I to have a look around for a new base, and we did find a nice small apartment just six minutes from my brother’s house. So, a few forms later and a small mortgage, and we have a home in Telford! It is a new-build and won’t be ready until November, but we hope to be back for Christmas and so will be able to take photos then. Until then, here is the outside view – ours is the top floor on the right-hand side. The other photos are from Ironbridge, a rare day out looking at another possible apartment!

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We flew back to Singapore to arrive Sunday evening, and on Monday we were back at school! As you can imagine, we needed a bit of time to get back into normal routines – but are now very much busy at school with all the day-to-day events and activities.

Tuesday this week was ‘Labour Day’ a national holiday here in Singapore, so we decided to do something a little different, and went out to one of the parks on the Eastern side of the island. We hired bikes, and took advantage of the Parks Connection Network (PCN) to visit a number of the parks in the East. The PCN is a great example of the organisation in this country. Cycle paths have been set up between parks which are well signposted and it is possible to pick up a bike in any park – and return it to any other – so there is no need to backtrack. We started in Sun Plaza and cycled via C, D, E, and F back to East Coast Park.

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That’s all for now. Take Care! Trevor, Shanhong and Teddy xx

Summer 2012 started with a one-week course in Miami, ‘Instructional Supervision – The Teaching Process’. Lots of great material, good networking, and fantastic breakfasts – but, unfortunately, no time to explore the city – I didn’t get any further than the local supermarket! A stopover in Singapore to change cases, and I was off to join Shanhong in China.

We started with a few days in Shanghai. Shanhong’s brothers both live there and Shanhong’s mum and dad had stayed on a little longer for us to arrive, so it was a good chance to get the family together. We had a nice day out in "Thames Town" a very ‘British’ compound just outside of Shanghai and a celebration of her parent’s golden wedding anniversary followed by a posh 5-star hotel meal! I also had a chance to meet up with some of my ex-colleagues from when I worked in Shanghai.

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Then, it was back to Beihai for two lazy weeks in our own home. For those who don’t know, Beihai is on the South Coast of China, still quite undeveloped with long beaches… and home is a pretty spacious house full of teddy’s friends! Of course, one thing we always do well in Beihai, is eat well!

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After Beihai, we spent the last week in Dalian, at the home of Shanhong’s mum and dad. I hadn’t been there for six years – so we became very touristy, with visits to the Forest Zoo (just at the bottom of the hill from where they live), to Dalian Discovery Kingdom (a Disneyesque theme park), to Lao Hu Tan (a Sea World style park) and of course, to the beach, and the shops (including IKEA – a Shanhong favourite!).

Dalian Forest Zoo

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Dalian Discovery Kingdom

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Lao Hu Tan

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Well, there you have it. I am already back in Singapore and back at school. Shanhong has a few more days in China before coming back and starting in her new school.

Take Care and Keep in Touch!! Trevor, Shanhong & Teddy. xx