Where's Sherlock?

House of Parliament

This is where, in the movie, Sherlock Holmes jumped out of. :)

Stonehenge finally!

I'd like to call this my artistic shot. Hahaha!

Here’s the more common view of Stonehenge.

Kenilworth castle

What kind of castle would it be if it were without knights?

Two boys dressed as knights and ‘sword fighting’ on castle grounds. :)

Welcome to England!

2 friendly Englishmen at Stratford-upon-Avon saw me with the camera and asked me to take a picture of them. :)

Greetings from Stratford-upon-Avon

Finally the famous English scone!


Anyway, more of Shakespeare's birthplace when I get home.

Goodbye Internet!

See you in 2 weeks' time. :)

The last of it

This shall be the last of the YOG posts.

I will be on leave and when I return to campus, YOG will be over and the village gone.

YOG gifts for staff - lanyard and luggage tag

Go Singapore! I hope you do win some medals. ;)

The Village takes shape

The car parks are now bus berths.

Athletes will line up here so YOG buses can pick them up and take them to the sports venues.

I finally learnt that the mascots' names are Lyo and Merly!

I don't know what these are. Mega salt and pepper shakers? Russian dolls?

This art installation baffles me!

The 2 official languages for the Olympics are English and French.

What caught my eye was the word 'medailles'. Does it mean 'medals'? Ooh! I'd love to see one of those!

Well, somebody's really happy about the YOG! ;)

The countdown has begun!

While the transformations continue, one thing remains the same.
Big Brother IS watching you.

Scarred

Yikes! 'Scary' pictures in this post.

J went to the National Skin Centre last week. I thought it was just for a consultation.

Turned out the specialist felt the mole near his neck should be removed and did it on the spot.

Gabriel, who is J's GP, had noticed the progressive growth of the mole and sent J to Madeline, the specialist. Basically we trust Gabriel and follow his instructions very carefully since he was the one who managed to diagnose J's Ankylosing Spondylistis (AS) condition. For 10 years, J was in pain and all the other doctors could not tell him what was wrong. That was very torturous.

This was taken last week when he had the sutures. Madeline sewed him up twice, internally and externally. J told me the growth was the size of a rivet and actually went a lot deeper into his neck. Yikes!

Yesterday, the stitches were removed. There will be a scar but we were terribly relieved when Madeline said the growth was benign.

Hiding

Today's just one of those days I sought solace in my office and wished the world would leave me alone.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

These are a few of my favourite things!

Toys for the trio

I bought these 'soccer balls' for the twins before World Cup 2010 started. I thought it would be fun for them to kick these around during the soccer fever.

That was more than a month ago. The World Cup has come and gone and the toys are still with me. :(

Mr Rabbit here in his carrot car is a rattle for my dearest Muffin.

On a related note, I'm quite upset that I'll be out of the country when Muffin gets baptised. I was looking forward to witnessing the ceremony and taking pictures of and with him.

Frivolous frivolous

This is what I carry.

agnes b.

Off-white "dumpling" bag

This is what I wear.
Swatch
"grape" ring

Acknowledgements: Ow took the 'ring' picture. :)

Here kitty kitty

My amateurish photography skills show here.

Still life is easier simply because the subject does not move!

There used to be many cats loitering in the area sandwiched by Ritz-Carlton, Marina Square and Millenia Walk. Now you are lucky if you can find one.

Cat at Upper Aljunied mistook me for his feeder and came asking for food.

This one can't be bothered about me, as like all other stray cats!

Gosh! It's so hard to take pictures of cats.

Lychee season! Oh yeah!

I LOVE lychees!

Lychee martini
Lychee margarita
Lychee tea (preferably iced)
Lychee ice cream
Lychee cake
Lychee sweets

But nothing beats the real thing!

Lychees from Guangdong, China, SGD4.95 a basket

They may look more green than red but they are sweet.

Washing each one with care, but not with detergent, don't worry!

I have heard that the lychees from Xiamen, China, are fantastic but the best lychees I've tasted are from Australia. SGD11 for a mere 700g!

Acknowledgements: J snapped the last 2 pictures since I was too busy washing my lychees!

Here in northern siberia

The wooden bridge across the swimming pool is aesthetically pleasing but also quite steep.

Look up!
This is my block.


My father-in-law's bicycle. He is 70 and cycles alot a lot!

Are you ready for YOG?

On campus, security has stepped up and soon every place will be out of bounds. There are posters everywhere announcing the (for the lack of a better word) 'impending' Youth Olympic Games.

Here are the YOG mascots featured in a large poster. I think one is a merlion and the other a lion.

The lush green triangle surrounded by all the academic blocks has been fenced up. It is being transformed into the Youth Olympic Village. Now, there are cranes and trucks and speed limit!

Fences are everywhere. This one basically wraps around the university, creating a sense of imprisonment unfortunately.

The picture is not well taken, I'm afraid. Can you see the security camera hanging above the fence? Big Brother is watching you.

After the rain

The air is always fresher after a downpour and it has been raining a lot these days.

The leaves look cleaner and greener after a bath.

The snails come out to play.

This one is for my snail-loving friend, Ondine.

C is for cookie!

I have discovered cookies incredibly yummy!

My colleague, CD, was the one who shared them with me. Because of the YOG, the canteen that's so near our office is closed. Hence when it's blazing hot and we find it too punishing to walk to one of NTU canteens, we eat instant noodles and cookies for lunch.

Strawberry & Cream Cookies from Crabtree & Evelyn

Absolute heaven!