SECTION, 12OCLOCK CHARGE!

So i shall not go into all the bad things that happened this week, i shall just say this MISSED MY BROTHERS FLIGHT on friday, so i didnt get to say a proper goodbye to my godson, niece, bro and sis in law. I was very very disappointed.
After a full day at work today, yes saturday...i came home to the nice pink room that the DOO and JAIME painted! lovely. Thanks to the two hardworking painters who were rewarded with hotdogs and a couple of beers, cheap labour i say.
AS you know i havent been very active in the photography department so i decided to take some pics of "ARMY MEN". There will be more to come but for now enjoy.

I left the troops abit out of focus to give the "not important" effect.

Yes i know they all look pretty similar atm but i am tired so given time i think this series will evolve.

"Sian" is the word of the day

You ever feel "Sian" i cant think of a word in english that can convey the right emotion that goes with being "sian", the blues? downer? thats how i feel now "Sian".(if you have another word i would love to know)
So here is another photo-less post. When i get home at night i am really to tired to post any pics and until i leave Bukit Timah and go back to my safe haven of Sengkang i doubt i will be doing much in the way of uploading pics from work.
We went to the Doctors over the weekend for TLOML's regular check up all is well though the little one is not so little anymore! On saturday i went to my mums place to hang out with the kiddos from oz, along with the machado kids we went to the playground and played then we went to the park and played somemore!
On Sunday a lovely outing to the zoo was organized by TLOML and i was very suprised when i got out of the car and there was the DOO awaiting our arrival, with a bag of lovely sandwiches.
Philip, Phil Jr (megan and michael were sick) turned up as well along with Eileen(sis in law) Becky, Edwin(godson) and Gabriel our cousin. SO all in a nice morning of animals and kids.
Thats roughly what happened over the weekend, and now i am back in bukit timah...sigh and sunday seems oh so long ago. The one saving grace at the moment is that i have a couple of books to read and am reading 4 books concurrently, Winstons War a trashy yet exciting book on the pre war days, another book on the ten years prior to ww2 focusing on churchil's life also a book by a birtish tv journo on reporting in general but mainly of his time in afgahnistan, i also just finished two books bravo20 and a biography of frank sinatra. Except for the bravo book the rest were purchased at the book fair recently. I have different books for different moods, one for the bus, one for lunch time, one for the bed and dont really like to sleep without reading a page or two at least. When i have nothing new to read i tend to go back to old favourites like old copies of national geographic sometimes i awake to find myself surrounded by yellow bordered magazines....
its 1330 now and i have another 5hrs here today....sigh....


i almost forgot my disclaimer. IF you should find any typos please refer www.idonotcare.com a site for the many things in the world I DO NOT CARE for. :) havbe a nice day

What a difference a day makes.

33 thats just a number like any other but for me, today, its my age for the next 12months. How do i feel? i dont rightfully know, though i do know i am no gazelle now, more of a water buffalo inside i feel 16. The things that excited me then still excite me now, camping with my boys, playing with them laughing like 8yr olds without a care in the world and damn the stares . Some things excite me more now then they ever could have 17yrs ago ..i married the girl of my dreams my childhood sweetheart who tries so hard to make me happy, we have a beautiful home we got the dog and we have a little bundle of joy on the way, problems? cheh of course we got problems, in the fairy tale i was supposed to be flushed with cash and was able to give my family all they desired but alas i live in this world and not in a fairyland. . I often wonder what my father would say, how he would be so proud that i married Mischa, how he would play with my "on the way" daughter, how he would probably tell me to tuck my shirt in and stop walking round like a loafer, today of all days i wish i could hear his voice even if he said "lets clean the storeroom" but once again such is life and i am left with memories.
I often think back to our house in opera estate and feel abit sad that my family is scattered across thousands of miles and how even when we are together we seem so far apart, maybe its the knowledge that we will all go back to our homes and that we throw ourselves into our own lives that make it s so easy to forget everyone else. IS there more i could do? of course there is i could call more often or write but that 4 letter word "lazy" creeps in and i always think that will be tomorrow but someday tomorrow will be too late. So that is my BIRTHDAY resolution that i will try harder.
i dont like celebrating my birthdays, not cause of getting older but because i will forever tie my birthday to my dad who passed away suddenly 3 days after one of my birthdays. but if i can have my family with me then sorrow will pass into the night.
When my daughter is born the next phase of my life begins where i forever will be responsible for this little life, where i will become the daddy...i hope i have a little of my father in me so i dont get lost along the way.

Suddenly i realise that this post might seem depressing so i shall snap back into what is the regular flavoured edward and tell you something that makes me feel all is well with the world. AS i type this my wife is fast as asleep, we watched James Bond-Moonraker together which i love, my puppy is sitting on the desk snoring away, Kenny G( yes i am a fan) is playing in the background and on the chair in front of me are bags upon bags of baby clothes, now you tell me how you cant be content with such a life. MY cup of life isnt just half full, its half full of coke. :)

My two cents for the day.
We shall walk in the sun and save the shadows for rest, for in the warmth of the sun and you by my side i can face anything.
Holding hands is better then ice cream

Easter Sunday........New life

Here is my newest little cousin Dylan! Easter sunday was his baptism so off we went to St.Theresa's Church bright and early for a lovely ceremony.

Above is his mother my cousin Dallas, looks just like me right(she is the white filling of the oreo and i am the outer shell)?

The lovely family, left to right Dylan, Dallas,Dev(handsome) and the father of the boys Gopal(i should say he is the most upbeat person i have ever met!). I also cant get over Dallas having TWO kids already, i still think of her with her goldilocks type hair and big eyes running away from me as i tormented her!


After mass i was surprised to see my brother and his family All he way from Australia!
i knew they were down and staying with his in laws but didnt expect to see them in church! what a pleasent surprise.

My Niece Rebecca, oh dear how she has grown!

My godson Edwin(named after my dad) Just like his godpa handsome bloke!
He as grown so much too i cant get over how tall he is!

An attepmt at a family picture

The picture below was taken by someone other then myself...ahem.

eggs, chocs....easter

The great Machado easter egg hunt. lots of chocs and lots of cheating! even the dogs got in on the action!

Delayed post....

Its been really busy everywhere, with the baby on the way we have been trying to get all our stuff sorted out so i havent really been posting or taking many pics, its an excuse i know...anyway sometime last week i took a short walk to a temple near my place of work and took a couple of shots. I wasnt impressed at all with the results but heh u cant win em all eh.

With the claw pic i intentionally left the lady in the background i felt it gave a look of menace...not sure if it works but i played around with the contrast for the below pic to see if the effect was better...

The Temple below is actually next to the one i went to photograph, i like this pic for no apparent reason.

Dispatch From Bukit Timah

0940 Bukit Timah- As i write this dispatch from the foot hills of the bukit timah nature reserve i find my mind wandering to the evnts of the past 10days and the fact that i have not posted a new blog since the 10th. Its not that nothing has happened, if you check out Alisons blog u will see some of the stuff i have been doing, its just time. time to squeeze in a little post. I havent brought my camera to work in a couple of days so no pics to post. anyway back to my post, i am not in my normal location of sengkang but have been sent by the powers that be to this site while the manager there lingers in hospital. IT could have been worse ...but how i am not really sure. As i write this the pest control people are fogging just outside my window, contractors are repairing a gate, the technician is sorting out some intercom faults and i have jjust inspected the security books. seems like enough work for the day but alas no....
i got in the office at 0730am having obtained a lift from the Doo, which saved me at least 40mins on the train and 2 bus rides. Being 1 1/2hr early for work i took a nice nap.....i can now see some people outside the office so i shall end this weird post here...

edward simon live from bukit timah

Nile Babies, Memphis Of Exemplar

So its another catty post. On sunday i entered cat country and although i do seem to have alot of cat pics in my blog its only because i think cats photograph better then dogs. My feline foray was in support of a good friend whose Cat was taking part in the cat show, from the above picture you will realise that cat owners are not all there....bats in the belfry as it were lolol I took a number of pics of Memphis NONE of which and let me say that again NONE of which came out remotely nice(i am very very disappointed.). So i decided to post some long range shots. Congrats to memphis who is now a Champion Cat having won a number of ribbons and for coming in 10th place over all.

Evan and Memphis

Professional Cage photography, Ska

Iron Chief Satyo Koizumo inspecting her ingredients. Actually its one of te judges checking if Memphis fits the breed standard.
After i left, i went home and TLOML, Pepper and i went to the Moo+Doo Mansion to meet Jamie who is down from Aus and is starting work today at ngee ann poly. Pepper as always is wary of him for some reason or other, she cant seem to make up her mind! All in all a nice sunday...and today the horror that is monday has begun.

Sidebar-If you discover any typos and stuff please feel free to place them in the kitty litter provided.

MEOW

As some of you know i work in a condo, and that the estate cleaners keep a couple of cats. Above is one that we have had since he was a tiny kitten, almost 2yrs now and his name is CAT....yes thats right. Some people call him Merah but thats just a nick name. His mother was a black cat who was named BLACK. She is no longer with us. CAT doesnt not like cameras and when i am carrying one he tends to walk away as if he didnt even know me. When i am not carrying my camera he will rub up against my legs as if we are best friends. Below is our newest cat, found as a tiny little kitten and nursed to his current status as number two male cat. They have named him TOMBOK which is supposed to refer to his clr.
The lighting wasnt ideal, and i tried not to use flash for all the pictures, so if you find the eyeballs abit dark blame it on the rain
I took the tiny toy spaceman for a walk in my estate today, poor fella he hasnt been out in a while.

Lunch @ Me casa

On the 26th of last month we had some members of my family and extended family and friends over for lunch.It was a chance for family members who hardly get together to meet up after a long break and tell tales of yore lol.
Tlomy made a lovely chicken curry with some help from atun and Mil-Doo while Nanny Lucy made a nice beef rendang and some great coleslaw. The doo also made a salt fish pickle which a certain member of our clan cant resist! All in all a good time, i hope that we can do this a bit more often!
Thanks to the official photographer of the day Mr.A.Pereira as well as the official emailer of Photographs Mrs.A.Pereira.
Any typo errors found should be forwarded to the esamnination branch of cambridge university. The layout seems to have gone abit bonkers eh.

All in a days walk

Sunday Stroll
Went down to the city on sunday morning for a bit of a walk, started my journey along south bridge road, went past far east square, down towards boon tat street up along amoy st. then went up club street, past maxwel market down the food terrace, past the old maxwel police station, towards lau pa sat, through raffles place round golden shoe car park across change alley into clifford pier back across change alley into raffles mrt and onto the train. yes i know a long story.
The first two pics posted i took because i liked the colours ...

Anyone here saw the Peter Sellers movie Fu Man Chu?.....

The above building located in boon tat street used to be a run down old building with wooden doors an uneven roof and sunken floors...look at it now. When i first started working in amoy st, i would pop into the first unit on the left for a hair cut and the old guy would close the shop make two chipped mugs of strong tea get in a seat and chit chat with me, he felt it was his responsiblity to help me speak chinese. He was born and raised in fuzhou, china and spoke a dialect that i couldnt grasp, he came over before the war raised 3 kids one of which became a doctor and the only reason he continued to cut hair was that he would have been bored doing nothing. When rent control was lifted in 98 i think he left . I always think of him when i get my hair cut, with his blunt scissors and strong tea. the two units to the left used to be a tyre shop all dirty and greasy.

Above is one of my favourite buildings, if ever i win toto......sigh even toto wont be enough to save this beauty

I have no idea who this dude looking at me is but the building is 111 Amoy street and this is my favourite office space in the whole world. Many happy days working here as well as many happy nights sitting and chit chatting with brad while we packed incense.

When i first got to know the club stree/amoy street area, a majority of the buildings were clan houses, guilds or associations. with lots of elderly people playing mahjong and sitting on grand old chairs. today most of these have been replaced by resurants and offices.

You used to be able to drive up this road, though why i never knew today it leads yo uto an area behind the old buildings that has been done up quite nicely.

The former inn of sixth happiness, now renovated, refurbished and renewed the scarlet hotel all 15stars if it ..
My only problem with the facade is that damn no entry sign right at the front! LTA should really do something about that.

The building above has a sign that says "Pestana Boxing Center" and that is the only reason i took the pic.

Red, thats what the new tenants of the old Maxwel Road police station have painted it.Many a trafic fine was paid after walking through those doors. The dreaded "uncles" of traffic police fame departed from this building to torment the lives of drivers everywhere. Today there is a design museum and other arty things inside. i am not sure if i like it...cant decide but if the new tenants wanted to make a break with the past they surely have .

Below is our very own White House.

Clifford Pier
As of April 1st Clifford Pier was shut down. The ferries moved to marina, bumboats chugged away for a last trip out of the harbour before the place was sealed for good. It was first opened in 1933 and was meant to be a temporary structure, 10years or so but with the war and post war changes this old building lasted almost 73yrs. The pier also known as the red lamp pier because of the red lamps that used to hang outside it was built to replace the old one that fronted The Fullerton Building, that pier called Johnston Pier was built in 1855, 78years. Will the new buidlings in marina last as long?
With its art deco style facade and windows along with the high "ship ribs" frame of its ceiling it truly was a building of its times. I reckon its probaly one of the last if not the last building in the area that was doing the job it was built for.(of course excluding the civi district). I took more then 100 pics of the place, not for the art as you can see from these pics but more to document the passing of another ICON. I am sure they will refurbish the place and make it grand, maybe turn it into an art gallery or something but sometimes i like a bit of the old .....after 151 years of boating hussle and bussle, the end has come.

BABY"S DAY OUT
After completing my little walk around the city district i went to meet TLOML and the Doo, our mission to pick a pram and baby essentials for the upcoming bundle of joy. We got a really nice pram and lots of bottles and other wird stuff, discounts galore and all the vouchers we have been hoarding came in rather handy. Of course we stopped off for a little drink. Thanks for the help Doo

Side Bar-Any typos are my fault i am old and slowly going senile. All pics have been reduced in size. to around 35% some less. After such a long break i really post a meag blog didnt i? lol

Take Five

So its been awhile since i have blogged, abit more then 10 days, been a bit busy but really i felt like taking abit of a break. Lots of stuff has been happening, TLOML is doing well and so is the little baby. Fatty aka pepper thinks she is pregnant and so is producing milk and stuff, they call it false pregnancy..poor little thing.

Anyway lets hope this is a return to the land of blogging for me...after a break one does tend to get lazy :)