Back home for the New Year

After being away for 20 days, we finally got home yesterday. The 13+ hours flight didn't seem that long as I had learnt how to arrange the way the younger kids should sleep when we were flying to the UK. That meant that they slept well and I was in less discomfort. Nevertheless, everyone was a bit dazed when we landed. A big holiday is over, how do you deal with it? 

When we were in the maxi-cab, my wife played pretend with the younger kids that we were on our way to our next holiday accommodation. A place with a swimming pool to enjoy the warm sunny weather in Singapore. We were greeted with lots of Christmas presents on the dining table from my sister-in-law, who has been coming over to care for my son's aquarium. She also got us some emergency food - banana, milk for my younger kids who can't sleep without it, peanut butter and bread. This holiday apartment is looking very promising. My wife ordered room service via Deliveroo but reality sunk in when the in-house laundry service was, well really in-house. No escaping. 

I managed to get the kids to bed my 12am and caught some sleep myself. But at 2.30am we found ourselves wide awake. My eldest son who avoided sleeping on the flight with the intention of minimising jet lag discovered that it isn't as simple as that. No point fighting it, so I got the kids something to eat and they played with the Lego sets they got for Christmas. I organised the holiday photos so that it would be easier to  work on the photobook later. We all went back to bed at about 6am. We have been operating perfectly the rest of the day, on London time.

The extent to which we have to re-adapt to our daily lives is a pretty good measure of how awesome the holiday was. I have so much to be thankful for in 2016 but I would like to remember how we finished the year, being together as a family trying out new things. This year had its ups and, wow it sure had its downs, but we ended the year on a jubilant note.  The last thing we did before we caught our flight out of London was watching The Railway Children at the King's Cross Theatre. It was phenomenal West-end style story telling. A story told by 3 children who had to move from London to the countryside with their mother as their father was imprisoned for something that he was wrongly accused of. In their ups and downs, the children had some of the fondest childhood memories. 

My wish for everyone is that you that make the year ahead a wonderful one. God bless you and your family. Happy 2017!

Blessed Christmas

It's great to be in London after 12 days in the countryside. The city-dweller in me was starting to resurface. There was yearning for a shower with strong water pressure and reliable wifi signals. And the Singaporean in us needed to satisfy the craving for dim sum, fried rice and noodle soup. So first things first, we had dinner at Bo Fa Garden in County Hall. It was my first meal of fish without beer batter and chips. They gave us white rice in a mini-barrel, and we finished it. So we finished a whole barrel of rice literally speaking.

London is noticeably preparing for the arrival of Christmas. Last minute shoppers, many people with hand luggages at the train stations, notices at various retail stores reminding customers of shorter operating hours and closure during the public holidays. Many of the museums were closed today. Bracing ourselves for a shut down in London over the next two days, we stocked up on bottled drinking water and fresh milk for the younger kids. I am thankful to the helpful staff at the Marriott for reassuring us that we will be well taken care of.  Being away from home for Christmas is clearly making me melodramatic. 

Tonight is Christmas Eve and I am reminded of Mary and Josephs journey from their hometown to Bethlehem. Arriving there after a long trip, there was no more room, never mind bottled drinking water or milk. And the baby, when he arrived, was placed in a manger. Almost all Nativity scenes depict a place filled with fluffy dry odourless hay surrounding the manger. Our recently farmstay in Devon suggests that that is probably the furthest from the truth. I am reminded of how God was so determined to dwell amongst us that He would settle for a manger.

This evening, I attended the Christmas Eve evening service at St Margaret's Church at Westminster Abbey. The pastor delivering the sermon spoke about the different forms of darkness that we encounter in our lives - whether it is the terrorism or humanitarian disasters around the world, or dealing with illness or facing broken relationships. And she reminded the congregation of the great light that has come into the world. This light, which is the glory of God, overcomes all darkness no matter how the circumstances appears to us. I thank you Jesus for coming to dwell amongst us, despite all the inconveniences and much more. "Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth"

A blessed Christmas to you and your family. May God's presence dwell with you.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

~ John 1:9-14

Instagram

I read an article several weeks back about Instagramers who delete posts that do not receive enough likes. Apparently this is how some users manage their popularity, or at least the perception if their popularity. The tell tale sign is an account with very few posts that received many likes. And then, just like any other users, I see the statistics of my account followers fluctuate. This is where some menacing users follow you with the hope that you would reciprocate. And whether you do or not, they would unfollow you a couple of days later. It is somewhat troubling to think how shallow people can get on Instagram.

I, on the other hand, have a much deeper appreciation of Instagram. When I first started using it, I was unsure what I would use it for. I mean how would it be different from the way I use Facebook? I am someone who needs to set ground rules and principles before I start on something. Confusion confuses me. I eventually decided that my Instagram account would be for photos where people are not the subject. They would be photos that I would not want to bomb my Facebook account with. For instance, photo of a coffee cup would go onto Instagram. Facebook photos are for keeping in touch with our extended family and friends and coffee cups don't build relationships, or do they?

Serious users tend to have a specific theme for each of their accounts. I like everything in one place and was too lazy to set up different accounts. Besides it gets a bit dull to have an account just about one thing. So the theme of my account is "A closer look at my surrounding". Can't get any more specific than that can you? 

Being on holiday gets me in an Instagram frenzy as there are many things in my surrounding that requires a closer look. Everywhere I look are things that I need to feed "my precious". That watering can, that duck, that windmill, that cake... It came to a point this week where I hit some built-in limit or trigger on the app and my account was suspended for 24 hours, twice over. Other users can see what I uploaded but it would not be saved on my homepage. I couldn't believe my eyes so I looked it up on goggle. Apparently it is a mechanism to prevent malicious virus or codes from spamming the system. Me? Spamming on Instagram? Never. I visited Cirencester and there were lots of stuff in my surrounding which required a closer look.

So if you have been following my Instagram account, you would have noticed a siesta. And I am loading photos from a few days back and at a much slower rate. It's my 3rd day in Devon and I am just now loading the photos of Bath. Duh!!!

Unplanned Visit

The Cotswolds was picture perfect. Although its quintessential English gardens are in deep hibernation during this time of the year, its Christmas charm is in full bloom. Christmas trees and decorations, lights up on the high-streets by 4pm, warm and cosy restaurants and pubs inviting passersby to get out of the wintry cold. Low season for tourists means less crowds and more parking spaces available, which are big pluses for a family with young children. 

I had planned a drivearound of the upper Cotswolds on our first day. We visited The Slaughters, Stow-on-the-Wold and had brunch in Moreton-in-Marsh. The plan was that we would continue on to Chipping Norton, Chipping Campden and beyond. But during our drive we saw roadsigns displaying the distance to Coventry and Warwick. My wife suggested that we visit University of Warwick, where we both studied more than 20 years ago.  I was surprised that the kids were keen on the idea. I didn't have any trouble pulling out the University's postcode from my sub-conscience to key into the GPS. CV4 7AL.

It was surreal to be back at the University with our 3 kids. A number of new buildings have come up on campus since our graduation but many things look just the same. We visited the Social Studies building, which can be a confusing maze for the uninitiated. We showed the kids the lounge where we had cucumber or tomato and cheese sandwiches in between lectures. I pointed out the area where there used to be pigeonholes, the system of communication before emails came along. 

I took them for a quick tour of the Arts Centre, Tocil Lake to feed the ducks and the two halls of residences which we were housed in our Year 1. I was in International House, which had a good mix of international students. My wife was in Jack Martins, the only en-suite accommodating on campus at that time. After the campus tour, we drove to nearby Canley to look at my wife's hardship accommodation in Year 2.

20+ years flew by, just like that, in a blink of an eye. Through life's ups and downs, there is so much to thank God for.  The visit reminds us of how far we have come. This unplanned trip was a highlight during our visit to The Cotswolds.

Wyck Rissington

We spent the whole of yesterday on the road again. 3 hours of driving in the dark from Glencoe back to Inverness. We took the 12.30pm flight to London and headed out to The Cotswolds. M40 was slightly congested but nothing compared to when we got onto the stretch of A40 from Oxford to Cheltenham. Why would there be a traffic standstill at 4pm on a Thursday in The Cotswolds? Is there some Christmas antique auction happening somewhere that we were not aware of? Well, there is a simpler explanation to this - Roundabouts. The A40 is generously planted with roundabouts. Talk about disruptive technology!

And so we arrived at the little village of Wyck Rissington. Yes my Singaporean phonics based English pronunciation fails me in this quaint part of England. In the dark, I sensed that there is only one road traversing this village. We must have made up the entire winter traffic passing through this village as we drove up and down, and up and down, in the rain to find the cottage we booked. It doesn't help that some houses have names instead of numbers. And where there were numbers they didn't seem to run in sequence.  Why did I not learn from the experience in Scotland? Just call the owner.

Even in the dark, you could tell that this is going to be a warm homely cottage. In the garden, we were greeted by an apple tree. My wife joked about making apple pies. Climbers growing on the exterior walls. On the inside is what you would want when you come in from a long day of driving in the dark cold raining English winter. If you are Instagram crazy, you would go Instagram crazy. Probably the only thing missing is a dog and a cat, in that order of priority, and maybe sheep on the lawn. I will be giving some feedback to the owner. 

I am tearing my hair out trying to plan what we do the next couple of days. So many villages but so little time. Completely defeats the purpose of wanting to be here in the first place, to chill. When I asked someone whether it was worth visiting The Cotswolds in the winter, the person wanted to manage my expectation. The gardens would not be blooming at this time of the year, so the person said that people take long lunches during winter. Well, to warm up over a wood fire over a long lunch is a pretty good way to chill, even if it is a bit ironic. But from what we saw when we passed through one of the villages yesterday night, I suspect The Cotswolds would be out in its Christmas best. 

Glen Etive

We set out for Glen Etive at 8am yesterday morning when it was bright enough to drive. Glen is the Gaelic word for valley. The stretch of A82 that connects Glencoe to Glen Etive and beyond in simply stunning.  The mountains on both sides of the valley road were lifting their praises to the Ancient One and I could feel my heart singing along. It is like the feeling I get when I enter a cathedral.

We spotted the Lagangarbh Hut and made our first stop.  The iconic white hut sits like a toy Monopoly house at the base of the imposing Buachaille Etive Mor. It is owned by the the National Trust for Scotland and maintained by the Scottish Mountaineering Club. We followed the path down to the footbridge over River Coupall, an easy 10 minutes walk. This is about as much "trekking" we will be doing in the UK. We stood there to take in the sights, sounds, the cold and the wind. 

Further down the A82, we turned right toward Glen Etive. Although there were 2 signs along the main road, I missed the turn. Fortunately my eldest son who was the navigator alerted me and we did a U-turn. The single track road runs along one side of River Etive. We made photo stops at some of the waterfalls and river pools. Although I was driving a 7-seater Hyundai, which hardly resembles an Astin Martin, it wasn't difficult to imagine that we were part of the Highlands scene in Skyfall. This is where M steps out of the car and ask James Bond "Is this where you grew up?" You would think that as the head of MI5 she would have known the answer. Or did Judy Dench forget her lines?

As we drove on, I told the kids that they should look out for deers, but I wasn't entirely sure we would. What we did see were a pair of white ponies that looked like they came straight out of My Little Pony. They had long manes that covered one side of their faces. They looked like unicorns missing their horns. We played a word game where the kids come up with words to describe what they saw. They come up with "white", "long hair", "beautiful" and "cute" for the ponies. As we drove on we were busy chatting, when suddenly Mei Mei exclaimed "deer".  I didn't really hear what she said but it created such noisy excitement in the car. I stopped the car and there it was a deer. My wife described it as "majestic". 

The drive ends at Loch Etive, somewhat abruptly. Although the lake, flanked by mountain, was a dramatic view, it leaves you with the feeling that you want more. However, the trek from the parking area would not have met our 20-minutes loop requirement.

Getting There

I can't remember ever being so exhausted. Full day of work on Friday, got home to get ready for the  flight to London, the 14 hours on the plane with poor sleep, 3 hours of transit time in Heathrow, 1.5 hours flight to Invesness, 3 hours drive to Glencoe and then finally getting the family settled in the holiday cottage. This is the first time I haven't suffered from jetlag after a flight into the UK. I woke up every 2-3 hours but managed to fall back to sleep almost immediately. 

We had difficulty finding the Airbnb cottage when we got to Glencoe. A combination of not having an offline copy of the instructions from the host, poor signals on the phone that was about to run out of battery, the GPS that was only able to bring us to the town centre. My poor logistics basically. I was getting worried because it was 4pm and nightfall was 1/2 an hour away. Some of you know this - I have this childhood phobia of not getting home before night fall. I resorted to calling the host, something which I should have done earlier. 

At 5pm it was all dark outside the cottage. You could hear the river at the back but it was pitch black. Not all phobias are irrational. Dinner was already soughted out. We had to get some groceries at Morrisons when we were passing through Fort Williams. The kids were hungry because it was way pass their Singapore dinner time. My wife rejoiced when she say McDonald's, so we did the Drive Thru. Our first family meal in Scotland was Scottish, namesake at least. 

I hadn't really planned out the itinerary for our stay in Glencoe. Well, aside from planning the 4 towns or city we were going to be based during the course of our stay in the UK, I have left everything flexible. There are frequent questions from my wife and kids about where we are going the next day or how long the trip will take. My response is always honest - I don't know and it will probably take 2-3 hours, as is the case when you don't know where you are going. When I got up early this morning, I looked at the phamplets available in the cottage and decided that we should head out to Glen Etive. It should take 2-3 hours is my guess.

Praise the Lord we got here!

Let ev'rything that, ev'rything that

Ev'rything that has breath praise the Lord

Let ev'rything that, ev'rything that

Ev'rything that has breath praise the Lord

Praise You in the morning, praise You in the evening

Praise You when I'm young and when I'm old

Praise You when I'm laughing, praise You with I'm grieving

Praise You ev'ry season of the soul

If we could see how much You're worth

Your power, Your might, Your endless love

Then surely we would never cease to praise

Praise You in the heavens, joining with the angels

Praising You forever and a day

Praise You on the earth now, joining with creation

Calling all the nations to Your praise

~ Everything that has Breath, Matt Redman

UK Vacation

We are off on our long awaited UK holiday. 8 hours on the flight have passed and 6 more to go. I am seated in the center seat with the 2 younger kids on each side. It took us some time to figure out the most comfortable sleeping position - both pairs of feet on my lap whilst their heads rest on the armrests cushioned by pillows. I sleep with my arms and head over the tray table. The comfort of flying economy.

We decided to fly British Airways because it would be easier to organise the connecting flights to Inverness - yes we are going to the Scottish Highlands in the middle of winter. It has been awhile since I’ve flown BA. My first time was when I left for the UK for undergraduate studies. And now we are flying as a family of 5. Made me think about the time elapsed. At first the kids were sceptical, “What? We are not flying Singapore Airlines?” Their minds were put at rest when they saw the personal entertainment unit on the A380. There is a sense of familiarity on the flight - ‘highlife”, the inflight magazine has the smell of British magazines that come with the weekend newspapers. 

We were on holiday in the UK 6.5 years ago. At that time we only had 2 kids and that was meant to be our last long holiday for the next 2-3 years as we were planning to have Baby 3. We were talking about that trip a few days back and the idea that Mei Mei hadn’t yet existed was confusing for her. She said she was in mommy’s body, which I guess is partially correct. To some extent, this holiday closes the gap in the kids' shared experiences. In less than 2 years, my eldest son would be starting his National Service. Beyond that, I am not sure if he will still be interested to travel with the rest of the family. Long holidays as a family may be rare.

Tracing a little further back, my wife and I met in the UK when we were studying in the University of Warwick. We were talking about university life with the kids yesterday night. She told the kids how miserable she felt when it dawn on her that Coventry was not quite like London. After that the kids were quite set on studying in a local university. I told the kids how her 2nd year off-campus accommodation was full of boxes, like someone either just moved in or someone was looking to move out soon. The kids saw the humour in that. Time flies; we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary recently. You could say that the 3 kids were in mommy all those years back in university.

The UK holds many fond memories for us, and I am looking forward to more on this trip with the entire family.

Public Spaces?

Taking my two younger kids out for breakfast a week ago changed my notion of public spaces. We went to McDonald’s at the Metropolis, situated in North Buona Vista. With the MRT station right at its doorstep, it is accessible. There are a number of eateries and cafes. It is clean and has wonderful sculptures including Ju Ming’s Pushing Hands and Fernando Botero’s Horse. I can understand why this Grade A office complex was awarded the BCA Green Mark Platinum. 

I took the kids to look around the open spaces after their breakfast. I snapped photos of some of the sculptures and the kids voluntarily mimicked the subjects. Art appreciation 101. I thought about how fortunate we were to have shared spaces where the general public could have access to wonderful pieces of art. But I thought too soon. After 10 minutes, I was approached by a security officer who told me that photos were not permitted at the complex. I was quite surprised and thought that it may have been because I took photos of a sculpture in one of the buildings. Perhaps I should not have gone into that building.  It may have also been because I got my daughter to stand on the plinth of the Horse. So I asked the friendly security officer whether photos of the outdoor sculptures were also disallowed. He confirmed that that photos were not allowed in that whole complex including the outdoor areas. But he kindly informed me that I could take photos of the large Christmas tree that was recently put up.

Who would have thought! I may have missed it, but I didn’t see signs on the property that disallowed photography. I wonder how this works. This wonderful complex that houses some of the largest multinationals such as Proctor & Gamble and Shell, and local listed companies like SGX and NOL, does seem to have pretty rigid house-rules. If guests or visitors to these companies decide to take a photo with these wonderful sculptures for keepsake will they too be directed to the giant Christmas tree? What happens during the rest of the year. Will there be a giant peach put up for Chinese New Year?

You can roam around, you can see and you can touch (I think), but no photographs please.