The Route Less Taken

I made a slight detour on my walk and went into the sports stadium to have a look. There was nothing special. So much so that I didn't take a photo. However, I saw these townhouses just outside of the stadium's perimeter.

Now, if you live in one of these, and you are a sports fan, or football fan, that would be excellent. You can watch games for free from your balcony, or terrace.

This is the view from on the other side of estate.

These are some flowers along the way.

I don't know the name of these but they look like a genus of the ginger family.

I haven't a clue what these are either.

I assume these are pods that carry the seeds of the plant.

This is a specie of creeper flowering plant. They cling and grow onto the fence. It is quite a sight, especially when they blooms.

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Sometimes...

Life is never easy, never straight forward. There are always twists and turns. Not all things in life will happen the way we intend them to, the way they are supposed to. Sometimes, shit happens to our best laid plans, turning our world upside down. We might be sure, confident, hopeful one moment, and disappointed, lost, unsure the next.

So, it is good to bear in mind, to understand, and accept that ‘Sometimes...’ in life. And sometimes, a change of mindset, or a change of viewpoint, is all it takes to turn a situation around.

Sometimes, not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck. - The Dalai Lama

Sometimes, all a person need is a hand to hold and a heart to understand. - Unknown

Sometimes, it only takes one person to change your life. One to be there for you, to love you, to believe in you. It only takes one. - Unknown

Sometimes, the bad times in our life put us on a direct path to the very best times of our life. - Unknown

Sometimes, you just got to give yourself what you wish someone else would give you. - Dr. Phil

Sometimes, it feels better not to talk. At all. About anything. To anyone. - Unknown

Sometimes, the hardest cages to break out of are the ones we built for ourselves. - Unknown

Sometimes, you have to dare to do it because life is too short to wonder what it could have been. - Steve Maraboli

Sometimes, you just need to distance yourself from people. If they care, they’ll notice. If they don’t, you know where you stand. - Unknown

Sometimes, a ray of hope is all the sunshine you need. - Unknown

Sometimes, we waste too much time to think about someone that doesn’t think about us for a second. - Unknown

Sometimes, the end of the road is where it all begins. - Unknown

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P S Cafe

Source

Recently, after dinner with a friend, we were having a wander about the malls when we spotted this ‘P.S. Cafe’. It looked quite posh. My friend suggested we have dessert and a coffee. So, off we went to ‘check out’ the place.

The first thing I noticed was the napkins and the paper bag holding the utensils have the name of the Cafe printed on them - an indication that this is a upmarket cafe.

The menu was printed on paper which also served as a table mat – not uncommon. But the prices are not common at all.

Anyway, I ordered the double chocolate blackout cake and a coffee. My friend had the Flourless Orange cake with orange butterscotch sauce.

Chocolate Blackout cake with dark chocolate sauce. It didn't quite show up in the photo, but it was a big piece of cake. No wonder the waitress asked if we were sharing the cake. I had confidently told her no. Well, I hadn't expected to be served such a big piece of cake for dessert. The Chocolate Blackout was sinfully divine. But it was just too much. I managed to eat two thirds of it before giving up. I think that cake had enough calories to cover a week.

Flourless Orange cake with orange butterscotch sauce. My friend said it was nice.

They called it Latte now – not regular coffee, not coffee with milk.

A search on Google revealed that PS Cafe was opened in 1999. It quickly gained a following for its savoury cafe classics, famous truffle shoestring fries and indulgent cakes, pudding and tarts.

Their design and concept of the place is lush surroundings, relaxed atmosphere and generous portions. So, they are a bit pricey and high end, but the quality and quantity is there.

Apparently, the place is legendary for its brunches and lazy afternoon teas, romantic dates and friendly celebrations in beautiful surroundings. Yup, sounds like a very classy indeed.

Worth a visit on special occasions or when you feel like pampering yourself – once in a while.

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Gardens by the Bay

The Gardens by the Bay is Singapore’s pride and joy. It is really impressive. Words will not be enough to describe the awe you experience when you visit the gardens. You have to visit it to understand why the place is so popular.

There is always something to marvel at, something new, something going on at the Gardens.

A visit to Singapore is not complete without seeing the Gardens by the Bay.

More information on the garden HERE

Here are some pictures from my recent visit. The weather wasn't very cooperative on my visit. I came out of the train station, and the sky looked as if it was ready to open up. And it did, before too long. So, I had to sit out the rain. Luckily for me, it was one of those passing tropical rain. It was all over in about 45 minutes.

The Gardens by the Bay is a photographer’s haven. Thank goodness for phone cameras, people can snap, snap, snap away, and keep the best of the lot.

This is the Dragonfly Lake, a favourite spot for pictures.

A view of the Marina Bay Sands from the Gardens

Supertree Grove. Watch the YouTube video for more information on the Supertrees.

A shuttle bus in the gardens. For $3 a ticket, you get to hop on and off at designated locations.

Some flowering succulent plant.

Daylight is fading and the lights are coming on.

Visitors snapping away.

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That's Life

Have a good laugh from time to time. The burden of life is lightened when we laugh – sometimes, at life, sometimes, at ourselves. A laugh at our own expense costs nothing. Besdes, the person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.

It's hard ... to hate a man who laughs at himself and the rest of the world. - Jo Clayton 

Enjoy today’s selection of humour. They are funny, but at the same time, there is truth in them. I hope they bring on a chuckle, or put a smile on your face. 

It is a peculiarity of knitters that they chronically underestimate the amount of time it takes to knit something. Birthday on Saturday? No problem. Socks are small. Never mind that the average sock knit out of sock-weight yarn contains about 17,000 stitches. Never mind that you need two of them. (That’s 34,000 stitches, for anybody keeping track.) Socks are only physically small. By stitch count, they are immense. - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

The Lawyers’ trade is a trade built entirely on words. And so long as the lawyers carefully keep to themselves the key to what those words mean, the only way the average man can find out what is going on is to become a lawyer, or at least to study law, himself. All of which makes it very nice – and very secure – for the lawyers. - Fred Rodell

In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. - Abraham Lincoln

Losing a mate to death is devastating but it’s not a personal attack like divorce. When somebody you love stops loving you and walks away, it’s an insult beyond comparison. - Sue Merrell 

In my vast experience, I’ve found it always wiser to go along with female advice … First, you make them happy by doing what they tell you. That’s the main thing. Let them think they’re in control. They love it. Then, if it turns out they were right, everything’s cool. If it turns out they were wrong ... then you have the pleasure of basking in the glow of superiority. - Richard Laymon

Men are simple things. They can survive a whole weekend with only three things: beer, boxer shorts and batteries for the remote control. - Diana Jordan

It’s actually not too difficult to get a dog to bring a ball back to you once you learn how. It helps to start by understanding that dogs are just trying to teach you to play their game while you’re trying to teach them yours. Who ends up training whom first depends on you. Keep in mind that dogs are naturals as animal trainers, while humans aren’t, so you’d better be on your toes when you start to try out “fetch” with a new dog. - Patricia McConnel

In elementary school, in case of fire you have to line up quietly in a single file line from smallest to tallest. What is the logic? Do tall people burn slower? - Warren Hutcherson

Men and women are natural enemies, like cat and dog – only more so. They are forced to live together for a time, or this wonderful race couldn’t go on. - Neith Boyce

In order to know whether a human being is young or old, offer it food of different kinds at short intervals. If young, it will eat anything at any hour of the day or night. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you’ve got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn’t your biggest problem. Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash. - Jerry Seinfeld

It’s no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favourite films wouldn’t even speak to each other if they met at a party. - Nick Hornby

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Inspire With Words

Have you ever felt inspired, or motivated by what someone said to you? Your spirit got a lift, and you felt more confident, or you feel that the life is not so bad after all, that there is hope. If you remember those moments, you will have understood the power of words. You will have understood how a few words could have so much weight, and could mean so much.

When possible, where possible, motivate, and inspire others with words. Speak words of encouragement. It costs you nothing, but those words could mean a lot to the person, more than you will ever know. 

<i> keep in mind the following. Maybe they will come in handy someday. </i>

Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life. - Robert Louis Stevenson

It’s the man who waits for his ship to come in who’s always missing the boat. - Unknown

Knowing when to keep your mouth shut is invariably more important than opening it at the right time. - Malcolm Forbes

If you’re going to play the game properly, you’d better know every rule. - Barbara Jordan

Have regard for your name, since it will remain for you longer than a great store of gold. - Ecclesiastes

Knowledge is gained by learning; trust by doubt; skill by practice; and love by love. - Thomas Szasz

The individual is not accountable to society for his actions in so far as these concern the interests of no person but himself. - John Stuart Mill

The humblest individual exerts some influence, either for good or evil, upon others. - Henry Ward Beecher

Heaven on Earth is a choice you must make, not a place you must find. - Wayne Dyer

It is just the little touches after the average man would quit that make the master’s fame. - Orison Swett Marden

How could drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on. - Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

He will always be a slave who does not know how to live upon a little. - Horatius

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Mid-Autumn Festival

Today is the Mid-Autumn festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival and the Lantern Festival.

Celebrations of the Mid-Autumn include Chinese cultural dance, and instrumental performances, solving of riddles, poems reading, lantern displays, lantern making competition, eating mooncakes... 

This year, due to the Covid-19, all celebrations are muted. Some organizations move the celebrations online, while others – the bigger outdoor events are cancelled.

Apart from Chinatown, the biggest display of lanterns can be found in the Gardens by the Bay and the Chinese Gardens.

Yesterday, I went to the Gardens by the Bay to see what’s happening there. They were not as busy as last year, obviously, but there were still a fair amount of  people about.  Here are some photos I took. 

The Apricot Grove

The Apricot Grove, which features apricot flowers at various stages of blooming, enhanced with gobo lighting effect to simulate falling flower petals, is inspired by the Chinese fable of Dong Feng “董奉”, who is a skilled and generous medical practitioner from the Three Kingdoms period ”三国时代”. - Gardens by the Bay

Water Song

Inspired by the famous poem 《水调歌头·明月几时有》, this set features five framed scenes, expressing the poet Su Shi’s (苏轼) deep longing for his family as he contemplates the beauty of the moon during Mid-Autumn. 

Colonnade of lights 

The Colonnade of Lights is a vibrant showcase of some 1,500 beautiful paper lanterns painted by the community as well as Gardens by the Bay’s senior workers. Take a stroll along the Colonnade and in the Flower Dome as you admire these colourful lanterns designed and hand-painted by people from various walks of life.

Illuminations of Joy

A community lantern installation featuring brightly-coloured, animal-shape designs inspired by traditional cellophane lanterns of yesteryear.

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