Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

To all my readers, I wish you a really happy and memorable time over the Christmas period and that 2007 will be a very special year for you.

I will continue to post my blog regularly and hope you will come by and keep in touch.

Below are some Christmas photos from Singapore. We are celebrating with our very dear friends John and Jen who have come over from London. Tomorrow we are all off to Vietnam.

Today, Christmas day, we went for a walk in the Malay area of Singapore so as well as the classic Christmas photos there are a couple of photos of Malay people having fun too. Can you spot me in the Christmas decoration? Not very difficult! The fluffy pink Christmas tree took first prize for us and there was stiff competition as they love Christmas trees here.

I'll be back in Singapore on 6 January and of course my first postings will be from Vietnam. So after you have finished celebrating and we are all back to normal come and have a look.

Until then good cheer to all!

Love

Alan

Temple of Fine Arts Festival

Welcome!

If you are celebrating Christmas good luck with the last week's preparations :)

My pre-Christmas posting contains photos from The Temple of Fine Arts Festival in Singapore that Daniela and I went to two weeks ago. It was held in a small park. In the middle was a stage where there was a continuous stream of music, dance and even a sari fashion show!

We loved it. We enjoy Sacred Hindu Dance (Odissi, Bharatanatyam) and were treated to a wonderful performance of Odissi. Classical Indian sitar and tabla also featured. But then there was also folk dance and music, Bhangra and of course Bollywood. So all tastes were covered.

Talking of taste, there was of course great Indian food to be had as well as stalls selling Indian artefacts and promoting Indian Art. The event was organised by volunteers, many of them being the parents of the children who study at the Temple of Fine Arts.

The first photo was taken by Daniela when students paid homage to a dance teacher who has taught generations of children. The respect that was shown to her (I hope you get an idea from the photo) was moving and stood out in stark contrast to the experience of so many teachers in schools today.

Click here to know more about the Temple of Fine Arts

I hope you enjoy the photos. Come back next week for a special Christmas toast!

Love

Alan

Welcome to Spanish Village

Hello and thanks for coming to my blog.

Just over a month ago Daniela and I moved to Spanish Village, a touch of Occident in the Orient! It is a circle of low-rise (four floors) blocks. In the middle there is a pool, gym, squash court and two tennis courts. Our flat is on the second floor (here the one above ground floor). It is a bit bigger than our previous home with a third bedroom. Our great pleasure is a balcony that gives us the chance to eat and sit outside, listen to the crickets and watch the squirrels running in the palm trees.

I hope you enjoy seeing a bit of where we live.

I thought you might enjoy the incongruity of the Christmas tree flanked by palm trees in the last picture taken at the entrance

Next time pictures from an Indian Festival of Indian dance, music and craft, not to mention food, organised by the Temple of Fine Arts in Singapore. See you then.

Love

Alan

Hamadryas Baboon + Sleeping Leopard

Hi and welcome.

Thanks for coming. This week I am dedicating my blog, almost entirely, to the Hamadryas Baboon. Splendidly outrageous, I make no apology for the unashamed display of these amazing creatures. They delighted me and I hope they will delight you too.

In complete contrast the sleeping leopard is also unashamedly lost in his afternoon nap with a posture that demonstrates he is truly at the top of the food chain ie couldn't give a rat's ass! (to stay in the world of animal imagery!)

Daniela and I are beginning to see a home emerge after unpacking so I will definitely have some photos of our new nest and it's surroundings in the next posting.

Look forward to your next visit

love

Alan

The Singapore Zoo

Hi Everyone

I promised last time I would post some photos of our new flat as we have just moved. So in case you are wondering from the title I have not moved to the zoo! I haven't found the time to take photos of the new place but will do that soon.

We took a day off from the boxes to visit the Zoo. I had lots of fun taking photos so for the animal lovers out there here are some photos.

There is an amazing tribe of Hamadryas baboons. I will post some photos of them next time and then after that should be ready with photos of the house.

Take care and thanks for visiting my blog.

Love

Alan