Checking out the President's Place

Since last Wednesday was a public holiday and a lot of my colleagues used it for some extended holidays, last week was pretty relaxed. On Tuesday evening the remaining marketing team gathered for a nice little BBQ. The food was all I've been craving for since leaving Germany: green salad, pasta salad, pizza, grilled shrimps & squid, sate, chicken and the list goes on... all nicely decorated at the BBQ pit next to a large swimming pool (unfortunately I didn't bring my bikini). After eating way too much the party continued with some Black Jack. But since I have never played it before and still needed my money to go home, I only watched the games.

On Labour Day it was one of the rare opportunities to visit Istana Park and the President's Palace. It is only 5 times a year open to the public, so I didn't want to miss it. The park was quite nice and the view from the palace was pretty good too. For 2 Dollars we purchased a ticket to see the inside of the palace... and I must say that I wouldn't mind staying at that place ;-)  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. As Mr. President didn't seem to be home, we ended our visit and continued to East Coast Park. The afternoon was spent relaxing and hanging out at the beach.

Two short workdays later it was finally weekend again. Yesterday I explored the two parks that are only minutes away from my home, but somehow I hadn't gone there until then. Ang Mo Kio Park is right next to the MRT station and it took only 10 minutes to walk around the entire park. Somewhat disappointed I walked to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, which was the total opposite. It's at a nice little river and seems like one big playground for children. There were different lakes, an inline skating school, a normal as well as a water playground, people fishing & children feeding the fish, sports equipment etc... and all of this is only a 10-minute walk from my place!