It felt good to be in the midst of greenery after months of not being able leave home except for essential activities. Alright, I might have exaggerated a little; parks and gardens reopened after a couple of months but erring on the side of caution, this outing only took place four months after the last.
The weather has been erratic, to say the least, and we were most grateful it held up for the morning (it poured in the afternoon) while we were exploring the sprawling grounds of the garden. There was really no agenda, and so we allowed Belle and Cassie to sniff to their hearts’ content, letting them lead the way. Belle was, for the most part, trying to get acquainted with every other person she came across while Cassie was attempting to mark territory throughout the garden. One significant personality trait we confirmed during this walk: that Belle simply loves people more than she loves her own kind, and that Cassie can be rather territorial.
Having spent almost three years with Cassie, the mister and I often find ourselves comparing her to Paris, the fur-sister she never got to meet. We have drawn several stunning similarities in personality between them both that we sometimes wonder if she is Paris reincarnated. Well, she certainly embodied Paris’ distaste for posing, which makes things as challenging as ever for me, the photographer. Times like this makes me appreciate Belle the model poser all the more.
Almost two hours into the walk when the furkids were visibly tired out, we started looking for the bandstand. It took us another fifteen minutes before we finally located the iconic feature of this 161-year old Unesco World Heritage Site. It’s probably the single most recognisable landmark of the garden, but we were fortunate in that it wasn’t terribly crowded at that knoll that morning, having it almost exclusively to ourselves.
Belle and Cassie went up to the bench by the side to rest, and I managed some shots of them against the backdrop of the bandstand. These were some of the best pictures turned out for the entire outing, thanks to a toddler passing by capturing their attention. Typically we only had problems with getting Cassie to look at the camera, but Belle decided she wasn’t in the mood to be cooperative too. In this way, dogs are rather like young children – unpredictable.
We proceeded to the bandstand where the girls lay down and got to rest some. We’ve got work to do where their stamina are concerned. In fact, I personally still haven’t gotten used to the fact that Cassie is considered a small dog (at 14kg); I often hug and pat her with force too strong for her comfort, thinking that she is a golden retriever. Three years on, and I’m still learning how much strength to exert.
Being the model poser that she is, Belle continued sitting on the bench when Cassie had long jumped off to go take in the scent of the surroundings. The Gardens had progressively gotten more crowded by that time, so we decided to call it a day.
TRIVIAL: Built in 1859 and located at the fringe of Singapore’s Orchard Road shopping district, Singapore Botanic Gardens is a sprawling 82-hectare (82,000mยฒ) tropical garden with a predecessor initially developed to introduce the cultivation of cash crops, at Fort Canning. 153 years later in Jun 2012, Singapore entered a submission to UNESCO, indicating interest to inscribe the Gardens as a World Heritage Site. On 4 Jul 2015, Singapore Botanic Gardens successfully received inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The expansive Gardens originally comprises three main zones known as ‘cores’ to cater to different purposes – a core to retain the old charm of the historic Gardens, a second core to cater to visitors, and the last dedicated to education. The fourth core – Tyersall Gallop – was included in 2017, adding 8-hectare to the Gardens totalling it to 82-hectare. The Gardens is a popular tourist location in Singapore, and equally popular amongst locals who like to visit for a variety of purposes from exercising, immerse in the luxurious greenery to enjoying band performances.
With the current global COVID-19 situation, we have been unable to travel since all Singaporeans should defer all non-essential travel. And so, bearing in mind social distancing as responsible citizens that we are, the mister and I brought our two furkids out to Marina Barrage on his birthday. A weekday no less, with almost no one in sight when we arrived, save for a mother and her child attempting to fly a kite.
And exactly for the same reason why we chose to visit on a weekday, workers were maintaining the grass on the roof. We were requested to step off the half of the grass patch with the best view of Singapore’s skyline. Hastily, I took a snapshot of the three important figures in my life before we proceeded to the other half of the grass patch.
The birthday boy taking a quick picture with the two furkids.
Since we didn’t want the girls to disturb the workers trying to maintain grass on the other side, they were not given much freedom to frolic and roam about, unlike the last time we brought Paris and Belle. Not that they needed a lot of space; theses two furkids are a lot less adventurous than the other two we had and wouldn’t take many steps away from us, especially Cassie.
It wasn’t long before the girls stopped wanting to explore the area anyway. Without any shade in sight, Belle and Cassie went in search of their water bowl often.
The girls were panting hard from the heat and didn’t want to leave the water bowl to go play despite repeated coaxing. Indication that it was time for us to leave.
In comparison to their daddy, Belle and Cassie spend considerably more time with me since I work shorter hours these days due to a slower market. That doesn’t stop them from wanting to be around the mister more, especially on walks and occasional excursions to parks around Singapore. I reckon my slower walking pace and obsession with taking pictures didn’t quite suite their desire to dash ahead. ๐
TRIVIAL: Marina Barrage is a 350m-wide dam built across Marina Channel to keep out seawater. In essence it acts as Singapore’s 15th reservoir with a vast catchment area of 10,000ha. It was the vision of our late Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew to build this largest freshwater reservoir located in the heart of the city in order to reduce our reliance on the import of water.
In addition to its role as a reservoir, Marina Barrage is also a flood control scheme to alleviate flooding woes in the low-lying areas in the city. Since the water level in the barrage is kept constant all the time, it is ideal for certain water activities including canoeing, kayaking and dragon-boating. And last but not the least, the grass-covered roof of the building structure called the Green Roof has become a popular place of congregation for families to have a picnic or fly kites, especially during the weekends or major festivals like National Day when fireworks can be viewed clearly from the roof. On such occasions, families can go to the Marina Barrage as early as 12 hours before the event to reserve a spot for the family.
Our drive to Meteora was eventful, to say the least. In the previous post on Meteora, it was mentioned that we were stopped and booked for speeding. In my defence, it was a new expressway that had practically no vehicles for kilometres at a stretch. Nevertheless, speeding is wrong and I should have known better; nevermind the reason.
We were clocking around 150km/h when the speed limit on the expressway was 120km/h, and I was caught by a mobile traffic police van. Sheepishly, I walked back to the van after stopping the car quite a distance away (while the mister continued sitting in the car, grinning and leaving me to handle the traffic police on my own ๐ก ). I was surprised to see two other young females sitting in the van, probably from the other car that was stopped nearby; they were being booked too.
The fatherly male traffic police officer was stern but fair. Perhaps much more fair that I expected. He didn’t tell me how much the fine was for, except that it won’t be too much; I was on tenterhooks the whole time he took down really detailed information. He wanted my parents’ names as well, and wanted our accommodation details (I brought along my passport, International Driving Permit, local driving licence and wallet along when I alighted) so I walked back to our rental vehicle again, to retrieve the necessary documents.
By then, the mister was getting worried (served him right for abandoning me to face the music alone!). He got out of the car to ask me why it was taking so long. I briefly explained to him before briskly walking back to the waiting officer.
After what really felt like an eternity to me, the police officer explained to me that he was letting me off with a small fine of 35โฌ (or thereabout), 10% of the original fine because he didn’t think I was a habitual speeder. I heaved a sigh of relief. Honestly I was expecting a fine of above 100โฌ. He then handed me the speeding ticket and told me that we have to pay the fine at a post office, and not to him.
Having learnt a well-deserved lesson, we took our time to get to Meteora as I suppressed the strong urge to go beyond the speed limit. I’m not a speed demon per se, but I’m also certainly not a slow driver.
We were both relieved when we finally arrived at our guesthouse. It has been a long day.
Apart from the 6 monasteries in Meteora that are still occupied, we also visited other places in our slightly over 2 days there, including a visit to the viewpoint for a gorgeous sunset and a couple of hermitages. In particular, the Meteora Sunset Tour we signed up for was well-worth the time and money; we learnt so much from our guide.
Our room at Monastiri Guesthouse in Kalampaka, one of the two towns near to Meteora.
Booked a room with a porch that led directly to the swimming pool area.
The bathroom was simple and functional.
American breakfast was provided by the guesthouse, and was a sumptuous full spread to fuel up before a day of activity.
The frontal facade of Monastiri Guesthouse. Interesting construction material, made of stone I think, and likely from the area.
Not entirely certain if we were overlooking Kalampaka or Kastraki, but since we were at either St. Stephen’s or Holy Trinity, I’ll hazard a guess and say this is probably Kalampaka.
How many monasteries can you spot in this picture? If you look closely, one of the three monks living at Holy Trinity Monastery was captured in the picture as well.
What a beautiful spot to have a picnic!
Rousanou Monastery, perched atop a narrow rock.
One of the few wefies we took in Meteora. The large monastery in the background would be Grand Meteoron Monastery.
The highlight in this shot is the rock in the centre. Our guide pointed out that there was once a monastery carved into the rock but after years of disrepair and eventual decay, we can no longer make out the structure of the monastery, just cave holes.
Byzantine Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, erected above the ruins of another church, in the 11th century.
Several cross pattรฉe were sighted within the church, indicating that Knights Templar ever stepped foot into this ancient church.
The bell tower.
We would have completely missed this ancient church if we had not signed up for the sunset tour.
The Badova Hermit Caves are pretty well-known, mostly because they are still visible and well-preserved.
It takes a certain, almost maniacal, level of commitment and self-discipline to commit to a life of solitude in the name of religion. It happens in many religions and is still something I can’t quite fully comprehend. I have nothing but admiration for these individuals.
The ledges constructed out of wood helped the hermit monk get to a level low enough to retrieve food and supplies from volunteers who went to check on the monk periodically.
Impending sunset over the valley in Meteora. So blessed to have good weather on our first full day in Meteora because the second day was cloudy; we couldn’t see the sun setting.
According to the map provided by our guesthouse, there are two locations marked out as prime spots for sunset-viewing: one spot closer to Grand Meteoron Monastery and the other closer to St. Stephen’s Monastery. We were brought to the latter by our mini tour bus.
Very fiery and majestic sunset witnessed by a whole bunch of us at the viewpoint.
Once the sun set, it became dark fairly quickly. We stepped down the rocky viewpoint while we still had some light to illuminate our way.
Meteora exudes a mysterious aura; the religious fervour we felt throughout our few days in the region played no small part in this sentiment. Couple that with the wonderment of nature (of strong tectonic movements and weathering) resulting in a stunning, rugged scenery and it is crystal clear why this quietly imposing, looming rock formation is rapidly becoming a vastly popular tourist destination.
Tourists typically take a day tour from Athens to Meteora via a guided bus tour, just to have a sense of how the rock formation looked like. Far lesser choose to utilise public transport or self-drive although these two options offer more freedom to explore the area at a leisurely pace and enjoy the languid vibes of the neighbourhoods of Kalampaka or Kastraki. If you ask us, we would highly recommend spending at overnight in the area if you have the time to spare.
I’m not able to pinpoint when my fascination with Meteora began, but it would be about right to say that I’ve been wanting to see this mysterious place for myself for the longest time. Especially after two ditched plans to come to Greece.
Meteora is located in central Greece and a good 400km drive from Athens, including a pit stop in Delphi. In total, it took us almost 9 hours to finally arrive in Meteora, after a tour of Delphi ruins, being led on a merry-go-round with the provided GPS wanting us to get on E65 but kept leading us to E75 (had to use Google Maps to get it right) and getting booked for speeding while trying to catch up with time lost over the GPS boo-boo. All in all, it was an immensely eventful first day for us. In a day, we’ve experienced both an accident and a speeding ticket in a rental car, something we’ve never ever been through in more than a decade of vacation-driving.
We did get to see some bits of the Meteora rock formation from our guesthouse when we arrived at dusk but couldn’t sight any of the six monasteries we were intending to visit. The suspense made the next morning even more exciting.
It’s tricky business trying to cover all 6 monasteries in Meteora because all of them have different days of rest (once a week) so unless you plan two days to explore the area or visit during the weekend. Check their website for the latest opening hours.
St. Stephen’s Monastery
We started with the nearest one to our hotel early next morning. One of the two nunneries out of the 6 monasteries still standing today (in the 16th century there were as many as 24 monasteries but many were abandoned in the 17th & 18th centuries). St. Stephen’s was our first stop and by far the easiest one to reach after parking our car. No stairs, no slopes. Just flat ground to reach it.
There are a total of 28 nuns living in the nunnery. Everyone in our guesthouse told us they were strict so the mister was reminded repeatedly to wear long pants or he would be denied entry. I’m not sure if the black habit the nuns wore has any impact on my impression of them but I found them very stern when I was admiring the frescoes in the church. Two of them were watching the visitors closely to ensure nobody attempted to take any pictures or videos within the church interior. I have to admit that I was terrified of them.
The feminine touch was to be found everywhere within St. Stephens. The grounds was well-kept and even the frescoes were extremely well-maintained compared to the other monasteries. I’m not certain why this is so, but a guess would be that since this particular monastery was preserved by the town after it was abandoned until the nuns took over the place in 1962, the town had the means and made sure everything was well-preserved.
The interior of the church is beautiful but don’t take my word for it. Have a look yourself.
Fee: 3โฌ per person Closed on: Mondays & 3.30-5.30pm daily
Holy Trinity Monastery
Look closely and you can see how to path zigzagged down from the road near the top.
Otherwise dubbed the ‘James Bond Monastery’ because a scene in ‘For Your Eyes Only’ was shot there, Holy Trinity Monastery was much harder to reach than St. Stephen’s. After parking our car along the road side we were greeted with several stretches of steep slopes leading us down to the steps that were carved into the rock that Holy Trinity sat on. A total of 200+ steps to reach the church.
Amidst the huffs and puffs, we arrived at the church grounds. And I was requested to put on a skirt (as with every other female not in a long skirt or dress entering the monastery) they provided at the entrance even though I was very modestly dressed in a blouse and pants. I decided to use my shawl as a wraparound skirt instead.
It is a much smaller church, and we learnt later that only 2 monks lived in the monastery (I was fortunate to capture one of the 2 monks living there when I was taking some pictures). The monastery was undergoing some renovation works; we saw several workers on the church grounds.
I was particularly intrigued with the ancient pulley system they used to carry supplies up the monastery earlier in the days. Although it is now being replaced by a modern system, the whole set up was still very well-maintained. I wonder if it still works.
An interesting nugget of information we learnt from our Sunset Tour guide later in the day: the monastery did not know that their grounds was going to be featured in a movie; they were told that it was for a documentary so they were rather annoyed when they learnt the truth because it brought them unwanted attention.
I didn’t know which I hated more: the steps up the the church or the steep slopes back to the car.
Fee: 3โฌ per person Closed on: Thursdays
Grand Meteoron Monastery
Since we managed to make good time on our first day we thought to cover Grand Meteoron Monastery as well. That was until we drove to the monastery and saw the steady line of visitors. It was clear we weren’t going to make good time AND be in time for our sunset tour in the evening, so we ditched our ambitious plan.
As the oldest and largest monastery out of the six, only 3 monks lived there. It’s amazing how they manage to keep the vast monastery grounds so pristine and undertake the administrative role of all the monasteries in Meteora at the same time.
For the massive space this monastery occupies, it exhibits an equally impressive number of artifact in the several museums for visitors to understand the heritage and tradition of the monks who lived there as far back as the 14th century. And despite starting our day early, we couldn’t beat the day-tour crowd who came in tour buses. It seemed that the tours like to begin with Grand Meteoron Monastery, possibly because of its location and perhaps level of importance as well.
Fee: 3โฌ per person Closed on: Tuesdays
Varlaam Monastery
Situated between Grand Meteoron and Roussanou monasteries, Varlaam Monastery was a short drive away, and the 4th monastery we visited. Of all the monasteries, I found Varlaam Monastery to have the most picturesque courtyard, complete with a pavilion. Suffice it to say that we spent a lot more time outdoors than in the monastery itself.
Being the second largest monastery, 7 monks live there (as opposed to 3 at Grand Meteoron Monastery) and was first occupied in the early 14th century. It also has the most well-lit interior. Iโve avoided taking pictures of the monasteriesโ interior as far as I could, but I did allow myself one shot over here because it seemed to be โsilentlyโ permitted. A few visitors before me took out their picture-taking contraptions and the monk on duty looked on without saying a word or showing displeasure.
This one precious picture gives an idea of how a typical monastery in Meteora is furnished – rather bare and austere – with the exception of icons adorning the interior of the church, but large free-standing statues are rarely seen, if at all. This is in general rather typical of Eastern Orthodox Churches we visited in Greece.
Fee: 3โฌ per person Closed on: Thursdays & Fridays
Rousanou Monastery
Apart from St. Stephen’s Monastery, Rousanou Monastery is the other of the 6 still-standing monasteries in Meteora to be occupied by nuns. In this case, 13 nuns. Structurally, the construction of Rousanou Monastery is an amazing feat, perched at the pinnacle of rock and occupied the whole plateau, blending perfectly into its natural surroundings.
It didnโt take long to arrive at Rousanou Monastery, given the close proximity of Grand Meteoron, Varlaam and Rousanou monasteries. Parking though, was a little challenging since we had to park along the road, together with other vehicles including several tour buses. What followed was a little trek up to the church, including slopes initially and stairs after.
There was a bottleneck at the stairs with visitors trying to ascend and descend on the narrow path simultaneously. Progress was excruciatingly slow. As we were slowly taking the stairs to the church at the top, we looked down on our left and saw the nuns’ living quarters. Neatly pruned rose bushes on the pristine lawn greeted us; the mister and I were not the only ones amazed by the carefully grown garden.
Rousanou Monastery is amongst the smallest monasteries; we took less than 10 minutes exploring the interior before we found ourselves at the terrace again, rubbing shoulders with too many other visitors. The severely lack of breathing space made us hasten our steps to leave once weโve admired the view from the small terrace.
Fee: 3โฌ per person Closed on: Wednesdays
St. Nicholas Anapafsas Monastery
A very small church with only one monk living there, St. Nicholas Anapafsas Monastery was the last of the 6 monasteries we wanted to visit. It was past noon, and the heat from the glaring sun was seriously making me sleepy.
The geological location of this monastery limited its capacity to expand in width; the only way was to build upwards. This resulted in a rather small and cramp monastery that’s a few storeys high.
I remember how I stood there, looking out at the view, marvelling and wondering how a delta, once submerged in water millions of years ago has now risen a few hundred metres above ground. These rock formation in Meteora that we see today were sediments stacked on the waterbed. In fact, Meteora’s strange geological phenomenon is not so different from Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, the place in China where the movie ‘Avatar’ was filmed.
Fee: 3โฌ per person Closed on: Fridays
By the time we were done with visiting all 6 monasteries, we were both hot and bothered, and terribly thirsty. Again, just like the day before. It was almost 3pm in the afternoon and way past our lunch hour. For some reason, our meal times were strangely all messed up the entire time we were in Greece; we were eating at very odd hours, much later than we usually did. Was it really caused by the hot weather?
According to ancient Greek mythology, Zeus released two eagles in opposite directions of east and west, and the place where they met again – Delphi – was denoted to be the centre of the known world, the place where heaven and earth met. Inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987, Delphi was considered to be a sacred religious sanctuary dedicated to the Greek god Apollo, who spoke through his oracle there.
Most of the well-preserved archaeological ruins that we see today at Delphi dates back all the way to 6th century B.C. although Delphi was first developed in 8th century B.C. by priests from Crete, believed to be responsible for bringing the cult of Apollo to mainland. Delphi went on to become highly influential, whereby the oracle was frequently consulted on both private matters and affairs of the state, and that included prior to launching wars or founding new colonies. The oracle was in such high demand so much so that affluent individuals even resorted to paying large amounts in order to get ahead in line.
During the planning phase, I agonised over whether we should make Delphi (as opposed to another destination) as our first stop after landing. Given its importance in Greek history and the extent of the site, we estimated that it would take us several hours to cover whole place and it probably wasn’t the best idea to tire ourselves out on the first day of our vacation. Nonetheless we decided to push ahead.
And was immediately proven that it was a bad idea to drive out from Athens Airport to Delphi straight after a long 11.5-hr flight. In the process of trying to get used to driving on the right side of traffic and navigating Athens’ crazy morning traffic, I crashed the side mirror against a street lamp. This is the first time I’ve ever had an accident with a rental car. Thankfully only the cover of the mirror got knocked off, and could be attached back.
Our reliable ride for the next few days.
Delphi isn’t located that far away from Athens, and is the second most popular archaeological site in Greece, behind the Acropolis in Athens. Our drive took us a relatively short 2.5 hrs, but that was the least of our problem. We couldn’t find parking space anywhere near the entrance of the ruins and ended up parking in the town nearby, a long walk away.
We experienced the brutal heat of Greece’s summer first-hand the moment we got off the car. To be honest, we are not unfamiliar with summer conditions coming from a tropical country, but we seldom have a completely cloudless blue sky here in Singapore, a phenomenon we encountered almost daily in Greece. Heat aside, our pictures turned out really gorgeous because of the blue. Can’t have the cake and eat it too, I reckon.
The navel.
One of the first monuments we saw was The Navel, an oval marble stone, denoting the point at which the two eagles which Zeus released crossed paths again. This point is also known as the centre of the world, or ‘navel of the Earth’. However what is set at the archaeological site is only a simplified duplicate; the original has been placed in the Museum of Delphi.
Next, we came to arguably the most important monument at the archaeological site – Temple of Apollo. To be exact, we first saw the group of towering Doric columns and took possibly close to a hundred pictures of the colonnades against the sun. Alright, that’s an exaggeration but suffice it to say that we did spend a lot of time admiring the limestone + porous stone constructed columns.
First wefie of the trip!
After passing the Temple of Apollo we began tackling the more tiring aspect of exploring the Delphi site – slopes. As age catch on, we truly understood first-hand how lack of sleep affects stamina. ๐
But the views were well worth it. From afar, it was easier to visualise how the Temple of Apollo used to look like before its decay. According to records, Pythia (the high priestess) the oracle sat within the temple, likely behind a curtain while the helper priests relayed questions from petitioners. What then followed is what I would call ‘a fuzzy mess’, subject to various questionable and sometimes, conflicting interpretations by the priests as Pythia entered a state of delirium and uttered incomprehensible words. Unreliable as it sounds, the Temple of Apollo enjoyed extremely high prestige between the 6th and 8th centuries B.C., often swaying both military and political decisions. Eventually the spread of Christianity in the region led to its decay, and it was permanently silenced in AD390 when the temple was destroyed.
Further upslope the ancient theatre constructed in 4th century B.C. came into sight. Just imagine what a spectacular sight greeted the audience as they sat on the stands and watched plays, poetry readings and music performances, with the entire sanctuary and valley as backdrop. In its entirety of 35 rows (27 rows in the lowers zone, 8 rows in the upper zone), the theatre could sit close to 5,000 spectators.
We continued climbing to the top of the hill to see the Stadium of Delphi. The crowd of visitors had thinned out visibly by then, with many choosing to retrace their steps down the hill instead of continuing on.
The 178m x 26m Stadium of Delphi.
Occupying the highest spot of the archaeological site, the stadium was famous for its chariot races and could sit close to 6,500 spectators during the Pythian Games, held in honour of Apollo. The Pythian Games, at its height, was ranked second in importance, placed only behind the Olympic Games. The games were held once every four years, 2 years after the Olympic Games and included various athletic and artistic competitions. Both male and female competitors were allowed to compete in both types of events.
It was way past noon as we made our way down the archaeological site. We were surprised that most of the crowd had left in their tour buses, possibly for lunch. We welcomed the opportunity to take more wefies without photobombers. ๐
A lot has changed in terms of how we preserve archaeological monuments and sites over the years. Back in 2007 when the mister and I visited Ephesus in Turkey, visitors to the archaeological site were allowed to trample all over the site, including steps at the ancient theatre. Fast forward to 2109 when we were at Delphi: there were barricades all over, preventing anyone from entering the ancient theatre.
It’s a good change. However it also begs the question: were visitors not taking enough care with the trampling on ancient sites that necessitated the move?
Athenian Treasury
Archaeological sites hold a certain fascination for many, myself included. Without notes and guides, many of these stones and broken remnants mean nothing to us laymen. I have great respect for everyone involved in archaeological work; it’s hard work and mostly thankless. Yet their work are so important in revealing the history and past activity of humankind, how we lived, how we thought and how we died.
After close to four hours at Delphi, it was time for us to proceed to our next destination, which was a rather long drive away. Way past our lunch hour, but we didn’t have appetite for food even after quite a bit of walking. I blamed it on the weather; at the point I only really wanted iced, cold coke to quench the insatiable thirst. Nevertheless, on our walk back to retrieve the car, we stopped by a restaurant to fuel up with some Mediterranean food.
And then it was back to the car for our onward drive to Meteora!
7 months after my emergency splenectomy procedure, my cancer has finally spread. I now have more bad than good days.
I was still happy to wake up every morning, and loved the attention everyone showered on me. But I was quickly losing interest in food, and I could hardly find strength to stand on most days.
With the cancer metastasising to my lungs, I can no longer breath easy. And with that came disturbed sleep. Whenever permitted, Belle was always near, keeping me company.
Although I was still alert and bright, my mummy felt that it was time to let me join my big sister Sugar. I have not peed in 36 hours. She was very worried.
Mummy and Daddy kept coaxing me to stand and go relief myself, but I’m not able to, not even with their help. And I refused to pee on my bed. They were very sad to have to make the decision, but promised to be with me all the way. For my last meal, Daddy went out to buy my favourite satay. I found the appetite to eat 8 sticks! Grandma and Grandpa also came in the night to say goodbye.
My last morning at home, Daddy lifted me into my red wagon and pushed me around the house. I was happy to get to go to all corners of the house again, especially my favourite corners.
I was so happy to be out of the house I wanted to jump out of the wagon. Daddy lifted me out and let me walk by myself. Mummy hasn’t been out for so long she forgot where she parked her car. Silly mummy. ๐
Mummy drove us to a park nearby the house. Daddy carried me down but I was so raring to walk and explore the place by myself. So happy to walk on grass!
I peed on the grass then waited for Daddy to clean me up like I’ve been trained to, for the past 11 years.
And then I pooped. Although I didn’t really have the strength in my legs to lift my butt too high, but I managed to squat till I was done.
I wanted to walk some more on the glorious day but Daddy thinks I might want to eat some McNuggets.
Mummy drove us to McDonalds. I kept watching out for Daddy, who has gone to buy my favourite McNuggets from McDonalds.
Daddy took so long! I was so happy when I finally spotted him walking towards the car. We sat in the car and daddy tried feeding me my favourite McNuggets but I was tired by then. I didn’t want any food at all. I only wanted to lay down and rest my heavy head on Daddy’s thigh. It was a solemn reminder that it was time for us to head to the vet’s for my appointment.
I wasn’t sure why we were at the vet’s but I trust Mummy and Daddy. I know they love me very much and that they will always make decisions in my best interest. Dr. Lee took the time to explain the procedure to Mummy and Daddy. Mummy cried a lot, and both she and Daddy kissed me, hugged me and said their good-byes. And Mummy hugged me tightly as Dr. Lee administered the injection that would relieve me of pain.
At 1230hrs on 11 Jan 2017, I breathed my last.
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We had to help Paris cross the rainbow bridge about 2.5 months back, but I just only found the courage to complete this post. It was probably the most difficult decision I’d ever had to make in my entire life, and I never stopped questioning my decision after making an appointment with the animal clinic to help her pass. I still question myself today. Some would say that we have waited far too long, while others would say that we should have waited a little more. No one really supported the decision I pushed for, not even my own family: their argument was that she was still alert, bright and curious. That it would be cruel to end her life.
In her final month, I was with Paris almost 24/7. How she has suffered, no one knows it better than I do. It became a habit for me to wake up every 2 hours in the night just to check on her. It pained me to hear her laborious breathing, knowing she can’t go to sleep because of it. I have asthma; I understand what it’s like having to breath hard. And unlike her, I have medication to help me breathe better. I cannot even begin to imagine how bad it must have been for her.
Paris is now over the rainbow bridge, painless and running her heart out with her big sister who left us some years back.
Go run free, my sweetheart. I hope you are reunited with yourย favourite jiejie and having loads of fun with her. We will meet again. Mummy and Daddy love you so much. Always, and forever.
Ahead of Paris hitting a major milestone (6 months post-splenectomy!) we had set aside a couple of days to bring her out for some fun in a new park. December is monsoon season in Singapore, and the weather has been largely erratic and wet, so I was not optimistic we were going to be able to head out on our first reserved day. Even the weather forecast wasn’t on our side. Yet when I woke up early in the morning, I saw that the sky was blue. Blue! The mister reminded me about the weather forecast (of thunderstorms) but I decided to ignore it, opting to rely on my gut feeling which told me it would be a good day.
Resigned, he dragged his tired body to the bathroom to prepare for the outing. The girls were so elated as I prepared the usual outing stuff i.e. water and bowl they couldn’t stop skipping around the house.
It was our very first time to Hort Park, a relatively new 9-heactare park that is part of the Southern Ridges – we didn’t know what to expect. To our pleasant surprise, it was quite secluded with few people about. Great, it meant that while still holding on to their leashes, we didn’t have to watch the two girls too closely as they took their time to sniff about.
Then we came about a gazebo. How could I let up the chance to make them pose in front of it? Paris chose to be uncooperative right from the start of the walk, refusing to sit when I asked her to. Maybe she isn’t felling very well… so I let her be and made the best out of the situation. Decent shots, still.
There are numerous ‘gardens’ with the park: Therapeutic Garden, Silver Garden, Golden Garden… to name a few. I’m not into gardening; Hort Park to me is like any other parks in Singapore, meant for walking the dogs hence taking notice of what the different gardens area about wasn’t in my agenda this morning. I do recognise, however, that we ventured into an area with numerous pots of orchids. The girls sat prettily on the stairs while I quickly took some pictures of them.
Paris refused to budge once she laid down on the stair. Didn’t even move an inch when I placed Belle in front of her – you could actually see that Belle didn’t have enough space to sit properly; she had to place her front paws on a lower step. All these signs are telling me that while Paris looks very pleased to be out and about, her physical being isn’t very much able to keep up with her enthusiasm. Sombre reminder of the new lumps detected in her liver during her last vet visit last week. ๐ฆ
Got to the playground meant for young children and they immediately went into the play house for the shade.
Then we came by this miniature version of the dragon playground that featured very prominently in my childhood. And now, it’s a fast disappearing feature in our land-strapped country. Just had to make them sit in front of it. Heh.
We came to this wooden plank platform meant for sitting and resting, I reckon. There was no one around so it was great opportunity for some pictures. I managed to get Belle up but tried as I might, Paris refused to jump up. We’ve learnt to watch her cues closely, and I deduced that she must not be feeling well enough to do the jump. Did not insist then. And that was how cheerful Belle’s very pretty solo picture came to be.
All the way into Hort Park where the Vineyard restaurant is located, we saw a large tiered field. The whole morning, the two girls were at loggerheads with me, refusing to sit and smile at me on cue. So I thought, ‘Hey, this is a good place to let them do their own stuff while I shoot them’.
Great idea, wasn’t it? Wrong. After I released the girls to go explore the area on their own, they stood at the exact same spots I left them at, and looked at me quizzically. Infuriating. ๐
It wasn’t too hot since there was still sufficient cloud cover and it was still early in the morning. Paris was in such a good mood. It made me happy seeing her big smile.
Came by the Golden Garden signage. It’s such a cheery signage I couldn’t help but make Paris pose in front of it. My version of a golden garden – a garden full of golden retrievers. ๐
As we were walking back to the main entrance of Hort Park, I saw another photo opportunity as we ambled up a slight slope. Made the girls sit for the last shot (before leaving the park for good) and this round, they were so nice to listen to our instructions. Except that Paris refused to face me. Oh well… this old girl is really starting to grow a stubborn streak. ๐
For her 7th month post-splenectomy, we are intending to bring them to a beach. Hoping the trip materialises.
Towards the western end of Singapore lies two very beautiful parks that I’ve visited like, three times in my entire life. While Singapore is not considered large by any measure, I’ve always lived in the North/Northeast region with the exception of my 4 undergraduate years and the west does seem very far to travel to.
It just so happened that we found a fantastic home boarder for the girls a couple of years back, and the sweet couple S & D with their golden retriever Kobey reside in the west. They had been requesting to visit Paris ever since news of her cancer diagnosis broke. I didn’t think it nice to ask that they travel all the way to our house just to visit her since she was doing quite well. And so, I proposed to meet them at Chinese Garden. It was a struggle; I wanted to bring both Paris and Belle out together, but the mister put his foot down on this matter. He claimed that I would not be able to take care of both girls while still trying to catch Pokemon monsters (was a little crazy over Pokemon GO at that time). Which wasn’t entirely untrue. ๐
Chinese Garden is over 40 years old, and was modelled after Northern Chinese Imperial style of architecture and landscape. Entrance was free-of-charge and we were immediately greeted with the signature red doors typical of such architecture the moment we walked through the tri-archway entrance.
Paris was in a good mood, being out with me alone and all (i.e. without her pesky younger sibling) and obliged when I frequently made her sit to let me take a few pictures. And what is a visit to the Chinese Garden without posing in front of the Twin Pagoda, a landmark synonymous with the park itself. Although it was in the late afternoon, the sun was still shining mercilessly and I noted that Paris was fast heating up. Her smiles were waning by the second, setting alarm bells in my head. It was time to quickly locate a water point (plentiful within the park, but just have to locate them) and retire to a shady spot while waiting for S & D to join us.
Clearly Paris found her zen spot and started meditating. ๐ She was on her best behaviour that afternoon, which made handling her a piece of cake. That was until she spotted her favourite boarders – she disobeyed my instructions and ran towards them, unleashed. Thank heavens it was a short distance and that she didn’t scare any other park-goers in the process. For those of you who do not live in Singapore, my worry may seem needless but you see… Singapore is made up of people of several races and religion and dogs are not always welcomed. Even ultra-friendly ones like golden retrievers.
S & D and their golden Kobey were too, clearly happy to have finally met Paris since her surgery. Like everyone else who has seen Paris, they commented that she didn’t look like she has cancer. That works like a double-edged sword, I reckon, about Paris looking all normal. On one hand we kinda stop treating her like a fragile porcelain vase and let her live her life rambunctiously like she always does, yet on the other hand, we tend to forget and think that she is normal when she isn’t. Case in point, I recently felt lumps on her tummy and was very alarmed, wanting to send her in for a checkup immediately. The mister had to remind me that she is a cancer patient, regardless of well she appears to be on the outside. I have to repeatedly manage my own expectations.
Our target that afternoon was to walk the dogs and… catch Snorlax! At that time, I still had not caught one while S & D caught several in their home! As we were strolling across to Japanese Garden (it is linked to Chinese Garden but closes at 1730hrs while Chinese Garden closes much later, at 2300hrs), S & D’s friends together with their newly adopted shiba inu caught up with us. And thus, we started walking as a group of five plus three dogs. Attracted quite a bit of attention heh.
We were greeted with beautifully manicured bushes the moment we entered Japanese Garden, a strolling park modelled after the Muromachi and Momoyama periods of Japanese history. It is a beautiful park but we didn’t have much time to explore it because it was nearing closing time (about 30 minutes prior), and a park staff in his buggy had started driving round the park to vacate park-goers. According to S & D, he does this tirelessly every single day. Respect.
We’d spent several hours away from home by then and Paris seemed tired as she lagged further and further behind. Not wishing to over-tire her, I bade farewell to S & D and their friends. It was a long drive home with occasional traffic jam on the expressway. Fortunately Paris took the opportunity to take a nap and had regained most of her usual bounce by the time we got home. Or I would have gotten an earful again.
Mention East Coast Park (ECP), the largest park and a beach park almost 15km long built entirely on reclaimed land located to the south-eastern part of Singapore, and it will trigger beautiful memories in many a Singaporean. Most of us would have gone cycling with friends, or spent nights with classmates at the chalets during our school holidays. It was our frequent haunt when the mister and I were dating, like it was for many couples. And recently, a congregation point for people playing Pokemon Go on the hunt for rare Pokemon monsters, I being one of them. ๐
With the mister taken off shift and clocking more regular hours meant that we can’t bring the girls out on weekday mornings as often as we would like to. I had, on two separate occasions, brought the girls out with me to ECP individually and walked them according to what their stamina allowed. Paris doesn’t tolerate long walks well nowadays, hence my walk with her was restricted to a small area around the food centre. She did a lot of sniffing around while I caught some Pokemon monsters.
And she felt adventurous enough to jump up to a narrow breakwater. It was a picture-perfect moment but I was also fearing that she might slip hence my tight grip on her leash while I photographed her. This old girl still possesses some of her taste for adventure yet! ๐
With Belle on a separate day, it was all about walking and walking to locate the elusive Pokemon monster. We covered so much ground walking to and fro I think she might have regretted her initial enthusiasm about coming out with me. But no matter how tired she was, she continued trudging along beside, sometimes ahead of me (she was determined to walk to the car haha!). We once had another golden retriever Sugar before we got Paris, and if Sugar was in the same position as Belle that day, she would have sat when she got tired and stubbornly refuse to budge. Belle’s willingness to continue along with me despite her tiredness may not seem much to someone else, yet having seen how Sugar had behaved, I have to say that Belle has a very sweet disposition and her main aim is always to please us. It isn’t very important at this point (with Belle being still young and healthy) but this is something we have to remember as she grows older because she will push herself very hard just to keep up with us.
We finally made it to Bedok Jetty, a fishing jetty where fishing is allowed. We didn’t walk the whole length of it since I didn’t want Belle to get too near the fishermen with their fresh catch, hooks, lines and what-nots. Not safe for an inquisitive dog, if you know what I mean. Belle was happy to pause for a photo break. And as always, a ready smile for me.
To complete this post on ECP, I made a third visit within 3 weeks, this time with both Paris and Belle and the mister in tow. While this series of posts is essentially about Paris and her adventures, I do try hard not to neglect Belle in the process. The girls were picture-perfect wearing head bows I newly sewn for them. It was a perfect day with good weather. And if you live in Singapore, you would know that good weather is hard to come by these days since we are now officially in ‘haze season’.
The girls were happy to be out together with us, but I really don’t enjoy walking the girls together (even if the mister and I were each holding on to one); the girls are really competitive and they cannot stand seeing the other one being ahead. So they end up pulling their leashes. Argh.
Despite waking up and leaving home really early, the sun was still too blazing hot for the girls to bear. I had a picture in mind when I brought them to this bench at Bedok Jetty but they obviously have other ideas. They refused to sit on the stone bench (which was still cool, I checked), ending in two entirely poses. Hence this hilarious shot.
Then Belle decided she liked the shade better too, like Paris. These girls are just… such jokers. ๐
One last parting shot at the Bedok Jetty and we headed back to the car. Along the way, we came by many picturesque spots. Really spoilt for choices but I hastily chose one relatively shady spot since the girls were becoming uncooperative.
And our last stop was at the large field just by the carpark. It was rare to see the field empty; usually during the weekends there would be at least one soccer game going on. With much difficulty, the mister and I finally got the girls to settle down just long enough for some shots. Then they decided they have had enough. Yup, they simply stood up and walked away. My sassy furkids. Haiz…
While processing this set of photos, I’ve encountered considerable difficulty in trying to balance between under and over-exposing the pictures. Very difficult because Paris now has a white face, and that Belle is also starting to grey. We shall have to try leaving home even earlier for our next excursion so that the girls can enjoy themselves a little more before they get frustrated with the heat, and for another selfish reason – easier for me to process the pictures.
In 2015, Singapore’s very own Botanic Gardens was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I remember beaming with pride as I read the news because I have such fond memories of the colossal Gardens as a child. It was always a treat when my parents brought us there occasionally. And in recent years, I too enjoy bringing the dogs out to the Gardens for walks. It’s a very large garden (by Singapore’s standard), occupying 82-hectares of land located at the fringe of Singapore’s shopping Street – Orchard Road. And due to its recent elevation in status, more tourists have been visiting the garden. We acutely felt it when we brought the girls out there this weekend. A fortunate thing that our schedule worked out somehow and good weather was forecasted so we forged ahead, leaving home as early as 7.30am hence managing to avoid the crowd that started streaming in around 9am.
Considering Paris’ health condition at this point, we were not too ambitious about covering much ground at the Gardens. It was a simple enough strategy – to make it to the iconic landmark of the garden that is the Bandstand, and then to the Swan Lake. The bandstand is clearly a favourite spot of the locals; when we arrived at gazebo erected in 1930 there were 3 different groups of people already absorbed in their various activities. Some indie filming was going on to the right, a group of ladies were practising yoga to the left, and a group of fresh graduates wearing their convocation gowns and mortarboards were taking commemorative photographs at the back. Well, it certainly isn’t hailed to be Singapore Botanic Gardens’ iconic landmark for nothing. ๐
The girls didn’t seem to want to remain on the grass patch (I suspect ants were biting them since I was also bitten) so I quickly snapped some pictures with a profile of the bandstand in the background and then brought them back up to the pavement while waiting for the group at the front of the bandstand to clear the area when they were done. Paris and Belle were much happier to oblige when we got them to sit on the pavement.
We didn’t have to wait long. By the time we had the front of the bandstand to ourselves, I have already got the girls prepped with hair bows. Most people who came across us couldn’t resist the urge to take picture of the girls because they looked so sweet! Inside, the girls were feeling anything but. They were hot, bothered and thirsty as it was exceedingly humid at the Gardens although it was still early in the day. We too, were perspiring profusely.
We found a bench nearby for the girls to take a rest while the mister walked back to the car to fetch their water bowl and bottled water. The girls took the opportunity to indulge in their favourite past-time – people watching. Since they were too tired to stray off, I wasn’t watching them too closely, allowing them to explore around the bench freely. Both decided that it was a good idea to nestle under the bench together. These girls… sometimes I simply cannot fathom what go through their minds. ๐
The mister loves the girls to the moon and back. And his love is reciprocated by both Paris and Belle, without a doubt. They see him as the Alpha of the pack and most of the time, only listen to his instructions. As I was making my way down to the centre of the grass patch (to allow the girls to do a sport of sprinting towards me), I turned back and saw a picture-perfect moment – all three of them were looking at me from the bench. I’m thinking of printing this into a large poster to hang on one of our walls at home.
After ample rest and water, we proceeded to the Swan Lake. Kind of an anticlimax because it wasn’t very picturesque. Perhaps the cloudy sky did a great disservice to its beauty. In any case, the girls were exhausted and we decided to call it a day there and then. Didn’t even get to meet up with our friends who wanted to see Paris since they were only coming much later.
As we were leaving, I commented to the mister about how nice it is that entering and visiting Singapore Botanic Gardens doesn’t require any fee. We have visited parks and gardens overseas that collect an entrance fee. I hope it remains this way; the Gardens has become such an integral part of our lives.
Wayfaring: Still 