the rahul kulkarni blog: September 2016

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Team building trip to Thisle resort (Port Dickson, Malaysia)

Spent the weekend of 3rd/4th Sep at Thisle resort (Port Dickson, Malaysia) to attend my company's combined team building exercise along with our Malaysia colleagues.

Tuas link

From Singapore , we started early morning on 3rd Sep in 3 coaches and it took for us more than 6 hours to reach there which I think is quite normal considering the long weekend queues at both the Singapore and Malaysia immigration checkpoints. Then there were a few hiccups like the automated immigration clearance at Tuas checkpoint failing for atleast 3 of our colleagues who had to go though the agony of joining manual clearance queue all over again!

Thisle Resort, Port Dickson

After having reached the Thisle resort by 1.30 pm , took our lunch first followed by the check-in formalities.

Thisle Resort, Port Dickson

The team building games started soon after , for which all were split into 6 groups each representing a color ! The 5 games which each team had to play were fun packed and indeed tested the endurance and team building capabilities of every team/individual.Later that evening prizes were given away when we were treated to a fantastic BBQ dinner at the resort lawns.

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Since I slept early that night , woke up early the next morning with intention of an early morning jog on the beach ........only to realise that it won't be possible because of a high tide!

Thisle Resort - Beach

Then , satisfied this urge by jogging at the resort golf course as there were no golfers around !!

Thisle Resort - Golf Course

After the multi-cuisine breakfast , started for Singapore at around 11.00 am. It was decided to give a miss to Seramban lunch/shopping visit as per the original itinerary , as everyone wanted to reach home early without getting stuck at the long immigration queues.

Thisle Resort - Beach

Got to taste this Malaysian fish curry during our stopover for lunch at Pagoh food junction.

Malaysian Fish Curry

This team team building trip was a memorable experience , liked the Thisle resort for its proximity to sea in midst of nature.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Mt.Faber and Henderson Waves (Singapore)

Some places in the city we live are close to our hearts.It can be a park , garden , street or even a building , and we like to visit them whenever we have free time or when we are alone or just when we want to be ourselves!

One such place for me in Singapore is mount Faber and the adjoining Henderson waves.My association with Mt.Faber started in the same year i.e 2005 of coming to Singapore , and it happened only by chance. My work place then was at Harbourfront center near the Harbourfront MRT station , and since I was looking for a rental unit and didn't wanted to spend time in commuting , instruction to the property agent was to search for a HDB unit nearby.Only after finalizing a unit in Telok Blangah rise I realized this was actually as close as I could stay near the office!!Ever since I'm staying in close vicinity to Mt.Faber.

The 2 blocks we stayed in Telok Blangah rise were right adjacent to Mt.Faber. The kitchen and bedroom windows opened to the dense and lush greenery of Mt.Faber.It was quite an experience to wake up to the chirping of birds in the background.I have even encountered wild life (monkeys, monitor lizards , snakes) on Mt.Faber!

I can't single out one particular reason that attracts me to Mt.Faber , think its a combination of many.But the foremost is its being a green sanctuary so close to the Singapore downtown. Mt.faber offers great view of the city and Sentosa.It also houses one station of the Singapore cable car that takes you to Sentosa which brings many tourists to Mt.Faber.

In my early years , remember I used to even go for my daily jogging on Mt.Faber as the one of the stairs that lead to the top were right behind my block.Now, because I run in a nearby park, jogging/walking on Mt.Faber is limited to weekends.

Had taken these snaps on one such lazy weekend afternoon , when I took the kids along for a walk............

Mt.Faber

Mt.Faber

Henderson waves which is unique for its design of a wave like structure is actually a connector that connects Mt.Faber to the Telok Blangah hill park .It was introduced only a few years back.