Saturday, 24 October 2009It was the Birthday of yours truly - and what a hectic day it turned out to be. Woke up at 6.oo a.m, went to Tekka Market and bought breakfast. Had a quick roti prata / putu mayam breakfast and then had to go off to Novena Square, the Velocity for the Charity Sports event organised by the Kampong Java Police Centre (photo above shows the birthday boy with DSP Louis Loke, CO of Kampong Java NPC). The early morning 'Vertical Challenge' event involved participants climbing up 25 floors up the Velocity Tower Block, not once but TWICE........ 
Representing the Moulmein CCC were Mr Nallathamby and yours truly - we must be amongst the oldest participants as all the others were mainly youngsters.... 
After the ladies were flagged off, it was the men's turn. Climbing 50 floors seems not too difficult, but when you actually do it with making good time in mind, it can be a real challenge. And quite a few opted out after finishing one round of 25 floors, myself included. And so here I was at the 25th floor - debating whether to go for the full course or not - as it turned out, "the spirit was willing but the knees were weak"!
So, I went down to the event staging area to collect my 'Certificate' and wait for the Guest of Honour's arrival. Had the chance to talk to representatives of the Charity Event's beneficiaries - the Handicaps Welfare Association and the Singapore Christian Home For The Aged. 
The Guest of Honour arrived to present the donation cheques and to give away the medals to the race winners. Needless to say, the medals all went to the youngsters - who all did well, many finishing the 50 floors in about TEN minutes - incredible! 
After the Vertical Challenge event, went to Tanglin CC to help set up the hall for the night's Line Dance party in celebration of Tanglin Senior Citizen's Dance Club and my birthday. 
Representing the Moulmein CCC were Mr Nallathamby and yours truly - we must be amongst the oldest participants as all the others were mainly youngsters.... After the ladies were flagged off, it was the men's turn. Climbing 50 floors seems not too difficult, but when you actually do it with making good time in mind, it can be a real challenge. And quite a few opted out after finishing one round of 25 floors, myself included. And so here I was at the 25th floor - debating whether to go for the full course or not - as it turned out, "the spirit was willing but the knees were weak"!So, I went down to the event staging area to collect my 'Certificate' and wait for the Guest of Honour's arrival. Had the chance to talk to representatives of the Charity Event's beneficiaries - the Handicaps Welfare Association and the Singapore Christian Home For The Aged. The Guest of Honour arrived to present the donation cheques and to give away the medals to the race winners. Needless to say, the medals all went to the youngsters - who all did well, many finishing the 50 floors in about TEN minutes - incredible! After the Vertical Challenge event, went to Tanglin CC to help set up the hall for the night's Line Dance party in celebration of Tanglin Senior Citizen's Dance Club and my birthday. 
We even had many rounds of boisterious 'champagne yam seng' sessions as everyone at each table rose to the occassion to sing 'Happy Birthday' to the birthday boy...........
A big 'Thank You' to all of you for your best wishes and the creative 'momentos'. Also my appreciation to Xiao Li of the Tanglin CC Cafe for the gift of 'birthday noodle' dish she specially made for me at dinner time.......
Our next bottle was another Wolf Blass - a 2008 'Yellow Label' South Australian Riesling. A bit on the dry side - it had good balance, intense floral and citrus flavours and a refreshing crisp finish. A good one .
Next on the table was another Wolf Blass white - this time a 2007 'Red Label' Traminer Riesling. This one was slightly sweet in style, fruity with a pleasant spicy aroma balanced against fresh citrus notes, had a fine lengthy finish. 
The next bottle opened was a 2006 'Geoff Merrill' South Australian sauvignon blanc semillion blend which showed freshness, ripe fruit flavours and a crisp clean finish.
On to the reds, we first opened up the 2004 New Zealand merlot cabernet sauvignon blend from Alpha Domus. Displaying an aroma of berries, plums and a hint of leather. A well-balanced wine with slightly sweet fruit flavours and a firm tannin finish. 
Last but not least, we had a 2005 Bordeaux merlot, a 'Chateau Les Anguilleres' red, no less. A deliciously balanced wine with overtones of jam and floral notes, slowly giving off a nice hint of mushroom, and a fine lengthy finish. Yummy!
And by unanimous vote, the two best wines which were given the "Drunken Sailor's Choice" Award were, for the whites - the Wolf Blass Moscato and for the reds - the Chateau Les Anguilleres Merlot ....
mmmm........ so sedap and so shiok!. Can't wait for our next trip........
