Mother's Day at the Botanic Gardens and End of the Semester

Melissa here-
Situated just five minutes away from bustling Orchard Road, the Singapore Botanic Gardens is a lush sanctuary in the heart of the city.

On Mother's Day, Chris and Melissa joined Melissa's intern Nicole (Doctor of Physio student from Austin) and her host brother, at the Gardens. The Gardens were beautiful! The Orchid Garden was our favorite!! 

From the website.........Since 1859, orchids have been closely associated with the Gardens. The products of the Gardens' orchid breeding program, which began in 1928, deserve a place where they can be displayed in their full splendor. The very design of these orchids is, one could say, 'hand-crafted' by the Gardens' horticultural staff, dedicated to bringing out the finest in any hybrid cross.

With over 1000 species and 2000 hybrids on display, the splendor of these gorgeous blooms is absolutely a sight to behold at the National Orchid Garden.

 Although we missed spending Mother's Day with our mothers, we had a beautiful day filled with sharing stories from home and thinking fondly about about how lucky we are to come from such good families. We all wished that our families, and especially our mothers were there to share the vistas and "stop and smell the orchids" at the garden. Love to all the Moms!!

A garden for Gingers!!! (of course I HAD to take my hair down for this one ;) )

cheese! 

                               

Chris and Garreth

Tiger Orchid

Chris here-

The end of the semester is always a busy time around the university; with students stressed out

cramming for exams. Yet many don’t realize that much of the exam work for profs on campus begins AFTER the students have finished. Not only that, but NTU is much more formal in its measures taken during exam weeks. My 170 students reported to a specified “exam hall” on campus where they took their exam in silence, while being directed by pre-recorded instructions for times, rules, etc. It reminded me of taking the SAT years ago, but more formal and routine for the students. Then came the joyous task of grading all of their essay exams and finalizing their overall calculations. Luckily, I was supported this semester by a great team of TAs who were able to help me tabulate scores and enter the data. All in all it was a great first semester and I can’t wait to teach my first Master’s-level course next semester!

WKWSCI Freshman Class

Exam hall

My Office and TAs!

Stay tuned for the next installment.....