Me and the kids

Some sort of a new accomplishment. I drove down to Malacca! The furthest I've driven was probably Shah Alam and its surrounding area. I became the unofficial gang leader and drove down a bunch of kids to storm Malacca last Friday. When I told my sister weeks earlier that I intended to go down to Malacca with these kids, her first response was, " Oh, so you're the gang leader?!" Why and which kids, you may ask...They are not kids in the strictest sense but to me, they are, for a couple more years at least till they graduate. Haha..These lovely children that went down with me were Chee How, Pueh Pueh, Yang Yang and Pei Ling. (Now you know why "kids")

Peiling kept telling me to stop looking at her with the motherly look. Perhaps she wanted me to be a friend instead of bossing her around like what her sister did..But then again, soemtimes I cant help it. She probably had a hard time under my srutiny during the whole trip but I had a good time bullying her. She does bring joy and laughter to the group with her innocently dumb remarks on things. But behind that facade, I see some brain cells working and she is actually thinking quite a bit. But still, I cant quite stand her on other occasions! (Haha..sayang)

We went down with Ngee Zheng who kindly offered us a place to stay for the night in his house, I felt really bad though having to drive his sister out of her room for the night. She was nonethelessly very accomodative. Meeting up with his parents was also interesting. It was good to see a close knit family. There was so much love within the family and looking at him, one will understand that his character was very much shaped from the warmth and love shared by this family. He brought us around Malacca, to the all so famous A Famosa and Stathuys. We also went to Jonkers Street for the pasar malam. And oh not forgetting the sumptuous dinner Uncle Tiong brought us to!

Although we had to leave by noon on Saturday, I had a good time being in Malacca and in the company of these brothers and sisters in Christ. It was good getting to them better, observing them and just being in the company. I found out that Yang Yang couldnt take prawns because of allergy, Chee How can remember roads very well but often choose to maintain the cool look in pictures, Ngee Zheng has the same expression in all pictures, Pueh cant sleep with the lights on unless she's super tired and Peiling, always bluntly and blurly blurts out dumb remarks. And oh, Peiling cant differentiate spicy ikan bakar from the non-spicy one. (How could you?!)

All in all, it was a good trip...And given the opportunity, I would go somewhere again with this group of people, eh, Zheng?















Up on the St Paul's hill













Chicken Rice Balls! And oh, while talking to the "lou pan leong", I found out that her daughter is one of my friends from UNIM and whose brother happened to be Ngee Zheng's friend! Talking bout how small the world is.

p/s: See, Cheehow doesnt smile in pictures and Ngee Zheng look the same in pictures and my cheeks are forever red for reasons not known to me as well.

Unfolding a rose bud

It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine

The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I
God opens this flower so sweetly,
When in my hands they die

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then How can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?

So I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the pilgrim way

The pathway that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows
I'll trust Him to unfold the moments
Just as He unfolds the Rose

-Rose Bud Haven-

Almost forgotten

I had almost forgotten what it was like to laugh out loud and freely. I had dinner with a few close brothers and sisters yesterday night. We accompanied Jason to buy present for a female friend. Ahem...hahaha...Anyway, the dinner started off like normal. We ate and asked each other how we have been lately. Since branching out, we had less opportunities to meet up. All were busy with everyhting they had to do in life and leave not much space and time to meet. Normal topics came up and we just talked about anything that came to our minds. Slowly, more exciting topics came about and before long we were all bursting into laughter. Heads turned and some annoyed faces turned to our directions. More laughters came about when we started telling Suguna about our camping days. The funny happenings, the weird behaviours and the company and the place. Many old but familiar names came up. It was such a pleasure recounting those events. Suguna was getting more and more excited. We told her more about everyone in church, how the boys grew up and became men, how the older sisters were last time. We kept laughing as we reminisced. More juicy and exciting bits came up. In the end, we just couldnt contained ourselves anymore and were just inches above the ground and nearly started rolling over. Time flew past very quickly and soon we were the last few to leave the eatery. Finally, however reluctant we were to part with our stories, we did because it was getting very late.

Dinner again eh?
-Ah Pek, Jason, Suguna and Sayang-

Of waters and mud

We started off our journey to Congkak in six cars after a group prayer, asking for journey mercies on the way to our destination. Excitement overwhelmed me. Finally, a retreat! I had missed last year's because I was not around. Plus, the last time I had been to Congkak was probably when I was in primary school! Haha..We tailed closely behind Tze's gigantic four wheel drive. More curves came to view. I would usually be green in nausea travelling on these roads but to my relief, the overwhelming excitement supressed the sickness to its minimum level.

Roughly an hour later, we reached Congkak. Wow...greens and the sound of gushing waters! After some waiting and standing around, we finally walked in to our chalet. It was a double storey chalet, wooden and cooling. We proceeded to have lunch before checking in. Soon, the girls were up and about occupying rooms and choosing beds! The boys were nonethelessly, gentlemanly shifting things about and preparing for our first session.

After our first session, we had games. I conveniently pulled Fei to be in the same group despite the different numbers we had gotten. We had fun answering questions and seeing others being punished. Before long, we see Guna being in the lime light-being punished, that is! He actively offered him for each punishment for his group. Hmnn..talking bout the way men act in front of their wives! Haha.... It was a lot of fun watching them and even more relief seeing Robin blending with the group.

More water games followed suit and before dinner, everyone were rushing into the bathrooms to get themselves cleaned. It was encouraging seeing the younger boys taking up responsibilities and preparing dinner. They were up and about helping out. These boys have grown up! haha...

Dinner followed suit and a light discussion on practical christianity came after that. Despite the downpour, Tze have somehow managed to devised a plan to get the fire started. Sausages piled onto the pit to be barbequed. In the end, everyone were well fed and stuffed. To get rid of the extra sausages, a few of us decided to play a game. Losers woould need to eat the extra sausages or get someone else to it. Pei Yee was reluctantly being sucked in into the game. Little did she know the dirty tactic the rest has devised! Haha...Talking bout evil-ness.

After a night walk into virtual, total darkness, we all retired to our rooms and slept. Breakfast was good and we cleaned up before heading home. Overall, it was a very good outing for me. Super relaxing and fellowship with the brothers and sisters was somehow renewed. After being away for a year and far from each other, for the first time, I felt close to these people. Thank you all.

Another good memory for collection.