Christmas cards

This year, I have decided to send out some Christmas cards.  I wasn’t sure how many ‘some’ actually meant.  Just thought of sending some Christmas cheer in a more traditional way.  FB, whatsapp and twitter are some of the latest ways people connect to each other.  But I believe snail mail does have its unique place.  When was the last time you receive a letter that brighten up your day instead of bills after bills in your mailbox?  I threw in the idea to hubby and he agreed.  That’s the most important step as I need him to help me to get the house address of the church members. 

When I received the list of the addresses from the church office it was already entering the first week of December.  Thank God that my mom and sis were visiting me that few days.  Whenever they are with me, I am free from cooking and most of the household chores.  So, I concentrated on writing Christmas cards.  Even that, it took me four days to complete every single one of them.  By the end of the first day, my fingers were in so much pain.  I wondered how I survived those students’ years where hand-writing was a norm.  The subsequent days I reduced the hour of writing; it was done on a more relaxed mode. 

All in all, there were approximately 135 well-wishes sent out to the faith community.  A minority of them are personal friends or relatives.  Quite a number of them thanked Andrew (whose only involvement was buying the stamps) and me for the effort.  A few members returned the favor by sending us Christmas cards as well.  Nothing significant, yet I am glad to have done a simple act that brought a smile to someone’s face.

Merry Christmas (Oops, sorry.  Now it should be Happy Chinese New Year)!  

Snake Intruder

Sorry, didn't get a better picture.  Was too 'busy'  :p

It was just another evening.  Putting the children to sleep; tidying up the house; and ironing the clothes.  Nothing seemed unusual. 

Hubby just returned from a church meeting.  He’s tired.  It had been a long day for him.  After washing up, he went to bed.  As for me, I continued with my never-ending household chores.  It's passed midnight.  Finally, the last piece of clothing appeared to be free of wrinkles.  I was proud of my achievement.  I kept the iron and was about to switch on the computer.  Early of the day I promised a friend that I would try to search for a short nativity story online.   It was meant for her to train her pupil for a story-telling performance.

Just then, my dog started to bark.  Feeling annoyed, I wondered what trigger the unpleasant reaction.  This would disturb hubby and the children, I thought to myself.  As the noise came from my side door, I drew the curtain away and tried to peep outside the glass door.  I was taken aback initially as I saw a figure.  haha… that was simply me – my reflection in the glass.  Feeling silly, I turned on the porch light.  Still, I spot nothing.  But I noticed that my dog was looking down at the floor and barking.  It appears to me that it could possibly be a snake or a monitor lizard.  Well, that seems fine with me.  In fact, I think a human intruder is more scary.  Don’t you agree?

With a big sigh, I unlocked the front door and braved myself to check out the cause of my dog’s barking.  I would certainly prefer my husband to do so.  But knowing that normally after the business meeting it would take him awhile to fall sleep.  And it would be my last resort to interrupt him with some petty insect.  Well, I do enjoy the cold air at night as I marched towards the side door. 

Looking from a distance, I saw something long and black.  Even with the light on, I couldn’t see clearly.  It didn’t look like a monitor lizard.  Could it be a snake?  But… a snake with this size?!?  It couldn’t be.  Cowardly, I dared not to move closer for a better view.  I retreated to the house searching for a torch light and my mobile phone.  Perhaps I can get a better picture with the torch light; alternately I could snap a picture and enlarge it to identify what creature is that.

Having done so, I was quite certain that this IS a snake.  A snake with this size… this is no joke.  So, I went back into the house and woke hubby up.  Calmly I told him, “There’s a snake, quite a big one.”  Hubby got up and followed me to the porch.  He was stunned when he saw it with his eyes; even with my warning.  “This is a python”, hubby exclaimed with unbelief.

He took the gardening tools and decided to smack its head.  “Are you sure?”  I questioned him.  And that’s when the drama begins.  The snake was lying still all these while until hubby attacked it.  It reacted and crawled up to the window panel.  And then it launched back to attack hubby but failed.  It then crawled swiftly to the bushes at the backyard and disappeared into the night.

To be honest, our backyard was quite unkempt due to the lack of gardener in church.  There were banana trees, mango tree, guava tree, and some unknown species growing all over.  I have been nagging about this tiny jungle for quite awhile yet my voice was not heard.  Now thanks to this python; after this incident, the leadership of the church acted upon it swiftly and cleared off the entire backyard.  Now the backyard looks so neat and tidy.  Although it’s a pity to cut down the fruit trees, I have been struggling to maintain it. 

Work in progress

Finally, a neat backyard

A little amusement

The care and love from the church family is also evidently shown after this incident.  The next morning, a few church members called up and even offered to buy sulfur for us.  The leadership proposed for us to move elsewhere.  And one of them actually offered us their house to stay.    We sincerely thank each one of them for their concern. 

And not forgetting our dog; it certainly serves us well although there are times I feel so frustrated with the mess it creates.

It was a night to be remembered.  After all, how many people would get a chance to see a wild python this size in their backyard?  



ps: after the entire night's hoo-hah, hubby went back to sleep. And suddenly the thought came to him that he should have called the fire brigade.  Well, guess all the adrenaline didn't help us to think of it. 

Birthday Party

It all started out with a challenge: If you score top 3 in your class, then you will have a birthday party this year.  That’s the challenge to my little girl.

She has been pestering us to organize a birthday party for years… but hubby and I are not the ‘party’ type.  So, we didn’t agree to have one.  But her persistency paid off.  Finally I laid out my condition; however I didn’t expect her to achieve it.  She has been in the top 10 since Standard 1 but never top 3.  Her lack of self motivation in improving her study bothers me a bit.  I know she could do better than that, but nagging her to study during exam season frustrates me.  So, a birthday party seems to be a good carrot.

Soon, I was astounded and a little regretful for giving my word.  That little girl actually attained 1^st place in her Mid Term exam. Mommy has to keep her promise, right?  So, we begin to explore the possibilities – a party at home or a party at McDonald. 

I have friends that organized birthday party for their kids at home.  They set a theme for each party – superhero, Thomas the train, and etc.  The decoration around the house, the photo corner, the birthday cake, the presentation of the food, even the family wore outfits that coincide with the theme.  Lots of work but the idea is fantastic, isn’t it?  I just wondered do I have the capabilities to do that…. *faint

The next frightening scenario is: To socialize with the parents.  Seriously, I am just not very good in this aspect.  Hubby will definitely hand over the baton to me with the excuse that these parents speak mainly Mandarin, and that is out of the question for him. 

Having the party at McDonald would be ideal coz the personnel would handle the kids; I don’t have to organize games to entertain them.  The food is settled; so does the decoration.  Moreover, I am saved from all the cleaning before and after the event.  If you do all the cleaning in the house, I am sure you would empathize with me.  But our major concern for this is $$.  To our amazement, we found out that all we need to do is to purchase a Happy Meal for each kid that attends the birthday party.  NO extra charges whatsoever.  If there are more than 10 pax, the McD personnel will organize games for the group.  Sounds like a good deal, isn’t it?

So, the one thing left is to design an invitation card.  Mommy did a sample and showed it to our birthday girl.  Once it is approved by our VIP, the mass production began to roll.  Elyse handed out the invitation cards to her classmates and we waited for their reply. 

Majority of the participant were Elyse’s classmates, with a few exceptions from the church.  We ordered a birthday cake for my darling and everything else fell into place.  (Actually there’s nothing much to do after that…)

On Elyse’s big day, we brought her to McDonald 15 minutes earlier.  Both Elyse and Erwyn were exhilarated.  As her friends arrived, the McD personnel conducted a Game Time with the kids.  They played 3 games altogether.  The winners of each game received a complimentary gift pack from McDonald.  Wow, that was really a bonus! 

Birthday Deco at McD

Game Time!

After the games, the children were starving.  Now is the time to feed the hungry souls with the very much anticipated ‘Happy Meal’.  As the kids finished up the last fries, we took the birthday cake out and sang the birthday song to my little princess. 

Finally, one after another the parents picked their children up and we retreated to our paradise.  Wait… the fun was not over yet!  There were lots of presents waiting to be opened by the birthday girl.  Eagerly, Elyse unwrapped the present one by one.  Her screamed of excitement filled the entire house; whereas the mother was beginning to worry how and where to keep all these stuff.

All in all, it was a good birthday celebration for my girl.  This meant the whole world to the little princess.  As parents, we are so very satisfied with the service given by McDonald.  No mess, no cleaning, no cooking… A happy child with a happy mom.

Bob Fitts Worship Seminar

I left JB since year 2007.  But thanks to FB, news still pop in every now and then and it keeps me connected to JB folks.  A very good example is the Bob Fitts Worship Seminar.  I am thrilled when I found out that the JB Pastor’s Fellowship was organizing a worship seminar with Bob Fitts.  One of the classic songs sung by Bob Fitts is Blessed Be The Lord God Almighty (Father in Heaven).  I shared this good news with hubby.  Hubby thought it would be a good exposure if some of us in the worship ministry could participate.  We spread the news around in anticipation.  However, due to various reasons most of the people were unable to take part. 

I was excited to find Jerry and Karen interested in the seminar and they have even registered their name before I did!  After discussing with hubby, I have decided to attend the seminar by myself without bringing my two ‘luggage’ aka children, along.  It was a 3-day seminars but I would only take part in 2 days.  For the same reason, I have also decided to drive to JB by myself.  The other couple, however, would attend all 3 days. 

Nearer the date, the organizer emailed the couple as there was a change in the seminar.  Unfortunately, I was left out in their list.  Originally the seminar was to begin on Friday evening, opened to worship leaders only.  However, the latest information received was this session was postponed to Sunday afternoon.  With that adjustment, I was unable to attend, which left me disappointed as I was only able to go for the Saturday session.  Later, another piece of information was sent out via whatsapp.  Again, I was not informed.  Eng Ing, a friend of mine in JB whom I planned to put a night with alerted me.  These "disorganized management" did upset me a fair bit.

To make matters worst, a couple of days before the seminar, I fell sick.  I was having fever 2 days before my scheduled travels.  Hubby was a bit concerned, naturally.  I was hesitated to take the wheels as well.  Finally, after taking 2 tablets of panadol and tried my best to rest as much as I could the day before, I drove to JB at 6:30am on Friday. 

The traffic was good and I felt better.  It took me slightly more than 2 hours to reach JB.  However, an additional 20 minutes to look for the church as I wasn’t familiar with that area, taking into account all the one-way street and traffic lights.  So, I was late.  Eng Ing, Jerry and Karen were concerned of my whereabouts as they knew I was not well.  At last, I reached the church in one piece.  Registered and found out that they did not have my name on record (floating in the air, perhaps?).  Hence, I didn’t receive any of the communications. 

The worship had started and they were singing the last song.  To my surprise, it was led by CCC, my home church when I was in JB.  The drummer was awesome!  Phew… I wished our church drummers (Ben, are you reading this?) were there.  The youth pastor, Sebastian, took over the pulpit and introduced Bob Fitts and his wife to us.  Sebastian was one of the youth when I was in JB.  Glad to see him answered the call and dedicated himself to God’s service.

There were quite a number of churches represented here, both from the Pentecostal churches and the traditional churches.  Wesley Malacca was highlighted as we were not locals.  Bob Fitts even shared with us he had been to Malacca many years ago to conduct a seminar.  On his way to Malacca, the driver’s driving skill in a single lane sparked him to compose the song ‘Just One Of Us’.  Another significant event was his son had decided to be baptized and they did it in one of the Malacca beaches.  Jokingly he said now the Straits of Malacca is even dirtier with the contamination of his son’s sins!

I find Bob Fitts very friendly, down-to-earth, yet passionate for God.  The seminar was refreshing as I soaked myself in the presence of God.  One of the things that really encouraged me was the sharing by Bob Fitts’ wife.  How she struggled with the care of the children by herself as Bob Fitts were away most of the time due to ministry.  It’s comforting to know that there’s someone else facing a similar situation as me.  Though hubby constantly reminded me I should be grateful coz he’s actually a spends a lot of time at home when he is not traveling.

At the seminar, I was glad to meet some of the old-timers in JB.  Happy to catch up with them even for 5 minutes!   Many of them used to be in Sunday School.  Now they are the front runners in the ministry.  The best is: They could still remember my name!!!  What an honour!  :p

By the time the seminar was over, my fever was back and I was feeling tired.  Thank God that Eng Ing brought a friend of hers and he graciously drove my car to Eng Ing’s house.  Driving is simply not my forte.  Now I could sit back and relax.   

After resting for awhile, we washed up and got ourselves ready for the night session.  This session was opened to the public and Bob Fitts did what he’s good at: Worship leading.  The atmosphere was very different as people were ever ready to worship God.  It has been quite awhile since I indulged in this kind of ‘charismatic’ ambiance.  Even in his 60s, Bob Fitts held his guitar and dance on the stage with the rest of us.  The sanctuary was filled to the brim.  After the worship, Bob Fitts shared a message and finally we called it a night.

I traveled back to Malacca on Saturday morning, just in time to join the Sunday School Teacher’s Appreciation and Evaluation Lunch.  That morning itself Elyse sat for her Grade 1 Piano Theory Exam.  I felt bad that I couldn’t accompany her and hubby needed to take over my duty.  Later he told me that he was the ONLY man at the waiting lounge.  hehe… Nevertheless, it was a refreshing course for me.  It reminded me of those younger days we were so crazy about going for Don Moen and Darlene’s concert, that we actually skipped school.  Oops, now you know there’s a little devil in me. Shh...

Side note:  

One of my favourite songs ‘Sacrifice’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcjkJp9VxY8) was sung by Bob Fitts, too.  I didn’t realize it initially until I google to find out more information about Bob. 

Parts of the lyrics:

It must have been the hardest thing He's ever done

When God the Father sacrificed his only son

The one that He most cherished gave His life away

And by His love He made a better way

…

Jehova Jireh, he has provided

The sacrifice of love no man could ever pay

And what He requires of you and me

Even the hardest thing

Your blood, O Christ

Your sacrifice gives me strength to obey

Chiling Waterfall

After the Sg Lembing Rainbow Waterfall, I was eagerly looking forward to another outdoor adventure.  To my disappointment, all plans failed until finally I got in touch with this loveliest girl, Doreen.

I knew Doreen since 12 years ago (Wow, didn’t realize it has been that long!).  She was still in secondary school then.  She is a fun-loving girl that you would love to be with.  Her smile is contagious and she has certainly brightened up many of my cloudy days.

Our last adventure together in 2006 - Hutan Lipur Gunung Senyum

Together with my adventurous girl, I drove up to KL on Friday afternoon to stay with Doreen for 3 days 2 nights.  But to my horror, I woke up with a fever on that fateful morning.    My fever went down a little after I swallowed 2 tablets and took a nap.  Thank God that the journey was smooth except for a few minor traffic jams in Malacca and KL.   This is my first time driving to KL all by myself.  We arrived almost 6pm and met Doreen at Paradigm Mall.

We had dinner and then Doreen treated us with a movie “Storks”.  After that, we called it a night and went back to her apartment to rest for the night. 

The next morning, the five of us (Doreen, her boyfriend, Daniel, her brother, Timothy, Elyse and myself) began our journey with a breakfast feast at one Dim Sum shop.  Daniel even took the trouble to ‘da bao’ a few packets of ‘loh mai kai’ after I commented that I still find KL’s loh mai kai much better taste than Malacca’s (Sorry, Malacca folks!). 

It took us about an hour to reach our destination.  We passed by scenic views of the Selangor dam in KKB shortly before we reached Chiling Waterfall.  The entrance to the Sungai Chiling Fish Sanctuary itself is evident with many cars parked along the narrow roadside.

After registering our names at the ranger’s office and paid RM1 per person, we commenced our hike by crossing the suspension bridge.  From here on, it was about an hour’s trekking to reach the falls at an average speed.  The hike is relatively easy compared to Rainbow Waterfall.  The only thing to watch out for is the rocks on the riverbed are very slippery.  There are altogether 6 rivers before we arrived at the waterfall.

My girl was so excited as the crystal clear waters of the river are teeming with lots and lots of fish.  Surprisingly, the fishes are very people friendly.  They do not scatter away but will swim close to your legs even caressing it at times.  I bought her a packet of fish food at the ranger’s office.  That kept her pretty occupied and looked forward to the next river crossing as we trekked for an hour.

Finally, we reached our destination at around 11am.  There were already quite a big crowd splashing and playing around the site.  Our group lingered around the falls for approximately one hour.  Indulging ourselves in the beauty of nature; listening to the sound of water splashing down through the gap between two big rocks.

Some of the hikers took a leap of courage to jump down from the big rock into the water.  Their bravery won the applause of their friends and other onlookers.

On our way back, a small accident happened when Daniel’s slipper was swept away accidentally.  But thank God that he managed to retrieve back in time. 

As we departed this place, we stopped at one of the restaurant to have our late lunch.  Then everyone fell into slumber land whilst Daniel drove through the winding path and brought us back home safely.

The next morning, Elyse and I bid farewell to Doreen and made our way back to Malacca – another 2-hour drive with my fever acting up.  But all in all, we enjoyed our trip and looking forward to go back to this fish paradise.  I’m sure Erwyn will enjoy feeding the fish.

Erwyn was kidnapped

Erwyn was kidnapped!!!  Yes, you read it correctly.  Thank God that no harm done.  Now let me relate the story to you…

It was just another Saturday.  As usual, I checked with Erwyn would he like to follow me to fetch Jie Jie to art class or does he prefers to stay in the office with Daddy.  But there’s a wedding ceremony today in church.  So, Daddy would be occupied as he is the officiating minister.  Erwyn was excited when he heard there’s a wedding.  He wanted to see the ceremony.  So, he pleaded to go to the church.  Daddy warned him that he needed to sit quietly upstair with Aunty Nancy while Daddy preaches and conducts the solemn event.  Erwyn happily agreed and assured Daddy he would be obedient.

So, we parted our ways.  I fetched Elyse to Art Class whilst Erwyn stayed with Daddy in church.  After chauffeuring Elyse, I returned home to prepare lunch.  I was hoping to do so within 30 minutes so that I can pick Erwyn up earlier.  Although I know he’s a good boy, leaving him alone without Daddy’s company worries me.

On the other hand, Erwyn kept his part of the bargain.  He was sitting at the mezzanine floor with Aunty Nancy at the sound control panel nearby.  He observed the Bridal Procession.  He loves to see the bride with her gorgeous wedding gown.  That reminded him of the recent musical that Mommy was involved in; in which Mommy was wearing a wedding gown also.  Even so, he thinks Mommy is prettier.  The singing and the preaching were quite boring for him.  He has no company; neither did he bring any toys to play with.  He stood up, stretched his tiny leg a bit; turned and looked around and sat down again.

All of a sudden, a lady came and sat next to him.  She had a little chit chat with him.  Then she took him downstairs and walked him out of the sanctuary.   As the two walked pass the field in front of the Ranger Hall, an old man with his two grand-children were playing close by.  The old man noticed the lady when she walked into the church.  She was alone.  Now, this lady was leaving with a child.  Something suspicious was going on here.  He stopped the lady and talked to her.  Then, he raised the life-saving question: Who is this child?  The lady was stunned.  She was taken aback.  She did not expect this old man to notice and dare to post such a question to a stranger.  All these while Erwyn was quiet; just staring at the two adults with his innocent eyes.

 “This is my son”, the lady answered with a shy smile.  Then this lady continued to explain to the kind old man that her husband was in the church, and she came to bring my child back home.  She even told him that the pastor is her husband.  Well, if you know her well: It isn’t a norm for her to tell others that she is the pastor’s wife.  That is one hat that she would prefer to hide under the blanket.  But to avoid further misunderstanding, she put the hat on.

I am very grateful to the old man.  Though he’s a stranger, his kindness and attentiveness and bravery drove him to question me in this circumstance.  How many of us would do so?  Society nowadays have grown to become so cold and alienated.  Everyone for himself.  No, not in this case.  I certainly hope and pray there would be more people like this old man in our neighborhood.  Looking out for one another.  A caring and loving society.

So, Erwyn was kidnapped - by his own mother!!!  :p

A bouquet of flower

A big surprised from my not-so-romantic hubby – a bouquet of white roses.  Honestly, this is the first time I received a dozen of roses from my dear.  His argument is: Flowers are useless.  It’s better to spend the same amount of money on food.  But I like flowers.  Who else can I count on if not hubby to send me flowers?  For umpteen times I hinted to him; well, considered we’ve been married for 12 years.  You do the calculation.  I gave up hinting in fact.  Spoke plain simple language to him: ‘I want a bouquet of flowers; not a single stalk, but a dozen of them.’  Guess what was his reply?  Do you know that nowadays a bouquet cost more than RM150?  My heart sank when I heard that.  Can a man really be so practical?  Not even a single ounce of romance?  Perhaps it is more sensible for me to buy a bouquet of flower for myself than to depend on my man.  I shrugged it off my mind, trying to let it go.  There’s nothing else can I do.  In another occasion, I severely warned my husband: Please don’t buy a bouquet of flower for me anymore even if you actually thought of doing.  Because when I receive it, all I could think of is: This bouquet cost more than RM150!!! 

Our anniversary fell on a Sunday this year.  On Saturday morning, I was driving my girl to Art Class and stopped at the traffic light.  Out of the blue I thought to myself: This month is September… what’s today’s date?  When is the wedding anniversary?  18^th… But before I realized the light changed and I continued driving…

The same night, church organized the Mid Autumn Festival.  After the event, I told hubby and children to go home first while I took a final check on the musical equipment.  As I was walking towards the church, a church member passed something to me; so I headed back to hubby’s car for him to bring it home.  The children were already sitted in the car; whereas hubby was about to take the driver’s seat.  I intended to just open the front door of the car and leave the thing in it but hubby stopped me right away.  He took the thing over from me and assured me that he would bring it back.  I was puzzled. 

Jokingly I teased him: “Why don’t you let me open the door?  Are you hiding something from me?”

Hubby replied: “Ya, I have a mistress in the car.”

I gave him an ‘evil’ look, so he said, and then waved goodbye to them.

And nope, I didn’t suspect anything amiss.  Such a simple-minded girl I am, right?

Later that night, I was ironing the clothes and out of the sudden hubby came into the room and handed a bouquet of white roses - a dozen, to be exact, and wished me ‘Happy Anniversary’… WOW!!!  I was stunned.  Speechless.  Couldn’t believe my eyes.    This guy not only does he remembers our anniversary, he actually bought a bouquet of white roses for me.  That was one of the best anniversary presents I have received after so many years.  (*smiling)

**hubby was so proud that I forgotten the anniversary while he remembered**

...Do I remember the cost of this bouquet?  Of course I do.  But I shall not 'open fire' or 'start a war' coz I really really love this bouquet.  

 

HS Farm Muar

This is our second time visiting HS Farm.   Click here to read about our first visit.

Since I have just been there few months ago, I wasn’t expecting much.  But apparently most of the renovation is completed.  So, the room is so much better looking and the place is not that dusty and noisy anymore.  What surprises me more is that the staff could still remember Andrew.  Well, no doubt he has an distinctive figure.  (Honestly, I am not sure having a distinctive look is good or bad.  Mind to share your opinion???)

We were welcomed by Douglas and Dina upon arrival.  Our room is just right next to our previous room.  The best of all is, this room has 2 king size bed and 1 super single bed.  So, the 2 kids get to sleep by themselves on a bed without sharing with anyone else.

Douglas and Dina showed us the meeting room as well as the children’s room.  Last time, we had our teaching session conducted in the dining area.  It wasn’t very conducive as it was warm and being open-air it was rather distracting.

The children’s room is actually a bedroom with 3 king sized beds.  It is very spacious.  The last time we used our own room for the children to play around.  It wasn’t that bad.  But it was only 2 other kids.  I couldn’t imagine if this time we did the same with 8 kids including my darlings.  And all of them are about the same age.

We started off with steamboat for our dinner.  The portion was huge and none of us could finish it.  How could one pay much attention to the teaching with a bloated stomach?  Thus, the teaching session in which followed was cut short and Andrew sent everyone to slumber land in preparation for an early rise the next day.

The next day, we were greeted by cereal, bread, nasi lemak, fried bee hoon, sausages, half-boiled eggs and etc at the dining hall.  The teaching session took off right after the breakfast.  The kids joined the worship and then proceeded to a world of our own after that. 

We played board games, watched a 30 minutes show, munched tidbits, built Lego pieces, and I also brought them to the fish spa for some fresh air.  I am so thankful to have a good rest the night before.  It is very rare for me to sleep well when I travel.  But God knows I need the rest to keep up with these 8 energetic kids for 3 hours. 

After lunch, we visited the pony farm, bee farm, coconut plantation, and a deer farm. 

Pony Ride

Mr Pony, it's tea time

Buzzzzz......

Don't worry, these are stingless bee

Refreshing coconut... erm, Kong Peng, where are you?

IT IS HEAVY!!!

Kampung lifestyle education: Spot the tadpoles

Deer feeding... illegally actually

After the tour, we were separated into 2 groups.  One group headed to Muar town in search of the famous foodie.  The other group went back to HS farm to rest.  Rest?!!  Not so for me.  The children with their unlimited energy requested to take a swim in the newly built swimming pool.  I am so glad that part of the swimming pool is under a covered shade.  So, I hid under the shade keeping an eye on the kids.  Shortly after that, Andre’s family joined us.

Every now and then, whenever my girl is free; she would grab the mic and sing her heart out.  Getting ready to be a soloist?

Girlfriend No 1

Girlfriend No 2

The dinner was BBQ buffet.  Again, the portion was enormous.  We ate and joke and chat the whole night.  The children played around the compound.  I was surprised till now, the kids were spared from any mosquitoes bite.

We had our last session cum Sunday service the following morning.  A surprised visit by Donald Duck mascot when I brought the children out for fish spa.  Later, Minnie Mouse also dropped by to visit.  What an exhilarating morning!

Lunch was not provided and we decided to head straight to Malacca for lunch.  This is the last DG retreat of the year and I am glad it’s over.  I may have a love for children, but being together with them in a confined space for hours really drives me to the wall.  But that could be the best place to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit, don’t you agree?