Sun. Beach. Sand.

The greatest benefit of moving to Malacca is none other than the beach.  Both Elyse and Erwyn enjoyed playing by the seaside.  As for me, I love the scenery but dislike the sun.  :p

Our first visit to the beach was the Tanjung Kling beach.  It’s about 25 mins drive from our house.

 The grandfather, father, and the two children.

Mommy was hiding underneath these awesome giant trees for some shades.

Then, a church member told us about this Klebang beach.  It is new.  Thanks to the reclaiming work that’s in progress.  So, we headed there for another family outing.  It takes us about 15 mins.

Children having fun with the sand!

As far as the east from the west, all you can see is - THE SAND!

 

Food stalls by the road side.  Typical Malaysian style - eat and play.

 

A big playground for the children.

 

Beautiful scenery.

 

 This beach offered horse riding for its visitors with a minimum fee charged.

A pony followed closely behind.

  Wanna try this?  But the engine of this sand buggy is very loud.  Noise pollution.

Sun.  Beach.  Sand.

Interesting facts

After moving in for half a year, we've discovered some interesting facts.



We have a 'tiny' neighbour!

Can you spot her?

A closer look!  This photo was taken in March.  There is only one bird.  Todate, there are two of them.  It can be quite noisy at times.

We tried to destroy her nest once but a few days later, the bird rebuild it again!  We were looking for eggs or baby bird but there's none so far.  It would be quite an experience for the children to see how does a mother bird care for her young.

Another headache caused by our 'tiny neighbour' is her dropping.  Our clothes are hanging nearby for drying everyday.  So, you can imagine the frequency of her flying in and out, up across our clothes.  Hence, 'accidents' do happen sometimes.

Bird's dropping

A closer look, although it may be a bit unpleasant in sight.

Occasionally, we have some 'special' visitors!

There was once Daddy set up a trap to catch house lizards because there are many of them at the porch.  Few days later, we found a monitor lizard instead!  Mommy found it too disgusting to even take a photo, so there's no proof here.  Two days later, the monitor lizard was gone!  Looks like he managed to escaped.

Sorry, you are not welcome here.  Please leave at once!

Now you know why we always keep our glass door or mosquitoe netting close.  Mommy found it trying to intrude into our house twice!!!



We are not alone!!!
We certainly are aware of that.  With two basketball courts next to our house, the noise made by these high adrenaline pupils do shake our world.  Very often, their basketballs invaded into our house compound.  Thank God that so far none of our glass windows are broken.

Fire!
Open burning seems to be quite prevalent in our neighbourhood.  It does no harm to Mommy, although sometimes Mommy complained our clothes has burning smells.  But Daddy suffered more.  His sinus problem is worse on days where open burning is carried out.  The smoke also irritates his eyes a lot.

Slow Down!
Road humps or some people called it speed bumps are in abundance in this area.  Probably our area is closed to 3 schools.  Everyday Daddy needs to drive through 10 humps to bring Elyse to her kindergarten.  It's only a short distance of 500m!


These facts may caused a bit of inconvenience sometimes.  However, we are still grateful for such a lovely house that the church has provided for us.  The church members are super caring.  They loved to feed us with all sorts of yummy local food.   We love this church.  Yes, we are!

Family Camp 2013

The family camp this year coincide with the Pastor's School.  With only a few hours of sleep, our dear Pastor Andrew drove us to Port Dickson at 5:30am.  We reached the newly redeveloped Methodist Centre around 7am.  The cold morning breeze freshen us up and we were greeted by a few 'early birds' at the compound and canteen.

After moving our luggages into our one-room-apartment, we proceeded to the children hall for preparation.  Mommy has volunteered to conduct the children ministry which began at 9am.  After setting up the projector and teaching props, Mommy took a quick bite while Daddy brought the children back to the room to wash up.

Although the group was small, Mommy was feeling really nervous.  Thank God that Mommy has an assistant and a helper.  It took awhile for Mommy to warm up as she has not been involved in children ministry for quite some times.  We praise God that everything went on very well. 

After the teaching session, we had our lunch and went back to our room again.  Finally, Mommy was able to rest in peace after few weeks of stress in preparation for this teaching session.  Lack of sleep the previous night has caused a slight headache and Mommy soon was in dreamland.  However, the air cond in the room did not seem to be working well.  Daddy called for room service and we were told that the management has decided to upgrade us to a two-room-apartment.  Yipee!  Thank God for such provision.  We were just wondering how do we squeeze two adults and two children into a queen size bed.

During registration, the church has graciously wanting to give us the two-room-apartment.  However, Daddy felt that it was too expensive.  Hence he only asked for the one-room-apartment.  We brought along a sleeping bag.  Now that we were upgraded, everyone may sleep comfortably.  After all, both adults really in need of a good and proper rest.

Room with a queen size bed, with attached bathroom

The kitchenette, equipped with an electric kettle

The sea view from the window

Children snuggled happily under the cover

After rested for awhile, we gathered at the beach for a time of team building.  We were divided into two groups.  Within limited time, both groups needed to build a sand castle with as many flags as possible. 

The two pastors

Our group, Group B, working hard under the sun

The other group, Group A

The pastor and his wife

Children messing around happily

The final product of Group A

The final product of Group B, which is our group.  So which do you think is better?

Erwyn carried by Jie Jie Amanda

Erwyn was a happy boy throughout the camp, having fun with all the big 'Gor Gor' and 'Jie Jie'.  Elyse was playing with her kindy friend, Brenice, every now and then.  She was thrilled to see her kindergarten teacher in the camp as well.

Overall, we had a good time and we look forward for the next family camp.  Above all, we thank God for everything.  Great is thy faithfulness!

Days without Daddy

This year, the annual Pastor's School was held in Miri from 9th - 13th April.  Daddy and Pastor Danny took a midnight bus to LCCT, and then flew to Miri early in the morning.  The first two days were packed with teaching sessions and business meetings.  Thereafter, the group transit to Mulu for another three days of outdoor adventure.  They visited Deer Cave, Lang Cave, Clearwater Cave and Cave of the Winds.  They have also witnesses hundreds of bats streaming out from the cave like a plume of smoke.  A boat ride to the Penan community in Mulu and a city tour in Miri completed their tiring journey.  Thank God that Daddy came back in one piece.  He reached home at midnight on Sunday, slept for five hours, drove to Port Dickson for family camp the next day itself.  Phew!  That's my super Daddy.  Aren't he marvelous?

On the other hand, while Daddy was away, super Mommy took up full responsibility in taking care of us.  From sunrise to sunset.  Her only rest time was when both kids were sound asleep.  Thank God that Ah Gong was with Mommy, sharing her burden.  Finally, a day before Daddy came back, Mommy decided to give both kids a wonderful treat - unlimited play time at Tesco playland.

Hello, everybody... I'm driving my very own car!

Wow, I'm swinging like a monkey!

 

My favourite!  Balls!  Lots and lots of them!!!

 

Having a great time!  Wanna join me?

 

Up up up, down down down!  Oh, I'm confused!

Erwyn managed to overcome his fear and climbed up the ladder with the help of Jie Jie.  He then slide down all by himself, with a big smile on his face.

Welcome to my little house!

We missed Daddy very much when he was away.  At home, when Erwyn heard the sound of the car passing by or the sound of the key opening the door, he would look at Mommy and said, 'Daddy?'.

We love you, super Dad!

  

Birthday Party

Elyse has been asking us to organise a birthday party for her since last year.  She wanted to invite all her teachers to her house to celebrate with her.  No doubt that she loves her teachers very much and would like to share her happy moments with everyone of them.

However, baby Wesley's birthday party was the first birthday party both Elyse and Erwyn attended.  Alfred, the father of Wesley, invited us all to celebrate baby Wesley's one-year-old birthday.  The boy who was standing next to Erwyn, that's Wesley!

Sis Nancy, our church full time worker for the Myanmar ministry, baked all these cupcakes for baby Wesley.  Isn't she amazing?

The proud parents with their only begotten son, Wesley.  

And of course, right after the parth, Elyse brought up the birthday party issue again.  'Daddy, may I have a brithday party?  Pleaseee....'

Back to homeland

After moving to Malacca for 2 months odd, finally we made a trip back to Subang for a 3-night stay.  Elyse was really looking forward as she misses all her former Kindergarten teachers and Sunday School teachers.

We left on a Thursday afternoon and reached Subang in the evening.  The children were fast asleep in the car.  Thank God for my father in law who drove us back.  Andrew, as usual, was caught up with his work and couldn't come with us.

We took such opportunity to eat all the delicious food that can only be found in Subang, or PJ.  It's funny that people come from all over to indulge in Malacca food but we, who are now staying in this historical town, craving for PJ food.  However, it was a pity that we only stayed for 3 days.  There's simply not enough meals to fill our greedy stomach!

We visited the kindergarten on Friday morning.  Since the beginning of this year, both Kindergarten and Sunday School have moved to the new building.  It was our first time visiting the new place.  We were not sure of the rooms but we managed to find it in the end.  The teachers and principal, Mrs Chan, were surprised to see us.  Elyse, on the other hand, was jumping up and down, running from one room to another room, greeting her ex-classmates and teachers with smile.  The current classrooms are bigger and all the furnitures are brand new.  It is really a pity that Elyse does not continue in this kindergarten.  Mrs Chan even gave us a tour to the Day Care Centre, which is also used by the Junior Sunday School on Sundays.

As time was running out and we intended to make a move for the next errand, Mrs Chan offered to take care of Elyse and met us after the school for lunch.  Elyse was overjoyed that she could stay with her teachers longer.

We proceeded to NSK for grocery shopping.  Although the cost of living in Malacca is lower compared to KL, the raw food in Malacca is not as cheap as NSK.  So, we bought pork, fish, chicken, prawns, vege and a whole load of grocery from NSK.  When everything was done, we met with Mrs Chan and had lunch in one of Andrew's favourite Dim Sum shop - Jin Xuan Restaurant. 

On Sunday morning, all of us went all the way to KL Wesley to attend their 2nd Service.  We were glad to see some familiar faces and our dear darling enjoyed her every moment in the Sunday School.  She was even chosen to count the points before the class was divided into small groups.  (pic below) 

Elyse was welcomed back to her 'old' group but with a 'new' teacher.  Hmm... our little girl was a bit 'too relaxing' there, huh!?!  Can you spot her?

While every children were in their small group, our little Erwyn was running all over the place.  Mommy tried to bring him to one of the small groups but he refused.  :(

We left Subang that afternoon itself as the next day was a schooling day for Elyse.

Few days after the trip, Elyse told Daddy the following:-

'Daddy, please don't move again.  If not, you need to bring me back to see all my Kindergarten teachers and Sunday School teachers.'

Daddy, are you going to heed her warning?

Cheeky? Clever?

One afternoon, we brought the children to Mahkota Parade.  The children were sitting in their strollers.  As we pushed them up on an escalator (which is not advisable to do so), Elyse started the following conversation with Mommy and Ah Gong:-

Mommy:  Elyse, you are getting heavier.
Elyse:  Mommy, if I fell down with the stroller on you, then you will also fall down.  Then you will die lor.
Mommy:  Ya, if you fall on me, I will fall on Ah Gong.  Because Ah Gong is standing behind Mommy.  Then Ah Gong will also die lor.
Ah Gong:  Elyse, Ah Gong asks you a question.  If Mommy and you fell down, and Ah Gong can only save one person, who should Ah Gong save?
Without hesitation, Elyse answered:  You have to save Mommy first because Mommy fall down first.  Then you put Mommy down, and save me.

Of course, both Mommy and Ah Gong laughed to our hearts content.