The Musical - Part 1

I always loved musicals.  Back in KL, every Easter or Christmas, I would look out for musicals organized by the local churches and make my way there rain or shine.  But personally I have never involved in any of the productions.  I missed the opportunity twice to participate in the local church musicals due to distance and pregnancy.

Two years ago the idea of organizing a musical was birthed at the LCEC planning retreat.  I was excited when I heard about it but did not take any further step.  This musical was meant for the youth and I am way past my youthful years.  Yes, have to admit I am aging gracefully (I hope). 

So, when I was approached to take up one of the roles I was thrilled.  I gladly accepted it without knowing the storm which followed.  For months, I waited for the script but there was no sign of it.  Found out later that the script was written by a professional scriptwriter in Sri Lanka.  Hubby passed me the outline of the script after pestering him for weeks.  The delay in script written was the first storm.

Soon, I was hit by the second wave.  There were some hiccups in getting the church members to be involved in this musical.  There weren’t many casts in fact, yet not many are willing to sacrifice their time for this cause. 

The third storm swept us as quickly as the second.  The youth encountered problem with the choreography for the dance movement for the songs.  Finally, a dance studio was contacted and they had agreed to conduct 10 sessions of dance practices with the youth.

Up to this point, the excitement was gone and all that was left is disappointment, discouragement and many unresolved issues. 

When the script was finally completed, the light of hope was rekindled.  To my horror, that only leads to the next hurricane.  The director of the musical was reluctant to move on from there due to personal reasons. 

We were all left alone like a sheep without its shepherd.  I was all ready to walk away and throw in the towel.  The only reason that kept me there is because of the youth – they have spent countless hours and energy and effort in practicing for the musical.  How could we disappoint them just like that?!!  Hubby was ready to write a letter of apology to call off the entire project.     

... To be continued

Scene 1: The Wedding

Scene 3: Mom and child Dianne

Scene 4: The Party

Scene 5: Mom and Dianne

Scene 6: The office

Scene 6: Michael and young adult Dianne

Scene 6: The song 'People need the Lord'

Scene 6: Shaun and Jennifer

Scene 8: Michael and Dianne

Dissendium Theatre Malacca

Do you like magic tricks?  There’s something in it that always captured the eyes of the audience.  The surprise element that intrigue our hearts and blow your mind of.

The first time I came across Dissendium Theater was on my way to fetch my girl to her tuition.  I was rather amused and sceptical when I saw the sign: ‘Magic Show – Dissendium Theater’.  What type of magic show do they perform in Malacca?  That was my exact thought.  I apologize for my ignorance. 

Weeks later I discovered this offer in Groupon on magic performance.  Out of curiosity, I did some research and realize that many people commented and gave excellent review on it.  After discussing with hubby, we’ve decided to give it a try and bought the tickets.

 

I called up to enquire.  Apparently the shows are only available from Thursday to Sunday evening.  Booking was done and we looked forward for a fun time.

Dissendium Theater is located next to a Nyonya Cuisine restaurant in the town center.  They provide a vast parking space.  FOC.  We reached there 30 minutes before the show in order to get good seats.  Surprisingly there was no one except us! 

The auditorium opened 15 minutes before the show starts.  We choose the front rows and subsequently a few more families joined us.  Though the theatre caters for an audience of 280 pax, there were only around 10 of us.

As the shows took place, our full attention was on this group of young, talented magic enthusiasts.  Our eyes were feast on the spectacular display of magic shows and illusions.  The props and the articulations of each magic is indeed awesome.  Our dear daddy was even invited to the stage to ‘help’ in one of the tricks they performed.

The show lasted for about 70 minutes.  I lost count of the number of magic tricks they performed.  Though we figured out some of the tricks (thanks to the show – The Magician Code aired on Astro years ago) - although the daddy claims he figured out all of it.  Overall the show did not disappoint us and we were impress by the quality and professionalism of the performance. 

Information about Dissendium Theater:
Address: No.178, Jalan Parameswara, 75000 Melaka
General Line 06-5125 055 / 088
Reservation Hotline 017-260 2088

Titi Eco Farm

I was very hesitated to write this blog.  Nevertheless, I convinced myself to do so.  After all, life is full of ups and downs.  And this retreat is not sooo bad after all.

Our DG voted to go to Titi Eco Farm for our retreat.  After much research, I lowered my expectation and was just hoping that my kids would be able to survive these 3 days 2 nights with the company of the many 'gor gor' and 'jie jie'.

Since hubby was driving, I had the luxury of packing as many stuff as I wanted to.  One luggage for clothing, one for food and one for kid's entertainment.  Upon arriving, to our horror, we were greeted by swarms of mosquitoes.  They were everywhere!!!  Within minutes, all of us, especially my kids, were bitten from head to toe.

We checked into our rooms followed by the welcome tea.  The kids roamed around the place exploring while feeding more mosquitoes.  Oh yes, I sprayed repellent on the kiddos but it doesn't seem to work.  These irritating blood-sucking insects would not let us go.

 A map of the entire farm

 A giant log for the kids to swing around

 another one served as a see-saw

sliding your way down...

Chinese chess and checkers are also available

We did not do much on Day 1 as the place was not condusive to conduct any sessions nor devotions.  Some of us attended the Talk on Healthy Tips in the evening.  The rest of us would rather stay in the room and call it a night.

The next day, after the adventurous breakfast meal which included a serving of hibiscus flower, raw corn, black sesame seed, aloe vera and etc, we participated in the farm tour.

 All set.  Ready to go....

The only thing throughout the tour that captured my children's attention are the goats...

and the tortoise...

 and the rabbits... They all looked so hungry.

The final showdown - flying fox

My girl was eager to try it out but Daddy was a bit reluctant.  But she did it anywhere.   Bravo, my girl!

As for my boy, he crossed the tiny stream by walking on this hanging bridge.  Good job, son!  Hubby followed the boy closely.  How about yours sincerely?  Needless to say, flying fox, of course!

After a tiring morning, we were looking forward to the afternoon session at the hall.  The hall was supposed to be the main attraction as it is the only air-conditioned place in the resort. The guest rooms only has fans - some are ceiling fans, some are wall fans.

However it was another big disappointment as the air-cond in the hall doesn't cood down the hall at all.  The stuffiness, the tiredness, the humid and warm weather, and the sleepless night - Andrew has no choice but to shorten the session and let the sheep go free.

Personally I find the teaching very good.  It was such a pity that many of us couldn't absorb much spiritual truth.

As for this place, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are not a mozzie magnet (ahh... so jealous!), your body temperature are low (basicaly, you don't mind to sweat), and you are a dare devil in food tasting.

However, I do enjoy hanging out with my DG members.  Sadly we didn't have much time fellowshiping other than meal times.   Most of the other free time we hid in our rooms as there was no better place free from the mosquitoes and the heat.

All in all, the food experience was a once in a lifetime experience.  In my entire life, I have never tried so many unique types of food as I did in the past three days.  Nevertheless, I believe God was working among us as heard in the sharing of the members.

Bkt Baru & Ujong Pasir DG Retreat

This year, the church has decided to organise smaller scale group retreat instead of a church camp.  Reason: Andrew wants to spend more personal time with small groups of members.  Though this is neither Andrew's or my DG, we joined the Bkt Baru & Ujong Pasir DG as there are kids in this group whereby my kiddos could mingle around with.  This is the second DG retreat in the year.  This group made plans to visit HS Farm in Muar for their weekend getaway. 

We left around 2pm on Friday.  The journey was smooth and short.  It only took us 45 minutes to reach our destination. We were warmly welcomed by Kelvin's family.  They were here since 1pm and had been waiting for the rest to arrive. 

The entrance of the resort

Kelvin and Hui Lee showed us to our room

Our room is one of the bigger one compared to the rest. The downside is, the air-cond took longer to cold down the room.

As soon as we settled down, the children and I roamed around the place exploring.  Brendon acted as our tour guide.

There were a few dinosaurs in the compound.  Picture time!  Say cheese....

Elyse and Erwyn love dinosaur.  But Brennice preferred to stay at a distant.

There's a mini zoo in this farm.  But what caught my attention was this little meerkat.  Couldn't help but to take a photo of it.  Isn't he adorable?  Sitting there waiting to be photographed?

Longkang fishing: still remember the good old days?

It isn't as easy as it looks.  Perhaps the fish here are well trained.  They are very alert whenever we go near them and swim away swiftly.  We caught none the first day.

Amy joined in the fun as soon as she arrived.  But she too, didn't catch anything.

Next, let's dip our feet into the water for a fish spa.

The first session started at 5pm and the kids gathered in our room for a board game challenge.  We played Blokus, Ghost Busters, Othello, and etc.

We headed out to a Chinese restaurant in town for our dinner.  A little hiccup on our way there.  Our car's tayar was punctured, but thankfully there was a tayar shop nearby which was still open.  The mechanic fixed it within 10 minutes and we were back on the road.

It took us longer than we expected to reach the restaurant as there was a traffic jam. But the food served was delicious and the amount was huge.  We had fish, duck, pork, chicken, taufu, vege, 4 seasons, and etc.  All for the price of RM260 per table.  Thanks to Hui Lee's father, who is a local there, for striking a good deal with the owner of the restaurant.

There were supposed to be another session at night but it was cancelled as time was running late.  We reached the resort around 10pm.  With a full stomach and a sleepy head, I doubt anyone could take in anymore spiritual food.  So, we called it a night.

The next morning, just before the session started, we took a stroll at the mini zoo again.  The worker was cleaning and feeding the pets.  And I took the opportunity to carry this fellow.  Ok, this trip is definitely worth while.

Compared to a Koala Bear I carried years ago in Australia, surprisingly, this fellow is not as heavy nor as smelly as I thought it would be.  And its fur is also very soft.

The morning session started and my baby-sitting duty also commenced.  I arranged a fun time (so I thought) of t-shirt painting with the kids.  To my disappointment, the kids were too excited to wet themselves in the swimming pool which I have promised to do so after the painting.  They finished off their painting in a blink of an eye.  Of course the result was not satisfactory.

Finally, I 'let them go, let them go....'

Time flies when you have fun... soon, it's lunch time and we went to a famous Asam Fish shop in town.  Thankfully they also served eggs and taufu.  At least there's something for my kids to eat.

The next itinerary is Pony Farm.  There's horse/pony ride available in the farm but each ride is charged RM10.

However, we were given free rides in this pony farm.  The pony seemed to be in a bad mood.  Nevertheless, Elyse, Erwyn, Brendon, and Amanda took turns to ride on it.

After that, we headed to a bee farm.  The worker even showed us how he extracted the honey out from the bee hive.

Our final stop is Hui Lee's father's orchard.  There we enjoyed fresh coconuts while some of them helped themselves with "jambu air".  By then we were all tired and went home for a nap.

Kong Peng was pretty good at this... even Amy was marvelled!

yummylicious... fresh and cooling - thanks to Hui Lee

Plucking the 'jambu air'

Dinner - time to get your hands dirty and drenched in your sweat - Barbeque hour

Free bicycle rides in the compound of the resort.  Daddy finally has some spared time to entertain the children while everyone was still indulging in their food.

The night was still young.  The children sang a few songs at the karaoke lounge before the night session began.

Day 3: Last day of the retreat

Young and old sang their heart out to God

I've decided to let the children go free instead of doing activities with them.  Brendon, Brennice and Elyse preferred splashing away in the pool whilst Erwyn determined to catch some fish.  Well, he did it this round.  Caught 3 fishes, though one of them was a dead fish.

I, too, caught 4 fishes.  Reminiscing my childhood, perhaps....

Happy boy

 After that, last round of fish spa....

A final wefie at the swing in front of the rooms before we went home...

Goodbye, Muar!  It was a good fun time for the kids but I was exhausted... as though taking care of 2 kids was not enough.  Baby-sitting job ain't that easy.  I surrender.