Session Retreat THREE

Thanks Amy for reminding me of the power failure. Hmmmm, seems like i missed this out. It happened close to 1am on Thursday, i.e. our first night in the resort. I woke up feeling hot and sensed the air was still. Lights didnt come on too & i knew it was power failure. Heard some commotion along the corridor, rather loud though....but our Peggy slept soundly on. Made my way to the phone in the sitting room to get the power fixed. Just as i picked up the handset, power came back on. 5 mins was all it took. Not too bad.

I missed out another! Remember the pancake dessert we ordered? It came with 10 pieces and there were 15 of us. I asked the waitress to give us another 5 more. The dish came 6 mins later and it was 10 pieces!!!! Haha... our people started to laugh at me, saying that the people "feared" me because of my "complaints". LOL! We could not eat anymore, plus needed to reserve space for durian, packed this 10 pieces up for morning tea the next day.

Need to mention about this durian seller. Eld Goh drove to a road outside the resort and this seller had his stall in make-shift tents. The prices were $2, $3 or $4 per kg. Wow..... port dickson was $7 - $12 per kg. Tasted one durian as sample and seemed very good. After much negotiation, their men would choose 30 pieces from the $4 per kg basket and deliver to our resort at 9.30pm that night. We took down each other's contact and drove off.

At 5pm, he called to inform that he had chosen THE BEST and will charge us at $5 per kg. This was not right or what we had agreed on. He cited reasons like these were the best lot and giving us good stuff. I protested that the price agreed was $4 per kg and that was what they had displayed at the stall and now out of the blue became $5 per kg. He didnt seem willing to reduce. Didnt want to bargain over the phone and so I told him just come at 9.30pm. I was afraid he might choose from the cheaper basket and bring to us if i got him to give me at $4 per kg....after all, quite hard for me to trust him now since he changed his word.

At 8.45pm, i had to answer a call at the Qing Palace....when we were still eating the Buddha jump over wall soup, Mua Ji and pancake. Durian seller has arrived!!! He was 45 mins early. I told him to wait and we could only be there at 9.30pm.

Dr Tow would have loved to eat the durians with us but Mrs Tow disallowed. Incidentally, Hendrick said Laura would have disapproved too but he would still eat.....heehee..... We got a buggy to pick them up from Qing Palace back to their room. The waitress called but buggy never came. I went to ask the restaurant to call again. Brehme did and he went further. He walked out of the building towards the Hotel Suites area to rush the buggy driver. Haha....i began to wonder if people really "fear" me.....hmmmmm.......perhaps "fear" our group????

It finally came and it was a hilarious send off.... like "just married" couple. Told Dr & Mrs Tow the buggy was their honeymoon vehicle. Haha.... :) They looked so sweet and loving. May God grant them many more years of faithful effective service. Dr Tow shared with us about Mrs Tow's weak legs and medical condition and they live everyday as if it is their last. My heart is always strangely warmed whenever i see loving couples especially those more than 30 years. I began to miss Dr Lowly at that instance. All the little misunderstandings and misforgivings do not matter anymore.....spending time together and together for the Lord is. Treasure every second of time together coz you never know when it will be the last.

Now i come to the most exciting part, highlight of the evening..... Durian Feasting! It was a lovely outdoor dining cafe area the hotel has granted us to partake the 30 pieces of finger-licking good durians. Waterfalls Cafe.....situated just beside the pool. Water for drinking was ready and salt on the way. Parang was arranged previously but missed out. Informed them to get some for us and cloths too.

Then came our durians in 5 or 6 red plastic bags. We needed to get the price right before we eat and Eld Seah has been tasked to reason with him. The man pointed to me that i agreed to $5 on the phone. I just smiled...hee.... Then our elderly Seah gave these words of wisdom to the man: "Sir, we work by principles. It was agreed at $4 per kg when we visited the stall and so it should stay that way. You are a man of principle, right?" No more issues....paid $200 and we bid them farewell.

Eld Seah & Ee Huat did all the hard work for us (if i remember correctly). And the banquet staff tried to help too. One after another, it was solid good stuff. None was spoiled and all fabulously delicious. At every opening, Eld Seah would give a loud shout of approval. First it was,

"Wow...this one very good."

Then it was, "This one is bitter, good stuff".

And next came, "whoa.. this one even better".

"You must try, you must eat this one. Very good."

"This one is creamy, must taste"

"Aido, this seed is so big, very good"

"Ooohhh, bitter of the bitterest. Fantastic.. must eat"

Yah... here's the bitterest look

Eld Boon took one seed, looked for a chair, sat down to enjoy that one seed. Then he stood up and took another. This went on for many times. So did some of them.

Some preferred to stand and eat throughout.

Some ate and became "GONG" (in hokkien). You know what i mean? Dont? Look below:

Here are some with the satisfied look:

Oops... this one should be an angry and frustrated look.... perhaps from the hard labour of opening the 20 odd durians. Hmmm, i see some resemblance in the monstrous grin of Luky here. Dont you?


The durians were really heavenly! Creamy & simply yummy. Conclusion of the whole matter: BEST in Tengah's history! Whoa... so glad everything turned out well and honestly, we didnt finish the 30 durians. Consumed 23 and gave 7 away to the banquet staff. Erh.....i ate 4 seeds and was really full. Bitter & sweet... totally satisfied. Guess the rest took more than 10 or 15 seeds. A group of 7 (me included) went for a walk round the golf course (covered 3 holes). It was lovely under the bright moonlight and cooling too. Good way to exercise off the heavy food we had that night. Apparently, Kelvin went for a jog after the walk that night. Hmmm.. he meant business. Eld Lan too. He jogged the next morning. How do i know? He was spotted and identified by the GM.... as the one with moustache....haha......

Oh boy, this post is too long. Will conclude in next.