Wait Thou Upon God - 2

Extra days in Sin before we fly off to NTM - i see this as BONUSES from God for me to complete tasks at hand and to rest sufficiently before going. It is like extended time for those racing car games in arcade...what's the name of that game.....aiyah...can't recall......hahaha.....i remember now.....DAYTONA!!!! Anyhow, thank God for whatever He has bestowed.

What was my overwhelming moment??? Yesterday. Let me slowly tell the story......it is going to be long......brace yourself.

Eld Boon on Thursday night told me to arrange the coach to arrive at Pasak Rakyat terminal and not Puduraya......the latter being a place filled with erh.....u know what and totally unsafe for us, youths and girls to arrive at 4am in the morning. It is a place NOT to be in. Eld Boon has also arranged with his sister to get transport for us from Pasak Rakyat to KLIA (KL airport).

And so Friday morning, i made calls to coach companies to check which one suit our travel plan. Lo and behold.....ALL night coaches stop at Puduraya!!!

Need to pause and mention the frustrating moments when i called the coach companies.....starting from Wednesday. Which one disppoint most? GRASSLAND! The lady i spoke to on Wed, that was when i tried to arrange for us to leave Thursday night and fly out of KL on Fri. SHe told me no bus available but they can arrange a new bus for 21 of us. Only condition is i need to come and make payment by that night. It was 8pm when i made the call. 9pm they close. But i have not gotten the confirmation from airlines that our flights on fri are cancelled. I told her my situation and asked if she can allow me to have up till Thursday afternoon to confirm that. What was her reply???

"You come today we open a new bus. You come tomorrow, no new bus"

WHAT????? Nah.... i can bypass you lah..... Wait... i needed to check which one stop at Pasak Rakyat on Fri morning.... hesitated to call this company. Then i thought perhaps it was just that lady who really was very high handed and not the company. So gave them the benefit of doubt, i called again. Another lady picked up the call. I told her i needed 19 seats for 1 Dec night to KL. She said as of now, no seats available but if i come down, they will try to help us. I ask her how can my coming down be of any significance to the no-seats scenario??? She said if i dont come down, they will not help to arrange another new bus. AAHh... new bus again..... And so i said i need her to confirm or rather assure me they will start a new bus for us before i come down and make payment.

Is this so hard to do???? Apparently for GRASSLAND!!!!

Is this a ridiculous request??? Absolutely NOT.

She was adamant and said, "You dont come down, we dont arrange. You come down, we try to help find seats for you." HUH???? You think i am stupid to make my way to Golden Mile or some place and then to have you tell me "Oh sorry, no seats no bus for you"??? I have better plans than this man!

What else do i have to say about GRASSLAND and their attitude? They can HEIYO HEIYO HEIYO for all they want.....Moses lim advertisement forever ringing in my ears......i will STAYO STAYO STAYO and stay away from them!

What next? Have no fear.... there is one coach company that offered to put all of us in one coach exclusively. i believe there should be no problem bringing us to our choiced destination. The Five Star staff said he will ask his boss when i come to make payment. Knowing how these coach operators and drivers work, i am confident it can be arranged. Eld Boon called on Friday and said his sister has arranged a coach to pick us up right after the Sungei Bersi Toll at the Petronas kiosk. This will bypass the city area in KL and we can reach airport at an earlier time. Hmmm.... sounds like a good plan too. Thank God.

And so i woke Isaac up and we headed to Ikea for lunch before going to Queensway to collect the jerseys. WHOA..... what a crowd at Ikea....so famished at 12.45pm and queue soooooooooooo long. Decided to walk over to anchor point to look for food. Both of us had this sudden urge to eat western meal and so Jack's Place was the choice. Spend $27 for two and had set lunch. It was delicious....my honey lemon boneless chicken with spaghetti. Isaac took the fish and chips.

Collected the jerseys and took a bus to Peoples Park Complex. Went to the wrong building and ended up at Peoples Park Centre. Argh.... nvm.... they have a branch there and i was already given a booking number in the morning and so no problem which branch i go to. Payment made and seats purchased. Made the call to this guy who promised to help. After about 30 mins or less, he called to say his boss approved!!! Thank God.

Need to mention here about the refund of our tickets cancellation. Tiger promised full refund. Air asia (i was told by Dn Oon) that they also have full refund. Anyhow, we already went ahead to book new flights and paid with my credit card. Then Boon Choo (the lady from Truth) called to say Airasia website never mention full refund but shell credit to customers. These credits to be used within 3 months. WHAT??? How to? When we shelved our travel plans, how to travel again? Besides, it is 21 of us....and mission trip, how to replan 3 months later? We have a schedule to follow! And the coming back from Bangkok to Singapore on 11 Dec, it is a separate booking and will Airasia refund this too? With so many unanswered questions, i made a call to Airasia in the afternoon only to have the guy telling me "I cannot hear you coz you are breaking up" and then i tried my best to use another phone and talked at a louder output volume. Told him our problems and all he could do and say was "You have only 2 options. One is redeem your shell credit on another flight or later time or go the re-routing way".

"What is your re-route way now? IS Airasia doing the re-route?" I asked.

"No at the moment" was the reply.

"Then how in the world can this be an option when you are not doing it????" I blurted out at him. I told him how unfair that Airasia not giving full refund and this stupid credit system. Why cant they be normal like other airlines giving refund and be gracious???? He gave standard replies like these are the options over and over again. I took down 2 email addresses and asked Eld Boon to write a letter in to appeal for full refund. Btw, i couldnt have used the credit when i book the new flights from KL coz he told me i needed a password and no mention in the website on how to do it. To get thro the hotline to speak to them is another hurdle... a big one in fact. Sigh.... Eld Boon wrote a powderful email and cc to me. Pray that they will give us full refund.

Thought i will spend the evening preparing and reading but it wasnt so. I send smses to parents and youths informing them about the coach confirmation and Elvis replied from Bangkok (he is there with Sandy from Monday). He gave me a very startling and disturbing piece of news:

"Chiang mai airport is also closed. How are you flying to thailand?"

HUH???? Oh man! That's it. If Chiangmai is closed, we are not going. How to go? No way. But is Chiangmai really closed? I sms him: "How do you know?"

His reply: "It is confirmed that thai PM has declared state of emergnecy. Now both bangkok and chiangmai airports are closed. I'm in the hotel room watching news now."

I checked local TV news, turned on radio but heard or saw nothing. Sms to Elvis to keep me updated if he has further news. Forwarded his sms to Eld Boon and he called me immediately. Eld Boon, knowing the problem with Airasia (no refund & just shell credit) and plus the new costs of coach tickets that i have already paid, asked me to call credit card company to cancel the transaction with Airasia and the coach company for seats to KL. He told me he was sitting down quietly in his office after reading my sms and decided once and for all we cancel the trip. I was like "Is it necessary? Is it too early to cancel? Can we wait till weekend to confirm situation?" His reply was to cancel before the credit card charges go thro, coz it is less than one day, so cut it off early. He also told me he has informed Eld Seah that it is cancelled.

I dutifully called the credit card company and they said it is still pending. Neither they nor myself have the authority to cancel the transaction. Only Airasia, the merchant, can do it. What does this leave me with? Call them again!!! Oh boy, so so hard to get thro. And needed to wait a long time even after i got thro. Nevertheless, I tried and each time i got thro, it was a dead silence for a while before a disconnect tone. 3 times this happened, something new coz it didnt occur before. Decided to call coach company, tho i really didnt want to make that call. Guess what??? Whenever someone picked up the phone, it got cut off. I thot it was my home phone. I tried using my hp and same thing happened even after i tried calling another office number. At that moment, i paused to pray and then i made one last effort to call Airasia.

While waiting to connect, i sms Eld Boon telling him the strange happenings and my strong feelings that all these are signs to me not to do anything to our new booking. So did i get thro to Airasia??? NOPE. This guy picked up the call and i asked if he was Alvin, the guy i spoke to late afternoon. He said no and gave me his name. Then i was about to tell him to cancel when the line got cut off. That was it. I was just too overwhelmed with all the happenings. I put down everything and went to pray in a quiet place. I needed to be still and know He is God. As much as i know perhaps Eld Boon may just be right, deep down i felt we should wait. 3 reasons:

a) Elvis' sms to me wasnt clear, as in he said he watched TV. Thai TV news all in Thai. How in the world would he understand that? And so i have my doubts.

b) The repeated failed attempts to get thro to Airasia and coach company... something i never encountered.

c) With all due diligence, we should wait till Sunday or Monday to decide whether to go ahead or at least hear something in our local news.

I prayed to God and pleaded for Him to show me just ONE sign clearly whether we should proceed or just let it all go. i asked God to show to me that night coz if i were to cancel credit card or coach tickets, it had to be before 9pm when the coach company closed. Then i read the Bible. I didnt want any more interference from the outside. Neither did i want to watch the news and wait in front of the TV or internet. i just wanted to concentrate on God alone and His Word. Thank God for sweet fellowship with Him and the peace within. Truly, it was a blessed hour spend with God.

Then just when i was about to finish, received a sms from Elvis:

"Hi Alen. Sorry, i've mistaken from tv news. Both airports closed are in bangkok. Chiangmai still open. Thank God for provision."

THANK YOU LORD for the confirmation sign. THANK YOU LORD for answering my prayer. Yeah yeah yeah!

I sms Eld Boon and also James (was on msn with him while i tried to call Airasia and Coach co. and asked Jamesy to pray much). Didnt want to broadcast to youths before i could verify the truth to airport closure in Chiang Mai.

The LORD is good! Let us continue to draw close to Him and do just His will in our lives. He will bless us and enable us to glorify Him. May God use us as His hands and feet and mouth.

Wait Thou Upon God - 1

Past few days drifted by with so many happenings, sometimes overwhelming, but never desponding.

Tues night, when the Jordan team was checking in at the airport and i just got back from prayer meeting, Eld Boon called to tell me the latest news on TV about Suvarnabhumi airport siege. Smses sent out for prayers and the only thing NTM team could do was to pray and wait.

Eld Boon & I plus Jamesy are keen to go ahead until God closes all doors - that is when we know it is not His Will for us to go at this time. The Bangkok situation didnt get better and i had to think of alternate ways to fly up to Chiang Rai. So on Wednesday evening, i started to search the internet. All possibilities were being explored.......it was a really busy busy night of scouring the net.....amidst msn chats with Warunee, jamesy, ctyfers, etc.... What were the alternate routes?

1) Take coach to KL and fly from there to Chiang Mai. Take a coach from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai - this option meant we have to leave on thursday night and catch the Fri morning flight. Tho i managed to reserve 21 seats by coach, the air tickets were not available. And so we could not leave on Thursday night.

2) Fly from SIN to Chiang Mai by silkair - no seats available until 7 Dec.

3) Take coach to KL and fly from there to Laos. Take a coach from there to Chiang Rai - The only setback about this route is the 14 hours of coach ride from Laos to Chiang Rai. Eld Boon thot it is too tiring and energy zapping for all of us. I was thinking it is feasible coz ex-FEBC student is stationed at this Udon Thani and she will meet us at Laos with the coach to get us up to Chiang Rai. Hmmm......

4) Take train up to Hatyai and from there coach up to BKK and perhaps all the way up to Chiang Rai - i am against this idea coz we need to pass the southern part of Thailand that is constantly plagued with bombings. Besides, i have no faith in Malayan rail and absolutely bad bad experience on the two occasions that i took. So a no-no for me (personal preference).

5) Heard the Don Muang airport was still operational on Wed and so decided to call Thai Airways on Thursday morning to get seats to fly to BKK via Don Muang and from there to Chiang Rai. This seemed like the ideal situation coz we have better airlines and more luggage allowance.

Whatever the routes were, we couldnt do anything till we are sure Tiger and Airasia cancel the flights to and from Bangkok, or else there will be no refund on their part if we cancel first. BUt somehow, i already knew then that flights would be cancelled coz situation like this could never get better overnight unless a miracle intervention.

At 8.30am Thursday morning, i made my call to Thai airways and after a 30 min wait listening to thai songs and machine lady, i finally spoke to a human being! She told me no seats and airport closure. That was when Jamesy msn that Don Muang has been seiged too. Oh man....

I made the call to Tiger to see if they can confirm flight cancellation so i can go ahead with alternate bookings. Waited how long???? ONE HOUR!!!!! And what did Tiger staff tell me that i dont already know???? NOTHING! Sigh.... and what did they say that irked???

"As of now, Friday flights are still on going. We are resuming operations tomorrow until further notice."

Can you believe this crap??? (pls pardon my lingo here)

Airasia - i needed to make this call too. The wait was like 30 mins too....She told me the same thing that Tiger staff said......flights are still ongoing for Friday. The lady also confirmed flights from KL to chiang mai has no seats till 1 Dec. But she couldnt do booking for me over the phone because there is another tel number for bigger group bookings (i called the hotline and they only handle up to 9 seats.... just like the internet booking....argh) Sigh.... she didnt even manage to give me the number to call for group booking before i was cut off!!! I went back online to check and look for that number.....guess where i found it?? Under the HELP section for those who have problems booking online!!!! Isnt this a wrong place to put??? Why cant they put at the CONTACT US section.... this number for small group and this number for big group bookings???? Anyhow, what number is that? It is a Malaysian number and i am not about to make this call till i am sure the flights are cancelled.

Oh boy, my house phone bill is going to be sky high when i next receive my bill.....argh.....

And so CtYfers were tasked to watch the news closely and inform me once the airline websites update with the cancellation info. In the afternoon, i send out 2 types of sms:

a) To CtYFers for passport name, passport number, expiry dates (this is to facilitate my new booking for KL to Chiang mai flight. I needed the info at hand so i can move fast......but some yfers are just toooooooo slow lah........:( ). Angela has also offered to help me book coz we can only book 9 seats at one window and the slow and tedious process of keying in all the details for 9 people can be very painstaking.

b) To Parents - i needed to know if they still allow their child to go given this situation. As usual, not all reply and I need to make 2nd and 3rd call or sms to get a response. Sigh..... dont think we have reached that stage of communication yet or will we ever????.....adult and youth all alike.....some people just dont respond. Why huh???

At 6pm sharp, Shaun Lau sms me that flights canceled. Checked website for 30 secs - confirmed and so i started to book. Isaac helped to put all the sms info and details onto a piece of paper while i keyed in....it was concurrent. Who else helped? Hwee. He was online. I asked him to get pp info from Hilda, from Elton. Norman was online too but he disappeared before he could help me get Elton's info.

During the booking, i needed to be sure there would be sufficient seats for all of us and so i opened 3 windows of airasia website: 2 each for 9 names and 1 for 3 names (21 of us). 1 Dec flights no more seats for all of us and so 2 Dec was the way to go. Managed to open 3 windows with seats and so i proceeded to key in the first 9 confirmed names. Angela was not at home then and so i had to do this myself. I tried to bypass the system by keying in 5 names in the first window and then linger to the 2nd window of 9 seats to show that i was still active and not idling. But alas, after i finished the 1st 9 seats booking and made payment, the 2nd window was unsuccessful when i clicked payment. This happened after i keyed in the next 9 names and all the details... plus date of birth and where the passport was issued. SIGH..... i had to do all over again.

Trusting in God, i open a fresh window, clicked 9 seats and thank God it was still available! And so it was done. Throughout this whole process, 2 dropped out and 1 still pending. 18 of us now confirmed to travel on 2 Dec flight and time checked was 7.30pm. I was famished. Couldnt wait for that one last person to get permission or even a response. Told Eld Boon to help to call that parent and youth while i take my dinner. I also mentioned to him that if there is no seats for booking after my dinner, this person cannot go. I cannot help it. Given whole afternoon to respond and a time frame. There are more than 20 people and i need to move fast.

Thank God there was a seat for him..... that would be our chinyster...... he would probably tell his story in his own blog. Anyhow, 19 of us now. Made two reservations in 2 different coach companies and decided to finalise and make payment the next day for the coach ride.

What a Thursday! It was long and tiring but thank God i was able to work on other stuff while waiting for news. God is in control and these things are beyond us. No point worrying too much. Do what we can and be ready... this is the lesson that i learn and relearn and also waiting upon God. It was really peace within my heart during these few days coz i trust in God who knows the future. I am very prepared to cancel this trip if all doors are closed coz you cannot go against His will. And so i humbly submit and wait. Waiting gave me a fresh look at the situation and the real meaning of God and Lordship in my life. i pray the CtYFers also learn much and not grumble about the situation....did u?

Thank God for prayer group and session and the Jordan team who prayed for us too. Thank God too for parents who prayed and supported. May God fulfill His will and plan and greatly glorify Himself as we proceed.

Music to musical

Thank God Lem, Karen & I were able to select the background music for the upcoming musical. We finished 50% of it or should i say 65%???? Hmmm, it was definitely a profitable session and must thank Dr lowly for purchasing the whole library of music that we could use.

Karen has offered to work on Carol's song, giving it a catchy tune...... let's pray for her for inspiration.

Thankful to God for uncle Alan who willingly agreed and offered to do the 12 cubes as props. This is a huge load off our backs!

Not forgetting Jamesy in prayer to finish script, NTM devotion and YF camp messages. I am working on the recording of music for CD and pray for the casts to sing well and memorise their lines too. Pray for Lem as he now has to do the video thingy for flashback at death scene.

And the title of musical and the theme song?????

Truly the tasks at hand are a lot to accomplish but time doesnt seem to be friendly and on our side. May God help us and glorify Himself thro it all.

Just the other day i was on msn with a friend and sharing about the things i had to do before NTM.......he told me just one sentence:

"At the end of it, you will be amazed how you have gone thro it"

How true it is! But it is the before and going thro that seemed so pessimisticly impossible. But i know our God is a God of impossible and so trust in His strength, His being, His will. I am praying that if MGS cancel out our 7 Feb performance date, it will be a clear sign for us to postpone musical coz God says we are not ready :) Dont you think so?

Intensive Prep

Hmmmm.....today was the most hilarious of all our practices.....coz i saw bollywood in the making!!! Haha.......Shingy and his head thingy when we tried the Hark the Herald Angels Song and the Angels We Have Heard on High....and it didnt really help with the LAHU language coz it sounded more "foreign" and "indian" to shing.

Thanks to JJ too for the Angels song.....at the speed at which he played and recorded at my home..... oh boy......we all tried to sing once thro and it was super super super fast!!!! Perhaps faster than Superman....heeehhehehhee.....

It was fun working out the songs together and i did enjoy myself even tho sometimes they made me "mad"......with the bk and wl thingy and what not....argh....

We had a beeeeyy encounter in ekklesia! Dont know how it got in and refused to get out...a rather huge one. Shingy and Jamesy tried to shoo it out with the song files but after what it seemed like ages....it finally flew out of the window. There were a few times it seemed like going out of the main door but just at that point, bee did a U turn and flew back deeper into the hall. Guess it was extremely nervous seeing all of us in the room and probably panicking......hahahha.....vice versa huh???

Thank God for seeing us thro this one week of intensive prep. Some have started to fall ill and pray they will recover before NTM. Those who have not, keep strong and bugs free!!!

Gate and Lock

So many things happened on Monday and i need another entry to complete it......hahahah

At 6.35pm, Jamesy, Shingy, Norm Norm, JH & me were preparing to leave church grounds (we were the last to leave btw). But i was unable to put the padlock and latch the main gate because it was misaligned. The left panel (with the latch) was not in line with the right side. I didnt open the right panel in the morning and so the position didnt change, hence the left side should fit snugly with it. It wasnt so.

Many things went thro my mind. Misalignment was first but someone mentioned perhaps somebody did shift the position of the right panel or gate and so we just shift it up or down and it would align. Clearly it wasnt so and that simple too. No matter how we adjusted, the left panel drooped by about 2 inches. How to lock?????

Lifting up the left panel to reach the same level as the right side was a humongous task. We tried and it was darn heavy!!! And dirty and rusty too!!! We couldnt do it and then Shingy went inside and offered to lock from there. He had this strange orh orh thingy about trying the other side, maybe it would work theory. Dont know where he got this silly idea from coz even if it worked, how in the world would he be able to get out???? Climbed above the gate and cut by the barbed wires? It was super funny coz he simply refused to come back out when i told him the crap idea would flop till i "screamed" at him to "GET OUT".

I was running late for the dinner thingy with Shalom and session and how to leave if i cannot safely lock up the church? It was a really desperate moment and the only solution was to raise up the gate so that i could padlock it temporarily. And so the 4 of them lifted it up one more time while i anchored with the padlock. Thank God i wasnt alone when this happened!

We were filthy, as in our hands, after the lift and struggle and Shingy contributed his cold water to wash us clean. Hee hee.....not with some nagging like "eh, u used so much huh" or "whoa, all my cold water wasted lor."........he filled it up just moments before.

Thank God for them, helping me to lock. And so, i sms Fred about this while on my way to the restaurant. At the dinner conversation, i asked him to help settle this as i would be going to church the next day and wouldnt be able to open the gate because the left panel's weight was literally hung by the padlock that i forced thro.

My "intelligence" was questioned during the conversation as in i didnt position the gate properly to i didnt know how to adjust to i just simply didnt know how to lock. ARGH...... Perhaps i am not smart at all but i definitely didnt lack common sense then. I told him the left panel has sagged and needed to repair the hinge but i guess he was just teasing me that night.......he even asked why didnt i use wonder woman power!!!! Oh man......i wished i had that power too and "weld" the hinge back and voila.......a working gate!

And so Fred went to church and checked out the situation after dinner and he finally agreed with me. On Tues morning, it was discovered someone had tried to open the padlock but failed and half of the key was inside the padlock. Fred called me if i was the one. Oh boy..... how could it be? I couldnt be that dumb not to realise i broke my key????? Nevertheless i checked and it was somebody else. Someone went to church on Mon night after i left. Hmmm......who was that mysterious person????

Poor Michael Long. He spend about 2 hours trying to fix this problem so that i could use church at 2pm. He erh brought the padlock to locksmith and the latter managed to dig out the broken key. Well at least we salvaged the new lock!!

Finally......last night, we found out who was this mysterious one with a broken key.......




William Lee!!!!

Forgetful or what???

Thot i am very forgetful but it turn out YL is worse than me.......

I know i forget where i park my car in shopping malls especially if i dont come alone, as in someone is with me. I tend to rely on that person to help or remember for me. The other day i parked the car at Lot 1 and Isaac was inside. But when i left, he went out with friends and i had to find the car myself, probably spend about 1min??? hahaha..... not that bad. But still, it should be crispy clear in my head where i last parked it. At least i didnt go to the wrong level like i did at Beauty World. Argh....

Monday night, YL offered to send me home, together with those staying in CCK area. But we needed to locate his car and that was hilarious. At level 2 of Jurong East block, from Raja restaurant, we walked to the staircase landing that leads to the carpark. He said

"Nope, this is not the one. I remember there is a door."

Hmmm.....and so we walked further down the corridor and found a flight of stairs with a small door labelled "Electrical Duct". He said this is the correct staircase but it is at level 3. We obediently followed him thinking he was absolutely correct and perhaps there would be a door at 3rd level that leads to carpark.

YL being YL, always the first one with much speed, reached level 3 and headed straight to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. And he turned round and said,

"Oops, how to get thro? It is locked. Need to find another door."

I looked at the door, the label and him and LAUGHED OUT LOUD!!!! "ELECTRICAL DUCT" was the sign and oh my, he didnt even see it! It was the same kind of door at level 2 of which i think he totally missed. And how in the world will he be able to get to his car beyond this door even if it is not locked?????

He giggled so loudly when i told him his own blunder. I led him to the correct landing and soon we were able to get to his car.

MAN......MALEs to be exact......i hereby conclude.....not good in sense of direction. Well at least those men i know, most of them are really bad at it, even reading maps.

EAT EAT EAT, SING, SING, SING!!!!

Just returned from a sumptuous dinner at Boon Lay Raja Restaurant. Tengah session dined with the leaders of Shalom Baptist church. It is our annual fellowship dinner thingy but we didnt do it last year due to busy reasons???? (i couldnt recall). BUT i know i was absent in 2006 dinner coz it was the day after i fell while roller blading and had 3 painful abrasions on the left side of my face.....lol!

It was good food. Loved the chicken, loved the fish, loved the broccoli, loved the cold plate, loved the shark fin's soup or maybe crab meat soup! Oh boy, crab again.....YAH, a huge piece of crab meat in my soup bowl!!! If i start to get crappy, you know the reason :)

3 men sang solo during the dinner, 2 chinese songs, 1 hokkien and 1 hindi.....they are so talented and thank God for good voices. Who were they? 2 from Shalom and 1 is our singing elder. This ex-FEBC student from NAGALAND can sing very well and the Hindi Christian song sounded so nice, minus the neck moving thingy.....hahaha....

The other man from Shalom sang in Chinese and Hokkien. His Hokkien song need special mention! The title was "Na si Uu Li ti goa eh si mia", translated as "When i have YOU in my life". HAHAHAHA........what went thro my mind almost like lightning flash when i saw the music score???? IT was:

NA SI WO Uu JIT BA BAN......If i have a million dollars! Oh man.....Shing!!!! This first melody line kept ringing in my head whenever he sang that first line of the Christian hokkien song. So much of mix up.....heehee....

I was made to sing too, together with this leader in Shalom.....all because of the Hokkien song adult NTM group sang yesterday. Eld Seah mentioned to him and so he asked me to sing with him.....argh...... i thot i could escape coz this invitation to sing was brought up at the start of the meal. It was nearing the last dish and i thot he forgot but alas he didnt. His version of the hokkien song has 2 words different from mine but still the meaning is there. Hmmm.....i am amazed i am actually humming the song all the time... in hokkien!!!

Thank God today's practice went pretty well. We still have a lot to do. Tomorrow is Lahu carols and cantata and Thai lessons but i am still waiting for Warunee to give me the completed translation. Hmmm.....can get it ready by tomorrow? Pray tell. The caroling booklet too.

It will be a l-o-n-g day tomorrow......NTM prep, prayer meeting and session meeting. I am in great need of a good sleep. Didnt sleep much last night.....couldnt fall asleep even tho very tired. This is the worst kind...and torture too. Guess i will sleep early tonight and wake up before dawn to start doing the stuff.

I am truly grateful to God for seeing me thro today. At the start of the practice, at about 11.30am, i had gastric pain. It was getting frequent and i quickly swallowed 2 types of pills. Needed to go to Sunshine place to buy lunch back for CtYFers but i was really feeling sick. It would defeat the purpose if the youths went out to buy coz we really are running out of time to practice. Prayed to God and asked for mercies and grace. Amy & Elder Seah prayed for me too. I didnt wait to see if the pills worked and left church to take the public bus, taking all this by a very big step of faith. God is good. The pain got less but i soon had stomach pain and needed to find toilet. Managed to survive the whole ordeal till i return to church and by then, gastric pain disappeared and i was able to take my lunch. Had to visit toilet another time but it was ok.

I can never thank Him enough how He has made all things possible and giving me grace to face each day, plus withholding or rather healing me from further gastric pains and attack. God is really good, from Monday to Sunday, everyday! Tell it wherever you go!

More Clips....hahaha...

BK was really funny. She said during our practice just now (before the echo)... in hokkien:

"le lang chio jin jia ho, whoa jin jia luan ah".......lol! got it? Hahah, She said, "When you all sing very good, i am very blur and mix up"

This reminds me of the clips Dara took of us. The song, Therefore Being Justified..... CHOL people sing some chewy thingy at the end of each stanza and with actions too. BK was really funny doing them. Melissa was saying her actions were like chopping people up or carrying a knife to kill instead of twirling your hand round. Dont believe me? Take a look here. I find her so cute and adorable.

And here's the video taken from Hendrick's camera from the front...... same song.... same actions.

Now that the adult NTM Echo is finally over, i can post this clip up too. It contains the actions to the hokkien song, sung by 4 children in CHOL. Erh.... our group decided to do our own version of Monday till Sunday coz the original actions kind of resemble Saturday Night Fever thingy......mmmmmm......

All said, i am much encouraged by this simple song and perhaps one day, just maybe one day, i will accept and embrace hokkien totally. I dont know but for now, this song suffice :)

Thanksgiving!!!

FINALLY DONE! It was a very very tiring and long night for me......slept at 4.30am. Thank God for enabling all the way and finished 15mins of the mission echo. Woke up this morning to complete the last segment, which is the holiday part and then join the two together and burn into DVD. Even as i type this now, the DVD is being created on BK's laptop.

Thank God for her, loaning me the lappy, for without it, i really can do nothing :)

Thank you all for praying. I am feeling weary. Just in case you didnt know how weary i am......i actually put hair conditioner onto my body thinking it was body shampoo gel.....all this after i had actually applied the real body gel and washed away. Oh man......better WAKE up and not do stupid things.

MORE CRABS!!

My dad bought 9 crabs at NTUC supermarket just now!!!! He called me at 2pm and asked to come home to eat.

Yes, he cooked his signature Black Pepper Crab for dinner. WHOA.....so much of CRAP in 2 days.... hahahahhahaha..... Tonight was super super peppery hot......i couldnt take it. After eating one leg, my lips were burning. And all i could taste was just pepper... it was like not eating meat anymore, just plain pepper. I didnt quite like it and so i ate only 2 small legs. Besides, too much pepper is bad for my gastric and so i need to control. What a waste.....so much of crab left. Rachel and Isaac better do their job when they return home later....mmmmmm......

Got to finish up the video for tomorrow....argh......i did the thingy using MAC IMOVIE. But dont know why after i burn to DVD, it was unclear. As in i can see parts of the photo, still photo, moving, like those fake waterfall at the background that gives the illusion of flowing down???? Sigh.... and so late last night i started doing again. Pray for me if you read this post. I hope i can sleep tonight. Thanks.

CRAPPY!

Yesterday was the dinner we all had been waiting for.......CRABS! For the first time, my dad didnt have to cook his signature dish - Black Pepper Crabs. Instead we headed to MELBEN at AMK to eat. Heard they serve fantastabulous crab dishes and so we think why not give a try......

I had problems reserving seats coz no one picked up the phone. Angela told me they dont work in the morning and so at 1plus she sms to say they have just started work. But it was too late then coz the lady said no more tables available and we had to come as walk-in. I didnt give up. Told her it was my dad's birthday and our first time and this place comes highly recommended....blah blah blah...... then she finally relented to say she will put my name for reservation but i may have to wait when i arrive and hopefully, not as long as those that walk in.

And so at 6plus, i drove family to AMK, with jams along PIE before the BKE exit and at the exit to Lornie road from PIE. Found the place and thank God there was a table ready for us. Ordered the chef's recommendation, as in their signature dishes like Butter cream crabs and Bee Hoon Crab, plus the fish and some vegetable and lastly the MANTOU!!!

The butter crab was tasty and it was super humongous and fleshy. Dipping the mantou in the gravy was mmmmm........ Then came the vege and fish. We love the fish tho my dad found it all too salty (i thot it was perfect). Last to arrive was the Bee Hoon Crab. I ordered extra bee hoon and soup because the lady said portion not enough for 5 and since we didnt order rice, more bee hoon would fill hungry stomachs (or so i thot).

Sigh.....my family didnt think it tasted special. Isaac said full of milk and oil. Rachel commented nothing spectacular. I didnt care. I was hungry and so i ate 4 small bowls of bee hoon, 2 crab legs, some fish and vege. They noticed i ate more than my usual and started teasing me. Dr Lowly had dinner at AquaMarine the night before (Amara dinner of which i, ME, wasnt told or invited...... i thot i was part of Amara team......sob sob...) and he said the staff loved the food there and considering going back next month. I quietly mentioned why i was not being informed or invited and the quick reply was "All you ever eat at buffet is bread and bread and little portion, you go there is to waste money". The children laughed at me. Argh.....NEVERMIND...... i shall eat all or what i want at BDC. Thai food and Two buffets coming up.

My dad, the star of the night, tucked in happily to his meal, oblivious to the table conversation and how my family ganged up to sneer at me. Hmmmm......i guess hearing the only good stuff is a blessing, right? hahaha...... He enjoyed his meal very much, loved the crab and couldnt finish his bee hoon. Wow.......come to think of it, i think i overate.... Rachel ate 1 bowl, Dr lowly didnt even eat any bee hoon, Isaac ate a big bowl (the extra one that i ordered) and me, 3 bowls!!!! Amazing! But there was still a lot of bee hoon left and my stomach had no more room to accommodate that.

Anyhow, i have no pics to put up coz everyone was so not in the mood to take photos (minus me). And guess the bill for the night?

A whopping $200 odd. 2 giant crabs cost $91. Fish $40. Then vege and the Mantou cost $0.40 per piece!!!! Wow! Super EXXXXX! What else did we have? 4 cans of coke and 2 cups of orange juice. It was really a filling night but i woke up feeling hungry again this morning....... heehee.......

RECORDING!!!!

WHOA....today was really intensive!

Michelle came at 10am coz she needed to replay the Perfect World piece.

11.30am Ji En came to record his song. Oh boy, he just couldnt get one note correct and Michelle had to be his angel behind him to give him the note during recording. I was thinking to myself.....what a long day for me.......hahahahaha.....

2pm Karen came, just when we were about to start our lunch. She waited for me to finish my lunch before we recorded the Friend's prayer song.

4pm Ji Sheng & Caleb came. Did the cute song and also the Sunday School song during musical.

6.30pm JJ & Aaron arrived with sumptuous SUBWAY food but alas, not for me.... :( Anyhow, Aprel cooked dinner and so i ate chinese food, together with Ji en & Isaac.

JJ proceeded to record NTM Cantata songs while Aaron came up to the room to do the Friend's prayer.

At 8.30pm, Eld Boon, Cheryll & Abel arrived. Aaron tried to finish before leaving the room, perhaps to play comp with the boys.....heard them talking about laptop and UMB.

The Boons finished at 9 plus and left. I went downstairs to check the piano recording. Realised JJ only recorded the Angels song. Hmmmm, my right hand felt pretty ok even after i used it a lot for yesterday's recording of 4 NTM Cantata songs.... and so i recorded one more song tonight on my piano. Thank God.

When it was finally over, it was close to 11pm...... a truly L-----O------N------G day for me but very thankful to God and the people who came to help accomplish stuff.... quite a lot really.......EXCEPT for the NTM Video to be screened on Sunday. I am so so so late and lacking. Sigh..... only tomorrow left for me to do. Saturday is packed again.

YAWN.......have been sleeping at 3am nearly everyday. Will break record for tonight......

OH yes, Alvin's returning tomorrow..... well actually today. And my family will be celebrating my dad's birthday........bringing him to eat Crabs at AMK.....some restaurant thingy that Angela recommended. Hmmmm, i cant wait for the mantou that goes with the crab......yummy!

EXAM OVER!!!!

WHEW! This is for Isaac and myself! Thank God it is over! Hmmm, actually the WHEW should be from Isaac (major Os) and teeny whew from me.....hahahahahhaha

I had one paper this morning and my friend told me it would be essay question(s) with evaluation. I studied last night and this morning but somehow couldnt remember too well. And I woke up with painful right hand.... was writing down pointers onto index cards to read thro before exam, probably overused the right wrist (i dont know). Rubbed some gel for pain relief, drove with one hand to Isaac's school (send him for his last paper) and then to FEBC.

About 25 mins before my paper, i tried to write something but couldnt. It was painful. I prayed and asked some close friends to pray too. I was at peace because i know no matter how difficult and painful, God will enable me to pull thro....just as He has always been helping and sustaining me.

As the paper was passed down, we were told not to look at the underside. I was thinking hmmm....how to have essay with only 1 piece of paper???? Then as i turned it round, lo and behold, they were all True n False questions (only degree students have 2 essay questions and i am only on a Part-time course....yeah!) All i had to do was to write my name and tick tick tick...... It was really a moment for me to give thanks to my God who is soooooo GOOD. He knows my pain and so, i made it thro the exam.... in probably 3 mins. Pondered over 2 statements coz they sounded like trick questions....hmmmmm....carol lee.....capable of trick questions like Queky or Koshy??? I didnt do my homework to find out more about her in this aspect but nah.... read and read....finally decided it was a trick and put as False. Hmmm... i was buying time too coz i didnt want to be the first to hand in the paper.....heehee....

Thank YOU all who have prayed for me. It was an episode of faith and trust and praise! Thank God for enabling me to drive with one hand too. My God is awesome!

Pss...Shing, if you did visit erh.... jamesy, i left before 9am!!! Haha, got to return car for Dr lowly to use. Trust your exam went well, with clb too.

NTM Part 13 - FINAL

13 entries - to close this NTM chapter....I hope!!!!

Alright, after the adventure we had on 24 oct, our night was spent eating and shopping. My friend, Tai, also Warunee's friend, brought us to Carrefour shopping complex to have our dinner, thereafter to shop in a nearby night bazaar which is for locals mostly and so pretty cheap stuff.

I bought some personalised key chain here. There was one particular keychain with the word Jesus on it. It was really pretty and unique. I urged Eld John to buy for his wife. He hesitated coz he is very gu hon.....cantonese word for stingy. Call him frugal to be a polite, k? Anyhow, i challenged him to buy something and so he said he will buy if the keychain is 70 baht or less. Hahaaha..... we asked the shopkeeper for the price and she quoted 75 baht. I asked for discount and voila.....she granted. So he finally bought something during this trip and probably his first time buying things back! lolz!

The rest of the NTM team disappeared after dinner and we werent sure where they went. It rained all of a sudden and so we decided to go to a nearby coffee outlet and take a sip while waiting for rain to stop. We had a good time of fellowship, Tai, Warunee, Eld John and myself, getting to know each other better.

At about 8.15pm, we had to leave the coffee place coz it was supposed to close at 8pm! And so we decided to go back to hotel and eat roti prata at the road side stall. YFers, remember the many vareity type? Banana, chocolate, kaya, cheese, sugar and what not??? I was very surprised Eld John had not tasted before and didnt know Thailand has roti prata.

As we walked to the main road to flag a Song Teow, we saw Angela and the rest boarding one. 4 of us quickly hopped onto it. It was perfect timing. What were their goods? Slipper mop, goodies plus thai instant noodles. BK also bought perjamas.... hahaha.....

Oh well, the roti prata was simply delicious and Eld John said it was nice too. Did a quick round of look-see look-see nearby before retiring to bed. The rest continued shopping after putting their bags in the hotel room.

Next morning, it was time for me to say bye to the team.....sad. But before i did that, Warunee, Tai and i brought them to the nearby day market for last last minute shopping. We had about 1.5 hours and guess what we bought? Art and craft stuff (so so cheap) and some cutlery for Susan and Cindy. And Cindy, she bought 11 T-shirts at one go! I helped her to choose too! Each Tee cost $3-4. It was really cheap and good. I think Susan bought something too.

Warunee was feeling a bit queasy after the breakfast and morning rush. Poor girl, she went to the toilet to puke while i helped Cindy to pick the shirts. Rushed back to hotel to pack stuff and transport arrived. Group pic before we went our separate ways. You can see my friend Tai in the 2nd pic.

What did i do after the team left???? Haha... i wanted to play ZORB BALL. What is it? Huge ball that takes two (strapped in) and roll all the way downhill! LOLZ....Warunee and I spotted this when we did the atv thingy and so we wanted to go back this day to try. Alas, it was very expensive. 600-700 baht for one person and 1 roll down the slope. We couldnt even roll it to water. Both of us didnt think it was money well spend and so i didnt try. Here is a video taken by someone (i found in Youtube) for you to understand what it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef12rb0oHEA

Tried to play shooting game but the price was so pen pen (expensive in thai). It cost about 1,000 over baht just to shoot a few rounds. And then we went to this Paintball thingy....but it turned out to be pellet gun shooting....BB Gun they called it. Small foamlike balls and extremely painful if you got hit and how else would you not get hit since you play against each other? We decided not to play. That time i did at Phuket last year, it was paintball (shooting from gun). This itself already gave bruises to Warunee coz she was hit.... haha....I erh escaped injury free then.

And so I spent Saturday bowling......the lousiest alley i had ever been in. Why? Because when you hit 8 pins out of 10 for first throw, chances were you would be left with 1 or none before your 2nd throw. How so? As the thingy came down to hold or pick up the remaining standing pins, it kind of knocked 1 or 2 out.....you can term this as machine clumsiness.....hahahahahaha..... And so for many times, 3 of us had "spare" given to us FOC and it was really good especially when your first throw ended up with 2 parallel pins remaining. Unless you can spin your ball, it was no way to hit both at each corner.

Went back to the local night bazaar only to experience rain again and peddlers busy keeping their stuff to go home. Sigh...... came back to my friend's place and slept very early. Sunday service was next day.

Visited Tai's church....Chiangmai Chinese Church or something like that. Preaching in Thai with translation (using a headphone) to English or Chinese. I chose the English of which i regretted later. The interpreter was like erh......taking a break all the time. The preacher spoke about 5 sentences (or even longer) and all i heard was one-liner interpretation. And sometimes, she didnt say anything. I didnt really benefit from the translation. Heard the chinese was much better coz the interpreter seemed so keen to translate line by line. How do i know? It was because i could hear the man speaking in Chinese diligently while the lady on my side spoke once a while (English on the left pew while the Chinese on the right).

Went for a Northern Cuisine Thai lunch after that.....here's a pic of the food we ordered....yes.....there was satay, pork ribs, pork meat, chicken and something like ngo hiang.... a lot of food and i was very very filled up after this meal.....hahaha....

After the meal, we went to this lake in Chiang Mai.

It was really really lovely. They have huts by the lakeside for you to sit down and enjoy a meal or snack.

Singapore should have places like this...... see this owner with his dog who got extremely excited to go on the boat ride? Btw, they brought this bathtub like boat from their home. Doggy resembled Duke, my friend's dog. Oh yes, her name is Sugar....sweet right?

It was such a serene and peaceful plus cooling afternoon and i was so wanting to lie down on the mat to have an afternoon nap (heehee...as if i could but no harm trying, right?). I even brought my bible to read too.

Then all of a sudden, from a distance, we saw dark clouds and this white mist that was approaching us. It happened real quick. Warunee and Tai went to the car to take umbrella and lo and behold, the storm was here! We hid behind the umbrellas coz it was very very windy and wet even tho we were under shelter. I felt like i was inside the twister kind of feeling... you know you saw from a distance it was coming and then it was around you (you being in the inside) and slowly it moved away and sky clear???? LOLZ.... it was true and pretty exciting and fun coz you could giggle together with your friends.

Well, the storm came back again and after the sky cleared, we headed home to take a proper nap before going to the once-a-week night bazaar (a very big thing in Chiang Mai on every Sunday evening). It was really long and wide. But before i could walk down one street, it started to pour and was rather heavy. We had to find shelter and wait. 15 mins was all it took for rain to stop and we continued to shop. Hee, I bought 2 skirts, 2 dresses, 3 scarves and 5 bags (orders from the ladies).

Thank God for seeing me thro this NTM trip plus the extended holiday on my own. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and cant wait for BDC trip to come. Thai food.....wait for me!!! :)

My EYE!

Went for eye checkup this afternoon and guess what?????

The cotton wool spot is GONE! GONE! GONE!!!!! My blood vessels are back to normal and the little red spots are gone too.

God is good! Tell it wherever you go!

Thank U all who have prayed for me. No more "fluffy" eye for now!

NTM Part 12 - ADVENTURE

It was a very peaceful sleep for me on 23 oct night as compared to the 6 nights in CHOL. But somehow i jus could not have good quality sleep despite the soft bed, comfy blanket and sturdy pillow. Nevertheless i gave thanks for the absence of noise :)

At 8.30am after breakfast, we eagerly proceeded to the lobby and hopped into the van. Our van driver was reckless! Warunee and myself felt like throwing up coz he jus kept braking at high speed! We tried to sleep thro the treacherous 1.5 hours ride. Mae Taeng Elephant Camp was the first venue that day. Bought 100 baht of bananas and sugar cane and chose a baby elephant to feed. Cindy and Susan were hesitant about it coz they were afraid the elephant would bite their fingers..:) ha ha. With some persuasion, they soon got the hang of it.

Next was elephant bath. Nothing new to me as i had seen several times and much better performance than this.

Took a pic while waiting for show to start

Elephant show was next with dancing and playing harmonica and drums, swinging trunks to beat, hula hooping, drawing, footballing and basketballing.

Group pic

Oh yes, missed out the heavy wood logging and hat tricks too.

Hmmm, i am still amazed at the way elephants are taught to draw. Kicking a ball and swinging trunks are kind of easy but a lot of coordination is needed for drawing. The guide explained the learning process is a mere 3-month period...these elephants are darn intelligent!

Eld john teased that elephant Suda paint better than i do. Yeah yeah, i painted a horrendous pink outerspace in sec 1 or 2 of which the art teacher had to show tell to whole class this girl was playing a fool. Actually it wasnt true. I was a good girl, tho tomboy and noisy. I would never have disrespected teacher like this. My black outerspace turned out a tad too black and morbid so i decided to decorate it, erh, probably used too much of pink to brighten up that end product didnt even look like outerspace...Lol! Then there was one time we were supposed to draw still life and i chose banana. It wasnt that bad but jus before handing up, i drew eyes, nose and mouth on it while playing with my classmates. Erh, i forgot to rub them off and you can guess what happened during the next lesson. My name was called and i received scolding for trying to be funny with teacher. Thereafter my art marks never got beyond 20 upon 100 coz no matter how hard i tried, the teacher would fail me. Blacklisted and marked. Period.

Oh no, how far have i digressed! Ha ha ha! And so we went on to ride the elephant two by two :)

I must say we were kind of short changed coz they never made the elephants pass thro the river. Ours were on dry land. Angela n BK'S elephant went berseck (jus like valerie n mine in 2005)! It sped like crazy and super fast. They even went to other areas the rest of us didnt cover.

Mine was the most lazy! Took many breaks to drink and we had to buy bananas at every tree top shop to feed him! Was he starved the night before? Beats me man! We were then brought to two rows of shops to purchase souvenirs (if we so wished) before we made our way to the oxcart station. Our people splurged on the merchandise once more and forgot the time till the oxcart people called out to our group to move on!

We went in 3 carts. Hendrick, Laura, Cindy & Susan in one cart.

BK, Angela & Melisaa in another (oops, no pic). Warunee, eld john n i.

The driver of the cart that took Hendrick's group went too near to the platform and as the cart pulled out, it yanked with it a block of wood that was fastened onto the beam that held the platform. We gave a shout and thought platform would collapse...ha ha. Not so easy. And so when it was our turn to get in, i quickly sat down at the back row and started examining the extent of the devastation. 3 of us were discussing about the damage when our driver hurled the whip onto the ox and it took off in a sudden thrust. This threw me backwards and i almost fell off at the back if not for a quick grab at the umbrella pole in the middle. Warunee was also thrown back but managed to pull herself back. Thank goodness Eld john got a grip of himself, or else he would have pushed both of us out with his body weight and sheer force. Thank God. So what was the morale of the story? Always hold onto something when you get on. Get it? Hee hee.:)

It was a shorter ride compared to the big elephant and we spotted angmohs riding on atv! They looked small to me, especially the wheels, comparing to those i took in phuket. We waved happily to them coz we were so looking forward to our ride! Buffet Lunch was next. Rice, noodle and usual stuff. There was thai noodle stall too. We missed out the free coffee and tea totally and only realised there was this section while on our way out. Bamboo rafting next. 5 in each raft.

the alert, the sleepy and the blur....hahahaha

God is good and why do i say so? Coz the sun disappeared behind the clouds while we lazed down the almost gentle river.:) it was really cooling and enjoyable. Took pics and sang hymns. Then Hendrick said our raft was too faraway from the 5 ladies group, probably about 100m. He wanted two rafts to travel and sing together. Warunee asked our "sailors" (or what do you call them) to call out to the first raft to stop while we catch up. Our sailors or steerers worked sooooo hard lor! It wasnt long before we could catch up but i cant give full credit to them coz Angela had a part in this. How so? She took over the oar or long bamboo pole of the first raft and ahem, failed to steer, or rather steer till raft was 90 degree adjacent to river bank. How to move on like this? Ha ha. We watched from a distance her struggles and it was comical. She didnt know which direction to place her oar too.

Our boatsman (perhaps this name is more correct) was funny. He called out to his friends on Angela's raft to slow down coz he was darn tired rowing and catching up! And you know what? We didnt even get to sing together. Hendrick chose 人算什么 song to sing. Cindy started on a super low key. BK her own key. Hendrick another. The rest dont know what key. Me? I kept silent. How to sing like this? Stopped them after two lines n restarted with a pitch given. Oh man, the ladies kept to their own pitch and it was jus Hendrick n myself singing. We only managed to sing till chorus when we reached the jetty to alight. So much effort put in by the boatsman and a mere 4 liner song! Lolz!

Next was 1 hour of rock-a-bye baby sleep in the van, uneventful journey to atv. It was a shop by the side of the road and they looked so free (no customers). We were made to sign an indemnity form. Gist of it was we bear full responsibility for any accident and rules spelled out like no overtaking, no using of hand brake (which worked on 2 front wheels only) while going downhill. Need to use foot brake instead as it worked on all 4 wheels. Donned our gear, erh jus helmet lah, and we were all ready.

Instructions given and we each got on one atv. I decided to go last so as to watch the whole group. One by one our people took off. A rugged terrain test circuit was our very first course. It was full of pot holes, mud, bents and uneven ground. Poor cindy, she struggled so much and couldnt get the machine to move. The rest seemed pretty ok. The one person i worried most was so steady and i was impressed. Guess who?

BK!

Dont underestimate her strength. She has potential! The atv people were watching us. At the end of 2 rounds, i heard the sad news. No difficult track for our group coz some couldnt handle properly. And they didnt have enough manpower to split us to beginner n intermediate routes. Sigh. Nvm. We stay together to cover the easy track. One hour. Melissa's tennis elbow hurt too much n so she sat pillion with the first guide. Cindy sat with Angela.

I worried about Susan too (thinking she might not know how to handle) and spotted her driving very fast. I could see her overtaking too. But she was among the first few and so i couldnt overtake all the way to tell her to slow down. It wasnt until when we had come to a stop that i learned she has a driver's licence. Haha.....steady Susan!

The next person i worry was Laura. She looked rather tense on the atv but she seemed to be doing just fine.........

until she banged onto Hendrick. We were traveling on this road in single file to dont know where and she failed to break on time. It was not too hard and i pray she would learn how to brake the next time. But it wasnt so. She went on to bang Hendrick even louder and harder at another stretch of road. Then she did a very dangerous maneuver by overtaking Hendrick, then BK. Next was a sharp bend and i told myself i needed to tell her to slow down. The other guide on motorbike crusing next to her also followed after her. I overtook Warunee, sped all the way, turned round the bend only to see her crashed onto Angela who was taking Cindy. Oh man!! Angela's vehicle was knocked till it went perpendicular to the road. Cindy & Angela almost jumped off the vehicle because they thot they were going to be injured. Thank God no one was hurt here. Asked Laura what happened and she said the man on the bike was talking to her and so she looked at him and didnt see Angela's atv. I told her she was traveling way too fast and needed to keep in single file to be safe. Also reminded her to use the foot brake coz i had a strange feeling she didnt know how to brake.

Laura's 4th crash was back at the shop. We needed to park our atv in 2 columns and hers was the 2nd vehicle after the guide who took Melissa. She moved in slowly at first and then suddenly a little faster and BANG!!! Hahahaa..... i guess this will be the first and last for Laura on atv. Angela, upon reaching the shop, got off her atv and screamed at Laura: "Hell Rider!!!".......lols!

Hendrick on the other hand had an accident. He didnt speed nor overtake but he made a mistake while negotiating a sharp bend. It was rather narrow and so he wanted to apply brake but pressed hard on accelerator..... actually accelerator is situated at the right handle and brake at the right foot. He got totally mixed up and according to him, sped forward fast, vehicle tipped over and fell onto him. Thank God he didnt sustain serious injuries....abrasions and scratches only. I went round the bend and found him topsy turvy with the guide just about to flip the vehicle over. Angela said it was a loud bang but no one actually saw how it happened. Hendrick looked like he was in great shock and it has to be.....so terribly scary!!! The right mirror broke and since it comes in a pair, the shop said we need to pay in full.... US dollars cost. After conversion, it was $25.

I thot Laura had to pay for the 4 BANGS but they didnt ask for compensation. I remembered my MHC staff in Phuket had to pay 500 baht for the rear lamp when he hit twice onto the atv infront of him.....same reason....fail to brake.

It was fun overall but if i were to do it again, will do with people who know how to drive or handle vehicle :) And i want to go to the intermediate or advanced trail!!!

Just Me!