Semper Fidelis™: February 2009

My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but oh! my soul is white.
White as an angel is the English child,
But I am black as if bereaved of light.

My mother taught me underneath a tree,
And, sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me
,And pointing to the east began to say:

"Look on the rising sun, -there God does live
And gives his light, and gives his heat away;
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.

And we are put on earth a little space
That we may learn to bear the beams of love;
And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

For when our souls have learned the heat to bear
The cloud will vanish, we shall hear his voice
Saying: `Come out from the grove, my love and care,
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice!'

"Thus did my mother say, and kissed me;
And thus I say to little English boy:
When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy,

I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our father's knee;
And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him, and he will then love me.

The event below took place place on the 7th, the 8th and the 9th of February 2009. No time given.

There is certainly no better way to celebrate a holiday weekend than to have a BBQ and a trip to Camerons (or that's what I think. Haha) It was organised by PC and KL, and close to almost everyone came for both the BBQ and the trip.

The BBQ was held on the 7th, Saturday night it was, at the Canning Community Centre. They started the fire at about 6 plus, and by the time everyone was here, the BBQ was set. Enjoyed tons of food, from cheese hotdogs (it's rocks man!) to noodles even! There was even burgers to cook, but for me, the food to win the night was the cheese hotdog. Hands down.

Not only did we enjoy the eating, but we also enjoyed the cooking as well! Eating is one thing, but eating what you cooked.. I don't know. There is just this extra joy that is hard to describe. You try it yourself. The fellowship was also well enjoyed.

Yummy chicken wings..

KL's hands are tied.. Hardworking cook

Ohh.. For the food...

MJ: "If only this was done in Camerons..."

Jack slumbering as Richard cooks and ME fans..

ME, my burger and Alex

The "Foursome": ME, my burger(lolx), ShirLey and Jessie

I have to admit, most of us ended the night "prosperous". And guess what? I heard that some of them went yum cha after the whole thing, like the BBQ wasn't enough. Lolx. Well, I couldn't blame them. They just want to explore Ipoh. =)

8th of February, Sunday: Departure to Camerons

This is the one Sunday where I didn't go for service at all. Well, not only me, but most of us. We had to leave early so that we could enjoy Camerons more, and PC had already planned a worship for that night, in which I was suppose to lead. How it came to this - flashback.

(The following conversation below took place on the 4th of February, Wednesday):

PC: Eugene, will you be bringing your guitar for the trip?

Eugene: Ohh of course. Yeah, yeah.

PC: Oh, good. Then you might as well do it(worship) yeah.

Eugene: Ohh. (took me a while before I realise what she meant, and went I did..) Ohh!.. Ok Ok.. Will do. (In my head: GG gia)

We departed at about 10 plus in the morning. There were three vans, and I was in the same van with: Koon Eu, ShirLey, Mun Yee, Jessie, Yik Kuan and Adeline.

This was taken on the way up. Our royal highness a.k.a Yik Kuan was desperate trying to put on her contact lens while the van was turning left and right.

We arrived at Camerons at about one plus in the afternoon, and had our lunch in one of the coffee shops there, eating economic rice.

Side-track- I remembered once when I came to Camerons, during my first youth camp. It was about 7 years ago I think. Or was it 8. Never mind. I ordered "wat tan ho" and a 100 plus. Guess how much it cost me? RM8.50! I was only 12 years old then, and I didn't get much to use for the camp, so when I heard the price, I was like, "HAH? No money liao!" I ran to my sister and complained. Lolx

However, I'm a bit more sensible now, and yeah, like what people say, it's a tourism place Camerons, so things are bound to be expensive. We cant' compare to Kampar. Ahhaha. Even going to the washroom required money, except for those who ate at their coffee shop. Man, I have to admit, these people do know how to make good business. Lolx

We then made our first visit to the Boh Tea Plantation, learnt a couple of things there which I couldn't really remember, and had a nice tea time. Man, not only was the food there nice, the view too! I recall having went there two to three years ago, and it's still the same. It's still as cold, and the view was still as nice, thanks to a superbly strategic location.

Behind (L-R): Yik Kuan, Adeline, MJ, Jia Ling, Steven, Alex and Kelvin

In front (L-R): Patty, ME, Boss, and Robert

Enjoying Cameron's best..

ME, KL, Jessie, PC and the chocolate cake!

ShirLey, ME, Mun Yee and Patty

The Campus Connect Family

This picture is the best of the bunch: this bunch of kids were eating the same ice-cream, and many people were taking their photos! How cute!

On the way down: Jessie, Adeline, MJ (behind) and ME

Later, the tour guide stopped us at a hillside, and allowed us to have a few moments to enjoy the scenery. It was beautiful.

ME, on the bush

Part fo the gang: (L-R) Jack, Richard, ME, Robert, ShuYi, Jia ling, PC, ShirLey, Yik Kuan, Amelia, MJ, KL, Adeline and Adeline (lolx)

JJ: Jack and John

After that, we went to the Rose Garden. By that time, I was already starting to feel the side-effect of having going round and round. Adding to the fact that I slept late the previous night, no thanks to the PTPTN loan, I couldn't go on. Still...

ShirLey and ME

Jessie and ME

ME and Amelia

We then arrived at our main destination where we would spend the night: Lutheran Mission Bungalow. Kinda small it was, but enough to fit close to 30 of us. There was even a place for bonfire! How cool! There rest went jungle-exploring later, but I didn't go. My brain couldn't take it anymore. Colleteral damage. System shutdown.

Woke up. It was 6.15pm. They still weren't back. I then decided to blog, but quited halfway 'cause I still wasn't fully awake. Dinner at 7.

Dinner! That was one of the main highlight of the trip. It was fantastic! The caretaker lady cooked great food, too good for such a small inn! Ahhaha. We started off with mushroom soup (I had two bowls), and bread (which I ate aplenty). Then the main course. My goodness, gracious me. It was amazing. Baked potatoes, carrots and corns, baked chicken with brown sauce! I looked and said to myself, "This IS paradise!" Lolx. I was too hungry perhaps then. Enjoyed the food so much, I thought that was it, till Mr Tan, who was sitting beside me, said there was dessert as well. Guess what was it? Puddings! Ohh Man! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the big bowl of reddish pudding. After that, there were drinks. Some had coffee, some had tea, while some had Milo. MJ said those who wanted to drink Milo were babies. Ahhaha.

The Dinner TablePudding! Or do you call it jello? lolx

We went down to the living room of that bunglow, where we had a time of sharing and worship. ME led, and we had a great time worhipping God. After the worship, I felt warmer. Praise God, for it rained before that, to make it even colder. Brrr...

"Bergandingkan tangan, dalam kasih, dalam satu hati.."

"Kau sahabatku, kau saudara ku.."

"Ohh my God this Love, how can it be?" MJ and Irena, with ME in the middle of couse.. =)

ME on the guitar, playing like a rock star.. lolx

Sharing was good; I got to know some things of certain people better, though now I can't remember. zZz PC shared a light lesson on worship if I'm not mistaken, and that we are planned for God's purpose. She also shared that we can God like a good friend, for He sent His Son to a level as low as us humans. Now that's humbleness.

After the lesson, makan again! This time it was cup-noodles. Man, cup-noodles is only good for those kind of places, 'cause it can help you feel warm.. For a while. Ahhaha. Anyways, had a great time chatting with ShuYi, MJ, Adeline and Yik Kuan.

Then GG. When I went back to my room, only then I realised why half the people were missing while I was chatting downstairs. They were all in my room, sharing the bonfire! GG gia! I then joined in. It was fantastic.

They then decided to watch a movie, since I brought my laptop. The movie that night was "Bedtime Story", but most of them left halfway through. I don't blame them. Out of all of them, only I got a nap while they went jungle exploring. ShuYi and John were, however, still awake, John wanting to keep the bonfire alive. Ended up sleeping at 3.

9th of February, Monday: Departure back to Kampar

Had a wonderful sleep, and I tell you, the weather was so cool, I didn't want to wake up at all. However, being motivated by the though that there will be breakfast, I pushed myself up. Washed up, and got myself ready. For breakfast.

And guess what? There was none! Appaently our only meal there was the dinner. I was like, "tooot". Why didn't they say so? Then I wouldn't have bothered getting up so early. Ahhaha. Never mind. At least I got to enjoy a bit of sunlight.

This is beautiful..

We had breakfast at one of the mamak stalls there, and again, I can't compare the price of the food there to Kampars'. Had fried maggi noodles with cheese. Man I just love it. Haha.

Second last destination on the list was The Strawberry Farm. We only had 45 minutes to enjoy, but we made the most out of it.