Post-camp Holiday

Ipoh - Penang - Ipoh - Tankat - Singapore
9th to 12th June 2006

Day One
Crossing the 8km Penang Bridge

Day Two Taking the tram up the Penang Hill

all squashed up in the stuffy tram

they have two trams running concurrently so you have to squrry across to the other tram in order to continue your journey up..

our lives depended on these ancient engineering technology..
The view from the top

the mums and the kids (minus me of course)..
if only flowers could bloom as nice as these in my garden..

View of the Penang Bridge from the top..

the invasion of giant leaf grasshoppers!
On the way back down..

it almost looks like some disney jungle trail ride..

a truly international effort..

Tropical Fruits Centre
Have you ever wondered where dragon fruits came from?

Well they're actually the fruits of a type of cactus plant..

i guess this is how they got their name..

ripe and ready to be eaten!giant bananas!

peppercorns - they start off green..the white ones are just shelled and the black ones are just dried with the skins left on

and this is where cinnamon comes from..the bark of the cinnamon tree

and this is a nutmeg! haha! im so swaku lahh..didnt know all these things..tsktsk


Looking for the famous durian stall
we came across this delapitated and abandoned house and my dad had to take a photo of it because he said it reminded him of those haunted houses you see in old chinese flicks..


this is some sort of peranakan kueh kueh..the parents claim they had it when they were kids..i only liked the black sticky gula melaka..haha..
the durians! there were "red durians" with the flesh being reddish..apparantly those tasted the best..sorry i forgot to take a photo..haha..too busy eating..

much needed bottles of mineral water..given free by the stall owners!

whats durian feast without a bunch of mangosteens?

Day Three

Visiting Fort Cornwallis

my dad's bad impersonation..haha

trenches

my dad and his own..hahaha..he wish..(click on the photo to enlarge it to see whats written on the signpost)

me in a teepee!

i bet my dad would have loved to leave me in there..

A salute to the people who made it happen..
interestingly..this reminds me more of a pirate's ship than a fort..

the ammunition galley..

the view from the fort..and the obvious reason for its position..

Two reasons why Penang is more interesting than singapore:


Day Four
Off to Ipoh

Buddhist temple built into the caves of ipoh..

Kellie's Castle
Seriously a place just for the tourists..like us..hahaa..we were the only few cars..save for two other couples..honestly..would the locals go there? haha..there was this car who drove in..but when they saw u had to pay entrace fees they drove off..hahahaa..oh but there were newspaper clippings at the "toll booth" stating that this was a location shot for Anna and The King..

the architecture a melange of the malay and english culture..

look closely at the shapes of the windows..reminds you of a mosque doesnt it..

a close up view..

check out the thickness of the mosiac tiles..imported from italy..they really knew how to live it up huh..and this is was only their toilet..hha..

the older wing..built before the WWII..but ravaged by the bombings..

my dad opening his imaginary door..

this is what i call deprived..goats also wanna take photo..hahaa

the primitive oven..

Peekaboo!

the chute they're peering into is a secret passage way leading into a nearby mosque..tsktsk..these paranoid english people..

Welcome to the new Wong's residence..

Let me open the windows and let the breeze in..hahaah

this was quite scary..where they are standing is on the 4th floor and there are no railings anywhere..so one false step and you went bungee jumping without the ropes..there were pieces of paper stuck on the walls stating that the management was not responsible for any mishaps..hahaa..disclaimer..

and here's my dad posing at the staircase leading up to the 5th level..which was another flat rooftop..the view was pretty good though..haha..oh oh! guess what this 5th level was used for!

Tadah! haha! i was so amused..tsk..these crazy english people..

the castle ruins..bare, boring and for commercial purposes only..hurhur..

Bethesda (Serangoon) Church

Church Camp 2006
To Please Him
5th - 9th June

Arrival
camp briefing by our camp commandant Jim

dinner time!

our camp speaker: Dr. E.N Poulson
2nd day - Family Games

Forming the longest line
the hula hoop gamethe telephone line
plucking out white hair for the scavanger hunt
Night Adventure - the last station

4th day - prep for special night


the little toddlers
and the bigger kids...
group items

i'm due to leave for malaysia tomorrow and ive caught the annoying phlue bug.
tsk tsk tsk.
sigh.
oh well.
do pray for me as well as my mum and dad.
for good health and journey mercies.
also that the games will be ready and settled and everyone will have fun.
thaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks.

sigh.
but as much as im excited,
im gonna miss talking to someone very very much.
):

oh well..
i wont be back till the 13th so just sms me if u need me urgently.

until then..
take care everyone!

even though our "evangelistic outing" was a flop, nonetheless, i thought it was quite a successful SPG (student peer group) outing for the uni group..

it became more of an outing whereby we got the chance to catch up..just hang out..and have loads of laughs and candid moments..
really thanks to Benny for organizing this outing and for spending so many smses and talktime trying to contact us and remind us busy people..
i cant wait till the next outing and hopefully more people will be able to come then..
(:

anyway..since i watched the da vinci code yesterday..i might as well give my really brief two cents worth and comment on it..well..brief it will be because the movie was basically..BORING..it started out ok i guess..the basic thriller movie formula of an unidentified killer in the beginning..from then onwards..it just went downhill..it became too draggy..and overly-complicated..it was like the director was trying to cram too many details, plot twists and viewpoints into that one movie..it resulted in too long a movie and too many instances whereby it should have ended..tsk tsk tsk..the only parts i enjoyed was the "detective" work by Langdon (with no help from princess sophie...who just kept slumping down onto stairs in disbelief) as well as how the director superimposed the scenes of history while it was being narrated by either Langdon or Teabing..
overall..only one thumb up..okok..maybe two..and thats only because the whole bunch of us kept making up our own jokes about and during the show that it became entertaining..haha..if not..*buzzer sound..OUT!

picture time!

amanda and her imaginary friend

amanda and her (real) friend eunice

carl's junior! beats mac hands down anytime! and if u share the combo meal with a friend..its actually cheaper than a mac meal!
and they even provide free condiments! yummilicious salsa! thanks jim for balancing them all the way back to our table..haha

jim, amanda, benny..doing what they do best again..taking funny photos and playing with their food..kids..haha

and this was supposed to be the "normal" photo..haha..except amanda's hands trembled at the sight of our normality..hahaha..

ok here's just a thought..why do u need to upsize the drinks since its free flow?

burgers in diapers..haha! or more aptly..sumo burgers! (for being so big and rounded)

my guacamole bacon cheeseburger!

the guys - benny, jim, wee foong

the girls - me, eunice, amanda

me and amanda! yay! haha..i like this picture lah..

me, amanda, jim - take 1

me, amanda, jim - take 2

met Edwin after he was done with work and after walking around (literally) the basement level of suntec..we ended up at crystal jade for dinner..

my pei dan shou rou chok! hhaa..okok..so im boring always having the same thing..but i like it..so there..shoot me..haha

and here's edwin's braised beef dry noodles! but more importantly..here's edwin in an ORANGE-striped shirt and a TIE! haha! i couldnt stop laughing when i saw him..hurhur

and...this is what i left behind of my chok..haha..even edwin was appalled..hurhur..and he was saying now he knows why JY put on weight when he was back..hahaa..OOPSY!
was really great to finally meet up with u eddy ed ed..thanks for coming down although it was quite a tiring first day at work! and thanks for walking around with me from suntec to marina just to find my shorts..haha..and and and..im honoured to be the one to have dinner with you on your birthday! (:
looking forward to our next pigging out ben&jerrys session and your first pay..ahhahaha!

and last but not least, i love my hp.
and nokia, for the fuss-free uploading procedure.
hurhur.
until now i still dont know how to upload pics frm my older samsung hp.
hahaah.