Christmas Shopping

I can't believe I have gone for Christmas shopping this year. I was so busy with VBA and Christmas Musical that I thought I would not have time for shopping.

Two days ago, on Friday, my parents, my sister and I went to Mid Valley. Usually we'll start our journey at 8.30am so that we can arrive before 10am to choose our parking lot. This time, we didn't want to rush, so went only at 12pm. When we reached Mid Valley, all except one of the parking lots signboards indicated that the zone was full. We went straight for the zone that was not full and had to park at Level 4. Those of you who have been to Mid Valley will know that there are only 2 levels of parking lots. We parked at the Gardens. They have more car park levels there and level 4 is usually for the people who have season passes only. We were allowed to park there because the first 3 levels were full and they had no choice but to open up Level 4.

I met Minch for lunch at the San Francisco Steakhouse. Earlier on she emailed a few of us on the promotion of this food outlet. It was only RM16.90++ for a set meal. I had lamb shoulder with corn and mashed potatoes and she had chicken with broccoli and mashed potatoes. The food was so-so only. The lamb meat was a little bit tough. Good thing the portion was small because after a while my jaws were hurting from chewing too much.

The decos at Mid Valley. Looked like a circus. I think they re-used some of the previous year's decos. This year's deco is not impressive at all.

The Garden's decos are much nicer. Maybe because I've never seen birdcages as big, and people using them as decos.

All in all, it was a fruitful time. I managed to have a decent meal with Min Chee, bought a few Christmas presents and exercised. Yes, I exercised. I walked for almost 7 hours. :)

Two Cute Boys in VBA

Everyone agreed that Kenneth and Alfred were the cutest boys in VBA.

Kenneth was so spoilt. All the helpers (volunteers) rushed to help him. He is so so cute. He is also acting in the coming musical (12-14 December in Agape).

Alfred was the other cute boy. He has this unique hairstyle which suits him.

Mt Kinabalu 2009 rates

It's so expensive to climb Mt Kinabalu now. Sutera Sanctuary Lodge (the company in charge of Kinabalu Park) has just released their 2009 rates. Get ready for this shocking news. A bed in Laban Rata will cost RM 170 next year compared to RM60 this year.

I've done a comparison of prices. In year 2007, we had the choice of purchasing our meals from the Laban Rata resthouse or to bring our own food up to the mountain. Many of us brought instant noodles, bread, packet drinks and energy bars to save costs. In the year 2008, Sutera packaged the meals and accommodation which cost us RM 505 per pax for 1 night's stay at the foothill and 2 nights' stay in Laban Rata. We requested 2 meals to be omitted and paid only RM435 per pax for this year's expedition in July. Next year, 2009, those who wish to go and climb Mt Kinabalu would have to come out with at least RM810 for the same 4 days-3 nights duration.

Here's the breakdown of costs for year 2007, 2008 and 2009.

		2007	2008	2009
Dinner at foothill		not sure	45	60
Hostel (bed) at foothill		30	35	60
Buffet Breakfast at foothill		not sure	35	45
Packed lunch		not sure	25	30
Buffet Dinner at Laban Rata		36	45	60
Heated Dorms (per bed)		50	60	170
Non-Heated Dorms(per bed)		not sure	40	170
Pre-Climb B'fast at Laban Rata		not sure	15	30
Buffet Breakfast at Laban Rata		not sure	40	45
Lunch at Laban Rata		not sure	40	50
Lunch at Kinabalu Park		not sure	35	50

I think the prices for next year's Kinabalu climb are ridiculous. Imagine paying RM170 for a bed, no bathroom attached, and it's not even on a twin sharing basis. You have to share it with at least 3 others.

It's getting more expensive to climb the mountain. I wonder why they are charging so much. Unless they intend to do some major renovation or upgrading of the facilities, they should not charge so high. I wish they would keep the cost low. Mt Kinabalu is a beautiful place to visit, and I feel that every Malaysian should climb this mountain at least once in his or her lifetime. :)


My Mount Kinabalu tales - Year 2007
- Year 2008

Car Trouble Again

Last Saturday Mctc called to have lunch. I was with Matt, Minch and RW having lunch in Station Kopitiam, Terminal 1. I invited him to join us. After 10 minutes he called to say that he was in the parking lot looking for an empty (car park) bay. A few minutes later he called again saying that he can't join us for lunch; his car power steering wheel was jammed and he needed to get it fixed.

After lunch, I went over to check if he needed help. His car was at the 5th level of the Terminal 1 car park. Mctc had then called the insurance company to send a tow truck over. After a few phone calls, the insurance company told him that the car park in Terminal 1 was too low and the passage way too narrow for the tow truck to enter and asked if Mctc could get his car out of the building.

Mctc tried to to turn the steering wheel left but it wouldn't budge. He called his regular mechanic to come and check but the mechanic was too busy. Later the insurance company called saying that a mechanic from Rahang was willing to go over to check and repair there and then if possible. The mechanic, a young chap, came in 10 minutes and checked the car. He couldn't help much except to loosen the pressure at the steering wheel making it semi manual. Mctc managed to drive the car out of the building without mishap. He called the insurance company to tell them to send the tow truck over. About 20 minutes later, the truck came and at the same time Minch called me asking if I needed a lift somewhere. She and Matt were about to leave Terminal 1. I quickly said yes knowing that I would be left stranded because Mctc would be following the truck to the mechanic's workshop and there's no space in the truck for me.

Matthew volunteered to fetch Mctc from the workshop later. In the meantime, we (Minch, Matt and I) were at Matt's parents' house in town waiting for Mctc's call.

This is the 2nd time Mctc's car power steering got jammed. Time to give up this car perhaps?!

I want to thank God for friends like Matt and Minch who were willing to help in anyway they could. I also want to thank God for the mechanic, the young chap who was willing to spare his time and petrol to come all the way into the Terminal 1 parking lot to check the car. He didn't even charge a single cent for that service. BTW Mctc went back to his regular mechanic to get the steering wheel fixed.

Look, the Moon is Smiling at You

My camera is not good enough to take this picture.

Two days ago Peter Lai called and asked me to look at the moon. He said that the moon was smiling at me. I was curious. Peter Lai has never called me for all these things. I went out and had a look at the moon. True enough, the moon was smiling. The two planets (Jupiter and Venus) above the moon acted as the eyes and the crescent moon was positioned in such a way that it looked like a pair of closed lips.

For those of you who'd missed it, this is the best picture I have of the smiling moon.

VBA 2008

VBA this year was on the 1st and 2nd December. There were 115 kids aged between 5 and 12 who registered for this event. A total of 54 volunteers helped to make this event an exciting time for the kids.

I was the unofficial photographer and I would like to share the photos with you. Most of the props were taken from the Kidz Safari event held in May this year.

Praise and singing action songs with Larissa, Jessamine and the team.

A cup of Milo each for the children after the praise and singing session.

There are 5 lessons for this 2-day programme. God listens (Lion), God rules(Elephant), God protects (Hippo), God provides (Giraffe) and God forgives (Zebra). Each lesson is taught by 2 teaching teachers who will be in the given classroom all the time. The class teachers and helpers are the ones following the children to all 5 classrooms.

GOD LISTENS.
This is the Lion classroom. The teaching teachers were Chris and Sharon.

GOD FORGIVES.
This is the Zebra classroom. The teaching teachers were Joo Ee and Wu Shwu Jen (Aunt Yeow).

GOD RULES.
This is the Elephant classroom. The teaching teachers were Siew Chin and Monica.

GOD PROVIDES.
This is the Giraffe classroom. The teaching teachers were Pik Mei and Juliet.

GOD PROTECTS.

This is the Hippo classroom. (Hippos went into hiding. Can only see the elephants)The teaching teachers were Shirley and Esther.

Aunty Pang is in charge of food and refreshment. She had a team of 10 including her. (Pat is not in this picture).

Craft time. The kids had an hour each day for crafts. I was in charge of crafts.

The kids looked forward to answering questions. Why? Because they were given a gift with each correct answer.

When they behaved well, obeyed the teachers, answered the questions correctly, they were given a chop or more for points, depending on the teachers' whims.. :). During the break, the children were allowed to exchange their points for gifts.

Saw Ming was in charge of games. I was a little disappointed this time with the games because they were all held indoors. What happened to the old games like transferring water to another pail by using the straw?

Face painting. Some kids were so excited to get their face painted.

It was a fun-filled 2-day event. The kids were happy. The teachers and helpers were very tired and were glad when it was over. Sze-En, who's 9 years old said that it was fun and when you are having fun, time always passes by quickly.


Read Jian's blog on VBA 2008- Day 1, Day 2

Kitchen Gadgets

Anyone can guess what these gadgets are?

I can't find these things in Malaysia. It's all bought from America or Canada.

These look like lizard's eggs but it's actually pie weights.

Thermometers . Top left is for the oven.. mainly used to check if your oven is giving out the correct amount of heat. (I think). Top right and bottom - it's to check if the meat is of the correct temperature. Just insert it into the meat to see if you want it rare, medium or well done. While I was in Los Gatos (California), I saw Eric using the top right thermometer for the coffee he made. He's a coffee drinker and is very particular on the details of making a cup of coffee. Took him like 5 or 10 minutes just to make 1 small cup.

The top gadget is.. (Been having this for q few years and I'd just found out) for curling butter. To make butter look interesting that just a rectangular slab, I suppose.

Bottom left - egg smasher, egg beater and measuring "spoon".

Bottom right - citrus zester. I always wanted one. So when I was in America back in 2006, I spotted this zester and purchased it. It's for both left and right handers, so that's a bonus for me because I'm left-handed.

Top picture - Baking nails. Just insert the nails into the potatoes to distribute the heat in the middle of the potatoes.

Bottom right - don't think you have ever seen this one before. It's for the onions. Insert the gadget into the onion and slice in between the pins. Cool eh?

Bottom right - Dough Mixer? Not sure what is it called but apparently it's for mixing the dough. I have tried it only once (or twice), but I don't find it useful. Maybe I'd used it wrongly because A.Pang said that it was a very good gadget for mixing the dough.