Easter Musical 2006 "BELIEVE"

Our biggest production ever. This musical is talks about the life of Jesus through the eyes of 5 different people. Mary the mother of Jesus, John and Thomas-disciples of Christ, Pilate-Roman governor of Judea who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus and Caiaphas, the high priest of Jerusalem who sent Jesus to Pilate for sentencing.

The picture speaks for itself. We had professionals and non professionals working behind the scenes. Many took time off from work to help out in this musical.

Each of us contributed our talents and time willingly. Everyone worked hard. The traffic control personnels were in for a surprise. It was raining (all three nights if I remember correctly), and they were prepared with rain coats and umbrella. Bad weather didn't dither people from coming. In fact there were so many people that the main gates had to be closed. Still some climbed over the gates.

Stage and backdrop. Uncle Lim was in-charged of the concept of the stage. Rachel & Sharon helped with the stage and backdrops.

1) Mary (Played by Mary)
2) John (Played by Michael)
3) Narrator (Narrated by Stephany)
4) Narrator (Narrated by Dr Richard)
5) Pilate (Played by Kelvin)
6) Caiaphas (Played by Chen Tee Shaw)
7) Thomas (Doubting Thomas) (Played by Thompson)
8) Jesus (Played by Edwin)
9) Coordinator of this musical (F.C.)

Mae-Z's Safari Party

Mae-Z had a safari party this year. She begged her grandma to let her have a grand party. Her grandma (Aunt Chris) thought long and hard. With the help of the internet (her main source of information), she came up with this idea of a safari party. Less than 2 weeks before the party, Aunt chris called Rachel and I to help with the props. She had her contractor cut all plywood in the shape of the animals. Rachel had to draw the outline first. Then Sharon, Rachel, Aunt Chris and I painted the animals. We let the children (Brian & Mae-Z) paint some too.

Aunty Chris made a 'lion's head" birthday cake for Mae-Z. the adults helped with the games. Some parents were sporting enough to stick their heads into the tiger and allowing their chilren throw wet sponge at them.

Aunty Cherry got her tailor to sew this outfit for Mae-Z. We made Mae-z pose with the animals just before the party.

US Trip 2005

Rachel & I had only 1 1/2 months to plan for our US and Canada trip. Rachel did most of the planning and bookings of the internal air flights in US.
So the day finally came, 5th March 05, Saturday. We skipped our last day of class in STM. Rachel went to buy a tri-band phone. Our flight was scheduled to take off at 3.15pm. The plane delayed for 3 hours. Rachel was worried because we had a 4 hour in between flights in LA. We arrived at the LA airport, brisk walked to the immigration counter, answered a few questions, had our passport stamped, asked permission to jump queue at the customs, ask for directions and ran to the America West terminal.We were just in time (thank God) and relaxed a little just before boarding the aircraft.We transited at Las Vegas and had some problems there too. The flight to Minneapolis was canceled!!!! People were scrambling to the front counter to rebook their flights. Rachel and I were just too tired, but we managed to get a flight at 7.45am (it was after 12 midnight when we were lining up at the front counter), that would transit in 2 other cities before reaching Minneapolis at 5.30pm. So we went to get our luggages, and guess what???!!! They were not in good condition. Well, not only our bags were torn and broken , but other passengers had more to complain. Anyway, by 6.45am, feeling so sleepy (didn't have proper sleep for more than 52 hours) and tired, we were at the boarding area.... waiting and waiting and... oh no, they canceled the flight again!!!!!! So for the second time, we had to rebook our flight, and this time, we just wanted a direct flight to Minneapolis and the ground attendant gave us the earliest possible flight, 12.05am.. and also a room in Hampton's Inn just off the Strip. Upon reaching the Inn, Rachel said we could only sleep for a few hours so that there was time to sightsee Las Vegas famous Strip.
By 8pm, we left Hampton's Inn, had our dinner in the airport and wait anxiously at the boarding area. Thank God.... no more flights canceled.
By the time the plane landed at Minneapolis, it was about 6am (or so) and Ruth's mom and sister came to pick us up from the airport. The journey to their farm took about 3 1/2 - 4 hours. They proudly showed us their farm, introduce the animals and let us see a bit of their everyday lives. They used firewood to heat the whole house. Imagine, wearing shorts in Minnesota in the month of March.
The next day, we stayed in another friend's house in Winona, and the following day, to yet another friend in Minneapolis.

Then we took a flight to New York, transited in Chicago. Stayed in my ex-colleague's house for 7 days, visited all the tourist places like Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square & saw a Broadway show, then flew to Canada and stayed with my cousin.

They brought us to Niagara Falls, Toronto Zoo, Airport Church, Casa Loma, CN Tower and Montreal. We stayed there for 12 days, flew back to NY, and my friend took us to the Newark airport. It was raining and she had some car trouble. We flagged down a taxi that cost us USD60. We were about 15minutes from the airport. The plane to back to Malaysia was delayed, another blessing because we took some time checking what was wrong with the car.
We landed in Malaysia on the 30th March, and the weather was SO HOT, compared to when we left NY.

US Trip 2002/2003

I quit my last job on the 20 Dec 2002. Two days later, I was on a flight to NY. Karen, my (ex) boss invited me over. The day before the flight, Karen called to give me directions on how to get from JFK airport to midtown Manhattan where she worked and lived. I was scheduled to arrive on the 23rd Dec and it was a working day for her.

I must admit, I didn't mind the long flight to NY, but I was thinking more of the immigration checkpoint. It was 1 year after the 9/11 attacks and getting the Visa done was a headache. I heard that even after you have landed in the States, they (immigration) may ask you to take the next flight back for whatever reasons. So anyway, when I was at the immigration counter getting my passport stamped, my heart was beating real quick. The immigration officer wanted to know where I was staying. I think he couldn't believe that I was staying in the heart of Manhattan. Fortunately, I brought along an email from Karen stating the apartment address.

When I finally saw Karen at the subway entrance of 49th Street/7Ave, I was so relieved. She took me to her apartment, got me comfortable and left for work. I went exploring for a while but had to come back before 4, because it was getting darker.

The next day Eng, my other (ex) colleague and her sister (Seok Ling), came to meet me. We went to Liberty and Ellis Island, then walk from South Manhattan to midtown.So many things to see!!!!

The next day, 25Dec, it snowed on Christmas Day, for the first time since 1969. I looked for a church to go to, but all the churches closed or maybe open at other time. Later in the evening I went to Eng's house and from there we went to visit Xin Min in New Jersey. We stayed overnight there and the next day, we went shopping in Walmart and K-Mart (I think).

Central Park was coated with snow. It looked so beautiful. We rushed from New Jersey just to see snow on Central Park. We had no time to build a snowman, s we just posed with "ready made" snowman. It's was after 3pm and the sun sets at 4-4.30pm during this season.

We (Karen, Eng, Seok Ling and I) were on a skiing tour that took us to upstate NY. Our first stop was Woodbury Common Premium Outlet (Translation - factory outlets lah). I haven't scanned those pictures yet, so please be patient. The pic above is taken in Albany. Capital of New York. We stopped here to visit the museum.

Times Square, NYC, 31 December 2002. Yes, we were in this crazy crowd. We waited from 6.30pm till 12midnight. This was the year after the Sept 11 incident. There were policemen everywhere. Roads were blocked, our bags were checked and it was really a hassle. When the show was over, we took the subway back to Eng's place. The subway runs 24hours in NYC.