Philip's Dream Team

It's not everyday that one gets to celebrate momentous events in one go but that's what we did recently. We celebrated mom's 71st birthday and Jordan's 8th birthday together with the Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner. We had an 8 course dinner at The River Palace ;

starting with a Hot Dish Combination
and finishing with triple choc cheesecake.

After the dinner, the only thing we could say was “too full, too full”.

Every birthday is also marked with a bowl of delicious “mee sua” (longevity noodles) and mom cooks a really good one. Here's Jordan slurping through his bowl of noodles.

Just want to share this amazing stuff....

Day by day, I need Your presence
Hour by hour, I need Your guidance
Thank You Lord for You are always leading me,
and You never leave me

O how I need You, Jesus
O how I love to hear Your voice
I yearn to live a life to please You
Lord, I live for You
O Lord, I live for You

I am learning to be more spontaneous in my worship to God. This simple song I wrote this morning sums up my feeling of needing God as I start my new year. I praise God for His wonderful promise that He will never leave me nor forsake me. I can rest assure that I can trust Him with every area of my life. Yes He is worthy of my trust.

One of the highlights of our Penang trip is the chance of meeting up with old friends. (Philip's old friends I mean.)

In March, we met with James in Singapore & it was lovely to meet up with him again in Penang. Our kids love him coz he always make it a point to talk and listen to them. He certainly has a flair with kids. Going out with James is always interesting and fun. He makes you feel special. He takes you to great eating places and he makes sure you try out new stuff like this fish spa at “The Stream”.

Look at the happy faces as the fish nibble and tickle their feet...... well except for Jordan's. He was too scared to try. After much coaxing and “ threat” he did dip his foot in but that was only for a split second. The fish never had a chance on him!!!!

The next time we meet , I am sure James would have something up his sleeve. I just hope it's not bungy jumping.



Two other good friends, Hoi Wah and Thian Huat drove all the way from Ipoh to meet us. When Philip is with them, he talks nineteen to dozens. These 2 mates are from the old days so there's a lot of reminiscing of old days and catching up on the latest.

We look forward to seeing them again wherever and whenever that may be.

I had a very memorable working trip in the midst of my Penang holidays. While Doreen and the kids spend their holidays shopping in Penang, I was working hard flying from Penang to KK in Sabah for a quick overnight trip.




The beautiful beaches of Sabah










Yayasan Sabah, the famous landmark








The spectacular Christmas decor at 1Borneo



I was invited as one of the judges for a Christian song writing competition on 29 Dec evening. Together with 2 other judges, we scanned through more than 20 compositions, some are brilliant, and some are still on the way to brilliance. Looking at these young composers, they reminded me of my younger days (even though I am still on the way to be younger…. !) After more than 2 hours of competition, we found some real talents among the lot. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of these young people aspiring to be someone great. As judges we shared with them about the originality of melodies, awareness of the singing range of singers, appropriateness of the themes and genre of the compositions. As I graded all the masterpieces presented to me, I realized that no matter how beautiful the melodies are, or how well a piece of music is presented, as Christian, we have to live a life that mirrors the message of God’s love and faithfulness, because action really speaks (or sings) louder than words . We can adorn ourselves with the best appearance but if people around us cannot feel the warmth of our love, it amounts to nothing. As we start another new year, let’s aspire to be more loving, be an encourager in all circumstances, then many will be blessed through our act of kindness. That’s what a happy new year means.



It was an honor for me to be able to present one of my compositions that night.

The 4 hours trip from Penang to Cameron Highlands was certainly a tiring one for me. I am never a lover of long drives unlike Philip who loves it. Thank God there is a new route to Cameron Highlands. The new road from Simpang Pulai is less snakey compared to the old road from Tapah.

By the time we reached Century Pines Resort I was really tired and hungry. We did not stop for lunch but powered ourselves with junk food throughout the journey . The first thing we did was to eat lunch immediately after checking in. We were ravenous. At that point anything tasted good!!!!
Upon reaching Cameron Highlands, it started to rain. The cool crisp air after the rain was greatly welcomed by us . As it got colder and colder, we opted for a steamboat dinner. It was delicious and only cost RM42 for 4 of us. That’s really cheap and as the rain continued we headed back to the hotel and the kids decided to read instead of watching TV. Good on them.

Next morning, we went strawberry picking. There are plenty of strawberry farms in Cameron Highlands and we were not very particular as to which farm to go …. as long as there are strawberries to pick we are fine. We picked 1kg of strawberries and went back to Penang and had strawberries and cream with the rest of the family.

Following that we went to the famous BOH Tea Plantations. We thoroughly enjoyed this part of the trip. The road leading to the plantation is narrow and winding but it comes with a spectacular view.
It was hard to always focus on the road when the view is so breathtaking but we managed to reach our destination in one piece. We had to “climb” up a slope to reach the BOH Tea Centre to see how the tea is processed etc. Then we proceeded to buy some tea at the souvenir shop and ended the visit with tea at the tea house.
Philip & I could sit there forever sipping our tea and enjoying the scones, pies and sandwiches but alas time beckons and we had to grudgingly leave.

We also had the opportunity to stop by and snap some photos of the famous Ye Olde Smokehouse.



This very short trip to Cameron Highlands is almost nostalgic. The lovely rose scented room at Century Pines Hotel and the scones and tea as well as the Olde Smokehouse immmediately transported me back to the days when I was in merry old England.
We thank God for this safe & memorable trip. Like the plaque at the Olde Smokehouse says:

It’s good to be back in Penang again eventho it’s a relatively short trip. With our plane delayed for an hour, we arrived late and headed straight for bed once we reached home.

Last year, my father-in-law had been rather poorly in health but he looks better this time around. It was great to catch up with my bro-in-law and his family. The kids hit off right away eventho they see each other on average once a year only. We had to urge them to stop playing every nite and usher them to bed.

Shea Nee (my bro-in-law’s wife) and I will chat and catch up with each other. Again this can take us right to late nites. I remember once we chatted till early morning.

We appreciate what they do for us. They always go to great lengths to make our trip to Penang comfortable and nice.