Philip's Dream Team

These are a new breed of trekkers. After Sematan, we headed for Gunung Gading National Park. There was no full bloom Rafflesia in sight. We only saw the bud. The forest ranger told us it takes 9 mths for it to fully bloom. Amazing!!!
We took the easiest and shortest trek.... trekking to the nearest waterfall.This trek doesn't look so difficult.
Oops!!! No more plank walk. Everyone must watch your step.
Aiyoh!!!We are tiredlah!!! Are we there yet ?Too much trekking can cause goofiness. Finally....the falls are in sight.
Bad news.... we have to trek back again!!!

We were back in Sematan Palm Beach Resort again over the short break and this time around we stayed at the chalet which is really nice.I don't believe this. Where is everybody ? Out walking, cycling, kayaking and catching jellyfish.
















After all the energy is spent, food is a must. Steamboat for dinner & these Starbucks mooncakes are delicious.










After this funtime... all of them are going home to swot for their finals... except Asher of course!!!

I noted that over the years, Philip's energy and passion for life increases. Now into his forties, he is truly enjoying life. After a hearty Thai meal and a delicious round of strawberry cream cake, the guys decided to join the kids in a test of strength , which of course the guys won hands down.
Then,the kids decided .."Hei , lets do limbo rock!!!". Philip & Alex were a real sport. Alex quickly went and put on some'hot music" N there was no stopping the guys. We laughed till our sides split. I only managed to take 2 very blurry photos coz my hands were shaking sooo much from laughing.When the guys were limbo rocking , I was tooo busy laughing... hence not a single shot of them was taken.


Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes and gifts.

The Glory of the Lord

The glory of the Lord fills this heart of mine.
Bringing great change inside of me.
The glory of the Lord fills this place right now,
Causing us to be set free.

Come Holy Spirit, You are welcome here,
Oh Holy Spirit, guide me in Your truth.
Come Holy Spirit, anoint me with Your p'wer.
Holy Spirit, let me live in glory realm.

I was reading the book of Ezekiel this morning. In chapter 10, the Bible talks about the glory of God. “The glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple… the cloud filled the temple and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of God…” This is a wonderful description of what the glory of God is like. It’s so unfathomable, yet it is tangible! When we have a desire to seek God, we shall sense the glory. When we have a heart of worship, we shall be surrounded by His glory. There is a place in the Bible which talks about a man named Obed-Edom, who had God’s presence in his life. When God’s presence resided in his home, he prospered in every way, he was a blessed man. Let us continually seek God and His ways so that we will expereince His glorious presence in every situation of our lives. Be it rain or shine, or mountain top or valley like experiences, our God will be our greatest blessing and His glory, power and His love will take us thru every circumstances.... bringing Him all the glory due His name. The glory of God brings wondrous blessings to His children

Sitting high up in the tree house with the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore and the buzzing of insects in the rainforest, I feel inspired to post a blog of the recent watching of the Lord of The Rings trilogy. Hours of Fellowship of the Ring, The 2 Towers and The Return of the King really make my days. I had read the book but had no opportunity to watch the movie until last week.

It is essentially about the triumph of good over evil. I love how well the movie portrayed the love , loyalty between friends like Frodo & Sam. The heroism of Gandalf, Arathorn, Legolas, Gimli is highly commendable. The story also speaks of sacrifices made for the ultimate good of all involved. It also shows how evil and greed for power can be such corruptive forces. The nature of the fallen man so well acted out by the actor portraying Smeagol reminds us of how we struggle between the good we should do and the evil we should avoid. The deceit & selfishness of Smeagol concealed by him helping Frodo was well discerned by Sam. We have to take a lesson from here. Not everyone who help us either in words or deeds are our friends or have our wellbeing at heart. We need to have discernment or we will fall for their trickery and hidden agendas.

We may say The Lord of the Rings is just a story but I feel story or not….. it depicts the very world we live in where there is a struggle between good and evil. The heroes in the movie set out to make a difference. They fought the good fight right to the end. They were selfless. They did not compromise and choose to succumb to the evil power like Saruman. They chose the better way. But not everyone who chose the high road were able to finish well; like Boromir . Even towards the end, Frodo struggled to destroy the Ring. In our Christian walk, it is not how well we start but how we end and walk into the arms of our Lord that counts.

As His children, we are called to make a difference. He does not call us to be light and salt of the world for nothing. He knows the evil at large but He also knows there are many of His children who are heroes out there. He has equipped us thru the power of the Holy Spirit to fight and run the race well. There is always a tendency to say “Who are we to make a difference?” But look at Merry and Pippin… even they could play a role to bring down the forces of Saruman with the help of the Ents. As we choose God’s ways, He will always provide people alongside us to encourage and support us.

So what does this mean for me? In a nutshell, to run the race for the reward set before me, to make a difference in the place where He has put me and to be obedient to His calling.

Last weekend we took a leisurely drive to Permai Rainforest Resort. We were pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous white and pink blooms on the trees as we drove along. We were "ooh-ing and aah-ing" at how pretty they were. Even the sides of the roads were a carpet of pink and white blooms.
It was our first time staying at the tree house. Not bad at all..except you have to climb a long flight of stairs to reach your room.


Basically, we had a quiet restful time. After, the Penang & Terengganu trip, we needed another getaway to rest the body, mind and spirit.


This is a holiday to recuperate from the previous holiday!!!!