Remembering Lang Lang 郎郎
8 years ago
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Mount Kinabalu Heritage Resort & Spa 30 August 2008
Andrew Tai came to fetch me before noon. Rebecca sat in front while Isaac was sitting on the car seat at the back with Alice Hiew and myself sitting on either side of him.
The rain started to pour down when we were at Kota Kinabalu – Tuaran By-Pass.
Isaac likes to drink a lot of water. As a result, when we stopped at Tuaran for lunch, his diapers was overflowing until his clothes were wet.
We had lunch at Lok Khun and ordered the following.
1. Steamed garoupa.
2. Veges
3. ‘Ko Lo Yuk’.
Eventhough I only had my brunch before 11a.m., I was hungry by then and had the whole plate of rice. All the dishes tasted delicious and Alice treated all of us because she said it’s her territory - she was born in Tuaran.
While we waited at the back of the coffee shop for Rebecca to go to the toilet, we saw Tuaran Library and Milimewa Superstore signboard.
Alice told Isaac to smile and this was the result
We did not ask Isaac to smile and this was the result
The rain continued to pour as we went up to the mountain.
Isaac did not want to go to sleep. And since he was only wearing shorts, Alice had to tie his legs up using a bathtowel because he kept on kicking the towel away.
About ten minutes before we arrived at Mount Kinabalu Heritage Resort & Spa (formerly Perkasa Hotel), I received a call from Choo Siow Chin to tell me she was waiting for us near the top of the hotel. The rain was pouring until she could not walk up to the hotel anymore. She was soaked all over.
We arrived at the hotel before 4p.m. and after Andrew alighted Rebecca, Isaac and Alice at the hotel, he drove down to fetch Choo.
Choo and I checked in together and we were allocated to share the room 405. We were given a packet with our T-shirt, retreat booklet, retreat bookmark, two name tags, a pen and some sweets in it. Choo and I talked and rested before dinner.
Taken from Room 405
Taken from Room 405
The first night we had set dinner at the hotel restaurant. The food was ok. Choo and I sat with the retreat speaker Rev. George Ong and his wife Kwee Siew. Mr. Chew Chong Bin and family also shared the same table as us. Conversations surrounded around the difference between Malaysia and Singapore.
The theme of the retreat was People of Destiny.
Mr. Quek Lip Kie was the Camp Commander.
Rev. George Ong is from Singapore and he & his wife have three kids. He is an ordained minister with Assemblies of God and holds a M.Div. from Trinity Thelogical College and a B.A. from the National University of Singapore.
He is author of twelve humour books and throughout the four sessions he shared with us a lot of jokes.
In spite of all the jokes, his sharing was simple and yet profound and was delivered with clarity, conviction and passion.
Sharon Lai led the first Praise and Worship session. All throughout the retreat, Andrew Tai was playing the guitar and Alice Hiew the electric piano.
One the first night, Rev. George shared about the life of Abraham.
As People of Destiny, we are saved not only as sons of God but also to serve Him. We are not only pew warmers but servants of the Most High God.
The Call to Faith Hebrews 11:8
Life for a Christian is full of challenges. We should attempt challenges.
1. A Call from God
It was God's dream to bless the nations. It was not Abraham's dream.
2. A Call to Go
Abraham obeyed and went, eventhough he did not know where he was going.
Go - Focusing on the future.
We should not let the bitterness of the past to move forward.
Faith is probably God showing us only the first step. Faith is on the inside. Always start with action. Faith is acting on the truth of God. Faith takes a lot of risk.
3. A Call of Greatness
Genesis 12:1-3 Abraham would later receive as his inheritance.
The inheritance is a blessing to bless others. Be generous with others.
If you sacrifice, you will not lose it. If you don't sacrifice, you will lose it.
Be a person of destiny, be Abraham.
The call of God is realising His dream in our life.
After the first session, we had group discussion before we had supper. Shirley Chew and Mimi Quek made a lot of cakes to bring up to the mountain with them.
Choo and I went back to our room to have our hot drink. She had chamomile tea while I had Milo. We went to sleep before midnight.
I kept on waking up and going back to sleep all through the night. I was not used to the bed. The weather was cooling. I felt very comfortable.
The rain started to pour down when we were at Kota Kinabalu – Tuaran By-Pass.
Isaac likes to drink a lot of water. As a result, when we stopped at Tuaran for lunch, his diapers was overflowing until his clothes were wet.
We had lunch at Lok Khun and ordered the following.
1. Steamed garoupa.
2. Veges
3. ‘Ko Lo Yuk’.
Eventhough I only had my brunch before 11a.m., I was hungry by then and had the whole plate of rice. All the dishes tasted delicious and Alice treated all of us because she said it’s her territory - she was born in Tuaran.
While we waited at the back of the coffee shop for Rebecca to go to the toilet, we saw Tuaran Library and Milimewa Superstore signboard.
Alice told Isaac to smile and this was the result
We did not ask Isaac to smile and this was the result
The rain continued to pour as we went up to the mountain.
Isaac did not want to go to sleep. And since he was only wearing shorts, Alice had to tie his legs up using a bathtowel because he kept on kicking the towel away.
About ten minutes before we arrived at Mount Kinabalu Heritage Resort & Spa (formerly Perkasa Hotel), I received a call from Choo Siow Chin to tell me she was waiting for us near the top of the hotel. The rain was pouring until she could not walk up to the hotel anymore. She was soaked all over.
We arrived at the hotel before 4p.m. and after Andrew alighted Rebecca, Isaac and Alice at the hotel, he drove down to fetch Choo.
Choo and I checked in together and we were allocated to share the room 405. We were given a packet with our T-shirt, retreat booklet, retreat bookmark, two name tags, a pen and some sweets in it. Choo and I talked and rested before dinner.
Taken from Room 405
Taken from Room 405
The first night we had set dinner at the hotel restaurant. The food was ok. Choo and I sat with the retreat speaker Rev. George Ong and his wife Kwee Siew. Mr. Chew Chong Bin and family also shared the same table as us. Conversations surrounded around the difference between Malaysia and Singapore.
The theme of the retreat was People of Destiny.
Mr. Quek Lip Kie was the Camp Commander.
Rev. George Ong is from Singapore and he & his wife have three kids. He is an ordained minister with Assemblies of God and holds a M.Div. from Trinity Thelogical College and a B.A. from the National University of Singapore.
He is author of twelve humour books and throughout the four sessions he shared with us a lot of jokes.
In spite of all the jokes, his sharing was simple and yet profound and was delivered with clarity, conviction and passion.
Sharon Lai led the first Praise and Worship session. All throughout the retreat, Andrew Tai was playing the guitar and Alice Hiew the electric piano.
One the first night, Rev. George shared about the life of Abraham.
As People of Destiny, we are saved not only as sons of God but also to serve Him. We are not only pew warmers but servants of the Most High God.
The Call to Faith Hebrews 11:8
Life for a Christian is full of challenges. We should attempt challenges.
1. A Call from God
It was God's dream to bless the nations. It was not Abraham's dream.
2. A Call to Go
Abraham obeyed and went, eventhough he did not know where he was going.
Go - Focusing on the future.
We should not let the bitterness of the past to move forward.
Faith is probably God showing us only the first step. Faith is on the inside. Always start with action. Faith is acting on the truth of God. Faith takes a lot of risk.
3. A Call of Greatness
Genesis 12:1-3 Abraham would later receive as his inheritance.
The inheritance is a blessing to bless others. Be generous with others.
If you sacrifice, you will not lose it. If you don't sacrifice, you will lose it.
Be a person of destiny, be Abraham.
The call of God is realising His dream in our life.
After the first session, we had group discussion before we had supper. Shirley Chew and Mimi Quek made a lot of cakes to bring up to the mountain with them.
Choo and I went back to our room to have our hot drink. She had chamomile tea while I had Milo. We went to sleep before midnight.
I kept on waking up and going back to sleep all through the night. I was not used to the bed. The weather was cooling. I felt very comfortable.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Medical Check Up 30 August 2008
Since last weekend was the National Day long weekend, my colleagues and I who work on Saturdays took the half day off.
Two days before that day, I made an appointment to see Dr. Cecilia Chong at 9a.m.
(The reason I made the appointment was because when my ING insurance agent asked me when I had my last medical checkup, I told him maybe four years ago. But upon inspection on the last medical report, I discovered it was done seven and a half years ago, which meant another medical checkup is long overdue).
I left home at 7.30a.m. and dropped by the office to feed the fishes in the aquarium. I am usually given this task when the bosses are outstation during public holidays as I live the nearest to the office.
I drove to the city and deposited cash into my Visa credit card account at Standard Chartered Bank. Next stop was to the tailor at Segama to get the broken zip of one of my pants fixed. Even at only about 8a.m., there was only one parking space left near to the tailor shop.
But the tailor was not in yet and I could not buy any materials to make some more work pants as the shop where I usually buy materials from was still closed.
I had nowhere else to go so I drove to Taman Chemei at Penampang for my appointment.
As usual this place is jam packed with cars everywhere. I could not find a parking space and had to park at the back of the clinic, outside someone’s house. The time was 8.35a.m. and the clinic was not open yet but there was a piece of paper stuck to the door with instructions to call the handphone number. The nurse who answered the call told me they were having staff meeting and therefore I had to wait until 9a.m. I was sweating profusely.
Before I saw Dr. Cecilia, I was given a small container to fill in my urine. The nurse took my BP, weighed and took my height.
Dr. Cecilia was happy to see me as that was the first time I went to her clinic. She said I had lost a lot of weight. She could easily find the vein on my left arm to take out quite a good sum of blood for testing. She is a very patient (and I am her patient :)) and detailed doctor. She asked lots of questions and I also told her my medical history.
She finished seeing me at 9.45a.m. There were four ladies waiting in the queue to see her. I was glad I was the first patient because when I arrived at the clinic, I received a sms from Andrew Tai to tell me to get ready to leave for Kundasang at 11a.m.
On the way home, I dropped by a roast shop to buy duck drumstick rice for lunch. The food cost RM8 and that was my food after more than 12 hours of fasting.
When I arrived home, there was a motorbike parked at the side of the garage. I forgot that Chloe and Alistair were having their art class.
That was the first time I met their art teacher. The teacher was teaching them to draw and paint the Beijing 2008 Olympics mascots to make a lantern for mooncake festival.
Two days before that day, I made an appointment to see Dr. Cecilia Chong at 9a.m.
(The reason I made the appointment was because when my ING insurance agent asked me when I had my last medical checkup, I told him maybe four years ago. But upon inspection on the last medical report, I discovered it was done seven and a half years ago, which meant another medical checkup is long overdue).
I left home at 7.30a.m. and dropped by the office to feed the fishes in the aquarium. I am usually given this task when the bosses are outstation during public holidays as I live the nearest to the office.
I drove to the city and deposited cash into my Visa credit card account at Standard Chartered Bank. Next stop was to the tailor at Segama to get the broken zip of one of my pants fixed. Even at only about 8a.m., there was only one parking space left near to the tailor shop.
But the tailor was not in yet and I could not buy any materials to make some more work pants as the shop where I usually buy materials from was still closed.
I had nowhere else to go so I drove to Taman Chemei at Penampang for my appointment.
As usual this place is jam packed with cars everywhere. I could not find a parking space and had to park at the back of the clinic, outside someone’s house. The time was 8.35a.m. and the clinic was not open yet but there was a piece of paper stuck to the door with instructions to call the handphone number. The nurse who answered the call told me they were having staff meeting and therefore I had to wait until 9a.m. I was sweating profusely.
Before I saw Dr. Cecilia, I was given a small container to fill in my urine. The nurse took my BP, weighed and took my height.
Dr. Cecilia was happy to see me as that was the first time I went to her clinic. She said I had lost a lot of weight. She could easily find the vein on my left arm to take out quite a good sum of blood for testing. She is a very patient (and I am her patient :)) and detailed doctor. She asked lots of questions and I also told her my medical history.
She finished seeing me at 9.45a.m. There were four ladies waiting in the queue to see her. I was glad I was the first patient because when I arrived at the clinic, I received a sms from Andrew Tai to tell me to get ready to leave for Kundasang at 11a.m.
On the way home, I dropped by a roast shop to buy duck drumstick rice for lunch. The food cost RM8 and that was my food after more than 12 hours of fasting.
When I arrived home, there was a motorbike parked at the side of the garage. I forgot that Chloe and Alistair were having their art class.
That was the first time I met their art teacher. The teacher was teaching them to draw and paint the Beijing 2008 Olympics mascots to make a lantern for mooncake festival.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Lunch on 29 August 2008 : Is Designation So Important?
On 29 August I went out for lunch with a friend AW. We talked about a lot of things but the things that amused me and I still find amusing are as follows.
1. Most of her colleagues who drive, like to be the one whose car is parked next to the boss? I asked her whatever for? Not that they are going to get any of the boss’s salary.
(So I told her the boss gave me his parking space recently. Does that mean I have been given a share in the company?)
2. AW was an Accounts Executive. When her boss employed an Accounts Manager, automatically she became the Assistant Accounts Manager.
One of her colleagues used to be the Human Resource Executive (HRE). When her boss employed an assistant for the HRE, automatically the HRE became HR Manager (HRM).
I for one do not care what designation I have as long as the bosses give me increment at least annually to fight inflation.
What is the use of having a fancy job title when there is no increment whatsoever in the salary? And AW and HRM never did get any payrise along with their ‘promotion’.
So to answer my own Q. Is Designation so Important? The answer is YES! especially to suckers in AW’s company.
1. Most of her colleagues who drive, like to be the one whose car is parked next to the boss? I asked her whatever for? Not that they are going to get any of the boss’s salary.
(So I told her the boss gave me his parking space recently. Does that mean I have been given a share in the company?)
2. AW was an Accounts Executive. When her boss employed an Accounts Manager, automatically she became the Assistant Accounts Manager.
One of her colleagues used to be the Human Resource Executive (HRE). When her boss employed an assistant for the HRE, automatically the HRE became HR Manager (HRM).
I for one do not care what designation I have as long as the bosses give me increment at least annually to fight inflation.
What is the use of having a fancy job title when there is no increment whatsoever in the salary? And AW and HRM never did get any payrise along with their ‘promotion’.
So to answer my own Q. Is Designation so Important? The answer is YES! especially to suckers in AW’s company.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Work on 28 & 29 August 2008
Eventhough the bosses were away on both of these days, time still flew by so quickly. At least I managed to finish filling almost two hundred pages of documents and completed the accounts for one of the three companies I am doing.
Dinner at @mosphere on 28 August 2008
Dr. C and family (her hubby SC and son Jordan) came back to Kota Kinabalu from Kuala Lumpur for a few days for the Merdeka long weekend. Two days before they came back, I booked a table for five adults and one toddler at @mosphere at 18th Floor, Sabah Foundation Building. Their friends Yoke Kheng and Chee Keong were coming to Kota Kinabalu as well.
The level with lights on is @mosphere SC hubby came to fetch me around 6.45p.m. and their son Jordan was quite chatty on the way to the restaurant. But as we were approaching the main roundabout at the Tanjung Lipat Coastal Highway, suddenly there was no sound from Jordan. He had fallen asleep. In fact he slept all through the dinner and only woke up when we went inside the elevator to leave the restaurant. Dr. C had Shitake & Button Mushroom Soup as appetiser and Catch of the Day – Cod-Snapper. Dr. C’s hubby SC had the same main course as me – Baked Salmon and a drink called Daimler.
Yoke Kheng had Lamb Shanks and a drink called @mosphere Smoothie recommended by the waiter.
Left - @mosphere Smoothie & Right - Daimler
Chee Keong had Paella.
The food was ok as a whole but the ambience and atmosphere were fantastic. We had wished for a more extensive selection in the menu though. The restaurant went around almost twice while we were there.
There was quite a good crowd for a Thursday night. The VIP room (stationary) which was at the centre of the restaurant was being occupied and SC said that it looked like the people were inside an aquarium. Haha
'The Aquarium'
Before we left I went inside the ladies to take some photos of the ugly pipes which SC was mentioning. One of these days I am going to use my gmail email account to email to them the eye sore and see whether they would take any action.
We adjourned to Veda Blue at City Mall to have ice-cream. The men went to buy energy food to assist them in their mountain climbing while we ladies and Jordan enjoyed the ice-cream. Once again they did not have any durian flavour so I settled for mango flavour.
The level with lights on is @mosphere SC hubby came to fetch me around 6.45p.m. and their son Jordan was quite chatty on the way to the restaurant. But as we were approaching the main roundabout at the Tanjung Lipat Coastal Highway, suddenly there was no sound from Jordan. He had fallen asleep. In fact he slept all through the dinner and only woke up when we went inside the elevator to leave the restaurant. Dr. C had Shitake & Button Mushroom Soup as appetiser and Catch of the Day – Cod-Snapper. Dr. C’s hubby SC had the same main course as me – Baked Salmon and a drink called Daimler.
Yoke Kheng had Lamb Shanks and a drink called @mosphere Smoothie recommended by the waiter.
Left - @mosphere Smoothie & Right - Daimler
Chee Keong had Paella.
The food was ok as a whole but the ambience and atmosphere were fantastic. We had wished for a more extensive selection in the menu though. The restaurant went around almost twice while we were there.
There was quite a good crowd for a Thursday night. The VIP room (stationary) which was at the centre of the restaurant was being occupied and SC said that it looked like the people were inside an aquarium. Haha
'The Aquarium'
Before we left I went inside the ladies to take some photos of the ugly pipes which SC was mentioning. One of these days I am going to use my gmail email account to email to them the eye sore and see whether they would take any action.
We adjourned to Veda Blue at City Mall to have ice-cream. The men went to buy energy food to assist them in their mountain climbing while we ladies and Jordan enjoyed the ice-cream. Once again they did not have any durian flavour so I settled for mango flavour.
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