JC88 was the company that she was working for. JC is an acronym our Lord Jesus Christ and 88 represents that year that Gary, our boss, was turned around.
Gary, Angeline and I met the 10th Boys' Brigade Company at Beatty Secondary School at 7am on 7 December 2008. This was the CHAMPION company for Character Quest 2008! They were the only ones who destroyed the 'king' during the competition. They are currently facing a dearth of officers. However, God is good and He provided 2 very active teachers-in-charge who double up as officers. I've never seen such a high level of teachers' involvement in my BB life.
We met Ah Peng our bus driver, and Jenny, his bus assistant and beloved wife. Ah Peng turned out to be our honest, skillful and reliable driver with few words. Jenny, on the other hand, was nice, funny and blunt, though not rude in any sense.
We departed for Kuala Lumpur at 7.30am after the arrival of all our KL-trippers and a briefing by Gary. We reached Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon and checked into Brisdale Hotel. The Boys changed out of their BB polos before we headed out for Batu Caves.
I didn't bring my camera for this trip; original photographs will be posted when I've received them from Angeline. Here's a picture of Brisdale Hotel taken from the Internet, as with all other pictures I'm going to post.
This is a picture of the hote lobby. It looks much better in pictures...
This is the Superior King room that I slept in for 3 nights.
At Batu Caves, Ken, our local and registered KL guide, told us the folk tale of Ganesh (the elephant deity) and Murugan. Ganesh and Murugan, popular Hindu deities, were brothers. Their parents wanted to bless one of their sons, and so they posed a challenge to both their sons. They instructed Ganesh and Murugan to travel around the world and told them that the one who returned first will receive their blessing. Murugan took off at once, leaving Ganesh behind. Ganesh, using flattery in my opinion, walked around his parents and told them that they were the world to him. Thus, to this day, Murugan stands guard outside Batu Caves and Ganesh is worshipped inside the caves.
The 272 steps up into the caves were no joke. I had to pause at least thrice to allow the lactic acid accumulated in my legs to dissipate. On my way down, the thought of falling down to my death was scary. It wasn't death that I feared. It was the pain and the hassle Angeline will have to go through to mop me up. Slowly, I decided to stop looking down to prevent the overwhelming feeling of fear and I took one step at a time all the way down.
We visited Chee-Cheong-Kai or Petaling Street in the heart of KL's Chinatown afterward, where we had a splendid bah-kut-teh dinner.
The Boys enjoyed shopping around this infamous area for pirated clothes and accessories. I think it is the thrill of bargaining. They were asking for more of Chinatown concept stalls during the last few days too.
Some Boys who were less street-smart bought half-filled bottles of perfume and stained shirts at a cut-throat price. I guess its part of our learning and growing experience.
We retired into our rooms after an Emotional Intelligence workshop conducted by Gary in the evening. I managed to shop at UO supermarket for some balloons and balls for the orphans during the workshop. It was a good experience looking for things on a 'danger-filled' street where the people spoke neither English nor any other languages I know.
On Day 2, we visited an orphanage runned by House of Joy. It was a good time singing and playing games with the children. Children under the age of 5 were especially adorable. We wanted to present a chinese Christian song to the children - 这一生最美的祝福. However, most Boys didn't know the song and we sung off key during our practice sessions. To our surprise, the children knew the song at the tip of their tongues and they sang beautifully along with our screehing voices...
We visited KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) after having lunch at a local hawker near House of Joy. The Petronas Twin Towers looked more impressive at night. Also, it was raining and foggy when we were at the towers. The Boys didn't like shopping around that area because the items sold were way beyond their budgets (and mine of course)...
Braving the rain, some Boys visited the National Monument Park while others slumped in the oh-so-comfortable bus. The National Monument is a great bronze sculpture erected to commemorate the soldiers who gave up their lives in the triumph over the Communists. Standing 15.54 meters tall, it is also reputed to be one of the world's largest free-standing bronze sculptures designed by the American sculptor Felix de Weldon. Our guide Ken commented that ironically the sculptures looked more Caucasian than Malaysian.
Following that, we departed for Mid Valley Megamall where some serious shopping started. The shopping mall was HUGE and much effort was put into the Christmas decorations. It was a free and easy time for the Boys and us.
The second day ended with another Workshop - Emotional Intelligence II by Gary.
Day 3 started off with a nature walk at the Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). The walk uphill was tiring, like Batu Caves, but it was all worth it when we reached the canopy walk. This canopy walk isn't like the one in Singapore where everything is reinforced by unshakeable steel. This one requires more faith.
The cooling temperatures beneath the canopy was fantastic. Thank GOD for keeping away the rain too.
After lunch at Muthu's Curryhouse at Sunway, the Boys proceeded to Sunway Lagoon for an afternoon of fun. We were troubled when the officers called to inform us that they had to pay an addition of 30 ringgit if they wanted to play paintball. Angeline was told by the Malaysian authorities that paintball was included in the entrance fees and the Boys were really looking forward to it. It was resolved after Angeline called Gary and they agreed to absorb the extra costs incurred.
While the Boys were enjoying themselves in the lagoon, Angeline and I continued shopping at Sunway Pyramid. It was another huge shopping mall like the one at Mid Valley. It even had an indoor ice-skating ring on the ground floor.
Dinner was settled at Aloy Kai where they served up stalls after stalls of 'zhi-char'. There was a BB Shopping Mall (what a coincidental name) where we continued shopping too.
After our buffet breakfast at the hotel on Day 4, we departed for Johor Bahru and Singapore. Along the way, the clutch pedal of our bus broke and our driver couldn't change gears. We thank God that it only broke when we were entering Yong Peng and we could conveniently let the Boys have lunch and hook up a mechanic from there. The repairs were quick and our journey wasn't interrupted.
The Boys wanted to Go-Kart at Sunway, but it was under renovation. As a make up for the paintball incident, we brought them for go-karting at JB. We had difficulties finding the location because Ken our guide was from KL, not JB. After hours upon hours of driving around, we finally found the small muddy track that leads to the circuit. It was all worth it when we saw the smiles of contentment on the faces of our Boys.
We arrived at Beatty Secondary School at about 9.30pm and the trip ended with pleasant exchanges of contacts, handshakes and thanksgivings.
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