It's been a month since my last post. The reason? I haven't had the inclination to blog ever since I began my Remedial Training for my failed Individual Physical Proficiency Test. I've been really tired from the twice a week (now three times a week) training. It involves running, pull-ups, along with various exercises, the likes of which I hadn't seen before. Some of the exercises were unbelievably strenuous at the beginning.
Yet today I've managed to shake out of my stupor and blog. It seems like my body is really getting fitter after more than 4 weeks of training. I managed to run the 3km route today in 15:34, nothing great really but faster than I'd been managing previously. Today I even led the run from beginning to the finish. I suppose it also helped that I had attended training just yesterday although I've never had to do heavy physical exercise two days in a row before. Small wonder that I had to sit in the jacuzzi when I got back just to relax my battered body.
Apart from all the training, I've managed to make friends during the remedial training. The first friend I made is this guy named Kelvin who I struck up a conversation with while waiting between exercises. We got on alright and soon I managed to ask him what he believes in. It turned out that he's a free-thinker. He went to mission schools for 10 years but his mum was a staunch Taoist and prevented him from going to church. The funny thing is, now his mum has become a Christian but he hasn't quite come to believe in God. I'll be meeting him from time to time so please pray for his heart to be open to God's invitiation.
Another friend I made is this other guy called Huan Wei. I thought he looked vaguely familiar so I said hello while we were waiting to do pull-ups. The next time I came for training, I was walking into camp when I noticed Huan Wei was also just walking into camp. So I said hello again. It turns out the reason why I think he looks familiar is we once attended the same course in NUS; Business Law at Biz Ad. Before you dismiss my theory out of hand, he also said I looked rather familiar. You see, in Business Law, very few guys were taking that class at that time. Anyway, it turns out he's a Christian attending St John's St Margaret's Church. Incidentally, he has a twin brother who's working at that church so it might have been him who I saw before. Hee.
Daniel Cheong is also attending the training so I caught up with him. It was rather funny how I bumped into him. I was walking towards the registration queue when I noticed this guy looking at me who looked quite familiar. It took me a while before I realised who it was. Ha. Anyway, he's been alright although once he started working, he gained 15kg. Gee.
Over the weekend, I went to KL with mum and sis. I was allowed to drive the entire way and back which was something I really enjoyed. Of course, I kept to the speed limit though there were times I drifted just over it. The trip itself was quite alright; we met up with my mum's brother and one of her sisters and their spouses and children. We were all staying at the Federal Hotel. My family paid slightly more for our room (we triple shared) but to my surprise, the triple share room was a bigger room! There was no squeezing of beds as the room was big enough to hold three beds while still leaving plenty of open space.
We also had the chance to meet up with some of my mum's old schoolmates. One of them, a long-time family friend named Chun Yee, took us to the Lake Club for lunch. The Lake Club is a club which used to be open only to the British in colonial days. It's quaint by club standards but it really is a nice place to go to. You actually forget you're smack in the middle of the city. After lunch, she took us on a tour of the outlying districts of KL, namely Damansara and Bangsar. These are slightly more affluent areas where the rich have big houses and expensive apartments. Auntie Chun Yee took us to see her own house in Damansara which she and her husband have had built. It's a big house alright, three floors with a small swimming pool, a pond, and an extensive garden. I felt like I was in one of those Travel and Living shows about the lifestyles of the rich and famous. After some conversation, Chun Yee took us to have tea at Secret Recipe. That was when I found out that Secret Recipe originated in Malaysia! The menu there is more extensive than what we find in Secret Recipe in Singapore. Gee.
Then it was off to Bangsar for the weekend market. That was quite a nice experience, not too claustrophobic as weekend markets tend to be. There were the usual stalls selling toys and clothes, and other knick knacks. There's food too, which makes it quite a nice place to go if you just need a light meal. Of course, there's a shopping centre with nice restarurants nearby if you fancy something heavier. Auntie Chun Yee said this was KL's version of Holland Village. I'll leave you to go there and be your own judge.
Then it was back to Damansara for dinner at a noted Thai restaurant. The food there is not too bad, although since it's in Malaysia, there are no pork dishes. Dinner was with some of my mum's other old classmates. We got to the restaurant first and waited for them to arrive. Auntie Oi Lin arrived soon after we got there. Auntie Chun Yee said that Auntie Olive would be picking up two others, Auntie Wai Ming and Auntie Peck Hoon. I had no idea what any of them looked like so when this woman stumbled into the restaurant, I didn't know who she was.
It turned out that she was Auntie Wai Ming and she had just had her purse snatched! She had just parked her car and was walking towards the restaurant when she noticed a car was coming alongside her, and very close to her too. She turned her body to give way to the car when out from the car window came a hand which grabbed her purse. She was dragged by the car for a few feet before she managed to release the purse. That was a rather sour thing to happen but she was really in control and calmly borrowed Auntie Oi Lin's phone to call and have her credit cards cancelled and mobile phone blocked.
Dinner went on nevertheless and when the rest arrived, they were glad that Auntie Wai Ming was not too badly hurt. Dinner was fine and we all had a good time talking about the old times and the new times. Later on, we all went back to Auntie Chun Yee's house where my mum talked some more with her friends. It was midnight by the time we got back to our hotel.
Driving back to Singapore was uneventful. Of course, we made sure we filled up with cheap petrol before proceeding to the Causeway. We also had our car washed at this place which does a better job than most Singapore car washes for half the price. They actually polish the tyres too! Ask me if you would like to know where this place is.
Oh, please pray for my friend Esther who's from Hong Kong and serving as a missionary in the Philippines. I haven't heard from her since Typhoon Xangsane hit the Philippines. She's probably alright as there wasn't any mention of foreigners in the casualty lists, but pray that she really is alright.
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