Post camera blues
My camera will be gone forever.

Guess I'm getting numb to the cruel fact. Trying to get over the loss asap though. You'll probably only comprehend the pain if you go on a vacation only to realise the pictorial memories of it are gone forever. What's more, you'll kick yourself in the head cos you clearly remembered where you last placed your camera but due to your own carelessness it's stolen.

Must be stolen lah. The airlines told me there was no report of missing articles for my flight. Obviously someone's eyes were sharp enough to notice my blue pouch nicely camouflaged on the blue seat. Stupid lah, you want the camera I give you, just return me the memory card can.

Thanks to all those who tried to console me in one way or another :)

Coasta Sands
Salt Shakers chalet took place last Saturday, the day many couples wanted to tie the knot. I personally attended one wedding ceremony myself. Anyway, I was feeling super lousy due to lack of sleep from my hk trip and the loss of my camera. While packing stuff for the chalet I was just dumping everything that came to my mind into the bag, hoping that if I missed something out I wouldn't have to stay over. Why? Cos I seriously wasn't in the mood for anything else. Just wanted to stay home, mop around and wallow in self pity. But thank God the chalet cheered me up a little.

Some of them built beautiful sandcastles on the beach. The castles even had steps leading from the base to the peak! Nigel, Rachel, Yiling, Jeremy and I were playing bridge, I'm surprised how intellectually challenging this game can be. Others played monopoly till Li-li was bankrupt :) Bbq was great because we didn't have super chao da food! Had chicken wings, satay, sausages, potatoes, sting ray etc. There was choc fondue too!

I wonder how did the ten of us manage to bathe and sleep. Fortunately as "law-abiding citizens", we took turns to bathe in an orderly manner. Just that I jumped queue cos I'm toilet-phobic. Like I can't stand wet toilets and I don't like to wash up in the toilet!! Which explains why I don't enjoy bathing.

Vanessa and I shared a single bed with one pillow to two and a towel as a blanket (yeah you must be wondering how we did it). In hongkong Ami didn't complain that I snore but Vanessa even tried to record down my snoring sound. Hehs, I think I do snore, when I'm super super tired? Especially when the air-con gives me blocked nose and the sleeping conditions are terrible.

What do experts say about that? When people's air pipes get narrow and they severely lack sleep, the body naturally finds means and ways to improve sleeping conditions by snoring!

Had less than 5 hours of sleep and we all woke up at 8+ for morning devotion. The grass patches at east coast are infested with red ants k. Anyway, worship and Rachel's sharing was good. It made me realise once again that faith is believing in what we cannot see. Like I suddenly got the message from God that if I think I can handle every problem in my life, what is God for, and what is faith for. And I just know God has spoken to every single one of us through this chalet retreat.

Thanks to everyone who made this possible. Like to those who ordered the bbq food, to Rachel who persevered in looking for a chalet, to those who did worship for us, to those who kept fellow cell members in prayer, to those who thought of games to play, to those who volunteered their photo-taking services, and to all who didn't mumble a single complaint but willingly took part in games and devotion despite the lack of sleep. Update the photos into the cell blog soon!

Tour guiding
Coincidentally, the chalet clashed with the arrival of my Batam cousins. I felt bad that they were in my house fending for themselves for one day while I left for the chalet. Such a bad host I am. So I made it up by being their free tour guide the next day. After like only 4+ hours of sleep I went out with Evi, Ah boy, Ah Hen, Ah Hui, Charlene, Hazel, Qiu Yan and Qiu Si. Among all of us I'm the oldest. Gosh, I see a potential generation gap. Maybe I should migrate to the "older cousins gang".

Precisely because I'm the oldest, and precisely because I know my way around better, I find myself leading the gang most of the time. Brought them to Fuji Ice Palace for their first encounter with ice skating. It's my second only, but i aspire to master the art of ice skating. Besides being super cool to be able to skate fast, I find that it's a great place for fun and relaxation. I could have whacked myself for wearing thin socks, after a while I had blisters on my toes. But Ah boy was so kind to buy me thick socks. And my cousins managed to persuade some guy who worked at Fuji to teach all of us the trick to ice skating. Small kids do the trick all the time :)

I'm gonna be a pig for the next few days. Could feel my temperature rising cos I haven't been sleeping enough. And because my camera is gone, you'll have to bear with my nonsense. See less, read more.