Back from Jiangnan!

Back from my 7-day tour in Jiangnan! Arrived back on Tue night, and hadn't got the energy to blog till now. Not that I have lots of time to start blogging at this unearthly hour, but figured that I better start typing something, else I will never complete it. So here is part 1, heh.

On the whole, I enjoyed the trip with my family. First time touring together, and first time to such a cold place. The temp went down to as low as -8 deg C in the night. Thank God, that me being kiasu, we were quite prepared, armed with winter clothings, thermals, gloves, socks, scarfs, and heat packs. Nevertheless, the day we arrived at Shanghai was exceptionally cold, due to some wind from Russia. It didn't help that the first day's itenary required us to move about outdoors quite a lot. So we did have a hard time adjusting to the climate.

There were 15 of us in the tour group, so that's a cosy size. 2 sets of couples, 2 neighbours, a family of 5 and my family. Everybody was cordial and friendly, and punctual for each gathering. =) I liked our tour guide - Li, a middle aged guy based in Shanghai. He was very responsible, personable, witty and fun. What impressed me was that he actually noted that one of the day was my mum's birthday, and he bothered to pull me aside to ask if I have any plan to celebrate. And he gamely arranged for a birthday cake to be brought in after dinner. A small gesture, but hugely appreciated!

Apart from Li, we also had a local guide joining us at each place we visited. A total of 4 such local guides. 3 of them are ladies. And I must say that the gals did a much better job than the 1 guy. Basically, they are all very fluent in speech, and they could just rattle off the history, the culture, the landmarks, the people, etc. But the ladies had the extra smile, sweetness, and sincerety that stood out. I wonder if our Sgp tour guides are like that. Hmmm, cannot imagine.

We visited many places, and honestly, I can hardly remember the names of these places... lousy memory, but how I wish I could have recorded what the tour guides mentioned. I find the explanation and history of these landmarks so interesting. And the context of some Chinese idioms were also told to us. Makes learning Chinese so much more fun. If only I have come to encounter Chinese in such manner in school, I would have loved the subject much more.

Oh, being in a tour group also meant that we were somewhat pampered. We were driven from place to place, able to doze off in the comfort of the heated coach while the guide is rattling on. Food is "zi cha" style every lunch and dinner in decent, heated restaurants. Lots of shopping as well. Luggage is fetched for us to and fro the hotel rooms. At the cost of a tip, of course. Oh, generally, we get to stay in each hotel for 1 night and then we move to the next place. Guess it is like that for China tours eh, much area to cover within short time...

Talking about tips, this being my family's first tour together, there were lots of additional costs which we hadn't anticipate. Besides tips of various kinds, there was the optional tour which promised a good deal. Since everyone else in the tour group decided to go for it, we did so too. Result, insufficient cash!! We got to amass whatever Sgp currency we had and change to RMB! It didn't help that most of the cheap shopping deals did not accept credit cards. We had a hard time scouting for places that accepted cards. When we finally found one, it was a buying spree man! Each of us bought a new winter coat cos it is much cheaper as compared to buying in Sgp. Yes, burnt a huge hole in my pocket for this trip and also the Christmas shopping prior to the trip. =( Got to be more careful about my expenditure now...

Thought of sorting out the pics, but there are really quite a lot of them, so I shall find a more appropriate time to go through them. ok, tired now. Shall stop here for now.

Part 2? Not exactly...

Its been a week of delay, and part 2 has not be posted... yeah, finally got down to blog it, but think the mood is rather different now.

Basically, I had in mind to blog about the horse riding experience during the retreat. Went with AH and Jache. Glad to have their company, as not many people are usually interested in such activity, and the price was rather steep. On the whole, it was a very pleasant experience, I must say. We opted for the 1 hr lesson which was held within the compound. The 3 of us shared the same training compound, and we basically ride our horses in circles. I love my horse, Botanio (not sure of spelling lah), though I had a hard time trying to remember his name. He is a handsome, black horse, and is very gentle in nature. Generally very obedient too. I was certainly very inspired to pick up more riding lessons after the experience.

Have been really busy lately. Meetings, worship practices, cell, helping out at events, shopping for gifts etc.. Parents have just decided to go on a tour to China in Dec over Christmas! So last minute! So, on top of
Christmas shopping, I have to also buy lots of things for the trip! Just came back from one such buying spree. More to come, I believe...

Hope Retreat Part 1

Returned from hope camp yesterday and was promptly whisked off for dinner with family and bro's gf. So, its another big meal lah, in addition to the past 3 days of eating eating & eating at the camp. Must have gained lots of kilos over the past few days.

Oh, enjoyed myself at the camp. Guess my expectations weren't too high. It was a relaxing camp for me, and not having any duty on hand helps. Grateful for the time off from work, and being together with fellow BASIC. Although I wasn't able to follow everything that the speaker spoke on, thank God that I managed to catch bits and pieces of what transpired.

The sharing sessions in smaller groups helped us to identify application points to our lives and to our church life. Yes, God spoke into my heart regarding the prayer life, or lack, of our pp. Our attitude toward prayer meetings is totally in need of re-vamp! It is not a time of presenting a whole shopping list to God, but really, just waiting at Jesus' feet. I felt my excitement rise within me when we talked about the possibility of our congregation praying like the early church. But first, people need to come... We were just casually mentioning this to the speaker, and in her wisdom, she cautioned us against mandating people to attend. The desire to attend prayer meetings should come from within. Let us ask God to begin touching the lives of those who attend, and the encounters will speak for themselves and draw others. I am glad that the speaker held this viewpoint, instead of advocating dos and donts.

We had a sunday service at the resort before returning to Sgp. Pastor took the opportunity to pray for and bless each camper. That really touched my heart and I felt sad about him leaving.

Oh also, Mr Goh BP's wife attended the camp with us and she PRCed on the last day. PTL!

Ok, will continue part 2 later. Gotta run for now...