Penang Trip Review

Date: 4/7-7/7
Place: Tanjung Bunga, Penang
People: FM gang (with MC ppl as well) and me-10 of us

Credits
My heartfelt thanks to Edward and xin long for driving us up ^_^
You guys made it happened.

Volleyball
FM guys beat the other team of mixed players in the game of volleyball, well done!

Parasailing
I went parasailing and it was so cool! The feeling of flying and having a bird’s eye view cost me RM 50 oh! The whole experience was great to me; it was my first time doing parasailing. The hardest part was having TRUST and TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP. Before taking off, as the speedboat starts moving, the guy gave me cues to start running towards the sea. In a few seconds, I was in the air and I was told to let go of my hands. Yes, LETTING GO. I did exactly that and relaxed my arms and legs. I was flying! It would really be an added bonus if I did this in Lang Tengah. Penang beach wasn’t great but the view of sunset, coast, sea, ship and the island from the air was quite an experience to me.

Texas Holdem, Mahjong, King Mao
A trip with a rowdy bunch of us can never be complete without these games.
It was creative of Edward to come up with the idea of throwing the dice for the number of ‘fan’ a player MUST get in order to ‘sek wu’ (end game). He came up with this after getting bored with the compulsory 10 ‘fan’ (burst) rule.

According to Edward, William was really on the verge of BURSTING during the game of King Mao, whereby players have to put down cards in the process of guessing the rules of the game. There are 3 basic rules, and once the King Mao has been dethroned, the new King Mao will add a new rule without telling the players. So the frustration of guessing repeats itself. =P

If you all didn’t already know, Mary, the original King Mao, was thrown into the pool in Lang Tengah once a few players figured out the rules. =)

Monopoly
On the last night, a few engaged in the game of Monopoly while people like yeeket and I who are not keen in it sat out.
‘2 pounds only u still wanna collect, so CHEAP!’ exclaimed the on-the-verge-of-getting-high William.

Drinking
Sorry people for buying the Absolut Kurant. I learnt my lesson- Absolut Vanilla is nice does NOT mean that other Absolut are nice too. Never be deceived by the outlook of the black currant vodka bottle that is currently sitting proudly alongside with the Absolut Vanilla bottle on my decorative table. ^_^
However, the guys finished them all- most of the credits go to William who kept shouting that he wanted to be drunk.

Playstation 2
A big thanks to Xin Long for bringing the PS2. I managed to borrow 2 dancing mats from my friend and revived the good old days of mine. =)

Thanks to the Dancing King cum Controller King, Kim Jou, I had a great time dancing duet with him. He is called so because he is unbeatable in both the dancing mats and using the controllers for the ‘dance steps’.

Throughout the whole trip, the guys engaged in the World Cup in PS2. One would have thought that they were watching the actual World Cup LIVE itself from the shouting and cursing and screams of joy in the room.

Quoting some of them, ‘This is better than the actual game itself.’ I guess it is because of the fact that they are IN CONTROL of the game that gives them the kick. There won’t be any dispute if I were to say that Xin Long is the King of World Cup of PS2. Well done! The rest of the guys showed some really good playing too.

Visit to Taiping
Thanks to the filial grandson, Edward, we all got to visit Taiping and tried the yummy yet cheap food! We had wantan mee that Edward has been eating ever since he was young, red bean drinks and ice kacang that cost RM 1 respectively!! nice popiah, chicken rice and some tong sui. We bought back some kuih that are yummy and cheap too!

By the way, Lake Taiping is nice; somehow it seems nicer than when I saw it the first time back then in standard 6. I can still recall that there was a red bridge, and true enough, it is still there. It is a pity that the scorching hot sun in Malaysia does not allow us to have a stroll along the lakeside like how we can do it in West Lake of China (Xi Hu) during all seasons other than SUMMER.

My Thoughts after The Trip
Respect for girls
Despite the fact that there are some rotten eggs (guys) who are touchy even when it comes to their female friends, thank goodness there are still some gentlemen who are willing to stand up for justice and said something like, ‘can you please respect girls?’ to the idiot who touched a girl’s lap suggestively.

Guys, we decent girls are NOT dumb blonde who cannot tell the difference between a friendly pat and a suggestive touch. Please watch your filthy fingers. When we do not say it straight in front of you, it doesn’t mean that we don’t mind or we are giving in, we are merely being polite to jackass like you so that both parties can be saved from the potential embarrassment. However, please pick up our hints of discomfort and disregard and ensure your filthy fingers lie elsewhere the next time you feel touchy.

The first step is the hardest
In parasailing, I am once again reminded of the age-old saying that the first step is always the hardest. Once you overcome the fear by putting your foot forward, the rest is going to be alright. It was exactly how I felt when I learnt how to ‘dive’ in the pool during my swimming lesson.

I couldn’t’ swim as a child; it was much later in my life that I was sent for classes and could slowly overcome the fear of being in a deep pool.

Nowadays I find myself getting more ‘in feel’ with the pool. I guess the Malay proverb, ‘tak kenal maka tak cinta’ holds true in my case. I shall constantly remind myself that I should NEVER DOUBT MYSELF and in whatever I do, just be brave to take the first step.

Ecclesiastes
I brought a ‘teenage’ version of the Bible along and read some of the synopsis of each book. The book of Ecclesiastes caught my attention and when I came back from penang, I read the NIV version of it. It is still a long way to go for me, but for now, I am reading the Bible for words of encouragement and wisdom. It does have some effect on me when I am feeling down, upset or angry.

‘ What does the man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go,
But the earth remains forever.’

‘Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is chasing after the wind.’

‘Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed-and they have no comforter;
Power was on the side of their oppressors.’

‘So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. All share a common destiny- the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.’

‘Be happy, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see.
But know that for all these things, God will bring you to judgment.
So then, banish anxiety from your heart
And cast off the troubles of your body,
for youth and vigor are meaningless.’

Of Relationship and Fate
Why can’t the girl thinks that ‘it is because in our loneliness that he came into my life, so we are fated to be together’ than to think that ‘he has a relationship with me NOT because he loves me, but because he is lonely?’ I hope my good friend will get over it soon; tomorrow is a new day after all.

In life, circumstances bind people together. It may not be as romantic as we wish it to be, but then again, things always happen the way we least expect it to happen. Sometimes we just have to think of it from another perspective and not try to plunge into the black hole.

I always have this belief that for most guys, it is hard to forget their first love-as in first girlfriend. Even if later on in life he meets another girl and has a relationship with her, he will can’t help but to compare her with his ex-girlfriend. The egoism in guys will make them think that what they cannot get is always the best. So the first girlfriend to a guy is always his most precious memory.

However, I am glad to know from a good guy friend that it is not always like that. He admitted to me that when he had little arguments with the current girlfriend, he would be thinking of the good of the first girlfriend. However, he said that he has never thought that the first girl is the best since he failed to progress further with her. He admitted that at times he would wonder what would happen if they had really stayed on together, but the thought stops there.

I guess if a guy can give me the sense of security, it doesn’t matter if I am his first girlfriend. If I really like him so much, what matters to me is I am his LAST girlfriend. ^_^