The time 1830 .....I was first at STARBUCKS....seeing that no one else was there - I popped over to Chillies to try and book us a table. Much to my displeasure, this arrogant obnoxious guy whom I would call the "doorman" (considering the fact that He was standing at the door, opening it for patrons) said to me, we do not do reservations! Its on a first come first served basis and we need to have your entire party of 12 here before we will sit you down but we might seat you if you have maybe 10 of you. I left and went back to Starbucks to meet the rest and well, I was still the first to be there :)
Hao Yee & Lydia came along soon after..Without knowing when the rest will arrive, Lydia suggested we go to All Stars Sports Cafe which served similar food - had quite a good setting & was quiet...so there we went & sat down. People & all were nice but I can tell you the most disappointing thing I discovered about that joint - THEY DO NOT DO RE-FILLS & DO NOT DO COMBO PLATTERS APPETISERS! Oh and they serve your overpriced drinks in the smallest glasses ever! Argh...so no wonder people move over to Chillies!!
Ok for those of you who know me , you can imagine me grunting away to myself & people around me ...but anyway....it was the company that was important right?!!
Laughter was the theme of the night with Hao Yee starting off his lame jokes & Wan Yen telling us about her first week of work.....and of course, I was up to my random responses to the waiter about the food when we ordered & busy texting Hao Yee who was, would you believe it - sitting a seat away from me! Lydia was in between us just so to keep us properly behaved!! Ha ha!
The highlight - the food - I do recommend this place! Portions are huge & they do oriental & western cuisine! The oriental ones came first of course and looked so yummy....And I had to have BBQ Spare Ribs - so ordinary right?! Liz & Khan Kee's Nasi Pattaya & Siam Belacam Rice was heaven!! The best part - they were seated right in front of me :) Ok...so the night continued with several of us reaching over to perch on each other's food and playing passing the parcel but using food - in fact , I think we passed around Choon Yean's pineapple a couple of times (as he had pineapple rice served in a pineapple!) Notably, we were making a fool of ourselves-being danty and loud, having strangers starring at us from all corners..yes, I noticed! I think I missed these cell dinners....we don't seem to care whether we are in someone's house or in a public dining area - we are still crazy!
Thankfully, we did not have Jon Chew with us tonight - or else, we would have definitely been chased out of the restaurant considering the many things He would have had up his sleeve! Sorry cousin...just kidding but we did miss you tonite ...Bangkok ain't that great compared to this right?
Well...something special happened tonite...My first ever farewell where people actually bought me a cake!! Yes, I had a cake - it had the words Happy Missions encrypted in cream! To top it all off, they sang Happy Missions to You (as opposed to Happy Birthday!) Funny thing is, there were these 2 waiters waiting alongside who brought the cake to the table that were waiting to sing Happy Birthday etc - the cafe style & I think they thought we are a strange bunch and they continued standing there numb to their toes! Anyway, I cut the nice chocolate cream cake with mousse as one would on their birthday ....but this is the special part....Mey, Hao Yee & Lydia said very special prayers for me, releasing me from the cell & zone to God's work in the UK , commending me as a cell to UK & covering me with their love, support & encouragement! I treasured the corporate spirit of the cell - truly, God has been good to me this year providing me with a spiritual home back in KL & now assuring me that these people are 110% behind me! I felt so loved :) I am touched & I thank you all for sharing your lives with me!
Aha...nite wasnt over yet....we decided that we must have our all time favourite craving - yup, you got it - ICE CREAM!! The majority decided on Turkish ice cream..Nice! I must tell you, we are really random people especially me - so don;t be surprised how easily distracted we can be as a cell...We made 2 detours! We stopped at some furniture in house livign room decorative set exhibiton & decided to take some shots together , akin to japanese tourists in malaysia & had tonnes of passer-bys giving us glaring stares & pointing fingers!! Embarrased...we quickly headed off towards the direction of the ice cream, yet again....another distraction - what now?? Well - BEAN BAGS! Mey rushed to it before I did ..hehe...And the rest, naturally followed without question to see our amazement at these bean bags..Everyone was just into everything this shop was selling & I think the sales people were bewildered at our excitement - we were like clowns, making a scene by our mere presence & enthusiam about some bean bags of all sizes! Man, I felt the poor bean bags saying to us, take us home please....tempting..tempting...but I managed to resist...Then I remembered, Val, you are going on missions now..Certain things are LUXURIES not NEEDS...so let's think about keeping to the covenant you made about being disciplined!
Ok...so onward christian soldier...I went, din look back or look at anything else and pressed on towards my goal - yes, the turkish ice cream!!
Turkish Ice -cream rating : LOVELY! The guys all abstained though - some form of low calories diet Hao Yee convinced them into adhere to. So vain eh?
Now, the nite is over...well, almost! The norm took place...our hanging around chatting , saying goodbye took another half hour before people actually dispersed......just like in church after service....hehe...some things Malaysians do just DO NOT change! Finally, after bidding goodbye for the last time to everyone, we ended our nite out - all with a full blown stomach!
How do I feel now? I feel that I have a fantastic God & a fantastic CELL & some pretty fantastic friends!
I'm gonna miss them all loads :)
My friend Julius told me once, we're only a prayer & an ocean away! How true!
Ok..thats it for now..I think I have scribble way to much but who cares...I had a great nite & I want to be able to remember it!
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