Part V: The Short Vacation.

Okay I lied. 

It's not the end.

This is the real the end.

We traveled back to Chiangmai with the Green Bus and stayed a night there. Can I just say that was the worse bus ride we ever experienced? We all were so close to kissing the floor of the bus station when we arrived. Goodness.

Of course before we leave, we've gotta have Maechan Coffee first. I like mine to be Caramel please thank you :)

The view from the balcony of where we spent a night before flying back to KL the next day. Riverside Condo, which I booked through a website called www.airbnb.com. I really like to use this website because got so many photos and then you can search according to your preference and how many people staying etc. Love it. The apartment where we stayed was beautifully decorated and very modern in style. It's proper and there's internet provided. Whether it's "clean" in that sense, mystery. We shall not go there. The price also quite okay. Since there were 6 of us, we only paid about RM42 per person for a night. So, if you have like big group staying together, even cheaper!

After checking in, we walked around to find lunch. We have no idea where we were heading but the moment we saw a makan place and it smelled superb, we walked in and sat down and ordered. Penang people must never go hungry like that. Hah. That was about 3-4pm if not mistaken.

After lunch, we decided to head back and rest for a while before heading to the famous Chiangmai Zoo. Pastor Cowan went before so he didn't wanna join us. He continued walking around looking for more food. Hahaha. Our Fu Fu!

Initially, we were told that the night safari costs about RM50 per person. We were extreme careful with our Thai Bahts that time because we wanted to make sure we have enough to shop at their local night market which was next in our itinerary. 

Manatau, it was RM80 per person! Expensive like crazy! Then again, Fu Fu said that the zoo very nice. Could be even nicer than Singapore Zoo. SINGAPORE ZOO you know! So, of course we proceed with it lah. Since we traveled so far d from our hotel to the zoo. 

Andrew with the baby jaguar. I was holding it before him and wanted to take some photos but his nails are crazy! So painful and all he did was just trying to stand properly on my shoulder or maybe I didn't know how to hold him properly lah. Crazy painful so I give up. 

Can only admire like that. Baby jaguar okay. Although he looks like just an ordinary cat with black spots. Haha.

Apparently, they have time allotted for sessions and stuff. The first is some cowboy show. The show that almost got me super angry. Nothing one! Just some guys with cowboy hats throwing fake guns around and spinning some ropes. We walked away and took more photos with some other animals. 

Then, we followed the crowd and it was time for train ride to the herbivores side of the zoo. And the carnivore side. We bought vegetables, thinking that we're going to feed them in their cage. How wrong!

Some animals (the bigger ones) are in their own area where they are not allowed to come out and stuff, obviously but others like zebra, giraffes, wild boars and deers are all walking freely around us. Yes, AROUND US. See the photos and you'll know what I mean. A bit blur because it was really dark and our train was moving slowly.

It was super fun but also very scary because they came so close to us, like super close. One of the giraffe's tongue almost licked someone;s face THAT CLOSE OKAY! So funny.

You can't see it here but those are mini wild boars. I mean baby wild boars. SO CUTE! They followed our train all the way until to one main gate. 

All in all, it was a nice night safari experience but I feel it's way too pricey. I would rather pay the same price and go for the Day Zoo. Maybe that one is better than Singapore Zoo lah. If Singapore Zoo's night safari is not better than Chiangmai's Zoo, I think I wouldn;t wantto spend hundreds to Singapore Zoo leh. Then again, Fu Fu said that the Day Zoo is good because he has never been to the Chiangmai's Night Safari before.

Anyways, after that we went to the famous night market and spent about an hour trying to reunite with Fu Fu. Apparently, there are a few night markets and they are all not that near to each other if by walking. So yeah. We met up, shopped till the stalls close and even when they close d, we still continued shopping. Haha. Things are quite cheap there. Quite.

The man whose mom made the pants that they are wearing/holding. Super comfortable and super unique.

Can you believe it that we didn't have dinner until it was 12am? Yeah, we only decided to eat after all the stalls closed on us. So, we walked to 7-11 and got our dinner there. Not a problem okay. Anytime can just have a meal in there. Best 7-11 seriously. We tapau-ed and walked back to our hotel which was SOOOO FAR! No kidding! I think we walked for an hour. No joke. 

We slept at 1-ish and woke up at 5-ish. Checked into the airport by 7am. Then, we ate at Black Canyon. Heavy breakfast. Heavy but pretty yummy. Oh, I also bought a pair of those comfy pants, not the same style though. Only RM15! Should have got for my mom and sisters each. 

Fu Fu was obsessed with Pad Thai the whole entire time we were in Thailand. OBSESSED I TELL YOU! Haha. Fu Fu, don't eat d!

That day, we were walking zombies. So, anytime Koay can get to nap, he would. We wanted him to sleep more because he was going to drive for 4 hours from Kl to Penang. Tiring day indeed. 

And that, my dear friends, is the end of the trip.

Though it was tiring, but it was one of the most memorable and meaningful one. I have never experienced something like this. Going on vacation is great but going on vacation and serving His people is even better. So fulfilling, so complete. 

Thank You Jesus for providing us on this trip. You rock our world :)

Thailand Part IV.

Find Part I, Part II and Part III here.

I know this is supposed to the last part of the trip, but I realized that it's not even close to the ending yet. Oh goodness. I shall start naming the post after this based on the places we go or the things we do. No more Part V since the rest is our one day holiday, sort of. Haha.

Anyways, so after spending a great one week at Santisuk, it was back down to the city of Chiangrai. We all went back to the Vineyard Outreach, dropped our bags and boxes, and immediately got up to Pastor Randall's ride and go hunt street food. And to 7-11 of course. Pastor Cowan drove the beauty. 

We ate like we havn't been eating for the past three days. Especially them boys. Oh how I remember now of my favorite barbequed pork ribs that only cost RM5 for a half slab. Why you so yummy and cheap!

After spamming all the food, we went back and played with the children. By playing I actually mean more climbing on the boys and grabbing and taking selfies.

It was already evening and we wanted to have a nice dinner with Pastor Randall so I went up to shower and stuff. When I came down, the kids were like waiting. It's like they never lfet the 'garden' at all. So funny and cute actually. They brought us around the place and showed us their home-grown mini watermelons and tomatoes and pineapples and a lot more. Then, more selfies :)

Dinner was really yummy, so no photos because busy swallowing. Haha. Did we go to Tesco for a while after dinner? I think no.. I can't remember.. We got back to the house and we did this one last thing with the kids. 

I cannot believe it has been weeks since we came home. It's all good. It's all good.

Thailand Part III.

Find Part I, Part II and Part IV here.

I'm so scared that I'll just not continue posting about the trip if I let it off my mind for too long. So, before I actually go into that state of mind, I need to post all finish as soon as possible. This is difficult guys. Why so many photos! 

I should have just share the video link from youtube here. Settle. Hah.

Anyways, with the money that we collected, we gave the church RM1000 and immediately they were able to build a proper cement floor for the kids to play. 

Special thanks to the people who have sponsored us. Since my company, Holiday Tours & Travel Penang sponsored RM500, I shall do a mini shout out/ads for them. Hahaha. Not only that, my boss and colleagues collected cash and gave them to us for this ministry. :)

There are a few 'stations' going on to build this proper flooring. First, the big pile of sand, which women/kids/Van and me scooped them into a gunny bag and then the men/boys/kids will carry them down a slope.

Then, they will pour the sand out and make a big hole-kind-of-pile where they mix the cement and sand and stones, I think. All this under the hot sun. 

 Then, the ladies will line up in one line and they will pass a bucket of cement at a time to the starting point of the flooring process. Oh my, I don't know exactly know what I'm talking about. Anyways, this part I didn't participate because it was way too hot and I'm not as strong as these women are. Seriously, I don't know what they eat. They like never get tired. *salutes*

 At this point, the boys were still helping them out. Van and I decided to do some final touch up to the paint in front of the church. Then, we rested a while and Koay's best friend, Chard suggested to take us to his 'farm'. I think you can call it farm lah. 

I say Koay's best friend because everytime he sees Chard, he will for sure go to him and talk in his broken Mandarin. Chard is always laughing at him. So cute. What I think is Koay really has a heart for people. People like Chard. This is one of the things I admire about Koay. Despite the language barrier and difficulty in understanding each other, Koay always put in the effort to be with him, be it standing next to him, giving him food, playing basketball, speaking in one word by one word. 

Then, when Chard invited him to his farm, he immediately said yes. Yes, without thinking. I know, there's really nothing much to think about also since he invited but because it was evening and we had to prepare for some stuff. At the end, what matters most is not our resting time. It's not lying down for a good 15 minutes.

It's developing a friendship that has already been made. And that I really love about Koay. God shows me so much through you, it's crazy.

Anyways, we walked with Chard up the hills to his farm. His family's. Sort of. His biological family is not in Chiang Mai. This is like relative kind of family. 

 Photo credits to Vanessakym :)

The view was superb so it was worth the short  hike, which we didn't expect at all. Haha. Chard said very near only. He said it in Mandarin, so it was rather convincing. There were lychee trees, chickens and piglets. Oh goodness, they so cute okay! I don't think I've ever seen piglets in real life before. There were like 6-8 of them sucking milk from their mommy. Sooo cute. Tak boleh tahan ahhhh.

Nic trying to touch the tail of a very big wild boar. 

Koay and Chard.

We were kinda late for our dinner already so Chard decided to bring us through shortcut. This is real adventure because it's path that people have never traveled in before, and they look like homes to snakes and God knows what else. It's crazy but fun at the same time. All Chard did was laugh at all of us because we looked so terrified, especially Nic. Such good times though. 

The other night when Koay and Andrew promised to join Chard and his friends in a friendly basketball match nearby, only to find out that we had to go to a lil girl's birthday dinner with other local pastors. Chard looked so sad when we told him that we couldn't join him. 

While waiting for everyone else to change for the birthday party.

It's not just only a birthday party but also a mini cell-group kind. We sang a few songs and Pastor Cowan preached in Mandarin. Superb la his sermon in mandarin. Then, we ate. Then, when the sun is gone completely, we kept on eating because it was so yummy. Don't know what we put in our mouth also. Just chew and swallow.

One of the man that Koay remembered from last year. His life inspires Koay in so many aspects. He was a soldier who fought for his country and loses a leg in the battle. Yet, you will see him doing hard labor for the church anytime. There is no excuse from this man. If I'm not mistaken, he's also a pastor in this church.

Later the week only we started spending more time with the children. We made lanterns, coloring contest, hand print art and many other mini games. Oh and selfie! And some of the girls taught me how to write my name in Thai. Moments like these cannot be captured with my goldii. Only with there two eyes I have. It's beautiful. Jesus loves all the same. All.

 

This boy is Ronaldo. He speaks Thai and Mandarin, so all our conversation with him is in Mandarin.

Ronaldo: *points at me* She's your love? 

Koay: Yeah.. How you know?

Ronaldo: *shy* How old are you? And her?

Koay: *reveals our age*

Ronaldo: Married? How many children?

Koay: Mei yo!

Ronaldo: *looked super shocked* (the people gets married when they hit 20)

Koay: Why? You want to be our son?

Ronaldo: *smiles and nods*

And there you have it.

The only time I actually enjoyed sweeping the floor. KIDDING! Later you all think I'm so spoilt never do housework all. Hah.

Chef at work :)

 Part IV will be the last series of this trip. My plan is to update them all tomorrow. Let's hope I have some time to spare from work. 

Other news: Vanessa is improving so fast now it's crazy. Prayers move mountains. And all your prayers is moving our big mountain now. Thank you again! You guys rock :)

 Out for now.