Jerry Tok

Monday, September 13, 2010

Sisters' Island Part 1

 They say must strike the iron while it's still hot，so here's the first part to Sisters' Island.


I thought I would be first to arrive at Marina South Pier but I was wrong. My super punctual and polite members of the group were there 10mins before the agreed time. I am both relieved and thankful.

Most of us are carrying a small backpack, since there's not much to bring for a overnight trip at Sisters' Island. Upon closer look, I spot something outstanding. Ching Eu brought her luggage, the type where you tow in hand.

Most of us have enter or depart Singapore by air or by land to Malaysia. But I must say, taking a ferry down south to the islands or Indonesia is an experience not to be missed. As the ferry head south west, the impressive Singapore skyline takes shape. Then comes  Sentosa and Sentosa Cove-Singapore's high end private apartment. Those houses has an unobstructed view of the sea, must be quite a view. Our ferry has to pass St John's Island, Kusu Island and Lazarus Island. 15mins later, Sisters' Island is straight ahead of us. You can tell the big sister island apart from the small sister island. According to legend, they are Mina and Lina.

We chose to go to Big Sisters' Island. Our captain informed us that Small Sisters' Island is popular with anglers. We want to be away from the crowd, that's the whole ideal of retreating to an island.

Nothing much has change since my last visit 3 years ago. The rows of coconut trees, the pavilion, the lagoon and the beach. We went to the same campsite. We like the island and the exclusivity of it. Though we are not the only one on the island, we felt like the whole island belongs to us, as least for now.

There were permanent residence on the island, they are the monkeys. I tell you, I've never met monkey as aggressive as these. Soon after we arrive, they came over in a horde, probably to warn us they are the lord of this land. From now on, we know we have to guard anything that is edible from these creatures. I don't want to elaborate more except to say they the island would be perfect without them. For now, we shall settle for almost perfect.


Day Time Sparklers

Our tent manager Fang took over and set up the tent. We sat down under the coconut tree in a group. Yuping had earlier suggested to set a time especially to celebrate Ching Eu's birthday. Nowadays we don't use cake, we got creative and healthy, and in this case, festive. Last week at Jeffrey's birthday, we light up candles on a water melon and use it as a cake to sing birthday song. Today, we have cupcake (was suppose to be mooncake) and light up a sparkler. This is the first time I see a day time sparkler. Some of us took the opportunity to share good things about Ching Eu.

There was no itinerary, no deadline, no schedule. The only itinerary we have is to be with one another. And that's what we did. Some of us took a nap under the coconut tree. I was chatting with others while wading in the water. Frederick probably went to take photo.

Approaching noon, I took out my stuff to prepare for lunch. I love my camping gears- the Primus omnifuel stove, my cooking set and etc. Lunch menu was stir fried instant noodle with luncheon meat and scramble egg. I cook the noodles, others slice the luncheon meat into smaller piece. Ching Eu and Fang make a great team, they were so good at churning out delicious looking scramble egg. Who say camping food are horrible?

I really believe it's the company, lunching together in the outdoor is such a great experience. We finished up every bit of the food. Then I boil water for making hot beverage before the rain comes.

God is so gracious, he kept the rain until we are done boiling the water. We stay outdoor for awhile until the rain got heavy, then we moved to the pavilion.

Can you imagine having a hot cup of coffee/tea in your hand, sitting under a pavilion, enjoying the wind, and sheltered from the rain. We can turn bad weather into great experience!!! We started playing the "never never" game followed by "ever ever" game. It's interesting to know that some of us has never swam in the sea before!!! Unbelievable!!!

The brothers started a game of Frisbee. Without coordinating, only the brothers are playing Frisbee. The sisters are chatting and listening to mp3. It's not that we don't like each other, it's just take place naturally.

We were quite serious about the game although we're having fun too. So we challenge ourselves to count to 10 successful throw-and-catch. Once we achieve that, we set our target to 15 and so on.

Then some of the sisters 'gave in' and join us. We had enough players to play "monkey". We like the game, and it's good work out too. We gave our best to run and chase the Frisbee. One time I was given "red" card for being too violence in a attempt to snatch the Frisbee from Stanley. Ok, now I know how the soccers player felt on the field. I really thought I was innocent.

Water Crisis



1 group of ang mo started packing and left around 5pm. I spoke to one of them in the toilet and found out he's from Ukraine and has been living in Singapore for awhile. We also got 2 bottle of water from them, after stanley and Victor requested from them.

After they left, we thought we want to shift from our current location to their campsite. Main reason being the monkey. I seems like we're camping at the headquarter of the pirate monkeys. We felt harassed. So we went moved.

Our new campsite was better. Since it's enclosed, we don't feel like we're totally expose to the monkey attack. But we have new friends. 1 or 2 monitor lizard was spotted. We are fine with their presence, since they don't bother us. I call her Xiao Ling.


To be continue.
More to come. Hear about our BBQ, fun with sparklers, morning devotion and more

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Remember the names

Last weekend has been a weekend of hanging out with boys. I even skipped my routine sat morning run at Mac Res just to be there at Raymond's place. No, I am just plain lazy. It's nice to sleep in on Sat morning.

So the boys were Randall and Ruben (1-2 months) and Russell. Like most men who are not fathers (or not yet), I don't have a natural inclination to carry them. They're too fragile. Talking to babies? Sounds like a strange idea to me. In the evening, went over to a ex-sec schoolmate house to visit her and Jayden her 1 month old son.

Russell will be turning 2 come this Sep. At home, he loves to play, almost anything is fun to him.

I realise adult sometimes make the most ignorant comments on kids. When I saw Russell taking out the DVD album, selects the DVD of his choice, and put it in the tray of the DVD player, I almost wanted to shout:"Wah, Russell, you so smart ah. Know how to put on your fav DVD." Well, Raymond guide him a little though.

Being a kid is fun because the world is so new to them, and there's endless learning to be done. Like for instance, how to operate the DVD player. But why does it surprise adults that kids are acquiring new skill and ability every single day. So the next time I see a kid carrying out a task, I shall refrain myself from making the ignorant remark "Wah, so crever ah, so-and-so knows how to do ...!"

When I was a kid, I am puzzled by some adults inability to remember my siblings name. I have 4 sisters, Ying, Ling, Min and Ping. The adults kept asking the same question year in year out. When they see Ying, they mistaken her as Ling. When the see Ping, they thought she is Min. I thought to myself, why can't they get it right.

Now that I am an adult, I realise I am having the same problem too. In the church, there are a few siblings that I have to pause for a second before I can put a name to their face. Adrain, Addis and Angelo. Eliot, Sherwin and Eric. Fiona and Vanessa. Sandy and Sherine. Rebecca and Kelly. And now Russell and Ruben. I hope I wouldn't be that boring Uncle who always ask them the same question. "Are you so-and-so or is that your brother/sister."

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Nilai and LCCT

Never say never.

I've been repeating these few words lately. I've ever told someone that I'll never live in Malaysia, my Melaka stay is an exception. But today I was given a glimpse of how my life would be if I were to be based in KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) or LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal). I say again, "Never say never!!!"

As early as 0630hrs this morning, Delta and Romeo were waiting for Juliet and I at MFA guard house, we are heading up north to Nilai first to pick up Echo. After a visit to Drs Young Clinic for our medical renewal, we did a whole bunch of stuff, including having lunch at TGIF at Midvalley Mall, before headed back to Echo's place again in Nilai.

Due to it's proximity, Nilai is fast becoming the choice location to live for personnel working at the airport. From Echo's place, the airport is a mere 15min-20mins drive. It's even faster than the time taken to travel from MFA to Dataran Pahlawan (in downtown Melaka). Already, I've seen a AirAsia flight stewardess in the neighbourhood, I presume that she's just come back from the airport. (have you ever seen someone who dresses up in flight crew uniform and towing a luggage in hand, just to shop at the mall?). I can imagine there are many more pilots, cabin crew and airport personels living in the proximity of Nilai. Some of my Airasia friends are looking for a place to rent in Nilai too.

There are no major attraction in Nilai. There's quite a big student population here too due to the university and college. According to my GPS, the nearest major shopping mall is Alamanda (15km) located in Putrajaya. Other then that, Nilai is quite nice with wide road and not so much cars. In the evening, I spotted joggers, a sign that security is not an issue here.

Around 5pm, after hanging around Echo's place for awhile, we make plans to travel to LCCT. This is my first visit to LCCT and on my way, I saw the Sepang F1 race track.Malaysia F1 track is permanent unlike Singapore's which is a street track. I also spotted a huge billboard "See you at Singapore F1 race". The road leading up to the LCCT is wide and nice.

I am usually excited to visit airports. There's a quotation, "Life is a series of arrival and departure." And at the airport, this quote comes alive.

Since Romeo and Echo previously worked at the airport, they bumped into alot of ex-colleagues and friends over there. Everytime they do, they'll spend a few mins talking while the rest of us simply stood there waiting.




Meeting an old friend at a new place

I wasn't expecting that I'll meet someone I know. Then just when we've paid for the parking and about to proceed to the car, I thought I saw someone unmistakeably familiar. It's my friend whom I met in Chilliwack Canada. We were housemate for 6 months before I move back to Singapore. It was just natural for me to walk up to her and gave her a warm hug. We haven't met for at least 2 years. We both took a moment to take in this. It's almost unreal that we are now standing on Malaysia ground and seeing one another. Back when we're in Chilliwack. We spend time talking about how much we missed home. And homesickness gets more intense with winter and the cold chill. But we both have to go (this time round it's my friends waiting for me) and so we bid goodbye, with a promise to call up each other and hang out. I promise.


After dinner, we make our way back to Melaka. I told myself if I ever get a job based at KLIA or LCCT, I'll definite consider moving to Nilai.

Monday, June 28, 2010

New Design

New design feature by blogspot. Lately, I was complaining about the lack of new design. So this new feature comes timely.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

My Melaka

Never say never. I've told myself I'll never ever live or work in Malaysia (Yes, I was arrogant). But here I am, having lived in Melaka for almost 2 years.

I'm a sentimental person, sometimes. As the days draws closer to the end of my stay in Melaka (when my course ends here), I find myself starting to compile a list of things and activities I'll miss when I leave.

1. Hill runs at Bukit Beruang. I was doing that consistently last year when I was training for the Kinabalu Climbathon. I stopped going there for awhile after the race. But last week when I went there for a walk, I saw the same familiar faces. 1 uncle even ask why I was absence for months. I just smile.

2. Cheap movie at Dataran Pahlawan. On weekdays before 5pm, tickets are priced at 6RM.

3. Evening run around Taman Merdeka. Running passed the house, sometimes I peeked into the house to see family gathering together after dinner in front of the TV. Other times, I saw kids playing badminton just outside their house; elderly man doing gardening; boys playing basketball; Kids cycling; family having dinner at coffee shop; pasar malam.

4. Evening dilemma on what to eat for dinner. I will dedication a entry on food.

5. Strolling along Jonker walk on a weekday afternoon or evening. I like the old charm of Five Foot Street. The real charm of Jonker walk is that the real shops run by the locals and patronized by the local, not the weekend Pasar Malam overcrowded with tourist.

6. Cheng Ho Tea House. Also at Jonker Walk, Great tea house with great ambiance.

7. Bus Terminal Melaka Sentra. It's big, air-conditioned, has a Mcd for me to grab my meal before I board the bus. It's the gateway to the rest of West Malaysia and Singapore.

8. Walk along the Melaka River. It's quiet, no cars, no crowd. Most visitors are more interested in the overcrowded Jonker Walk. Unfortunately, you can only find the real charm of Jonker Walk if you can remove all the tourist, hence, the river is a great escape and a stark contrast. There are interesting riverside cafe.

9. Road junction that surprises. It was first a cross junction with traffic lights, next the government upgrade it into a roundabout, finally it was transformed into a roundabout with traffic light! At other junction, it could be 2-way road, but the next time you come, it becomes 1-way road.

10. Driving on the PLUS highway in daytime. I love driving on long stretch of road. My fav stretch is near Pagoh. It kinda remind me of those days when I have to commute between Chilliwack and Vancouver.

If I'm not on the wheels, I love to stare out as far as I can to see the blue sky, wonderful cloud formation, huge palm plantation, hills, mountains and rainbows!!!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

人情味

If you're at my place this CNY for gathering and late night games (mahjong included), you would notice my fan. A very special fan that doesn't ventilate the room; an item that doesn't serve the very function it was meant to be. Nevertheless, most ppl would be tricked by the fan. Deceivingly, you can switch it on, and it will produce the kind of sound you'd expect from a regular functioning one. But try stand right in front of it, there is not wind at all!!!

Aiya, why am I talking about my fan? Can you believe that I've been using that for the past few month. Sometimes my room temperature that reach 30DC. I sleep in a sauna. When it gets too bad, I'll crawl out of bed, grumble, walk to the living room, and move the fan there to my room.

It is only recently that I learned from Jason that I can replace the fan blade instead of the whole fan. Sounds...environmentally friendly. I'm going to go for that solution. But I procrastinate, and it's been months.

One day, I got home from Melaka and found a brand new fan. Made in Japan and comes with remote control!!! Mom bought me a new fan. Seriously, I was touched. Mom actually knows that I have a special fan that needs to be replaced. As loving and caring as she is, she told me the reason for getting me a new fan is because she thinks that I've been wasting electricity with my special fan, because it doesn't cools the room at all. Mom is so loving and practical. (hehe)

The other day, I was about to leave the house for appt. Mom wants me to have the rice dumpling she just made. I am so glad to taste mom's cooking. I took time to enjoy the rice dumpling and tell her how I like them. I stepped out of the house, physically and emotionally fed.

It doesn't take much to make someone feel special. Mom has made me feel so loved.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

黄小琥-伴

I hear this song on the radio and was dumbstruck by the words. So loving, so sincere, so raw, so unpretentious, so out of this world. Picture yourself at 90 years old and your spouse singing this song to you.

Is is human nature to desire for someone to share your live. I don't have the answer, ask those who are married. Even better, ask those who are happily married for 50 years.

黄小琥-伴

作詞：姚若龍 作曲：于曉光、李偉菘 編曲：Terence Teo

如果命运可以定做
如果有另一次选择
我想我还是会把手让你紧握
快乐的陪你去坎坷
就算你有天变落魄
就算你老的不能动
我想我还是会挽着你看日落
你的心疼在泪光中
嘴巴上彼此嫌麻烦
眼神中关怀那么满
没说爱却早已认定一辈子的伴
在人前从来不浪漫
在心中却总为对方打算
最懂的人最暖的伴


就算我以后变罗嗦
就算我老了有病痛
我想你还是会照顾我到最后
隐藏最弱不眠不休
嘴巴上彼此嫌麻烦
眼神中关怀那么满
没说爱却早已认定一辈子的伴
在人前从来不浪漫
在心中却总为对方打算
最懂的人最暖的伴


嘴巴上彼此嫌麻烦
眼神中关怀那么满
没说爱却早已认定一辈子的伴
在人前从来不浪漫
在心中却总为对方打算
最懂的人最暖的伴

哦
没有辛酸，没有遗憾
什么是陪伴，什么是心安
你是答案

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About Me

Jerry Tok

Singapore

I am a Singaporean. Travelling is a great pleasure but, however, no place beats Singapore where my home is. Besides flying, I adore almost all activities involving the outside, especially trekking. jerrytok@gmail.com

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