RR Leaders Retreat 2006 By: The Boss 1 comment

Hello there my fellow Deepavali brothers and ketupat sisters...

Seems like everyone's in a festive mood this time around eh? Things have been going pretty slow and everything seems laid back...ahh...nice! Doesnt happen too many times, ya know? So, enjoy it while it lasts...which I think it'll end pretty soon. Anyway, just wanted to fill you in on the recently concluded RR Leaders Retreat 2006, a couple of days ago...man...IT WAS FUN!!!

This year, we decided to head back to our fisherman's favourite Benum Hill Resort, Raub. The retreat was held on the 22nd - 24th of Oct. This beautiful, lusheous, jungle-surrounded eco resort was the perfect getaway venue after a very very busy and fulfilling year. Well, I gotta admit...all your leaders deserved this break. They've worked hard for each and everyone of the rangers and youths in church...the main program throughout the retreat...LEPAK!! Woooo hooo!!!

It was a frantic few days before the retreat...buying supplies for all the meals...cauz we needed to cook our own meals this time around. But hey...there's no stopping us! We resorted to steamboat, BBQ, ikan bakar, pasta, western breakfast, nasi lemak, chicken rendang...man...we had it all!! Awesome awesome...hopefully the pics will give you a better pic of what happened. A total of 31 RR leaders, friends and family members joined in the trip this year. As we left in a convoy of 7 cars for Raub, there was this sense of excitement...knowing that its going to be a really relaxing time for all of us, together. One thing's for sure...getting 7 cars to follow one another is definitely not a good idea...esp on highways....haha...

We arrived at the place around 4.30pm...and without wasting a single minute, the fishermen and anglers rushed to the nearby ponds to get the show started. The rest decided to sweat it out and show off some silky moves by shooting some hoop. Just a great time chillin out...Loads of fishes we're caught on Day 1. Braving the rain and chilly wind, Cmdr Gideon and Reuben came back the happiest. Everyone was happy...except of course, for the fishes that didn't get away...

Total fish caught at the end of the retreat are as following:

Cmdr Gideon - 20 fishes

Reuben - 16 fishes

Kevin Chin - 2 fishes

Collin Chin - 1 fish + 1 longkang fish

Julian Koay - 1 fish

Andy - A whole net full of longkang fish...

So, as always...the master ruled the show...but nevertheless, he managed to recruit in a few more followers of the noble art. A big thank you to our supporting crew who made our successful fishing expedition possible...Jayson Phuan (Rotiboy) and Laura Yee (Roti Mama). If you're wondering what's their role...well, basically they're the ones who will provide us with bait to lure those fishes in...and also to provide us with moral support!

Dinner was superb! Nasi lemak and steamboat...courtesy of Aunty Juliana and Aunty Penny who made the trip together with us. Nice having them onboard! Can get good food...hahaha....and also a big thank you to COMMANDER Grace Loh for preparing our dinner and getting things done...for without her, our world would have been a much lesser place...awww... *tears*

It turned out to be a pretty long night for everyone...lots of laughter, games, stories to be told...and Steve Irvin made a return! God bless his soul...Crocodile Hunter...yup, our crocodile certainly got hunted this time around!

The next morning was beeeautiful. Cold and chilly..wasn't too sure if it was the mist...or probably the haze. While most of the humans woke up at 9.30am...the anglers were up and running by 8am!! Trying their luck...casting and reeling them in...but sadly, no bites during day 2 morning. Guess the fishes had a long night too, eh?

After our annual RR 2007 planning meeting with the commanders, everyone headed to the cafeteria for lunch, prepared by Eric and the boys. Delicious as always! Common girls...he's still single and very much available!!!

What's better than catching your own fish? Eating it, of course! hahaha..and that's exactly what we did on for Day 2 dinner. Man...i'm telling you...it doesn't get any fresher than this. Out of the pond, into the kitchen, then straight over to a nice hot BBQ pit! Ikan bakar....klang style! Not forgetting the lamb, chicken wings, curry cocktail and meatballs, otak-otak...it was a splendid meal! Everyone did their part in the catching, cleaning, cooking and eating...the life of a ranger...its awesome, my friends!

After stuffing ourselves with dinner...we noticed something rare and spectacular. Commander Gideon was actually shooting hoops!!! Can you believe that???? Well, we couldn't just sit there and watch him exercise on his own, could we? So guess wat? We decided to have a 5-on-5 match, full court (thanks to Reuben and his big mouth), between the Young Guns (below 23 years old) and the Old Turks (above 23 to about 100 years old). The teamsheet for both sides read something like this:

Young Guns: Jayson, Julian, Zhi Fung, Kevin Chin and Laura...

Old Turkeys: Collin, Cmdr Gideon, Andy, Eric..and from Sri Lanka...Reuben!

Overall, the young guns had a better all-round team. Everyone was young, fit, good at shooting, well-built, and was able to run pretty fast. Their strategy? Quick passing and quick feet. Smaller pot-bellies too...Man, I'm telling you...whatever we had for dinner was gone just trying to chase them. Cmdr Gideon was like going to puke and faint...man...and his hair was all over the place...wat a sight!

But...haha...what they didn't know about the Old ones was that...we had experience! Yeah..true...that we cant play as fast as those road-runners...but nevertheless, we had a pretty good strategy of our own...its call Bulldoze. All we gotta do is to pass the ball to our Human Bulldozer Collin Chin, and he'll get the ball in the back of the net on no time! Haha...but hey, the rest of us did contribute a couple of flook shots here and there ocassionally.

Final score? Haha...Young Guns 42 - Old Turks 43!!! Let's see who's laughing now...unfortunately, the game was disrupted by injury. And so, the Old Turks will remain as defending champions for at least another year. Man...we're hot! You guys want a rematch? Haha...dream on!

Day 3 came too fast for all of us. We're here one day, and next thing we know is that we gotta' go. So, one last chance for us to scoop up all the fishes we can get. The last morning proved to be a good morning as more than 10 fishes we're caught in a short space of time. What a day! As we packed our bags and got ready to leave this place, somehow I felt a sense of belonging here in this place...the jungle, nature's beauty, fishing by the pond, listening to the sound of insects, the scent of the morning dew...maybe we'll be back in a couple of year's time..

Its been a refreshing trip for all of us. Experiencing a hastle-free environment, far away from the traffic jams, far away from work...ahh...its lovely. Its the perfect break each of us needed for another long year ahead in 2007. Once, again...a big thank you to all my leaders and friends who made it for this trip, and for blessing each and everyone of us by your presence. And also thank God for keeping everyone safe all the way...God bless, my friends! Enjoy the pics...

The girls' bunks! Ok you see, ALL of us slept in a HUGE airconditioned hall. You see those lockers behind? well, they were temporary partitions
...because behind those lockers were the guys' territory! :D

Sheila and Kyleen proving how BIG and COMFY the beds were!
Don't worry, they each slept on their own beds at night :P

Alison and Cmdr. Theresa amidst a very scenic background...it was really beautiful, wei.

See the white bungalow? That's where the older ppl slept. Hehehe.
Cmdr. Gideon, Serena, Elisa, Elena, Tarini, A. Penny, A. Juliana , U. Daniel and A. Anita's home for 3 days :)



We had to do some walking too...takkan eat eat eat and no exercise right?!
Alison on the pathway to the cafeteria!



Now, let me introduce u to our Fisherman of the Day! (sounds like...catch of the day! HAHA!)
Cmdr. Gideon and his 2nd wife (the fishing rod la...who you thinking!!) ;)


And before you know it, it's time to prepare for dinner! Day 1 dinner was prepared by the GIRLS! Steamboat and Scrumptious Nasi Lemak was on the menu! It was lovely, girls!
Special thanks to Aunty Penny and Aunty Juliana for the chickin' too! :D


"Wahhh Grace! You took 2 chickens ah! Must be sedappp right!" hehehehe...
Wei Chuan, Sheila, (cmdr-to-be) Grace, Kenny and Kyleen enjoying dinner! :D

And you also have ppl who can play chess during dinner!
Here's Andy and Zhi Fung showing you how its done!

"Jason! Eric! How to smile if your mouth so full??"
HAHAHA! funny la both of them!
Jason, Kevin and Eric!

Okay, this was MY dinner! Hehehe...2 eggs and 2 de tongs and 1 drumstick!! Woo Hoo!
I am no pig la. I was just...hungry :@)

The guys, after fishing the wholeee evening, took their baths and rushed down for dinner!
Reuben, Stephen, Collin, Julian and Jayson (jays, can potong your fringe ah! hehehe)

The guys having a good round of ...NASI LEMAK!
(hehehe, thanks Kenny for the effects!)
i had no other pic of Eugene (croc hunter) so, this will do la...k Gene? :D
(btw, that's Eugene at the bottom right corner...the one with the cards! :D)

And how could i leave out the kids!! They had so much fun too!
Laura(not a kid), Elisa(kid), Serena(not a kid), Elena(kid) :P
Sa had fun reeling in the fishes...while
Na was happy enough to be able to throw bread into the pond!
"Nana can tow bwead far far!"

Oooh, we even celebrated Jeffrey's early 21st birthday and Jays' 18th!

If you're wondering why Jeff is half botak, its because he's in the army! Yes sir!
He was back for a 2 week break...and he's going off soon dy...*sniffsniff*

The guys taking off the candles TOGETHER.
keyword= Together! :D
Look at them go!

When you see food (esp. choc cake), you see ...... GRACE! :D
HAHA! Grace, Sa and half of Alison distributing the cake...

After dinner, a few of the guys decided to go fishing (tak habis habis!)
See the orange thing in the water? those are fishes eating the white thing (Gardenia bread...btw, the fishes ONLY eat gardenia bread...tsk tsk...so choosy these fishies)

Julie...admiring the night scene(?) :D

That's the basketball court where we had our Young Guns v Old Turks challenge :D
(Btw, any of you have pictures on anyone playing basketball?? Can pls send to The Boss? Thanksss!)


The night fishers! Collin, Reubs, Jays and Julie.
(my conclusion : fishes sleep at night...caus they didn't catch any! :D)

The worms they used as bait! (caus running low on gardenia...hehe)

Reubs braving the squirmy worm and hooking it onto the hook!
(COLLIN IS SCARED OF WORMS! hehehe...)


Everyone at the guys' having fun together just chilling... :)
Oh, try guessin who's grey wise head is it at the bottom right corner of the pic??
Take a wildddd guess!

Day 2 - Look at the mist! It was cooling and just nice for a morning walk!

Cmdr. Gideon after an uneventful morning... hehee
(cmdr. the fishes still asleep mar...last night the guys kacau them dy...)

We also had our RR Leaders' Meeting before lunch! Here's everyone on mats in the huge hall.
(start from laptop...clockwise k?)
Laptop, Stephen, Jeff, Alison, Theresa, Kenny, Eric, Wei Chuan, Shie Yee, Kyleen, Sheila, Grace (cmdr-to-be...right Grace? ehehe), Jason, Jayson, Andy, Zhi Fung, Reuben

Stephen filling in his particulars to be computerised!
Woo Hoo...we are getting more organized yo!

"Err...mental disorder??? Jays you got tick that box not??" :))

"Shie Yee! You also had your appendix removed ah?? Thought only Kyleen?? "

Let's play...Guess Who's Feet! :D

After lunch, the guys decided to do something outrageous (even cmdr. gideon laughed at them!)
they decided to go rafting to the middle of the pond to fish (and get burned)

Andy and the beauuuutiful background! (nice right??)

Julian showing you the proper way of wearing a lifejacket
...which means NOT forgetting to clip on the longgg string that goes from back to front! :D

The siao posers fishermen! :D

We also had footie watching session!
So that means we didn't miss out the thrashing MU gave to Liverpool! :D

And Collin was sooo nice to cook for us!

Okay, i made Julie pose in this, and he willingly obliged :D
Julie cooked us all a very sweettt tasting omellete! Eggs, Milk and SUGAR! :O
diabetic wei ... (but i like it...hehe)

Day 3 - last day of camp... last day to go fishing...
that's our Senior Cmdr. who woke up early just to fish! (talk about semangat, wei) :D

Cmdr, Elisa and Serena at the other side of the pond...
Cmdr teaching Sa to reel in the fish! Sweet!

See the reflections?? Come on, don't tell me you're not in awe!
Beauuuutiful! (and i'm such a great photographer! HAHA!)

The Lee family!

Reubs fishing...ada gaya eh! :D He caught 16 fishes! And we ate them! Sedapp..
Honestly, i was surprised that they were all so fleshy! Serious!

Reubs and his flowerhorn! :D Sorry guys, there were no numbers on it...

First you catch it, then you unhook it! And if the fish doesn't want to stay still, STEP on it! :D

The pink bellied flowerhorn! (See, told you lor...no numbers!)

Sa, Na and Mummy at the pond!

The B.I.Bs!! Babes in Black! :D:D:D
(yeah yeah...lame-o) HAHA! :)

Zhi Fung, Reubs and Kyleen
(kyleen got a fright when a fish started flipping onto her! hehe!)

when kevin caught his first fish...
Kevin : "OMG!!!! THIS IS THE 1ST FISH I'VE EVER CAUGHT IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!"

when he caught his second fish...
Kevin : "OMG!!!! THIS IS THE 2ND FISH I'VE EVER CAUGHT IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!"
(hahhahaa...)

Collin finds fishing very relaxing and destressing... :) how true :)
and not to forget, rewarding too! to makan the fish you caught! :D

Oh, they even have bicycles! For those lazy to walk *hint hint* hehehe...
Jays and Julie (eh, aren't the bikes like...too small for both of you??) :P

And then...before you even know it, it's time to go home and it was pouring!! :(
We didn't even manage to take a group pic :(
Next year perhaps!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and we'll see you guys and girls once again in Rangers in about 1 week time! Take care!