"Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain."  - Richard M. Nixon, American 37th US President 

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir  

OCT 05
At height of 4,095 metres, Mt Kinabalu is the highest peak between the Himalayas and Papua New Guinea. Our ascent of the grand mountain took 2 full days. In the whole scheme of mountaineering, the climbing is generally regarded as "easy". When we arrived at our place of rest for the night, we were looking forward to a good hot bath to wash off the muck and sweat. And guess what? The heater was down! The water was unbearably cold as ice. The icy cold chill immediately ran down my spine when I ran my fingers through the water. Being practical, I decided to save myself from the pleasure of turning blue. Thank God for wet tissues!  I will not forget how the rest in the team were screaming like a cold turkey in the shower! We called it a night after being comforted with a nice hot Maggie meal.  That night, no one slept, the cold winds kept us awake tossing in our beds to find some warmth.  We pressed on and continued our journey to the top of the mountain the next morning.

For most of us in the group, Mt Kinabalu was a high point in our lives - literally and figuratively.  Following a season at the School of Acts, it certainly was the peak experience for me.  It took every ounce of energy we could summon, every creak of the bone, every last inch of will. At a point, it became a mental challenge rather than a physical one when the rains continued to pour and made the path slippery.  The point of no return for me was enduring the pain of a twisted ankle whilst climbing down. Excruciating. Then there was this long flight of descending steps at the start of the journey. Well what an awfully cruel joke - we were tired, exhausted, wet, thirsty, hungry and desperately dragging ourselves on wobbly knees and aching ankles to reach the finale - and in the end we still had to climb up another set of stairs to finish!!! Absolute torture.

Nevertheless, the breathtaking views and the great company more than made up for all the torture that our bodies had to endure. We were blessed with the most magnificient sunset over a seaview and a double rainbow on the same evening we bade farewell to the Land below the Winds. At the aftermath of the climb, we were walking like a crab in labour for a few days. It's an achievement to have survived the entire ordeal and still be alive to enjoy a wonderful lung system! And I'm just so glad to be able to use my legs again...

Nov 05
This was almost like an “aunty” trip with my dear mother and 2 aunties and was my maiden trip to China. We started the journey from Chengdu international airport, toured Mt Emei and then started our ascent to JiuZhaiGou on a butt-bruising 13-hour bus ride. The journey was an awesome backdrop of every imaginable colour and a never-ending view of mountainous landscape. One thing you need to be ready for is the absolute grotesque condition of public toilets. Be prepared with an umbrella, scented spray and rolls of tissues. Not having brought any of these, I learnt the crucial art of doing my business in any condition of toilet facility and for the most times, the lack of it. You see, this is where travellers like us have to bend the rule of: "leaving nothing but footprints."

Jiuzhaigou is located in the north of Sichuan Province and is known far and wide as "a fairyland.” Established during the Qin Dynasty then renamed to Jiuzhaigou County in 1998. The name Jiuzhaigou came from nine Tibetan villages scattered throughout the valley. The Tibetan and Qiang culture is imprinted in this part of China. It's amazing to see how "hard" life can be in the village in that I mean back-breaking, hands-and-feet-toiling labour hard. The village people travel many miles over the mountains and through the valleys over days with just their donkeys and their well-trained feet.

A UNESCO world heritage, Huang Loong is the crown jewel of nature’s beauty and is well known for its marvelous scenes of emerald lakes, layered waterfalls, colourful-changing trees in autumn, majestic mountains, snowy mountain peaks and the colourful Tibetan folk villages. Put all these together and you would get a perfect picture: an awesome sight to behold! A picturesque destination with lots to admire for a nature lover. If the intoxicating fresh autumn breeze doesn’t take your breath away, the clumsy but lovable giant pandas will. According to the local folks, the sun comes up only 100 days in 365 days in a year here. I was most blessed when the sun came up for me to take some shots just at the right time and then when we were ready to go, little tiny snow flakes came falling from the sky... simply heavenly!

In the evenings we were entertained with Tibetan cultural dance shows and the Chinese mask-changing show where we had good front row seats. It was an eyeful performance and we all left the hall clueless on how the performers changed their masks in a speed of light without us seeing them taking their masks off or putting them on over again. I'm thinking with loads of skill and practice for sure but it's been a long-kept secret of the Chinese. Indeed, the Chinese are really fast and highly skilled with their hands. They are so fast at taking your money they would conveniently forget to give you back the right amount of change. Beware shoppers!  I've learnt there is a stark difference between hard work and plain dishonesty. And it's all in a day's work.

Great shopping experience and you can get plenty of things for just RM2.50 (= wu kwai) which is an unbelievable bargain anywhere back home. The main attraction here of course is the grandeur of the mountains and the scenic beauty of nature's treasures. An adventure to the mountains for those who would rather NOT climb the mountain by foot and let the bus do all the work. You will certainly revel at the wonderful creation of nature divine.

Dec 05
Another year is coming to an end a new year will begin soon. Christmas will soon be here. For some of us, this Christmas will never be the same again.

For most of my Christian life, Christmas is a special time of love, joy and peace. A time when we give our best to God. A time to remember this little child in the manger. A time to remember we are all in this journey together. A time when we share with our closest and dearest the love of Christ. The love of Christ that transcends all time and space which knows no season or place. On Christmas day, God gave His best gift of all, Jesus. "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son." (John 3:16 )

This Christmas particularly reminds me of the humanity of man. Tears fill my eyes. My heart is weak and faint within me. I echo David's psalm, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever". (Psa 16:5) Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed (Psa 119:136). The sacrifices of God a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psa 51:17). In spite of all our imperfections, insuficiencies, idiosyncracies, disobedience, selfish pride and weaknesses... God still comes. God sees us in our weakness. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinth 12:9). He loves us too much to leave us to our own designs. He chose to take up our weaknesses, our pain and to carry our sorrows. (Isa 53:3-6)

Emmanuel. God is with us. God became one of us. In his compassion, He took upon Himself the curse of humanity.

Divinity in Humanity. Never in history was there a greater story ever told.

On the 27th Dec 2004, my dad returned to the Lord. I took control, made the calls, planned the funeral, picked out my dad's casket and together with my mum chose the plot of land where he was to be buried. My dad left no life insurance. He gave up his life insurance to buy a piano for us. That's the love of the Father. That He would give up His own life to give us the best. Sometimes there will never be answers to some of our questions, but we can choose our response. On one hand, we can be angry and belligerent, shaking our fist and blaming God for our circumstance, fighting with Almighty God the spiritual dual. On the other hand, we can choose to depend on God in our storms, lifting up our hands and saying, "Lord, let your will be done in my life yet not as I will but as You will". Trusting God means giving up the struggle and looking up to Jesus and trusting Him to help us through every moment of every day. I am learning to trust Him not just on the mountain tops but also in the blackest hole of the nights.

That's what faith is all about. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).

Everyone trusts on the mountain top height,
But what about in the blackest hole of the night?
It is there that faith shines its brightest white,
Illuminating our path through the painful plight.

It is only in the darkness of the tomb's contrite,
Where doubt comes face to face with fright,
That we are refined in the fiery tests of incite,
Brought to a place where the soul can see the light.

From the Spirit within comes the ignite,
Lifting us up to an unheard of level of excite,
Bringing joy beyond our imagination's invite,
And the certainty of that future celestial flight.

This side of heaven, we wait as the bride,
Emptying the soul of all the narcissistic pride,
Giving the Holy Spirit free reign in our abide,
Filled to overflowing, every day that we died.

- Terry Presgrove

May the love of the Father be especially near to us all today.

"Love is like wildflowers. It is often found in the most unlikely places." - Author unknown