Christmas Cantata 2008

The Sanctuary choir of Trinity Methodist Church PJ will be presenting a cantata titled "Christmas is Jesus" next weekend.

The music and lyrics are contemporary and would appeal to all ages, so do come and celebrate with us as we remember and celebrate the true meaning of this season:- Jesus. In the spirit of the season and as part of our outreach program, we will also be collecting a love gift that will be chanelled towards our streetfeeding ministry in Brickfields and our Myanmar refugees assistance program.

Come and join us as we celebrate the reason for the season, and do support us as we continue our work in helping those in our community who are less fortunate than us.

Dates : 20th & 21st December, 2008

Time : 8:30pm

Place : Trinity Methodist Church PJ

No. 6, Jalan 5/37 (beside EPF Building)

Admission is Free

Mussorie - Part 3

This day 3 is delayed in coming. For the 3rd day, we took a stroll through the town proper. As with most cities in India, there is a relatively large crowd around. The streets are quie narrow and there are not many cars around. Most people will walk and there is also some horses for hire to ride.

Along one of the streets. Trishaws are waiting for customers.

Someone riding on a horse

A street where peddlars set up store to sell almost anything.

The town library.

I think this is the youth hostel.

We left Mussoorie at about 2pm to be in time to catch the 5pm train back to Delhi. The ride back is similar, with dinner and tea being served. Reached Delhi at about 11pm. The ride back was relatively quieter, which is quite common for such trips. I guess all out batteries have run down.

India has much to offer and I hope I can make one more vacation trip before my current stint there is over.

Mussoorie - part 2

Day 2 of our stay (10th May), we took a trip through the town and a 2 hour journey to Yamuna camp, a sort of a training camp with white water rafting, river crossing, essentially a place to chill out.

This is a view of the buildings which are on the hillside amidst the lush greenery

On the way to Yamuna camp, we pass Kempti falls, one of the main attractions of Mussoorie. The buildings and the attractions are at the bottom of the falls. To get from the road to the bottom of the fall, you need to get into a cable car.

Kempti falls from the road

After a 2 hours bus ride, we arrived at Yamuna camp. This is quite similar to some of the camps that are operated in Malaysia for management training which I had attended in Jeram Besu.

The entrance to Yamuna camp

The main attraction to the people in my group is the rafting for 10km downstream. It will go through some white water which is a first for many of them. A SUV will pick them up at the end of the journey and bring them back to camp.

The first batch of people on the raft. Can only take 6 at one go

This the path the raft will take, for next 10 km

The Y class tents for those who are staying

The J class tents. Notice the cement floor. They also have attached bathroom

India is cricket crazy. They can play cricket anywhere

Picture rather small. Just to show how a vehicle navigates along the hill roads

The other popular pastime is dancing. All Bollywood stars in the making

We finally left Yamuna camp (after dinner and the dancing) at 9:30pm. However, on reaching Kempti falls, we realised that the road was closed to traffic. In fact, it closes at 7:30pm everyday. There was a fair bit of negotiation with the guard there before they will let us through. They finally let us through after about 15 mins and we reached back just before midnight. I think everyone had a good time. Tomorrow will be an outing around the town and the trip back.

Mussoorie

On 9th May, 2008, I had the opportunity to go with my colleagues in India to an off-site meeting in Mussoorie, a hill station started by the British with its history dating back to 1825. We were there over the weekend and the journey itselsf was quite interesting.

We had decided to via surface transport which means rail and road. The train leaves Delhi at 6:50am so that means waking up very early so that we can be at the station by 6:15am. Crowd and traffic can be unpredictable so we wanted to be there with sufficient time to spare.

This is the entrance to the train station where we congregated

The train journey took exactly 6 hours for a journey of some 250km. Part of the reason is that it has to stop in all the stations in between to drop off and pick up passengers.

This is the train that took us to and from Dehradun, the nearest town

The coach we were in was air-conditioned. In fact, some seats are very cold, those in the middle of the coach which could probably be near where the air is coming out.

The coach we were in

The tickets we bought are for full service. So along the way, we got served tea and breakfast. However, need to set expectations right. They have a person who comes around and give you the necessary teapots and trays for the meals. Not the same as airlines but passable.

This is the morning tea. The thermos has enough water for just 1 cup

This is the breakfast. I asked for non-veg which was omelette

On arrival at Dehradun, the nearest town which is also the last stop for the train, there was a bus and a car waiting to take us to Mussoorie. The train arrived at 12:50pm (exactly 6 hours since leaving Delhi). The journey to Mussoorie is about 30km but will take about 1 hour.

This is one of the views from the road that we were taking to Mussoorie

This is a hindu temple on the way up and is next to a buddhist temple

We stayed at the Jaypee hotel in Mussoorie. The hotel is very nice, probably one of the better hotels in Mussoorie. I was assigned a room that walks out to the garden.

This is the garden that is outside my room

The area where we had our dinner in the same garden

A view of the hotel from the terrace

The journey in itself was an experience. The road is along the hillside and in some spots, it gets quite narrow that the vehicles have to slow down to inch pass each other. Total time for the journey from Delhi railway station to the hotel, about 7 hours. I shall post more later on the area and the town.

The Wondrous Cross

Easter is early this year and my church had a very short time to practise and put together a cantata presentation. Nevertheless, with the dedication of the people involved, and a never say die spirit, a group of some 40 of us have been putting in the hours to get the cantata ready. It will be over 2 sundays starting from this sunday. So come on over and listen to the message in songs.

Hallelujah for the Cross

Hallelujah for the Lamb

The Lamb of God for sinners slain

Would bear my suffering and my shame

Date : 23rd & 30th March, 2008

Time : 8:30pm

Venue : Trinity Methodist Church, Petaling Jaya (behind EPF building on Jalan Gasing)

The news coverage for the cantata also came out in the Metro section of the Star newspaper today. Rather than reproducing the news report here, below is the link which will take you there.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/3/17/central/20666449&sec=central

A Light still shines

Another year is coming to an end and my church is putting up a Christmas cantata again this year. Practices have been going on since September. The 40 odd people who are singing have been coming diligently for practices for the past 3+ months and we had combined practices with the musician about 3 weeks ago. The presentation is this weekend so come on over and listen to the message in songs.

In the hearts and minds of the wise who know,
That a King has come and His life defines,
What His love has won,
A Light still shines...

Date : 15th & 16th December, 2007
Time : 8:30pm
Venue : Trinity Methodist Church Petaling Jaya (behind EPF building on Jalan Gasing)

Of Cars and Traffic Lights

Last night was a long night and I just have to write about this.

I was driving with my wife along LDP towards TTDI and had stopped at the traffic light at exit 1104, which was under the viaduct, turning right into SPRINT highway. As usual, traffic from the left coming from Kepong and going to SS2 under the viaduct is low as only those who miss the viaduct would use this route. As there are construction works going on to improve the interchange, there were boards put up which restricts the view, meaning one cannot see the other lanes.

When the light turned green, I did not notice and my wife had to remind me that the light has turned green. As I moved forward, a car came from the left, and smashed his right front corner into the front of my car, right in the centre. The other driver had obviously beaten the red light and after having hit my car, was able to stop only some 10 metres away to my right. Seeing that my car had stalled, to my horror, the car drove off. As the car stopped only for a short while and the lights were quite dim, all I could make out were the numerals of the car number plate, 5371. I didn't even catch the make of the car, except that it is a saloon and japanese make.

The time was about 7:55pm. Thus started my long night. I called my insurance agent, who managed to get a workshop from the approved panel to come help me get all the paperwork done.

8::07pm - called my agent

8:15pm - the workshop agent called me

8:45pm - the workshop agent arrived.

8:55pm - the tow truck arrived

9:10pm - arrived at PJ police station

9:35pm - wrote out my police report

10:00pm - received my police report, signed and asked to meet with the IO.

11:30pm - interview with the investigating officer (IO)

12 mn - left police station

The most inconvenienced part of the whole episode is the long wait. Experiencing this for the first time, this is innately long to make an accident police report. The 1.5 hours wait for the IO is just too long.

However, I am thankful that both of us are not hurt, that we were not in a hurry and so did not move out as soon as the light turned green, as if I had moved out earlier or faster, the other car would have slammed into the passenger side where my wife was seated.

Below is what the front of my car looked like after the accident. This was taken by my phone camera is a dark area but you can make out the extent of the damage.

My agent had called me and informed me that other than what was visible, the radiator and the compressor are also damaged. The repair is going to be quite extensive. The good thing is that as the car is less than 5 years old, they will be replaced with original parts and the workshop owner is a good friend of his.

Overall, we are thankful that save for the inconvenience, we are all ok. On a personal basis, I just cannot comprehend why people who drives beat red lights. No matter how much of a hurry you are, a 2 minutes wait at the traffic light is not going to make that much or a difference. It is one thing to endanger your own life but please do not endanger the lives of others. And the interchange at exit 1104 is a busy one.

To the driver of car number 5371, please do not endanger the lives of others on the road. I pray you will change your driving habit as you may not be so lucky the next time.