Camerons

The Wife and i were in Cameron Highlands last weekend, together with The Parents-in-Law and The Uncles-in-Law and their Wives. (only one wife each, as far as i know...=P) the only young'un there was The Wife's 13-year-old cousin, because The Bro-in-Law had exams in NUS and another cousin is sitting for her STPM.

we had a pretty good time there, although the travelling was a little hectic. up on friday and down on sunday. we were actually supposed to go up on thursday, but we were held up by the YWC reunion, where we wrapped up all the group projects. (to summarize, most groups started off well but got stuck and lost momentum at some point or another. main reason was that some group members did not have an equal passion/commitment/vested interest in the issue that their group was handling. in the group process, decisions were made by one or two vocal people and the rest just rode along; those had a tendency to fall off, post-camp. Lesson: if you want a group project to succeed, it pays to spend time and effort to build a core group that really buys the vision. without this, the project is doomed to flop.)

one of the highlights of the trip was the teppanyaki/steamboat dinner that we had at the apartment. most of the marinated meat and the cooking stuff was brought up all the way from penang. it was delicious, and the shared laughter and fellowship was good. apart from that, we visited farms and bought all kinds of vegetables. we walked around town and looked at souvenir shops. and we ate lots of yummy, fresh strawberries.

one thing i appreciate from this trip, is the opportunity i had to take part in one of The Wife's family traditions before it ends. this trip to camerons is a yearly affair for her dad, his brothers, and their families. such an annual holiday is possible for the kiamsiap penangites because free stay in the apartment is provided by the bank her dad works for, as an employee privilege. as her dad retires next year, it remains to be seen whether this tradition will continue or not. i hope it does; but if it doesn't, i'm glad i got to enjoy the last one together with them.