Yuwei, Yujie, Charmaine and Joanne, with “Ahmat” Daniel in tow, trudged and schlepped board games, BBQ paraphernalia etc to Pasir Ris MRT to begin our arduous journey to Seng Shiong, the bargain supermarket to stock up our army rations for the entire contingent for all 4 days.

 Eternal Sunshine of the Optimistic Mind

Of course being uninformed eternal optimists, we gals happily thought that with our previous excellent groundwork and price reconnaissance trip, the shopping would be a 30 minutes breeze.

 It turned into an epic 2.5 hours saga where all the aunties and customers hilariously rallied around us to give their 2 cents worth on what would be THE best marinating combination for stingray, or what was your best money’s worth for sweet potatoes. Home Economics was really just schooling, NOW this was education! In the meanwhile, poor Daniel who waited outside for us wondered whether it was a God-sent tribulation to perfect his patience and long-suffering.

A Marine Affair

 After sending all the food back to the chalet and meeting up with Rev Khoo, Edson and Clement, we adjourned to Fisherman’s Village to go wild at the playground while waiting for the rest to arrive for dinner by the sea.

The highlight must surely be the gyroscope that sent us in an exhilarating whirl of elevation and swoop. Worthy of note was an incident where Daniel fell right on TOP of Clement (now you go figure the devastating physics behind that). But no bones were broken and we worked up a healthy appetite for a romantic seaside dinner surrounded by palm trees even though half the time we could not see what we were munching.

Back at the Chalet

 Rev Khoo gave his first devotion on “Knowing The Will of God-Finding a Life-Partner” in the spacious hall of the 2-storeyed bungalow chalet. We had a short but blessed time of fellowship as it was getting late and our brethren bade us goodnight. And we retired our worn-out bodies to the sweet comfort of our beds….WRONG!

Things That Go Bump In The Night

 A hyperactive and petulant Elias descended upon us past midnight and declared that we had to make good his cab-fare of $9.70 and entertain him with games until 3am (?!) So began a loooong night where we played the exciting games of Hide and Seek and Sardines in pitch darkness in the huge unfamiliar bungalow. The games became unexpectedly hilarious when you consider the desperate attempts of the various participants to escape detection—the clincher must be Clement’s hiding place in the false wall where all the brooms and mops were kept! By the way, the boys kept winning so we gals concluded that must be because they had been playing these games full time for some 2 years in the place we call ahem, the …army.

Day 2

We discovered the hidden culinary talents of our brother Edson when we woke up to the fragrant aroma of sunny-side ups while doing our morning Q.T. That morning we had a scrumptious breakfast of eggs and bread with jam and Nutella. From then on, it became a silent unanimous decision for him to be our resident chef.

We left early for a long day of biking at Pulau Ubin. The boat trip was a refreshing chance to come close to water while some of us went on a photo-snapping frenzy before we reached the island. Honestly, I must own up that I had the best time of all because I had the luxury of 2 “Ahmats” Elias and Daniel taking turns to ferry me around on tandem bikes. On top of that, I had wonderful chatting company and the knowledge that I would arrive more safely than a FedEx package. Thank God chivalry is not dead!

We broke for a delicious lunch even while the heavens opened and poured, but thank God, by the time we were done eating, the rain had miraculously stopped. Thus, we continued on our biking route.

It was an R&R day, as we returned in the late afternoon to clean up and chill. Then, of course it was payback time as our muscles ached and a highly coveted tube of Salonpas muscle relaxation cream (courtesy of Daniel) was passed around like a controlled item. We settled down to TV dinners while watching the documentary Left Behind. It was a sobering and timely message. Of course, when Elias dozed off from sheer exhaustion, the horde of us quietly conspired to hide while he was “left behind”!  

After a devotion on “Knowing The Will of God-Finding The Right Job” by Rev Khoo, the sisters went to cook a big pot of green bean soup to combat the heat of being out in the sun the whole day. While enjoying our late night desserts, we tried in our semi-comatose state to play Cranium. Only God knows the madness that will possess our brothers once they figured the “correct way” to play the game!

Day 3 must surely be the Food Day. Firstly, Esther and I decided to be super-experimental (read: garang) and attempted to cook Fried Bread. It proved to be a Chernobyl disaster of sorts as the cooking oil turned BLACK (!) The damning evidence was captured on camera. Thankfully lunch proved to be much more successful as everyone rallied around to cook tomato based pasta with shredded chicken and mushroom, fried carrot cake, chicken potatoes and carrots onion soup while cleansing and marinating the food for the night BBQ. Desmond joined us on the 3^rd day and we had a sumptuous lunch and a much-needed afternoon siesta after the madness of food preparation (only those who were in the kitchen knew the mayhem and intrigues that went into the preparation).

In the afternoon we played a series of water bomb games in the big garden compound right outside our bungalow. The losing team got drenched by a huge bucket of water but it was smiles all round for the camera. After that we had our practical workshop on evangelism by Rev Khoo to prepare us for the new semester. It was truly an edifying and blessed time as brethren asked questions and shared experiences and pointers.  

We then ended with our long awaited BBQ and birthday celebration sabotage on the June-August babies as they were harassed and terrorized into a Fear Factor episode of touching, eating and drinking really awful concoctions we came up with. Of course, we sweetened the whole deal with a big chocolate cake.

The party did not end with the BBQ as the full timers marshaled all their energies to stay awake to watch the 4-hour long drama Left Behind (from a laptop!) as we huddled together into one darkened room, struggling to keep our eyelids open. We finally slept at 4 or 5 am the next morning….

And therein ended our short but fruitful FCM retreat !