indeed, towards the end of my Myanmar trip, i do think about work and the many tasks awaiting me. and i do feel sad and burdensome. yet, despite all this, i'll put on a smile (definitely not a forced one) and jus move on ahead and do wad needs to be done! okay. below are some pictures b4 i do the talking...wun be putting alot of orphanages pics lest i get them into trouble...

[above] at the changi airport.. my team

[above] my bed buddy and partner. aunty jennifer and myself

[above] welcome to Yangon, Myanmar!

[above] village hotel--Grand Palace Hotel

[above] common water jar seen everywhere. the cup above is for all to drink frm the jar of water

[above] at one of the orphanages

[above] buying watermelons every morning from here

[above 2] the Gospel Fuzzies song and presentation from us

[above] telling the story

[above] teaching them how to play the matching game

[above] me, the Sunday School teacher and her nephew

[above] doing a sing-and-dance forfeit from a game

[above] Par Te and myself

[above] David and myself

[above] at a wooden overhead bridge. pretty scary

[above] overlooking the railway track

[above] aunty jennifer and i at the tourist place--floating restaurant

[above] aunty cas and myself

[above] myself at the tourist place

[above] my mission team at the christmas tree

[above] myself at the big painting at Yangon International Airport Immigration area

my bed buddy is both aunty jennifer and aunty cas. the 3-star village hotel is so much better than the 5-star city hotel! firstly, the water was hot enough for me there in the former. secondly, the air con was so much better. although there were black-outs in the village hotel, but hey, it was sumthing new! and the city hotel triggered my asthma and worsened my cough. made me have asthma for 2 days. feels so terrible man...

visited 8 orphanages. told stories twice. it was great fun and a good experience! i'd never told stories to any kids b4. so it was nice. i practised twice the night b4and once on the way there :) be ready! tat's wad i learn frm last time! and every morning, we'll go and buy watermelons! we also bought 2 tins of biscuits for each orphanage and 160 apples in total for the kids...

roads to the orphanges are very bumpy. but somehow i expected it and can stand it. glad none of us had motion sickness. thank God for the many salvations of the children. each orphanage is taken care of my a pastor. yet, it doesn't mean all the orphans are christians. mm. tat's wad i learnt. well, all in all, i pray that the kids know wad they are doing and will grow as a new christian!

there is one kid that look like 2 years old but is actually 5 years old. the kids like to recite psalms 23 which is very good. from memory. the kids are also very attentive. they always sit quietly on the floor and fold their arms and listen. they hardly make a sound. there was once we stretch the programme too late until some of them are late for school. the pastor said it's alright cos they've informed the sch. yet, some of the kids are afraid to go to sch still. haha. hope things went well. we were praying for them when they'd left.

at every orphanage, we teach them the gospel fuzzies song which toks abt the 5 different colours: gold, black, red, white and green. then, we tell them a story, sometimes altar call and then they will give us a special item! most of the time, it's a song! =)

the smallest number of kids in one orphanage is 3 while the biggest number is 51. average is around 15-20. thank God for pastor michael who's been translating our english words to burma so the kids can understand! and bringin us to the various places to have our meals and sight-seeing. thanks to pastor simon who's been following and guiding us along too. and definitely not forgetting pastor timothy.

made new frens, of course. par-te. that's her name. somehow i feel comfortable with her. firstly cos she seems to be of my age. but after asking her, she's actually 26 years old. oh well. though her english may be broken and she hesistate talking, i'm glad we can still make frens.

well, actually, my group is split half-way through. 2 of them went to conduct a youth camp at a resort near the sea while the rest of us visited orphanages. my mum dun let me go for the camp cos of the risk when taking the night bus to the place. it's a 7-hour drive. well, when i was sending them off, i wanted to go. aunty jen also felt the same way about my going too but she gave her promise to mum so i'd to stay. my pastor preached 6 messages on Ephesians. and they had camp fire and play games there too! imagine the fun man!! haha. i wish..i wish..oh well. it's over. i jus pray there will be another opportunity to get to know the youths, have fun and learn God's Word together...

and myanmar guys are handsome!! seriously. there was this waiter that looks like my cousin paul. i wanted to tell him "you are handsome" in burma but i dare not. haha.

then, there was this pastor's son, david. he looks super photogenic in the photos taken in the camp. and he was invited to join us for dinner. so i took the chance to take a photo with him too. haha. but he looks v tense cos many ppl were looking at us when we snap a photo la. boo. haha. else he'll look v handsome. haha. i was talking abt it in the hotel room with aunty jennifer and she was teasing me all the way. haha. but she say there are more handsome guys there in the camp. i know there was one guy with the NS hairstyle. haha. cos i was sending them off that nite. oh well. but definitely, if i get a chance to go to the camp nxt time, i'll make sure my focus is correct---on God not on man!

so there was one day where we spent sight-seeing. not too bad. and i notice things about myanmar. the adults kept saying myanmar is like singapore in the 60s. haha. well, there are v little street lights. so when vehicles drive past, the headlights are indeed v glaring. the roadside stalls' tables and chairs are all the kiddish kinds. the table is low and the chairs are wad my church uses for children sunday school. surprising tat men can squeeze into it. things there are generally. thank God that Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life is translated into Burma! there are practically no fan in the orphanages. but thank God for the air-con temperature that he has provided in that country at this time of the year!

all in all, i'd a good trip. know aunty jennifer more. had fun watching king kong and john tucker must die with aunty cas. tested my patience with emmanuel. had opportunities to tok to uncle joseph. had a chance to make frens with Par Te! (always puts a smile on my face). i feel that wad makes me really satisfied by joy is when i teach them games they have never played before. cos that means they can play this game any time they want when they are free! and also telling the story twice!

well, thank God for sustaining me despite falling sick on the 3rd day onwards. thank God for also my handling of the team's cash. it was okay since i've handled council's cash b4. thank God there were no losses though i almost thought i lost 70K.

well, praise God for this eye-opening and fulfilling trip!