Our First Outdoor Fellowship 11th April 2006

Contributed by PN Timmy

My alarm clock rang at 6:30 a.m. Monday? Nope, it was a public holiday. What got into me? Well, there was this Rotaract fellowship I got to attend early in the morning. It was an outdoor fellowship organized by our Fellowship Manager Rtr Lloyd Cheam (yeah, the guy in the famous thumb-up picture).

When I stepped out from my house in my exercise outfit, I saw the cloudy sky and some lightning. It was raining last night and it seemed like it is going rain again pretty soon. Okay, maybe we won’t have any outdoor fellowship this morning afterall. Anyway, President Toh, little Jay Chow (President Toh’s brother), Lloyd and I made it to the field and started our preparations before the arrival of other members.

The sky may look cloudy but the good thing is, we got ourselves a spacious and not-so-wet field, I told myself. Within seconds, rain drops keep falling on my face… me and my big mouth! I spoke too soon. Anyway, the preparations went on, and fortunately, the rain stopped and the other members arrived. We have ourselves a dodgeball court made from raffia strings and some botanic stones (“borrowed” from Lloyd’s mom garden). We have with us nine members and six guests that morning: a total of fifteen non-sleepy faces.

After a briefing from Lloyd, we started the first game: dodgeball. As what the name suggested, one team will be stationed in a rectangular area, surrounded by the opposing team. The team situated inside the box will try to dodge the ball as long as possible while the opposing team needs to hit as many “sitting ducks” as possible. Each of us were assigned to a group randomly and got our fair chance of being hit and hitting others using a 10cm diameter not-so-bouncy “ball” made from old newspapers. Big guys like Bom had a good time and the hitting and dodging proved too easy for him. I think he hardly sweats. As expected, his team cruised to victory, it was a breeze.

We proceed to our next game Cross-the-Line. In this game, one team will be the “stopping” team with its members scattered and standing on four straight lines. The objective for the “advancing team” will be crossing the lines without being touched by the “stopping” team. It was something like dodgeball, only without the ball. Or maybe I should say “dodge-hands”.

The third and last game was simply a chasing game, where running is only allowed on the lines. I must admit that these games are kid’s games, and I believe there’s still a child inside each of us; so I think everyone still enjoyed the games (even though I was on the losing side). Think again, when was the last time I had such games with a bunch of grown ups?

The games ended and we headed for our breakfast. (Eng Tee was nice enough to drop by to say hi even if she’s busy with baby-sitting before we left the field) I know there’re lots and lots of Malaysian food to choose from but luckily for Klang people, if you are bringing non-Muslim or non-vegetarian friends for food in Klang, the choice is simple: Bah-Kut-Teh (stewed pork served with Chinese tea, is that what you call it in English?) The restaurant in Taman Rasnah was crowded (as usual) but we managed to find ourselves two tables. The breakfast was pretty long as we exchanged conversations while sipping Chinese tea. I think it has turned out to be a brunch. Still not content with the day, we decided to extend the fellowship by going to Feldman and Diana’s place for a movie.

Before that, Lloyd was kind enough to spare his house’s bathrooms as “public” bathrooms by allowing the guests to shower there.

We met up in Feldman’s place for a movie. Final Destination 3 was our initial choice but we ended up watching “A 40-year old Virgin” (don’t ask me what’s with the extreme choice). Anyway we did enjoy the funny movie (except 14-year old little Jay Chow who dozed off during the movie). We decided not to call it a day yet and when Malaysians are bore, they makan (eat!). So we drive to Eng Ann, to get some food from the food stalls at the roadsides.

The fellowship has finally come to an end. We went back with a full stomach and even if it’s was an outdoor activity which should make us fitter, it actually makes us fatter! But nobody’s complaining.

Hey Lloyd, good job! When are we going to have another food, err.. I mean outdoor fellowship? Looking forward to it!