6 MONTHS IN ASIA

The past few weeks have been incredibly busy, exciting and, at times, stressful. We came over to Asia to be part of the Church of Joy in Singapore; but things haven't worked out that way.
Our involvement there always depended on whether or not I would find work that would entitle me to a visa. So, for the past few months I daily scoured advertisements for jobs on-line. I must have applied for hundreds of jobs by now, some suitable and some not so suitable, the pre-requisite for applying being that if there was the slightest chance of me getting an interview, however slight, apply. I had two interviews!
My job searching was further complicated by the fact that South Africans are only given a months visa at a time and there is apparently a standard operating procedure in place making it extremely difficult for Africans to remain in Singapore; because of previous abuses by unsavory characters. Therefore, our on-line applications for extensions were summarily rejected.
The ameliorating thing in all of this has been the willingness of Christians here to help each other out. After the first month, needing to leave Singapore and re-enter to obtain another months visa(or not!), provision was made for us to stay at a house in the care of Thomas, the pastor in Johor Bahru, just across the border in Malaysia. We spent three good weeks there, including attending a Leaders Training Time, and then returned to Singapore.
As that month drew to a close, we realized that we would have to return to South Africa because the prospect of finding work in a short space of time was bleak and Singapore is an extremely expensive place to stay. It was a strange place to be in because we had really felt to be there. A phone call from Thomas however, changed things for us.
He offered me the chance to teach part time at his school, the use of the condo and Rooster(the red van). We took the opportunity and moved across the border to JB, still intent on finding work in Singapore. Teaching was a new experience for me; so it was a steep learning curve; but besides the initial disciplining of the kids I've quite enjoyed it.
This was always a temporary measure though to buy us time to look for work. Which as I mentioned before, I didn't find. The only positive thing work-wise in Singapore was selling an article about the extinction of bees to Asia Geographic. Time was running out though.
Then last month, Cindy crossed borders to visit friends in Singapore. On her return, something happened that got our warning bells sounding. The emigration officer grilled her, asking her all sorts of questions about why we were here and what we were doing etc. In the end he stamped her passport with a month visa. Worrying for us because we had always been given three months. We knew then that we had to make a decision about our next step.
We did a lot of praying and worrying. At the same time, Thomas came to chat to me about taking over his old web design and hosting company. This gave us options but it meant that we would have to give up on being in Singapore for the next season and apply for a working visa in Malaysia. Our other option was to return to South Africa but in the end we felt that God had opened a door for us here that we needed to step through.
We are now in the process of applying for a working visa and we are hoping to hear good news soon so that we can get that up and running. And what do I know about web designing? Almost nothing, but Thomas has offered to teach me what I need to know. I will take over his existing client base of 25 customers, so that will be a great head start.
Besides teaching, I've been writing a book to inspire parents and students to make a difference in the world. We were hoping to have it done by tomorrow night, so that it could be handed out at the schools end of year concert, which shares the same theme. Over and above the teaching I did daily plus having to complete a few prior commitments, I had just on a month to complete the project.
I had to sift through and collect inspirational stories about people making a real difference in the world, sift through pages of information, come up with titles, write a few paragraphs about each story, extract quotes and caption the images, which I had to find and edit. That was the easy part!
What proved more difficult was designing the book and arranging the layout. This is something that I've never done before; so I had to first of all find a freeware Desk Top Publishing(DTP) program that I could use. I then had to learn how to use it before having to battle through designing the book and choosing spacing, fonts, colours etc etc. I basically ended up working from morning to midnight, Monday to Sunday for weeks on end. Cindy has an excellent eye, so she helped me a lot in getting it right.
Although the book was just about finished by Monday, with some tweaking here and there needed, in the end it was just too much for me to get done in such a short space of time. The plan now is to have it done for early next year.
This too was a sharp learning curve, but a learning experience I really enjoyed. And I'm excited to hold a copy of the finished product in my hand real soon. It will look something like this:

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Light the way

This photo, of two groups of school children with their teachers standing beneath a massive tree, was taken in the Singapore National Gardens earlier this year. I'm doing volunteer teaching work at a school in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and it has given rise to much thought about being a teacher. And as I'm still trying to process this new experience for myself, I'll stop this post here with an invitation to anyone to leave a comment about this profession, whether student or teacher, past, present or old.

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MIRACLES

It's nothing short of a miracle! That is what it is. I found myself in a situation where I was
thinking, "Now what!?" And I had no answers except nothing is impossible for Jesus,
nothing.

"I overheard them say it's your motherboard," Mrs Lee had said over the telephone, in a thick Singaporean accent.
I remember my heart stopping at that moment. I had expected a faulty keyboard to be the
worst case scenario. "So can we fix it?" I had asked.
The reply came swiftly, "No. It will cost one thousand do-la. Not worth it! You must buy
new one."
I tried to think if ever I had seen a money tree but quickly dismissed the thought. In this
present economy, even if there were one of those, it would have been pulled up by now,
roots and all. "Thank you," I said, "I will pick mine up tomorrow. Good bye." And that's when I
caught myself thinking, "Now what!?" My computer was my interface with the outside
world, my revenue hub, my job seeking tool. I had no money to replace it and I was stuck
without it. I closed my eyes as tight as a pip and squeezed prayers out of my soul.

I looked down on Mrs Lee. She seemed even more diminutive behind her desk than what
she was. She was on the phone again. I understood nothing of her conversation, so I just
stood there, clasping my invoice.
"Can I help you?"
I turned around, a lady with a warm smile walked towards me. I handed her my invoice.
"I've come to pick up my computer," I said.
"Oh yes, the iBook G4," she said, having scrutinized the invoice.
Mrs Lee was still on the telephone. The lady with the warm smile walked around the
counter and pulled my computer from the shelf and put it on the glass counter top. What
was its' shell is now its coffin I thought.
"Just sign here," she pointed with pen in hand.
I sighed, not knowing a miracle was about to happen.

I don't know why I did, I knew the motherboard was broken, but I asked her what was
wrong with it. And she gave me the answer I knew she was going to give me.
"So what are my options?" I pressed on. I knew she was going to say that it would cost
$1000 to fix it. That it would be better to buy a new computer. And what I thought, came
true. I sighed again. She was looking at me as if to say, "So what one do you want?" I began
signing my name, then stopped. I heard Mrs Lee put the phone down.
"I have no money to buy a new computer, nor even enough to fix mine. But I need a
computer for my work. What can I do? Aren't there cheaper options?"

All this time she had been smiling, but now she hid her warmth behind pursed lips.
She turned to her colleague standing next to her. Not one word passed their lips but
in that look they spoke.
"Does your battery work?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"Do you have the power cables for your computer?"
"Yes."
"And does your keyboard work?"
If only it was the keyboard that was broken I thought then said, "Yes."
She bent over a pulled another computer from the shelf. An iBook G4, exactly like mine.
The warmth had returned to her now. "This is my old one," she said. "The keyboard,
battery and power cables are broken. It would have cost me a lot of money to fix it so I
bought a new one."
I nodded dully.
"We'll put your battery and keyboard onto it, reload the operating system and if it works
you can have it for 50 do-la."
"No ways! Really?" I exclaimed.
She nodded yes and said,"Come back in two hours, la, if it works, its yours for 50 do-la," as if to say calm down, it might not work.

Two hours to the minute later I was back in Sim Lim Square, standing in SGL Marketing,
the tiny little computer shop. A white lap top stood open on the counter top, its' screen
black. Uncharacteristically Mrs Lee was not busy on a call, but was rather keeping herself
busy with paperwork.
"Hello Mrs Lee," I said.
She looked up and smiled. "It's ready. You give me 50 do-la and you take it. If it doesn't
work in one week, you bring back and we give you 50 do-la, ok?"

It's been longer than a week now and the computer is still working well. I've managed
to re-load most of my old information and software, the bonus being that I've been able to
upload many new versions of the software I was using before. So its all worked out well and
just in time for our move.

We arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday the 8th, happy to be with the people of the
Cornerstone Church; but sad to leave Singapore and the people of the Church of Joy.
We've been having incredible times in God's presence there and have seen Him doing
supernatural things in our friends lives. Jonathan was suffering from debilitating back
aches but last Sunday Ian felt stirred to pray for him. He had him sit down and then lifted
his legs. Ian pointed out that Jonathan's legs were markedly different in length - by about 3
or more centimeters. So we began to pray, asking God to heal him. In front of our eyes
Jonathan's legs began to grow. It was incredible to see someone's legs growing!
“I felt my legs grow,” Jonathan said afterwards, “but my back still hurts.”
However, within the next few days that back ache was gone.

Having said that, God is displaying His power all over Asia. In one meeting in a little village
in China, dozens of people were healed through the prayer of Christians. Almost the whole
village turned to Jesus after that and then they went to the hospital and brought more sick
people to be prayed for, including an elderly lady who was on her death bed. She too is now
alive and well.

And here in Malaysia, in Johor Bahru in Cornerstone Church, God is pouring out His Spirit
too. The Spiritual atmosphere has totally changed compared to the last time we were here.
We went to their prayer meeting on the night we arrived and when we walked into the hall,
we were overwhelmed by God's presence. And people, who were previously sedate were
praying out aloud and prophesying. We spoke to Thomas afterward and he said that the
previous Sunday he had felt to ask the congregation if they wanted to be filled with God's
Spirit. Many of those who said yes, including a 16 year old homeless boy, had incredible
encounters with God, some speaking in tongues for the first time, others speaking in
tongues after many years, and Maran, the Indian boy, fell to the ground, overcome by a
demon. A few members of the church rushed to help him; but for many it was the first time
that they had seen a demonic manifestation. So everyone is quite excited about what is
happening at the moment.

Cindy and I are here in Malaysia for a while, our one month visas for Singapore having
expired on Wednesday. We were given, as per the norm, a three month visa for Malaysia.
We aren't quite sure how long we will stay here, but while we are here I'll be doing some
volunteer work as a teacher at the Cornerstone Church's school, filling in where they need
help. There are about 80 pupils attending the school and the curriculum is based on an
American home schooling system, so all the lessons are pre-planned, making it easier for
me to teach. I'm quite excited about learning a new skill.

Other than that, Cindy led worship for the first time in church, playing the piano and
singing. She did excellently, her voice is beautiful. And I played the djembe drum, another
first for us, it was the first time I played in a band.

I'm also waiting for Debby to finish the design work of Sexy Salsa, which should be by the
end of the day. I can't wait to see the finished product; and more than that, I can't wait
to flip through the pages of the book.

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Ode to the Apple of my eye

Of all the times to die, this wasn't it! I opened her lid and woke her. Light slowly fell across her face but before she was fully roused a shadow dropped.
"Let me sleep a little while longer, then wake me again," she whispered.
I caressed her face, my little snowflake, and she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

The morning dragged on, the sun standing ever taller till the weight of the universe bore down on its shoulders and forced it to stoop. I woke her many times; but each time she begged for a little more sleep. By this time I had become quite anxious. It was not like her to keep on drifting into sleep.

I asked a couple of knowledgeable friends to have a look at her. They all agreed, she would need a little bit of brain surgery.
"Don't worry, its a common procedure," they assured me.
They seemed to know what they were talking about, so I let them cut into her mind.
"And what if this doesn't work?" I asked. "Well, if its not her brain, then perhaps there's something wrong with her body! The worst case scenario is that there is something wrong with her womb!"
Everyone in the room shivered a little. My little snowflake lay spread out, helpless on the bed slash operating table. Her skin was so white under the operating light. I pulled loaves of hope from the sky, "That is not the case here," I told myself.
A bead of sweat dropped from Reuben's forehead. He had assumed command of the operating procedure. I wondered how he felt, having a life in his hands. Two actually, hers and mine! It couldn't be easy.

The moon struck its dark heel against the sun's head; but it wasn't until two days later that the operation had finally been completed and although Reuben(bless his brave soul!) had begun the op, it was the hand of another that had completed it. But my little snowflake refused to wake. After all these years she was finally dead.

Do you know how it feels to be hollow? She knew me better than myself, I put my heart into her and she diplayed it to the world, selling bits of it here and there so that there would be bread on the table. I had so much more planned for us, I was going to take her around the world. But she, she left me in the lurch, a stranger in a land we were adopting!

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Bitter-sweet!

Intent on the Apple in front of me, I didn't see the thief until it was too late. His hand wrapping around my phone was the first thing I noticed. By the time I looked up it was almost too late. He ripped it out of its socket, turned and ran.

"Hey!" I shouted. He was already out the door. I stood up and gave chase. Out the door, off the pavement and down the side road. I was wearing slops so I was never going to catch him. By the time I kicked them off, he was far in front. Down the back alley, up a side street and into the park.  

"What if this was a ploy to get me away from my lap top?" I thought. With that I gave up the chase and ran back, collecting my slops from two ladies who had been washing things in the back street. They wanted to ask me all sorts of questions but I didn't have time for pleasantries. I got back to the shop and everyone there bombarded me with questions, the shop owner was very upset. I began packing my stuff away. I saw a young chap jumping off the pavement on the opposite side of the road. He had a big smile pasted on his face. "No," I thought. A minute later a couple of guys followed, a bunch of people following them. One of their phones was stolen.

 

We were warned to be careful of our stuff while in Johor Bahru. There have been many cases of peoples bags been snatched from them while walking by men riding by on motorbikes. So careful we were; but never did I expect someone to be so brazen as to walk into a shop full of customers, unplug my phone and run. Anyway, lesson learnt!

Other than that unfortunate incident, we have been having a great time in JB. The condo we are staying in is great, complete with air conditioning and a swimming pool. Other than an 80 year old ex-diver and his wife, no one else uses the pool - an Asian thing apparently. The divers name is Charles and his wife Carolyn and they are full of interesting stories they're happy to share with us in the pool. He has had us over to his house to show us his stamp collection, twice actually, with no end in sight. And then there are many more albums at his house in Singapore. They are such nice people, Buddists by culture, so its been nice listening to what they have to say about their faith, which according to him is not faith actually but just a case of doing good.

We are at a golf course at the moment, attending the Asian LTT. Its the second day of five and we are having an awesome time. We've met people from all over the world and Cindy has even bumped into an old school friend. Cindy is part of the worship team, playing the saxaphone and penny whistle. The teaching has been really interesting but what has really struck me is the lives of the people here. They really love Jesus and its clear that they live for Him and His people.

I still haven't found work yet; but we are really trusting that I will soon have something. I apply for at least one job a day but for all that I've only had one interview. I didn't get that job though, unfortunately, I would have really enjoyed working for a cuisine magazine. Speaking of cuisine, the moment my phone got stolen, I finished off all the copy writing and re-editing of "Sexy Salsa." So it was a bitter sweet moment, completing my first book and having my phone stolen.  Anyway, all that remains now is the layout and design, which Debby(my sister) is busy doing. I can't wait to have a finished product in my hand.

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American Idols

It was late and we had just got home, flopped down on the sofa and turned the little telly on. An advert announced the live screening of the final of The American Idols - at 8AM the same morning. But, we had watched a few programmes in Durban and got interested, so decided to wake up for the spectacle.

For two hours we were glued to our seats. The show was a veritable who's who in the music industry. Star performers included Lionel Ritchie, Cyndi Lauper, some others and the eleven other top finalists. Though stars as they may be, they weren't the stars of the night. The last two standing were. Strangely, these two artists were completely different; in looks, personality and music style. What they did have in common, however, was the fact that they are brilliant, brilliant artists and in the end the vote could've gone either way. A record vote to boot - 629 million votes !

What a way to start your music career, with 629 million fans. And I say that because I think that even though that number would've been split this way and that, both finalists were of such a high calibre with "nice person" personalities, that they garnered support whether they got one's vote or not. So, both walk away with 629 million fans at least. In fact, the competition was so strong that I wouldn't be surprised to see at least the top five recording an album in the next year.

Cindy and I are settling down here in Joho Bahru. The people here are amazingly hospitable and friendly. We had dinner with Thomas and Evelyn, the pastors of Cornerstone Church, and their son Marcus on Wednesday night and then with Deryck and Tertia(expats from the republic of Hout Bay) last night. It was excellent listening to all of them tell us their stories of how God has been involved in their lives.

We have an awesome three bedroomed condo all to ourselves. The swimming pool is big and always empty(Apparently Malaysians don't take too kindly to swimming) and we've already swam a few times. Air conditioning and swimming pools score highly on my must-have list here in South East Asia.

We've been given a maroon red Renault Rusta to drive about in while we are staying here, affectionately nicknamed Rooster. It's great being independantly mobile, especially in a country where fuel is so cheap. Singaporeans, living on an island so small, have to suffer the prodigious financial burdens ladened upon private vehicle owners by the government; but then their public transport system is incredible.

The difference between Singapore and Malaysia is quite vast. Singapore is a little speck on the map and Malaysia consists of two large seperate land masses and a few beautiful tropical islands. And if Johor Bahru were the rest of Malaysia, I would say that Malaysia is not as wealthy or well kept as Singapore. In fact, people cross the Straits everyday from Malaysia to Singapore to work there. Goes to show, it's not what you have but how you manage what you have that ultimately counts.

Speaking to Deryck, there's apparently a bit of bad blood between the Malaysians and Singaporeans, for the usual reasons, land and master-servant perseptions. [Isn't it concerning that globally neighbouring countries are worst of enemies?]

Founded by Britain in the 1800's, Singapore gained independence from them in 1963 and summarily joined the Malaysian Federation; but two years later withdrew. Since then they have become the financial powerhouse in South East Asia. According to Deryck, Singapore's success has caused Singaporeans to have an overflated opinion about themselves in relation to the Malaysians. Funny thing is that Singapore is dependant on Malaysia for fresh vegetables(They have no land of their own to grow their own crops) as well as fresh water. Not to mention the cheap shopping Malaysia affords them(Prices are half of what they are in Singapore).

I love Singapore and her residents and Malaysia and hers for very different reasons. Individually both have steel rods of hope for a great future, but together how much stronger could that assertion be? What kind of life would be possible if people would only begin to try to understand and meet their neighbours needs?

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Moving on

Regrettably, we leave Singapore tomorrow! After just three weeks and some odd days. Onto Johor Bahru in Malaysia, literally just across the road.

We've been staying on the East Coast of Singapore(West of Bedok on the map) in government apartments, first with friends on the second floor and now in a friends flat right on the top of that same building - 25 floors up into the sky. And other than the obvious benefit of stunning views of the ship smudged coastline, Indonesia as a backdrop and serene sunsets, its much cooler up here.

We're on top of the world here, so we're sad to leave! But Johor Bahru is a 20 minute taxi drive away; and we're anticipating having a great time there anyway. A friend of a friend has a condo(Privately owned apartment) there, which he has graciously offered the use of to us. The clincher is that there is a swimming pool in the complex. In this heat and with the ocean a little too swimming unfriendly, its almost a necessity. I can't tell you how many jelly fish I've seen ghosting through the waters; and because the water is quite brown, I shudder to think just how many and what else lurks beneath the surface!

Anyway, we will be at the condo 'til the 31st, leave as tadpoles, and then trek across the city to a golf course, where we will be staying for 5 days. And the reason; the Asian Leadership Training Time(LTT). We're looking forward to it and anticipating an incredible time in God's presence at His feet. And meeting people, who love God, from all over the world is always special. 

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Eden

"The heavens pour forth their speech and declare Your glory!" That was the thought I had running round the mill of my mind as Cindy and I walked around the National Botanical Garden of Singapore. It was another infernally hot day, but our efforts were well rewarded with a wealth of beauty. Like with these orchids!

And these.

As expected, the gardens were impecable! The trees were shaped and trimmed, the grass perfectly manicured and the facility well thought out. A waterfall, swan lake (resplendent with swans), rain forest and lily roofed entertainment stage are all part of the gardens attractions. I loved the trees, massive trunks that shoot stories up into the blue, held there by a spreading net of roots seen and unseen, with branches of leaves fanned by the heat.

Trees, there's just something about them which remind me of God's munificence: His creativity and intelligence, beauty, fruitfulness and permanence. The photos posted this entry Cindy and I took with our dinky digital camera and the images of trees are on the roll of film I need to develop (At R80 a pop we really need to get a better digital camera as soon as possible!). So until then, here's another photo of, you guessed it, an orchid.

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Singapore

Little lights twinkled orange, yellow, white, blue and red as far as I could see, getting bigger the more we fell. At first I thought they were the city lights on the waters edge but Cindy pointed out to me that they were the lights of ships. I was stunned! I started to count. When I reached 40 I stopped. I think the most ships I have ever seen out at sea at once was 24. I realized why they say that Singapore is the busiest shipping port in the world. There must've been over a hundred ships sleeping out there.
If the shipping was impressive, then so to was the airport. Modern, spacious, super clean and efficient, with many nice little touches like orchids decorating the airport. Later on I found out that there is a free gym and movie house and an orchid room surrounding a koi pond in the departure lounge. No wonder it was nominated the second best airport in the world. It was 5.30 when we touched down and the Png family, Eugene, Jenny and Ruth, were there to meet us. It was excellent to see Ruth again and so nice to finally meet Eugene and Jenny in person, especially after having had numerous telephonic conversations with Eugene.

The heat knocked the breath right out of my lungs as I stepped from the air conditioned Changi Airport onto the pavement of the basement parking. It was 6 o clock in the morning. I recalled what the Captain of our flight had said, "We'll be landing in 20 minutes. It's 27 degrees celsius and cool in Singapore." "Cool!" I thought, gasping for breath. Pretty soon my shirt was sticking to my skin. Thankfully the Png's car is air conditioned and we were able to appreciate the beauty of Singapore at first light for the quick ten minute drive home. Three lanes going the one way and three the other, separated by immaculately pruned trees, shrubs and bushes, high rise buildings to the right and green lawns and trees to the left, beyond which lay the dreaming sea. We passed beneath a few foot bridges, every one adorned with purple bougainvillea or some or other colourful flower and their support structures were all hidden by green ivy.

The Png's stay in a very cosy and functional government subsidised flat on the second floor, opposite the road from the beautiful East Coast beach front. A government house on the beach front! Surely you wont get this in any other country. But as I was to learn since then, the government places a high value on looking after their people. You should see the lengths they have gone to to protect their people from swine flu - daily issuing warnings, using the media to educate the populace regards the disease and stepping up controls at the ports of entry, including temperature measuring gadgets at the airport which detect a person with a higher than normal temperature.
We are staying in Reubens' yellow room for now until we get sorted with work and a place of our own. But it is very comfortable with air conditioning to boot (I don't know how any one could stay here without air conditioning). And the Pngs' have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome, which is amazing! We have already shared many meals and stories and we hope its a trend that will continue for years to come.
And speaking of food, Singapore is an epicureans heaven. Singaporean, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian and Indonesian recipes are all woven into the fabric of the Singaporean food culture. And food is part of the social structure here. People here eat five or six times a day, usually with family, friends or colleagues. Fresh vegetables, fruit, delicious fish and shellfish are readily available in the supermarkets and at restaurants and food courts. Food courts are these places you find all over the place where people can go and eat at relatively inexpensively. Different people own different stalls and serve different types of meals, see above, that you can take away or have at one of the communal tables. We have our own food court a couple of minutes walk away from us.
Yummy, we are loving exploring and tasting all the different food, especially at the food courts. They're a vibe, buzzing with all types of people! And some of them have quite a local following for serving either the best roast duck or won ton noodles or whatever. We drank coconut juice out of a freshly lobbed coconut two nights ago and ate "oh luak," fresh oysters fried in scrambled egg. The coconut juice wasn't milky at all, as I had imagined; but translucent and watery. It was refreshing though but to tell the truth I was much more impressed with the oysters and scrambled egg dish. We had that to start with and then we had popiah, which is Chinese turnip, lettuce, thin omelette, seafood stick, chili, sweet sauce and tofu wrapped in a cinnamon and sugar pancake. We also had barbecued chicken wings and carrot cake. But not carrot cake like most of you might be imagining. Its white Chinese turnip steamed with flour and then fried with egg. We were stuffed after that! But it was all delicious!

The people in the church we are part of are amazing people who love God. They have all gone out of their way to make us feel welcome, inviting us to their homes, taking us out for lunches(we went to the Raffles Hotel yesterday with Grace and Jean for a buffet lunch of note), and offering to help us in any way that they can. We've actually arrived at a very interesting juncture in the life of Church of Joy, with Eugene handing the reigns of the church over to Ian Mckellar and with the lease of the building they are renting about to expire. So there's a hunt on for the perfect next location and Eugene and Jenny have been set at liberty to travel to Indonesia, Philipines and Malaysia to encourage the churches there. And Ian and Nola, who previously did a lot more travelling, will stay at home to build the base church. Cindy and I are very excited about being here at this time and we are looking forward to being able to encourage the church here.
I went for a swim in the sea on the first day that we were here. The water was verging on being hot yet I was still refreshed. In the distance I could see Indonesia. The East Coast beach front is amazing. It consists of several little beaches which are immaculately tended to, no litter here(or anywhere else for that matter), verged by green lawns, palm trees, tropical bush and other massive trees. There are designated camping areas all along the beach front, and each day you'll see many tents pitched on the lawn in the shade. There are also numerous braaing facilities and cement and straw bomas too. And then there are several cement tracks which are used for various reasons. The track closest to the sea is used by walkers or runners and the two tracks beyond the braaing areas are used by roller bladers and cyclists. Its always busy down there and its one of our favourite places to go to.
At the moment Cindy is not feeling well, she has unfortunately come down with a spot of flu, so she is resting until she feels well enough to go out again, which will hopefully be real soon - we went for a cycle ride up the coast the other day and really enjoyed it and Cindy is itching to get back out there.

Anyway, there's still a whole lot more to report back on but this will have to do for now. I've also taken some pics but will have to develop the film first before I can upload them.

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