zombified

I'm trying my best to look awake at work. Trying not to resort to coffee coz it ain't good for health. Plus, I'm so sensitive to caffeine that just 1 cup will keep me awake till the whole night!

Reason for my zombified being is my extra happening weekend. I played host to a missionary couple from the Philipppines. This elderly couple were down in town for a week's holiday.

I've never personally had foreigners as guests before (well, my family did, when I was much younger). Plus I've never met them, though I was supposed to have met the husband while my missions team were in Mindanao 2 years ago. Furthermore, I'm supposed to pair up with this guy who was in the team last year. I barely know him, and only actually talked to him for the first time the previous night.

We were having the Passion concert on Saturday, to coincide with the launch of our new young adults' service. Just after the concert, I found out from one of the pastors that the itinerary for the couple included Genting Highlands. If I had known earlier, I might have just skipped the concert. Coz after the concert, we went out for mamak and ate and drank until almost 2am.

Then I forgot that I was also sensitive to tea. My ice lemon tea kept me awake till about 5! I also conveniently forgot that I was supposed to be in church early for music practice. So there I was groggy and dazed, standing at the keyboard with barely 3 hours of sleep. It was a miracle that I pulled it off. The children seemed to be having fun at the worship session, so I guess it wasn't so bad. Heh!

Anyways, Jesse, the guy whom I've only talked to for about 5 minutes the night before, met up with me after service. We went to look for the couple and promptly drove them for lunch. Imagine 4 strangers in a car. Us trying our best to keep them entertained and them soaking in the new culture. Well, not 4 strangers exactly, coz the couple aren't strangers to each other! There I go, not being coherent on a Monday. :D

So off we went to KLCC. After downloading their pictures at the Fuji kiosk, we brought them upstairs for lunch. Madam Kwan's was packed, so we went opposite to Spring Garden. It wasn't exactly a place I'd bring people to. Firstly, it was quite upmarket and us two, being half-bananas, weren't really familiar with ordering Chinese dishes. But since it was getting late and we were hungry, we decided to give it a try. I have more experience ordering pastas and sushis, and at that moment I wished I'd pay more attention when my parents ordered their food!

Frankly speaking, the moment the waitress left with our orders, I'd already forgotten what I had ordered. Jesse conveniently left me with the task of getting something edible for our guests. I just remembered some chicken thingy cooked with herbs and sea cucumber and abalone, some mixed vegetable dish with lotus root, celery and black fungus, and some sizzling japanese tofu.

Thank goodness I managed to pull this one off too. They enjoyed the dishes and were stuffed halfway through even though it was only 3 dishes. Even though I didn't quite like what I myself ordered, but seeing them compliment the food was good enough!

Next stop - Genting Highlands. See, I think both of us have not driven up there before. But we've been there countless times. So trusting on our instincts, we managed to find our way up there in one piece. It was chilly and breezy. We decided to just walk around the theme park. If they were younger, they might have wanted to take the rides. So intead of being up in the rollercoaster screaming our lungs out, we just looked at the terrified faces of people waiting for their next round of adrenaline rush.

After awhile we realised we couldn't go further unless we paid for the tickets. While walking back to were we started, Jesse and I cracked our heads thinking what else to do in Genting. Kiddie/water/rollercoaster rides were out of the question. Neither would they want to go for Ripley's Believe It Or Not or the Motion Master. Then we thought maybe we could just drive them around and take in the cool air.

We bought them some Starbucks coffee and drove off into the clouds. Along the way we saw a signboard pointing to a mushroom farm. We thought, oh, perhaps this might interest them. What a disappointment, there was no farm in sight. Even if we did arrive a little after the closing time, the area around it did not bear signs of mushrooms, farming elements or people who look like they were mushroom farmers. All we saw was a little store selling among other local produce, packed mushrooms labelled "fresh".

Clearly Genting wasn't a place for senior citizens, but it was the closest to KL. With a packed schedule and Bangsar next on the itinerary, this would have to do. But they didn't really mind. I guess they just wanted to see a little of what our country had to offer.

Our last stop was the Bangsar Seafood Garden Restaurant. Another church member and his family played host this time and treated us to some really delicious seafood. If only we didn't feel so tired after all the driving around. I would have enjoyed my buttered prawns more! Our last stop was really durians for dessert. But seeing that the couple was also exhausted, we decided a walk around One Bangsar would be nice to end the day with.

All in all, it was an interesting experience. Us being such amateur tour guides, fumbling and learning at the same time. But if they did manage to have a good time, I guess it wasn't so bad after all. Running around on low batteries, I was pooped at the end of the day. Please remind me to sleep early tonight!