Caleb Chess Checkmate

Five days before Christmas, we set out in high spirits with our cousins for Malacca. There, we visited museums such as the Cheng Ho Cultural Museum where we learned about the culture and history of Malacca. We also visited the Maritime Museum, which was a replica of a Portuguese ship. Another historical site was the ruins of the Al Famosa fortress that was built by the Portuguese after they conquered Malacca. One place I particularly liked was the Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary which we visited on the 2nd day. The but terflies there were a lot more colorful than the ones in Singapore. Best of all, they were friendly and easily attracted to us! It felt itchy as the butterflies crawled on my body, but it was kind of fun. Besides butterflies, there were other amazing creatures such as scorpions, alligators, snakes, emus, peacocks, electric eels, otters, weasels and even a bearcat! I think it is called a bearcat because it looks like a bear, and climbs like a cat! So much for a butterfly...

It is about a week since we returned from our CG retreat to Changi Village. I have decided to talk about our trip, for I loved the activities we did there... I awoke with my head buzzing with excitement for today is the BIG day. We are going to Changi Village with our CG! After a wait which seemed like eternity, we started off. The hotel which we were staying in looked a bit like an office to me. However the inside was more welcoming. There was a mini house made of all sorts of delicious goodies, but of course, it was not edible. After brunch, we went to our rooms. At first, our rooms were on the smoking level and I did not want to stay in it for the smell of smoke was unbearable. Unfortunately, there were no other available rooms, and we had to wait till 5.00pm. We past the time by watching a movie at Noah's room with the CG and before we knew it, our rooms were ready. The following day, we woke up bright and early for our guided tour at Chek Jawa. The tour was excellent. We got t...