God and His army of angels
Monday, December 21, 2009
11:58:00 am
I was a little worried heading into the trip all the way to Laos on my own. But amazing things happened and I'm so thankful to God. I'd like to share the stories with everyone! So... here goes.....
Firstly, during TJBand Fiesta concert intermission (just before alumni played), sis msged from Laos saying they needed some bike parts back in Laos and so I'm suppose to bring it over as I fly. This, is, good. Because that means they pick me up at the airport all the way to the hotel and I don't have to figure everything out alone on my own! AND I can get to sit the team car during the races without feeling too extra haha.
The flight to KL was to depart at 10.50pm. I reached after 9.30pm after coming straight from TJ. And then, I waited for Tim (who was taking the bike parts from the bike shop all the way from Kent Ridge). And I waited...... and waited.... n waited.................. Gates supposedly close at 20mins before. So if you do the math, that's at 10.30pm. And I still had to buy some shirts with Singapore stuffs on it as souvenirs for the LOs. And get to the gate.
So, it was 10pm.
Then, 10.10pm.
Then, 10.20pm.
AND still no Tim.
I was sooooo worried and was gonna give up and go in already when I turned and saw the big screen for Departure flights. It said:
AK718 Kuala Lumpur New time 23:35.
Isn't my God amazing!
I was praying and praying for Tim to suddenly appear, but noooooo, God has His own way of working! And delaying the flight is good cuz my next flight is 8.10am from KL and so I had to stay over at KL Budget Terminal airport. And so, the later my flight, the shorter my stay there, which is good!
Anyway, during that 1hr wait, I went a-walking around. AND retardly, the S$200 dropped from my bag when I took some stuffs out, without me knowing. Thank God that this lady called after me and ran up to pass it back!
On reaching Vientiane, there were some problems with the hotel I booked online. There was no space. I was staying there for 3 nights. And so for 2 nights I was suppose to go to Hotel Lao and the 3rd night back there. (I actually read of something like this before from other ppl's experiences online) Not too surprised here then. But on hindsight, I'm sooo thankful this happened. Because Hotel Lao is so convenient.
The street it's on seems to be the most happening street at night! And so coming back late is no problem. And it's fun to wander the streets at night too. AND the internet cafe with the cheapest rates I saw as I walked ALL around the town is just right below the hotel! Like how perfectly convenient can that get?
In contrast, my original hotel I booked is in quite a dark scary street filled with barking stray dogs!!
It makes me feel like, although I made a wrong choice of hotel online, God has His way of 'righting' it! And the best thing is, Hotel Lao is actually more expensive than the amount I paid.
On the second day of the cycling race (mass start), the venue was much further away. And so I went to the Central bus terminal to catch a bus up. I managed to find the SEA games bus which brings you all the way to the National Sports Complex. The cycling venue was somewhere along the way from Vientiane to the Sports Complex. I wasn't too sure where cuz nobody seemed to quite know where it was. Like the stuffs the sis told me were quite vague. When I boarded the SEA games bus there were 2 westerners. One from UK, the other from France I think? Apparently, the guy from UK was going to watch cycling too! And so, he told the bus driver to stop at the appropriate place and I got there, without getting lost!
Lastly, the night before I left, I gave all my kip to the sis, and kept 50,000 with me. The boss of the hotel said she'll give me a ride to the airport. So I thought I wouldn't need to pay anything. In the end, (quite expected) she wasn't there at 6.30am, and so the reception helped me to flag a tuktuk which was jUST outside only! And guess what, it costs eXACTLY 50,000 to the airport! (Although the list inside the tuktuk says 55,000) And so I used up all my kip to the dot. I didn't have to change any back. Which is really good because the money exchange at the airport was not open so early! And bringing kip back to singapore would be utterly pointless.
Everything worked out so perfectly. Isn't my God amazing????!!! :)
