I can't say this was my first birthday away from home; the past four I've been away at college. My family and friends have always made me feel so loved on my birthday especially.
With all the stress I'd been carrying with ministry, making decisions about free days, etc. my birthday wish this year was to have a day in which I didn't have to make ANY decisions.
Enter Team Tumbler. Wish granted.
The night before my birthday, my team took me to the movies to see Les Mis, a movie I had been dying to see ever since it came out on Christmas [although, it didn't come out until the end of January over here in Asia…]. The gents had told me they had no desire to see the movie, but would go, just to be with the team for my birthday.
When we got back to the hotel, I got ready for bed and answered a few emails while laying in bed. Right at midnight, my whole team rushed into the room singing "Happy Birthday" and jumped on my bed until the end of the song. As quickly as they came, they left after giving me hugs and wishing me a happy birthday. I went to sleep shortly after.
The next morning, I woke up to 100 balloons on the hotel room floor.
My team's 2am handy work! well played
Cathy told me that they weren't just any balloons and Christopher told me that there were notes in some of them. I entertained the thought for a few minutes, shaking each balloon individually trying to figure out which ones had notes in them. I popped a few and started to read the notes. They were a collections of tasks, for what, I had no idea. I then took a few minutes to Skype with my parents back home before coming back to the balloons.
They told me there were more notes and I had to pop ALL of the balloons to find them. [Popping balloons, especially in a hotel filled with other guests is not very high on my list of 'favorite things to do'] I found about 20 or so notes. Two balloons contained a handful of letters. The first balloon, the letters went all over the place because I didn't realize all the pieces inside until they were outside, strewn across the room. I kept the letters separated in case they were two message I had to decipher. They later told me it was one big message.
after a few hints, i deciphered it! [My team knows how much i LOVE chocolate milk!]
I spent the morning popping balloons and collecting notes. I asked how many there were, but no one counted, so I had no idea if I had gotten them all [we came back later that night to find two more in the balloons that were left].
So around 10:30am, my team told me we were going to Batu Caves outside the city. They told me to bring my notes and that I had to either do each task myself, or delegate someone on the team to do it. And there was one task that had to be done TO each person on the team and I had to do each of those myself. And for some unknown reason, we all decided to talk in a British accent ALL day. Random? Yes. Fun? You betcha!
So we headed to catch the train to the Caves. While we waited, I started pulling out the notes: first task, sing in a public place. So, we sang "I'm a Little Tea Pot" at the train station. We got to Batu Caves and task number two was completed: take a picture with a statue.
The caves were beautiful, but the majesty was dampened by all the shrines and shops that had been set up throughout. There were a lot of monkeys there, that would attack anyone who had anything that resembled a bag of food. I petted one of them [more like poked, but hey, I touched it!].
Right before i touched the monkey!
What it takes to get a good picture at the caves. Darn photo bombers…. 😀
We then headed back into the city for lunch. We ended up at Kenny Rogers' Roasted Chicken [Who knew Kenny Rogers had a restaurant chain??]. We then took another train to the historical Kuala Lumpur Train Station and then walked through the "touristy area" with all the national tourist attractions (National mosque, National Planetarium, National Police Museum, National this, National that…. You get the picture). We walked around the National Police Museum since it was free [yeah, we're cheap…]. Cathy and Ed were in heaven in the Gun Exhibit.
Historic Kuala Lumpur Train Station
We continued walking in search of the Orchid Garden. We finally found it and walked around and took pictures, all while having a good time.
Me at the orchid garden
After walking several miles that day, we ended up at TGIFriday's for dinner. After dinner, the waiter made me sing and give a speech for my birthday ice cream and cake [so much for "free"]. It was a lot of fun and hysterical- I sang "Be a Man" from Mulan. My team said they'd join in, but no one did… [Thanks A LOT guys :P]
And if all of that wasn’t enough, my team bought me a variety of cake slices from the bakery at the Grand Seasons Hotel and we devoured those while sitting in bed at the hotel!
So much love! I am super super blessed to have such an AMAZING team that loves me so well!! I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be traveling the world with and serving alongside! Love you all!!
"Unicorn hair" on public transit Hop across the street "Buddy the Elf" style Pose with a statue
Get a piggy back ride from Ed
Other tasks completed:
Find Close's belly button and shout 'I found the treasure!'
Hush Cathy by putting your finger over her lips
Skip down one block
You can only speak in song throughout dinner
Take an "awkward couple" photo with Ed
Ask a stranger for a piece of gum
Hug a stranger [by far the best executed of the day by Christopher on the light rail]
Tasks that were not completed but still entertaining to read:
Hug Erin's knees
Rub Christopher's stomach while patting his head
TIckle Kwak
Have a Pillow Fight
"Accidentally" hold hands with a stranger
Team Tumbler looking fly as always
