OUR CRAZY GROUP

Our tour group were mainly from Batu Pahat. Someone once wrote, "It's not just the destination but the journey is equally important." Our group was mainly made up of retirees, senior citizens and a few youngsters. . Certainly our tour to Guilin was made even more memorable by the company. Indeed half the fun was in the bus itself.First was our tour leader, Mr Chew, more fondly called "Siaw Chew" or "Chew Junior" One would be hard-pressed to find such a thoughtful, well-organised as well as versatile tour leader. For a start, he thoughtfully packed coffee 3-in-1 as coffee was hard to come by in China. For every meal, he would serve sambal that he had personally made ( because Malaysian tourists often grumble there was no sambal to go with their food). Throughout the journey in the bus, he would be passing out tidbits - nuts, sour plums, cookies, sweets and even cakes.

But his greatest accomplishment was to keep our group entertained. He had us all in stitches with his singing songs with certain innuendos and bawdy jokes. His clients were equally up to him and were quick to rebut him. Sometimes the jokes would get out of hand, and Siaw Chew's elder sister would remonstrate him, citing, "Give due respect to Siau Chang -our headmistress." (meaning my sister).
The man in the middle was our China tour guide, a native of Guilin, Siaw Liang. Only 31 years old, he displayed much maturity. He was well versed in the history and geography of China, as well as Chinese literature. Thus he was able to keep a running commentary on all the places we visited. With his good voice, he also entertained us with many songs. But his most endearing quality was his ability to charm everyone with his stories of his childhood, his parents, how he met his wife...etc. By the end of the tour he had endeared everyone to him, especially the ladies, some of whom were rather enamoured by his charming good looks.

Notable among our group was 2 sisters (left pic -Wan Chen in red and Wan Ying in blue). They were intensely ragged by Siau Chew, but they were able to give him back - word for word. So there would be a lively repartee - with all of us clapping in support of the lively interaction. They often engaged in a clever play of words which left us all in tears and stitches.
Top right is shot of the couple (Mr and Mrs Ching) whom we often sat together for meals. Mr. Ching was rather adventurous and we often teamed up to explore the city and try out the local food together.

Here we posed with another 2 sisters. Although we did not communicate much, but they were very friendly. Both equally avid shoppers. On the left was our "Fashion Queen", fondly addressed as Lian Cher or Sister Lian. Aged 72, she eludes style and fashion surpassing all of us. Thus, she would be decked in purple one day, purple tights, purple scarf, purple T-shirt and the next day she would be all in pink, or some other rainbow colours!! We shared a common hobby - gardening.

Lian Cher had been with Siaw Chew in 9 tours already, and she planned many more future tours, as she said, "Siaw Chew takes good care of us." Certainly throughout the tour, Siaw Chew had to keep a constant lookout for Lian Cher and four other older ladies whom he dubbed "Malaysia's Five National Treasures!".
Then there was Eileen and her husband. Eileen was the style icon in our group. Also a granny of two, she eludes style and sophistication.
We met as strangers but we parted as friends - to the extent that some of them decided they wanted to visit Sabah !!