We left Kuala Lumpur for Ipoh, the city of millionaires, at 8:00 in the morning. Or first stop was at the Sam Poh Tong, a Chinese Buddhist Temple, within a natural limestone hill.
Then it was off to Kellie's Castle ( or sometimes also called Kellie's Folly). The unfinished, ruined mansion, was built by a Scottish planter named William Kellie Smith. According to different accounts, it was either a gift for his wife or a home for his son. This was meant to be grand mansion with a six story tower, wine-cellar, stately columns, Moorish arches and walls embellished with Greco-Roman designs. Work on the mansion was halted with the sudden death of the owner.
Then it was our turn to play hockey on, the "Smurf Turf", the nick name given to blue and pink astro. In this province the Sultan's favourite sport is hockey. Evidence of this is the fabulous facilities which, was of course followed by so me of the finest hockey so far in Malaysia. The girls and boys once again made us proud. The girls won their match 4 - 0. Nicci scored 2 goals, one of them with a superb dive. The boys faced the strongest opposition yet and went 2 - 0 down within 15 minutes of the game. They quickly adapted to the fast pace of the match and scored 2 goals early in the second half. The opposition came back strongly and scored 2 more goals. It was the first loss for the boys on tour, but they learnt more about the game of hockey, than in any of the other match so far.
Later the evening we all went 10 pin bowling. What a busy, productive and fun-filled day we all had!
Sorry to hear about the boys' loss - key is, did you give it your all (am sure you did, or otherwise coaching staff would have ditched you...)and congratulations to the lasses on their result. Again, the key is to remember that this is all part of a far more significant journey and that you now have to push yourselves to the next level.
ReplyDeleteAlso, seems that the tourist and cultural activities are not left behind - thanks for the story and wonderful pictures (appreciate the fact that the writing time could also be used to immerse yourselves into the local environment).
Enjoy the last few days - and remember there is still some work to be done.
Go well