I had been thinking about what I could do for Ruby after Rachel in bold American fashion sent the staff an email saying that Ruby her friend from Vietnam would be learning from us for about two weeks and requesting for us to welcome and extend our hospitality to her. So on an impulse I offered to take them to Batu Ferringhi to take some pictures at which Ruby was really, really delighted. Unfortunately Rachel could not join us today because of a meeting fixed for the evening, so Chai Bee, Ruby and I set off for the beaches immediately at 5 pm. The dark gloomy skies failed to deter us. Anyway, she did not have any more free days since Wilson had booked her for tomorrow (just the two of them we later found out!!), Friday is cell group night and then the weekend services... which brings her fortnight with us to an end. So fast.

I drove them into the Rasa Sayang Hotel. Chai Bee was a little in awe, "Can we go in?" in hushed tone. I was fine since I firmly believe in the power of the potential customer and I coolly led them in, greeted back nonchalantly at the staff who held the doors open for us and ushered us into the gardens at my request. Heh. So here are our pictures.

Ruby is really sweet, just twenty years old and she wants to serve God full time. Her name is actually Rubilie Tran and she has a very nice singsong accent very different from Malaysian. I didn't know Vietnamese speak English so nicely. She kept saying how beautiful Penang is, how she enjoys being able to open her windows and breathe in the clean air. Sometimes it is refreshing to see the beauty of our own surroundings from someone else' eyes. We wrapped up the evening by going for oyster noodles at Fettes Park, recommended by Chai Bee. I winced a little at the fat squishy oysters as I bit and swallowed them and tried not to think too much about how smooth they felt and tasted like. Chai Bee and I also busied ourselves separating the fried pork lard pieces from our noodles until Ruby surprised us by exclaiming that we were discarding the best part of the noodles and claimed our shares for herself! hahaha