first

My female owner had another run away weekend. Three weekends ago, she stayed over at SOF/SOF’B house. Two weekends ago, she did a SOF/SOF’B + Noosa Heads getaway. Last weekend, she stayed over at I-Fren’s house. Hmm.. didn’t realise how much she had been away, until now.

The sleepover at I-Fren’s started innocuously, with a simple aim of learning to pitch a tent. Unbeknownst to her, it morphed into a full weekend of experiential learning and many firsts. It started off with a dinner hosted by his mum on Friday night. My female owner rarely sits at a table, having a family-type dinner, especially with the conversation centred on direction in life/God. No wonder she was struck dumb. She also never spoken to any parent at such great lengths. Back in Singapore, it was always her friends who came to her house and wound up chatting with her mother.

Then, exposure therapy to her fear of dogs. It was either she stayed in the car for the night to avoid the dog or come out and be uncomfortable. She was forced, literally, held by the hand, to stand (trembling) in the dark and allow the dog to sniff her. She was then forced to pat the dog on the head. What horrors!

Saturday came and they picked up I-Fren’s friend (who was visiting from Melbourne) at the Gold Coast before heading to Lamington National Park for a hike. Her first time at the acclaimed place, south of Gold Coast. The drive up to Lamington was therapeutic and calming, especially when compared to the driving she had to do in Tasmania. For once, she could enjoy the sights, cows and wind as they went into the mountains and farms.

The initial plan was to do a 5-6km hike. It morphed into a 12.7km hike. Not that my female owner had any issues, coz she loves hiking (with ungirly people). What she didn’t expect was that the Melbourne friend (whom I-Fren hosted till Sunday evening) was a mega big camwhore. The trio ended up spending heaps of time posing with nature. From hanging off tree branches, to sitting on them like a swing, to crawling into a cave, and standing on rocks, to squeezing into tree trunks and checking out bums… they did them all.

And unexpectedly but gleefully, half-way in the hike, my female owner managed to turn the table on I-Fren and got him to do some rudimentary exposure therapy at the edge of the cliff, all in the name of confronting his fear of heights. Evil her.

The last 5km was unexpectedly difficult for my female owner. She started to slow down and to tail behind the guys. Her foot was developing a blister and she could feel quite painfully, the uneven terrain beneath her shoes. Nonetheless, walking through that long stretch of track alone, praying and humming worship tunes, my female owner had a spiritual conviction that this is how she wants to lead her life, always worshipping and praying even if times are hard and lonely.

Plan for the night was to make Ondeh-ondeh. Another first! Both I-Fren and her were clueless about what it meant to “cook tapioca flour until transparent” but nonetheless did their best to follow the recipe. Instead of getting green balls, they ended up with paddle-pop looking balls, no thanks to green, red and yellow food colouring. So cute!!! Another unexpected exposure therapy happened when my female owner was asked to light the stove with a match-stick and she had no choice but to confess that she can’t light a match-stick…. out of fear. I-Fren could not contain his surprise. His eyes widened so much, my female owner knew she was in trouble. She ended up having to practise lighting matches…. with him holding on to the box. Oh well… uncompleted therapy.

Sunday came. The original plan was to pitch a tent, remember? Well, it never materialised, because they went to attend a bridge opening. Another first! Yes, the Kurilpa Bridge, which links South Bank to the City across the Brisbane River was opened to the public that morning. An impromptu jio expanded the trio to five persons. They ended up lunching together in the city… and taking a walk to the Botanical Gardens…. Which was another first for my female owner. Yes, after 1.5years in Brisbane, she finally made it to the Botanical Gardens…. And discovered that there was actually a bridge (Good Will Bridge) that linked the Garden to South Bank.

And for the first time in her life, she climbed up a tree. Well, not exactly. She was pulled up by her friends. But it was fun for her, as she sat up in the tree, looking at things around her. Hmm, she could have stayed there the whole day. She also found clusters of bamboo in the Garden which she immediately gravitated towards. Bamboo! She adores them.

The day of sight-seeing (remember, they were actually hosting I-Fren’s friend) ended back at South Bank as they explored the landscaping and man-made beach. My female owner didn’t realise how tired she was, until she woke up from an 11-hr sleep this morning.

Yes, thanks to the two guys, she has heaps of photos... which she is too lazy to show me! One day, she says.