Josiah Loh s/o Connel & Vanessa

It all started on 11th Oct 2006 when we paid a weekly visit to our gynaecologist, Dr Poon. He said that Josiah's might be a little to big for Vanessa's pelvic and his umbilical cord was near his neck region. He suggested an induced labour and so we chose the ultimate date, 14th Oct 2006.

Throughout the pregnancy, both of us prayed hard daily for a Supernatural Childbirth, a book which we read ever since we experienced a miscarriage last Oct. The experience was really hard for both of us to accept because of the heartache and pain. It was really God's love which overcame all pain, disappointment, guilt and many factors which the devil was drilling into our minds. During the period of time, I recalled having a dream where I received a present and upon unwrapping it, there was a baby inside. One of my friends said that it could be God's answer to our prayers. Indeed He answers our prayers according to His will and when we are praying, He hears.

Well, here we are now enjoying our life with our little bundle of joy, Josiah Loh. Born on 14th Oct 2006, weight at 3.3kg and time was 2241 hours. It started at 0830, Vanessa was wheeled into the delivery suite at Mount Alvernia Hospital to be induced. The machine that was attached to her showed that there were slight contractions before any induction, thank God. Nonetheless, she was induced via a tablet and was put on drip at about 1600 when her cervix dilated a little after that many number of hours. She started feeling the contractions and was in pain. I was present by her side allowing my hand to be her stress reliever and at the same time, I was watching the Man U vs Wigan match. So exciting for both affairs but of course, more excited to see our son. It was until 2145 hours that Dr Poon came in and confirmed that Vanessa had to go through a Caesarean section to get Josiah out.

Whilst in the operating theatre, I was so excited when I saw the doctor opening up her womb with all the gadgets. Thought to myself that I could only see this on TV but there I was, witnessing the whole event 'LIVE'. When the doctor said that Josiah was about to be seen, I saw his head and out came his body. I was so touched to see God's creation that I just held Vanessa's hand and cried. I kept calling out his name as he attended to by one of the nurse. I cried upon seeing my parents as well as I was so happy and I knew that was the next most happy thing besides my marriage.

Enough said, look at the picture of Josiah Loh.

Basic Mountaineering Course

Back in April 2004, Chin Yong & myself went for an outward bound journey to India for our long awaited mountaineering course. This motivation spun off from the motivation of my batch mates in OBS who had gone on the same programme the previous year. All preparation was done though there were a few last minute stuff, as usual, what's new right???

We definitely had a good time over there, unlearning, relearning and learning all the time. Any complacency would lead to something dangerous so I learnt never to be complacent and place your trust in the guides who are your guardians. You must be wondering, why am I saying this, did I fall into a complacency pit where I found it difficult to climb out from. Well, yes I did.

Everything went smoothly till one late morning where I was 20 - 30m away from the summit of a trekking peak. I was following one of my instructors along a path where there could be crevasses and suddenly the snow jus gave way upon stepping on it. Thank God the grip on a rockface kept me balanced and I braced myself after the initial shock. My instructor reacted in a way where I felt frustrated (due to my ego) and I decided very childishly to turn back. To this day, I acknowledge that it was my immaturity that prevented me from tasting what's it like being on a snow capped peak. I promised God I'll never allow myself to fall into that situation ever again. HE taught me a good lesson on humility.

Well, it was a journey well travelled in many ways and I'll never forget this trip ever. There's a journal which I wrote as much as I could for a total of 23 days. Longest I've kept a journal and I'm really proud of it. It's filled with drawings, emotions, thoughts and most importantly, my experience.