Tea Time Is Here...

Afternoon tea time is here...there are 2 choices of snacks to choose from...freshly baked doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts shop and mini sized ang-koo-s (a hokkien delicacy famous in Penang)....it tastes yummy, it has a soft and nice texture of flour and bean paste....now the problem is...how to go on diet if these food are placed before me......haizzz.....Must remember to exercise more tomorrow.....
(Thank You Lord, for the food You have blessed us with....)

(dunkin donuts, here i come ...to dunk u into my stomach...)

(soft yummy red red ang-koo's)

( the 'dissected' ang-skoo's, inside is delicious bean paste-not so sweet)

Halong Bay-Hanoi Bogus Hawker

Hanoi is an interesting place to go.... I wouldnt mind going there again if there are sponsors ?? :) Anyway, while we were there, we stayed in this Hanoi Plaza Hotel, its cheap, clean and its just right in the old quarters where shopping paradise is...

Despite the heat, despite the hordes of motorcyclists charging into us (but somehow we escaped being hit, thanks to their manoeuvre expertise), and the continuous "screaming" of horns blaring non stop at each other, (i guess its their way of greeting each other)...

Hanoi is still a nice place to go again...food is not a problem, we experienced sitting on low wooden stools eating bowls of chicken hanoi 'koayteow' and their must-try is their local 'popiah', theirs is triangular shapes deeply fried.

I didnt take much pictures due to my 'carelessness'... so hopefully, next time if I go again, i will make sure I will be smarter...(forgot to unload old pictures from my camera, so no more memory spaace....cheesssss)

Halong Bay in the morning - taken from the hotel room

and......now.......

Does this 'hawker' look familiar???

Come To The Father

This is a song sung during Easter Sunday last week...it is a very meaningful song.. hope those who read this will listen to this...here are the lyrics..

Before the world began, you were on His mind
And every tear you cry, is precious in His eyes
Because of His great love, He gave His only son
Everything was done so you would come

Nothing you can do, could make Him love you more
Nothing that you've done, could make Him close the door
Because of His great love, He gave His only son
Everything was done so you would come

Come to the Father, though your gift is small
Broken hearts, broken lives, He will take them all
The power of His word, The power of His blood
Everything was done so you would come.....

Double F's - Food & Flowers

Last Sunday, 3 of us went to Tai Gu's (big auntie) house to take lunch, Easter Day... so B, since you couldnt come back, here are some pictures to remind you how it tastes like..haha..its the same dishes as in CNY...forgot to take the soup though, this time no cheese cake but some jelly for dessert...cos u were not around, Tai Gu didnt do the cheese cake..

B, here are the flowers I purchased lately....jumble sale, they were quite cheap...but now after buying them, I dont know where to place them...haha...so now temporarily, place them at some corners, wait till you come back, then we will see where to put them permanently..

.

Typical malaysian snacks

Come Monday...moody blues...my breakfast was not that good this morning, fried meehoon mixed with mee...it was not delicious at all but just eat la...for the sake of getting full... When lunch came, I was too lazy to go out to eat again, with all the schools near my office, the jam was just terrible... Called up mei mei to take lunchie with me at the canteen at 2pm (for us, this was the best time to take lunch) Below were some food made by 3 races, malay, chinese and indian respectively.....where food is concerned, its great to live in a multi-racial country...haha...

1) Malay delicacy (deep fried flour mixed with vegetables & dried shrimps)
2) Chinese tau foo far (sweet bean curd dessert)
3) Indian kacang putih (delicious crispy snacks where u eat non-stop once u begin)

Victorious Day....

Today is the day we celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection after the 3rd day being crucified on the cross....Jesus is alive, death has lost its victory and the grave has been denied...Jesus lives forever, He's alive....He's alive.... The curse of sin is broken and now we have perfect liberty...those who believe in Him will not cherish but will have everlasting life....Hallelujah....

These are real life pictures...spectacular in the beginning, then thrilling, terrifying and finally...

victorious..

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Saturday Half-Day Episode

It's nearly 3pm now..time passes so fast when its an off day...this morning, got up early...and what else to think of but food...? I guess its in my genes...food is always in my "hard disk" (brain) each morning...

Since today my 2nd precious was around too, both of us went out for breakfast, both of us only.... its a history event, according to him...is it really? I really cannot recall... Anyway, we went to Hor Lok coffeeshop where they sell varieties of food, eastern and western plus some dim sum too....

(RM4.00 rice) (RM4.50 mee)

After our brunch, we went home and upon reaching, mum called me to take her to visit Sam Sook (3rd uncle)..Its been nearly a week since I last saw him.. so 3 of us went, taking along mum's speciality ie. barley, gingko and foo chook tong sui (syrup)... Delicious...

Sam Sook looks healthier nowadays though he said he lost nearly 10 kg..I think its 10 lbs.. maybe he has mistaken..he looks fine to me and this time he related the whole episode of his biospy done on him at the initial stage...I wont relate it here...it is not a happy but a painful episode.. to all those who have undergone this, you are great people...in a sense that you really have the strength and determination to fight whatever impurities in the body...Salute to you all...

After spending an hour or so there, we went home ... heavy dark clouds were looming over us.... Again and again, after visiting someone less heathier than me, I have this gratitude feeling, a thought of thankfulness to our Almighty... Though we cant avoid getting old and sick one day, while we still can, we should treasure our time doing meaningful things we love doing...Life is indeed very precious and it can be very fragile too.....

GOOD FRIDAY

Last night, one of my friends I chatted with online asked me "What is Good Friday? Do we have to be specially good today and other days, we can be do good and bad?" At times, its difficult to give exact answers to certain questions...

Here are some exerpts I abstracted from the internet and put into simple words what Good Friday is about...

Good Friday is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is traditionally the day on which Jesus was crucified. Should Christians celebrate Good Friday?

The Bible gives us freedom whether to honor or celebrate a certain day, in Romans 14:5 says, "One man considers one day more sacred than another, another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind."

Why is Good Friday referred as "good"?, Ah...that I would like to know too...cos what Jesus has gone through is not "good" but a horrifying and terrifying time...to be crucified . HOWEVER... the results of Christ's death are very good.

Romans 5:8 tells us "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 1 Peter 3:18 continues "For Christ died for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit."

So...whether or not, we christians choose to "celebrate" Good Friday, the events of that day should be ever on our minds because the death of Christ on the cross is the paramount event of the christian faith.

MAUNDY THURSDAY

Today is Maundy Thursday, tomorrow is Good Friday... I wanted to explain in my own words the meaning of this day but after second thoughts, it would be more accurate if I just copy and paste... haha.. I am afraid I might give the wrong concept of this special day...its good to know briefly what Maundy Thursday is all about...so here goes...

Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday)

Maundy Thursday - also called Holy Thursday is the feast or holy day on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles.

On this day, Christians remember the Last Supper. During the meal Jesus took bread and wine and shared them with his disciples. Christians continue to share bread and wine as part of their worship in church.

The Last Supper was probably a Passover meal – the meal which Jewish people share together to celebrate the time when God delivered Moses and the people from slavery in Egypt.

The night of Maundy Thursday is the night on which Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane.

When is Maundy Thursday?

Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday. It is one of the lesser known days of the Christian calendar.

20 March 2008.

What is the origin of the name Maundy?

The name 'Maundy' is derived from the command or mandatum by Christ at the Last Supper, to love one another:

'And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.' John 15:12

World's Best Friends' Week

This week is World Best Friend's Week? Meaning? Wishing our best friend's all the best? haha.. I really dont know... This morning I received a sms from my sifu (old friend)... here it goes:-
"Do you know the relationship between your 2 eyes? They blink together, move together, cry together and even sleep together. Even they dont see each other eye to eye, friendship should be like that..."

Well, I cant say that is true...if I want to describe how a best friend is, just these words... love her, be with her and stand by her...

Funnily enough, only when crisis arises and during that moment of time, we will know who stands by us and who are there for us...

As for me, I know who my best friends are...I am truly blessed to have a few good goody friends around, though out of the few, one is very special among the specials...who is always there for me and stand by me .... maybe one day, I will tell the story of my 'bestest' friend...

Living a life without friends is not life... so here goes my short poem to all the best friends in the world....

To you, I want to say a big thank you
For you, I always want to be there
With you, I hope I can be together
With grace, our friendship will last forever

Flowers For Sale

These 2 pots of flowers were being 'auctioned' off today.... I will miss them... its been with me for few years now... the yellow orchid flowers was sold off for RM800 and the other one was RM1000.... so amazingly expensive and yet so cheap if the dot is in between the zero's...

As for me, I also bought some but I wont show them now cos they need a big shower and clean-up. Once they are ready, I will show off their beauty......

Farewell, My Colleague...

Recently there were a number of changes in our country Malaysia, new Menteri Besar (Chief Ministers), new Exco members newly appointed and ...lately, new staff in my office... When there's new staff coming in, that means some old staff has got to go... Encik Haslan, my chief clerk left us behind on the 14/3/2008, moving himself to a federal department. I wonder how he is there now...

While he was here, I can say he is a very dedicated worker in our office, he is one of the best workers, he knows his stuff, his staffs' work very well and there would be no problem unsolved if he is around...for a calibre man like him around, he should have no difficulty working elsewhere but it would be a waste if the new office is not as competitive as his former office here...

If Malaysia government office has a majority staff like him, then there would be no backlog or unsolved problems arising in our departments throughout.... :)

To you, Encik Haslan, all the best and God Bless you always..
(I thought you would not dare to shake my hand... )

Simple Food

It was so hot during the day...and what could be better to have a fruit juice drink at home...yeah?
I blend some carrots, some apples and oranges, pure juice, no added water and....and so far, we didnt have stomach ache, thank God... and to go with the juice is this cake bought from Bread Shop in Jaya Jusco...walnut raisin butter cake, not bad...surprisingly...hmmmm...

Before my 1st precious went back to campus, we had this simple dinner at home.... there were only 3 dishes, steamed 'pomfret' fish, eggs with big onions and chinese sausages and spinach soup with ikan bilis (anchovies). hmm...doesnt look appetitisng as those in restaurants though...I must read more from Sapphire Blu's recipes...

Badminton-Swiss Open

(Lee Chong Wei, we'll be watching you!!)

Tonite is the finals of the Swiss Open....for badminton lovers in Malaysia, look out for men's single, ie between China Lin Dan and Malaysia Lee Chong Wei. Both are No. 1 and 2 in the world's ranking respectively....

From predictions, Lin Dan has better chances of being the champion but then, Lee Chong Wei, with his determination and great defense, he too, has a chance winning over Lin Dan..... It will be an exciting game to watch these two great players outplaying each other....

(Tune to Astro 811 - 7pm.....postpone our dates for tonite and lets stay glued to the TV)

Lin Dan (notice his crooked racquet?)

Desserts For Tonight....

After dinner, we went to this ice cream cafe near my place called Sidewalk...it sells mainly ice cream...., we spent some time choosing ...turning the pages back and forth.....couldnt really decide what to choose......Finally we made up our minds and after waiting for some 10 minutes or so, these ice creams were served and now they are inside our greedy stomachs....

Upon reaching home, we were further blessed with another bout of food on my dining table, hot, delicious fried rice with lots of varieties, tau foo far (bean curd dessert) to feed 20 people at least and some fruits....oh, by the way, its cell group night, a time to fellowship and when the meeting ended around 10pm, its feasty time again....

Thank you Lord once again, for the abundant food that You provide for us each day....

HELLO MR PRESIDENT...

"Hello Mr. President, its nice to meet you.....er...may I put my hand on your shoulder? I could?.... thank you very much.... I hope you have a nice day ahead... goodbye..."

That was the most memorable day for my 2nd precious ... his unexpected wish came true... at last, he have met up face to face with our infamous Mr. George Bush, the president in one of the most powerful countries in the whole world....

Now...let's assume one day, one fine day, we meet up with our Maker in heaven... Just imagine, what shall we say to Him.. Do we say, Hello God, its nice to see You finally up here... or will we be dumbfold and gape with our mouths open? Speechless?

I used to ask myself, what have I done for Him.... am I doing His works? How many souls did I save for Him? Am I a true ambassadors for our Christ Jesus?

Frankly, I couldnt think of anything great that I have done right for Him.... Except through prayers, I admit I didnt actually do much for our Lord but instead... He has given and done so much for me and my kids.... He is indeed our true God, the giver of our lives...

Lets start to do something for Him... so that we meet up with Him one day, we will have plenty to 'boast' about instead of gaping with our mouths open at our Lord.... :)

No More Sleepless Nights...

There is this verse I want to share, for those who have difficulty sleeping because of our worldly problems, perhaps this message can help and comfort us....

Psalm 127:2 says...."It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so He gives His Beloved sleep"

In other words, it is pointless to worry and lose sleep because of our trival affairs each day, the more we worry, our problems will keep piling up and it will never end.

I cant deny we dont worry at all if we are sane people, I, for one, worry over some slightest issue at times and my heart wont be at ease until it is solved or repaired in one way or the other....

It is written here, God is the one who builds our careers and guards our marriage or arranges our everyday life... He is the one who watches over our children and future. He will guard our bank account and watches over our financial investments and business ventures...we are not the Ones!

But we are humans, it is hard for us to let go and let God take over...we tend to make our own choices each day instead of asking Him about it...We are not casting our cares and our worries cos many times we forget He is there for us...

But when we actually do, ie. to cast our cares, anxieties, worries and concerns upon His hands, we will see then how He cares for us affectionately and watchfully...we will also see Him taking care of our problems and working things out for our own good...(Romans 8:28)

So...........are we going to trust God this very minute or do we still want to go our own way???

Don't Look Down...Look UP...

Great Wall Of China...Jittery legs...aaaahhhh...... dont trust this pic ....actually my legs are feeling kind of numb and my hand was clutching the railing real tight....this is the highest I can climb...up the stairs, I mean....If I were to go to that place again, I would rather wait at the bottom and look up instead...

Slumberland...zzzzz....zzzz

Today is Monday...the first day of working after election..I reached office quite early, no one was around yet...seems rather kind of quiet and as it was in darkness, it reminded me of Genesis, God said, "Let there be light".............and very quickly I switched on all the lights...phew... looks so much better when there is light all around...

As there is no one around, I caught hold of my hp and snapped the place where I sit each day ....though it doesnt look that comfortable or cosy, but to me, it is like my second home, where I spend more than 9 hours here, 5 days a week, month after month, year in, year out.... haiyzz..

my slumberland plus my faithful pillow

Beautiful Sunday

After an exhausting day at the polling station ie from 7am till 8.30pm, I was really beat when I reached home... Despite the long hours and excruciating heat during the daytime, it was quite fun really...to see all types of people from all walks of life, coming to vote for their respective candidates.... I was stationed at a classroom where the voters are mainly elderly people ... some were really really old, (99 years of age but still walking good with a stick), some sickly on wheel chairs and few were paralysed from waist down, to see is to believe, and seeing all of them, it really puts us the younger generation to shame...these 'seniors' and veterans are so committed, they are responsible citizens... I regret not taking some photos but then I think its forbidden for me to take..haha..furthermore, I was quite busy with my own tasks too...

CELL GROUP NIGHT

Today is Friday...now 7.30pm...cell group nite....Its raining dogs and cats over here now, will there be anyone coming for cell meeting? Now, now.....why would I need to worry about that...doesnt the Lord says...Do not worry, do not fret about what will happen...leave it in hands of the Lord, He always know what to do.... And lo and behold, suddenly all the dogs and cats disappear, the rain has just stopped, isnt that wonderful??

Well, what songs shall I play for tonite? Again another question and before I need to crack further, I looked under my table, the song sheets are all there... and lo and behold again, the first song I caught hold of is "Power of Your Love"... second song, none other than the one I wrote in my blog recently "Lord You are always here with me" and the last song will be "I lift my hands"...... hmmm..

Quickly, I took hold of the song sheets and started to practise on my guitar.... I m very happy... the songs are just perfect, can even feel the Holy Spirit indwelling as I went through the songs.. Praise the Lord..... I hope my group members can feel the same too later... and let Your Holy Spirit mingle in our midst as we sing our praises unto You, Lord Jesus......

WE ARE DEFEATED!!!

Yes, the men doubles Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong were defeated by a Japanese men double last night...another upset... it must be a blow for them cos they lost to an unseeded pair.... Now the surviving players are Wong Mew Choo, women's single, Lee Chong Wei, men's single and our uncle's men double players, the veterans known as Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah.
(a defeated look)
As for me, I was also defeated by a bout of infection, attacking my body system and thus causing me to have high fever last night... The only consolation is that the doctor has given me 2 days off to rest and recuperate...how to rest with this badminton and election fever going on??? I hope I am fit to work during the election day...its too late to look for a replacement at this time....Anyone care to replace me just in case I cant?

(this is MY defeated look, worse.....)

Badminton Fever Is Back Again

All England Badminton is on now... starting from 4 March till 9 March 2008. These are the players worth looking out for...hehe...cos they are Malaysians...

(Wong Mew Choo-Ipoh Lass-no. 1 Malaysia women single)

(Lee Chong Wei-no. 1 Malaysia Men Single)

And this is my favourite men doubles....(Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong)

Tan Boon Heong doing his famous smashes...go go....all the way...

Koo Kien Keat with his fancy drops and really drop on the court....

Looking forward to seeing them in action again this coming Friday, 7th March in the quarter finals if they qualify.....I hope they really will.....MALAYSIA BOLEH!!!

Songs of Praise

Just want to share this... there is this website http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ whereby we can find songs lyrics with guitars chords, it is very useful for those who wants to play the guitar and sing as well... there is this song whichI find very touching, each time when it is played in church, it never fails to touch my heart and will bring tears to my eyes...

LORD YOU ARE ALWAYS HERE WITH ME

When trouble comes, I trust in You

For I know You will lead me through

And I know You are faithful till the end

And when the storms are drawing near

When I'm with You, I dont have to fear

You're my shepherd on whom I can depend

Through the days, through the nights

I know You're always be by my side

Lord You are always here with me

There is no changing God in thee

You are the same, yesterday and today and forever more

Here on your promises I stand

You hold my future in your hands

My solid rock, Almighty God, I worship You....

:::::End::::

I am learning and still wanting to learn more about playing the guitar so I hope if anyone who reads this and have something to share, I would appreciate it very much.... Songs of praise with guitar chords would be very valuable too....