From the heart....

During the time of my "rest" , I had the opportunity to learn from Uncle George who said to me that when we greet or when we bless someone, we must meant it from our heart. Unlike our society today, we tend to greet, speak or even saying blessings to someone only on the surface. Many times words like "OMG", "JC" and "OG" becomes exclamation of common utterance without the actual realisation of the words. As a person, we should use these words in a more responsible manner and really mean it! When you meet some one, say " God bless you" or "Have a blessed day" or even "Be blessed" and really mean it. Put that in practise!

In our life, the most important thing in our life is LOVE while the sweetest is REPENTANCE while the most mysterious is FORGIVING. ~ Yup! I learnt these wise words of wisdom from Uncle George. It took me some time to digress and to digest it but it helped me!

The other words of wisdom came from my good friend, Dinesh, who sends me the "10/90" principle! We have no control over the 10% of what is going to happen to us but we can control the 90% by how we react to the situation in front of us! Then, good buddy, Vive, sends me an article of "Responding like Jesus ~ Pray for those who persecute you- Matt 5:44" Thank you for those of you who had helped me, in one way or another, in order for me to learn so much in these times. I too have nothing but kind words for my family and friends who puts up with a character like me. I know that these words , encouragement and words of wisdom comes from the heart. I appreciate that a lot ! I really do ! ~

Rest....a privilege indeed!

For the last few days, I took off from my work, stayed at home and just rest. I needed to clear my mind as I knew that I was on the brink of a mental shutdown. [ I really mean this! ] There are times in our lives that we will feel this way and the only way to get out of such "disaster" is simply to rest. I am so grateful that I am able to take such rest. It helps me to sleep, watch some TV and catch up on some light reading. [ Joke books helps a lot! ]
One activity which I found to be really relaxing and calm for me was the folding of the "miniature waste basket" using unwanted magazines or papers. I learnt the art of folding the "miniature waste basket" rather fast one day. Since I started doing it, I find that even in my stressful times, I learnt to be patient and be calm. I realised that as I follow through the steps to fold the waste basket, I think of things, solutions and even my next course of action rather nicely.

Never mind if difficulties come without end, but at least, have some rest and sleep it through. Rest & sleep does a lot of wonders for you. I am sure I did benefit from it ~As for the waste basket, they are at my dinner table. A grim reminder of how many problems there were but hey, they are going to get thrown out eventually, believe me!~

Frustrating....really frustrating...

Aaarrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I am really having a frustrating day today. There will be times like this in our lives. I keep trying to keep myself sane each day, keeping my tempers in check and even trying very hard to be a better person each day in this really mad,mad,mad world we live in. Gosh! It is really so so so damn hard when you are pressed right to the wall each time.

Each time I want to "flip" or give an outburst, I keep a sharp lookout at a "stone" tablet on my table. God! Thank you, Lord, for preserving this unworthy life of mine ~

Durians... an acquired taste!

When I promised my wife that I was going to buy her some durians and what more, I was going to join her to eat durians, ( honestly, I was probably out of my mind because I am not particularly crazy over durians! ) she was gleaming and flipping with joy. It was her sheer persistence and the very expression on her face ( pretty & cute ! Sigh! I am a sucker for a cute woman ! ) that made me down the golden succulent "flesh" down my throat! BTW, the throat hurts today!
Off we went to a nearby pasar malam and that evening, we bought two D2, one D24, one D101 and one D8 durian. The car was practically permeated with durian smell ! Then came my usually bright son, " Hey! Dad's eating durian, man! " He was practically grinning from ear to ear and laughing his toes off for seeing me eat durians. I just told him to nip it, sit down and enjoy the durians. Yeah! I don't particularly enjoy eating durians but I made an exception! We (meaning my wife , son and me ) managed to finish four while we had to pack the rest. That's my durian quota for the year and thank you very much ~ as far as I am concerned , my durian season is over!

For durian lovers all over the country, hey, this is only one man's view, ok? Personally, there are so many varieties out there ~ tembaga, kunyit, merah, 101, whatever D it is ! Go out there and enjoy yourself. For me, I need to "cool" down the body. It's heating up ! Happy durian days ahead!

BTW, the taste......well, they aren't that bad. A little bit sweet, a little bit bitter and a little bit creamy as well.

Overall, it' an acquired taste, really!

Roti Canai kids.......

Yunno, it is always fun to see kids antics during food time and while I was having cooking "demonstration" on one side, the Ranger Kids commanders comprising Comdr. Jessica and Comdr.Bee Ling were serving roti canai to these playful tiny tots! It was fun seeing them lining up for their roti canai and obviously, there will always be one who did not get the roti canai or next door ~ fried chicken!
To me , Caleb and Merrick are the bright sparks of the foodie day! It was fun seeing them in action and at their playful best! Enjoy these photos! This is what makes the children so special indeed! Honestly, I wouldn't messed around with them either when they are lining up for food, eating their food ( sigh! they are so protective over their food! ) or when they are actually getting their food on the plate!

Grrrrrrrr! Don't mess with me or my food ! ~ Ha..................ha.................ha..............................

Fried Chicken Day....

Today, I taught the Adventure Rangers boys ( Joel, Matthew, Lewis & Bryan ) and the girls ( Josephine, Shwu Yuen & Xin Yi ) the ways to cut up a chicken and to cook up fried chicken. I could tell that none of them had any experience in the kitchen helping out their mom while I was determined to impart some small knowledge of cutting up a chicken and cooking up a meal. Who knows, they could actually help their mom/dad in the kitchen one day. I could see that everyone was excited but the usual playful stuff. I had the girls to cut up the chicken and spice the cut pieces with Italian dressing, garlic salt and some paprika powder. Then it's off to the portable stove, pan and oil. Dipped the cut pieces in egg batter, transfer to some flour batter and in it goes to the pan. I guess, someone remarked that the aroma was fantastic and I couldn't agree more. Then it was the boys turn and what ruckus they made but all in the name of fun. Before long, the queue for food tasting gets longer especially roti canai being served by the Ranger Kids commanders. It was really a fun day.

Personally, for me, I am just happy to able to get these young lives to at least learn something useful in their lives. I do hope they would bless their parents with their cooking skills soon enough. If you ask me how did the Fried chicken taste ~ the aswer is simply Awesome!

Melaka River Cruise...

At about 6.55pm on Saturday, 19/7/2008, our Bachang cell group members and Ayer Keroh cell group members held our combined cell activity ~ The Melaka River Cruise ride!! I tell you one thing is for sure ~ I never thought that I would go for a trip like this. Ask any Malaccan and they will tell you that historically Melaka river is like stinking, muddy grey colour waters, floating materials & waste plus major toxic waste dump site, man. However, after much coaxing, much discussion and much explanation that a lot has been done to beautify and upgrade the scenery, I decided to take the cruise. There to greet all of us was En.Shukor who was our boatman. Nice fella who took the trouble to explain us the places along river, the development that is going to take place and the sprucing up of the city waterways. Yeah! The smell was still there but there really were some nice views of some places as one cruises along the river. It wasn't all that bad but it would take at least to 2 to 3 years before this river cruise thing can be brought to its fullest potential. Yeah, the "mat salleh" or "gwailo" will enjoy this more than the locals. I guess, it's all about the tourist industry, our No.1 money gainer in Melaka. The rest comes from our cukai tanah, cukai pintu and more recently, TNB bill, man !
Honestly, I tried looking for the ducks along the river. I can safely say that I found NONE. I guess, they must have landed in some restaurants or some people's fiery pot as Peking duck or stewed duck! Can't even find iguanas too coz' they too would mosty likely land in some pots in Jasin or Machap as special curry! Well, all in all, it was a great time of getting together for some fun activity and re-living the good old times of life in old Melaka town. For the tourist ~ local or foreign, get on the river cruise ( solid 40 minutes cruise ) when you are in Melaka. It may not be the nicest place yet for fresh air or breeze but there are some nice scenery along the waterways. Best time for cruise ~ 7.00pm definitely! Don't miss it!

DNA.... a real joke...

Over the week , there has been nothing but crap story of DNA takings and so on. Personally, it is just plain waste of space in the newspapers and media coverage for things like this. I am no scientist nor forensic experts but isn't DNA sampling is easily obtained through saliva, hair specimen, skin etc.etc. ? Why is it so important to take a blood sample for DNA when there are other avenues to this? Simply ridiculous and a waste fo public time and funds, man! Our media ( the newspapers ) DID show the evidence of DNA could be easily obtained through the ways I have mentioned above. Aiyoyoo! Need to measure "stuart little" some more - enough of humiliation-lar.
ENOUGH of all this drama and let's get on with our lives. There are some very angry, deprieved and starving citizens out there that needs our attention rather than this "circus of politics". Let's face the facts that the five states are in the Opposition hands and let them do their work! The people has spoken ~ so be it and move on instead of being sour grapes. Wait for the next 4 years and then turn the tables around if you can~lar. If not, just stuff it and do your job in running the country well. Enough of witchhunt and finger pointing. Food prices has risen tremendously or has suddenly shrunk in size. We are forking out more for our fuel and food. That's the concern NOT some DNA samplings! The fact remains that I have to fork out RM 4.50 for a "not so economical " rice anymore. By the way, my lunch consisted on one vegetable dish, one meat dish and lots of curry "chap" plus one cup of Chinese tea!!! It is frustrating enough to see this type of "circus of politics" in our country. Now, it has even encroached into our working life and daily lives today. God bless our nation and let us pray for God's patience upon our lives!

What a tragedy....

After a tiring work day in Batu Pahat, I was driving along Jalan Parit Jawa-Muar almost nearing the traffic lights heading for home when I spotted something really bizzare happened. There was this middle-aged guy riding his m/cycle about 80 feet away from my car and the m/cycle started to wobbled to its left and right. Within the next 2 minutes, I practically saw this guy and the m/cycle fell to the right of the road. As far as I know no vehicle touched him nor run him down. He was like just fell off to the right together with the m/cycle. He laid down there motionless - no blood splatter , no brains matter fall out but his helmet was off. He just laid there dead! [ I was certain of this because as I passed the motorist , he was motionless ] Normally, if it was a m/cycle fall, one would be able to wake up, dust off the dirt and probably pushed the bike to the sides. It was tragic as far as I was concerned. Pure tragic as he laid there!
To me, it is tragic to die that way. The only logical explanation I could think of was that he would have probably suffered a sudden heart attack or stroke. What a sad day it would have been for his family who would have mourned for their loss. To me, this tragedy happened right before my eyes and it gave me something to think about. Yunno, I thought I could put away yesterday [ Tuesday, 15/7/2008 ] scene out of my head when I was on my way back from work at about 7.00pm. I saw a guy lying motionless at the back lane of a noted hotel near my workplace. Cops and the public rushed over to see what had happened. It was obvious that this guy jumped from the pool section of the hotel and landed splat flat on the back lane. Is this the way to end ones life? Sigh! Now, hotels would have to come up with special "suicide "package! Why can't these people just work things out just like any other human being? I am so angry that people still fancy this type of cowardly ways to solve their problems! This really pissed me off completely! Honestly, I wouldn't give two hoots to the guy who jumped off from the building but I would grief for the guy who fell from the m/cycle and died in a sudden manner.
Heck! Life is just too short to hold back your love on your loved ones , even to give a hug to your loved ones or be nice for once!~ Go ahead! Tell your loved ones how much you love them and make the wrongs right for once! For crying out loud, You may never know what holds tomorrow !~

Young friends........

I have learnt over the years that though you may have many adult friends in life, you need to have young friends to keep you sane and very much rooted to the ground. It is said that young children tell you the truth as it is and they have nothing to hide. They are not only pure but they also bring much cheer to the heart. I have two great young friends and they are Dave Nathaniel Louis and Caleb Navin Louis. Both are brothers , really active, funny and little geniuses!

Of the two, Caleb is more witty and cheerful. He can also be a whiner but he always have his ways with words. He brings the house down with his sentence quips and the Indian way of speaking. As for Dave, he is the brains, man! - quiet, quick learner and playful in a good way. He is equally fun and equally witty at times but he is honest & truthful. By the way, both have great looks, suave & smooth talking ways that will melt the hearts of women in years to come~! A compliment to their parents, though, my great friends, Dinesh & Abby. Ah Yes! Both can be equally temperamental and "windy" at times. [ a Hainanese phrase ! ]

My family and I particularly like the boys a lot because they are such simple , honest and truthful like their parents, Dinesh & Abby. So, cheers to my young friends, Dave & Caleb! Let's paint the town red! Yeeeehaaaar !

Sweet melody......

Sunday Church service was especially sweet today. First of all , the praise & worship service was conducted by Faith Revival Band from Singapore while the second, Mr.Andre de Villiers (South African) hosted the second part of the service. It was a like a music fest today. Sweet melody, passionate songs and great music unto the Lord was the pinnacle of the Sunday service. You'll probably asked, " Who is Andre De Villiers?". Well, his music and his singing voice was the man behind the Volkswagen, Toyota Camry and Nedbank Credit Card commercials in South Africa! His songs were beautifully sung especially with the guitar plucking and strumming. Great inspiring songs like "Memories", " You and me ", "How it feels to be alive" and " Passing Through" [ Song written for a death-row inmate in a prison in Texas ] gave the morning service a much needed boost in our walk with the Lord! I guess, the whole service starting from the opening number from Faith Revival Band till the end, it was a great music service. ("Picture of You" is a solid song from Faith Revival Band!) I think , for once, I was glad to be in the house of the Lord and I felt inspired though some young people think it is old people's music. Well, I think, there has been a good mixture of young and old people's music. For quite some time now that I felt that service had been.............routine. I guess, when you start the service on the right note and inspiring, it would make a lot of difference. All this while, the P&W had been good but on the second part of the service, it was more predictable. A change is needed and I guess, a lot of praying hearts finally made this dream come true today! Simple music sharing and testimony. That's what makes a difference in the service today. Someone remarked that it is always greener on the other side of the pasture but to me, of course, cows would go to the place where there are real, green, juicy grass to feed and not feed on air and sunshine alone. We are paranoid and critically dellusional if we continue to feel we can live on air and sunshine alone. We need the "meat " part of the Word in our lives and not just tidbits, appetizers and sweeteners ! Many times, we get the liberty to sample all three! ( sigh!)

BTW, sweet melody and singing is in the house. Long live great music, good musician and great servant heart!

Thank God, It's Friday & Friends....

Yunno, it is so blessed to have friends in the hour of your need. Friends are the best things that can happen to you. ( other than family, of course! ) In the early morning, I had a great friend in Vive, from Penang,who called me up and gave me a great boost and I am so blessed. Then , midway through the morning , I receved another call of encouragement from another great friend, Dinesh [ all the way from KL ] for another dose of encouragement - truly blessed indeed!

Then, it's off to lunch with another two food buddies , Errol & Steven. To top off the day, it was our regular dose of Indian food ( favourite food, indeed! ) time. Miss the other two great friends in Vive & Dinesh to join us for a meal. As usual, our conversation centred on what had happened in our daily lives at work. Our fears, our hopes, our ups and our downs, the good happenings and the bad happenings. All in all, we are all so............alike! It is like there will always be never ending problems to solve, lives to help, loose ends to tie up, works to be carried out or even some words of encouragement to be given here and there plus people who will continue to be a constant pain in the butt! For those genuine friends out there, this message is not for you, ok? Genuine friends knows what is required in friendship, in fellowship and in relationship - it is always true care, concern & great fellowship. So, care to be genuine friends? Be prepared for truth for truth hurts, ok? Oh ! By the way, it's Friday......... the dawn of a great weekend ahead!

What is that......

I was browsing through the images section of the net for some survival tips when I came across this advertisement. It was really funny especially the shape of it. Some comments are that it looks like tears but a lot of people says it looks like testicles! ( one sided temporarily! The other one jammed already! It's like all the blood vessels had been clogged up and turn bloodshot red!) Yeah! For a couple to use it , it would be impossible unless you have two of it and it WILL resemble the testicles, no matter how you look at it. So much for innovation and invention but it is quite a practical camp tent! The difficulty is to look for good strong branches to hang on to it. Anyway, what will they think of next? I wonder! BTW, how are you going to go for nature's call if you are up in one of those tents? Hmnnn.... I wonder too.

Understand It!

I had spent another day on the road and this time it is to a oil palm mill in Bukit Mor. Again, it wasn't actually a very difficult day but I really need to focus on the job I am doing or else, I'll lose concentration and that's not good for me. As usual, I get calls & sms from people who just won't understand that we all have got a job to do each day and giving full concentration is of utmost importance. Someone says that we all must have patience with one another and the world would be a better place for all of us to live in. True, but irritating as it is , one should also have the bloody courtesy to understand the needs of others in having some peace and quiet for once! I guess, some people are just too absorb and caught up in our daily rat race in live that we forget to actually care. We all need to have empathy feeling in us or else life would be a real drag.

In my line of work, I could not afford to do mistakes. There are grave consequences to mistakes I do in my work. That's the very reason, I need to be very focused and sure of what I am doing. I've gone through some very very tough and frustrating times and paid a very heavy price when I made mistakes. Being labelled incompetent, unproffessional or even 'not good enough' can really gut/hurt you inside when you actually work real hard in your life to earn an honest living. However, for all these years, I know that I would not have been able to get through this had it not been the very Grace of God. Many times He had lifted me up in times when scorns and not so nice words are heaped on me. Thank God too for good & reliable friends who would just be there at the right time to give words of encouragement and support. But nothing beats the support from the wife and the children. ( They are the real heroes in my life! )

In my line of work, I meet up with some very nice people and some very nasty people from all walks of life. More than ever, I would meet nicer people than the nasty ones. When they are nasty, they are not only prideful and have a big inflated ego , they are downright pain-in-the-yunno-where! For the nicer ones, they really brightened up your day.

So, PLEASE be part of the nicer ones or get out of my face!

What A Day.....

I was in Shah Alam, Klang and eventually landed up in Puchong for work today. It isn't often that I get to move to these places and get my job done. It was a fulfilling day, actually. So, naturally, after a long day , I am edgy, easily iritated and tired. Seriously, I don't know what's wrong with me for the past few days. Maybe, I have been hard pressed at work and feeling the strain of age catching up on me. ( sigh! Bones do creak and the time to get up after sitting on the floor seemed to take minutes instead of seconds nowadays! ) Yeah, it comes those times when you feel your reflexes had gone down considerably while that little sharpness has gone blunt. I guess, there are no one to blame except my own self. You can me "angin", call me "windy", call me " Hainanese" for all I care, deep down, I do feel really down at times. It is not about the circumstances I am in or whatever. A good friend told me never to get my emotions all mixed up for nothing. I think he is right! I have been iritated for the past week due to my emotion being stirred up by certain authority figure. He is also right in saying that a matchstick has a head but no brains. Maybe, my focus on God had shifted away and that places me in an uncomfortable place. Maybe I should be using my "kueh tiau" more ( another word for "brain" ) and be more calm and collect. Yeah, I am also informed that my moodiness do affect the people around me. Quite right so , again ! Hopefully, I can get back to the person I was after a good rest and roaring sleep!

BTW, the repairs to my trusty Proton came to RM 817.00 and the car is in good engine order. Next , it will be the cosmetic surgery of my car. Nope, SK-II and wrinkle free cream will never do. It's gotta be major plastic surgery, man ! Time to save up again!

Cell Group....Food people!

Last Friday, we ( my wife and I ) attended our cell group meeting and we celebrated our cell leader's spouse moment of achievement for finishing his 3 years degree in education. It was indeed a great feat and an achievement for a man of integrity, Daniel, my cell group leader's husband. For the benefit of those who do not know what cell group means - it is actually a gathering of fun-loving, sometimes eccentric, sometimes serious, sometimes crazy but always the food-loving people who will gathered together weekly ( most Friday nights ) and discussed about the Word of the Lord. In this group. we generally care for one another and uphold each other in prayers - in good times & in bad times. There are interesting couples and individuals in our group but that is what that makes this group such a unique group - a mixture of every human character and emotions!

Well , like I said , this time it was the celebration of achievement for Daniel. He shared on how God has helped him through the course and the tremendous support he had received from his spouse, Rosemary, our cell group leader. A short sharing on the topic of "kindness" and we are good to go at the food! The food was fantastic - rendang chicken, bee hoon, prawns fried in light batter, cuttlefish sambal, nasi himpit and rambutans! Mind you, the rambutans tasted very good, man! They don't call Bachang cell group, the food people group for nothing ! We had great food, great fellowship and great discussion. That's the essence for a great time!

Car Repairs...

I was driving back home and I just noted that I couldn't really see the back car or at least, I saw it a few hundred metres away. I have always realised that something was terribly wrong with the car engine when it spew out white fumes. For once I was really embarrased by the sudden glob of white smoke/fumes that was being emitted from my car exhaust. I want to do my part for a safe environment and that's why I am putting the old lady ( my car, I mean ! ) to the workshop, man. I don't know how much it is going to burn my wallet but I know, at least, it would be safer for the motorists who are following my car at the traffic lights and on the road.

I actually wanted to do the repairs much earlier but the bank account wasn't that encouraging. So, I had to save bit by bit to be able to garner in the amount for repairs. Now that I have it, I intend to do as much repairs as possible though some colleagues of mine persuaded me to go for a brand new car. BTW, I like my trusty old Proton car.It's reliable & trusty. I'll use it while I can until something better comes along. For now, I've got to solve the white smoke problem first or else, it'll be foggy days for road users!

Road Bully or Road Silly!

I had an encounter with a road bully recently during one of my travels in Melaka town. This young punk together with his girlfriend by his side was driving a fancy car at that time. Me, on the other was driving in my trusty very old Proton. It started when I was looking for a parking spot in town and I had switched on my signal light to show that I was going to park in one of the parking lot. I don't know what's wrong with this young punk ( sigh! I think he was just trying to show off that he was a macho man ) started honking senselessly at me. Then he drove beside me, wound down the car passenger screen and shouted a string of obscenities after I put up a finger and pointed it to my head! It was an indication that he should think with his head instead of his dick head! Anyway, he was incensed by me pointing the finger to my head and he continues to spew out another string of obscenities. I had enough as I wasn't really in a pretty good mood either after a long day at work! All the while I kept my cool and I didn't want to do anything silly. A friend used to tell me that we are like match sticks. We can be useful by remaining in the box when need or get fused up, burnt and subsequently burnt ourself out. I was kinda a hot-tempered guy and I know I've gotto control it or else this guy will end up as minced meat. I decided to keep it cool until I couldn't stand it anymore. I don't know what got into me but I reached out for my trusty 18" camping parang and raised it at my car window and the next minute, the car was gone. Look, I wasn't looking for a fight or any of that sort but if I had to protect myself , isn't it?

To me, this was just being silly and damn it, it's only the road, man. Many a times, I would give way if I am in such situation or I would rather keep quiet but this is really too much. There is just too much rage and silliness in being a road bully. To me, these people are the real cowards who like to intimidate people for their own ego or even making people feel small. Look, not everyone is a perfect driver. So, I would just say that this is the typical No.1 road silly in my dictionary of "Danmest thing You can ever do in your Life!"

For those of you say that as a Christian I shouldn't have done that, well, I'm not a doormat nor frightened little Chicken Little. I don't want people to take advantage of who I am because we all need to stand up for something or we will fall for nothing some day in our walk of life. I chose to stand up that day not because I want to but simply because I have to.It is just so ridiculous how people can be so nasty and cruel towards another human being. Well, some say " It's life" but to me , my voice is very clear, " STOP BULLYING OTHER MOTORIST, YOU #%$@&&*!

If I have to express how I feel that day, just look at the picture and you'll understand!