Sunday, November 30, 2008
CLAY Cafe Night 2008
With food servings like spaghetti, nachos dip, mini pizza, happy meal [ nuggets and cocktail sausages ] ,roti kahwin, garlic bread & mushroom soup, tuna dip with potato crisp and red bean dessert, it was a fun night for all of us. Our Food Cordinator was Soon Ling and soon, she was belting out the food list as they came in a flurry of action. Clearly, everyone did their job well and it was really fun being in the kitchen with these wonderful men and women.
Yunno, as far as the food and drinks are concerned, a lot of effort and a lot of care were taken to ensure that the food is ready, cleanly prepared and served on time. Yes,it was hectic at the small kitchen section but we managed it with great style, enjoyment and great team effort. That makes it very special but one back-breaking work, man especially the cleaning up! Thank God for the great team, we managed to get the kitchen area squeaky, spick and span cleaned in no time! Thanks guys for the great effort.
As for the crowd, somehow, I felt they were blessed that night.It was a night of really great music, a serving heart and a great time to fellowship. During one of my breaks in the kitchen, I went out to greet the youths - table by table and asking them about the food and the music. Many were happy with the food and the music fare. Many were impressed with the set-up and some even asked me if this was a regular thing for church youths. I told these youths [ boys & girls ] that we pray hard and we play hard too ~ sending them into a fit of laughter! Then I told them that they could drop by and see what CLAYouth meetings could offer them. I guess, I just wanted to do my part in helping out the team. Anyway, I told them, be ready for an adventure of their lives!!! So, youth leaders out there, you pray hard for the youths to drop by and bless their lives, ok? You just pray and lead them well, God would do the rest!
At the end of the day, I was dead beat tired as it was a working day for me earlier while I still had to run up and down the town to get things for the cafe night. It was really a worthwhile effort to help out. I always find it rewarding to be able to serve in the best capacity I could. There is no self glory in this ~ only a servant heart. That's what the kitchen crew [ Errol, Jessica, Soon Ling, Betty , Evelyn, Steven, Wan Sin , Josephine, Jocelyn ] felt that night ~ to be of service and be a servant for a good cause.I am truly blessed that at my age, with bones creaking & tweaking everywhere and tiredness, I could still play a small part in His Kingdom. That is truly satisfying!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Excitement....
Then, there's this excitement of putting up the Christmas tree. We just wanted to catch the holiday mood again and feel good. The tree came out piece by piece and so did the decorations. We all had fun putting up the tree and decorating the tree. It was really a family effort and I really liked the family time after a hard day at work. I guess, in many ways , I am more blessed than many others. As my family and I look forward to Christmas, we continued to reflect of the goodness of God in our lives. This is not an emotional overdrive but just a reflection of our lives as a family over the year.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
A Touch of Lives
When it was first announced that there would be a big party that Sunday evening, I was really happy and was looking forward towards it. Tables and chairs in the sanctuary were re-arranged to signify a place for the underprivileged and for the poor to have some drinks, tidbits and a sermon. Five chairs and five pack of drinks together with some tidbits were prepared on the table. It started at about 5.30pm with registration for medical care, sugar level check and haircuts! People of all walks of life mainly the elderly came to the church to register for free medical consultation and medicine administration. It was really a sight to behold with so many people seeking medical attention for their illnesses and so on. One distinct smell as you hit the third floor of Tabernacle of Praise Church building is " old people " smell and some quite nasty smell from the vagrants on the streets. But the volunteers were undeterred by all this and continued working at their best. I was so touched by the act of these volunteers and it rend at my heart a lot. Then, I realised that at the temporarily set- up barber shop, whereby these underprivileged people would get their haircut by Pauline, her daughter and a few fellow brothers of the church. All these were done in the name of love, care and concern. I know that in some churches, the phrase "love, care and concern" remains an attractive and much lauded coined phrase with no real action put into it [ trust me, I know that this is true! ] but for this church, it is alive and well! What a great way and privilege to serve together with the Lord!
As I served some of the old folks that evening together with Joa Wee and the rest of the people, I really felt so privileged to have been able to participate in such a noble walk with the Lord and the real people who truly sees the real meaning of feeding others and reaching out to them. I believe it strongly in my heart that that the people can only do this if there is a greater anointing that flows from the very top of the leadership. Bravo and well done to the TOP leaders! Like they used to say, the people can only do what the top people do or say to them. This again reflects the good governance and an well-oiled leadership anointing flow in line with the Word of the Lord. I am also so touched that each volunteer does it with great solidarity, one dedication and one conviction ! That made the difference! Service with a great smile!~
So, the next time you are around in Penang or even in your local church~ reach out, serve food and bless these lives. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirtied or even play your part in supporting such a worthy cause.You'll never lack anything when you are in God's presence! Here's to you~ Live Right!
Friendship Bliss....
From the moment my family and I arrived at Vive & Sathy condo unit, we were whisked into the car and driven to a place to sample the frog & eels porridge. It was at this place that everyone had gathered there for a great time of food and fellowship. I was blessed by their openness and their northern hospitality. We had great laughs and what I didn't know was that there is more food in store for all of us. After the sweating and salivating [ the frog & eels cooked in "kungpao" style with lots of chillies!!! ], we proceeded towards Ananda Bhawan for teh tarik session. It was at this place that we had the long tosai and komtar teh tariks and drinks! Again, great laughs and good fellowship all around! Then it was off to bed with our bellies jutting out signalling the insufficient place to download more food! The following morning, it was off to a place for our bee hoon and fried fish pieces. The taste..... heavenly while the kopi-o.......kingsly,man! After bidding farewell to Jessy, Esther and Alyna, we went to Straits Baptist Book Store to browse on some items and books. Soon, Vive & Sathy were telling us about this place called Rainforest. Peculiar name but bread without preservatives are their specialities. Vive bought us some wholemeal raisin bread loaf while I chose the cinnamon rolls while the ladies courted the moist chocolate cake. Then it was off to Tabernacle of Praise (TOP) for Youth Meeting. It was inspiring to see so many youths attending the meeting and giving their fullest attention to the Word sharing. From here, it was off to Batu Maung for seafood dinner with our extended family. Food looks appetizing and surprisingly good. Then it's to Batu Ferringhi for our DVDs and souvenir hunting time before going back to Ananda Bhawan for a cuppa of tea and more fun and fellowship. As we turned in for the night, I was quite ashamed to say that I have not made a single payment for the food as they have been taken care of by Vive and our new friends. When I confronted Vive about this, he simply told me, " Do you think they would let you pay? This is their place, man! You pay-lar when they are in Melaka, ok?" Oh! How blessed I am for their generosity and their blessing! Never felt so blessed in my life. It overwhelmed me to feel that people actually do bless you because from where I came from it is always taking and more taking. Of course, thank God for the good friends in Melaka too, this generosity was not confined in Melaka and now in Penang too. So, it was really awkward and sometimes, I feel unpleasant when I received such fine blessings. Yes, I was uneasy but I know deep in my heart that God would bless these beautiful people for what they have done for me and my family. I really appreciate each and every bit of generosity & blessings they had showered us.
I then attended church service as usual and I soon met up with more friends. One couple whom I would like to mention is Kuna & Cheng. How we met through Vive is a long story but their invitation for dinner was truly a real blessing to Vive,Sathy, Soon Ling, Joa Wee and myself. We were treated with a buffet dinner at E & O Hotel - one of the poshest place to dine in Penang! I just couldn't believe it that I actually dined in E & O Hotel!~ Thank you, Kuna & Cheng for your hospitality. I'll always remember this as it was the first time I have eaten a grilled lobster together with a host of other good food stuff. The cheese cut was nice, oysters were superb while a host of other food were fantastic. Not forgetting, we had a blast of a time talking, sharing and having lots of laughter too. Oh! How blessed I am indeed to be able to speak to these two wonderful people! Truly truly a real blessing!
The following morning , we landed ourselves at Jaya restaurant for some Indian food! It was mighty nice and then it's off to Queensbay for some window shopping and reading. I practically stuck and snugged myself at Borders as I really enjoyed reading very much. Books!Books!Books! what a fanfare, man!
As for dinner that night, we met up at Teck Seng Restaurant for some pork [ yippeee. some staple food for me! ], fish and a whole load of niceties! Yummy, yummy, yummy! Food was fantastic! Later, we adjourned to Starbucks at some place called EPark to have some fun time of sharing and more laughter. As I sat down at the corner, I felt so blessed by these people. People who are simple in nature, no pretentious ways, trendy and tasteful while unabashed, friendly and chatterbox, indeed! These are good ingredients for great friendship.
THANK YOU, DANKE SHOEN, MERCI BEAU COMP!
Always in my heart : Vive, Sathy, BA, Jessy, Alyna, Darrian & Derris. Not forgetting, Kuna & Cheng. One special group of people. Three cheers to PATI!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Soon Ling's Birthday
Anyway, today, Soon Ling turned.......................younger [ Sorry, I am not going to tell ! It's a privy thing when it comes with women, right? It is case sensitive-lar! ] I want to stress that I am NOT going to get my intellectual properties down there get kicked by this woman, man! Anyway, she has been receiving endless SMS and well-wishers & I am just happy to see her face light up on her special day! She has kinda a cute face especially with those dimples! [ Gosh! I fell for her dimples-lar ! That's why I courted her-lar! Ha....ha..... ]. Her friends [ the ones that went to Langkawi with her ] bought us two bottles of Fortran red wine in small bottle to celebrate our wedding anniversary & her birthday! So thoughtful of them! I wish I could have many friends like that-lar! But yunno what, I am already blessed by having friends like you people out there!
On a more serious note, Happy Birthday, Soon Ling! God bless you!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
19 years of faithfulness...
Seriously, it has been a wonderful 19 years living with this woman I would call my wife, Soon Ling. Our 19 years has been layered and lacquered with joy, laughter, tears, fun, heartache, headache , quarrels, disappointments, happiness and sometimes,blood too [ Technically, it's the "vomiting of blood" or another word for "failure to understand" or plain dumbness, I am talking about!] Yes, you name it, we've gone through it. Not all of it but we're trying to get to the nicer ones only-lar. The ugly ones we shall take it with a stout heart and a great stomach for it!
In all honesty, I am so very grateful to my wife , Soon Ling. She is really a God given partner for me. For years now, we have gone thru thicks and thins together and though they are times we felt so strained and felt like letting go, there is always this thin thread in our hearts that would always bind us together. Yes, she can be a pain to me and vice-versa at times but never in a way that could harm our relationship together. That's the beauty of Soon Ling. I guess, we are together simply because we truly love and support one another. Sure, we still fight and quarrel like cats and dogs just like any couple would do but we always make it a point to make up. Saying the word " sorry" soothes a lot of pain and heat away. So never be stingy in saying "I'm sorry" in your relationship. In fact, it helps you to soothes away a lot of uneasy feeling and bring back some harmony. Like I said, it's not easy and sometimes we are like cows and donkeys but we worked it out! This love and support we both shared comes over the years of building trust , confidence and a life together. By all means, it's not easy as ABC but it's workable and teachable-lar.
Yes, I do believe in "love at first sight". I am a living testimony of this because that's how I felt when I saw Soon Ling walked into the halls of my college many moons ago. I guess, in a way, God has put a great woman in my path that day. One that I would always cherish and give thanks to for all these years of being together. Hmmmmmnnnnnn..... now, I am putting some people in a tight and green eye spot, isn't it? Ha.......ha.......... Don't be envious of what I am having right now because I want to give all thanks & glory to God, Almighty for His grace and mercy upon my life to have this woman , Soon Ling as my wife, life partner, confidante and a great mother to my two children.
Yunno, you'll never know how a wife would react in difficult times. But in my years with Soon Ling, I thanked God that she responded well and was even willing to go through the difficult times we went through. It is never a question of our faithfulness to one another but more to the financial side of matters and other matters beyond our control. We have been faithful to one another for the past 19 years and this is never an issue. One thing I've learnt over the years is that the difficult times we go through, well........ we always came out wiser.
As I looked into our lives today, we may not be rich materially but we have been richly blessed by the Lord and the wonderful lives of people that He brought into our lives. People like Wei & Jade plus little Ryan, Yam & Ting, Vive & Sathy, Dinesh & Abby, Steven & Wan Sin, Errol & Jessica, Jason & Shirley, On Tin & Bee Ling, Ignatius & Zamira, my colleague, Teo, Tan & Ai Lee, Lih Gin, Cristal, Jamie, Rachel, our cell group members, friends from afar and near and many others who are just too numerous to mention, who had practically coloured, lighted up and play a significant part in our lives together.
As I looked back into my 19 years of lifelong commitment with this woman whom I call, my wife, Soon Ling, all I can say is that let's have another great journey of life ahead of us - one day at a time! Oh Yes , for those of you who still have this thinking of " Life starts at 40 " and " 40 year old itch" thingy and so on, well..... I've got news for you...... Those things are pure crap! Stay faithful and see through you lifetime commitment of " till death do us a part" vow, ok? One word of advice though.........one woman is tough enough. Don't get yourself in a mess with another! There is already enough problems in this world! No need to add any more problems to it.
Little Friend Birthday Party....
Coming back to reality, Dinesh & Abby together with Auntie, Zamira and the children [ Shamitra, Shalini and Shaila ], Errol & Jessica, Josephine & Jocelyn, Jason & Elizabeth & their children, David and his family, Lennard & Lisa together with their little bundle of joy and Nelson & Sarah, celebrated my little buddy, Dave's birthday. Incidentally, Dave shares the same birthday with my wife, Soon Ling. Anyway, it was a pool party and Dave's "kakis" [ form church and from school ] were there to "hing chuk" [ celebrate ] his birthday and make it a great party for him. As usual, there were plenty of food around to satisfy the hungers pangs of the adults and children. I tell you by the time these children hit the two water pools, they are practically like possessed water players. Somehow, these tiny tots seemed like twisted lot and then came the inevitable that is one of the children would lean against the pool and water would escape the pool. Being as twisted as them, I was handed the water hose to re-fill the pool. I made the hose look like a fountain hose and the children went ballistics! Meaning, they went off their marbles for enjoyment. What a fun splash they made. In all honesty , it was really fun to see them enjoying themselves out there! Hey, they are children,man. They should be able to enjoy themselves. I guess, the only thing missing was the sun bathing chair and a couple of manicurist or pedicurist!! Sheezh, I must be thinking of my vacation!!!!
Friday, November 14, 2008
BBQ Nite.....A Combined Cell Delight
I guess, the night turned out great as we had great food and great fellowship together. What more could we asked for! In all honesty, it was really a very relaxing time and tonight was just smooth. It cosy, easy and simple. No fuss, no rules and best of all , no difficulties. Everyone was easy going and pleasant to talk to. Even the children were a bundle of joy but very playful indeed. I think, it must have been the drinks! Someone would have spike the drinks with joy enhancing drugs until these children just go goo-goo and ga ga running around the atrium with their new found bundles of energy. Well, children should be children and they deserve to horse around the place as long as they don't thrash the place or each other for that matter! Great night and cleaning up was equally the fast, man. I guess, more people makes load lighter , right? Well, what a night! A great night indeed! Thanks everyone for a great time out there today! God bless you all for a great night!