Chicken Tika.....

As today was a holiday, I thought it would be nice if I could try out a new food recipe for the family. I have had this thing to do a Chicken Tika for some time now and so, I went out to get the ingredients ready for the dish. BTW, I got paprika and garam masala from Arjunan & Sons shop at Jalan Kubu some time back ( about 1 week ago -still vacuumed packed & fresh ) and so, it's gonna come handy today. I managed to get the drumstick part of chicken and all the other stuff ready for this culinary adventure. I cleaned the chicken parts, added a pinch of salt and bathed it with a good squeeze of lemon juice. Then I strung up the other ingredients such as paprika, garam masala, plain yogurt, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic and ground pepper in a bowl. Put them all into a plastic zip lock bag, moved it about to get an even coating of the marinade on the chicken drumsticks and ziplocked it. Then it is off to the refrigerator for some good time of resting and marination. All this while, SLing was preparing dark-sauced braised pork [lor bak- Hokkien ] with tauhu & eggs. We're gonna have a dinner feast today.
At about 6.00pm, I started the fire at the clay stove at the back and it was hardwork I tell you. Gotta get fire going without the fire starter and so, I did the next best available thing - use the candle to start the fire and it worked. Soon, I took out the marinated drumstick and got them ready on the grille.The first readied chicken piece looked charred a bit but still okay for eating,man. The taste......quite nice, actually. JWee and SYuen were my official food tasters and so, I sought their comments. They gave me the thumbs up and that means it is edible food! So, here we go again, another successful modified food recipe for Chicken Tika and a fun time with SLing at the charcoal fire. A day of rest and a fruitful day of food! What a great combo!~

For families out there, try out something new for the family especially in the food department. You'll never know how much it'll mean to your family and how it can bring closeness to your family. Sometimes doing new things ain't bad especially when it involved the belly!~

Family fun.....

It was a good surprise and timely too, to have Wei, Jade, mom-in-law plus the two beautiful heart-warmers, Ryan & Ashley to drop in yesterday. Yunno, when you get the chance to spend quality time with family members, it usually comes up very nicely and memorable. This one is no different. I guess, I have been inviting Wei & Jade to come over for a trip for such a long time and when they arrived, SLing and I plus our children, JWee & SYuen were really happy to see them. What was truly awesome was having Ryan , the bumble bee and Ashley, the cutie pie with us that day. Yeah, kinda miss those tiny tots for some time now and somehow the joy of seeing them is really indescribable. Ryan's vocabulary had increased, speech is clearer but still the 'manja' baby and Ashley, well, she is smiling so nicely and started some gibberish words nowadays!
We started off by taking all of them to the zoo. I guess, it is a good change of environment for the children as they see animals in real life rather than pictures. I guess, Ryan was the most excited of them all. Walking, prancing around and with his facial expressions, you can have a real laughter at his antics. I guess , he was very excited and he walked most of the way in the zoo. As for Ashley, she was smiling all the way in the zoo while SLing, grandma and maid, Dik-Dik, were busy chasing the mosquitoes away from her. It was a funny sight but that's grandma! As for Wei & Jade, seeing them having some time away from work and home, spending good time together like this is indeed a good change. I must say that I am very happy for them. Oh!Yes! We shared some time of laughter as we passed through the mousedeer, deers and ostrich enclosures as recipes such as black pepper recipes permeates through our lips! It was really a fun day indeed. To me, I am really happy to be in my element - nature. Seeing the animals as they are in their "made up" habitat is truly amazing. I have been to the zoo for countless number of times together with the children and the Royal Rangers children but the zoo has never failed to amaze me each time I visit it. Absolutely amazing and breathtaking indeed. One incident I would not forget is hearing the tiger's roar. I was at Nicky, the rescued tiger enclosure when I heard the tiger roared. Wow! Truly loud and truly amazing! Even the young couple who was with me at that time were shocked by the roar. As I stood there, I saw Nicky, the tiger came menacingly, flexed its teeth and roared! I was thrilled to bits but it was loud! Fantastico! Now, I truly understand why the tiger is such a majestic animal. We then headed out towards the gallery and it was another experience for the children and the family especially when they see the taxidermied animals. From here , we headed out towards Jusco Melaka in Bachang.
We had superb pizzas at Papa John outlet before spending time around the shopping complex. I guess, the most important part was having some cool relief after spending some time in the humid zoo earlier. As we wolfed down the pizzas, it was a great time of talking and enjoying the good food. The pizza wasn't oily while the crust was nice and sumptuous. After we had spent some cool breezing time, we headed home for some rest before going for dinner. As SLing and I had no idea what was the preference of food for dinner on this occasion, we came up with a few suggestions and finally settled on Bonani, Punjabi cuisine. Initially I wanted to take them to Machap for some Chinese food fare but I guess, I'll save that when they come over the next time. So, off we went to Bonani and it was still early. Luckily, we managed to get seated as I know by experience that the crowd will come in later. So, I ordered the usual suspects of cheesy spinach, the onion rings, the seafood & prawn rings, tandoori chicken, fish curry , dhall ( my favourite - taste so good! ) , plain naan and some rice. I kept my fingers crossed that they would like the meal. SLing and I explained to Wei & Jade that this is a different kind of Indian cuisine and we hoped they like it and they did! Yeah, SLing and I wanted them to have a good time and share the food that we find interesting. We were very happy seeing Wei, Jade, mom-in-law and the children enjoying the meal. As they left for home that night, we kinda wish they had stayed over for the night but it's okay, there'll be other times, right? Really look forward to having them over again because they are a real joy to SLing and me.

As for the two cuties [ Ryan & Ashley ], well, what can I say except that I really had a great time with the both of them. Awwwwwww....SLing and I are already missing them!

Happy Merdeka, Malaysia!

To all Malaysians,

Selamat menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan !

I am proud to be a Malaysian!~

Make a change....

According to Oxford Advanced Learners English Dictionary , the word 'compassion' is explained as " pity; feeling for the suffering of others, prompting one to give help." I must tell you that as our nation celebrates 53 years of independence in the coming few days , I often wondered if the people of this land had ever felt compassion for one another. I guess, every religious foundation and the fabric in our layered society today teaches us to be compassionate to one another and not to take advantage of one another. So, how did something which is so simple and pure be twisted, raped and even bludgeoned to suit certain strata of individual groups in our society today? I am at lost and sometimes appalled when I still see poor Malays, Chinese, Indian, Punjabi and the rest laboured on in our land as I travelled along the southern , northern, west cost and even the east coast route of this beautiful country. There are still many hardcore poor in our nation today as another set of society dined and wined in all plushness and finesse. The stark contrast is variably quite large while most of us would be slipped between the "have-nots" and the "haves". There is no shame for us to be in this place as we have eked out an honest living unlike many others who would cheat, lie, degrade and steal to earn a living.

I am equally at lost at how the entrusted leaders of our nation through the marking of 'X' at the ballot papers of elections had indeed depleted our natural resources and richness bringing about to the almost total economical chaos and pauperness to our nation and its people. How can you as leaders sleep at night with the conscience that resources were mutilated, plundered, carelessly discarded and the proceeds from these filth fills your very pockets while excess that overflow form your pockets are being picked up by scoundrels and deceivers of all kinds? This does not only apply to the leadership of our country but every level of leadership in our society today be it in the economic, religious and even social foundation. It is like you take with your right hand and you take some more with your left hand leaving nothing for others to grasp. All this while, the working class society of this country laboured on with mere pittance of salary and a constant threat that they would be out of job soon. It is hard to believe that earning a living these days are really difficult while essential food products meant for our everyday living had been spiralling upwards with no end in sight. Yes, these are difficult times indeed. Yet, I can't help feeling that my resources are being virtually sucked out/ snipped off my life with escalating cost of living, man-made agendas and pretentious religious foundational cloaks!

In my religious faith, I am drawn to the words of D.L.Moody who says that " The Scriptures were not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives." If each and everyone of us holds true to our religious faith as explained, then there is hope in our country and our society today. Change - we must or else our future generations would not be able to see the once beautiful nation we once have. Change for the better and change we must administer. We can do this with great perseverance and lot of compassion. Charles Spurgeon says " By perseverance, the snail reached the Ark." What a remarkable quote indeed! Charles Spurgeon also says " When you have no helpers, see your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God. When you have everything, see God in everything. Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord."

I am a strong advocate of compassion because I believe through compassion, we would be able to rebuild and re-shape the structure of life in our society today. It doesn't matter is we are black or white or red or yellow or whatever, it only takes true compassion to make this place a better place to live in and to change lives. "If you can't feed a hundred people ; then feed just one." These were the stinging words of Mother Teresa which holds true power and conviction. Powerful words of compassion! Learn to feel compassion truthfully and you will see a mighty change in our lives. Learn to do things with great compassion and know that lives will be uplifted and affirmed. Forget about "lip service" and believe in "do service". Come on , people! Lives out there awaits you! You can make a start with your neighbour, your colleague, your friend or even some situation you are in and start you must if we are to have any hope in our nation today!

Be blessed and continue to be a blessing to others out there!

Stop Racism!

Being a former teacher, I have been lucky to go through 2 different school administrators and I must say one was nice while the other one was not so pleasant. However, in my years of being a teacher, I truly enjoyed my time while serving in a rural school in Sabah. However, when the ugly head of racist remarks came up in the news uttered by one school administrator in Kulai , Johor and one more in Kedah, I was not surprised at all and neither was I shocked. It is simply because only people like that will get promoted instead of being reprimanded. I have seen it, spoke about it, tried to do something about it but at the end of the day, it proved a futile effort for the time being. Yup, I am not finished with this yet. I will continue to speak about this so that people will get to understand that people like this would have to go coz' they should not even have a place in our society today. Yeah, Racism must go!
Anyway, talking about heads in schools, why did we need to see so far? If you, the Education Ministry is REALLY interested in what is going on, take a team and go quietly and see what the heads are doing in country, district, state and schools. You will be shocked to find some of these heads are at the golf courses or even places of entertainment entertaining some State/District big shot and it is perfectly okay because they are talking serious issues, right? Wake up! Cover up is the name, actually,ok?

The other problem is that the Education officers are so pompous in their ways that their arrivals needed to be accompanied by bunga manggar and kompang beatings or worst still, information are being "leaked" that so and so is coming to your school this week. Why don't you just do a real surprise check and see if the heads are behaving? I tell you one thing, you officers [ I am short of calling you names, actually!), go and see the problems the real teachers face because of these tyrannic and virtually powerful warlords call the headmaster or whatever names you may want to call them. Instead, you jump on the teachers, pass comments here and there , degrade the teachers but do nothing to touch the heads! You too are guilty of breeding racism in schools today, ok? If you protect the teachers adequately, I tell you this, they have a lot to tell you. The problem is simply you don't protect the teachers and that's why they turned "timid" [ for fear of repercussions and transfers out of schools! ] because heads are more powerful today by who they know! By the way, they grade their teachers but who grades them or is it " I scratched your back and you scratched my back " kinda thing? I have known schools who had the worst disciplinary record in term of gangsterism, absenteeism and what not but it is all swept under the carpet. Again, cover up is the stench I smell! Worst still, " Never mind, we drag the case longer and later after a few months, everybody will forget and it is back to normal. Biasa-lar! " How many times we have seen this happening? Look at the appraisal for the teachers! What incentive are you talking about when the worst of the lot gets promotion and triple remuneration just because they have reached their time to receive their honors and you call this fairness? It is no wonder, teachers aged faster than any body else!

Yunno, I have also known/heard heads who are so biased and racist get promoted because of who they know. BTW, racist breeds racist! It is really a failure of our education system to see such heads making way in the hierarchy climb and we asks ourselves how our children are getting racist day by day! The spread of this is simple - when you promote a racist to a higher position, he/she spreads its ugly thought of racism like a barrel of poison darts hitting out at the targets! They squirt their ink of racism in the department they work and then it spreads like a wild fire in a forest of unfortunate people and community. In the end, you just need to fan the small fire and then it explodes because of pure egoism, pageantry of prideful nature and a shroud of pure show of abusive powers of dominance.

Rectification -my answer is simple :- Nip the bloody bud at the top first! Reprimand and take disciplinary action. I also would like to highlight that there are plenty of good and hardworking heads and teachers around in this nation of ours lest I experienced their fury of them being put together with a few bad apples in the basket. I applauded the genuine, sincere, silent suffering and oppressed heads and teachers. Their genuine ways have not gone unseen, unheard and unappreciated because I believe God is watching and God knows.

I simply must quote a quote that I am constantly being reminded of that is " Evil prospers when good people do absolutely nothing!" You digest, digress and do the maths!~

Blunder, blunders, blunderer...

Oh Boy! Here comes the clowns again and it is not even circus time yet! It was pure, uttering disgraceful and a real flop of our judiciary system if we continue to allow people like the so-call MACC Prosecutor to continue with his line of work. It is no wonder that our judiciary system is a laughing stock for the rakyat and the whole world. Lawyers from every nook and corner of this world would have a field day dissection his line of enquiries making his effort of questioning categorised as " What NOT to ask in court to disgrace yourself!" to budding and aspiring young lawyers. My God, Proudly proclaiming to have a wealth of 24 years of experience as a lawyer, some more! BTW, which alma mater and law school did he go to in the first place? I am very sure his dean and professors would probably claimed not to have known this man. People like the prosecutor has just shown what it meant to badger, threatened and bully witnessess on the stand at all cost to extract and discredit a witness. I guess, that's how it is done in Malaysia. Wow! Now , Malaysia is right there in the map of notoriety of justice. Way to go, Prosecutor! Go ahead - show no mercy to witness, give them an opportunity to jump off buildings and try doing self-strangulations & pin it of others to take the blame. My God! How senile can one get at that age! Indeed, a real disgrace to his own character , integrity and to the lawyer's profession. I believe, lawyers in Malaysia would feel sick to their stomach & guts to see and hear such line of questioning which spew out from a fellow lawyer's mouth. The Bible is right when it says " out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh" Afterall, wickedness from the heart will overflow to the mouth! Or reading an 11 page medical report for 3 days had indeed blurred his vision and ability to think straight ! Hmmmmnnnnnn.....I wonder......
Yunno, by all means, do your job but do your homework first. Get your science right and get your expert views right. If you are going to bludgeon/hack/slice up the theory, you better have facts at hands to argue your case in the courtroom. Afterall, you are at the spotlight and this is a high profile case. I am no doctor nor a forensic expert but science doesn't lie either. I find it rather amusing on the self -strangulation thing. My God, what will they think of next? Rip the pants back pocket and say it is self inflicted act? I couldn't bring myself to imagine such a thing happening in my lifetime and here we have one so-call educated/learned man [ obviously, not-so-learned now! ] doing the stuff! Aiyooo....... major desperation! Then, you try to discredit the integrity of a witness by questioning the university she went to do her studies which is top 5 in the world? Bet, you didn't do your homework and research, right? BTW , if you want to jump off building, you better get bungee cords or you'll land splat/swat on the ground and it wil be ugly. That I can promise you because I've seen one near my office! I agree with you, lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar. Yup , " With question like these, we would all want to jump off a building" - just to quote what had been said!

My congratulations , heartfelt admiration and respect for Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand for her quip, " I am here to defend the rights of the dead! " At least, justice is already served by her declaration. Spunky, glitz and all the hype aside, she is one classy lady with a strong conviction for justice and truth which some of our lawyers and judges today should learn some lessons from - Yeah ! The justice and truth part! I could have sworn I saw a printing of the "dacing" tipped to the sides the other day but then again, I may be wrong! Probably, it's my nearby shopkeeper using the dacing to weigh some bought items! Hmmmmmnnnnnnn........I wonder!

Revival....

For the past few weeks, we have been virtually made to distinctively understand that a revival is coming our way. So, I am told repeatedly by a friend by I am threading on dangerous grounds and I am about to stir up/kick up or even messed up a pretty big storm. Well, I want to make one thing crystal clear - I am no doubter, a mere mortal man but I love God more. So, before you draw out your sharpened shrapnel of swords and flying daggers of criticism and a multitude rounds of religious/super spiritual bullets to rapture this fragile view of mine, hear me out then judged me if you want to.
We, the good spiritual people are just so gullible when the word of revival is being preached on the pulpit. Again, I am not discrediting anyone or man of God preaching about this matter. In fact, I have utmost respect for truthful and honest man of God who will share this Word when he receives revelation from the One Above. What I am asking today is do we need revival or resurrection in our churches today? Ah! You see, there is such a big difference! A good friend of mine, Vive told me that there is indeed a very big difference and from his inspiration, viola! the birth of this article.
Personally if you asked me today, I will say that we need resurrection rather than revival today. You see, for revival to come by and spread like wild fire in our nation today as I have heard many preachers talk about this, resurrection and big radical changes have to come first. Are we ready for revival? How can we ever claimed to be victorious and ready for revival when the house we built for the inhabitation of God still lumbers in tatters of complacency, cliques, one man showmanship, spiritual blindness, uncaring , corruption, scandals and utter disregard for life itself. “Whoa! This man has gone bonkers with such things he is saying “- you may say. Like I said, you can be a blind allegiance to one's authority without you even knowing it!
If you care enough to look into the revivals and dig deep into your reading materials as in the revivals in Brownsville a.k.a Pensacola, Azusa Street,, Shantung, Congo, Toronto and the rest of the revival history until today, you would learn distinctively that there were indeed radical changes and cleaning up before God’s mighty movement comes. I have studied it and note that prayer is not the only tool that is going to bring revival! It is the total transformed heart and mind of the people that is going to bring revival in this land today.
My question to you today is simple : Have we fulfilled God’s promise of looking after the fatherless, the widows, feeding/attending to the poor, manning His Sheeps with Godly love, care for our neighbour – whatever colour or creed, attend to our sickly, care for our old, repent from our ways of life – sinful lust , debauchery, jealousy, envy and the wickedness of the heart or are we still camouflaging under the pretense that “everything is under control” or even hide behind the cloak of Scriptures to defend our stand that we are “ a healthy church thing”? I asked these questions because we are far from ever tasting revival no matter what the man at the pulpit says if we do not change our mindset and our hearts. It is so easy to say revival is coming because people will be pumped up for it but the ground work has to been done first. I say this with no malice intended for any preachers or man of God who may be preaching this at this time of our lives and let God deal with me ever so severely if I have erred against His people. Like I said, I am just a mere human being but I know that revival comes when there is true repentance in the hearts and minds of the people. Revival comes when humbled knees are bent towards the ground from the top of the food chain in our church right to the very sweeper of the hall and pavements we walk on today. Revival comes when hearts are rendered unto Him and repentance overflows that even the ants will weep when we confess our repentance to Him. Revivals comes when we start to physically and truthfully care, feed, empathized and helped and not doing it with our lip service of “ I will pray for you” thing and then we walk away doing nothing. We are confirmed experts in this field and this is an on-going process that had been a plaque in our churches all these years. Money, bigger building, family promotions, No.1 book selling promotions, performance CD selling, power struggles, arrogance, promotion of personal ministry, weak governance, weak leadership plus a string of other ills had dominated our House of God today. This is a fact and there are plenty of examples around today. Harsh words from a harsh man, you may say but this is the truth. Swallow the truth , break down the arrogance & prideful ways and learn humbleness. Searched your hearts and tell me this is not true. Do not be clouded that everything is rosy and nice today when it is not. I am not afraid to offend anybody because I have only one life to spare and if I ever screw it up just to satisfy some pompous individuals at the top, then, I am heading right to where most people would go through - the Wide Gate!
In a world of wickedness we live in, we have to start to care for others and not just flow with the flow of the world by turning away from doing what is just and the right thing. We have become so paranoid as believers that we should only take care of our own and let others take care of the others. This is the very mentality that revival will definitely NOT COME or worst still, we will miss the revival boat entirely.
We need to resurrect from our spiritual death today. We need to be resurrected in our prayer life, our hearts and the way we look at others today. We need to be resurrected from our slumber of inconsistency , complacency and imbalance in treating others. We need to be resurrected in dealing and feel compassion for the needy, the poor, the widows and the fatherless. We need to be resurrected to feel for others in compassion and do something about it. We need to be resurrected from the ill desires of the world that is governing our lives today. One thing I must say is that we need not have a bigger church just because a revival is going to happen or coming. If and when revival does hit our church today, even the walkways and pews on the sidewalks will be filled with people who will want God and not some building or preacher. It is God that they want NOT individuals! I believe anyone who believe and have the passion of God in him/her will be able to lead someone to Christ on that day. I am drawn to the fact that our Lord preached at the mountain tops and there weren’t any pews or stands for the people to sit. They sat their butt on the ground and listened to Him. Skeptics will argue that we now live in different times and we need to have seats, bigger building and so on but my answer is simple. It is not where they sit that matters - It is their hunger for God that matters and they would not even be bothered where they sit if they want the Lord! Correct me if I am wrong on this matter! Answer me this :- Why would people camp at sidewalks for days just to buy a concert ticket of a music performer? Do these people care if they eat, sleep and get dirty there? They just want to get the ticket and get in, right? Rightly so, that is what is going to happen when the people want the Lord. They don’t want buildings, plush seats or bothered about carpet flooring. They just want the Lord, isn’t it? It is not about us anymore – It is about the Lord!
So, if you want revival to hit our church today, we have to change our mindset. We have to wake up from our slumber like an awakened sleeping giant. We have to pray like never before and allow God to burn through the impurities in our lives and our church today. Pains and changes would have to come before revival comes. Afterall, one day, all of us will have to give an account to our Lord. It will either be “Well done, good and faithful servant” or “ I know you not ; Depart from me, you evildoer!” The choice is entirely yours.~

Modified Crepe Cake....

The other day, SYuen got her hands on " Flavours" magazines from our good friend, Bee Ling as reading material. She then told me about the crepe cake recipe and the rest of the goodies listed in the magazine. At first, it was just a reading material for me but soon, I find the recipes in the magazine to be quite doable and interesting. Like I said, I do like cooking and I do like to try out recipes when I have the time. Well, I have often been reminded that if I want to enjoy the quality of life then I must learn to make the time and enjoy what I do! So, make time was what I did today. When I told SYuen that we are going to do a cake today, she was very happy and she was ready.
So, off we went to the supermarket to get the stuff for a crepe cake recipe. Well, a promise is a promise as far as I am concerned. You see, I did promise her that I would make a crepe cake for her. This time, I have the time and why not. So, we got all the things together and soon, we were kicking up a storm in the kitchen area. SLing wasn't as enthusiastic as we [ father-daughter team ] were and so, she went to have her much need afternoon nap. BTW, she had worked hard at washing clothes and cooking for us ; rightly she should have her rest too. So, SYuen and I did all the measuring, mixing and pouring ingredients here and there. Soon, the batter is ready and so was the vanilla filling. Just as all first try, it was little chaotic but we had a lot of fun. The vanilla filling wasn't really as what we had wanted but we'll accept that until our next attempt then! In the meantime, we are happy with it!

After a little rest, we started the "construction" of our crepe cake. As I cooked up the batter piece by piece, SYuen layered it with the vanilla filling and blackberry jam. It was supposed to be a 20 layer crepe cake but we lost count! Who is counting anyway? We continued until we finished the batter and the vanilla filling. I taught SYuen how to move the plate so that she can spread the filling more evenly and it was fun seeing her do that. Soon, the crepe cake was ready and we admired it for a while. YES! We did it. OK, so it wasn't what we expected but we did it our way! Wooohoooo!

After letting the crepe cake to cool down for a while, we wrapped it with clear film sheet and whisked it into the fridge. Then, we waited in anticipation. After about 2 hours later, we took out the crepe cake, it smell nice and we readily laid it on a glass top. I then sliced the cake and the layers were there to be seen and it was a great feeling of achievement. SYuen and I squeaked in delight because it was our first attempt; it turned out alright. Now comes the taste. After a good dollop of ice-cream and a splash with Hershey chocolate syrup, it was ready to go. SYuen had the first bite and she said it was nice. Then our family food critic, SLing came down and had a slice of the crepe cake and said the batter was too thick and on and on.... but SYuen and I just smiled and told her to keep quiet and enjoy our "creation"! We all had a good laugh and later, JWee came back after football game to sample the cake. He liked it too. So there you have it, folks. Quality time spent with family with minimum cost and whole loadful of fun! BTW, this is not a cooking show programme. It is just how spending time with family can help to foster better relationship when we get everyone involved in this small cooking project. Well, like they say, the way to the family is through food still holds validity. Recipe? What recipe? It's all in the heart!~

Heart warmers

If there is redemption for a bad day at fishing, it would be having fun with two cutest kiddos in town namely Ashley & Ryan, our nephew & niece! Yup, folks - these two adorables were the soother to my bruised body and spirit, actually! Wow! How much they have grown especially Ashley while Ryan had added volumes of words in his vocabulary nowadays. " Nooooo.." is still there ; "I don't know" is still prevalent and Ah John is still a joy to my ears!! I guess, I am waiting what Ashley will be calling me then.

Ashley has grown up very nicely and when she is in her walker, she moves so fast and ever smiling. Probably, she looked aloof for a while until she gets to her senses who you are before warming up to you. But either way, she is still a real delight. I love playing with her while she is easily one tough cookie too when it comes to tantrums. I love it when she glides across the living room with her posh walker. She is really so cute-lar. Always looking out for her brother's toys, it would drive Ryan nuts when he sees her with his toys! Ahhhhhh! Siblings! What can I say, right? I was laughing my head off when I see these two kiddos antics. Definitely takes a bundle of energy to take care of these two cute-looking babes!

Ryan comes next. Well, what can I say about this talented boy except that his vocab improved. Still some gibberish words here and there but he is having a lot of words now. Still likes his Ping Pong brand cream crackers and his smiles are infectious! His manja ways are still there but I find it easier to tell him 'NO' this time. I guess, that's good.

S2City Park was our evening playground that day. It was a beautiful eveing for walks and games. The lake was fantastic and virtually filled with assorted fishes ranging from tilapia, carp, catfish and tortoises. Ryan and Wei played football and the family was having a ball of a time. It was a good time and a time I relished the fresh air of nature. It was also nice seeing everyone from mother in law, Jade, Ashley, Wei, Ryan, SLing, JWee, SYuen and me having a good time. I guess, nothing beats spending time with your loved ones. Definitely good for your body ,mind and soul, I guess. The park is beautiful and the par course available are quite good and well-maintained. I guess, I'll do my walks here when I come by the next time.

The one incident which caught my eye was when Ryan sat on the sofa and dozed off after some time spend on the park before we went out for dinner. He just sat down on the sofa, had some crackers and slowly slipped into sleep mode. So peaceful and innocent. What a sight, actually! So calm and so serene. I guess, boys with energy levels like Ryan would love to do a lot of running and as they tire out, you could see their nature at best when they doze off.

Like I said always, coming back to Seremban gives me a lot of rest and new perspective in life. I learned a lot whenever I come back to here. As always, Wei & Jade have always been such wonderful family to us and it gives a lot of comfort in my heart knowing that they are doing alright plus their two kiddo are so cute & adorable. Thanks again, Wei & Jade.

I am looking forward to spend more time with Ashley & Ryan in our next visit. SLing and I plus our children miss the family in Seremban a lot. I guess, we'll have to make the time and make arrangements in our activities/schoolworks/my works and all irrelevant activities from now on. Afterall, spending time with these two young kiddos and my own children taught me a lot. BTW, life is a never ending learning curve for all of us from the young to the old. But spending time and sharing time with my children and these two young ones taught me that there is always a kiddo somewhere that needs your love and your attention. Be it your own or the ones belonging to others - they all need a hug and the warmth of your heart always. Parents, just as God loves you, love your chidlren - hug them, talk to them and show your love to them. [ never spoil them though! ] Children, love your parents and always know that they love you no matter what happens! Teach your children to hug you and to wrap their arms around you, talk to you and to love you unconditionally. I am so proud & happy of Wei & Jade for teaching Ryan & Ashley to do just that. I know deep in my heart that they are on the right path of parenthood! Their love for their two children deserved praises because I have seen what they have done for their children - not spoiling them but raising good mannered children! Keep up the good work and be blessed always!~

Snagged lines!

When JWee and friend, Jameson made plans for a fishing trip, I was excited, of course. Honestly, it has been quite a while since I went our fishing and I feels kinda "rusty" in my fishing skills, actually. As usual, I was all excited, got my bait ready ranging from sea worms to small belanak fish, prawns and cuttlefish. You see, I like to be ready when I go fishing and that included rigging up the hooks and the lines earlier.
That morning finally came and it it came with a slight drizzle. JWee and I met up with Jameson at Pulau Melaka bridge. From here, it was a good drive inside the Pulau Melaka project and almost to the end of the project site. Along the way, I saw the abandoned rows of commercial building lots and it was indeed a saddening sight. A project that started out so magnificently with the plush and pomposity of advertisements ended up being a ghost town. Yup, it was a sore sight and quite unpleasing to the eyes. Bah! What do I know as I am just a silly citizen with some spare time for fishing with son and friends, right? Anyway, after a short drive, we arrived at the end of the project site. The place looked promising and I started rigging up JWee's rod and then Jameson's fishing rod and finally, my own. It was taxing indeed but I guess, someone's gotta do it, right? Soon, as my line hits the water, there were a lot of complications that ensued. Firstly, it was the line getting snagged all the time due to the rocks below. Then it was the strong wave hitting the stone filed wall and the early morning bitter cold chill. After some try and missing out some of my sinkers, we decided to change places. I guess, it was the turning point of our fishing trip that day. If the morning had started out stressful and uneventful, the second part of the change turned out to be an extremely painful physcial time. Slipped and fall at least 3 to 4 times when trying to retrieve my fishing rod after seeing some activity on the fishing rod. With algae covered rock, walking wasn't easy and the rocks were slippery. I landed quite awkwardly especially on my butt and had a lot of cuts plus bruises when I tried retrieving my fishing line from a snagged rock. Jameson and JWee also fell flat on their butts after some time. But it was all in fun but for me, there were lots of bruises and cuts due to the sharp limpets and hard shells along the rocks. Soon, the sun came up and it was some fine sun bathing before we headed out at some shed mainly of small trees.

Jameson and JWee seemed to be having a great time picking out the shellfish and having a time of their lives picking out hooks off the rocks. Nothing went right for me as the line got entangled and the lines were simply too caught up that I have to cut the lines away! I was a like a blistering idot trying to clear the lines when I saw two good friends [ JWee & Jameson ] just having a good time out there eventhough none had any fishing experience, their lines got stuck and not caught any fish. Their playful ways and young man antics made me realised a lot of things. I guess, I was so caught up in the fishing thing that I forgot to enjoy myself. I guess, it wasn't much about catching fish but just having a great time out there. From then on, I threw out the line, just lay out at the flat bed huge granite stone and just relaxed. Occassionally, I looked up towards the heaven hoping for God to spare me the blushes of at least, giving me one pull of fish. Anyway, He knew better and there was simply no fish bitting as the tide went lower. Then, there was a shriek of joy from both young men as they caught some sort of a starfish. Honestly, I don't know what it was but if it excited the young men, it was good enough for me. It was the strangest looking starfish and Jameson stood proudly beside it. In the midst of our exceitement, Matt came by and joined the other 2 boys in their conversations. All in all, it was a good experience for me as I came to understand that it wasn't all about fishing but having fun out there. Maybe, I have been too tense or even too hopeful of catching something when all is needed is just some relaxing time in the sun. Well, I'll fight the fishes another day, I guess. I told the boys that we'll be going for another fishing trip soon and I intend to keep that promise.

While I was settling down my fishing gear at home, my colleague called me on the phone and asked me about our fishing trip. I told him I had so much bruises and cuts on my hands & legs. Before I could explained, " Waaah! So good until your hand legs were bruised. Must be good fishing grounds! ". I then explained to him that the rocks were slippery and I landed on my butt so many times and received so many cuts that I think I have gone senile. Then there was pause at the other end, followed by a deafening burst of laughters. Then I heard him say in the midst of his laughter, " So, you caught "batu" today-lar? ". Yeah, rub in salt to the wounds......anyway, I explained to him politely that it was exactly what he had said - Tangkap batu! As for the pains, well, no worries, I am accustomed to physical pain and I can stand it. Yes, I can bear the pain . It wasn't that bad to me though I had one third of my left toe nail broken off and bruises on my legs and hands. Like they always say, biasa already-mah!

Well, I'll fight another day. My next destination is kelong......safer-lar [ some people say but Ihave yet to experience it! ] I'll tell you when I get there one day!~ Cheers!

My Creed..

To live as gently as I can

To be , no matter where, a man ;

To take what comes of good and ill

And cling to faith and honor still;

To do my best, and let that stand

The record of my brain and hand;

And then, should failure come to me,

Still work and hope for victory;

To have no secret place wherein

I stood unseen to shame or sin;

To be the same when I'm alone

As when my every deed is known;

To live undaunted, unafraid,

Of any step that I have made;

To be without pretense or sham

Excatly what men think I am;

To leave some simple work behind

To keep having lived in mind;

If enmity to ought I show,
To be an honest, generous foe;

To play my little part, nor whine

That greater honors are not mine;

This I believe is all I need,

For my philosophy and creed. ~ Edgar A. Guest

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry.
Two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is yesterday with its mistakes and cares,
Its faults and blunders, Its aches and pains.
Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.
All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday.
We cannot undo a single act we performed.
We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.

The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow.
With its possible adversities, Its burdens,
Its large promise and poor performance.
Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.
Tomorrow's Sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds,
but it will rise.
Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

This just leaves only one day . . . Today.
Any person can fight the battles of just one day.
It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternity's -
yesterday and tomorrow that we break down.
It is not the experience of today that drives people mad.
It is the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday
and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.

Let us therefore live but one day at a time.

Precious and profound 25 minutes....

Immediately after the Royal Rangers weekly meeting today, I was chatting with my good friend, Dinesh when Sis.Sharma who was passing by my table asked me if I would like to listen to the sermon given by a notable invited guest today. When she mentioned the name, I immediately recognised the name and as my eyes lit up, Sis.Sharma knew what I was thinking and she told me that she was looking for me but could not find at that time and that is why she is telling it to me now. I excused myself from my conversation with Dinesh and headed out to the multi-purpose hall where this man of God was preaching in the BM language. Along the way, Sis Sharma was telling me that I have about at most another 25-30 minutes of sermon listening before it ends.
I immediately pulled up a chair and seated myself next to our BM pastor, Pst. Alfred. There were about 25 of us in the room listening the message. How I wish this hall would be packed with people who are hungry for the Word from this man of God! As I listened to the sermon, I was really blessed. The salient points of the message and the emphasis of the word of God on forgiveness, true repentence, dealing with anger, the road to heaven and hell were raised and precise answers according to the Word of the Lord were eloquently given. Yes, I understood what was said perfectly though it was in the BM language. I wasn't wowed by the personality that presented the Word of God. It was the conviction and the way the message was presented that wowed me, actually. I have heard of this man of God whose testimony on the goodness of God on his life had saved many people for the Kingdom of God. I came in not to see this man of God or be awe by his fame but I came in to hear the Good News he brings! It was indeed a privilege to be able to hear this man of God speak. What a privilege ! As I sat there listening right to the end of the sermon, I was encouraged and I was blessed by the message. I didn't take the time to stop by to shake his hand as my children was waiting for me after a long day at church. I really wish I could shake his hand and tell him how wonderful the last 25 minutes had been for me. Well, I pray that I would have the opportunity again to meet him and to speak to him again, probably in the field one day!

Andrea & Bernice....

Today, Royal Rangers Melaka # 1 celebrated the birthday of identical twins, Andrea and Bernice Lung. I can't tell them apart, to be honest, but they have been faithful and wonderful in the Royal Rangers family. To try to know who is who, I would always call out " Andrea, Bernice" and then either one will correct me and say, " Aiyah, comdr! I am Andrea and she is Bernice-lar! " and I would laugh my head off ! Smart children!
Anyway, for many years now, Alvin & Sherry Lung had been very supportive of the Royal Rangers Ministry since the very existence of this ministry. I could still remember Luke & Claire being in the ministry and now, how they have grown up and went on to be a blessing in the other ministries in our church. For me, Alvin & Sherry had always been there for this ministry and I could never thank them enough for what they have done for this ministry. Their words of encouragement, the support, the advices and the help extended by them had been priceless. They may not be rich financially and materially but in my eyes, they are already rich with the blessings of God and for their big wondrous heart. Thank you, Alvin & Sherry !
So, when Sherry told me a few days ago that they wanted to celebrate Andrea & Bernice birthday with the Royal Rangers children, I am all for it. Today, she got all the drinks ready while I went out to get a chocolate cake for them. It was fun all the way and to see the both of them having wide smile and nice grin on their faces gives me a lot of pleasure. I gave them both a good hug and I really felt blessed by these children.

Yunno, when they were younger, it wasn't easy taking care of these two children, Andrea & Bernice. Their close attachment to Sherry made it very difficult for them to attend camps as they will be bawling their lungs out each night. But as they grow older, they became very manageable and I give credit to Comdr. Jessica whose mother's heart helped these two twins a lot. I remembered telling Sherry that her girls cried a lot at night and she would scold them gently that they should get used to camping life, learn things and so on. Such was Sherry 's faith in the Royal Rangers Ministry moulding of lives process which I really take a lot of comfort from. I know that it wasn't easy for Sherry to do and I appreciate her a lot for that confidence. From then on, going to camps for these young ladies had been easy with less tears but more fun. Afterall, we are celebrating their eighth birthday today. Yes, they do start early in Royal Rangers Ministry.

The funny thing is as I recall the times spent with them, I have such fond memories of these twins. Yes, like I said, it can be challenging when dealing with them but it was really fun. I remembered that there was once during dinner time in the camp, they were in tears. I know that they were hungry but they were tears. So, as the commanders took turns to talk to them , the eye taps flowed for a while and then it went dry but they don't look unhappy but hungry. However, neither of them wanted to say that they wanted to makan. So, each asking each other to eat first and it was a ding dong until I told them that they are both going to eat or they'll starve for the night! Then, the tap flow again but they started to eat amidst the Niagara falls! To me, it was a pretty sight and one that I would treasure a lot because they are so innocent and cute. I guess, they must have thought that I was the big ogre or the big bad wolf by what I did. But to me, my commanders and I were simply moulding and shaping lives for our Master Ranger.

BTW, I love their smile a lot. They are always very courteous and they greet me every time they see me. I guess, what makes my day and life light up is when I see those pretty smiles and greetings from these twins. I have been blessed by these twins already!

So, Andrea & Bernice, Blessed Birthday, dearies!