Paradox of Life

I heard this from Pastor John's sermon in EPCC this morning and thought it was really meaningful.... Then found it in internet later...

The paradox of our time in history is that
We have taller buildings but shorter tempers,

wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less,

we buy more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families,

more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense,

more knowledge, but less judgment,

more experts, yet more problems,

more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.
We've added years to life not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back,

but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour.
We conquered outer space but not inner space.
We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less.

We plan more, but accomplish less.
We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
We build more computers to hold more information,

to produce more copies than ever,

but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods, and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce,

fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers,

throwaway morality, one night stands,

overweight bodies,

and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window

and nothing in the stockroom.
A time when technology can bring this letter to you,

and a time when you can choose either

to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones,

because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe,

because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you,

because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones,

but most of all mean it.
A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt

when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment

for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak,

and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

but by the moments that take our breath away.

Encouragement

There is an Arm that never tires
When human strength gives way;
There is a Love that never fails
When earthly loves decay.

—Wallace

Bear & Cat Talk

Life has been very busy and stressful. Bear & Cat now work in the same company so they take heavy breakfast at cafe sometimes together, and will skip lunch and use lunch time to sort out things.

Last week after office hour
Bear & Cat skipped lunch.
Bear: Cat, are you hungry?
Cat: Not really. I ate something during tea time.
Bear: Really?! Why never call me...
Cat: Err... I just went down to grab a piece cake.
Bear: =.=
Cat: But I was sceptical and checking out if the Bear is in the cafe too.. I look see look see no bear, faster buy something and run back to my cube. **LOL**
Bear: STUPID!

Yesterday Lunch Time
Cat: Today I'm very full. Let's skip lunch.
Bear: OK.
Cat: Are u hungry?
Bear: A bit, but I think still OK la.
Cat: Maybe later we go eat tea time la.
Bear: See la, if I'm busy.

After work
Bear: Cat, did u take tea time?
Cat: Ya I did.
Bear: Really?! Why never call me? What did u eat?
Cat: Err.... I ate the blue pulut with Kaya.
Bear: Why never call me!! I iz hungwee.....
Cat: Err... Actually hor... I got something else to tell u... actually hor... After we came back just now, I went to cafe and wanted to grab something. Then I see still got fried rice, so I tapao fried rice with some omelette.
Bear: HUH... HOW COULD YOU?! And you never call me..?!
Cat: *laughing all the way*.. I tot u said u are not hungry... I never thought they have left over fried rice (explaining, explaining)
Bear: HMPH! And now I am very hungry now. I am going to cook a lot tonight. I'll do an egg for myself.
Cat: Bear U are so funny! Oh, Egg again? This week we ate quite a bit of eggs.
Bear: I never say I wanna cook for u.. You got omelette already during lunch.
Cat: Huh......?!.... Please.......
Bear: NO WAY! :P

Zi Mui's Weddings

If you ask me what's the most memorable time in my life, besides my own wedding day, the next will be my life in university - there's the place where I met most of my good friends. :)

Our innocent looks in MMU @ 1998
more pics here

Somehow, fate brought us together, and we grew up together in the Uni's pathetic hostel. We spent most of our time together esp. since we are not local. We explored mamak (yah, called us sua-gu :P), explored the public transport to get to town and etc. It was funny though it has been almost 7-10 yrs ago, but we still laugh like nobody's business whenever we talk about the past stories whenever we meet up.

I thank God that all of my friends are doing very well in their life, and most of us have moved on to the next stage of our life, i.e. promoted to wifey (and some already are mothers :P). I was recalling my ji muis wedding and to my amusement, all of us got married in sequence since 2006 to 2009 non-stop! :)

2006-07 SF's wedding @ KL

2007-09 Papakochan's wedding @ KL

2008-01 My wedding @ PG


2008-12 Shizuka's wedding @ PG

2009-03 PC's wedding @ KL

So, I guess the next wedding to attend will be 2010?! Kekekeke... *hint* *hint* :D. It's just a very happy thing to see good friends to have a healthy, good, and happy life, don't you agree?

My Big Potato

This month - is a month to remember. I have finally paid off my car loan with EON bank after 5 years. EG called it big potato as he always complains it's heavy. But I still love it to bits. Everytime when people asked about my car, I'll gladly tell the "touching" story of how I got my lovely potato. =).

Working in Cyberjaya without a car is a total nightmare, things were even worse with me staying @ USJ. There is no public transport to Cyberjaya and no one could give me a ride. I have no choice, but I had to buy a car. I am the eldest in my family - so this buying car thing is quite a hoo-haa as my parents doubt if I know how to get a proper car. And since I am the only working "adult" then, and looking at the fact that my brother & sister in KL were going to depend on me to fetch them to/from KLIA, or moving house, or go shopping or prom night (?) (:P), and with my parents visiting us kinda often, I need to get a saloon car that can fit easy 4-5 ppl (and actually, if my whole family comes together - still cannot fit :P.. we have total of 6 :P), and with boot space to fit the luggages.

There weren't much choices then. Waja is too big for me to handle, and I was really really bad in parking. And imported cars are out of my budget. With my dad's help & some limited $$ in my piggy bank (since I only worked for 2 yrs then), I "wanted" to buy Proton Wira SE (Special Edition *ahem*) Automatic. I got scared a bit when my friends keep complaining to me how hard it is to drive in KL with manual car.

Note that I said - "WANTED". Of course, it didn't happen. The stooopid salesman, which is also the manager of the shop, actually gave supposingly-to-be-my-car away to another customer, and requested me to wait for another 3 months! I asked for my deposit refund, and called up Proton HQ to lodge a complain. The region manager called up and told me this is the first complain in 10 years, like I care. Duh!! I was just too angry and too pissed off. And I actually cried over it. =.=. I am not sure what happen to the sales manager after that (though I hope he got fired :P) but I think anyhow he deserved that - no credibility how to be manager. =.=.

To cut the story short, out of real desperation, I called up one of my MMU friends working in EON, "crying" for help. And he told me, OK Winnie, I'll settle for you. Wait for my call. True enough, after 1 week+, he called and told me - Winnie, your car is here. Come and take. Then, I went over to pay my deposit, sign loan agreement, and took my car.

Before that, I didn't see how the car look like. I was very lucky that the car was actually the latest model of 2004, with sport rims & air bags. But one thing - it's manual. But heck, I need a car. I drove manual all the time in my hometown - don't see a problem with that. And the car plate number is my name's initial + my birth date day. Mind you - I didn't choose the number or ask for anything. The only thing I told my friend is, I want the Wira SE - black one. That's all.

That's why I always believe my car, is God's gift to me.

I could never forget the first day when I drove my car from EON Glenmarie back to USJ. The touch of the car, and my anxious feeling of owning something that belong to myself (Well, not fully owned yet, since I was still on loan). And the first one that I showed off my new potato then to was of course, my brother in Sri Petaling, and let him tested drive a bit. Though in these 5 yrs, I have changed quite a bit of the spare parts and etc, but my potato has been going through a lot with me (and my family) . It has done what it should. And with EG's help it's well maintained too.

EG always tells me next time we should sell off one Wira (since he's also driving the normal Wira) and get a better car - but I never agree to sell my car. He said he has a lot of memories with his car, but hey, I have A LOT of memories with my potato too! =). So, no mutual agreement was made, and we're still having two wiras with us.

We're going to KL for my friend's wedding this weekend - and I told EG, I'll want to drive this round since we're driving my potato down. I'd love to reminisce the day when I got my potato. It's going to be our 5th Year anniversary. :)

There's a funny conversation about my potato when EG and I were driving down to KL somewhere last year (yah, we have too many friends' weddings to attend :P)

W: (driving & speeding a bit :P) Hey, my car is Wira SE. It's Special Edition, but it also can be Sports Edition eh... :D
E: Ya ya.. and u know, it also can be Slow Edition or Silly Edition or Stupid Edition...
W: =.=

CNY 2009 in Miri

I know Chinese New Year is already over for almost >1 week now - But work has been really busy since I am picking up new things so I can't blog in office, and life is also busy with many other things - especially since now I am sharing computer with EG - I am just too lazy to blog.

EG and I had an agreement that we'll take turn to celebrate Chinese New Year at our respective hometown alternatively - i.e. 2008 in his house, so 2009 in my house. So this year, we went back to Miri for CNY.

EG had his 3-colored-special-teh-C in Miri as showns in TV8 Hochiak!. We didn't go to the same restaurant as recommended by TV8 but we went to another place - thanks to my sister. EG loves it. What so special about this Teh-C? Go watch the video clip @ the above link. :P

The 3-Colored-Special-Teh-C

My best friend - Shizuka - was in Miri for CNY this year too. I think she feels that Mirians are really nice (just like me!!! :D) so she chose & married a Miri-man. What a coincident!! The funniest thing is, another zi mui of ours also married a Borneo-man but she's @ Sabah. We always find it funny but anyway, I am not going to discuss that now. :)

Since both Shizuka & EG have been complaining about the not-so-nice kolok mee & laksa that they had at home, so this round, I did some survey and we went for breakfast together @ a newly open coffee shop (maybe not too new also) - Mdm Wee - who made her own noodles for both kolok mee & laksa.

Both the non-sarawakians took the famous Sarawak Laksa

Another view of the laksa.

Glad that the two non-Sarawakians said it's nice. :D

We waited for 45 minutes for the food to arrive. Well, it was long, but since we had quite a bit to chat with each other, we didn't feel that it was too long. But my mum gave a not-very-happy remark when she knew it as she said the coffee shop always has this problem.

All the Sarawakian ordered their kolok mee.

Mine is with soy sauce + chili sauce.

EG and I reached Miri nearly on the midnight on Thursday. And on Friday, we went to airport 3 times to fetch my sister and my two brothers, coming back from KL & Sibu, all different flight schedule. It has been a real long time that 4 of us got together. The last time I think was during my wedding?! That's already >1 year ago!!!

After our breakfast together with Shizuka (yeah they all tagged along :P), we went to Marina Bay as konon-nya it's going to be one of the high class area in Miri (?!) after x years (????). Me not sure but since I have never been there, we just stopped by to have a look, and took some pics.

The 4 Tengs

EG and I

This year, our parents didn't cook all the dishes for the reunion dinner after our persuasion as it just took too much work and time to do that. We catered half, and cooked the other half. Both my parents started to get busy in the kitchen at 2pm+, and all dishes were ready at 4.30pm. So, we had our reunion dinner @ 4.30pm. How bizzarre right?! But like my dad said, eat slowly, and later 9pm we'll have another round of supper if anyone is hungry. :D

>10 dishes for reunion dinner.

We didn't even finish half of them!!

It's also our tradition to play fire crackers at 12am on the 1st day of CNY. Almost all the houses at our street - Jalan Baiduri 1 - lit up the fire crackers. And No, no police dropped by. :D

It's too loud for a cat :P

Gong Xi Fa Cai !!

Though there are quite a lot of people visiting our place during CNY as usual, this year, we have booked our time to go to Brunei for the famous and cheap Sushi in Escapade on the 3rd day of CNY. My dad was quite reluctant to go but since the whole family planned to go, he wouldn't want to miss out the fun too. I'll blog about that next time soon (I hope!) :D

My family @ Escapade Sushi, Brunei

Last but not least, ever since my brother took up photography as his hobby, we never go studio for our family shoot anymore. This year, since we had a new member - EG - joining us in our CNY celebration, of course we won't miss the chance and snapped our family portraint on the 2nd day of CNY in our house.

Family photo 2009

Going home.... is always the BESTEST of the BEST!

E

Happy Valentine's Day Supercolossal

My Quillling

During Christmas, Karen from my church (Note: She's also the one who designed my wedding invitation cards that received countless good comments) gave us a fridge magnet as Christmas gift. My first response was just amazed + astonished looking at this cute stuff. It's so simple, and yet, SO NICE!.... It came with a custom made bag with no glue.... But I forgot to take a pic of that.

When I was making some invitation cards for a church event in Karen's place, she told me this is called Quilling. And then she showed me those that she did for the Pastors in church, I was even more speechless looking at her work. Then, I started to have itchy hands to try on quilling too.

Since CNY is coming, Jireh U CG had a small celebration during CG time. I have decided to make a simple bookmark for all my CG members.

So, firstly, I have to cut the paper into 0.3cm size, and it's not as easy as I thought since I don't have proper tools.

Paper strips

Next, I started to roll the orange paper to be the mandarin orange, and the green ones to be the two small leaves. There are supposed to be the right tools to do the rolling but I don't have. So I have to use toothpick / hairpin to help me in the rolling. Lucky thing is my fingers are rather small, so it does help a bit. :P...

When I started rolling, then I found out my mandarin oranges are not in even sizes due to the inaccurate measurement during cutting. Gee... Now I really admire Dr. Andrew & Karen's steady hands since they will do the measuring & cutting by themselves if the quantity is not a lot.

My cacat mandarin oranges :P

Since it's Chinese New Year, I purposely bought some RED paper as the base. At First, I cut them into rectangle but EG said it looks weird. So after some trials, EG suggested me to cut off the edges on the top, and stick my mandarin oranges & their leaves on top.

My halfway done book mark

Then EG helped me printed my favorite verse from Jeremiah for 2009, with nice fire crackers as clipart (Chinese New Year maa....). Then, stick them slightly below the mandarin oranges, and ta-da..... here's my final piece of "art"... :P

My bookmark

In total, I made 25 pieces of book marks for my CG members, including 5 for myself and EG and I wanted to give my siblings too. Seriously I don't think it's VERY VERY nice but it's a good start for my little interest in quilling. I am still looking for the proper tools to do this.

Bookmarks for JirehU members

The bookmarks were given out on last Friday and I wasn't in the CG as I was on my way back to Taiping. At 10pm, my handphone was bombarded with thank-you SMSes -- That's how we thank someone when they are not around in CG.

I am inspired to make better ones next time. :)... But anyway, CNY is just around the corner. So, Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone! And have a great time with your family and your love ones!!

Anniversary Presents

I have been looking for a new watch since both my current watches are at least >6 years old now. All girls like new things ok? :P.... Anyway, after looking for weeks, finally EG bought the Casio Sheen for me.

My new watch

I asked EG what he wants for anniversary. Funny, he asked for a bottle of potato chip for his anniversary present. Kakakaka!!! Ok here's the background - I once read in some magazine that potato chips are bad for health and are cancerous. I am not sure how true this is but EG used to eat quite a bit of potato chips at home - especially when he's reading his novel before he sleeps. I think that's a bad habit so I strictly prohibited potato chips @ our home.

Anyway, since it's anniversary - so I got his favorite Jacker's potato chips for him. :P

Jacker Potato Chips - EG's anniversary present

Ya, I know. It's unfair right? But then, nothing is fair in a relationship, right? No? :P. Kekekeke... **evil laugh**

1st Year Anniversary

Life has been busy these days - both in office, and after office. And that's why now only I am going to write about the celebration that EG and I had for our anniversary last weekend.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't our anniversary *yet*, but then again, it's actually the day we registered. For us, our wedding day is actually the day when we said the vows before God. However, since we have things tied up during the coming weekends and also preparing for our home trip back to Miri for CNY (YIPPIE!!), we have decided to celebrate it earlier.

EG found in a friend's blog about Blue Reef Fish & Chip shop @ Tanjung Bungah. We did a small search in google and found most good comments on the shop. Since EG and I are rather small eaters, the initial plan for buffet was off, and we decided to head for this new restaurant @ the other side of Penang island.

Map downloaded from some other blogs

I didn't manage to take a pic in the shop but it's a very cosy restaurant situated @ Casa Permai - a very quite and peaceful neighbourhood @ Tanjung Bungah. I felt slow-and-easy as it's not crowded, and you can even take your time take a walk @ the small garden opposite Blue Reef, which we didn't, where you see children and kids are doing all sorts of activities there like skating, jogging, etc.

The waiters & waitresses are very attentive and they can give very good suggestion on food to order. For the appertiser, we got smoked tuna salad with vinaigrette. It was very refreshing and the tuna was very fresh and they just melted in your mouth. Yums!

Smoked Tuna Salad with Vinaigrette (RM15)

For EG, he tried the dish where most people recommended - the Fish & Chips. It came with two choices - either battered or with bread crumbs. According to the waitress, for the first option, the fish is battered with beer while the second just with normal bread crumbs. So, EG tried the first one. When the food arrived, EG was amazed by the portion of the food.

Fish & Chips (RM16)

It looks different from the normal fish & chip from the normal shops - where it comes with HUGE fried batter, with lots of oil. For the one @ Blue Reef, the whole piece of the fish is full of juicy fish fillet. You're eating the fish, not the batter. :D... And the beer batter made the fish taste slightly different.

Look how juicy the fish is... Yummy...

For me, I am a salmon lover so I got a pan seared salmon with couscous. This was the first time I heard of couscous and the waitress explained that it's a kind of pasta from Mediterranean. The portion doesn't look real big but it was really very filling. And it has a really good food presentation. I didn't really fancy the couscous. It tasted good, but I just couldn't have too much of them. However, EG loves it very much and I think he took almost half of the couscous from my plate. =)

My Yummy Salmon Dinner (RM19).....

In between meals, there were waitresses kept dropping by our table and asked if the food is OK, if we need any help, or if we need anything. The service is very good and we were thinking they might charge 15% or more for service charge (kekeke!!) but to our surprise, the price is NETT! There's no surcharge. And the price is very reasonable.

The next highlight of the dinner was the cake. Weeks ago, EG's colleague ordered a Mille Crepe cake for the project team in office from HumbleBeginnings. And we decided to get one also for our anniversary celebration since I never try it before. I browsed through the website and was quite skeptical of which flavor to choose. Then I decided to choose French Vanilla - the signature flavor - which it's recommended for first timers. For topping, I chose my favorite shredded white chocolates & roasted almond. They don't have any shop but they will do free delivery with online booking of at least 48 hours - but only in Penang & Johor. Hence, they sent me the cake on Sunday and Ta-Da.... here's the cake! :)

French Vanilla Mille Crepe Cake

The waitress wanted to light up the candle for us but we stopped her. *shy* ma.. This Mille Crepe cake has 20 layers of crepes with combination of Fresh Cream & Vanilla custard between each layer. Imagine the amount of time + work needed to do this. And hence, the price is slightly more pricey than the normal cakes. It starts from RM55 for 0.9kg onwards, and we'll need to add RM10 for topping for regular size.

Look at the layers...

I was already 90% full after the dinner. But when I tasted the cake, it just tasted like HEAVEN. And I just couldn't stop eating though I was really very full. The taste is light and no as sweet as the other cakes. The cream and the vanilla custard tasted just NICE and with the sweetness from the shredded white chocolates and the cruchiness from the shredded roasted almonds, it was just PERFECT. =). Of course we didn't finish the cake. We left the remaining 6 pieces for our breakfast / lunch / dinner for the next few days. :).

Another shot of the cake

We were very happy with both the dinner & the cake. I told EG I think we had two of the best food in Penang that night.

Anyway, we were happy that we have endured our first year of marriage together happily. And we thank God for all the grace & blessing He had for us. And Happy 1 Year Anniversary to ourselves. :)

Happy 2009!!

My mum always says "Time Flies" when we were young, I think she still does. And I never realise how fast time flies as I always wanted to grow up faster.

But now, since I am quite a grown-up now, I can literally feel that time is really flying.

Looking back at 2008, there are just too many things happening in 2008. I remembered I was filled with hopes and excitement while posting my last post to give my Thanksgiving for 2007, I have dreams and dreams. With much love and blessing for the loving God, I have achieved most of my targets, and moreover, more than I have asked for.

Year 2008 marked the biggest change in my life by starting with me marrying the cheekiest guy I have ever met, had a wonderful wedding that I have always dreamt of, and a great honeymoon in Bali. It was just a wonderful wedding. Though everything was hectic and stressful, but in the end, we see God's blessing and everything went on great. Till now, I still flip my wedding photos, and the wedding event still put a smile on my face. Many asked what's the difference before and after I got married, I couldn't really put them in words, but I do feel that relationships after wedding is more challenging to handle comparing to during courtship or when we were boyfriend/girlfriend. But, we're coping well - I thank God for all the good mentors around us who share with us on the ways to maintain good relationship. :D

Work was crazily busy in 2008 too. With great responsibilities, more and more projects came on their ways in 2008. And with much blessing, I still get the chance to travel for meetings & training. On the other hand, without me realising much, I was slowly involved more and more in ministries in EPCC.

Time just flew through 2008. On the last month of 2008, the most shocking news among my friends will be my resignation news - changing to another company. Many were shocked and asking if it's a good time for the change due to the economy downturn. I too struggled for the decision making, but over and over again, God convinced me that this is the right choice that I have made - despite the fact that the increment wasn't that attractive, and I might lose all those that I have established in the old company. Even though the economy is bad and things are uncertain now, but God promises us in Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I have been praying for a better jobs that allows me to have a better work-life-balance for the past 2 years, and with God's promise, I feel the peace in me and I know this is what He has prepared for me.

2008 ends with many many good news. Though December is my last month in my old company and I should be the most free person in the office, but you were wrong! I was busy with many many other things. In December alone I attended two weddings - one in Malacca and another one in Bukit Mertajam. One of them is the wedding of my very very best friend - Shizuka. I was honored to be appointed as the coordinator + the wedding planner + the em cee + the zi mui head. Imagine the stress! But Joy is more than stress!! This is the first time I became an em cee in a wedding - some more have to speak in Mandarin. Glad that I did well - and Shizuka's parents are very much impressed. And I also took the opportunity to go down to KL to meet up with my girl friends and their baby juniors - the moment together were just priceless.

2008 is going to end (in another 6 hours) soon. Looking back I only feel the joy and feel so blessed. I have yet to set any resolutions for 2009 but I will do it before end of today. I feel the peace and the joy while welcoming the coming of 2009. And again, I believe God has much more in store for both me and EG.

Oh, one resolution that I can think of now is - blog more! I have been very lazy. :)

So my dear friends - hope all of you have a great 2008, and let's welcome 2009 together!! =)

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas

Our 2008 Chritmas Pressies

For the past few years, I never really celebrated Christmas in Penang or in my church as we'll always be going somewhere for the holiday. For this year, since my best friend's wedding is going to be on the day after Christmas, EG and I stayed back. Then only I found out how much I have missed out for the past few years, I felt so much of the Christmas mooood.

I had a fantastic Christmas Harvest party with my Jireh Unlimited CG members on Saturday, and enjoyed the Christmas Service in Vistana on Sunday. Besides, I also received some gifts from some church friends (since previous years I never had any gifts for Christmas since I was rather new in PG). Then I realised, receiving gifts is such a happy thing. The feeling of opening the presents is so exciting, with lots of anticipation of what's underneath the wrapper, like a little girl I used to be. *wink*... Next year, I told EG, we should do Christmas shopping and bless our friends too!!

Christmas is not just about partying & gift exchange, it's to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Christmas mood is now everywhere, stirring up all the happy mood of all. I always love Christmas, and the day after Christmas too!! *hint* :P

So hereby, I wish everyone have a Merry, Merry Christmas and a Happy, Happy New Year!!

安息。。。

一年里，有许多的天灾人祸。很多时候，我都把所有当作新闻，当然，有时又会对灾民感到同情。可是，当天灾，当人祸牵涉到我们所认识的人，那种心情非笔墨能形容。

2008年12月6日，我与一些朋友结伴到马六甲。当我们到达目的地时，看到电视新闻报道国际山庄土堋的新闻， 共有4人丧命。 那时，我还不以为意。当我们在马六甲Jonker Street时，我收到我妹发送给我的一则短讯，告诉我我们在两年前，在中国新年旅游团认识的一位朋友，是其中的一位受害者。

前几个月，我还刚与我的朋友的丈夫在Facebook里互问彼此的境况。他们还在网上上载朋友怀孕的像片。朋友也刚在两个月前刚刚产下一位男婴。我还刚刚在Facebook里看到朋友与夫家四代同堂的全家照。记忆在不断的回到两年前我与她在中国杭州湖中的谈话，想起她与她丈夫恩爱的画面。这一切一切一直在我的脑海中不断的游转。

我的心情，无比的伤感。新闻报道朋友夫家全家安全，朋友是唯一的受害者。

生命- 是如此的脆弱。我深深的感触- 今天不知明天事的这一句话。很多时候，我们以为一切在自己的掌握中，可是，我们却忘了，人其实很渺小，生命除了脆弱，更是短暂。我的心情，是无比的沉重。一夜之间，一个两个月大的婴孩失去了他的母亲，一位丈夫失去他最爱的太太。

无言。。。

生命无常。珍惜身边人。

Hearty Dinner

I have been taking the easy way for dinner for the past few days - steamed fish, mee suah, soup and etc. So I have decided to cook a better dinner for EG on Sunday (esp. since he has been very patient bringing me shopping for almost 6 hours+ on Saturday).

I tried surfing for a few recipes on soy sauce pork belly. Everyone use slightly different ways to cook soy sauce pork. So I have decided to combine all the recipes to be my own recipe. :P. I mistakenly took down pork rib instead of pork belly from my freezer in the morning. Anyway, I assumed that the recipe for pork belly will work for pork ribs too - and I was right of course. :P

Pork Ribs

Ingredients & Seasoning

The ingredients are simple - garlics (I put a lot as I love garlics), chinese mushroom (soaked till soft and sliced), dried chili, dried cuttle fish (cut into small pieces), 2 pieces of star anise & 3 inches of cinnamon. I got the star anise & cinnamon (or kayu manis) from Giant after church today specially for this dish. For the seasoning, I mixed 2 tsp of Oyster sauce, 1 tsp of Hoisin sauce and 2 tbp of dark soy sauce.

1) Pour in the seasoning 2) Pour in water + all the other ingredients 3) Simmer for 1.5 hours 4) My yummy tao yu bak

So what's the sugar for? I followed some of the recipes online, I heat up the pan and add sugar. Once the sugar caramelised, I put in the meat and coat it with the sugar to lock the juice in (according to the online recipe :P). EG smelled the nice aroma and came in the kitchen to check it out and be the photographer. Next, I put in the seasoning, pour in water, put in all the ingredients and let it simmer for 1.5 hours to make sure the pork became real soft. I also added boiling water occasionally to make sure the gravy didn't dry up. EG commented the gravy was not thick so I add in some corn flour to thicken the gravy. And that's it!

Ingredients for stir-fry lotus root & the dish

For the vegetable dish, I have some left over lotus root from the soup yesterday. So I cleaned and cut up everything and stir fried them in the following sequence - minced garlic > carrots > mushroom > prawns > snow peas > lotus root > capscicum. And ta-daa... it's done in <5 minutes.

Now you see, now you don't

The dinner was served hot with rice. The tao yu bak tasted fantastic and the vegetable dish was still very crunchy. And as usual, EG loves the dinner - especially the tao yu bak. He loves the gravy as he said the saltiness + spiciness tasted really good. He was literally "drinking" the gravy. Funny thing is - the dried cuttlefish didn't make much difference. Maybe I should have put more.

Nom nom nom....

Next time, I'll try with the pork belly and hopefully it'll be as good as this. =)

How do you know your cooking is nice :P

How do you know your cooking is nice and your hubby loves your cooking? :P

Sky Restaurant @ Penang

EG drove to town during lunch time few days ago to send his guitar for some i-dunno-what-and-i-dun-really-care "operation". :P. So, he asked his colleague for a nice place to eat in town - since both of us don't really know the hidden restaurants in Penang. The colleague suggested Sky Restaurant along Chulia Street for the best Char Siew rice in Penang.

It is not hard to spot the coffee shop, it's right underneath the Sky Motel. (Picture downloaded from some other people's website on the net :P). We were there early, slightly before 12 noon and the restaurant is already almost full.

Sky Restaurant

A glimpse in the restaurant


Typical coffee shop

The guy told EG we need to wait for 20 minutes for the food to be served. For drinks, EG ordered a white coffee. Wow, it tastes real good - very kao as how we'd normally say. I feel like I am eating chocolate while drinking it.

The very kao white coffee

After waiting for almost >20 minutes, finally the food is served. They have chicken and duck but EG order char siew siu bak. We also got a soup - there's generous amount of pork rib, and a plate of vegetables (choy sum) with char siew sauce.

The food looks little and we wanted to order more chicken, however, the waiting time is quite long due to the crowd so we cancelled our plan. To my surprise, I was overfed and it last even till my dinner time. The siu bak is nice, but nothing much to boast about. However, the char siew is really really nice - crispy and sweet (I think it's honey glazed). It's sinful, but yummy!

The soup

Vegetables with Char Siew sauce

The sinful but yummy char siew siu bak

We were very satisfied with our lunch and planned to bring our KL friends here the next time when they visit Penang. And oh ya, the price is very reasonable too - total of RM12.50 for everything (exclude drinks). I think it's worth it.

So, there goes my diet plan - but YUM! :P