Thursday, November 30, 2006

Happy 29th Birthday

Today my brother Felix celebrates his 29th birthday. He is currently studying MBA in New York, U.S. He is also a part-time chef at a Teppanyaki Japanese Restaurant. He is skillful in handling the cutlery. I have seen a video of him cooking and performing the stunts at the same time - throwing and catching the knife at various angle. Cool! He can do break dancing as well.


Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to Felix!
Happy Birthday to you!


May God bless him -
his studies, his work and his walk with the Lord.
May he experiences God more and more each day.

Quote of the Month (November)


"I have never been to a McDonald's party in 34 years."


Shydoc
(34 years old)

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

My Top 10 Games

(10) Rummikub
Rummikub is a tile-based game for two, three or four players. It won the 1980 Spiel Des Jahres award (German Game of the Year). The name Rummikub is pronounced Rummy-Cub or Rummy-Cube - such pronunciations are location specific.
For a players first move, they must play a set with a value of at least 30 points. Point values are taken from the face value of each tile played, with the joker assuming the value of the substituted tile (if played). A player’s first move is known as the initial meld or passport. The initial meld cannot build on previously played tiles. A joker on the table cannot be retrieved before the initial meld. If a player cannot make an initial meld, they must pick up a single tile from the pool and add it to their rack and play proceeds to the next player. Once a player has made their initial meld, for each turn a player must either play one or more tiles from their rack, making groups and/or runs. If the player cannot make a group or run they must pick three random tiles from the pool and add it to their rack
Extracted from wikipedia

I haven’t played this game for quite some time now. I enjoy the challenge to manipulate the tiles – shift, split, remove and substitute. It does exercise the brain. Must get the team together again to play this.


(9) Cashflow 101 and Ratrace
Cashflow 101 is an educational tool in board game format designed by Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad), which aims to teach the players concepts of investing by having their money work for them in a risk free setting (play money) while simultaneously increasing their financial literacy and stressing the imperative nature of accountability.
There are two stages to the game. In the first, "the rat race", the player aims to raise his or her character's passive income level to where it exceeds the character's expenses. The winner is determined in the second stage, "the fast track". To win, a player must get his or her character to buy their "dream" or accumulate $50,000 in monthly cash flow.
In place of “score cards”, there are financial statements. The game requires the players to fill out their own financial statements so that they can see more clearly what is happening with their money. It generally shows how assets generate income and demonstrates that liabilities and 'doodads' are expenses.
Extracted from wikipedia

The 'Ratrace' Vintage board game (1973), by Waddington's / Gibsons is a game of frantic social climbing! Will you expand your business, join the yacht club, throw a lavish party, make a fortune at the races - or be wiped out paying taxes! Each player in 'Ratrace' is plagued by the same problems that we all face in everyday life. Equipped with £200 and a business, he or she must try and improve their status, and be the first person to accumulate a pre-determined amount of money and 'retire'.

These 2 games have similar game plan – get rich and retire. So, I’ve placed both in the Number 9 spot. I’ve just started playing these two games this year. Initially, it was really fun to play, but after awhile, the game plan got predictable, and I got bored. The idea is not to play too often, and it will be really exciting.


(8) Sequence
Sequence is a board-and-card game distributed by Jax Ltd., Inc.. It involves an average-sized playing board, on which are depicted two packs' worth of cards (minus the Jacks), two full standard decks, red, blue and green playing chips which total 135.
Players are dealt a certain number of cards (3-7 depending on the number of players), and then take turns to play these cards, placing a chip of their colour on the corresponding card image on the board. The object of the game is to form a row of 5 chips (be it horizontally, vertically or diagonally) before the other players. If there are only two players, 2 sequences must be formed to win the game.
The four corners of the grid do not depict cards; instead, they are wilds, i.e. any sequence of 4 chips including a wild sqaure wins. The Jacks fulfil a special role. If a player plays a two-eyed Jack, he or she may place a chip anywhere on the board (except of course on the wilds). If a one-eyed Jack is played, the player may remove an opposing player's token from anywhere.
Extracted from wikipedia

Got addicted to Sequence for awhile when Yoke Kheng first bought the game. It gets pretty exciting especially towards the end when everyone tries to block each other. It’s important to get a good partner who can read your mind. Hehehe!


(7) Taboo
Taboo is a word guessing party game commercially available from Hasbro. The object of the game is for a player to have their partner guess the word on their card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card.
Extracted from wikipedia

First played this game in Selvi’s house. After so many games, I could now remember some of the words. We often play the game in the KBU Christian Fellowship.


(6) Boggle
Boggle is a word game designed by Allan Turoff and trademarked by Parker Brothers / Hasbro, Inc.
Play begins by randomizing a tray of 16 cubical dice, normally by shaking. Each has a different letter printed on each of its sides. The dice settle into a four by four tray such that only the top letter of each cube is visible. After they have settled into the grid, a three-minute timer is started and all players simultaneously begin the main phase of play.
Each player searches for words that can be constructed from the letters of sequentially adjacent cubes. Here, the meaning of "adjacent" includes the horizontally, vertically, and diagonally neighboring cubes. Words must be at least three letters long, may include singular and plural (or other derived forms) separately, but may not use the same letter cube more than once per word. The players record all words found by writing on their private sheets of paper. After three minutes have elapsed, all players must stop writing and the game enters the scoring phase.
Extracted from wikipedia

I love Word games. It’s even more fun when you play with people like Sahaya and Pei Lu. They can come out with extremely, mind-boggling ‘words’!


(5) Mahjong
Mahjong is a game for four players that originated in China. It is a game of skill, strategy, intelligence, calculation and luck. Depending on the variation which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. The object of the game is to build complete suits (usually of threes) from either 13 or 16 tiles. The first person to achieve this goal is said to have won the game. The winning tile completes the set of either 14 or 17 tiles.
Extracted from wikipedia

I learned to play this game while studying in Australia. I have even taught some of my students this game when they visited me during the Chinese New Year – no gambling involved. I have 2 mahjong sets – one from Hong Kong and a miniature set from Malacca. I miss this game as well.

(4) Big Two
The card game Big Two is also known as Choh Dai Di, Dai Di (both Cantonese). The game is very popular in East Asia, where it originated, especially Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. It is played both casually and as a gambling game. It is usually played with two to four players, the entire deck being dealt out in either case (or sometimes with only 13 cards per player). The object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all of your cards.
See here for the complete rules and variations of the game.

Before Jordan was born, Seng Chor and I played this game occasionally before bedtime. Hee! Hee! I learned this game also while studying in Australia. I’m pretty good at this – lucky most of the time too. :p


(3) Seven Card Game
This game is played with maximum of 4 people. All 52 cards are distributed. The person with the Spade 7 starts the game, and play goes clockwise/anti-clockwise. The next person has to try to make a sequence from the Spade 7 or start a new sequence with another 7. If no card can be played, the player must close a card, usually the card with the lowest point, like Ace (1 point). That card is considered dead and it may block the rest of the players from placing their card. The objective of the game is to be the first to get rid of all of your cards, especially big cards like 10, Jacks (11 points), Queens (12 points) and Kings (13 points). The player with the lowest points wins.

One of my ex-colleagues named this game the Evil Seven because people can turn really ‘wicked’ in the game. Some people (one of them is Teoh Seng Chor) purposely close an 8 so that no other card above 8 can be placed. This increases the score of players holding those cards. Of course, some of us do show mercy and try to make everyone happy in the game.


(2) Scrabble
Scrabble is a popular word game and board game in which 2-4 players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a 15×15 game board. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion, and must appear in a standard dictionary.
Extracted from wikipedia

Before I discovered Up the River, Down the River, Scrabble was in the Number One Spot. I have 5 sets of Scrabble – first one was bought by my Mama during my primary school days, I redeemed a travel set from Citibank, bought the Millennium set from Toy R Us, bought the Deluxe set from Jusco, and a miniature set – a birthday gift from my brother Alex. I have the game on my PDA, which I used to play almost everyday.


(1) Up the River, Down the River
The game can be played with almost any number of players (3+) although 4-7 is considered optimal. The game is played using a standard 52-card deck, with ace being the highest rank, two the lowest. With eight or more players, the game can be played with two decks combined.
The first hand is played with one card dealt to each player. On each succeeding deal one more card is dealt out to each player, until there aren't enough cards for another round. This is up the river. After this, the number of cards per player decreases by one every round. The game is complete when the last round (with one card per player) has been played – down the river. For example, a seven-player match consists of 14 deals, from hand size 1 up to 7 and back down to 1.
The dealer deals out the cards one by one, starting with the player to the left, in a clockwise direction, until the required number of cards has been dealt. After the dealing is complete, the next card is turned face up, and the suit of this card determines the trump suit for the deal. If the trump suit is the same as the previous round, then the current round is played without a trump suit. Then, the card of the lead player becomes the trump suit.
Each player is now obliged to bid for the number of tricks he believes he can win. Knocking: After each player has chosen his bid he places his fist on the table. When everyone has chosen they knock on the table together three times, and on the fourth they show their bid by the number of fingers.

Exact scoring with penalty: A player who makes the exact number of tricks bid scores 10 plus the amount bid. Players who underbid or overbid are deducted points in the amount of the bid.

Extracted from wikipedia

Whenever the BBC team could get together, we play this game. We even have names for some of the people – sabo King, sabo Queen, sabo Prince. Sabo here refers to sabotage. I played this game the most last year – especially during the pregnancy. There was always so much laughter during the game. Perhaps this is how Jordan got his trademark laughter after so many rounds of Up the River, Down the River. Furthermore, his khai-ma was also in the game with her contagious laughter. Hahaha!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Funny actions by Jordan

At birth, Jordan had this funny tendency to shake his head continuously for a few seconds. It was as if he has taken the ecstasy pills. Initially, thought that he was searching for the nipple, but he shakes also when not drinking milk. Occasionally, he still does it until today. Really, really funny. I remembered my father-in-law telling him, “Don’t shake your head – not handsome already.” Hahaha!

Lately, he likes to hit himself on the head – particularly the right side, with his right hand. Sometimes, he holds a toy and uses it to knock his head. It’s like, ‘ouch’ to us but nothing to him. I have been stopping him from doing it. He did it quite frequently last weekend.

When he’s on our bed, he likes to go to the front of the bed, presses his head against the wood and starts to shake his head. Funny!

Sometimes he crawls in circle, especially on our bed.

He amuses himself by rolling on our bed, and laughing at the same time.

Whenever he faces us, he would poke his fingers into our mouth and play with our teeth. He even tried to dig my nose. Yucks!

I like to watch him as he claps his hand. He smiles at the same time.

He even sits and turns at the same time using his legs.

Because of his dimple on the right cheek, he looks sweet when he smiles or laughs. I just love his laughter.

He is able to flip/roll his tongue! Both Seng Chor and I can’t do it. He may be doing it subconsciously. So, don’t know whether still can do it when he grows older.

The funniest thing is still his limping crawl. Last weekend, he even crawled like a crab – moving sideways.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Welcome back, Philippines Mission Team

It’s really good to have the Philippines Mission Team back home – Yoke Kheng, Wan Yi, Jia Ling and Hui En. They touched down before 4 pm yesterday. They left last Saturday – 18 November 2006. Hopefully, Jia Ling and Hui En will share in their blog on the trip.

I was extremely happy to see Yoke Kheng yesterday. Even though she was really tired and not feeling well, she still came over, and distributed gifts to the BBC team – including me, of course. Each of us got a packet of dried mangoes (yummy!), peanuts and a case with 31 Prayer Cards for your Everyday Life. She said that she has more gifts for us. Wow! So nice of her. Thank you so much, Yoke Kheng. May God heal you completely, and strengthen you even more.

Alone with Jordan

Seng Chor left for his scuba diving trip to Pulau Jarak on Friday evening. Just found out that Pulau Jarak is off Pulau Pangkor. He will be sharing about his adventure in his blog soon.

Jordan was manageable. He did his usual stuffs – eat, sleep, crawled and watch TV. Had fun time with him on Saturday. He laughed aloud as I pretended to catch him while he was crawling on our bed. The first one was a real catch as he turned and almost fell off the bed. He laughed loudly as I caught him. Then, the pretend-play started. He seldom passed motion on weekend, especially Saturday, but on last Saturday and Sunday, he did. Another unusual thing happened was that he finished the Gerber food-in-the-jar Sweet Potato for the very first time. I fed him during dinner time. I bought the food when he was 4 month old. He didn’t appreciate it at all. Seng Chor and I had to eat them because it can only be kept for 2-3 days after opening. Yesterday, he ate the banana flavour one. I also fed him with the new rice rusks from Empro. He likes is too. He slept at about 10:30 pm and woke up only at about 6:45 am the next day.

On Sunday morning, I carried him and walked to Roy and Selvi’s house for the Growth Group meeting. He played with Reuel and had a short nap during worship. Initially, he slept on Aunty Sue’s arms, and then we placed him on the comforter to sleep. He only slept for awhile, and started playing again. One terrible incident happened. During the Word time, I grabbed the song book that he was holding and he fell onto the floor and cried loudly. I felt so bad that I cried too. I shouldn’t have grabbed from him so hard. Poor baby! He got a shock and knocked his head as well. He cried for a few minutes and was back to normal after that. Another lesson learnt for me – don’t snatch from him, take from him gently.

After the meeting, he followed Rachelle in Uncle Wing Cheong’s car to visit Uncle Lim. He slept in Rachelle’s arms until we left Uncle Lim’s house. As we reached home, he woke up immediately. So, fed him with cereal, bathed him one hour later. After 2 hours, he had his milk again. He was actually tired, but didn’t sleep until after 6 pm. Before that, he watched the Donut man and the Donut Repair Club VCD – The Resurrection Celebration. He was crawling around as well. Before he slept, I fed him with the banana – Gerber food-in-the-jar. Only managed to finish half and he fell asleep. He slept for more than 2 hours – woke up after 8:30 pm with a new hairstyle, and then, ate his cereal. My beloved BBC team – Yoke Kheng, Kenny, Sahaya and Yung Ling was here that time. We were supposed to go out for dinner but because Jordan fell asleep we ordered Dominoes pizzas – Ultimate Hawaiian and Seafood Plater, instead. Then, they played 4 rounds of Boggle. Not sure who won, but definitely not Sahaya. Hehehe! Jordan was restless, so I couldn’t join in the fun.

They left before 10 pm. Seng Chor arrived home before 11 pm. Jordan was happy to see him. He was so excited that he didn’t sleep until midnight. I was playing with him before that. This morning, I had to wake him up for his milk.

To cut the story short (?), I survived again – I bathed Jordan, fed him and changed him all myself! BUT this doesn’t mean that Seng Chor can go diving every weekend. :p

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Blood Donation

It’s my first experience with blood donation. But…eh…I wasn’t the donor. Yesterday, my friend Yoke Lai and I took 3 of her students to Pantai Hospital for the blood donation. The donation is to replace the blood for our friend who had a blood transfusion in the hospital. Our friend is suffering from cancer in the abdomen area.

We arrived there at 12:20 pm, nearly got lost, as we didn’t know the way. I managed to call my ‘road map’ – Seng Chor. It was actually their lunchtime but they still made arrangements for us to donate. It was the first time for one of the students but the other 2 are veterans. One of them is actually a foreigner, whereas the other 2 are locals.

Here goes the procedure:
i) Fill in a form. Enter your personal details and answer some health related questions – just circle yes or no (about 15-20 questions). Some questions are:
Currently on medication?
Taken alcohol for the last xx hours?
Involved in any accident?
Had blood transfusion?
Had fits, malaria, tuberculosis?
Visited Europe for the past 3 months?
If female, pregnant?

ii) Check your weight.

iii) Check your blood type and level of hemoglobin.
(One of them has the blood type O- which is quite rare. Initially, one of them had a low hemoglobin count. So, the lab worker has to poke his finger again to check for the second time – ouch! This is one thing he dislikes most – poking his finger, and he had to do it twice. His expression was really funny. The second count was ok. We jokingly said that the lab girl wanted to hold his hands again. He is quite a charmer, and the girl is pretty too.)

iv) Then, some more questions:
Ate your breakfast? – recommended to eat first
Slept more than 5 hours?
Had alcohol?

v) Each donor will be given a card. So, the card is completed every time he/she donates.

vi) If all clear, each given 3 bags but they fill only one. The other 2 bags are for the blood component which will be extracted in the lab. One of components is platelet.

vii) Finally, the ‘blood-sucking’ process starts. The normal amount taken for guys is 250 ml – quite a lot. I have learnt that the blood could only be kept for about 3 months. But none is wasted as the need is always there.

After the procedure, the donors will be given light refreshment – usually Milo and some biscuits.

All went well. We left the hospital about 1:30 pm and took our lunch in KFC, Atria – as requested by one of the students. I was actually craving for KFC too. So, glad that one of the students suggested it. Hehehe! Yoke Lai and I gave them a treat for the donation. All of us ordered snack plate. I was the only one who had the Original Recipe – my favourite. Yummy, yummy!

Thank God for their willingness to donate the blood – Ivon, Woon Ping and Abdul Wahab.

If anyone of you wishes to donate blood at Pantai Hospital, you can go to Block A, 3rd Floor.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Tai Pak's 70th Birthday

A toast for Tai Pak.
From Left - Ling Ling, Christine Wong and Hubby, Dad-in-law and Tai Pak.
Ling and Christine are Seng Chor's cousins.


From Left (Standing) - Tony, Ah Bee, 3rd Aunt and Ling Ling.
(Sitting) - Wife of youngest Uncle, Oldest Aunt.
Tony and Christine Wong are brother and sister.
Ah Bee is Ling Ling's younger brother.

Tai Pak and Tua Em - happy couple.


Tai Pak kissed Tua Em. Aiya, I missed the shot.

Time to eat the cake...yummy, yummy.

36th Wedding Anniversary

Today, my Papa and Mama celebrate their 36th Wedding Anniversary. May God bless their marriage with joy, peace and most of all love. Blessed Wedding Anniversary, Papa and Mama!

Coincidentally, today is Seng Chor’s Tai Pak’s 70th birthday which we celebrated last Saturday, and also my brother Felix’s girlfriend’s birthday.

His Tai Pak’s birthday party last Saturday was like a family reunion. I felt as if “Penang is in KL” because almost everyone was talking in Hokkien. Most of the relatives were here. Some of the cousins and relatives from Johor have not seen Jordan before. They adored him. I enjoyed the dinner. The menu – Four Season dish, Sharks’ Fin soup, roast piglet (my favourite), steamed fish, prawns (big ones), vegetables, noodles. For dessert, we had longan, bun and of course the birthday cake – Mango flavour from Secret Recipe (yummy!).

Not sure when we will be able to see them all together again. It’s really wonderful to see the whole family coming together for this celebration. My father-in-law is the second son. He has 1 older brother (Tai Pak) and 2 older sisters. Then, there’s 2 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters – 8 brothers and sisters altogether. Only 2 sisters couldn’t make it that night. Some of their children came. It’s a big family indeed. My mother-in-law’s side is even bigger – 12 altogether! Imagine – most of their children are married with children. Huge family! We could visit only some of them whenever we go back to Penang.

Probably, the next reunion will be during Chinese New Year or the Qingming (Ching Ming) Festival, known as All Souls Day in English.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Friends and Events

At different stages of our life, we may mix with or have different group of friends and attend various events. Today, I just feel like sharing about my friends and list down the events I went through…

Kindergarten
I think not many people remember about their friends from their Kindergarten days but I do – at least one. She is the first person to greet me when I arrived at the Kindergarten. I still remember her name – Kai Ling. Her English name is Vicky. We went to the same primary school but not the same secondary school. Our paths still crossed after that when we joined the same Girls’ Brigade – a uniformed society. I will always remember her for her friendliness and great sense of responsibility. She was like a big sister to me. Hope that our paths will cross again one day.

Events: Birthday parties

Primary School
I attended the St. Agnes Primary School. I remember sitting next to a boy who always drool. Hmm…not sure why. It’s not a disease. He’s a nice boy who invited me to his birthday party. He left the school after few years – no contact anymore. Besides him, I remember mixing with a group of girls who are pretty outgoing. I’m always the quiet one. I remember playing games with them, and going to their homes for birthday parties. Most of us attended the Secondary School which is just next to this Primary School.
I had a good friend. She is actually a Malay – Azura Abbas. After primary school, she went to a boarding school. We corresponded through snail mail – no email then, of course. I remember going to her house during the Hari Raya for lunch with the family. She has a few adorable cats in her house. I even have pictures of us playing in the playground outside my house. Sadly, lost contact already.

Events: Birthday parties

Secondary School
The name of my Secondary School is All Saints’. My mum taught in the school. She resigned before I joined the school. The reason is not to avoid me (:p) but to spend more time with us – her children. Since the school is next to my Primary School, after school I used to walk to meet my Mama, with a group of friends – mostly boys. Their mums also taught in the Secondary School.

My best time during the Secondary School is after Form Three. My class is known as Sains Tanjung. We are the elite batch at that time. Hee! Hee! During the school holidays, we organized trips to the island and beach. All of us were pretty close in the class. I really enjoyed the 2 years of upper secondary school. I was considered quite active and did a lot of fun things. I was both a School Prefect and Librarian. After one year, I had to give up the Librarian post because of the heavy responsibilities. Few stayed back to continue their Form Six. Most of us left after Form Five. We used to have reunion every Chinese New Year but not anymore. Some have even migrated else where. I still keep in touch with a few of them – especially Josephine, Agatha and Angela. We are pretty close.

My best friend is Josephine – also known as Phine-phine. She is still in Kota Kinabalu, married but no children yet. Whenever I go back to Sabah, I would meet up with her. We send sms and call each other once in awhile. I also keep in touch with Agatha the same way. Occasionally, she comes over here for training. Then, I would try to meet up with her.

Recently, I bumped onto Angela at my College. She was here to attend an event. We hardly keep in touch with each other even though both of us are working here. Typical!

Events: More birthday parties - Sweet Sixteen birthday parties.

College
I studied the Australian Matriculation at Taylor’s College. During this period of time, I have quite a lot of good friends whom I still keep in touch until today. One of them is Siew Yuen. She’s actually from Penang but has now settled down in Petaling Jaya. Few years ago, I bumped onto her in Centrepoint having lunch. Then, later on I met her again at a church event where my students attended. Wow! What a small world! Last year, she gave birth to triplets! One girl and two boys! Amazing, eh? I haven’t seen her since the birth of Jordan. Must call her again one of these days.

During my College days, I stayed with a police inspector, in fact, 2 police inspectors from 2 different families. Before Taylor’s College moved to Subang Jaya, they were in Jalan Pantai. The building was next to a police station, and that’s where I stayed. Yup, I stayed in the police station – 4th floor. My good friend – Valerie stayed with her Uncle and his family in the 8th floor. He is also a police inspector. Valerie and I are from the same class in All Saints’ – Sains Tanjung. We were not really close during the secondary school days but we clicked really well during College days. We did a lot of fun things together – related to the opposite gender. Hee! Hee! When her Uncle and the family, moved to Subang Jaya, I rented a room from them. We were not in the same class because we took different major. I think I miss her. We shared so much with each other – tears and laughter. We didn’t really keep in touch after we left College. Heard that she got her Doctorate as well, working in either U.S. or U.K.

Now, here comes one of the most amazing true stories.
Last week, I dreamt of an ex-collegemate who had migrated to Australia. The last time I met him and his wife was in Singapore – probably about 5 years ago. In the dream, I had difficulty contacting him because he changed his hp number. When I got up in the morning, I reminded myself to contact him. The only contact I have is his email address. Finally, I wrote him an email on Wednesday, 15 November. I had the dream on Sunday morning – 12 November. Surprisingly, he replied my email the next day and told me that he is in KL to renew his traveling documents. I was really surprise. I replied the email with my hp number included, and he called me almost immediately. It was purely coincidental. He just got his notebook fixed, managed to access the Internet, and just happened to check his email. He didn’t expect an email from me at all. Thank God that his email account is still valid. We chatted awhile. He was busy – so am I. So, we didn’t meet. We will just continue to email each other. Thank God that I didn’t ignore the dream. Otherwise, I would have missed the opportunity to hear his voice. I often get such vision/dream about people. Sometimes it’s about a specific thing/need, most of the time it is not specific. It’s not freaky. It’s a blessing to me, and I thank God for this gift.

Events: Prom Night, Clubbing? (Please don’t get me wrong – I seldom go clubbing – probably just once or twice during my College days). Hmm…somehow, less birthday parties.

University
My closest friends are those from the Overseas Christian Fellowship (OCF) whom I still contact through email and msn/yahoo messenger. This group is interesting because we are from different countries and nationalities – Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Australia, etc. It’s good to hear how God is working is their lives. This year, we managed to set up a directory and put as many people as we can in the email list. May we continue to encourage each other just like we did in the good ‘old’ days…

Events: 21st Birthday parties, Graduation

Working Life
My circle of friends has increased tremendously, particularly because I’m in the education line. I have my church members, colleagues and even my students as friends too. I still keep in touch with quite a number of ex-students – local and overseas. Occasionally, I even attended their class reunion. I still contact some of my ex-colleagues as well.

Events: Wedding, Children’s Birthday parties, Bridal Shower, Reunion, Funeral. (This list has increased as well).


As life goes on, friends also come and go – new and old. May we appreciate all our friends and accept them for who they are. God bless all my friends!

I thank God for the Internet – email and online chat.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Dislikes

Since I have written a blog about my favourite things, I might as well list down the things that I dislike and things that irritate me most...

  • Hot, dirty and smelly places (who doesn't)
  • Playing sports or doing anything else under the hot sun
  • Mopping/sweeping the floor (Thank God that Seng Chor doesn't mind doing it)
  • Untidiness
  • People pressing the door bell continuously (very irritating)
  • People pressing the car horn continuously (extremely irritating)
  • Lizards, cockroaches, ants
  • Horror movies like Final Destination, Urban Legend
  • Movies by Chow Sing Chi (Lame)
  • Most movies by Jim Carrey
  • Hot and spicy food
  • Any food/fruits that taste sour
  • Woolen clothing

Hmm...that's all, I think.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Trust Where You Cannot Trace

This was shared to me by one of my colleagues...

Trust God where you cannot trace him.
Do not try to penetrate the cloud He brings over you;
rather look to the rainbow that is on it.
The mystery is God's;
the promise is yours.

by John Macduff

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Eleven months

Jordan Teoh Shang Xian is already 11 months old!

According to youngnutrition.net, this is how I can help him:
  • Give him activity boards with knobs, buttons and handles that he can manipulate.
  • Encourage him to move about in the bath using swimming motions.
  • Let him play with water outside of bath time, such as filling up a shallow bucket or introducing a paddling pool, and make sure he is supervised.
  • Get him to walk towards me either using furniture for assistance, or taking short steps on his own.
  • Let him play with simple puzzles and help him complete them if needed.
  • Read stories about babies and use these to show him how he is loved and protected.
  • Congratulate him when I understand his speech.
  • Encourage him to feed and dress himself.
  • Give him objects he can group together, such as shoes, colored blocks, and items that come in pairs of shapes.
  • Encourage him to play with other babies in the same area and to share his toys.

His increased coordination and confidence means he can do several things at once while on the go. He is able to start feeding himself, but it's pretty messy.

I notice that he expresses negative emotions more frequently and he will throw tantrums if he doesn’t get his own way.

Puzzles and activities requiring greater precision of movement will be of great interest to him and this means there are plenty of ways he can be stimulated, even while playing on his own.

May God continue to protect him as he cruises around the house. God bless my baby with love, joy, peace and wisdom.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Bye, bye Sore Throat

Stomach-ache - gone. Sore throat - gone. Runny nose - perpetually. Hooray! I could enjoy more food now. When I had the sore throat, there were a lot of stuffs that I wanted to eat but couldn't eat - satay, KFC, etc. Well...I still haven't got the chance to eat those food yet. One week ago, I had prawn crackers in Bukit Beruntung. Yummy! Four of us - the hungry Sunday School teachers ate whatever that was edible on Yoke Kheng's dining table. One of the Sunday School children even scolded us for being greedy and for not asking permission to eat. She is the one we call 'chicken little'. Well...obviously, we all ignored her and just munched away. Our beloved new Deacon and host even bought each of the Sunday School teacher a packet of prawn crackers! Fabulous! Glad that my sore throat didn't attack again.

I didn't go to Sunday School yesterday. Had to babysit Jordan while Seng Chor went to Youth Voltage. Heard from Yoke Kheng that the children miss me. Oh...so sweet....They said that they missed Jordan too. They only saw his photos on my notebook, and yet they said that they missed him. Hee! Hee! I think they enjoyed the handicraft I made together with them. I am so happy that they remembered the lessons I taught them - The Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark. I asked them questions and some of them could answer! God is really amazing. They also asked a lot of questions - especially 'chicken little'. These children are just awesome. I look forward to teach Jordan these Bible stories as well. I would love to hear him answering and asking questions too.

It was a good weekend. Jordan was manageable. He naps at least twice during the day. Last night, he slept around 9 pm until 10:15 pm. Then, had his cereal and slept again until about 12:15 am. He drank his milk after that, and went back to sleep again. He seems to be sleeping more these days - good for Daddy and Mummy.

Work is pretty much the same. Artificial Intelligence lectures on Tuesday. Other days - preparing lectures, meetings with students, staff meetings, report writing, etc. Still easy going, and more importantly, still got ample time for blogging. :p

Friday, November 10, 2006

Silent Night...in pain

On Wednesday, Seng Chor and I attended the Oracle Application Day at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. As usual, I look forward to the freebies, lucky draw and food - morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. This time, I collected pens, notepad cum calendar, pencils, sweets, mugs, chocolates and even won myself a shirt. Cool, eh? Food was ok - didn't really meet my expectations. During the buffet lunch, I enjoyed the dessert most. Cod fish was awesome but soup was horrible. Hmm...what about the event itself? The most interesting talk was probably the last one on GST. Overall, I've learnt something, and gained much (not weight, I hope).

Coincidentally, Aaron got free movie tickets for "The Departed" from TGV KLCC that night. So, we had dinner at the KLCC food court, and waited for the rest of the gang to come - 13 of us. The movie was disappointing. Basically, it's a story about two undercovers - one for the police and one for the mob. It has a strong profile of actors - Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin...

Plot Outline: Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/plotsummary)

The storyline is actually similar to the Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs. I didn't really enjoy that too. Well..this movie is memorable because it's the first movie that Seng Chor and I watched in a cinema after the birth of Jordan. Not surprisingly, everyone asked, "Where's Jordan?" Hee! Hee! He's with the babysitter loh. He had a sleepover! So, that explains the title - Silent Night. Why "In pain"?....I had stomach-ache almost the whole night. Not sure what had caused it - I do not wish to speculate. I didn't really sleep well. Had diarrhoea twice in the morning. Then, went to see a doctor and took medical leave. I slept the whole day and yet still felt really weak at night. Today, I resumed work - still feeling weak and uncomfortable - nausea, giddy, mild tummy ache. Looking forward to more rest during the weekend - but I doubt it. Not much rest with an active baby around. :)

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

List of Favourites

  • Animal : Bear
  • Assessories : Earrings
  • Author : Stephen King
  • Bible Verse : Psalm 37:4
  • Biscuit : Ginger Biscuit
  • Book : Harry Potter series
  • Cake : Black Forest
  • Car : Yellow Mini Austin
  • Cartoon character : Pocoyo, Bob the Builder
  • Clothing : T-Shirt and Jeans
  • Coffee : Ice blended Coffee from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
  • Collection : Stamps, Currency - coins and notes
  • Colour : Sky Blue
  • Drink : H2O
  • Fast Food : Kentucky Fried Chicken
  • Flower : Roses
  • Fish : Clown Fish
  • Food : Japanese - Chicken Teriyaki
  • Fruit : All types, especially, Durian, Persimmon, Mangosteen, Custard Apple, Rambutan, Longan,...
  • House : Multi-storey Bungalow
  • Ice cream : Strawberry, Mango
  • Insect : Butterfly
  • Lipstick : Maybelline
  • All-time Favourite Movie : Sound of Music
  • Movie (Adventure) : Indiana Jones series
  • Movie (Cartoon) : Finding Nemo
  • Movie (Comedy/Romance) : Groundhog Day
  • Movie (Drama/Romance) : A Walk to Remember
  • Movie (Fantasy) : The Lord of Rings Trilogy
  • Movie (Sci-Fiction) : Star Wars
  • Musical Instrument : Piano
  • Newspaper : Star - The People's Paper
  • Perfume : Calvin Klein
  • Plant : Aloe Vera
  • Precious Stone : Diamond, Ruby
  • Shoes : Hush Puppies
  • Soft Drink : Root Beer
  • Sports : Badminton
  • Song : Jesus Loves Me this I Know
  • Stationery : Pen
  • Superhero : Wonder Woman
  • Sweet : Mint
  • Tea : Japanese Green Tea, Jasmine

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Visual & Performing Arts

I was inspired by the Inspired Educator to do the same quiz. My results are below.

Surprise! Surprise! I think most of you do not know that I had tried to apply for a degree course in Jewelry making. Seriously! No joke! But I didn't get it. I even took Art as an additional subject in Form 5, and I got a Credit. Yeah, I do have a passion for art, and I thank God that I can use my creativity to serve Him in the Sunday School and other areas. Hmm...Education/Counseling ranks 4th but still the best major.

Results...

You scored as Visual&PerformingArts. You should strongly consider majoring (or minoring) in the Visual or Performing Arts (e.g. Art, Art Education, Art History, Ceramics, Culinary Arts, Dance, Drawing, Fashion Design, Film, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Marketing (advertising), Music, Music Education, Music Theory, Painting, Photography, Theatre).

It is possible that the best major for you is your 2nd, 3rd, or even 5th listed category, so be sure to consider ALL majors in your OTHER high scoring categories (below). You may score high in a category you didnt think you would--it is possible that a great major for you is something you once dismissed as not for you. The right major for you will be something 1) you love and enjoy and 2) are really great at it.

Consider adding a minor or double majoring to make yourself standout and to combine your interests.


Visual&PerformingArts

63%

English/Journalism/Comm

63%

Religion/Theology

56%

Education/Counseling

56%

HR/BusinessManagement

56%

Biology/Chemistry/Geology

56%

Accounting/Finance/Marketing

50%

History/Anthropology/LiberalArts

44%

Physics/Engineering

44%

Mathematics/Statistics

44%

French/German/Spanish

44%

Nursing/AthleticTraining

38%

Psychology/Sociology

38%

PoliticalScience/Philosophy

31%

WHAT MAJOR IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
created with QuizFarm.com

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Hugs

It's wondrous what a hug can do.
A hug can cheer you when you're blue.
A hug can say, "I love you so,"
or "Gee, I hate to see you go."

A hug is, "Welcome back again!"
and "Great to see you!" or
"Where've you been?"
A hug can soothe a small child's pain
and bring a rainbow after rain.

The hug! There's just no doubt about it,
We scarcely could survive without it.
A hug delights and warms and charms,
It must be why God gave us arms.

Hugs are great for fathers and mothers,
Sweet for sisters, swell for brothers,
and chances are some favorite aunts
love them more than potted plants.

Kittens crave them. Puppies love them.
Heads of state are not above them.
A hug can break the language barrier,
And make the dullest day seem merrier.

No need to fret about the store of 'em.
The more you give, the more
there are of them.

So stretch those arms without delay
and give someone a hug today.


1988 by Springbrook Publications, Inc.
St. Clair Shores

Quote of the Month (October)

"...We do not let crisis dictate our agenda."

Dr Tan Soo-Inn

(15 October 2006)