Embarrasing moment

Correct me if I am wrong.......

I believe there is always a streak of obstinacy in every individual. Whenever one is told not to do something, he will definitely do it and will not stop until he encounters some embarrassment or unpleasantness. I am no exception. Here is what happened.

Every week before Sunday worship begins we are reminded to have our mobile switch off or have it set to silent mode. Until now I have not heeded this request. I feel that this is not necessary since all family members know I attend church service every Sunday morning and friends too rarely call me up so early in the morning.

Similarly, before the start of BSF lessons there is also this same request. I did nothing to my mobile at my 1st lesson and nothing happened. However, not so luck the next time around!! Just before the start of the 2nd lesson, Ong Lee reminded me to set my mobile. Very proud and confident, I replied "don't worry, nobody will call me. My family members know I'm in church". Well, nothing happened during prayers and singing of hymns. Nothing happened during group discussion either. Soon it was time for lecture. Once again Ong Lee reminded me about my mobile. Again I assured her there would not be any incoming calls.

Then just 5 minutes into the lecture, my mobile started ringing. Everyone got startled because the ring volume was at No.8. To make matters worse, it was set at ascending tone!! Instantly the whole hall was in silent, the lecturer stopped speaking, only the ringing tone was heard loud and clean as I fumbled in my bag to find my mobile. I was so embarrassed that for a good 10 minutes I dared not look up and only fixed my eyes on my Bible which was placed on my lap. Padan muka, ya? hahahaa....

Say Ong Lee, did you happened to look at the lecturer's face? Was she angry?

1st BSF lesson

One Thursday morning last year, Ong Lee invited me to the Bible Study Fellowship introduction class and at the end of the session I registered for the 2012 BSF class. I was really excited about it and looked forward to attending the class and yesterday was the 1st BSF lesson of the year.

At this very moment I can't help chuckling to myself when I think it over. The fact is, I expected to see warm greetings and smiling faces everywhere but no, everybody seemed preoccupied and only talked to their friends. At the ladies, "how is your holidays?" was the greeting of the day!! Haha...... understandable, after a break of 3 months. Mind you, this greeting was only to their friends!! I was also queueing inside the ladies and because I was a newcomer, they gave me a curious glance and before I could smiled at them, they looked away. Don't worry, I was not offended. On the contrary, I was amused.

Here is another discovery. At the discussion groups, everybody introduced themselves. All of them said that they have learnt a lot about the Scriptures after attending BSF classes. Some even quoted Bible verses after verses. Wow!! But, none of them touched on FELLOWSHIP.

However, I must say that yesterday's lecture was good. I believe that after finishing this whole year's lessons, I will definitely gain more knowledge of the Scriptures too.

Whatever, I am determine to attend the class every Thursday. After all, my aim is to have an in depth study of the Bible. Nothing else matters.

Hmm... from now on I will just say that I am attending BS...... minus the F. Hahahaaa...

Please don't get me wrong. I am not complaining, I am just writing out my thoughts.

Feng shui

I was going through some old newspapers when I came across an article on feng shui. This reminded me of that short period back in the early 2000s. Feng shui was a hot topic then and the local feng shui master,Lillian Too's books, talks and TV shows caught the fancy of my 2 breakfast friends.They became very obsessed, following diligently all the dos and don't and paying costly to attend her talks. My friends shared and discussed feng shui tips all the time during our breakfast breaks so much so that I had to borrow their books to read so that I could join in their conversation. hahaha.. As long as it did not touch on religion and idol worship, it was fine with me.

I had an opportunity to hear Lillian Too talked in person too and that was for free!!. A friend gave my sister, Bee Hong an invitation card to attend an exclusively talk on her jewellery designs at OE Design, a jewellery factory in Bayan Lepas. Bee Hong brought me along. Yes..... she was indeed a most convincing speaker.

While Lillian Too emphasised on wearing and placing decorative items in strategic positions to overcome bad feng shui, another master whom I chatted with casually, insisted that using bamboo and salt water was enough. No need to spend so much money buying expensive and beautiful decorative items. I think if I were to ask yet another master, I would get a different set of answer. Contradicting and confusing!!

Well.... at the end of it all, I choose to believe in the BIBLE.

Romans 8:28 says....... " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. "


Yes, to everything there is a season and a reason, whether in times of plenty or want; in times of joy or sorrow; things do happen for a reason and you can trust that God will see you through.

" I GUT U GUT "

Want to share with all of you a joke. It happened a few weeks ago.

After taking our breakfast in Queensbay Mall, my nephew, Zixuan and I strolled around the mall, looking at staff opening their shops and arranging their displays. Soon, we came upon the Giodano outlet. As usual, come Chinese New Year, Giodano will come up with special creations for this auspicious occasion. This year is a big mandarin printed on the front of the unisex ts.

This is our conversation........

Myself : Hey Xuan look at these t-shirts, this year Giodano uses Malay language.
"IGUT UGUT" .... I know the word UGUT but is there such a word as IGUT?
I never heard of it before.


Zixuan : (laughed until he almost roll on the floor) Tua ee, this is English. You
read it as "I GOOD YOU GOOD". This is how we spell when we sms and chat
online.

My goodness!! GUT is pronounce as g^t in English and has an entirely different meaning from GOOD. No wonder the children's English Language is so terrible these days.

Public toilets

All this while, my opinion of free public toilets in Penang are very dirty and smelly. Unless it is unavoidable, I will never use it. But now I am beginning to think otherwise. When I say free public toilets, I mean those toilets maintain by MPPP in Government buildings and are not charged.

Look at the top photo on the left. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped inside. The wash basins and toilet bowls were so clean and the floor so dry. This is the toilet in Kompleks Lebuh Nipah.

Kompleks Lebuh Nipah is an old food court, run and maintain by MPPP. It consist of 2 rows of food stalls, back to back. One row sells halal food while the other row sells non halal food, thus a choice of Malay, Chinese, Indian and Punjabi food here. It is located just a stone's throw from my apartment. Have my lunch there frequently but have never enter the toilet until the other day after taking lunch with my sister, Bee Bee.

Bee Bee informed me that free Government public toilets on the island are very clean nowadays. I think credit should go to MPPP. Is our sister council, MPSP also doing the same thing over on the mainland?.......I wonder.

Happy New Year 2012

GOOD BYE 2011......

WELCOME 2012 !!!

Sincerely wishing all of you Good Health, Peace, Joy and Happiness in 2012.

Neighbours

Just wondering whether any of you who lives in apartment has or is encountering the same problem as myself. Yes, what I mean is surrounded by exasperating neighbours.

My next door neighbour is a smoker and a chain smoker for that matter and the two downstairs neighbours are ardent cooks. (My apartment is on the topmost floor). You guess it right.... I am talking about cooking smoke, cigarette smoke and smells that seep into your apartment even though you close all doors and windows.

My good neighbours downstairs cook at the most ridiculous hour of the day. Imagine frying salt fish at 4am in the early morning and deep frying who knows what at 12 midnight! Both neighbours like to cook spicy food whose smell often irritates my throat and nose making me cough or sneeze.

My next door neighbour on the other hand, is a smoker. He has this habit of standing at the kitchen balcony and smoke. Of course it is GOOD of him to think of his family members' health and does not wish them to inhale second hand smoke. It is BETTER still if he cares for his family's good health and his neighbours' good health as well. But definitely it is BEST if he can quit smoking! hahaha... Don't you agree?

Merry Christmas

CHRISTMAS is just 2 weeks away.
So right here I want to wish all of you............

A VERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS.
" May the peace and joy of CHRISTMAS fill your heart with happiness and stay with you throughout the year. "

November

In my personal calender, NOVEMBER is the most active of the 12 months.

First, comes birthdays of family members. Irene starts the ball rolling on the 7th, follow by Val, 11th and Zixin, 15th and not forgetting my late husband, 30th. Many of my good friends' birthdays also fall on different days of the month. To name but a few of them are Gaik Bee, Lee Moong Nah and Girly. So here is wishing all of you.... " A VERY BLESSED BIRTHDAY AND MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY !! ".


Next, comes anniversary. My beloved mother's death anniversary is on the 27th. So to the bestest mother and bestest grandmother in the whole world, I say it loud and clear..... " YOU ARE FONDLY MISSED AND FOREVER REMEMBERED BY ALL OF US !! ".

Pos Laju

A company sent me an item by Pos Laju end of July. I only received it on Wednesday, 14 September. One and a half month later!!! Between this period of time, I received 2 sms from the sender informing me of unsuccessful delivery by Pos Laju. Twice I had to reconfirm my address.

Then on Wednesday morning I received a call from a Pos Laju staff asking me whether I was at home. I told him I was. He then asked me to come down from my apartment which is on the 4th floor, to collect my item. His vioce was loud and sounded quite rude. I also raised my voice and I asked him back why I should go down and why he could not come up. He paused for a while before answering.... "saya minta you tolong turun". Beause he said "minta tolong" so I relented. At the same time I was also curious to see this person. Just as I had guessed, he was a youngster in his early 20s.

Before I opened the usual plastic courier envelope, I checked my address. It was correct and there was even my mobile number printed on it. Inside this envelope was another plastic courier envelope. Obviously it was the 2nd delivery envelope. My address was also printed correctly but without my mobile number. Inside this 2nd envelope I found yet another plastic courier envelope. I am quite sure it was the 1st delivery envelope. My address was also correctly printed and again without my mobile number.

Now, can you guess the reason for the 2 failed deliveries? Yes, because my mobile number was not printed on the 1st and 2nd envelope, therefore he could not call me.

This is POS LAJU SERVICE !!!!

I never have problem with City-Link, SkyNet, Nationwide and GD Express.

Priority Lane

Need to go inside the bank for its counter service, so dropped in at the Pantai Jerejak Public Bank. An old guy who seemed to be in a hurry and myself reached the glass door at almost the same time. Ah hem... being a good sport, I allowed him to enter first. Almost immediately I regretted my action. The reason was that we were both heading for the same counter...the priority lane for senior citizens/expectant mothers/disabled!! He went straight to queue whereas I hesitated. Instead I turned to press for a number and then took a seat nearest to the priority counter.

There was no crowd and within 5 minutes my number came up. While waiting for the teller to attend to my transaction, I glanced down the counter and noticed that the old guy has also reached his turn and was in the process of filling in some forms. Incidentally we finished our business at the same time and left the bank at the same time as well. No loss for me!!! Hahaha.

Here is a tip to all my Warga emas friends. The next time you go to a bank, press for a number first before proceeding to queue at the priority lane. If your number comes earlier, move away, if not wait for your turn in the queue. Of course if there is nobody at the special counter then go straight up to it and do your business. That simple and fast!!

Birthday card

On my birthday, I received this beautiful card from a a very special friend, Gomathy.

I like the wordings inside. As usual, vain old ladies like to be wished "young"!! Hahaha...... Can you read them? It goes like this......

Thinking of you warmly
now your 60th is here.
and there's just no need to worry
you look younger every year.

So you must be doing something right
you're really looking great.
and on a special day like this
take time to celebrate.

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY

I texted to thank her. Almost immediately she called me. She told me that on my birthday eve she drove all the way from BM to Downing Street Post Office in Penang to post the card so that I could receive the card on my birthday. I am so touched.

After slogging for 30 over years, first in MPPP and then in MPSP, she is now enjoying her retirement with comfort and much travelling. Her eldest daughter is in Australia and 2nd daughter in Vietnam, so most of the time she will be flying up to Ho Chi Minh City and down to Melbourne. MPSP friends...... if you want to call her, I advise you to text her first to know where she is otherwise you might end up making overseas calls!!

So right here, I want to sincerely wish her continuous good health and great happiness.

Classmates II

Recently met up with another old classmate, Gooi Bee Peng, who came up from KL. After attending a relative's wedding dinner, she suggested we celebrate our 60th birthday together. So there we were, at Haagen Dazs in Queensbay Mall the following day for the cake cutting.

The 3 of us, Gooi Bee Peng, Wong Ong Lee and myself were very very good and close friends. We studied in the same class from Standard 1 right up to Form 5. A good 11 years together!! However, we parted after leaving school to realize our separate careers. We did not contact each other until recently when we met up again.

In those days, our favourite hobby was taking photographs. Every year usually after Chinese New Year, we would wear our new clothes, set out hair and then trooped to a nearly studio to have out photographs taken. So vain!! hahaha....

This was the last photograph we took together in the studio. The year was 1968.

This is our latest photograph which was taken on 10July 2011. 43 years later!! Not bad, huh? We have aged gracefully!! hahaha....

Do these photographs look familiar to you, guys? Actually Ong Lee posted them on facebook last week. I just elaborate on it.

Takaful's Dirty Tactics

On Monday morning I received a phone call from a Takaful staff. My mobile showed the number as WITHHELD. He spoke in Malay, did not introduce himself, just mentioned that he was calling from Takaful. He went on to say that he has received an application for a policy from me. I told him that he has called the wrong person because I did not apply for policy. He then mentioned my name and address. Again I told him that I did not apply but he insisted that I did. I denied again and again he insisted.


Now comes the joke. He told me that every credit card holder must take up this policy. I countered him, saying that if that was the case then why was not I informed by the bank and also I did not remember reading such news in the papers. He did not answer my question but went on to read the terms of the policy. I asked him to stop and instead to send me a copy of the terms to read myself since he already know my address. He said he could only send provided I make a payment of RM299 first. I told him to call me back the next day because I wanted to check it out with my son first and to call up the card centre to inquire. I ended the call without waiting for his reply. Almost immediately, I received an sms from this number, 0166264315. The following is the original text :

" Pn kami nak buat penggantaran polisi. Pemotongan rm299.00 kami suda di jalankan tq pn "

My mobile started ringing again. I let it rang for a while before taking the call. It was him again. I raised my voice a little and immediately told him that when a person say "no", respect the person's decision and with his sms I was going to the police station to lodge a report. He did not call again after that.

The next day, I called HSBC card centre to inquire whether there was any payment from Takaful for the amount of rm299.00. There was no such payment. I told her that I have not consented to the payment and also I have not signed any papers. I asked her to note down that should they receive such payment from Takaful, then it is definitely a forgery. She was most helpful and gave me Takaful's number, 18800889659, in case I wanted to call them.

Such cheap and dirty tactics to do sales!!!

So guys, please do alert everybody.

Melaka

Visited Melaka last weekend. Cannot remember when the last time I was there. My memory of Melaka was a large open field, Mahkota Parade, the Stadthuys, taking chicken rice at one of a row of stalls facing the sea and a very crowded Jonker Walk.

I was indeed pleasantly surprised to see many changes in Melaka. The city is more lively with heavier traffic; many new buildings have sprouted in and around the city; apart from the famous historical places, there is a number of new tourist attractions and trishaw rides have been popularised.

Believe me, you can actually see the whole city all in one day!! I just did..........

Took the Duck for the first time. Rather a bumpy ride as the duck waddled slowly round part of the city before entering the Straits of Malacca. It went a bit further out to sea then made a U turn and headed back up to where we splashed in and ended the tour at where we started.

Next, went up Menara Taming Sari for a panoramic view of the city. The observatory cabin revolved 360 degrees as it elevated to the top of the 110 meter high tower and submerged down to the ground again in just 7 minutes.

After a quick lunch at the nearby Pahlawan Mahkota, headed straight for the Sadthuys. What attracted me most here was the bunch of flamboyantly decorated trishaws and taking a ride seem to be the in thing with tourists. Hahaha... had a go at it too. It was sort of a guided tour with the trishaw rider sharing the history of Melaka as he peddled along.

In the evening, enjoyed a leisure cruise down the Malacca River. The 45 minutes cruise was accompanied by an entertaining and informative commentary.

Of course nobody leaves Melaka without tasting its signature food.......Chicken Rice Ball. Dropped in at Hoe Kee Restaurant in Jonker Street to taste this Hainanese dish. Personally, I find the chicken and the rice a little bit too salty.

A stroll down Jonker Walk after the meal ended my day tour of Melaka.

See, I have seen the city from the air, from the sea and on land.

Choosing Numbers

Last Sunday, we had a guest pastor in our church. Like to share an interesting part of his sermon with all of you.

He touched on choosing vehicle registration numbers. He said that as Christians we are not particular with numbers but for the sake of reselling the vehicles later on, we have to avoid certain unfavourable numbers otherwise it will be very difficult to get takers for the vehicles. He recalled an incident whereby his church had decided to change his car for him. He was asked to choose the numbers. At that time the alphabetical order was almost ending of PKC. Without a second thought he answered PKD 162. The reason? PKD 162 represents Psalm of King David chapter 16 verse 2, which says....." You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing ".

He went on to say that Chinese people loves the number 8 and having more 8s for vehicle number, the better. But if you refer to Psalm 88:8 - " You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape ". This verse is not so ideal!! On the other hand, Psalm 44:4 - " You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob ". This verse is more meaningful.

I think if I am ask to choose the numbers, then I will most certainly pick P_ _ 1506 because this verse sums up all the psalms.
Psalm 150:6 - " Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord ".

Hahaha... what is your vehicle number? Just for kicks, search through Psalm and see what it says!!!!

Taiwan

Spent a week's holiday in Taiwan. Touched down at Taipeh International Airport night April 10. Started round island tour the next morning, travelling by coach down to Yeliu, Chiufen, then by train to Hualien and coach again to Taitung, Kaohsiung, Taichung and back to Taieph. Left Taipeh afternoon April 17.

Quite a relaxed tour. Really enjoyed the local food, the scenery and shopping at the night markets. One thing that impresses me most about Taiwan is the cleanliness of the country.

I would like to share with you 2 incidents which happened at the Taipeh International Flora Exposition site.

Incident 1: Ann and I were sitting on a bench enjoying the breeze. At the other end of the bench sat a Taiwanese family, father, mother, grandmother with a toddler on her lap and a 4 year old girl. They were having their lunch. Suddenly the girl dropped her packet of fries. It spilled all over the ground. Instantly and without a word the mother squatted down and diligently picked up the fries and disposed them in the appropriate thrash bin. They then continued with their lunch like nothing has happened.

Sorry to say this but if this has happened in Malaysia, I can tell you for sure that the whole family would have moved to another bench, leaving the fries on the ground for people to step on and make a mess of the place. Worst still, the mother would be screaming at the child!

Incident 2: Ann and I were waiting for our friends near the main entrance when I noticed a coin purse on the ground. My first thought was to pick it up and take it to the information counter but I changed my mind. Ann and I then moved a bit further away and observe. Crowds of people passed by, saw the purse but just ignored it. Nobody picked it up. After about 5 minutes I saw a teenage boy running from the opposite direction towards the purse, picked it up and ran back to where he came.

Again, sorry to say that if this has happened in Malaysia, the purse would have disappeared in a split second!!

I wonder whether it is a good idea to ignore lost properties and let owners come back to search for them. Perhaps it is the culture over there. Whatever, these 2 incidents has certainly reflected the civic consciousness, integrity and honesty of the Taiwanese.

green.grocerasia.com

Welcome to the pre launch of green.grocerasia.com

Yes, this is my website. Still have some photos to upload though. Will be very pleased if all of you can spare a few minutes to visit green.grocerasia.com and give me your feedback. And most certainly will be happiest if you can support as well!!

So, hope to hear from you, ya?

Online florist

Hi, I am starting back my flower business. This time no more adhering to strick mall rules and regulations! Recalling those long operating hours in Tesco and only 4 off days allowed per year give me the shudders!!

This time I am starting an online florist business. A florist friend has agreed to joint venture with me. He will take charge of the flower arrangements and delivery and I will take care of the website. ECheong setup this website for me and is now teaching me how to manage it. The site is still under construction. I have yet to upload more pictures and many write ups to complete. Very busy these day..... glued to the computer I mean!!

So guys, will inform you as soon as my website is ready so that you can start ordering flowers from me.

MPSP

Talking of MPSP reminds me of a few photos of the building which I have taken just before I retired end June 2006. I keep this album in Multiply.com. All of you are welcome to visit my site.


In my opinion this is a beautiful building and I really admire it. Whenever I am around the vicinity, my eyes will always go in search of it. Recently I needed to go back to MPSP to settle some personal matters at the Human Resources Department on 14th floor. After a lapse of 4 & 1/2 years I find everything inside the building looks almost the same as before. However, I also discovered something rather amusing here.......


Entering the public car park is like driving into a desert! There is not a shady spot in sight!! None. The few stunted trees are the same height as when I last seen them in 2006!!! It cannot even give shade to a small bicycle! Hahaha... where is the problem? Is it to do with the soil? weather? wrong choice of plants?