2018 Year End Thoughts (YET)

2018 Year End Thoughts

 2018 YET

My Year End Thoughts are :-

After my 50th birthday, I have a few enlightenment or realisations. I tried to live a life that is fulfilling with less stuff but first I am get rid or use up the stuff I have accumulated all these years. The strategy seems to be simple :-

1. ·         Stop buying more Just-In-Case Stuff for a future needs that may not happen,
2. ·         Use up or Give Away all the bought stuff
3. ·         Down-sizing most items at home
4. ·         Know my identity in Christ, who I am, who I am meant to achieve and my destiny.
5. ·         Live life at the moment, seize the day and make the most out of all.
6. ·         Relax and Chill once in a while. Insist on personal time to do things alone.
7. ·         Spend time to develop friendships. Work is important but not at the expense of losing friends.
8. ·         Family is utmost important although at times, they are like a chore and burden.
9. ·         Live with divine purpose and live intentionally.
10. ·         Relationship Conflicts are unavoidable, no matter how well you meant, someone will take offence of your works, so just be reflective on your actions, learn from mistakes and move on. Forgiveness is mandatory but reconciliation needs both sides working on it.
11. ·         Plan family trips – get everyone involved and involved the aging parents as much as possible.
12. ·         Health is wealth but when necessary, spend time on health rather than on fashion or other perishable stuff.
13. ·         Social Media is a great platform to share our lives, our faith, our beliefs, our principles but it is not our everything. 
14. 

Birthday Bash 2018

I am spoiled rotten by my colleagues and friends! So much love and sweetness from the friendships and cakes they gave me! Google always surprised me with my virtual candles!

Fight between husband and wife

Fight between husband and wife ......(both r MA in English literature) instead of resorting to shouting, abusing or physical force... they write poems to each other. .....

                             WIFE:
I wrote your name on sand it got washed..
I wrote your name in air, it was blown away.
Then I wrote your name on my heart & I got Heart Attack.

                           HUSBAND:
God saw me hungry, he created pizza.
He saw me thirsty, he created Pepsi.
He saw me in the dark, he created light.
He saw me without problems, he created YOU.

                             WIFE:
Twinkle twinkle little star
You should know what you are
And once you know what you are
Mental hospital is not so far

                     HUSBAND:
The rain makes all things beautiful.
The grass and flowers too.
If rain makes all things beautiful
Why doesn't it rain on you?

                     WIFE:
Roses are red; Violets are blue
Monkeys like u should be kept in zoo.                             
                Husband :
Don't feel so angry you will find me there too
Not in cage but laughing at you!! 😳😜😜😂

Speech of Australian Prime Minister - On his faith

💢 Here’s an excerpt from the maiden speech of Scott Morrison, the new PM of Australia:

Growing up in a Christian home, I made a commitment to my faith at an early age and have been greatly assisted by the pastoral work of many dedicated church leaders, in particular the Reverend Ray Green and pastors Brian Houston and Leigh Coleman. My personal faith in Jesus Christ is not a political agenda. As Lincoln said, our task is not to claim whether God is on our side but to pray earnestly that we are on His. For me, faith is personal, but the implications are social—as personal and social responsibility are at the heart of the Christian message. In recent times it has become fashionable to negatively stereotype those who profess their Christian faith in public life as ‘extreme’ and to suggest that such faith has no place in the political debate of this country. This presents a significant challenge for those of us, like my colleague, who seek to follow the example of William Wilberforce or Desmond Tutu, to name just two. These leaders stood for the immutable truths and principles of the Christian faith. They transformed their nations and, indeed, the world in the process. More importantly, by following the convictions of their faith, they established and reinforced the principles of our liberal democracy upon which our own nation is built.
Australia is not a secular country—it is a free country. This is a nation where you have the freedom to follow any belief system you choose. Secularism is just one. It has no greater claim than any other on our society. As US Senator Joe Lieberman said, the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not from religion. I believe the same is true in this country.
So what values do I derive from my faith? My answer comes from Jeremiah, chapter 9:24:
... I am the Lord who exercises loving-kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, declares the Lord.
From my faith I derive the values of loving-kindness, justice and righteousness, to act with compassion and kindness, acknowledging our common humanity and to consider the welfare of others; to fight for a fair go for everyone to fulfil their human potential and to remove whatever unjust obstacles stand in their way, including diminishing their personal responsibility for their own wellbeing; and to do what is right, to respect the rule of law, the sanctity of human life and the moral integrity of marriage and the family. We must recognise an unchanging and absolute standard of what is good and what is evil. Desmond Tutu put it this way:
... we expect Christians ... to be those who stand up for the truth, to stand up for justice, to stand on the side of the poor and the hungry, the homeless and the naked, and when that happens, then Christians will be trustworthy believable witnesses.
These are my principles. My vision for Australia is for a nation that is strong, prosperous and generous: strong in our values and our freedoms, strong in our family and community life, strong in our sense of nationhood and in the institutions that protect and preserve our democracy; prosperous in our enterprise and the careful stewardship of our opportunities, our natural environment and our resources; and, above all, generous in spirit, to share our good fortune with others, both at home and overseas, out of compassion and a desire for justice.

Daily Cooking Challenge

This is my Dare-Myself To-Do List

I am an obsessive buyer of consumable and the problem with consumable is that they have a "Best Before" Date or even Expiry Date, whether it is meat or dried food or marinating sauces / powder or a fashion that goes out of trend fairly quickly. Of course, for fashion, one could keep them in boxes to give away or to wait one cycle for that particular trend to return. So for food, it is dangerous to keep expired stuff. 

I have a freezer full of food and a fridge full of food stuff. I do not know how I accumulated so much and how long but now that I am doing Maid Detox, this is the best time for me to go through these substances one by one. I even set a deadline to finish consuming them or throw them out before end of December. After that, I only stock up things I could eat within 2 weeks or the most a month. I am pretty sure some of the items at the bottom of the freezer will surprise me and that they are from quite a while ago! Due to the frozen nature of the items, I could not recognise what they are or what cut of meat. For a few weeks, I kept buying new meat because I had a dish in mind. 

So what is my daily cooking challenge? I would take out from freezer a few items at a time, usually for 5 days cooking, let it defrost and examine what they are, wash them and put them into plastic containers, seasoned with salt and pepper and may be some spices, soya sauce to marinate them and keep them at the bottom of the fridge so that I could plan what to do. On the first day, it is usually very challenging as I would only know what meat are there when I get home from work to cook. I have to decide very quickly what dishes to come up with. 

To continue this challenge further, I will do the same with the dry food, canned food cabinet, I try not to buy more things and just use up the items in the cabinet. 

I am hoping that I will not waste too much food stuff and learnt the discipline not to over purchase items in the name of stocking up. 

Learning fast

Minimalist

Fashion Sense : Younger & Scraft

Sabah in YouTube

The Oblivious Kind

There is a kind of people in this world
who are oblivious towards the harm and sins of themselves
They are very driven and successful
who can persuade an army to go to war on their behalf
They often would dwell on half a truth
enlarging it bigger so that the other half as a lie is hidden
On the surface, they are leaders and high achievers
pushing boundaries and breaking new grounds
Buried within them, their hurts and pains so deep
it takes a valley to drown their sorrows
A pseudo kind of confidence, so strong and sincere
it makes a mountain seem small
For their pride is higher than the mountain
deeper than the valley and they think they can conquer them all

There is a kind of people in this world
who does not know that they are hurting others while they win
They feast on pride and confidence
drawing out of people whom they are leading
They demand the whole of you who serve
nothing less will be acceptable
Outwardly they cast a tall vision
for all to pursue whole-heartedly
Inwardly they hunger for control
out of obedience from the people they lead
Like a famine has come upon the land
all who work on the land suffers
For their thirst and hunger for control
like drop of water in the desert, it is never enough


8 June 2018
A thought in this season of tormenting voyage
A reflection of my beloved nation after GE14

On oblivious people:

- "You can plan around lack of skill or ability in many areas, or avoid those areas and key in on virtues. Really, I think there's room in the world for people of people of all smarts and lack-of-smarts. Intelligence is overrated, and there's a dozen or so traits I'd look for before intelligence in someone in my life. Stupid people aren't a problem. Oblivious people, though? Oh, they break all kinds of shit. Oblivious people are a big, big problem. We gotta watch out for them."

- written by Carlos Miceli part the Book Review for the book "Ikigai, by Sebastian Marshall"

http://sebastianmarshall.com/carlos-micelis-excellent-ikigai-review

George Town Penang in a Day - Food Journal

We planned a simple get-away in famous Penang for food and leisures. We decided to go walk in the city. We did it in a day.

Straits Garden Suite AirBnB

It is a simple Studio Apartment and three of us could stay in comfortably. I guess there is sofa bed for the fourth person. The kitchen and washing machine are useful and make it homely for us.

Lebuh Kimberly

On the first night we arrived, we took a Grab Taxi to Kimberly area for dinner. It was dark and we did not see many choices and the price was not that cheap. The 10 pieces Satays was RM12. The Char Koay  

The desserts were nice.

Jelutong Market 
94, Lorong Batu, Taman Jelutong, 11600 George Town, Penang

We took a short walk from our place at Straits Garden Suite, about 10 minutes and found a busy local market at Jelutong. We went to look for what locals will buy for their cooking :- Bak Kut Teh, Tom Salted Chicken powder, Yam Paste etc.

We took our nice reasonable-priced breakfast there, every item was nice. Too many choices and we could only choose a few as we could not finish our food. The local black Coffee  (Kopi-O) was a bit different from Sabah Coffee, it has a bit of sour taste which we all do not like.

The market stalls are clean and good food. We enjoyed going through all the different stalls to find goodies that we could buy.

On the way home, we stopped by a budgeted Cake Stall to buy a celebration for Jovie and also to the local supermarket for some local produce - mangoes and coffee!
bb







Lebuh Campbell
At about noon time, we took a Grab Taxi (RM7) to get there and started our hunt for food and street arts. Foodie Street of Food, museums, interesting wall arts.

Chicken Rice was delicious.

After an afternoon of walk, we tried an Indian restaurant for dinner. It was a nice dinner.

All in all, it was a great outdoor Foodie Day. The shopping was good too.
Check another post for the Street Arts Paintings!

For extreme Foodie, here is one link to refer to, its crazy, 24 meals within 24 hours!

https://www.malaymail.com/s/554531/eat-penang-a-24-hour-street-food-experience

The Holy Alphabet

The Holy Alphabet... This is Beautiful...

Whoever came up with this one must have been filled with the Holy Spirit!

A lthough things are not perfect,
B ecause of trial or pain,
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D on't even think of whom to blame .
E ven when the times are hard,
F ierce winds are bound to blow,
G od is forever able
H old on to Jesus .
I magine life without His love,
J oy would cease to be,
K eep thanking Him for all the things
L ove imparts you to see.
M ove out of  Complaining ',
N o weapon that is known
O n earth can yield the power
P raise can do alone.
Q uit worrying about the future,
R edeem the time at hand,
S tart every day with prayer
T o 'thank' is God's command.
U ntil we see Him coming,
V ictorious in the sky,
W e'll run the race with gratitude,
X alting the Most High God.
Y es, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Z ion awaits in glory...where no one is ever sad!

The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything..

Love and peace be with you forever, Amen.  🙏❤💗💓

NegaraKu - The Origins

Saidah Rastam explores the origins of the Malaysia's National Anthem and share her findings on why this song is still matters

Saidah Rastam has composed music for for gamelan, martial artists, opera singers, choral groups, jazz ensembles, western orchestras and electronic music. Her music is often cross-cultural: Indian classical instruments and jazz in Scintillations, Malay poetry and western classical voices in Lapangan Ya-ya-ya; Chinese opera singers and a jazz quartet in Spirits; folk music from six Asian countries in Prism, traditional Chinese instruments and Malay gamelan in Keras Bila Dipadu. In M! the Opera, Saidah combined Malay traditional instruments and asli singing with a western orchestra and SATB vocal arrangements.

Malam Terang Bulan, a show she created, wrote and directed, was staged in 2014 and in 2015 at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (Philharmonic Hall) to popular and critical acclaim.

Major Hebrew Names of God

23 Major Names of God

1. Jehovah-Tzidkenu, the Lord Our Righteousness (Jer 23:6, 2Cor 5:21)

2. Jehovah-M'Kaddishchem, the Lord Who Sanctifies You (Lev 20:8)

3. Jehovah-Shalom, the Lord Is Peace (Judges 6:24, Eph 2:14)

4. Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord Is There (Ezekiel 48:35)

5. Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord Who Heals (Isaiah 53:5)

6. Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord Will Provide (Genesis 22:13-14)

7. Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord Is Our Victorious Banner (Exodus 17:15, Rom 8:31, 37)

8. Jehovah-Raah, the Lord Is Our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1, John 10:27-28)

9. Jehovah-Nigad, the Lord Who Predicts the Future (Isaiah 42:8-9)

10. Jehovah-Ahavah, God Is Love (Isaiah 63:9, 1John 4:16)

11. Jehovah-Elohim, God Is Worthy of Worship (Genesis 2:4)

12. Adonai, Lord (Genesis 15:2, 8, Exodus 4:10-12)

13. Jehovah-Qanna, the Lord Is Jealous (Exodus 20:4-6)

14. El-Elyon, Most High God (Genesis 14:19-20)

15. Jehovah-Olam, the Lord the Everlasting, Uncaused, Self-Existent One (Gen 21:33)

16. Jehovah-Kavod, the Lord of Glory (Psalm 24:7-10)

17. El-Shaddai, the Almighty God, the Double Breasted God (Genesis 17:1-3, Rev 22:4)

18. Jehovah-Tsedek, the Lord Is Justice (Isaiah 30:18, Psalm 33:5)

19. Jehovah-Chesed, the Lord Is Merciful (Psalms 59:17, 21:7, Ex 34:6-7, Rom 9:18)

20. Jehovah-Magen, the Lord a Shield (Genesis 15:1, Deut 33:29, Luke 13:34)

21. Jehovah-Hayah, the Lord Is Self-Sufficient, the Great I AM (Proverbs 30:4)

22. Jehovah-Kadosh, the Lord Is Holy, Pure, and Undefiled (Psalm 99:3, Heb 7:26)

23. Jehovah-Or, the Lord Is Light (Psalm 36:9, 1John 1:5)

Source :- http://rhemabiblechurch.net

Indescribable - Laura Story

Indescribable - Laura Story

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings, all exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable
Awestruck we fall to our knees
And we humbly proclaim
That You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night, none can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable
Awestruck we fall to our knees
And we humbly proclaim
That You are amazing God, You are amazing God
You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable
Awestruck we fall to our knees
And we humbly proclaim
That You are amazing God

You are indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing God

Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart
And You love me the same
You are amazing God, You are amazing God
You are amazing God

Blessings and Grace by Laura Story

Blessings

Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

God's ways is not our ways. We can never fathom how much He wants to bless each and everyone of us and how His blessings will come. A very encouraging song for the soul when one faces challenges.

Grace

Laura Story

My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused.
I see the things You do through me as great things I have done.
And now You gently break me, then lovingly You take me
And hold me as my father and mold me as my maker.

I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up,
When I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory,
How far will forgiveness abound?"
And You answer: " My child, I love you.
And as long as you're seeking My face,
You'll walk in the power of My daily sufficient grace."

At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged,
Knowing that someone, somewhere could do a better job.
For who am I to serve You? I know I don't deserve You.
And that's the part that burns in my heart and keeps me hanging on.

I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up,
When I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory,
How far will forgiveness abound?"
And You answer: " My child, I love you.
And as long as you're seeking My face,
You'll walk in the power of My daily sufficient grace."
You are so patient with me, Lord.

As I walk with You, I'm learning what Your grace really means.
The price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary.
So, instead of trying to repay You, I'm learning to simply obey You
By giving up my life to you For all that You've given to me.

I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up,
When I keep on letting you down?
And each time I will fall short of Your glory,
How far will forgiveness abound?"
And You answer: " My child, I love you.
And as long as you're seeking My face,
You'll walk in the power of My daily sufficient grace."

Grace is what we need every day. God;s grace is always sufficient for the day. Our grace always match our portions for the day.

Swiss Hazelnut and Carrot Cake

This hazelnut and carrot cake recipe is one of the best that I have tried. Although hazelnuts is expensive but the taste of this cake is super delicious and light.

125 - 200 gm Carrots grated (3 medium size carrots)
3 Eggs
125 gm Castor Sugar
125 gm Hazelnuts very finely chopped
1 Lemon rind finely grated
50 gm Plain flour (Superfine Cake Flour)
1 tsp Baking Powder


1) Peel and grate the 200 gm of carrots and should yield 125 gm.
2) Whish Egg Yolks, Sugar until thick and creamy.  Stir in carrots, hazelnuts and lemon rind.
3) Sieve four and baking powder in. Fold in lightly.
4) Whisk Egg White with sugar until form stiff peaks, then carefully fold into the mixture.

180 C 40-45 mins
7 inches Square Tin

Banana Sponge Cake

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp Soda Bicarbonate
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/3 Cup & 1 Tbsp Corn Oil
3 Eggs
2/3 Cup Castor Sugar
3 Ripe Banana or 1 Cup Mashed Banana

160 C Bake 35 mins
20 Cm Round

1) Whisk Egg & Sugar till thick & pale. Add in oil
2) Sieve in flour, soda, Baking powder gently.
3) Add Banana

Add 1 Tbsp of Coffee extract for added flavour

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A Million Dreams

A Million Dreams in Violin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rm-TDPjYIo

Perfect by Ed Sheeran

Perfect

Ed Sheeran

I found a love for me
Darling just dive right in
And follow my lead
Well I found a girl beautiful and sweet
I never knew you were the someone waiting for me
'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love

Not knowing what it was
I will not give you up this time
But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own
And in your eyes you're holding mine

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms
Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song
When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath
But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight

Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know
She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home
I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets
To carry love, to carry children of our own
We are still kids, but we're so in love
Fighting against all odds
I know we'll be alright this time
Darling, just hold my hand
Be my girl, I'll be your man
I see my future in your eyes

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms
Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song
When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful
I don't deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms
Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song
I have faith in what I see
Now I know I have met an angel in person
And she looks perfect
I don't deserve this
You look perfect tonight

Songwriters: Edward Sheeran / Matthew Sheeran