Busier than the bees

Am too busy with my work...therefore am unable to update my blog. However, I have lots of goodies to share with you.

Upcoming in my next blog.....my Christmas presents and my trip to Haadyai. Stay tune.

Just pics of our Xmas present.

Ho...Ho...Ho....Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time for love and fun,
A time to reshape souls and roots and skies,

A time to give your heart to everyone

Freely, like a rich and lavish sun,

Like a burning star to those whose lonely sighs

Show need of such a time for love and fun.

It's time to give your heart to every one,

Good or twisted, ignorant or wise.

Christmas is a time for love and fun,

A time to give your heart to everyone.







To my family, relatives and friends,


"Merry Christmas"

Diary

I was cleaning my storeroom when I came acrossed this old diary. As I flipped through those pages, something caught my attention. There was a verse “Easy to forgive, hard to forget”.

A thought came to my mind,
“Did I really (totally and exactly) forgive K ?”






I could hear a small voice whispering behind my ears.
At this moment, I want to liberate my emotions and thoughts and let them have a kind of confession. This is their sole chance to do so.

It is so much easy to say that I have forgiven K who has caused me so much pain. But can I truly say that I have forgotten the incident, the reason for the misunderstanding, the painful words that were spoken and the many mistakes K did to me?





I am not perfect and I confess I have forgiven K but at the same time, I am not sure whether I have totally forgotten it. Honestly for me, it is hard to forget the things that caused so much hurt, the painful words that were uttered, and the trust that was destroyed.

I do not hold any grudges or harbor any resentments. Nevertheless, when memories of it flashes back, the pain I felt came rushing back almost instantly.



People often tell me that the only time we can totally say that we have forgiven and forgotten, is when there are no more “accusations” over whose fault it is or why it started or how it happened.

As the cliché goes,"Time heals all wounds." I guess it hasn't healed yet...or maybe its just my pride over-taking me. For me, another reason might be that there were no closure between the two parties. After the incident, we were not able to talk about it, we just drifted away and thought that we'll just forget the whole episode. I confess I am not good at talking. I am not comfortable with confrontations. I rather keep it all to myself and pray that things will eventually heal by itself.

For now, all I do is pray that I might be able to forget the past and that I might be able to face the future if the situation calls for it.

I pray to Lord Buddha to guide me to change my heart to forgive and I am asking this through HIM.






"Let all bitterness, anger and hatred be put away from me from today onwards. Let me face the new year as well as the years ahead with hopes and courage. Let the past be a tiny dot of history behind me".



Amitābha

"Wrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it forever." - Lord Chesterfield-

Memories

People often said
it takes a minute
to find a special person.
an hour to appreciate them,
a day to love them
but then an entire life
to forget them.......

Seeing Is Deceiving

1) Can you read the word ?

Answer

You probably read the word ME in brown, but....... when you look through ME you will see YOU!

2) Can you read the word ?

Answer
In black you can read the word GOOD, in white the word EVIL (inside each black letter is a white letter). It's all very physiological too, because it visualize the concept that good can't exist without evil (or the absence of good is evil ).

3) Read aloud the text in the triangle below.

Answer

More than likely you said, "A bird in the bush," and........ if this IS what YOU said, then you failed to see that the word THE is repeated twice! Sorry, look again.

4) What do you see ?

Answer

You may not see it at first, but the white spaces read the word optical, the blue landscape reads the word illusion. Look again! Can you see why this painting is called an optical illusion?

5) Now, what do you see here ?

Answer

This one is quite tricky! The word TEACH reflects as LEARN.

Source : Java Puzzles by Joshua Bloch

Test Your Eyes And Brain

Can you find two women in this picture ?
Don't stare too long at the picture...blindly...ok !
Let your imaginations run wild...hahaha

Laughing Is The Best Medicine

"Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English"

(The current happenings in our Malaysian Schools)

Sungai Petani, Kedah

Drove to Sungai Petani this afternoon. It took me approximately 35 minutes from Butterworth to SP. The toll charges from Sungai Dua, Penang to Sungai Petani Utara is RM3.60 one way. Such a short distance and yet so expensive. Can somebody please inform Mr Samiiiiiii !!!!!!!!!

SP looks like of a boring township. Even though, it has a few big shopping complexes ie Giant, Tesco...etc

According to Wikipedia, SP is the second largest town in Kedah. The name has an historical tale behind it. In Malay Language (Bahasa Malaysia), the word Sungai means river meanwhile Petani means farmer. Farmers' River -due to the focus and concentration of farmers in the Kedah which majority dealt with paddy plantations.

Places of interest includes -

a) Gunung Jerai

b) The clock tower which is a major landmark in SP town

c) SP water theme park which is within the ground of Cinta Sayang Golf Resort

d) Pantai Merdeka

e) Lembah Bujang Archeological Museum

About the food..well definitely not as nice as those in Penang. As Thursday is a Public holiday @ Raya Haji, most eatery outlets were closed. No chance to taste SP specialities. Will definitely make a trip to SP again to explore her food !

Down memory lane....I had once tasted the delicious Gurun's "Sotong Kangkung" several years ago which was beside an old dilapidated cinema. Just wonder whether this stall still exist ? Can anyone from SP give some feedback on this ? BTW, to those who don't know what is sotong kangkung 鱿鱼蕹菜,

It's blanched water spinach/convolvulus with cuttlefish, served with shrimp paste sauce & sprinkled with ground peanuts. Yummy-yummy.

Something round, something sweet

Dongzhi , Dec. 22

Chinese celebrates the Winter Solstice to mark the longest night of the year – and the beginning of the lengthening of days. They call it Dongzhi or Tang Yuen.

It is a tradition to serve glutinous rice dumpling balls, also called tangyuan in broth. Tang stands for reunion and yuan means round or complete. Tangyuan are sweet, sticky glutinous balls made by sweet rice and served with hot sugar water. Because they could be hard for children to swallow, it became tradition to color them with food dye.

Other varieties of tangyuan are filled with different ingredients inside such as red bean paste, creamy peanut or sesame paste. Also, tangyuan can be served with whole red bean or whole peanut soup and become a tasty dessert.

Eating tangyuan on the Winter Solstice is a required custom. All children are told that people can add one year for their age after eating tangyuan.

To my family, relatives and friends....."Happy "DongZhi".

Hokkien Lang called it "TangChek".

Hope you'll have a lot of fun rolling those colourful balls and enjoy eating them as well.

Instructions For Life

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R’s:
* Respect for self,
* Respect for others and
* Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to
enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for
your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the
current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your
love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order
to get it.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Source : http://www.goodkarma.com/

Happy Birthday, Pa

Happy Birthday Pa.

19 December @Wednesday will be Pa's 78th Birthday.
Hope Pa has a blissful life with Lord Buddha
and surrounded with great souls.

May the merit of my practice
願以此功德
Adorn Buddhas' Pure Lands,
莊嚴佛淨土
Repay the fourfold kindness from above,
上報四重恩
And relieve the sufferings of the three life-journeys below.
下濟三途苦
Universally wishing sentient beings,
普願諸眾生
Friends, foes, and karmic creditors,
冤親諸債主
All to activate the bodhi mind,
悉發菩提心
And all to be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
同生極樂國






Source: Buddha Sutras & Mantras Sanskrit

The Grandfather's Clock

Feeling weak and sick over my body-ache when suddenly I heard my seven year old boy chanted a rhyme. Repeatedly he chanted the phrases again and again……in his melodious soothing voice.

My Grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf
So it stood ninety years on the floor……………….


That few phrases brought my mind wandered back to March 16, last year. Yes I could vividly remember that particular date because that was the day my beloved dad left us without a word of farewell. God simply loved him too much and decided to let him to stay with the angels!

That crucial moment was when I received that dreaded call from mum. Over the phone, mum was trembling with her words. “Ah Pa is very weak…. come here immediately”. My entire body immediately went weak and couldn’t move for a moment. There was nothing much I could do except holding his hand and repeatedly uttered “I love you, pa. Thank you for always being there for me”. Tears flowing freely down my cheeks. And silently, I released his hand! At that juncture, dad left us with the sweetest smile! I gave dad a little peck on his forehead knowing that his illness and suffering had finally came to an end.

The thoughts of dad, brought my mind towards the magnificent clock standing gracefully in my parent’s house. Am I obsessed with this clock? Does it symbolize something greater than itself?

To me, the essence of this clock represents it’s natural beauty and the history beyond it’s existence. What can I say about this clock?

Yes, there is this clock. Obviously a grandfather’s clock. It is over one hundred years old and stands about eight feet tall. I've seen many clocks in my thirty over years of life and believe me, this is indeed a special clock. No other clock is made the same as this clock.

It’s surface is covered with beautiful mother of pearls. To me, each pearl represents a different time in its existence. Some pearls represent the past. Other pearls represent the present, and there are many pearls yet to come, the future.

It’s peculiar wooden case that holds the pendulum which is heavy-weight symbolizes the heart of the time piece. Above the shinny glass door is a carving of a pair of dragon and phoenix which symbolizes harmony in Chinese.

The face of the clock shows the seconds, minutes and hours of the day. The clock has a setting for its chimes which strikes every quarter without fail. The gentle tick tock has been a comfort on many occasions, particularly during my sleepless nights, the unmistakable grandfather clock chime letting me know the time. Each and every chimes represents a different time of the day. No man can turn back the clock. Every minute and hour just ticked away. “Time waits for no man or woman”

The location of this gigantic clock was pretty unique. It stood proudly in the lobby overlooking the dining room. Meals in that dining room were a time for the three Lim generations merged into one. There are aplenty of delicious food laid on the table from traditional recipes which for sure had love as the main ingredient. And always that grandfather clock stood like a trusted body guard, watching over our laughter and tear that were a part and parcel of human lives.

As a child, the old clock fascinated me. I watched and listened to it during meals. I marveled at how at different times of the day, that clock would chime three times, six times or more, with a wonderful soothing sound that echoed throughout the house. I found the clock comforting. Year after year, the clock chimed, a part of my memories, a part of my heart.

I also remembered using the gap behind the grandfather clock in the game of hide and seek until I grew too big to fit into the hole. And also my mischief act of hiding my school report cards behind that clock whenever my grades depreciated. The gap had been a secret treasure chest where I used to hid many secret things away from my siblings.

Even more wonderful to me was my dad’s ritual. He carefully wound that clock with a secret key each morning. That key was magic to me. It kept our family's magnificent clock ticking and chiming, a part of every tradition, as solid as the wood from which it was made of.

I remembered watching as dad took the magic key from his pocket and opened the hidden door of the massive old clock. That was when I took the opportunity to peek inside to watch the pendulum swing.

I never missed that chance of watching dad going through the ceremony of winding the clock exactly at twenty five minutes past seven. That was the only time in the morning that dad could managed to fit the key into the three keyholes of the clock. That was the time that the clock’s hands had gotten at the right place for dad to insert the keys. He inserted the key and wound it very gently. “Remember, dear Annie, you must handle it with care”, he would whisper to me. He never let that clock wind down or stop.

When I grown a little older, he showed me how to open the door to the grandfather's clock and let me had the experience of winding the key. With great patience, dad taught me how to wind the clock with the correct technique. I remember the first time when I did, I trembled with anticipation. To be part of this family ritual was indeed special.

After my beloved dad died, it was several months after the funeral before I remembered the clock! "Oh dear! The clock! We've let it wind down". Tears flowed freely when I entered the dining room. The clock stood unusually quiet. As quiet as the funeral proceedings had been. The clock even seemed smaller. Not quite as magnificent without my father's special touch. I couldn't bear to look at it.

This family heirloom had been extremely close to my heart. It bonded the relationship I had with my late father. It narrowed down the generation gap between the senior Lim and the junior Lim.

It had ceased ticking. The mechanism had somewhat gone astray due to age. The hands on the clock were frozen, a reminder of time slipping away, stopped at the very moment when dad had stopped winding it. Everything just went still without the ticking of the clock.

I engaged a horologist to work with the intricate and delicate mechanical devices in that antique clock. The specialist managed to set life back to that special clock which took him months of experimentation.

Once again I repeat the ritual that my late dad’s had immaculately done. I took the key in my sweaty hand and opened the clock’s door. Suddenly, I was a child again, watching my father with his silver-white hair and wrinkled handsome face. He was there, waving at me, while turning to look at the clock's magic. The key had so much power. I was lost in the moment for a long time. Then slowly, I inserted the key and wound the clock. It sprang to life. Tick-tock, tick-tock, life and chimes were heard into the entire room, into the house and into my heart. In the movement of the hands of the clock, my father lived again.

When I look at this clock I recall memories of its past and a feeling of sadness floods my soul. I think of those fellow loved ones who had passed on; whose distant footsteps echo through the corridors of time. I think of my dad and it saddens me, but thinking of him again brings me pleasure too.

For me, this special clock symbolizes the ages of man gliding away, one by one. The pendulum of time ticking away funeral marches to the grave. Our loved ones depart as time goes by and soon each one of us shall follow too. The grandfather clock represents the whole; past, present and future. It sees you. That is the essence of it. Many things in life swing back and forth, like a pendulum

Now that this precious grandfather’s clock is in my procession, I’ll make sure that the Lim’s family tradition move down from generations to generations. This is the secret of the Lim's generation.

Thai Massage

My entire body is still aching. Having bruises (blue-black) on several spots. Stop your imaginations..I know what you're thinking of...but you're absolutely wrong. I didn't do any "one night affair" nor had I been attacked by assailants. I'm ain't a millionairess and not a Miss Pretty"...so these people wouldn't have look for me...right..! Amithaba. Touch Wood..!


Alright let me expose the suspend...!

A friend of mine invited me to join her for a "Thai Massage". As I had never experience this kind of special treatment, I decided to give it a try. Being curious as well as "Kei Po", I went along. It's a 50 minutes session @ RM30. After our shopping spree...we went for the massage session.

Fisrt, we were given a glass of herbal tea. Then we were ushered into a cosy room which is partially covered with a curtain. We changed into a robe (not fully naked la) and lie down on a padded mat.

The massage therapist applied some baby oil on my shoulder and back. She starts to knead my body using her graceful hands. Although she is skinny but she's real strong.

She focused on the various muscle compression, joint mobilization and stressed on certain pressure point which was real painful (perhaps for first timer like me...or else other people describe Thai massage as relaxing and energizing).

According to Wikipedia massage is " "friction of kneading, to touch, feel, handle". Massage is the treatment and practice of manipulation of the soft body tissues with physical and functional.

Massage involves acting and manipulating the patient's body with pressure (structured, unstructured, stationary, and/or moving), tension, motion, or vibration done manually or with mechanical aids.

Target tissues may include muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joints or other
connective tissues

Massage can be applied with the hands, fingers, elbows, forearm, and feet.
Massage is often performed by a professional Massage Therapist

At the initial stage, the massage technique was nice and relaxing. Once a while, I could feel the ticklish sensation which made me giggled.

However, when the massager applied pressure on my shoulders and back, I began to feel the pain. I screamed ....ouch ! The patrons at the other cubicle could had heard my scream....and which was quite embarrasing for me.

After the 1 hour session, I felt relieved.

That night, I felt terrible due to the pain. I noticed some bruises on my back.

Guess..this would be my first and last attempt of going for a body massage.

Till today..I could still feel the pain though not as much as yesterday.

Batik Attire

Government Staffs are required to wear "Batik" on the 1st and 15th every month.



Therefore, I have to wear a standardized "Batik" uniform to school twice a month.



This year (2007), we had a light green one which made the wearer looks like a caterpillar. My colleagues and I often joke among ourselves that our school is infested by caterpillars every 1st and 15th of the month. I tailored made my batik. I decided to follow my colleagues and made a Batik baju kurung.



As for next year(2008), we will be having a dark coloured batik which make all of us look like "mourning". hahaha. Instead of the usual Malay attire, I decided to make a simple blouse and skirt.

Shopping

Went shopping at Sunway Carnival today. Initial plan was to perform some "window-shop" but as you know lah...'WOMAN and her eyes". I ended buying a blouse and a skirt. Still ok lah..coz I spent below RM100 for the clothes. (Still adhere to my budget).



Both the blouse and the skirt are cream coloured. Suitable for X'mas. hahaha...

The Love Of My Life

Ah Boy will be 7 next year. He has been smart & intelligent since baby. He's such an angel one moment. And could transformed into a little devil in just a split second. Nevertheless, he's well obedient most of the time.

He'll be attending Std 1 next month. I enrolled him in a Chinese School as I wanted him to be multi lingual. Unlike his mum, who is illiterate in Chinese @ "Banana Lady".

I had read somewhere stating that Language Acquisition occurs rapidly at pre- adolescent age. This the time when a child is able to master language when he's put into an environment which encourages it. Therefore, I hope that my boy could pick up Mandarin during his six schooling years in Chinese school.

Ah Boy is quite good at computer. He does surf the net too. And surely only searching for online games. H's able to spend 2-3 hours facing the monitor in a stretch. Ya..I know this is unhealthy. I'll put a stop to that when he starts school next month. In the meantime, I shall let him enjoy his pre-school days.

Coffee Puzzle

Answers for the Coffee Puzzle will be publish next week. Meanwhile, I want you to use your thinking cap to find the solutions.

Anyone of you got the answer..? Do respond to me.

Mum's Penang Laksa

Mum is an excellent cook. Today, I was at her place for lunch. She made the best Penang Laksa.

The thick gravy is made of ikan kembung flesh. The laksa noodles are soft and tangy. It's eaten with fine strips of cucumbers, slices of onions, finely chopped lettuce and bunga kantan, pineapple cubes and also the shrimp paste (Otak udang) which provides the 'kick' to the laksa.


Am unable to get the recipe from mum because she doesn't have one. She actually cooks by estimating the amount of ingredients (agak-agak). She doesn't need any apparatus for measuring. However, she cooks to perfection.

Challenging "Coffee" Puzzle

A waiter was in trouble.
Mr. FussyPot found a fly in his coffee and requested for a change.
When his fresh cup arrived, he took a sip. He called for that waiter again.
He knew the waiter removed the fly and brought him the same cup.

How did Mr. FussyPot know that the waiter had cheated on him ?

Ann's Maiden Blog

Hello...Hello..Hello.

This is my very first posting to this blog. What am I supposed to write..?
About yours truly ? My name is Ann. yes..just your regular Ann. Not Queen Ann nor Princess Ann nor Datin Ann. Just call me Ann. Hey don't add the letter "a" and turn my beautiful name to Anna.....I dislike the "a" sound.

I'm a school teacher and currently doing my first degree via distance learning. Ya...........at the ripe ol age of 36, I decided to go back to school. You can call it "self improvement" or simply upgrading oneself. As the sayings goes.... "There's no fullstop to learning..!"

I'm going to treat this blog as a daily journal. Guess, I'm going to write just about anything that comes into my mind.