Amanda told us last night during dinner that her Myvi got towed away a week ago.
She did not tell us because she said that she did want to freak us out. She also felt that she had to solve the problem herself.
I was amazed at her maturity in handling the matter. She said that she had parked the car at Times Square. When she came out an hour later, the car was gone!
I can imagine her distress. She was also carrying so many things. Somehow she found out that her car had been towed by the police. However she did not know where the car had been towed away to as they were about 3 places where they could possibly have sent the car.
The police were not helpful at all. Finally an old taxi driver helped her and she managed to get her car out by paying RM250 as the penalty/fine.
I was amazed at the lesson learnt by her over this incident. She said "If something bad happens to us, God has something good in store for us" and also "Sometimes bad things happen to us so that we can appreciate the good things that we have" and "I think I will not learn to appreciate good health if I do not experience bad health" and "I will not appreciate the blessings in my life if I did not experience the troubles that I encounter in life"!
She said that it was a bad day for her when the Myvi got towed away but it was also a good day because she won free tickets to a concert. Somehow she managed to get through to a radio station contest and the announcer said that she was so lucky as normally it would be practically impossible to be connected to a radio station via a phone call.
She also found that she suddenly had RM200 extra in her account!
What an amazing testimony! What a great maturity in my youngest daughter whom I love very much!
However I told her that if she had told me about this I would certainly have helped her!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Lessons Learnt from this Japan trip
Thus ended our short trip to Japan.
While the rest of our tour members went on to Mount Fuji, Ginza, Shinjuku and Tokyo Disneyland, we reached the comfort of Malaysia and the comfort of our home (like my daughter said "I missed my room so much. Hospitals make me so depressed"). I also felt a great relief to come home to my beautiful apartment where birds greet me with chirping and singing in the morning and my living room looks out to a small park.
Some lessons learnt:
1. If you have fever before you travel, see the doctor and bring your medication.
2. Bring lots of cash with you so that you would not need to borrow from your tour mates. Traveling in countries like Japan where credit cards were not accepted, extra cash is always an advantage.
3. Do not be afraid to see the local doctor if need be. Always follow the advice of your tour leader as they would have had experience dealing with the sick on tour.
4. Make sure that you carry a post-paid phone with roaming. Our flight tickets back to KL were booked on-line using the mobile phone. Booking was done way past midnight while in the hotel reception area. As the tickets were paid by credit card, the TAC was needed. If my phone was on a pre-paid ticket where the TAC was not available.....(Ben said that even he could not help me then)
5. It is better to fly home immediately even it means spending money to buy two tickets back home. Life is more important than sight-seeing. Japan will always be there but we only have one life. To spend money buying tickets home could turn out cheaper than paying for hospital charges in a foreign country. In this case we were told that Japanese doctors were extremely cautious with their diagnosis and could take some time to give us the blood test result. Unlike Malaysian doctors who have experience dealing with dengue, Japanese doctors have none.
6. Don't blame anyone or anything for what happened. Do not even blame yourself. It is pointless. What has happened has happened. We should always focus on solving the problem rather than engage in a blaming and pointing the finger exercise.
7. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!
While the rest of our tour members went on to Mount Fuji, Ginza, Shinjuku and Tokyo Disneyland, we reached the comfort of Malaysia and the comfort of our home (like my daughter said "I missed my room so much. Hospitals make me so depressed"). I also felt a great relief to come home to my beautiful apartment where birds greet me with chirping and singing in the morning and my living room looks out to a small park.
Some lessons learnt:
1. If you have fever before you travel, see the doctor and bring your medication.
2. Bring lots of cash with you so that you would not need to borrow from your tour mates. Traveling in countries like Japan where credit cards were not accepted, extra cash is always an advantage.
3. Do not be afraid to see the local doctor if need be. Always follow the advice of your tour leader as they would have had experience dealing with the sick on tour.
4. Make sure that you carry a post-paid phone with roaming. Our flight tickets back to KL were booked on-line using the mobile phone. Booking was done way past midnight while in the hotel reception area. As the tickets were paid by credit card, the TAC was needed. If my phone was on a pre-paid ticket where the TAC was not available.....(Ben said that even he could not help me then)
5. It is better to fly home immediately even it means spending money to buy two tickets back home. Life is more important than sight-seeing. Japan will always be there but we only have one life. To spend money buying tickets home could turn out cheaper than paying for hospital charges in a foreign country. In this case we were told that Japanese doctors were extremely cautious with their diagnosis and could take some time to give us the blood test result. Unlike Malaysian doctors who have experience dealing with dengue, Japanese doctors have none.
6. Don't blame anyone or anything for what happened. Do not even blame yourself. It is pointless. What has happened has happened. We should always focus on solving the problem rather than engage in a blaming and pointing the finger exercise.
7. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!
Amazing race to Shin Osaka, Kansai airport and Pantai Ampang
27 August 2014
Time was of the essence.
Our flight was 11 am in the morning. There was only one flight from Kansai. The other flight as 12:45 midnight from Tokyo airport which was just too late for us. Missed this and we would have to wait till Friday for the next flight.
The challenge was this: the bullet train would only start at 6:35 am. The journey was made up of two stages. We had to take the train from one platform to Shin-Osaka. This journey will take us up to one hour 45 minutes. The arrival time was about 8:20 am.
Once we reached Shin-Osaka, we had to find the platform to board the train to Kansai airport. This journey will take us another one hour up from 8:46 to 9:46 am. The plane will leave for Malaysia at 11 am! The other difficulty was language. We did not know any Japanese. Using sign language and language cards, Ben (who came with us) managed to find out that three tickets were needed, two to Shin-Osaka and all three to Kansai. Phew!
We had to try.
Whilst waiting for the Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka, Amanda said that the virus was attacking her bones and her heart. She felt that the virus was eating her up. Joseph later told me that the dengue virus was also known as the "bone-breaking" virus i.e. this kind of virus eats up the victim alive! I was very worried. There was nothing I could do but rely on God to deliver her.
Praying and interceding we made it to Kansai airport on time. The Shinkansen was super fast. super quiet and super efficient. Though sleepy and tired, I could see several towns like Kyoto on the way. It was Japan sight-seeing super speed!
The moment we walked up to the Airasia counter, we were so relieved. The counter was still opened at 10 am!
PRAISE GOD! Surely God's angels were with us all the way.
The plane took off on time. Once on board, we ordered a small can of 100 plus. Amanda felt some relief after drinking it.
Reaching KL at about 4 pm, we took the taxi straight to Pantai Ampang. That night she was admitted.
We made it doing the amazing race with God's help and the prayers of the saints!
Pastor later told us that he knew of one case where the lady died on the 3rd day of getting dengue.
Here was my daughter still fighting for her life after the 4th day! At Pantai, the fever left her immediately after they put her on the drip.
Apparently dengue deaths have increased of late and the health authorities have become increasing concerned. Spike in dengue cases have also given rise to a number of deaths.
I received a call from the health inspector who interviewed me concerning Amanda's condition. She said that once there were more than 2 cases, they had to send people to fog the area!
Amanda spent Friday at Pantai and was discharged on Saturday. Her platelets dropped to 113 but the doctor said that she could go home as most of her vital signs had stabilized.
THANK YOU JESUS AND THANK YOU PASTOR & HGC FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!
Time was of the essence.
Our flight was 11 am in the morning. There was only one flight from Kansai. The other flight as 12:45 midnight from Tokyo airport which was just too late for us. Missed this and we would have to wait till Friday for the next flight.
The challenge was this: the bullet train would only start at 6:35 am. The journey was made up of two stages. We had to take the train from one platform to Shin-Osaka. This journey will take us up to one hour 45 minutes. The arrival time was about 8:20 am.
Once we reached Shin-Osaka, we had to find the platform to board the train to Kansai airport. This journey will take us another one hour up from 8:46 to 9:46 am. The plane will leave for Malaysia at 11 am! The other difficulty was language. We did not know any Japanese. Using sign language and language cards, Ben (who came with us) managed to find out that three tickets were needed, two to Shin-Osaka and all three to Kansai. Phew!
We had to try.
Whilst waiting for the Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka, Amanda said that the virus was attacking her bones and her heart. She felt that the virus was eating her up. Joseph later told me that the dengue virus was also known as the "bone-breaking" virus i.e. this kind of virus eats up the victim alive! I was very worried. There was nothing I could do but rely on God to deliver her.
Praying and interceding we made it to Kansai airport on time. The Shinkansen was super fast. super quiet and super efficient. Though sleepy and tired, I could see several towns like Kyoto on the way. It was Japan sight-seeing super speed!
The moment we walked up to the Airasia counter, we were so relieved. The counter was still opened at 10 am!
PRAISE GOD! Surely God's angels were with us all the way.
The plane took off on time. Once on board, we ordered a small can of 100 plus. Amanda felt some relief after drinking it.
Reaching KL at about 4 pm, we took the taxi straight to Pantai Ampang. That night she was admitted.
We made it doing the amazing race with God's help and the prayers of the saints!
Pastor later told us that he knew of one case where the lady died on the 3rd day of getting dengue.
Here was my daughter still fighting for her life after the 4th day! At Pantai, the fever left her immediately after they put her on the drip.
Apparently dengue deaths have increased of late and the health authorities have become increasing concerned. Spike in dengue cases have also given rise to a number of deaths.
I received a call from the health inspector who interviewed me concerning Amanda's condition. She said that once there were more than 2 cases, they had to send people to fog the area!
Amanda spent Friday at Pantai and was discharged on Saturday. Her platelets dropped to 113 but the doctor said that she could go home as most of her vital signs had stabilized.
THANK YOU JESUS AND THANK YOU PASTOR & HGC FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!
There is no dengue in Japan!
26 August 2014
Amanda called me to her room in the early morning. I was shocked to see her skin covered in rashes. Her face and body was raging hot. She kept on vomiting.
One look at her and I knew that it was the deadly dengue!
I prayed for her and asked her to shower and go down for breakfast. We had to seek the advice of the tour leader on what we should do. We were actually due to travel to Hamamatsu about 4 hours out of Osaka and to visit some other places.
Amanda could not eat or drink anything. She kept on vomiting and complained of headaches. She also started having eye pain and the eyes became light sensitive, all symptoms of dengue. I gave her my dark glasses and someone gave her a hat to wear.
Despite all these we got on the bus and traveled to Nara Park, Peace Palace. Amanda and I sat and rested in the bus while the others went out for photo taking and sightseeing. Our tour leader went around looking for 100 plus. Being the second time, she got inflicted by dengue, we had the experience to know that drinking lots of 100 plus while help in the recovery.
However we were not in Malaysia but in Japan where there was no 100 plus! The tour leader bought an isotonic drink called Aquarius which he said had the same ingredients like 100 plus.
Amanda being the pharmacy student that she was said that Aquarius did not equal 100 plus. Some important ingredient was missing. Anyway she drank one bottle and ended up vomiting everything.
The good thing was that Amanda had a good apetite and she did not vomit out her lunch!
After the traditional Japanese lunch at Nara Park where deers roam around freely, we visited a few more places before the 4-hour drive to Hamamatsu. A part of me was praying that she would recover as I did not want to miss this maiden trip to Japan. I sent a text to Pastor Khor via viber. He immediately called me and prayed for Amanda.
She slept all the way in the bus and so did I. The fever did not go off neither did the vomiting. I was getting worried.
We had a good dinner at a Sumo restaurant. This restaurant was opened by a famous Sumo wrestler in Japan. Again we sat on the floor and ate delicious vegetables, chicken and taufoo from a big pot. The soup was delicious and so was the udon that went with it.
At night, the tour leaders took us to a private hospital. The doctor on duty did not know what was dengue. We tried to tell him the symptoms yet he was not sure. Eventually his nurse told him that the disease had not been seen in Japan for the past 10 years! The doctor referred to a medical book and told us that he was unable to treat Amanda.
He wrote a referral letter for us to go the big hospital for treatment. Medication (look like the Japanese version of panadol) was given. The cost was about 5.8k yen which Allan said was reasonable.
I now had two choices: checked her into the local hospital to be put on the drip or take the next flight home.
The first option was going to inconvenience the whole tour as it was going to disrupt the others. Further none of us could speak Japanese save for Allan. Tim and I also brought only 70k yen between us which would be insufficient for the hospital fees. The tour leader told us that he had a case where relatives had to fly in from Malaysia to bring money to pay for the hospital fees! Japanese hospital do not accept credit cards!
The second option seemed to be the best alternative. Rather than spend time and money in the local hospital, it would be better for us to use the money to buy two tickets home.
That night when I saw blood spots on her hand (internal bleeding) I knew that I had to act. Ben helped me to book two tickets home. The only challenge was the timing. The flight home on Thursday was from Kansai, Osaka at 11 am. The first bullet train (Shinkansen) out of Hamamatsu was 6:35 am. Can we make it in time?
What I did not know was that the church was praying for us. It was Wednesday and there was corporate prayer. I would be there at 7:30 pm to prepare the place for the corporate prayer meeting. Pastor later told me that members joined hands together to pray for Amanda.
It was that night that I thought I was going to lose her. I led her to pray a prayer of re-dedication. I also prayed to release her to the Lord. She could not sleep due to the raging fever. I kept on sponging her.
Amanda called me to her room in the early morning. I was shocked to see her skin covered in rashes. Her face and body was raging hot. She kept on vomiting.
One look at her and I knew that it was the deadly dengue!
I prayed for her and asked her to shower and go down for breakfast. We had to seek the advice of the tour leader on what we should do. We were actually due to travel to Hamamatsu about 4 hours out of Osaka and to visit some other places.
Amanda could not eat or drink anything. She kept on vomiting and complained of headaches. She also started having eye pain and the eyes became light sensitive, all symptoms of dengue. I gave her my dark glasses and someone gave her a hat to wear.
Despite all these we got on the bus and traveled to Nara Park, Peace Palace. Amanda and I sat and rested in the bus while the others went out for photo taking and sightseeing. Our tour leader went around looking for 100 plus. Being the second time, she got inflicted by dengue, we had the experience to know that drinking lots of 100 plus while help in the recovery.
However we were not in Malaysia but in Japan where there was no 100 plus! The tour leader bought an isotonic drink called Aquarius which he said had the same ingredients like 100 plus.
Amanda being the pharmacy student that she was said that Aquarius did not equal 100 plus. Some important ingredient was missing. Anyway she drank one bottle and ended up vomiting everything.
The good thing was that Amanda had a good apetite and she did not vomit out her lunch!
After the traditional Japanese lunch at Nara Park where deers roam around freely, we visited a few more places before the 4-hour drive to Hamamatsu. A part of me was praying that she would recover as I did not want to miss this maiden trip to Japan. I sent a text to Pastor Khor via viber. He immediately called me and prayed for Amanda.
She slept all the way in the bus and so did I. The fever did not go off neither did the vomiting. I was getting worried.
We had a good dinner at a Sumo restaurant. This restaurant was opened by a famous Sumo wrestler in Japan. Again we sat on the floor and ate delicious vegetables, chicken and taufoo from a big pot. The soup was delicious and so was the udon that went with it.
At night, the tour leaders took us to a private hospital. The doctor on duty did not know what was dengue. We tried to tell him the symptoms yet he was not sure. Eventually his nurse told him that the disease had not been seen in Japan for the past 10 years! The doctor referred to a medical book and told us that he was unable to treat Amanda.
He wrote a referral letter for us to go the big hospital for treatment. Medication (look like the Japanese version of panadol) was given. The cost was about 5.8k yen which Allan said was reasonable.
I now had two choices: checked her into the local hospital to be put on the drip or take the next flight home.
The first option was going to inconvenience the whole tour as it was going to disrupt the others. Further none of us could speak Japanese save for Allan. Tim and I also brought only 70k yen between us which would be insufficient for the hospital fees. The tour leader told us that he had a case where relatives had to fly in from Malaysia to bring money to pay for the hospital fees! Japanese hospital do not accept credit cards!
The second option seemed to be the best alternative. Rather than spend time and money in the local hospital, it would be better for us to use the money to buy two tickets home.
That night when I saw blood spots on her hand (internal bleeding) I knew that I had to act. Ben helped me to book two tickets home. The only challenge was the timing. The flight home on Thursday was from Kansai, Osaka at 11 am. The first bullet train (Shinkansen) out of Hamamatsu was 6:35 am. Can we make it in time?
What I did not know was that the church was praying for us. It was Wednesday and there was corporate prayer. I would be there at 7:30 pm to prepare the place for the corporate prayer meeting. Pastor later told me that members joined hands together to pray for Amanda.
It was that night that I thought I was going to lose her. I led her to pray a prayer of re-dedication. I also prayed to release her to the Lord. She could not sleep due to the raging fever. I kept on sponging her.
Universal Studios, Osaka, Japan
25 Aug and we woke up at 6 am.
At 7 am we trouped down for our buffet breakfast.
The selection was like a diet buffet! Seaweed, Japanese silky taufoo, miso soup, onion soup, tokoyaki, croissants, bread cakes, bonito flakes, small crispy sausages, eggs, beans, juices, salads, odon, green tea noodles - no wonder the average Japanese look like they were on a perpetual diet. No nasi lemak, no mee goreng, no rich cakes, no fried rice, no goreng stuff.....!
We were taken to Universal Studios. Due to the crowd, Tim and I only managed to watch Sesame Street 4-D!
We did manage to take pictures with Shrek and Snoopy though but the crowd was really amazing!
Thanked God we received special treatment due to my wheel-chair. We then made our way to Harry Potter village, the latest attraction in US. I am not a fan of this genre so I just sat around in the wheel-chair with Tim and took pictures with the steam engine.
We skipped lunch. We were then taken to Shin Sai Bai Shi, a shopping area like Bukit Bintang. We took our tea break at Mcdonalds. Surprise! Surprise! No fillet-o-fish but they serve fillet-o-prawn. We had potato chips and fried chicken without tomato or chilli sauce simply because Mcdonalds do not have such sauces! Really healthy. I think in Malaysia we slather our chips with too much sauces!
As I could not walk for too long, I took refuge in a Japanese fast-food restaurant and had my favorite Japanese taufoo for 150 yen (about RM4).
Dinner was Japanese steamboat with deliciously thin beef, slices of pork, chicken and crispy small sausages. The broth was just water with bits of seaweed but the strength of its flavoring was in the sesame sauce that we poured lavishly into individual bowls. Japanese rice was simply delicious to eat. Soft, slightly sticky and fragrant, it tasted sweet.
My only complaint - we sat on the floor with our legs dangling in the space below the floor! Very bad for my knees!
The food made up for it though.
I broke my vegetarian fast and had beef at the urging of my family members.
Delicious. As Allan said, you can go to eat anywhere in Japan (especially in the small eateries and the food was simply delicious). Lots of vegetables like needle mushrooms, cabbages filled up the steamboat-pot. No spoons were given as the Japanese drink the soup direct from their bowls.
We spent our second night at the Dai-ichi Hotel.
At 7 am we trouped down for our buffet breakfast.
The selection was like a diet buffet! Seaweed, Japanese silky taufoo, miso soup, onion soup, tokoyaki, croissants, bread cakes, bonito flakes, small crispy sausages, eggs, beans, juices, salads, odon, green tea noodles - no wonder the average Japanese look like they were on a perpetual diet. No nasi lemak, no mee goreng, no rich cakes, no fried rice, no goreng stuff.....!
We were taken to Universal Studios. Due to the crowd, Tim and I only managed to watch Sesame Street 4-D!
We did manage to take pictures with Shrek and Snoopy though but the crowd was really amazing!
Thanked God we received special treatment due to my wheel-chair. We then made our way to Harry Potter village, the latest attraction in US. I am not a fan of this genre so I just sat around in the wheel-chair with Tim and took pictures with the steam engine.
We skipped lunch. We were then taken to Shin Sai Bai Shi, a shopping area like Bukit Bintang. We took our tea break at Mcdonalds. Surprise! Surprise! No fillet-o-fish but they serve fillet-o-prawn. We had potato chips and fried chicken without tomato or chilli sauce simply because Mcdonalds do not have such sauces! Really healthy. I think in Malaysia we slather our chips with too much sauces!
As I could not walk for too long, I took refuge in a Japanese fast-food restaurant and had my favorite Japanese taufoo for 150 yen (about RM4).
Dinner was Japanese steamboat with deliciously thin beef, slices of pork, chicken and crispy small sausages. The broth was just water with bits of seaweed but the strength of its flavoring was in the sesame sauce that we poured lavishly into individual bowls. Japanese rice was simply delicious to eat. Soft, slightly sticky and fragrant, it tasted sweet.
My only complaint - we sat on the floor with our legs dangling in the space below the floor! Very bad for my knees!
The food made up for it though.
I broke my vegetarian fast and had beef at the urging of my family members.
Delicious. As Allan said, you can go to eat anywhere in Japan (especially in the small eateries and the food was simply delicious). Lots of vegetables like needle mushrooms, cabbages filled up the steamboat-pot. No spoons were given as the Japanese drink the soup direct from their bowls.
We spent our second night at the Dai-ichi Hotel.
Osaka, Japan - 24 Aug to 27 Aug
Aug 25 2014 - Monday
Japan here we come!
It was a dream come true. I was going to Japan with my family! We were so excited - Amanda, Samuel, Tim and me. Amanda's friend came along too. The other friend pulled out the last minute and her mother (Jo) took her place.
Our flight was 3 pm in the afternoon. The tour agency assigned Ben Lum to accompany us.
At that time Amanda was having fever at about 38%. We thought it was only viral fever. The doctor just gave her some medication. Dengue was definitely not in our minds at that time!
Anyway Amanda passed the strict temperature test at Kansai airport in Osaka.
As for me, I had a bad left knee. I felt that my knee bones literally moving while walking. It felt that I had a locked left knee! Every time I sat down and got up, the pain was excruciating. Seeing me with crutches, the super friendly, super efficient ground staff at Kansai airport assigned Kumiko Marukami to me. Kumiko pushed me in a wheel-chair past the long queues and took me through special check-out lanes!
I realized that the knee got worse after my two trips to Penang and JB. Both flights were from Subang. The walk to the tarmac was long and the climb up the steep steel staircase was simply excruciating!
The awful thing was that when Jo collected her luggage, she found the locks missing and the luggage bag open! We realized that someone had attempted to open the bag. Thank goodness nothing was taken from her suitcase.
I tried to take a photo of Kansai airport. Suddenly the ground staff rushed to me and said to me "No photo. Delete. Delete!" Goodness me! I did not know they were so strict. Anyway Kansai was nothing to shout about as compared to our beautiful KLIA 2. Our tour guide Allan from Macau came to study in Japan and ended up getting married. He could speak fluent Cantonese and Japanese!
We were taken to Kansai Washington Hotel to spend the night. Our hotel room was pretty big and comfortable with pink bed-spreads and really soft beds! Water could be drunk straight from the taps.
No dustbins were found anywhere except in the toilets. We were told that the Japanese carried their rubbish home to be put into 4 recycled bins. We were also told that for cooking oil recycling, they would have to buy a certain powder to be put into the cooking oil before they dispose of the oil in the recycle bins! Everything in Japan is recyclable.
Japan is like a sanitized country. Simply squeaky clean! Rivers are greenish-clean. Roads were devoid of rubbish. Hotel rooms smell fresh. REFRESHING!
Japan here we come!
It was a dream come true. I was going to Japan with my family! We were so excited - Amanda, Samuel, Tim and me. Amanda's friend came along too. The other friend pulled out the last minute and her mother (Jo) took her place.
Our flight was 3 pm in the afternoon. The tour agency assigned Ben Lum to accompany us.
At that time Amanda was having fever at about 38%. We thought it was only viral fever. The doctor just gave her some medication. Dengue was definitely not in our minds at that time!
Anyway Amanda passed the strict temperature test at Kansai airport in Osaka.
As for me, I had a bad left knee. I felt that my knee bones literally moving while walking. It felt that I had a locked left knee! Every time I sat down and got up, the pain was excruciating. Seeing me with crutches, the super friendly, super efficient ground staff at Kansai airport assigned Kumiko Marukami to me. Kumiko pushed me in a wheel-chair past the long queues and took me through special check-out lanes!
I realized that the knee got worse after my two trips to Penang and JB. Both flights were from Subang. The walk to the tarmac was long and the climb up the steep steel staircase was simply excruciating!
The awful thing was that when Jo collected her luggage, she found the locks missing and the luggage bag open! We realized that someone had attempted to open the bag. Thank goodness nothing was taken from her suitcase.
I tried to take a photo of Kansai airport. Suddenly the ground staff rushed to me and said to me "No photo. Delete. Delete!" Goodness me! I did not know they were so strict. Anyway Kansai was nothing to shout about as compared to our beautiful KLIA 2. Our tour guide Allan from Macau came to study in Japan and ended up getting married. He could speak fluent Cantonese and Japanese!
We were taken to Kansai Washington Hotel to spend the night. Our hotel room was pretty big and comfortable with pink bed-spreads and really soft beds! Water could be drunk straight from the taps.
No dustbins were found anywhere except in the toilets. We were told that the Japanese carried their rubbish home to be put into 4 recycled bins. We were also told that for cooking oil recycling, they would have to buy a certain powder to be put into the cooking oil before they dispose of the oil in the recycle bins! Everything in Japan is recyclable.
Japan is like a sanitized country. Simply squeaky clean! Rivers are greenish-clean. Roads were devoid of rubbish. Hotel rooms smell fresh. REFRESHING!
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Investing wisely in property
My eldest daughter was asking me some advice about investing in property. She was looking at some property out of KL and wanted my views on it.
I told her that I expect the property market to go on a downward slide when GST kicks in next year. At 6% there will be be another round of rise in GST to 10% in 2016.
At a recent talk in GST, this accountant who claimed to have connections with some top people told us that Japan's economy went on a downward slide after GST came into force. His prediction was that our country would also experience a recession when the GST is imposed next year just like what happened to the economy of Japan.
Now I wish to put in a proviso here i.e. I am no property expert as I do not have in my stable any property other than the one I am staying in.
Even this property was bought with God's blessing. We did not have money for a down payment back in the 1980s. God just brought to us a seller who desperately wanted to migrate. It ended up that we got the property for RM20k less than the market value as the money was given to us (on paper) by the seller.
However I do have a piece of agri land in Bentong which I bought with my friend but that purchase was a failure from day one. I prefer to put this land far at the back of my mind and can only pray for a compulsory acquisition to take me out of this bad investment.
I gave my daughter a caution - I am no property expert as I have no experience whatsoever in property investment save for the Bentong land which I consider a flop.
My daughter says she intends to buy property for rental income and capital appreciation. She says she will read and research the property market before making any decision.
Well, I told her that it is good if she has excess money. As for me even if I wanted to buy property, I could not possibly afford to do so as I have no excess funds due to my heavy financial commitments. Even if I have, I think I would prefer to spend it on holidays and missions and other church-related activities.
Life is short. My desire is to live it glorifying God and bringing others closer to Him!
Anyway I remember a property investment which my father made years ago when he was alive.
His bungalow in Tanjung Bungah, Penang was sold for a very small sum of RM120k during the 1980s economic recession when Anwar was the Finance Minister and Soros was meddling in currencies. At that time, I had just started work but could not afford to give him more than RM500 a month as my pay was RM1,600 gross and I had just got married.
My father had to sell the house as he wanted the funds to support my younger siblings to pay for their tertiary education. At that time the property market was on a downward slide and foreclosures were the norm. The price he sold the house for was considered a good price as house prices were depressed during the economic crisis.
My late father decided to sell the house as he needed the money. I wonder....if he had not sold it, the value of the house would have been RM1 million now (30 years later)!
I have come to realize this that a property should only be bought when we have the power to hold it long term.
If we need to sell it to help others then we should like what my father did.
Property, assets and other possessions should be held lightly. When our loved ones need us to sell the property to help them out for a noble and essential cause like funding their higher education then we should do so.....
Never regret the decision to sell.
Would I still invest in property during slow times? I don't know and will have to wait and see whether the economic experts will be proven right or wrong.
I told her that I expect the property market to go on a downward slide when GST kicks in next year. At 6% there will be be another round of rise in GST to 10% in 2016.
At a recent talk in GST, this accountant who claimed to have connections with some top people told us that Japan's economy went on a downward slide after GST came into force. His prediction was that our country would also experience a recession when the GST is imposed next year just like what happened to the economy of Japan.
Now I wish to put in a proviso here i.e. I am no property expert as I do not have in my stable any property other than the one I am staying in.
Even this property was bought with God's blessing. We did not have money for a down payment back in the 1980s. God just brought to us a seller who desperately wanted to migrate. It ended up that we got the property for RM20k less than the market value as the money was given to us (on paper) by the seller.
However I do have a piece of agri land in Bentong which I bought with my friend but that purchase was a failure from day one. I prefer to put this land far at the back of my mind and can only pray for a compulsory acquisition to take me out of this bad investment.
I gave my daughter a caution - I am no property expert as I have no experience whatsoever in property investment save for the Bentong land which I consider a flop.
My daughter says she intends to buy property for rental income and capital appreciation. She says she will read and research the property market before making any decision.
Well, I told her that it is good if she has excess money. As for me even if I wanted to buy property, I could not possibly afford to do so as I have no excess funds due to my heavy financial commitments. Even if I have, I think I would prefer to spend it on holidays and missions and other church-related activities.
Life is short. My desire is to live it glorifying God and bringing others closer to Him!
Anyway I remember a property investment which my father made years ago when he was alive.
His bungalow in Tanjung Bungah, Penang was sold for a very small sum of RM120k during the 1980s economic recession when Anwar was the Finance Minister and Soros was meddling in currencies. At that time, I had just started work but could not afford to give him more than RM500 a month as my pay was RM1,600 gross and I had just got married.
My father had to sell the house as he wanted the funds to support my younger siblings to pay for their tertiary education. At that time the property market was on a downward slide and foreclosures were the norm. The price he sold the house for was considered a good price as house prices were depressed during the economic crisis.
My late father decided to sell the house as he needed the money. I wonder....if he had not sold it, the value of the house would have been RM1 million now (30 years later)!
I have come to realize this that a property should only be bought when we have the power to hold it long term.
If we need to sell it to help others then we should like what my father did.
Property, assets and other possessions should be held lightly. When our loved ones need us to sell the property to help them out for a noble and essential cause like funding their higher education then we should do so.....
Never regret the decision to sell.
Would I still invest in property during slow times? I don't know and will have to wait and see whether the economic experts will be proven right or wrong.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Tim's seafood porridge & others.....
Tim is really good in making fah sang, pumpkin, sweet potato and seafood porridge. We can eat it for days and not grow tired of it...
This blog entry is Tim's story....
The other day he mentioned to me that perhaps he gained his love and skill for making porridge from his mother. His late mother was one of the most famous porridge maker in Penang. She first sold her yee sang kai chok in Chowrasta market. Then she later moved to the Island kopitiam (now re-named).
Everyday she would wake up early at about 4 am in the morning to boil the chicken. The white meat succulent chicken would be plunged into the boiling water to boil and simmer for an hour or so. The chicken essence left behind in the soup would then be used to boil the rice thus giving rise to a delicious nutritious rice with a golden yellowish hue. The rest of the chicken essence will be boiled with a little less rice to make smooth chicken porridge that was simply fragrant.
Fluffy and tasty chicken rice boiled and cooked in the chicken essence tasted simply scrumptious. Smooth and silky chicken porridge tasted simply exquisite when made with love and sacrifice!
To be sure, we were never short of food whenever we were back in Penang. We had the best yee sang kai chok porridge for free! Sadly the trade was only carried on for a while by Tim's second brother, Kin which he later abandoned for something more lucrative which he called "turning rubbish into gold" (more about that next time)......
The chicken still in its skin would then be prepared for sale to be eaten together with the porridge and chicken rice. The chicken entrails will also be prepared to be sold together with the porridge (though I don't really eat the innards and stuff like that!)
As an option for those not keen on chicken, his mother would also prepare the fish (sek pan) to make fish porridge for sale in her little stall.
I still remember the small kitchen in their rent control house where cauldrons of chicken soup and porridge were prepared in the wee hours of the morning.
She was the sole breadwinner as Tim's father was very miserly, like scrooge. He liked to hoard money. In fact when he died, the legend was that his mother found a stash of money under his bed which was used to finance his funeral. His habit was to take out the money, count and re-count it before putting it back into the hiding place. He later suffered a stroke and left his printing job to push trishaws. Being miserly, he left the financial support of the family totally on the shoulders of Tim's mother. I used to give him tracts to read when he was alive. We were later told by Tim's grandma that before he died, he was calling on Jesus which, according to the grandma, was something good.
The grandma herself was brought to Church by Marcus, the Pastor of the Penang First Assembly of God, a growing and thriving church in Penang. Marcus was a close friend of the family who stayed with the grandma before he became a pastor. He was actually taken care of by Tim's grandma. To this day whenever we visit the Penang First Assembly of God, Ps Marcus would always extend us the warmest welcome. Although she was never baptized or made a clear commitment for Christ, she was a kindly lady who had only good words to say about people. She died at 90 years old of old age with no major sickness.
In view of the eccentricity of his father, Tim's mother had no alternative but to do a business in order to support the family.
The sales must have been reasonably good in her younger days if not she would not have used the proceeds to support her family. Although Tim received a bank scholarship to study business administration in UM with a 7 year bond to his scholarship-giver, his mother was still instrumental in meeting his daily needs and supporting the other 2 sons - Danny and Kin.
In addition she was also supporting the adopted sister and her 90-year-old mother in law.
His mother was a friendly and humble lady who insisted that I call her lai lai (Cantonese word for mother in law) although I gave up soon after that as I found the language too formal...which was something she did not mind. I called her mama (mother in Cantonese).
Being a smoker and later a gambler-host i.e. one who host gambling sessions and earn a commission from the winnings, she died of lung cancer as she was a chain smoker (like her late husband).
However before she died she prayed the sinner's prayer and accepted Jesus into her life.
What can we learn from her life - no matter how tough our financial situation is, do not give up. Do not look down on hawkers or poor people who open humble food stalls to make a living.
Treasure our parents for their sacrifice. Support them financially when they are alive because when they die there will be no more opportunity for us to make them happy with our giving. Nothing makes our parents more happy than to receive money from us every month. In doing so they can be assured that we will not abandon them to the streets or the old folks home.
In fact Tim bought a house in Ayer Itam at her request. However it was later sold at a loss at the height of the financial crisis as his younger brother needed the funds to start his hair styling business - however this will be fodder for another story of Tim's family.....
This blog entry is Tim's story....
The other day he mentioned to me that perhaps he gained his love and skill for making porridge from his mother. His late mother was one of the most famous porridge maker in Penang. She first sold her yee sang kai chok in Chowrasta market. Then she later moved to the Island kopitiam (now re-named).
Everyday she would wake up early at about 4 am in the morning to boil the chicken. The white meat succulent chicken would be plunged into the boiling water to boil and simmer for an hour or so. The chicken essence left behind in the soup would then be used to boil the rice thus giving rise to a delicious nutritious rice with a golden yellowish hue. The rest of the chicken essence will be boiled with a little less rice to make smooth chicken porridge that was simply fragrant.
Fluffy and tasty chicken rice boiled and cooked in the chicken essence tasted simply scrumptious. Smooth and silky chicken porridge tasted simply exquisite when made with love and sacrifice!
To be sure, we were never short of food whenever we were back in Penang. We had the best yee sang kai chok porridge for free! Sadly the trade was only carried on for a while by Tim's second brother, Kin which he later abandoned for something more lucrative which he called "turning rubbish into gold" (more about that next time)......
The chicken still in its skin would then be prepared for sale to be eaten together with the porridge and chicken rice. The chicken entrails will also be prepared to be sold together with the porridge (though I don't really eat the innards and stuff like that!)
As an option for those not keen on chicken, his mother would also prepare the fish (sek pan) to make fish porridge for sale in her little stall.
I still remember the small kitchen in their rent control house where cauldrons of chicken soup and porridge were prepared in the wee hours of the morning.
She was the sole breadwinner as Tim's father was very miserly, like scrooge. He liked to hoard money. In fact when he died, the legend was that his mother found a stash of money under his bed which was used to finance his funeral. His habit was to take out the money, count and re-count it before putting it back into the hiding place. He later suffered a stroke and left his printing job to push trishaws. Being miserly, he left the financial support of the family totally on the shoulders of Tim's mother. I used to give him tracts to read when he was alive. We were later told by Tim's grandma that before he died, he was calling on Jesus which, according to the grandma, was something good.
The grandma herself was brought to Church by Marcus, the Pastor of the Penang First Assembly of God, a growing and thriving church in Penang. Marcus was a close friend of the family who stayed with the grandma before he became a pastor. He was actually taken care of by Tim's grandma. To this day whenever we visit the Penang First Assembly of God, Ps Marcus would always extend us the warmest welcome. Although she was never baptized or made a clear commitment for Christ, she was a kindly lady who had only good words to say about people. She died at 90 years old of old age with no major sickness.
In view of the eccentricity of his father, Tim's mother had no alternative but to do a business in order to support the family.
The sales must have been reasonably good in her younger days if not she would not have used the proceeds to support her family. Although Tim received a bank scholarship to study business administration in UM with a 7 year bond to his scholarship-giver, his mother was still instrumental in meeting his daily needs and supporting the other 2 sons - Danny and Kin.
In addition she was also supporting the adopted sister and her 90-year-old mother in law.
His mother was a friendly and humble lady who insisted that I call her lai lai (Cantonese word for mother in law) although I gave up soon after that as I found the language too formal...which was something she did not mind. I called her mama (mother in Cantonese).
Being a smoker and later a gambler-host i.e. one who host gambling sessions and earn a commission from the winnings, she died of lung cancer as she was a chain smoker (like her late husband).
However before she died she prayed the sinner's prayer and accepted Jesus into her life.
What can we learn from her life - no matter how tough our financial situation is, do not give up. Do not look down on hawkers or poor people who open humble food stalls to make a living.
Treasure our parents for their sacrifice. Support them financially when they are alive because when they die there will be no more opportunity for us to make them happy with our giving. Nothing makes our parents more happy than to receive money from us every month. In doing so they can be assured that we will not abandon them to the streets or the old folks home.
In fact Tim bought a house in Ayer Itam at her request. However it was later sold at a loss at the height of the financial crisis as his younger brother needed the funds to start his hair styling business - however this will be fodder for another story of Tim's family.....
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Knocking down a policeman
While we were in Macau, Sam got involved in an accident!
He was talking with his friend while driving on the highway and the car in front of him suddenly stopped. He could not brake in time or the brakes failed. To avoid hitting the car in front in the fast lane, he swerved to the right and hit a policeman on a motorbike on the left lane! The motorbike was not too badly damaged but my Honda was with the left side heavily indented and the mirror bent downwards.
Thank goodness that no car ran over the policeman otherwise this would have been very serious. My son did not run away from the scene of the accident but instead was responsible to take the policeman to the clinic and paid for his medical treatment. Cost Sam about RM138 for the medical treatment. He then lodged a report. Sam later told me that it never came to his mind to hit and run from the scene. He felt responsible for the accident.
However as the policeman did not want to put Sam in the lock-up (apparently knocking down a policeman is a serious offence) he lodged a report taking responsibility for the accident.
When I met the policeman later to sort out the amount to pay him for the repairs on the bike, he told us that he did not want to put Sam behind bars (remand) as going to the lock-up is a curse. Even the Chinese do not want to be locked up or hand-cuffed. Once you are locked up, apparently you will end up in the lock up again!
He said that his report was lodged to protect Sam as he was only a student and his driving licence would be suspended since he knocked down a policeman.
We managed to negotiate RM1,500 as settlement (which was by no means a small amount) which money would have to come out from Sam's monthly allowance of RM200 per month.
I want to give thanks for this incident as Sam was emotionally affected by it and cried while I was scolding him (quite badly) on this matter. He cried and said that he just wanted to die.
All things worked out for good to those who love the Lord and to those who are called according to His purpose:
1. Tim's good friend got a car repair job repairing our Honda. If the accident had not happened Tim's good friend would have no business and according to the car repair man, jobs have been hard to come by and business is slow. This seems to be the case as I spoke to different people over this past week or so. A lawyer told me yesterday that his work has slowed down and bills were not being paid.
2. The policeman was able to give a warning to Sam not to drive fast in future. I did asked the policeman "what do you think was the cause of the accident?" He said that he was driving too fast in the fast lane. If his speed was slower he could have slowed down in time to avoid knocking into his motorbike.
3. My son promised to drive safe and to drive slow next time.
All in the following people benefited from the accident:
1. Wah Chai who repaired the car and who was grateful for the business as his business has slowed down considerably (yes, strange as it may be there are people earning an honest living from the misfortunes of others)
2. The policeman who would have got some extra cash from me for his spending money which is something that I would never know for sure although he said that his repairs will cost about RM3k plus.
"Never mind" I told Sam "We just bless him as his pay is not very high". Apparently the policeman said his pay is about RM1k plus only! I believe this is his basic pay not his pay plus allowance.
3. Samuel - who has learnt precious lessons on driving from me especially on defensive driving.
A few days after this Karpal Singh (Tiger of Jelutong) died in a car accident. His driver who had many speeding summonses crashed into a slow moving lorry in front and caused the car to careen to the divider. Karpal and his personal assistant died in the accident. If the driver had not been driving fast he would have stopped in time to avoid hitting the lorry.
Speed does not pay. Speed kills. May all my children and all my grandchildren learn something from this entry in the family blog.
He was talking with his friend while driving on the highway and the car in front of him suddenly stopped. He could not brake in time or the brakes failed. To avoid hitting the car in front in the fast lane, he swerved to the right and hit a policeman on a motorbike on the left lane! The motorbike was not too badly damaged but my Honda was with the left side heavily indented and the mirror bent downwards.
Thank goodness that no car ran over the policeman otherwise this would have been very serious. My son did not run away from the scene of the accident but instead was responsible to take the policeman to the clinic and paid for his medical treatment. Cost Sam about RM138 for the medical treatment. He then lodged a report. Sam later told me that it never came to his mind to hit and run from the scene. He felt responsible for the accident.
However as the policeman did not want to put Sam in the lock-up (apparently knocking down a policeman is a serious offence) he lodged a report taking responsibility for the accident.
When I met the policeman later to sort out the amount to pay him for the repairs on the bike, he told us that he did not want to put Sam behind bars (remand) as going to the lock-up is a curse. Even the Chinese do not want to be locked up or hand-cuffed. Once you are locked up, apparently you will end up in the lock up again!
He said that his report was lodged to protect Sam as he was only a student and his driving licence would be suspended since he knocked down a policeman.
We managed to negotiate RM1,500 as settlement (which was by no means a small amount) which money would have to come out from Sam's monthly allowance of RM200 per month.
I want to give thanks for this incident as Sam was emotionally affected by it and cried while I was scolding him (quite badly) on this matter. He cried and said that he just wanted to die.
All things worked out for good to those who love the Lord and to those who are called according to His purpose:
1. Tim's good friend got a car repair job repairing our Honda. If the accident had not happened Tim's good friend would have no business and according to the car repair man, jobs have been hard to come by and business is slow. This seems to be the case as I spoke to different people over this past week or so. A lawyer told me yesterday that his work has slowed down and bills were not being paid.
2. The policeman was able to give a warning to Sam not to drive fast in future. I did asked the policeman "what do you think was the cause of the accident?" He said that he was driving too fast in the fast lane. If his speed was slower he could have slowed down in time to avoid knocking into his motorbike.
3. My son promised to drive safe and to drive slow next time.
All in the following people benefited from the accident:
1. Wah Chai who repaired the car and who was grateful for the business as his business has slowed down considerably (yes, strange as it may be there are people earning an honest living from the misfortunes of others)
2. The policeman who would have got some extra cash from me for his spending money which is something that I would never know for sure although he said that his repairs will cost about RM3k plus.
"Never mind" I told Sam "We just bless him as his pay is not very high". Apparently the policeman said his pay is about RM1k plus only! I believe this is his basic pay not his pay plus allowance.
3. Samuel - who has learnt precious lessons on driving from me especially on defensive driving.
A few days after this Karpal Singh (Tiger of Jelutong) died in a car accident. His driver who had many speeding summonses crashed into a slow moving lorry in front and caused the car to careen to the divider. Karpal and his personal assistant died in the accident. If the driver had not been driving fast he would have stopped in time to avoid hitting the lorry.
Speed does not pay. Speed kills. May all my children and all my grandchildren learn something from this entry in the family blog.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Venice in Macau
On the last day we wanted to go to the Venetian as we heard on TV that there was a gondola ride in the Venetian.
We were delighted to learn that Hotel Royal had a bus going to Macau Tower and from Macau Tower we were informed that we could board another bus to the City of Dreams and thereafter the Venetian. God planned everything for us as we had also planned a visit to Macau Tower in our program!
After a breakfast of the famous Macau pork chop bun and curry fish bread with 2 cups of delicious lai cha (milk tea) just a few shops away from the Hotel, we hopped onto the bus to Macau Tower. Incidentally Tim had planned to go to Tai Lei Loi Kei, the famous Macau pork chop self service kiosk but it turned out that we ended up eating at the TLLK in Pandan Indah as we could not make it to the Macau outlet!
Nothing much at Macau Tower except photo taking and watching people moving down from the Tower on harness!
Another bus took us to the City of Dreams, a 5 star shopping center with a lovely mermaid backdrop. However the branded items selling at the City of Dreams were way beyond our budget.
Next stop - the Venetian. One of the loveliest shopping complex in Macau must be the Venetian. Walking into the complex, you could check in your luggage at one entrance and check them out at the other entrance. I understood why...right smack in the center of the complex is a huge casino...one cannot avoid walking right into the casino as it was designed in this manner! Perhaps people spend night and day gambling in the casino without sleep.
Indeed in every shopping complex in Macau there is a casino. Not only casinos, there are horse racing and dog racing centers as well!
However the second floor of the Venetian is the most beautiful part of the shopping complex (in my view). It was amazing to step into a different world, a different city! One could see a beautiful artificial sky painted on the ceiling with artificial lights as though we were in an open city. The lights could dim to reflect different times of the day. There was a lady dressed like a 15th century Venetian court singer singing a lovely soprano song. There were musicians playing the harp and other instruments. Facades of buildings looking like houses in Venice and Florence surrounded us. I felt transported to Venice - one of the most beautiful cities in the world!
Right in the center of the Venetian (it is very long and very big) runs a canal with many gondolas. Gondoliers dressed their part call out to visitors to take a ride in their gondolas. It was amazing!
We walked and walked and took photos of bridges over the canals. We stopped at the famous Lord Stow bakery and had egg tarts, carrot drink and ginger juice to accompany our meals.
From the Venetian we boarded a bus to the airport.
Farewell Macau!
We were delighted to learn that Hotel Royal had a bus going to Macau Tower and from Macau Tower we were informed that we could board another bus to the City of Dreams and thereafter the Venetian. God planned everything for us as we had also planned a visit to Macau Tower in our program!
After a breakfast of the famous Macau pork chop bun and curry fish bread with 2 cups of delicious lai cha (milk tea) just a few shops away from the Hotel, we hopped onto the bus to Macau Tower. Incidentally Tim had planned to go to Tai Lei Loi Kei, the famous Macau pork chop self service kiosk but it turned out that we ended up eating at the TLLK in Pandan Indah as we could not make it to the Macau outlet!
Nothing much at Macau Tower except photo taking and watching people moving down from the Tower on harness!
Another bus took us to the City of Dreams, a 5 star shopping center with a lovely mermaid backdrop. However the branded items selling at the City of Dreams were way beyond our budget.
Next stop - the Venetian. One of the loveliest shopping complex in Macau must be the Venetian. Walking into the complex, you could check in your luggage at one entrance and check them out at the other entrance. I understood why...right smack in the center of the complex is a huge casino...one cannot avoid walking right into the casino as it was designed in this manner! Perhaps people spend night and day gambling in the casino without sleep.
Indeed in every shopping complex in Macau there is a casino. Not only casinos, there are horse racing and dog racing centers as well!
However the second floor of the Venetian is the most beautiful part of the shopping complex (in my view). It was amazing to step into a different world, a different city! One could see a beautiful artificial sky painted on the ceiling with artificial lights as though we were in an open city. The lights could dim to reflect different times of the day. There was a lady dressed like a 15th century Venetian court singer singing a lovely soprano song. There were musicians playing the harp and other instruments. Facades of buildings looking like houses in Venice and Florence surrounded us. I felt transported to Venice - one of the most beautiful cities in the world!
Right in the center of the Venetian (it is very long and very big) runs a canal with many gondolas. Gondoliers dressed their part call out to visitors to take a ride in their gondolas. It was amazing!
We walked and walked and took photos of bridges over the canals. We stopped at the famous Lord Stow bakery and had egg tarts, carrot drink and ginger juice to accompany our meals.
From the Venetian we boarded a bus to the airport.
Farewell Macau!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
58th birthday
Today is Tim's 58th birthday. It is also Easter Sunday.
For the first time he did something meaningful for his birthday....he blessed one of the church pastors with a hotel stay for the whole family!
It was a blessing to be able to bless God's servants with a comfortable 3 day 2 night stay in a 5-star hotel and an ang pow for their spending money...
I asked Tim how he felt, he said he felt good!
It was a joy to see the Pastor's children enjoying themselves in the hotel, taking pictures!
What a different kind of birthday.....
Samuel also bought his daddy an oreo cheese cake and our whole family went for a simple steamboat meal.....
For the first time he did something meaningful for his birthday....he blessed one of the church pastors with a hotel stay for the whole family!
It was a blessing to be able to bless God's servants with a comfortable 3 day 2 night stay in a 5-star hotel and an ang pow for their spending money...
I asked Tim how he felt, he said he felt good!
It was a joy to see the Pastor's children enjoying themselves in the hotel, taking pictures!
What a different kind of birthday.....
Samuel also bought his daddy an oreo cheese cake and our whole family went for a simple steamboat meal.....
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Crab porridge, Macoa famous egg tart and duck rice
What else to do but eat, eat, eat...
Macao is a gastronomical paradise of food, food, food. However food is pricey and more of a standard genre. I mean you talk about pork chop bun and you find it everywhere. You talk about egg tart and you also find it everywhere.
We began our morning by walking slowly to the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral. I stopped at a pharmacy to buy a cream for my knees.
We then passed a small eatery where the owner invited us to sample her crab porridge. I was intrigued. There was a Michelin star on the windows of the eatery. This would mean that this place has been rated and graded. So why not...
The friendly owners recommended the crab porridge and noodles with prawn powder/crab roe powder (not very sure). When the food came the porridge tasted so much better than the noodles. All over the tiled walls, we see pictures of actors and actresses who had sampled their food and given them a thumbs up. The noodles were kind of springy but rather plain.
After a good meal we made our way to the ruins of St Paul. The cathedral is only a facade. The interior has all broken down. In fact only a scaffold held it up.
All the way to the cathedral were many shops selling the same thing - flat barbeque meat, sesame biscuits, almond biscuits, egg rolls, walnut biscuits and whatever sweet stuff that Macao was famous for. The good thing was they shops were generous with their samples. You could literally eat your lunch while walking through the busy shopping area. At every shop you are offered samples!
I could not climb up the staircase to the cathedral due to the pain in my knees so I stayed down and bought bottles of mineral water for RM4!
Later we made our way to the Macao Museum which was located on a hill. I like the Macao Museum cos the grounds were a picture of tranquility. Up in the Museum grounds we got a very good view of the city of Macao.
Coming down from the hill, we walked slowly to Senado Square. Lots and lots of people mingled in the Square. We went searching for the famous Margaret egg tarts. There were many selling egg tarts but our target was only this shop...
We had many wrong instructions and made some wrong turning but a kind Macao lady showed us where the shop was. Lo and behold the queue was so long. Tim lined up to buy the tarts while I sat down on the stools in the open air cafe.
The egg tarts were lovely. Slightly burnt on the surface with very flaky pastry, the filling was the piece de resistance. It was simply delicious. I think I know the ingredient - fresh cream, milk and egg yolk. Lovely....
While walking back to Senado Square, we found another shop packed with people. They were selling the famous double steamed milk. Don't ask me how milk is double steamed but it looks like pudding with the texture and taste of milk. Milk is not my favorite drink so I could not finish my mango double steamed milk...
Finally for dinner we packed the famous duck rice and took a cab back to Hotel Royal.
Macao is a gastronomical paradise of food, food, food. However food is pricey and more of a standard genre. I mean you talk about pork chop bun and you find it everywhere. You talk about egg tart and you also find it everywhere.
We began our morning by walking slowly to the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral. I stopped at a pharmacy to buy a cream for my knees.
We then passed a small eatery where the owner invited us to sample her crab porridge. I was intrigued. There was a Michelin star on the windows of the eatery. This would mean that this place has been rated and graded. So why not...
The friendly owners recommended the crab porridge and noodles with prawn powder/crab roe powder (not very sure). When the food came the porridge tasted so much better than the noodles. All over the tiled walls, we see pictures of actors and actresses who had sampled their food and given them a thumbs up. The noodles were kind of springy but rather plain.
After a good meal we made our way to the ruins of St Paul. The cathedral is only a facade. The interior has all broken down. In fact only a scaffold held it up.
All the way to the cathedral were many shops selling the same thing - flat barbeque meat, sesame biscuits, almond biscuits, egg rolls, walnut biscuits and whatever sweet stuff that Macao was famous for. The good thing was they shops were generous with their samples. You could literally eat your lunch while walking through the busy shopping area. At every shop you are offered samples!
I could not climb up the staircase to the cathedral due to the pain in my knees so I stayed down and bought bottles of mineral water for RM4!
Later we made our way to the Macao Museum which was located on a hill. I like the Macao Museum cos the grounds were a picture of tranquility. Up in the Museum grounds we got a very good view of the city of Macao.
Coming down from the hill, we walked slowly to Senado Square. Lots and lots of people mingled in the Square. We went searching for the famous Margaret egg tarts. There were many selling egg tarts but our target was only this shop...
We had many wrong instructions and made some wrong turning but a kind Macao lady showed us where the shop was. Lo and behold the queue was so long. Tim lined up to buy the tarts while I sat down on the stools in the open air cafe.
The egg tarts were lovely. Slightly burnt on the surface with very flaky pastry, the filling was the piece de resistance. It was simply delicious. I think I know the ingredient - fresh cream, milk and egg yolk. Lovely....
While walking back to Senado Square, we found another shop packed with people. They were selling the famous double steamed milk. Don't ask me how milk is double steamed but it looks like pudding with the texture and taste of milk. Milk is not my favorite drink so I could not finish my mango double steamed milk...
Finally for dinner we packed the famous duck rice and took a cab back to Hotel Royal.
Friday, April 18, 2014
RAK
I will just take a break to share about an RAK (random act of kindness) which I did this morning.
After prayer in church, I decided to go to my usual place for teh si. An elderly lady came and sat with me. She said that she was staying in the Old Folks Home nearby (near the Ampang temple). She had cycled from the Home to the restaurant for her morning coffee.
I did something I had never done before. I paid for her coffee, a random act of kindness - RAK! We chatted and I found out that she was about 75 years and unmarried. Her mother died when she was 3. She said that she had to take care of her sister's family and she did not think much about her future. She was not down or sad, she looked normal. She had been staying at the Home for 7 months and enjoyed it there. She said that she ate 4 meals a day. If she does not like the meals then she will go out to eat her breakfast. I shared with her about my children. I said that they are good children because of their Christian background.
We talked and I invited her to church for Easter with my broken Cantonese....
How do I feel? I feel good that I can do a random act of kindness this Easter weekend. May God have mercy on her soul.
After prayer in church, I decided to go to my usual place for teh si. An elderly lady came and sat with me. She said that she was staying in the Old Folks Home nearby (near the Ampang temple). She had cycled from the Home to the restaurant for her morning coffee.
I did something I had never done before. I paid for her coffee, a random act of kindness - RAK! We chatted and I found out that she was about 75 years and unmarried. Her mother died when she was 3. She said that she had to take care of her sister's family and she did not think much about her future. She was not down or sad, she looked normal. She had been staying at the Home for 7 months and enjoyed it there. She said that she ate 4 meals a day. If she does not like the meals then she will go out to eat her breakfast. I shared with her about my children. I said that they are good children because of their Christian background.
We talked and I invited her to church for Easter with my broken Cantonese....
How do I feel? I feel good that I can do a random act of kindness this Easter weekend. May God have mercy on her soul.
A blessing in disguise
I guess God took pity on me as my right knee was in great pain. I had a little spur in the bone that need cutting off but I had put off the operation for some reason or other...
Due to the 5 hour walking around in Ocean Park, the right knee was also in great pain. I could not walk much and had to hold on to my husband. Climbing stairs and walking on uneven ground was particularly painful.
Well, God is very kind to me (Ps 145:9 "The Lord is good to all, His tender mercies are over all His works")....I called the person in charge of Lohas in the morning of 12th April and she managed to arrange an upgrade for us to Hotel Royal. She also undertook to pay for our taxi charges to the new hotel.
Now this new hotel is a 5 star hotel and right in the center of the town. This would mean that I need not walk 3 km to go to St Paul's ruins! This was what my hubby had planned! When I saw his plans, I was shocked! Walking to various tourist spots about 5 km away from the original hotel and more walking. As per his original plan, we would probably have to walk up to 10 km per day!
Thank God for His kindness and mercy! Sitting down was ok, getting up was a torture, walking had to be with straightened right knee otherwise I will hear a click, click sound and experience pain in the knee! I knew that if we had stayed at Hotel Golden Dragon, I would be having a most miserable holiday in Macao.
Also the new hotel had a king-size bed with a nice TV, plush sofas and pillows. More to come.....
THANK YOU JESUS!
Due to the 5 hour walking around in Ocean Park, the right knee was also in great pain. I could not walk much and had to hold on to my husband. Climbing stairs and walking on uneven ground was particularly painful.
Well, God is very kind to me (Ps 145:9 "The Lord is good to all, His tender mercies are over all His works")....I called the person in charge of Lohas in the morning of 12th April and she managed to arrange an upgrade for us to Hotel Royal. She also undertook to pay for our taxi charges to the new hotel.
Now this new hotel is a 5 star hotel and right in the center of the town. This would mean that I need not walk 3 km to go to St Paul's ruins! This was what my hubby had planned! When I saw his plans, I was shocked! Walking to various tourist spots about 5 km away from the original hotel and more walking. As per his original plan, we would probably have to walk up to 10 km per day!
Thank God for His kindness and mercy! Sitting down was ok, getting up was a torture, walking had to be with straightened right knee otherwise I will hear a click, click sound and experience pain in the knee! I knew that if we had stayed at Hotel Golden Dragon, I would be having a most miserable holiday in Macao.
Also the new hotel had a king-size bed with a nice TV, plush sofas and pillows. More to come.....
THANK YOU JESUS!
The utterly disappointing Hotel Golden Dragon
Tired but happy and with legs aching (especially my right knee was acting up again) we walked from the ferry terminal to Hotel Golden Dragon to check in for the night.
All we had was 2 backpacks with us as we did not pay for baggage this trip.
We had the shock of our lives when we were told by the manager of the Hotel that our booking had been cancelled.
How was this possible? We paid to Groupon, who paid to Lohas Premium. We also checked the dates with Lohas and informed the Hotel that we will be checking in late on 11th April!
The manager showed us an email from Booking.com that our booking had been cancelled due to non payment.
I was so angry that I called up the person in charge of Lohas at 11 pm at night. I didn't know whether I should scold her or what....!!
Thank goodness I calmed down and she answered all my calls. She could not explain why our booking was cancelled. She also could not make an alternative booking for us as it was too late at night. Finally she asked us to stay one night at our own expense in Hotel Golden Dragon and promised to reimburse us the cost.
Being tired, we did not argue. The cost of the one night stay MOP1580 = RM655 per night!!
The bed was hard (very hard), the pillow was too soft and the lights too dim but being too tired we rested till morning.
At 7 in the morning, I just prayed and asked the Lord to intervene....
All we had was 2 backpacks with us as we did not pay for baggage this trip.
We had the shock of our lives when we were told by the manager of the Hotel that our booking had been cancelled.
How was this possible? We paid to Groupon, who paid to Lohas Premium. We also checked the dates with Lohas and informed the Hotel that we will be checking in late on 11th April!
The manager showed us an email from Booking.com that our booking had been cancelled due to non payment.
I was so angry that I called up the person in charge of Lohas at 11 pm at night. I didn't know whether I should scold her or what....!!
Thank goodness I calmed down and she answered all my calls. She could not explain why our booking was cancelled. She also could not make an alternative booking for us as it was too late at night. Finally she asked us to stay one night at our own expense in Hotel Golden Dragon and promised to reimburse us the cost.
Being tired, we did not argue. The cost of the one night stay MOP1580 = RM655 per night!!
The bed was hard (very hard), the pillow was too soft and the lights too dim but being too tired we rested till morning.
At 7 in the morning, I just prayed and asked the Lord to intervene....
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Ocean Park, Hong Kong
Well...the last time I visited HK I only managed to visit:
1. Madam Tussauds
2. Victoria's Peak
3. Hong Kong Disneyland
4. Boat houses
I missed Ocean Park which I knew was very nice as they had pandas and a huge Aquarium. I made the decision that the next time if there is a chance we will visit Ocean Park at Aberdeen.
Well as it turned out Groupon had the offer of RM398 for a 3 day 2 night stay at Macao and since Macao was just an hour ferry ride away from HK we decided to make a day trip to HK the moment we landed at Macao International Airport at Taipa Island.
For a start the Macao Airport is kind of scary...this is because the landing strip is very near the sea! Anyway it was a beautiful day when we landed on Macao island on Friday 11 April 2014. We were there to celebrate Tim's 58th birthday!
From the airport we took a cab to the ferry terminal costing us about MOP 100. Now Macao currency is called Palatas or something like that. In Macao the currency is almost MOP 1 to HK 1 but most businesses appear to prefer HKD as the value is slightly higher. The taxi driver was very friendly as he started showing us photos of his family holiday to Penang!
From the ferry we took the ferry known as the Turbojet. Why is it called a Turbojet? I guess it is because it is quiet and extremely comfortable like a jet. By no means cheap (about RM170 per person) we made our trip to HK island. On the turbojet I had my first cup of lai cha or milk tea...delicious but it cost RM10 per cup! No wonder Malaysians who visited Macao and HK told me that things are very expensive!
From the ferry terminal at Shun Tak Centre, we took the Island line to Admiralty station. From Admiralty station, we had a tough time looking for the bus to Aberdeen where Ocean Park is situated. Thank God that Tim could speak Cantonese and there were many Filipino ladies who could give us directions in English!
Ocean Park is very big. There is a huge aquarium, a Panda center, a North Pole express, a polar bear center (although I never saw any polar bears), slides, rides, cable car ride.
I could not help comparing Ocean Park with Sea World, Brisbane. Somehow Ocean Park paled in comparison with Sea World. In Sea World, we had performing dolphins that were really skilled and fun to watch. We had seals who could act! In Sea World, we could touch sting rays and feel their big wings....in Ocean Park, we were scolded for touching one miserable star fish without washing our hands!
The only thing I like about Ocean Park is old Hong Kong. Old HK is a part of HK which replicates buildings, houses and markets of old pre-war HK. We could take pictures with realistic looking buildings and also in front vegetable and fruit stalls!
1. Madam Tussauds
2. Victoria's Peak
3. Hong Kong Disneyland
4. Boat houses
I missed Ocean Park which I knew was very nice as they had pandas and a huge Aquarium. I made the decision that the next time if there is a chance we will visit Ocean Park at Aberdeen.
Well as it turned out Groupon had the offer of RM398 for a 3 day 2 night stay at Macao and since Macao was just an hour ferry ride away from HK we decided to make a day trip to HK the moment we landed at Macao International Airport at Taipa Island.
For a start the Macao Airport is kind of scary...this is because the landing strip is very near the sea! Anyway it was a beautiful day when we landed on Macao island on Friday 11 April 2014. We were there to celebrate Tim's 58th birthday!
From the airport we took a cab to the ferry terminal costing us about MOP 100. Now Macao currency is called Palatas or something like that. In Macao the currency is almost MOP 1 to HK 1 but most businesses appear to prefer HKD as the value is slightly higher. The taxi driver was very friendly as he started showing us photos of his family holiday to Penang!
From the ferry we took the ferry known as the Turbojet. Why is it called a Turbojet? I guess it is because it is quiet and extremely comfortable like a jet. By no means cheap (about RM170 per person) we made our trip to HK island. On the turbojet I had my first cup of lai cha or milk tea...delicious but it cost RM10 per cup! No wonder Malaysians who visited Macao and HK told me that things are very expensive!
From the ferry terminal at Shun Tak Centre, we took the Island line to Admiralty station. From Admiralty station, we had a tough time looking for the bus to Aberdeen where Ocean Park is situated. Thank God that Tim could speak Cantonese and there were many Filipino ladies who could give us directions in English!
Ocean Park is very big. There is a huge aquarium, a Panda center, a North Pole express, a polar bear center (although I never saw any polar bears), slides, rides, cable car ride.
I could not help comparing Ocean Park with Sea World, Brisbane. Somehow Ocean Park paled in comparison with Sea World. In Sea World, we had performing dolphins that were really skilled and fun to watch. We had seals who could act! In Sea World, we could touch sting rays and feel their big wings....in Ocean Park, we were scolded for touching one miserable star fish without washing our hands!
The only thing I like about Ocean Park is old Hong Kong. Old HK is a part of HK which replicates buildings, houses and markets of old pre-war HK. We could take pictures with realistic looking buildings and also in front vegetable and fruit stalls!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
My mother is 80 years old
Recently we made the trip back to Penang for CNY and had a very expensive reunion dinner with Tim's family. Last year our share was about RM250. This year the whole table was RM1k! Wah liao...chiak beh liao...bankrupt liao....!!
Well on another note....I checked my mother's IC and I realize that she is 80 years old! Birthdate: 25 November 1933 (born before the world wars).
No wonder her memory seems to be failing her. She keeps repeating things over and over again. And I realized that the thing that matters most to her now is that we give her the monthly allowance to keep her going. I was just thinking to myself 'how come all that seems to matter to my mother is money...."
She says she is very 'kek sim' (hock kien for excessive worrying) when my sister's cheque got delayed in the mail. Well....blame Pos Malaysia. Ching's cheque finally came - one month late!
She lives for her plants, going to the temple, going to the market, meeting her friends, going to the shops to buy her monthly sanitary staff and her medication, going to pay her utilities and the visits that we make to Penang.
However I thank God that my mum is still relatively healthy save for being a little hard of hearing and arthritis in the knees. She is careful with her diet as she is diabetic. However she loves black coffee which she will take at least twice a day.
Adeline says it is not good for her to drink black coffee (or eat roti chanai which seems to be her favorite breakfast) but I said to let her eat and drink what she wants as she is already in the last days of her life. Let her enjoy her life and there is no point to stop her from doing what she wants.....
These days the driver, Arul takes her around to all her favorite haunts in Penang. Vernie (Suan's maid) also comes on and off to clean the house and take her blood sugar/blood pressure. Thank God for Vernie. Bless her heart as she loves my mother....
3 of us continue to support her financially assuring her that we will see to her monthly financial needs for her continued comfort as long as she lived. For this year, I have upped her monthly allowance up to 3 times the usual amount I give her making the amount more than RM1k.
It can be stressful @ times but I must learn to give thanks. It is always more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). When I am short of money and often I turn to Tim who has become my friendly money lender (he loans me money to use until my next pay cheque or bonus).
We have decided that a driver is the best option for now as she has refused to have a maid in the house (language problem).
Mum is also scared of maids (horror stories of maids bullying old folks) as she says that they tend to be constantly on the smart phone rather than doing housework. From my experience, they do become phone-addicts after 3 years working with you because of family-familiarity! I had 2 Filipino maids before. Whenever I was on leave, I became their telephone receptionist on the house phone. Those days hand phones were not available......
I continue to pray for my mother's good health and that there will be no need for us to put her in a retirement home. It is better for her to stay in her familiar environment, a place she has called home after my father's death. Tim used to say that if we take old people out of their familiar environment they will die faster...
O yes one more thing, my mother keeps on repeating things. I guess she needs to keep on reminding herself of things to avoid memory loss....
I hope my children will take care of me and Tim when we grow old into our 70s and 80s like the way we take care of our mother.
Well on another note....I checked my mother's IC and I realize that she is 80 years old! Birthdate: 25 November 1933 (born before the world wars).
No wonder her memory seems to be failing her. She keeps repeating things over and over again. And I realized that the thing that matters most to her now is that we give her the monthly allowance to keep her going. I was just thinking to myself 'how come all that seems to matter to my mother is money...."
She says she is very 'kek sim' (hock kien for excessive worrying) when my sister's cheque got delayed in the mail. Well....blame Pos Malaysia. Ching's cheque finally came - one month late!
She lives for her plants, going to the temple, going to the market, meeting her friends, going to the shops to buy her monthly sanitary staff and her medication, going to pay her utilities and the visits that we make to Penang.
However I thank God that my mum is still relatively healthy save for being a little hard of hearing and arthritis in the knees. She is careful with her diet as she is diabetic. However she loves black coffee which she will take at least twice a day.
Adeline says it is not good for her to drink black coffee (or eat roti chanai which seems to be her favorite breakfast) but I said to let her eat and drink what she wants as she is already in the last days of her life. Let her enjoy her life and there is no point to stop her from doing what she wants.....
These days the driver, Arul takes her around to all her favorite haunts in Penang. Vernie (Suan's maid) also comes on and off to clean the house and take her blood sugar/blood pressure. Thank God for Vernie. Bless her heart as she loves my mother....
3 of us continue to support her financially assuring her that we will see to her monthly financial needs for her continued comfort as long as she lived. For this year, I have upped her monthly allowance up to 3 times the usual amount I give her making the amount more than RM1k.
It can be stressful @ times but I must learn to give thanks. It is always more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). When I am short of money and often I turn to Tim who has become my friendly money lender (he loans me money to use until my next pay cheque or bonus).
We have decided that a driver is the best option for now as she has refused to have a maid in the house (language problem).
Mum is also scared of maids (horror stories of maids bullying old folks) as she says that they tend to be constantly on the smart phone rather than doing housework. From my experience, they do become phone-addicts after 3 years working with you because of family-familiarity! I had 2 Filipino maids before. Whenever I was on leave, I became their telephone receptionist on the house phone. Those days hand phones were not available......
I continue to pray for my mother's good health and that there will be no need for us to put her in a retirement home. It is better for her to stay in her familiar environment, a place she has called home after my father's death. Tim used to say that if we take old people out of their familiar environment they will die faster...
O yes one more thing, my mother keeps on repeating things. I guess she needs to keep on reminding herself of things to avoid memory loss....
I hope my children will take care of me and Tim when we grow old into our 70s and 80s like the way we take care of our mother.
The "no-blame hamberger" theory - Thai way of dishing out criticism
I really like this article which appeared in the STAR on Feb 8.
Maybe I should try this on my children or the Gen Y working with me.
Apparently in Thailand when it comes to doing business, understanding and practicing Thai cultures is extremely important.
The success of Vinder who runs Mrs Balbir group of restaurant in Bangkok (a chain of North Indian restaurants) is according to her "learning how to deal with Thais according to their culture" when handling issues or difficult staff.
A true food enthusiast, Vinder calls this her "no-blame hamburger" theory".
She starts with:
1. Bun on the top
"First you have to praise them, fluff them up a little bit, something along the lines of 'I really like this about you, you are doing really well in this area and I appreciate your hard work'.
2. Meat in the middle
"Then you come to the meat, which is the real issue. But the trick is to approach it without putting the blame on the person. Say something like 'I think this particular task could have been done differently. Are you having some sort of difficulty, hence you are unable to perform this task well?'
3. Bun at the bottom
"Finally end with the last bun. 'How do you think you and I can work together so that it does not happen again?'
Not pointing fingers, according to Vinder, is a way of showing respect, which to the Thais is most important.
Hmm....I wonder if this will work with my children or with the young man working with me who seems to be spending more hours on his smart phone than he should be on his assignments....
Maybe I should try this on my children or the Gen Y working with me.
Apparently in Thailand when it comes to doing business, understanding and practicing Thai cultures is extremely important.
The success of Vinder who runs Mrs Balbir group of restaurant in Bangkok (a chain of North Indian restaurants) is according to her "learning how to deal with Thais according to their culture" when handling issues or difficult staff.
A true food enthusiast, Vinder calls this her "no-blame hamburger" theory".
She starts with:
1. Bun on the top
"First you have to praise them, fluff them up a little bit, something along the lines of 'I really like this about you, you are doing really well in this area and I appreciate your hard work'.
2. Meat in the middle
"Then you come to the meat, which is the real issue. But the trick is to approach it without putting the blame on the person. Say something like 'I think this particular task could have been done differently. Are you having some sort of difficulty, hence you are unable to perform this task well?'
3. Bun at the bottom
"Finally end with the last bun. 'How do you think you and I can work together so that it does not happen again?'
Not pointing fingers, according to Vinder, is a way of showing respect, which to the Thais is most important.
Hmm....I wonder if this will work with my children or with the young man working with me who seems to be spending more hours on his smart phone than he should be on his assignments....
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Lessons learnt on how to avoid being robbed
Recently there seem to be a number of robberies happening in KL and Selangor.
Last month Amanda had the window of her Myvi broken by an Indonesia guy and his girlfriend who thought that the bags @ the back of the car contained computer or valuables. She knew that it was an Indonesian guy as he left behind his Uniclo t-shirt which he used to soften the sound of the massive knock on the back window of the car! As it turned out all the bags contained her CNY clothes. I thanked God that my sweet young lady (matured beyond her years) said that "never mind...consider it a blessing for someone in need..."
However Amanda being the girl that she is promptly went out shopping again and came back with more clothes!!
Anyway as she puts it, we should not make a fuss about the second purchase as she was using her hard earned money gained from moonlighting on weekends as a sales promoter and not her parents' money!
Then we heard from Adeline that her boyfriend's sister got robbed @ 4 am in the morning. A group of guys in helmets just came at her as she was walking back to the condo (she had parked her car a distance away) and began bashing her up. They bashed her so severely that her ears were badly injured. They finally stopped when she threw her handbag at them.
Lessons learnt:
1. Don't come home late @ night. If you need to work late drive straight to your doorstep.
2. Don't park in isolated places.
3. Don't put bags @ the back of the car.
4. If you get robbed, just give thanks and consider yourself as contributing to the needy people in our society
5. Don't walk alone if you are coming home late @ night
6. Let go of your hand bag
7. RUN!
Last month Amanda had the window of her Myvi broken by an Indonesia guy and his girlfriend who thought that the bags @ the back of the car contained computer or valuables. She knew that it was an Indonesian guy as he left behind his Uniclo t-shirt which he used to soften the sound of the massive knock on the back window of the car! As it turned out all the bags contained her CNY clothes. I thanked God that my sweet young lady (matured beyond her years) said that "never mind...consider it a blessing for someone in need..."
However Amanda being the girl that she is promptly went out shopping again and came back with more clothes!!
Anyway as she puts it, we should not make a fuss about the second purchase as she was using her hard earned money gained from moonlighting on weekends as a sales promoter and not her parents' money!
Then we heard from Adeline that her boyfriend's sister got robbed @ 4 am in the morning. A group of guys in helmets just came at her as she was walking back to the condo (she had parked her car a distance away) and began bashing her up. They bashed her so severely that her ears were badly injured. They finally stopped when she threw her handbag at them.
Lessons learnt:
1. Don't come home late @ night. If you need to work late drive straight to your doorstep.
2. Don't park in isolated places.
3. Don't put bags @ the back of the car.
4. If you get robbed, just give thanks and consider yourself as contributing to the needy people in our society
5. Don't walk alone if you are coming home late @ night
6. Let go of your hand bag
7. RUN!
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