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.
Friday, April 18, 2014
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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