Penang prep-backpacker trip: Day 1 arrival

A 3 day 2 night semi-backpacker trip, I have decided not to take taxi and keep everything in low expenses, no buying, but only food and drinks, I wasn't quite sure if I can go without buying, sounds phenomenal to myself, have to remind myself not to take taxi, not to buy anything, and also tell Gab about this 'backpacker spirit'.

The flight was at 8am, got to check-in at 6:30am, ma and pa gave us a ride to airport, so thankful to their support, we leave at 6am from home.

Penang International Airport is 'not so small', and bus stand is just at the door step, waited for 20 minutes for 401E Transit Link, which could bring us to Georgetown and jetty, but we got down in Komtar main station, planed to go to YMCA first.

I was quite nervous at that time, didn't know the direction and didn't take time to sit down and check out our location, just walking around Prangin Mall, for a second, I asked a man about how to go YMCA, he was kind, he told me how far is from Komtar to YMCA, he even told me how much time I needed section by section, means : "From here to this road take 15 minutes, from this road to this junction needed to walk 15 minutes, a total is 45 minutes, oh it is too far, better take a taxi, in Penang, taxi don't go by meter, taxi driver might ask for RM15, but you bargain to RM10, you know .... life for taxi driver is tough, they might not get a passanger on the way back...bla bla bla." You know he really is kind, he saw us, a lady and a kid, so he gave a good suggestion, so.... we took taxi to YMCA. Taxi driver said: " Chap di kor!" and I replied: "Chap kor!" then he agreed with the price. Sigh! luckily I know some simple Hokkien leh!

You know, the distance is really near! for RM10, m... not quite happy with that, some more broke one of the backpacker's rules on the arrival, ooh, so discouraged!

YMCA international Hostel, located in Jln Macalister, opposite Island Hospital, the room is clean, toilet is clean, towels, coffee, TV, air-conditioned, free breakfast, RM60 for two of us, good price!

After settle down, and took a short rest, at about 11am, we walk along Jln Macalister towards Komtar direction, the weather was good, not sunny, which I kept giving thanks to God. We came to the first restaurant, and saw an old lady tricycle hawker, selling Koay Teow T'ng for just RM2, without any hesitation, both of us ordered this, Gab and I love Koay Teow - flat rice noodles.

Small bowl of Koay Teow T'ng, but am happy!


I love toasted bread: "Yin Yong Xiu Min Bao" (toast bread with kaya and butter spread) "Zhar set" (one set) for RM1.40

"Kopi O" Malaysian dark coffee, most of Penang "Kopi Tiam" (Restaurant) are traditional restaurants, seldom hire foreign workers, like this Kopi O, prepared by chinese old lady, "hor lim" nice to drink.

Then we kept walking... starting a backpacker journey from this moment.

Electric milk blender

New in my kitchen, good maid to beat hot milk for cappuccino, and also milo drinks.

Backpacking preperatory trip

Suddenly I have the urge to bring Gabriel for a trip, some kind of backpacker trip (semi-backpacker) I am always wanted to take him to Italy one day in future, both of us backpack to Vienna, my dreamland.

For the first step to my 'wanted', I think now is best time to make my first move in the plan, start with the place that I can communicate well, Malaysia. There are still many places in Peninsula I have never been to.

I spent the whole afternoon msn with Christabel discussing about my first trip with Gabriel on coming holiday. Initial plan was to go Cameron with Gabriel staying in guest house for 2 or 3 nights, the plan was pended because mom said it is too dangerous to drive with the 12 years old car, alright reason accepted, so looking for another destination. My choice was somewhere not in Selangor, Melaka, Johor, Christabel came out with a brilliant idea, '' Let's go to Singapore!'', ''Crazy!'' we both laughed. Then she suggested another destination: '' Genting Highlands!''........ '' what? Go backpack in Genting Highlands?'' Laughed again.


So ... she did the search for me, and suggested Penang, m... that sounds good, the last time I went was secondary graduation trip, long long time ago, and I was actually sitting in the bus through the journey, get down only when meal time, it was too hot, I was too lazy.... gained lots of weight in that trip.


Good, so I decided to go Penang, the air fare is reasonable, now go for the budget hostel search.


After the checking on air ticket fares and room rate, we paused looking at the total amount, we both had the same thought:''wow, expensive for the trip!'', This thought had made me thought of giving up, just equally good go for a camping! After awhile, I told her, I really wish to go for this try, never mind, we look for another cheaper accommodation, so we found YMCA, quite reasonable, with promo price RM 30 pernight per-person.



I was a dummy on this kind of planning, through my life at least days before today, I have never went for a trip that I had to do the planning and booking, this is real my first time, when the moment I got everything set, with the help of Christabel, that almost took us 3 hours.... now, is time to make payment, wow, I have never done this before, felt exciting when I clicked 'made payment', something can not go backwards, oooh, somehow .... just a 'click', done the booking on air tickets, next room booking, done less than 3 minutes.

First time in my life!! (I did it!)


Have to start planing my trip now, searching high and low, left and right, for places to go.

lovely experience.
Jane Lee

Rejoice, God is singing to me!

Tonight, Daniel sent me a bible verse:

• For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

So, I asked is this what God wants him to send to me, he said: 'don't know!'

Then he gave me another one, here it is:

Zephaniah 3:14-17

Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O Daughter of Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.
On that day they will say to Jerusalem,
"Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

So, again, I asked is that God wants him to send it to me, he said: 'I seldom do this, sending bible verse to friend online.'

Therefore I told him, must be from God then, and I am encouraged, so much... so much........so much......after the 'joke'.


He did share the same Bible verse with another sister, it's gonna worked the same way as I did!

Received with joy and by faith.

A Lovely Message

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and the boy was the gem of their eyes. When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for office so he asked his wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife, preoccupied in the kitchen, totally forgot the matter.

The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle fascinated by its color and drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous medicine meant for adults in small dosages. When the child collapsed the mother hurried him to the hospital, where he died. The mother was stunned. She was terrified how to face her husband.

When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he looked at his wife and uttered just five words.

QUESTIONS:
1. What were the five words ?
2. What is the implication of this story?






ANSWER :

The husband just said, "I am with you, Darling"

The husband's totally unexpected reaction is a proactive behavior.
The child is dead. He can never be brought back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother.
Besides, if only he had taken time to keep the bottle away, this would not have happened.
No one is to be blamed. She had also lost her only child.. What she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave her.

If everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there would be much fewer problems in the world. "
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears. And you will find things are actually not as difficult as you Think.

MORAL OF THE STORY
This story is really worth reading. .....
Sometimes we spend time in asking who is responsible or whom to blame, whether in a relationship, in a job or with the people we know. By this way we miss out something.


Jane's note:

How beautiful life it is, you find this 'good man' and 'good woman'!

Don't just hope to find one 'good man', I think the better way to attract 'good man' , first must try to be a 'good woman'. Never give up is the key to a beautiful life, friends out there, ''Agree?''

婚姻 一個數學概念

主旨： 婚姻 一個數學概念
家政學校的最後一門課是《婚姻有經營和創意》，
主講老師是學校特地聘請的一位研究婚姻問題的教授。
他走進教室，把隨手攜帶的一疊圖表掛在黑板上，然後，他掀開掛圖，上面用毛筆寫著一行字：婚姻的成功取決於兩點：

一、找個好人；
二、自己做一個好人。

就這麼簡單，至於其他的秘決，我認為如果不是江湖偏方，也至少是些老生常談。教授說。
這時台下嗡嗡作響因為下面有許多學生是已婚人士。不一會兒，終於有一位三十多歲的女子站了起來，說："如果這兩條沒有做到呢？"
教授翻開掛圖的第二張，說："那就變成4條了。"

一、容忍，幫助，幫助不好仍然容忍。
二、使容忍變成一種習慣。
三、在習慣中養成傻瓜的品性。
四、做傻瓜，並永遠做下去。

教授還未把這4條念完，台下就喧嘩起來，有的說不行，有的說這根本做不到。等大家靜下來，教授說："如果這4條做不到，你又想有一個穩固的婚姻，那你就得做到以下16條。"
接著教授翻開第三5掛圖。

一、不同時發脾氣。
二、除非有緊急事件，否則不要大聲吼叫。
三、爭執時,讓對方贏。
四、當天的爭執當天化解。
五、爭吵後回娘家或外出的時間不要超過8小時。
六、批評時話要出於愛。
七、隨時準備認錯道歉.
八、謠言傳來時，把它當成玩笑。
九、每月給對方一晚自由的時間。
十、不要帶著氣上床。
十一、他或她回家時，你一定要在家。
十二、對方不讓你打擾時，堅持不去打擾。
十三、電話鈴響時的時候，讓對方去接。
十四、口袋有多少錢要隨時報帳0
十五、堅持消滅沒有錢的日子。
十六、給你父母的錢一定要比給對方父母的錢少。

教授念完，有些人笑了，有些人則歎起氣來。教授聽了一會兒，說："如果大家對這16條感到失望的話，那你只有做好下面的256條了，總之，兩個人相處的理論是一個幾何級數理論，它總是在前面那個數字的基礎上進行二次方。"
接著教授翻開掛圖的第四頁，這一頁已不再是用毛筆書寫，而是用鋼筆，256條，密密麻麻。教授說："婚姻到這一地步就已經很危險了。"
這時台下響起了更強烈的喧嘩.不過在教授宣佈下課的時候，有的人坐在那兒沒有動，他們流下了淚。
愛一個人，要了解，也要開解；要道歉，也要道謝；要認錯，也要改錯；要體貼，也要體諒；
要接受，而不是忍受；是寬容，而不是縱容；是支持，而不是支配；是慰問，而不是質問；
是傾訴，而不是控訴；是難忘，而不是遺忘；是彼此交流，而不是凡事交代；
是為對方默默祈求，而不是向對方諸多要求；可以浪漫，但不要浪費；
可以隨時牽手，但不要隨便分手。!
吃得好，穿得好，不如夫妻同到老.. 只要嫁得好，不必嫁的早，幸福甜到老。

Dinner for two

5 Aug 09, Wednesday, mid-week off day. Have been cooking from July's Wednesdays, Tuesdays and Sunday. Still learning, and picking up cooking skills from my mom. So far, have mastered a few, but quite expert on egg though, using own recipe, I think 'Egg' is the easiest dish to make, no matter how you fry, or steam, still taste nice. However I've known of a book, from a TV show ''Martha Stewart'' introduced of it , the author have collected recipes from all over the world, compiled into this thick book, sounds interesting to me now....

Soup - 'ikan bilis', button mushrooms sliced and chopped. boil cabbage before serving.

Egg - marinated pork sliced with just soya sauce and pepper, chopped button mushroom, shreddered carrot, and egg.

Gai Lan - (I think so, can't remember the name, I have great problem recognizing 'them')
boiled in water, put in some salt and oil to keep veggie looks greenish and shiny.

Sauce - sliced small onion, fry with oil, set in 2 table spoons of sugar, fry in low frame, add some soya sauce after the sugar melt completely, then turn of fire.


The recipe for this sauce is my mom's signature sauce, can be served with fried fish, veggie and meat.


Gab said: ''Why so little dish? Should have another one! Popo's house have many dishes.'' I told him: '' Because we have only two of us, three dishes already too many for us!''

I am happy to make this decision, though it took up lots of time, at least Gab learned the above lesson. It always take something to learn a simple lesson.

The Best is Yet To Come

Hey, don't worry, I won't dwell in something bad, as you have said, you took two days, or a week, but for me a lady, a sentimental lady, a very sentimental lady took two months, I am totally recovered!! No hard feeling, true to my heart, true to my feeling, true to myself.

Don't worry Be happy, nothing is as bad as tomorrow never come, blessed are those who have the heart of gratitude...

It is ok once awhile we step into pile of shit! Then just shout out loud ''SHIT!'', step out of it immediately, wash up, continue to walk forward!


The Best is Yet To Come!


Love,
Jane Lee

A GENIUS SAYS GOODBYE

MR. Gabriel García Márquez, great Latin American writer, has said goodbye to the public life due to complications in his health: lymphatic cancer.

He has sent a letter to his friends and thanks to the Internet we all are able to share it, this short text written by one of the most brilliant Latin American of the past years is really inspiring.

"If for an instant God forgot that I am just a puppet, and He gave me one more piece of life, I would take advantage of that time, the best I could

I would probably not say everything I think, but definitely think all I say.
I would value things not for what they are worth, but for what they represent.
I would sleep less and dream more.
For every minute we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds of light.
I would continue where others have stopped and
I would rise when others sleep.

I God allowed me one more piece of life,
I would dress simpler,
would wallow in the sunlight,
leaving uncovered,
not only my body but also my soul.

I would prove to men how wrong they are to think that they stop falling in love as they get older,
since they actually start getting older as soon as they stop falling in love.

I would give wings to the children,
but I would leave the child alone so that he could learn how to fly on his own.

To the old, I would show them how death comes not with the ageing process but with forgetting.

So many things I have learned from you....
I have learned that everybody wants to live at the top of the mountain, forgetting that is how we climb is all that matters.

I have learned that when a newborn grabs his father's thumb, he takes a hold on him forever.

I have learned that a man has the right to look down on somebody, only when he is helping him to get up.

So many things I have learned from all of you.

Always tell, what you feel and do what you think.

If I knew that today it would be the last time that I will se you, I will embrace you strongly to be the guardian o your soul.

If I would know that these would be the last minutes that I will see you, I would say to you "I love you" and wouldn't assume that you would know it.

There is always morning where life gives us another opportunity to make things good.

Keep always close to you, your dear ones, and tell them how much you need them and love and take care of them. Take time to say, "I am sorry", "forgive me", "please," "thank you" and all the nice and lovely words you know.

Nobody would remember you if you keep your thoughts secret.

Force yourself to express them.

Show your friends and dear ones how much you care about them.

If you don't do it today, tomorrow will be the same as today."

Jane's note:

This is a powerful 'caveat', and beautifully written, this can be felt when you know tomorrow will never come...

We are taking advantageous as if we have many tomorrows to come, thoughts and feelings have been buried inside our hearts, will never be revealed, it has been cemented!

How I find my joy, when I first learn to write diary, then to a blog, then to a secret blog, and start enjoying pouring out my feeling, thinking and happy moments in daily lives, to share with close friends, even friends that I don't know, out there in the world, far away city...


I love especially this line: "Always tell, what you feel and do what you think." I hope I could do this, to be true to your hearts, hopefully not anymore will get hurt if I tell what I feel and what I think. Pressing on!

Love,
Jane

Youth Alpha Deco Team

SCF (Subang Christian Fellowship) that is the church I am attending, is holding Classic Alpha and Youth Alpha during June - Aug, I do not join Classic Alpha due to the time held crashes with teaching time, the first thought I had is to join Youth Alpha, and in charge of the decoration task, in this deco team, I have one wonderful partner, Kooi Sai Ng, he is in animation line, he loves creative ideas and he has lots of them, I am so thankful for him, apart from his never ending ideas, he is also a doer, enjoyed working with this partner, he is observance about things need to do, and very automatically to get things done.

Every week we 'ding dong' (sending emails, this is a term I learned from Pastor Jacinta, a fun and joyful lady) about ideas we have had in mind, and 'ding dong' about things needed for decoration, and 'ding dong' to ask friends of us to lend us things that they have, thanks to Choo Yean and Ashley, they often offered their belongings for deco, and specially give thousands of thanks to Sis Yee Neo and Sis Elaine, they are so devoted, cos they offered up their 'gar chang', even borrowed from neighbour as she did in Indian Fever, Yee Neo borrowed many of Indian traditional staff and cooking wares for deco.

Another level up, Kooi Sai and me went to Elaine's house in Shah Alam to 'lap' (grapped) her 'gar chang'(gear) yesterday night, Kooi Sai was so amazed with the things Elaine has in house, they are just perfect for the ''Italian themed'' Saturday night and ''Home Sweet Home'', we felt 'pai seh' (embarrassed) about 'cleaning up her kitchen', we took ceramic pot, artificial flowers, bottle of olive oil, cooking ladder and spatular, tray, pictures, wine stand, baskets and many more.... phewww.... Johnny gor, so sorry about that!! Please forgive us!

Then we headed to Debbie house, to get 'Tabasco' sauce, hahaha, that is the level we've gone up to. Praise the Lord, without Kooi Sai persistence, I think I will still sitting at home...

Thank you for the team and the opportunity to be in the team, included Daniel Wong, Paul Lim they always be there to help up, in order to ease the burden load, they will just do whatever for the team, not to forget Siow Wei, Joel Hoo, Zoe Hoo, David Khor, Joel Khor, Desmon, and Desmond, m... sorry if I didn't mention your name(s), thanks to you all once again.

I really felt encouraged whenever they mentioned ''deco team has done a good job'', just that don't forget, it is not 'my' team, don't mention just my name, but ''The Deco Team'' ( haven't thought of a group name for this, will discuss with Kooi Sai, so we will feel more belonging, haha)

Till now, I am thankful for the gifts that God has given to me, though they are not scoring full mark in each area, but I will tell God, I try my best to do what He gives, may His name be glorified.

love,

Jane Lee

Jealousy

Jealousy is most common trap that human fall, I am not an exception, since young indeed, haha.

Jealousy, m... let think about any good thing it will bring.....

* + . + * ~ ~ - > NONE

Jealousy did not bring me any good thing, did not help me in any way, but I didn't know how to overcome it when I was young, no.... not until the recent years.

This Jealousy knocked at my door one day, and I opened the door. This was quite a long period of time, I kept this feeling in my heart, I did not just kept inside and stored it, indeed I was dealing with 'it', struggling in 'it', I tried to get rid of 'it', and I knew I am not alone, I can, and so I did! (Hallelujah, shout praises!)

I had many nights praying and rebuking 'it', and I had an vision, I practised to resist 'it' in daily life; I came to an article about: ''Being truthful to Holy Spirit'', that teaches me not running from my emotional, my feeling, if we dishonest to our heart, we dishonest to Holy Spirit, in this case, Holy Spirit can't do His work to help us, because we ignore that we need helps. Therefore I learned to be honest to Holy Spirit, tell Him every thought of mine.

I shared about my emotional battle victory with friends. And told a friend about the emotion we have in us is real, we can not ignore it by saying: "you have been thinking too much", 'No, it is real, jealousy may leads to a worst and uncontrolled situation", and encouraged her to see it seriously with the emotion her hubby has had.'

I am thankful for this precious experience, the struggle took me months to overcome, not by my might nor power but the Spirit of the Lord, thankful for His guidance that I may be able to walk out of it.

Reason of sharing this, because someone asked me about an incident today: ''Are you jealous about me?'', that reminds me of this experience, and I felt it is so important to share it again, that "I am not, I do not feel anything''.

I have walked out from it, and not intend to jump into it. If jealousy could make my life any better, I will be the first to practise it, but in contrary, I was once pulled in into the ring of this trap by my friend's jealousy, oh my goodness, it was really none of my business, but ...... it really bring no good! Read the definition about jealousy, and you know better....

Jealousy is an emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, such as a relationship, friendship, or love. Jealousy often consists of a combination of emotions such as anger, sadness, and disgust. from Wikipedia

Please do not underestimate the power of destruction that jealousy will bring. Today is never too late to stop 'it'.


I found this article just today, hope it helps many of you who are reading and hoping this will help you and your friends.

What Does The Bible Say About Overcoming Jealousy

Fusilli With Beef and Mushroom Sauce

Fusilli With Beef and Mushroom Sauce

SERVES 4

Ingredients

Fried minced beef

• Minced beef - marinated with Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew / Rice Wine and little of corn flour
• Chopped onion

Mushroom Sauce

• Dolmio pasta mushroom & Herb sauce 400 g (about 10 tablespoons)
• 1 can Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup
• Fresh button mushroom chopped, about 6-7 or more
• 4 gloves of garlic chopped
• 1/2 cup of UHT full cream milk
• 1/2 cup of whipping cream
• 1/2 cup of water
• pepper
  
• parsley
  
• butter
• 1 tablespoon of sugar (the sauce may taste salty)
  

Fusilli

• 8 ounces dried Mini Fusilli
• butter
• grated parmesan cheese
  

Directions

1. In a saucepan, cook the minced beef and onion until meat is brown and onion tender.
2. In a pot, put in butter and heat up garlic to bring out the aroma, fry chopped button mushroom, stir in both mushroom sauces, milk and whipping cream, water, parsley and sugar, bring to boiling: reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.



3. Meanwhile, cook mini fusilli according to package directions. Drain, put in a teaspoon of butter. Serve sauce over hot mini fusilli. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Use whipping cream in mashed potato

Why using whipping cream in mashed potato better than milk?

I tried once by using UHT milk, but it doesn't taste as nice as whipping cream, when using UHT milk, it didn't strong enough to cover the smell of potato, whereas whipping cream serves well and gives better covering over the smell of potato, because whipping cream has strong and heavy blend yet is sweetened, it gives fabulous taste to mashed potato.

Tip to get rid of the bad smell-burp after durian

Yup, that's right, take at least one cube of pineapple, smell no more!!! Happy trying!

Freedom is ...to do what is right

Let Liberty Decide
Darwin Hobbs
As believers, we all have to make a number of conscious decisions; decisions concerning our jobs, families, marriages, God, and concerning our life in general. And although the decisions we are faced with are often at times difficult for us to make, there is something we all can find joy in. Something very few of us believe we even have at our disposal: Liberty.
Believe it or not, we as believers have been granted liberty in the spirit of God to make choices that will effect change in not only our lives, but in the world we live in.
According to Webster's dictionary, the definition of liberty (or freedom) is the "right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing." Within this definition, we discover that we have rights, power, and yes, we have choices.
As Christians, all the power and rights we have ever needed were transferred to us over 2000 years ago at the cross. The redemption plan literally bought us back from the curse of the law of sin and death, meaning we now have kingdom citizen rights and power.
So what does this mean for you and me today?
This simply means that we have the ability to act, believe, and express ourselves in ways that bring Glory to the Father. However, although we are free and liberated by the blood of Christ, we still must make good choices. I Corinthians 10:23 states that "all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable (or expedient)."
While we reserve the right and power to make our own decisions, within this scripture lies an awesome opportunity to impact the earth with godly decisions. Throughout the course of today or throughout this week, I encourage you to try to become more aware and conscious about the type of decisions that face you.
I know it's tough, but I dare you to make decisions that don't include any self gain or self promotion for yourself this week. Instead, ask yourself...
What would it be like to consider another person over myself?
What would it be like to resist the temptation to gossip and backbite?
What would it be like to become a person of my word for just seven days straight?
It is time for us all to realize that we are not only free and liberated "by" the spirit and sacrifice of Christ, but we also now have the ability to experience liberty "in" Christ every day of our lives. It is time we all took a self-examination of our lives and discover whether we are making decisions that represent a heart that is truly free in Christ...
...or are we simply just making decisions?

An accomplished gospel artist and worship leader, Darwin Hobbs, is extremely passionate about aligning the hearts of people with the heart of God. With Traci, his wife of 15 years. With several albums to his credit, Darwin is now working on his first live recording album. For more information about Darwin, you can visit him at http://www.myspace.com/darwinhobbs.