What's Next

I found this in the notice board at the Engineering Faculty of NU

Paper-Cut Portrait

At the Sydney China Town, I couldn't resist to give a go by the paper-cut artist to "do" a portrait for us. With one minute and at A$3, that's not bad. Of course, it's more for the tangible record of my presence there rather than for the substantive quality of the effort!

The Lai's

We finally met up with the seniors of the Lai's at a Thai Restaurant in Newcastle for dinner. The next day just before we left for home, we met again for breakfast by the seaside of Newcastle.

We found many common grounds: MU, politics, education, Lam Kee Hing......

New Places, New Experience

It was less than 9 months ago we last visited Sydney. This time, we took a more relaxed pace and rather spontaneous decision on places to visit.

At Tony Roma in Sydney.

At Stockland Glendale Super Shopping Centre.

Ay Sydney Aquarium.

At Hunter Valley Winery.

Introducing The 2nd Engineer of the Family

I still remember introducing the new architect of the family way back in Dec 2006. It's hard to imagine that another two years plus has passed and now it's another fine opportunity to introduce the 2nd engineer of the family. This time around, the son did far better than the father:) Congratulation Paul !

That's Life

Recently, I received an email from one of my uni-mate friends which I find rather amusing. Now that all of them are in their fifties, their thoughts seem to be in pensive mood. Here goes the joke :)

God created the donkey and said to him :

"You will be a donkey. You will work un-tiringly from sunrise to sunset carrying burdens on your back. You will eat grass, you will have no intelligence and you will live 50 years."
The donkey answered:
"I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is much. Give me only 20 years"
God granted his wish.
__________________________________
God created the dog and said to him:

"You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend. You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years. You will be a dog. "
The dog answered:
"Sir, to live 30 years is too much, give me only 15 years.
" God granted his wish.
________________________________________
God created the monkey and said to him :

"You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks. You will be amusing and you will live 20 years. "
The monkey answered:
"To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years."
God granted his wish.
________________________________________
Finally God created man and said to him :

"You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth. You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals. You will dominate the world and you will live 20 years."
Man responded:
"Sir, I will be a man but to live only 20 years is very little, give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 15 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years the monkey refused.
" God granted man's wish.
________________________________________
And since then, man lives 20 years as a man, marries and spends 30 years like a donkey, working and carrying all the burdens on his back. Then when his children are born, he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him. When he is old, he retires and lives 10 years like a monkey, going from house to house and from one son or daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.

That's Life.

Fire Drill

In a large multinational company..............

A fire alarm rang at 4pm in a large office when almost all employees were in office (approx 5,000). As usual the entire office was evacuated within 3 minutes and all employees gathered outside the office in the designated area waiting for further announcement.

The Security Officer in charge made the following announcement: "Dear employees - with sincere regret I have been asked to announce that for many of you it will be your last evacuation drill. Due to the recession the company is laying off almost 50% of its employees. So when this announcement finishes, I ask all of you to move back into the building and if your swipe card does not work then it means you have been laid off in which case you will not be allowed inside and all your belongings will be couriered to you by tomorrow.

The Company has used this innovative approach as we didn't want to fill up the email box with lay-off mails and good bye mails in thousands and also to avoid any fight inside the office and the consequent security issue for all staff.

Hope you have had a rewarding career with us and all the best ahead.

Please move back in and try your luck".

CNY 2009

CNY 2009 will not be spent at "home" but at "niang cia" in West Malayia.

My banker is generous this year. Goodies include 2 small packs of Premium Fortune Cookies, a couple of mandarin oranges and lots of angpow packages.

Office will be closed for whole of next week. One of the reasons is that Eric is getting married on 31 Jan. The family will be very busy whole of next week and week after that. Bride's banquet will be on Tuesday, 3 Feb.

With Eric getting married, will the pressure be on Sam........ Just thinking and wondering.....

That reminds me of Serene's wedding back in 2004. Rushing around to three places in two countries. Never make this mistake again. Simply too tight a schedule. Still memorable :)

New Toy

Managed finally to get the correct automotive GPS road maps. If the one bought earlier for the Perth trip in Nov/Dec 2008 was the right model, traveling would have been a breeze ! Unfortunately I was ill-advised ! Well, managed to have it sold to a surveyor. That's a model meant for land surveyors.

Well, all is not lost. The new toy will be tested this Saturday in West Malaysia. So far, I have already found it to be a useful tool to have if one is a keen automotive traveller.

An abstract of the conversation I had with the salesman at Karamunsing Garmin Gogomotive where it was bought. After closing the deal and money changed hand.

Me: Unfortunately, couldn't use the model I bought in my recent trip to Perth.
Salesman: Ya, that's not meant for traveling purpose.
....................
Salesman: I used to study in Perth, Curtin.
Me: Oh, why did you come back and not stay behind?
Salesman: The place is too slow for me. KK has a faster pace of life.
....................
Me: Is this your shop?
Salesman: No, belongs to my cousin's father-in-law. .........Oh. This is my name card.
I Looked at the name card and the name looked familiar.
Me: What is your father's name?
Salesman: JY
Me: JY...JY.... Is FY your uncle ?
Salesman: Ya.
Me: Mine, mine, what a small world ! I know your father, he is my cousin (mother's side). If I had known this earlier, would have obtained a better price from you.
Salesman: Hehe, next time!

 

The Last Lecture - by Randy Pausch

I came across this through the Oprah show which I find really incredible! One of the the most profound statements he said during the interview with Oprah was this:

When someone did something wrong, the usual thing to say is "I am sorry, I was wrong !". I would like to add like this, "I am sorry, I was wrong, what should I do to make up for it !".

Though he finally passed away on 25 July 2008, I think he left behind a lasting legacy.

Great Quotes

http://www.greatquotesfromgreatleaders.com/?MIAMSRC=W080227>

Revisiting Old Familiar Places......

Thanks to Jun Shi for the opportunity to revisit familiar old places.

Pondok Timpohon - Where climbers start their ascent to Mount Kinabalu.

No visitors to the National Park would miss having a quick tour of the little museum.

Along the way to Poring Hot Spring, we found this enterprising native lady who set up this road side store to solicit visitors and tourists to gaze the rafflesia which happened to bloom in her land.

The rafflesia we saw "back then" was at a different location - Tambunan Rafflesia Centre

Poring Hot Spring - At the spot where people left their foot prints!
After a dip at the Poring Hot Spring, we made a detour to the Sabah Tea Plantation at Nalapak.

We didn't miss visiting Gaya Street Sunday Market! We mingled with both locals and tourists and enjoyed the vibrancy of the Gaya Street.

You won't believe what we bought in Gaya Street that morning, cotton! Real cotton which we have been looking for all over the shops and outlets in KK all this while but failed to get. We need it for our specially hand-made pillow!

Food wise, we managed to try out two of the three introduced by Jason in Astro AEC. Other than the roasted coconut, we ate the Tuaran Mee at the founder outlet (Lok Kyun) in Tuaran and the Fish Paste Noodle at Kok Ming.

Surfing Internet- Strength or Weakness ?

This is what an employment applicant wrote in his CV:

Resolutions 2009

A subject we talked about during dinner of first day of the New Year is resolutions for 2009. The first thing that came to mind was striving for healthy lifestyle. This resolution was triggered by an earlier email from a friend on the subject of "Perks of reaching 50 and heading towards 70"

- Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.
- Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember either.
- Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.
- Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

Like what my doctor said," Eat not what you most want to eat but eat what you dislike to eat most". I know, this would be a challenge! No doubt, good health is a major concern after 50.

What next: Talk less and listen more.
There was always the urge to cut in before the other finishes his sentence. Making a conclusion before the full fact is known........
The Chinese sage was right in saying, "Words once uttered, four horses would not be able to chase them back" (translated literally).

That reminds me what are written in the Book :
"Take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires".
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver".

Rare Christmas Card

When sending Christmas greetings via SMS' and emails is the norm these days, receiving a Christmas greeting card in the old fashioned way was truly precious indeed!

Think of the effort the sender went through in going to the shopping outlet, choosing the specific card, writing the message, getting the stamp and mailing it.....

Well, for this Christmas, beside cards received from business associates, we only received one card from family members- a special card from my niece and her family.

Thank again. Your effort is truly appreciated!

For our clients and business associates,we still faithfully send out the cards the old way- That's personal touch.

Another Battle Scar, RIP Eunice!

When it was announced in church this morning that Eunice Chung (Mrs. George Lo) had gone home to be with the Lord on Saturday morning, a deep heaviness filled our hearts. There was a choking in the throat, that painful awareness of helplessness when faced with the finality of death. Only the night before, on Friday, we had prayed earnestly for a miraculous intervention - that God might yet turn the tide and grant her more time with us. But His answer was different from what we hoped for.

It is often said that when one first receives salvation, the heart overflows with faith, zeal, and joy in sharing the Good News. Yet, along the journey, scars from unanswered prayers and painful losses sometimes dull that first vigour. Could this be another such scar, tempting us to grow hesitant, fearful, or weary in proclaiming the hope of salvation?

Many will find reasons to explain or justify why things had to end this way. But for those left behind, the grief is real, the silence heavy, and words often feel inadequate to comfort the pain of loss.

Yet even so, life moves forward. The world does not stop. And so must we - but not with resignation. Rather, let us treasure each day we are given, every moment with those we love, and live fully in the time God still grants us.

World's Best Pizza

We were also introduced to a little shop at Mundaring in our recent trip to Perth which serves the world's best pizza.

As to whether the claim put up by this little shop is justified or otherwise, the faces of these diners do give a bit of the clue of the verdict. Any less favourable verdict probably will come when I find another better one somewhere else latter on.

A bit of contemplation at the encounter with the so called "world's class pizza"

Fish Head Mee Soup

Fish head mee soup in Perth introduced by Meng How and serene was really good and we had to go for a second round before making back home to Sabah.

Not to be outdone by the Perthians, we also had a go of it back home (credit goes to my wife of course !) with Paul as our guest.

Welcome Home, Paul!

Love is in the Air

The months of October and November seem to be especially popular for weddings - this year alone, we’ve received nearly ten invitations! Sadly, we won’t be able to attend all of them due to scheduling conflicts and travel plans, as we’ll be away in Perth during part of the season.

Among the many wedding stories, one in particular feels almost like a movie script - the marriage of Marsha, a Malaysian Indian, to Luis Garcia, a Chilean. Their love story crosses continents, cultures, and languages. She speaks English; he speaks Spanish. She’s from Malaysia; he’s from the other side of the globe.

They met in New Zealand, where Luis was on a short-term student exchange program. Within just three months, love blossomed. After returning to Chile and completing his studies, Luis made a bold decision - he resigned from a well-paying job in Santiago and flew to Australia, simply to be closer to Marsha.

And the story ends on a high note. As if meant to be, Luis was offered a job in Kuala Lumpur - bringing him even closer to the woman he loves, and no doubt bringing great relief and joy to Marsha’s parents!

Some love stories really do defy distance, language, and cultural boundaries - and this one is a beautiful reminder that when love leads, everything else finds a way to follow.

Well, when you're truly in love, you’ll often find yourself doing things that defy logic or convention - sometimes even a little crazy! Just like Luis, who left a promising career in Santiago and flew across the world to be near Marsha.

Of course, history offers even more dramatic examples. Take King Edward VIII, who famously gave up the British throne for the woman he loved - Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee and a commoner. His decision shocked the world, but he was willing to forsake crown and country for love.

Whether it’s crossing continents or relinquishing a kingdom, love has a way of inspiring bold and sometimes unthinkable choices!