Lunch at Upperstar Pepper & Grill

Today at Canaanland Celebration, we had a Canadian guest speaker sharing his testimony with us. He was the same person who sang for us three weeks ago.

Don Budd used to be a pilot and at the peak of his career, he was earning RM24K per month. He was flying General and big shots around the world with an in-house chef where he could savour fillet mignon and other good food.

Now he said his monthly income is ONLY RM5K per month. I am sure he has no clue how much an average person in this country earns per month. He changed five cars in the span of five years and liked to play golf at the time. He kept on buying golf clubs as well. He certainly had expensive toys.

But upon conversion he changed and that is why he is now a volunteer based in YWAM Philippines.

After Canaanland Celebration, Monica Leong and I met Sophia Tsen at Upperstar Pepper and Grill for lunch around 1p.m.

Before Sophia arrived she told me to order Lamb Chops with Mushroom Sauce for her.

Monica had Penne with Chicken. I only found out today Monica does not like the taste of cheese as well. The cook would sprinkle some cheese on top of the pasta. So I advised her next time when she orders any pasta to remember to tell the waiter/waitress to exclude cheese in the dish.

A few times when I wanted to order Deep Fried Quail in this restaurant, it was unavailable. So today I tried asking again and the waiter told me it was available.

I shared a quarter piece of the Deep Fried Quail with Monica since she had not tried it before. She said it was tasty.

After I finished savouring the Quail, my main course still had not arrived yet. By then Monica had almost finished eating her pasta while Sophia her Lamb Chops but not the French Fries.

I summoned one of the waiters and told him my Hainanese Chicken Rice had not arrived yet. He went to check in the computer and the order was not put in. I was glad I had the appetizer first. Otherwise I would be so hungry by then.

The Chicken Rice finally came and it looked pretty good.

For the first time I liked the combination of the ginger, soy sauce and chilli sauce with the rice and chicken.

While having and after lunch we chit-chatted for a few hours before ordering dessert.

Upperstar Baked Cheese Cake

Chocolate Cake

Due to the cakes being in the fridge for too long, the crust of the Cheesecake was too hard and the Chocolate Cake was no longer moist. Nevertheless both did not taste too sweet which suited my tastebud just fine.

By the time we left the restaurant, the time was already 5.30p.m.

I went over to Consfood thinking of getting the Banana Cake for Aunty Alice but it was sold out so I left the shop empty handed.

When I reached home mum asked where had I been. I told her I just finished lunch. She was so shocked. Dinner was going to be served in less than an hour's time. I had to tell her to eat first because I was still full.

Lunch

The weather was hot and hazy during lunchtime. Did not feel like going out to takeaway or eat in somewhere. So ordered from nearby coffee shop and had this delivered.

When I ordered Seafood ‘Wat Tan Ho’, I did not know that the cook would put in slices of fish. I expected fish cake. So the slices of fish was a bit fishy to me. That is why I usually do not like to order fish when eating outside. At least I know and next time if I order the same thing, I would ask for fish cake.

Worked until 6.25p.m. today and I was so tired by then.

Did I Marry The Right Person?

(Happy 9th Wedding Anniversary to Cabo and SC on 09.09.09 Cheers ...

And this post is dedicated to especially all my friends who are married.

Once again my colleague posted this up in Facebook).

During one of our seminars, a woman asked a common question. She said, "How do I know if I married the right person?"

I noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so I said, "It depends. Is that your husband?" In all seriousness, she answered "How do you know?"

Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it's weighing on your mind.

Here's the answer. EVERY relationship has a cycle. In the beginning, you fell in love with your spouse. You anticipated their call, wanted their touch, and liked their idiosyncrasies.

Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love... Because it's happening TO YOU.

People in love sometimes say, "I was swept of my feet." Think about the imagery of that expression. It implies that you were just standing there; doing nothing, and then something came along and happened TO YOU.

Falling in love is easy. It's a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few years of marriage, the euphoria of love fades. It's the natural cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts.

The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship, but if you think about your marriage, you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.

At this point, you and/or your spouse might start asking, "Did I marry the right person?" And as you and your spouse reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience with someone else. This is when marriages breakdown. People blame their spouse for their unhappiness and look outside their marriage for fulfillment.

Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes. Infidelity is the most obvious.

But sometimes people turn to work, a hobby, a friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances. But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your marriage. It lies within it. I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else.

You could.

And TEMPORARILY you'd feel better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later. Because (listen carefully to this):

THE KEY TO SUCCEEDING IN MARRIAGE IS NOT FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON; IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE THE PERSON YOU FOUND.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. It'll NEVER just happen to you. You can't "find" LASTING love. You have to "make" it day in and day out. That's why we have the expression "the labor of love." Because it takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it takes WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make your marriage work.

Make no mistake about it. Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your spouse) to succeed with your marriage.

Just as there are physical laws of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships. Just as the right diet and exercise program makes you physically stronger, certain habits in your relationship WILL make your marriage stronger. It's a direct cause and effect. If you know and apply the laws, the results are predictable. .. you can "make"

love.

Love in marriage is indeed a "decision"... Not just a feeling.

Remember this always:

"God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go."

*** Just for a good laugh***

( A colleague of mine posted this up in Facebook and I thought it is good to know since both species are so different)

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down. Finally, the guys' side of the story. (must admit, it's pretty good..)

We always hear "the rules" from the female side.. Now here are the rules from the male side.

These are our rules! Please note.. these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports is like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work: Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine...Really

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as FOOTBALL or motor sports

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this.

Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Pass this to as many men as you can to give them a laugh. Pass this to as many women as you can - to give them a bigger laugh.

Dinner at Yummy Chicken

Aunty Alice, James and CTY left for Sandakan two days ago by car.

Mum left for the same place this evening as my step grandmother is unwell.

After helping mum to check in and made sure she knew the entrance to the departure hall, Ros and I went to fetch Chloe and Alistair from Sunday School.

Ali was hungry but the time was only 5.15p.m. and the lil fella wanted to go to Wagamama. Talking about kids and their preferences nowadays, we would never have that kind of opinion when we were only five y.o.

Ros suggested we went to Yummy Chicken. Yummy Chicken is the restaurant that replaced the Vietnamese cafe opposite Wisma Merdeka.

Chloe and I both had Penang ‘Char Keow Teow’. Ros had Chicken Rice while Ali had one plate of just Rice.

Ros liked her Chicken Rice.

One plate of ‘Char Keow Teow’ came out first and so I told Chloe to eat first.

Then Ali’s rice came.

I asked Chloe whether the noodles tasted nice because it did not look too appetizing to me but she said it was nice.

More than half way through their meal when my order still did not arrive, I told the waitress to check for me. The cook forgot and thought there was only one order of the noodles from our table.

But the noodles was worth the wait. Though it did not look appetizing enough, the ‘wok hei’ was there. It would even be better if the cook had put in more prawns and cockles though. Nevertheless, I was quite pleased with it.

Since we ordered set value meal, the ice lime juice and coconut jelly also came with it.

The restaurant can cater for about 40 people at any one time. As we were about to leave, two tables with Chinese people were eating while seven other tables the Muslims were waiting to break fast. As soon we stood up to leave, another Malay couple sat down. The restaurant is full.

Life is Good

Today the daily devotional guide ODB has the above-mentioned title.

So I posted it up as my Facebook status as soon as I arrived at work. I also added in ‘Not cos it is a bed of roses. But cos of who He is. Not cos of who I am’.

Life is good because God is good. He is good all the time but most of the time we do not see it that way. We only concentrate on who we are and not on who He is.

When life is going great, we tend to forget about God. And when it does not go the way we want, we tend to blame God.

Through my life experiences, no matter how bad, I have come to the point in accepting that if God has allowed it, He would always provide me the grace to go through it.

I remember at one time when I was still living in my elder brother’s house and he had a guest A visiting from Canada.

A was asking us our concept of God. So I did not hesitate to tell him, ‘Let God be God’. When he heard my statement, he instantly came to a conclusion that I must have been through a lot.

I agreed with him and told him that it was through painful experiences in my life that I learnt more about God than when my life is going smoothly. And looking back now at those painful experiences I can say life was good because God was good. He helped me through every single one of them.

God has to put us all through them in order that we would become more mature in our faith and help others who may be going through the same situations as we did.

Editing Work

Recently I have been extremely busy with a lot of stuff at work. Before one of the interns completed his internship, I told him to save all his work into the pendrive so that when I have the time, I will transfer them into my work pc. I did not have time to check what was given to me until today since I need to edit some of the things he had done before it went out to the client.

Lo and behold when I opened one of the files, what was given to me in hard and soft copies did not match. I wish he was there so that I could scream at him. The whole experience was driving me nuts.

I practically spent the whole or should I say wasted the whole day and night (yes, I had to bring it back home to finish) editing his mistakes and improved on anything that needed to be improved.

Another hard lesson learnt: make sure check both hard and soft copies given are the same no matter how busy work is.

Be Thankful

I was chatting with a friend on MSN tonight and she told me about her cousin, S.

S’s boss has been paying her and her two colleagues RM50 or RM75 per week since June this year (no real pay). If S is lucky, just like recently she received RM150 that week. S’s mum is paying for her car, fuel and food.

We should always be thankful for what we receive everyday and not take things for granted.