No worries

Another beautiful poem to remind me that God is in control. I shouldn’t be worried. This is taken from Streams In The Desert. 

O Thou of little faith,

God hath not failed thee yet!

When all looks dark and gloomy,

Thou dost so soon forget─

Forget that He has led thee,

And gently cleared thy way;

On clouds has poured His sunshine,

And turned thy night to day.

And if He's helped thee hitherto,

He will not fail thee now;

How it must wound His loving heart

To see thy anxious brow!

Oh! doubt not any longer,

To Him commit thy way,

whom in the past thou trusted,

And is "just the same today."

God is with me

Is it raining, little flower?

　Be glad of rain;

Too much sun would wither thee;

　`Twill shine again.

The clouds are very black, `tis true;

But just behind them shines the blue.

Art thou weary, tender heart?

　Be glad of pain:

In sorrow sweetest virtues grow,

　As flowers in rain.

God watches, and thou wilt have sun,

When clouds their perfect work have done.

　　　　　　　　　　─Lucy Larcom. 

Margin

margin refers to the space on the edge of a page where there is no text....James Bryan Smith (The good and beautiful God).

I always gets upset when students write into the margin which I call it Mt Space. Some have so much to write that they just go on and on and on.

Just like my life ....I’ve filled it up with so much that work, kdrama, housework...overflows into the margins of my life.

In this new soul training James Bryan Smith is suggesting that we take time for margin....leisure, me time, rest and time for God, family n health.

So I’ve found some time for margin today. One of the leisurely thing I used to enjoy was reading poems. Today I rediscovered Christina Rossetti.

Here’s one of her poem which is so dreary but true. I don’t mind it being read at my wake.

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

Blogging today is another margin. 😀😀

Soul training

One of the soul training exercises that I’ve to practise is taking time of to enjoy nature. This is what I’m doing now. Appreciating the sky, the plants, the breeze, the birds and the various sounds from bird chirping to the washing machine.

So the evening started with a cup of coffee (with a trickle of Kahlua). 

The flowers are not too great looking like before but they are still pleasing to the eye. 

Birds flying above. 

Suppose to catch a plane flying above. In fact I saw two planes passing by. 

Listen to the sounds. 

And  just like that, dusk has come. 

The orange colours of the sky is gone. 

It’s getting dark now. Mosquitoes are out!,,,,

Sky Mirror

23.2.19
Adventure for the month of February was the trip to Sky Mirror, off Kuala Selangor. Had always wanted to visit this place so when Ms Liau invited to join a tour, I jumped at it despite disliking joining tours. Tours as tours are.....I still dislike it except for the Sky Mirror and the paddy museum. Anyway back to the topic....will only focus on the Sky Mirror experience.

The jetty is in this place called Sasaran. The boatman looks young and his assistant is even younger. Only 18 apparently but looks much younger.

This fishing village is by the swamp. Full of egrets. 

Boats by the jetty. Around this time...10.15am many boats left the jetty to Sky Mirror. 

Took us about 25 minutes to reach the destination. Felt the boatman sped all the way there. He did slow down a while to show us some dolphins but I couldn’t see where I was seated. 

When we reached there were already other boats around. I believe there were almost 500 people on land. I The boatmen were turning here and there waiting for the tide to go down. We could see the difference in the water....the brownish water shows where land would appear while the greenish water is the deeper end. Finally saw some people coming down at the further end. The water was slightly below the knee. 

Then we were allowed to come down. The water was around the ankle. Went down with only my hat and hand phone. We were warned not to touch any of the sea creatures as they could be poisonous. Being in the middle of the Strait of Malacca, I believed him.  The sight of tide going down and land appearing was pretty awesome. 

All over the beach can see sights like this. The boatmen and assistants preparing the place for photography. Smmothen  the beach, make a little puddle and set up the tent like structure for lighting purposes 😂😂. Very innovative. 

The full group photo. 38 of us ....then we broke up to three different groups. Following different photographers. We followed the assistant from our boat. I offered him my iPhone X..of course I had to stay with him. 

The Seremban group. 12 of us. By the way....we met Mrs Öng...the children’s piano teacher. We stayed on the beach for an hour. Waiting for our turns to take pictures....groups, family, individual and couples. In no time time was up. 

The trip back was pretty awesome. When we were close to the village, we entered the mouth of the river with swamps on the left and right. I though it was a different route but it was the same. The scene was different because of the low tide. The swamps were swamped with egrets and we even saw a huge monitor lizard. 

A closer view of the swamp with the monitor lizard. 

Well, the whole excursion ended about 12.30pm. Pretty impressive and awed by God’s creation. The Almighty has indeed given us a beautiful earth. I was pleased when the boatmen told off a smoker not to throw the butt on the beach. Yes....they are playing their part to preserve the sea from pollution. It’s us...urban people who are ignorant and bring pollution even to the middle of the sea. 

Nights of Rain and Stars

This is the title of the book written by Maeve Binchy. One day during my Nilam class (a total waste of time) I saw a 12 year old student with this book. I was totally excited as MB is one of my favourite author. I thought I’ve read all of her books. Apparently not! 

This is MB. Very sensible and down to earth writer. Her style of writing is easy to read. Talking about normal people with their everyday lives but she spins tale out of normal living. There’s something real and honest in how she writes. It’s interesting too how she moves from one character to another or one place to another.

In this book she introduces us to four main characters running away from life and how a chance meeting with an angel like character brought changes to them. 

Issues like manipulation, expectations and domestic violence are touched on. I agree with her that one should not be dictated on how they should live. We need the freedom to live our lives and make our mistakes. Only then can we learn and be better people. But her conclusion is a bit over simplistic. Life in reality tend to be more complicated and sticky. 

The character David reminds me much of the kdrama Sky Castle. Expectations from parents and how to child yearns to be free from it and live his own life as his own person. 

People say love is blind (which I disagree)...through Fiona’s character she shows how a level headed person can be blinded by what she thinks is love for her man to the extent of allowing him to abuse her physically, emotionally and verbally. We can’t tell a person she / he has made the wrong choice. She has to discover it herself. 

An easy reading and entertaining book to pass time. 😀

Now I wonder if a 12 year old is able to read between the lines and come with these conclusions about life. 

Ah boy to man

so Dan is having his gap year/ months...before starting his undergrad studies. He’s full of plans. Conjuring projects in his mind and bringing them to reality. The father is real pleased that the son takes after him here. They speak the same language and get so excited of gadgets and machinery.

Project 1: making a shield. He took his father’s precious wood, sawed and shaped it into what he says inspired by the Kadazan or Iban(?) shield. He said the plank has been around the past ten years and not used. So it probably won’t be used for the next ten years. He might as well use it. Hmmmm....the father went quiet when he saw his wood was cut😂😂😂😂..

Project 2: he turned a pair of broken shears into a knife. Wrapped the handle and make it usable. 

Project 3: cleaning, sharpening, and restoring his father’s old machete. Out comes the angle grinder. 

Yesterday we went to Mr DIY and he spent more than 70 buying stuff for his projects. The above picture shows things that appeared on the His working table as he works on his projects. 

And I overheard the boys to men discussing about building a table????

I’m glad he’s home and spending his time portering around. Whether any of his projects will be useful or not....we’ll see. What’s important he’s doing things that he enjoys and definitely speaking the same language as the father. That’s precious bonding time. 

Multi seed walnut beer bread

I love bread and pastries. I am now using my fourth bread machine. My first machine was Princess brand, followed by Kenwood (the most expensive ) and then Tesco brand. This second Tesco machine was bought online...only rn168!!  The cheapest ever.

 I used up the beer which I was unable to finish in my bread. (Never ever throw out unfinished beer or soju or wine....throw it into the bread 😆😆).

1 egg

1 c liquid (I topped up the beer with water to reach a cup)

2tbsp olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

2 c HP flour

1 c whole meal flour

4tbsp various seeds

1/3 c walnut

2tbsp brown sugar

2tsp yeast 

Bake with Tesco machine..basic for 3 hours. The result is as the picture above. 

CNY gatherings

This  is the season where there will be endless gatherings. Just today a group of students visited me and the endless chatter of what they are doing, where they are studying etc etc. I really appreciate their visit because it’s a reflection of their sincerity towards me as their teacher regardless of what they are doing. Am so glad today’s gathering was not the ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ sort of gathering.

5Zeta 2016??

Then there is the extended family gatherings....where we meet up with cousins and aunts and uncles etc etc. Those cousins who are doing well are so well thought of....those who are not doing so well sit in another side and there’s that group who may have brought shame to the family....they are out of the radar and spoken of in hushed tones. Talk about caste system....amongst the Chinese community there is this unwritten caste system which runs in every clan. Hubby purposely didn’t inform me of such a gathering this year and I’m blissfully ignorant and happy 😃😃😆😆😆😆. 

Even back home in my kampung, I didn’t go on visitations to extended families...which makes me pretty anti social I think. A dear cousin called on us almost midnight and she couldn’t understand why I didn’t visit her mum which is the remaining elder in the family. Hmmmm...I guess I value my time with my own siblings more. 

So what does an introvert like me do during CNY? I treasure very much the time with my siblings, nephews , nieces and their children. This year there are just so many cute kids. My cup overflows with joy as I spend the time with them. Call me selfish...but that was quality time spent. 

The annual movie with the nephews ...who are grown men now. That’s luxury. We hardly meet and it’s CNY that we catch up with each other. 

Just now a student ask why didn’t I go to her grandma’s house for their CNY party (my neighbor). I simply said...I’m scared of crowds. Which is absolutely true. Crowds....even if they are relatives make me uncomfortable and awkward. 

So the next time if I don’t attend a gathering, reunion etc etc....I hope my family and friends will be more forgiving  and understanding. 

Take time to smell the roses

the cny weekend has started and this is the time when much has to be done. I was already mentally making a to do list while lying on bed just now. But I refuse to be flustered by my busy schedule.

Purposely sit in the garden now to have my breakfast with Kc and do our devotional together. We have decided to have more breakfasts in the garden this year.

The best time of the day in the garden is in the morning when everything is quiet and there’s only the birds chirping. This is called smelling the roses. My garden may not be the most beautiful garden but it’s where I relax and chill. 

To a new day and new adventure 🥂🍻!!

2016-2019

The title is the length of time I did not blog and today...  after more than two and a half years I'm on my trusty old Mac typing away. Maybe a little rusty in my writing..brain too complacent and lazy with all the Kdramas!

This morning Lyn was running through some recipes on my blog and that make me realized that I should take up blogging again so that my children have stuff to read about me one day when I'm not with them. That would help to keep memories of me alive😼😼😼😼😼😼.

So much has happened in the past two years and I'm an orphan now. Mum passed away in September 2016 and dad in March 2017...six months apart. Festive seasons like CNY and Christmas are still difficult for me.

What did I do the past two years? Kdrama !!!!😆😆 Influence of students and also my way of escaping from the stress in life. KC is surprised that I'm not on any drama tonight. Hahaha.

The empty nest syndrome...that's me. This should be a good reason for me to be penning some lines here every now and then if I'm not too lazy. But most of the time I feel lazy.

Traveling ...the bug bites without fail where I would start planning early each year. This year will be different. No more planning but keeping my thoughts in prayer that God will bless me with that holiday which I have in mind. Will wait for the surprise.

When I read some of my blogs I was pleasantly surprised by the book reviews I wrote. Forgotten I have read so many interesting books. Just yesterday I picked up a book by Maeve Binchy. Will write a review on it after I finish reading.

OK resolution for 2019..I must start blogging again. Just pen a few thoughts would be good.