The True Meaning of Christmas (by Santa)

The Meaning of Christmas

Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor. This is how it happened. I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room, and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. "What are you doing?" I started to ask him.

The words choked in my throat, as I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager boisterous soul we all know.  He then answered me with a simple statement, TEACH THE CHILDREN! I was puzzled: What did he mean? He anticipated my question, and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. 

As I stood there bewildered, Santa said, Teach the Children! Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The meaning that a now-a-day Christmas has forgotten!

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it on the mantle. Teach the Children that the pure green color of the  stately fir tree remains green all year round, depicting the everlasting hope of mankind.  All the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven.

He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. Teach the Children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago.   God promised a Savior for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of that promise.

He then reached into the bag and pulled out a CANDLE. Teach the Children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of He who displaces the darkness.

Once again he reached into his bag and then removed a WREATH and  placed it on the tree. Teach the Children that the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love. Real love never ceases. Love is one continuous round of affection.

He then pulled out from his bag an ornament of HIMSELF. Teach the Children that Santa Claus symbolizes the generosity and good will we feel during the month of December.

He reached in again and pulled out a HOLLY LEAF. Teach the Children the holly plant represents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Savior. The red holly berries represent blood shed by Him.

Next he pulled out a GIFT from the bag and said, "Teach the Children that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Thanks be to God for His  unspeakable gift. Teach the Children that the wise men bowed before the holy babe and presented Him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We should give gifts in the same spirit as the wise men." 

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree. Teach the Children that the candy cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the shepherd's staff helps bring back strayed sheep from the flock. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keeper.

He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL. Teach the Children that it was the angels that heralded in the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The angels sang 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth, peace and good will.'

Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. Teach the Children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of a bell, it should bring people to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return.

Santa looked at the tree and was pleased. He looked back at me and I saw the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, "Remember, teach the Children the true meaning of Christmas, and not to put me in the center, for I am but a humble servant of the One who is, and I bow down and worship Him, our Lord, our God." 

~ Author Unknown

Source : http://www.annien.com/Holidays/Christmas/ChristmasStories/meaning_christmas.htm

1 Corinthians 13 Christmas Style

1 Corinthians 13 Christmas Style

©By Sharon Jaynes

If I decorate my house perfectly with lovely plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love to my family – I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family – I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family – it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn’t envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of your way.

Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails. Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

Bel's Private Lake

I always want my kids to be raised strong and ready for all the weather. I like them to try outdoor, be brave, run bare footed and catch butterflies and tadpoles. All that are not possible in the city. So when I brought Bel to Sapulut in November 2011, I did not expect her to get to do all that and more and thoroughly enjoyed herself and totally healthy and happy. 

It was raining heavily the night before, there was a paddle of water outside the center, just under the cross. Bel told me its a lake, "Mummy, can I play in the lake with them ? Please !"

Christabel's joyous moment at Sapulut on 27/11/2011.

Bel's private lake in Sapulut !

I think she finds that the outdoor fun in Sapulut is World Class standard. Catching butteflies, playing river sands, chasing the boys, swimming in her private lake ! She was 6 years old then, just joined GB for over a year.

 In this photo, she was completely wet, after playing in the "lake"!

Ha Ha ! I must confess I am not a normal mum, somehow I trust my 6 years old, she told me its ok and its safe ! She also added she wont get too wet (this she could not manage) ! I am pleased that she will come to me to ask to try new things ! 

She learnt so much in this trip about being Sabahans, having Native playmates, enjoying childhood. We even discovered how much she loved pets, especially cats. She actually begged to bring one cat home but it was not possible. 

Nasi Lemak 2.0

Michael said that this is the one movie we got to see and find out ourselves. Our family went when it first started screening at 1 Borneo cinema and we even split into 3 groups just to watch it, get this, on the first row when the screen was too large to be covered by our eyes ! Yeah, we were determined to watch it !

The kids gave a thumbs up, Malcolm even wanted the DVD as his collection ! Bel loves the song Rasa Sayang 2.0 and it was really a Malaysian movie, the locals will understand the scenes and details, the multi-racial and multi-languages that were used throughout the movie.  It is a Chinese movie but with a Malaysian twist to it ! The movie is mostly in Mandarin and Cantonese with a smattering of other Chinese dialects, Bahasa Malaysia, English and Tamil.

Nasi Lemak 2.0 was made on less than RM1mil, after failing to obtain funding from the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) and Creative Industries Fund (CIF), who were supposed to be supporting the local arts and entertainment scene.

This is an unusually daring exploration of the racial ties that bind us all and the film has been successful. Watching Nasi Lemak 2.0 will make Malaysians (those who possess some sense of humour anyway) take a good look at themselves in the mirror and laugh.

This film was produced by Fred Chong and Sylvia Lim. The cast includes comedian and singer Adibah Noor, Karen Kong, Afdlin Shauki, Kenny & Chee, Reshmonu, Dennis Lau, Nur Fathia, Nadine Thomas, Pete Teo, Ho Yuhang, Dian Sharlin and Felixia Yap.

The best comments about this movie came from this blogger and I agreed with what has been said !

Because Namewee uses vulgar words excessively in his songs, people tend to think of him as an uncouth person. But the truth is far removed from reality. He’s in fact a very polite young man and is very encouraging of aspiring artists and authors. Namewee is also a patriot who wants nothing but a better Malaysia for the future generation. He mentioned that as an artist, he feels that the only way he can reach out to the public about his visions is through his songs.

Here is the movie trailer :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zo8vQqMRMRQ

Our final comments are that it is trully a 1Malaysia movie, the Malays and other races who acted in the movie know the cause of this movie - to bring forth racial harmony through the signature dish of Nasi Lemak that has been unifying us as one nation ! It is worth watching. I wish him, Namewee, very success in future film making and songs writing and I just wish his songs do not contain vulgar words anymore so that we could start buying his songs too !

YAGM Malaysia: No Strings Attached . . . ?

The following post was copied from the YAGM blog and it had our family Mooncake Festival dinner in it where we invited the entire team to come and join our celebration. We had a good time.

This is their blog : 

http://yagm-malaysia.blogspot.my/2011/09/no-strings-attached.html?spref=bl

No Strings Attached . . . ?

By Cindy
14 Sept 2011

How Beautiful Are The Feet That Bring The Good News & The Ties That Bind - Sept 2011

In many instances we long for this situation. No commitments, no obligations, no strings. This is not the case with my year of service. Recently our group all set off for our placement sites- we are now scattered around Kota Kinabalu and Sabah (we have 3 people that live 1-7 hours away from KK). Our two-week orientation period was over, the connection we made as a group broken…or was it. 

Before heading out, Peter, our country coordinator, lead us in an activity that reminded us not only of the many experiences (and there were a ton) we had over the last weeks, but also that those experiences keep us connected. After a few minutes of reflecting, (the picture above) is what our circle looked like.

This is only a small representation of all the stories we shared as a group since getting to Malaysia 2 weeks ago.

The stories are all connected and the stories connect us all. From this point on, many of our stories will not be experienced together, as a YAGM group, but with our new communities. As we make connections at our placements our new challenge is to share the stories- with our fellow YAGM and with people back home.

 We will gather back as a group near the end of November for some reflection, check in time and to share those stories. The stories we bring from our individual placements sites will enrich all of our experiences and continue to connect us. The power of a story can show us how very different…and very similar we all are.

 Even this early in the year, I can see the connections- how things are so very different and yet so familiar at the same time.

 One particular story was last Saturday- we were invited to a Mooncake party, a Chinese festival. The Moon Cake festival is a lunar harvest festival that has origins in 14th century China during the Yuan Dynasty. It is said to commemorate a rebellion over the Mongols. To plan this rebellion, messages were placed in moon cakes and sent around China disguised as cakes in honor of the Mongol emperor. A successful rebellion occurred and the Mongols were overthrown. Since this time, a mid-fall festival has been celebrated with moon cakes and lighting lanterns (thanks to my fellow YAGM for this info!).

It was a truly delightful evening; there was so much food, lots of laughter, crazy kids running around, and too many desserts. Sound familiar??? It could have been any holiday I’ve been to in my last 30 years. Especially the food part- when we meet, we eat! No matter what the holiday is celebrating, the core reason for getting together is to see family, be in fellowship and let’s face it- eat a lot. While there was no green fluff (my favorite food at family gatherings), there were people to talk to and kids to play with.         

After stuffing ourselves it was lantern lighting time complete with a walk around the neighborhood.

Our laughter and conversation filled the night air as we walked the streets in celebration.  We walked for about 30 minutes before heading back to the house for Mooncakes. Mooncakes are traditionally made with lotus seed or sweet bean paste and have an egg yolk inside. There are also chocolate ones! As with any holiday, there was an abundance of desserts! 

There were plenty of kids at the party too and one lady had a box full of face painting supplies. We all got our faces made and then turned to “Uncle Pete”- fun was had by all as an 8-year old decorated our country coordinators face.

As we continue to experience these stories, our challenge is to figure out how to share them. How to show people back home that there is a very rich culture in Malaysia- the Mooncake Festival was just one of the many holidays we have gotten to celebrate so far and we look forward to many more to come in the next year. There are many differences here; life here is very different than in the United States. But it is also very similar in many ways. We all love to celebrate important events, we all love to gather with family members and we all have a crazy “Uncle Pete”.

The stories I get to share as this year progresses helps to bind us together, tie us together with stings of experiences that help us understand, respect and live with each other.

There are strings…

…we are attached…

Ingredients Translation Chinese to English

Translation of Ingredient Terms

 Got this list from a blog, great for those who are not able to identify the ingredient written in chinese recipe books! I have struggled with Chinese recipes and this will come handy one day !

A. Types of Flour , 面粉类

1. 麵粉, 中筋麵粉 = plain flour / all-purpose flour
2. 低筋麵粉, 低根粉 = cake flour / soft flour / weak flour / low protein flour
3. 高筋麵粉, 筋麵, 根麵, 高根粉 = gluten flour / strong flour / bread flour / baker’s flour / high protein flour
4. 小麦面粉 = whole meal flour
5. 全麥麵粉 = whole wheat flour
6. 澄麵粉, 澄粉, 澄麵= non-glutinous flour / wheat flour / wheat starch
7. 自發麵粉 = self- raising flour
8. 粗玉米豆粉 = polenta / yellow cornmeal
9. 粟粉, 粟米粉, 玉米粉, 玉米澱粉(太白粉?) = corn flour / cornstarch
10. 生粉 , 太白粉, 地瓜粉= potato starch / potato flour
11. 樹薯粉, 木薯粉, 茨粉, 菱粉, 泰國生粉, 太白粉, 地瓜粉= Tapioca starch / tapioca flour
12. 蕃薯粉, 地瓜粉 = sweet potato flour
13. 臭粉, 胺粉, 阿摩尼亞粉, 嗅粉 = powdered baking ammonia / carbonate of ammonia / ammonia bicarbonate / ammonia carbonate / hartshorn
14. 發粉, 泡打粉, 泡大粉, 速發粉, 蛋糕發粉 = baking powder
15. 蘇打粉, 小蘇打, 梳打粉, 小梳打, 食粉, 重曹 = baking soda / bicarb ofsoda
16. 塔塔粉, 他他粉 = cream of tartar
17. 卡士達粉, 蛋黃粉, 吉士粉, 吉時粉= custard powder
18. 卡士達, 克林姆, 奶皇餡, 蛋奶餡 = custard / pastry cream
19. 蛋白粉 = egg white powder
20. 粘米粉, 黏米粉, 在來米粉, 在萊米粉, 再來米粉= rice flour
21. 糕仔粉 = cooked rice flour
22. 糯米粉 = glutinous rice flour / sweet rice flour
23. 鳳片粉, 熟糯米粉, 糕粉, 加工糕粉 = fried sweet rice flour / fried glutinous rice flour
24. 綠豆粉 = mung bean flour / tepung hun kwee
25. 小麥胚芽, 麥芽粉 = wheat germ
26. 小麥蛋白, 麵筋粉 = wheat gluten
27. 酵母, 酒餅= yeast／ibu roti
28. 麵包糠, 麵包屑= breadcrumbs
29. 雜糧預拌粉 = multi-grain flour
30. 抹荼粉 = green tea powder
31. 馬蹄粉 = water chestnut flour
32. 葛粉 = arrowroot flour
33. 杏仁粉 = almond flour／almond meal

 

B. Types of Sugar, 糖类

1. 黑蔗糖漿, 糖蜜, 甘蔗糖蜜 = molasses
2. 金黃糖漿 = golden syrup
3. 楓糖漿, 楓樹糖漿, 楓糖 = maple syrup
4. 玉米糖漿 = corn syrup／karo syrup
5. 葡萄糖漿 = glucose syrup
6. 麥芽糖漿 = barley maltsyrup／maltsyrup
7. 麥芽糖 = maltose／malt sugar
8. 焦糖 = carmael
9. 果糖 = fructos
10. 乳糖 = lactose
11. 轉化糖 = invert sugar
12. 日式糙米糖漿 = amazake
13. 綿花糖霜 = marshmallow cream cream
14. 冰糖 = rock sugar
15. 椰糖, 爪哇紅糖 = palm sugar／gula malacca
16. 黃砂糖 = brown sugar
17. 紅糖, 黑糖 = dark brown sugar
18. 粗糖, 黑砂糖 = muscovado sugar
19. 金砂 = demerara sugar
20. 原蔗糖 = raw sugar／raw cane sugar／unrefined cane sugar
21. 白砂糖, 砂糖 = white sugar／refined sugar／refined cane sugar／coarse granulated sugar
22. 細砂糖, 幼砂糖, 幼糖 = castor sugar / caster sugar（适用于做糕点）
23. 糖份混合物 = icing sugar mixture
24. 糖粉 = icing sugar／confectioners’ sugar
25. 糖霜, 點綴霜 = icing／frosting
26. 蜜葉糖, 甜葉菊 = stevia／honey leaf
27. 代糖, 阿斯巴甜 = aspartame／sweetener／sugar substitute
28. 什色糖珠
29. 巧克力米, 朱古力米 = chocolate vermicelli/rice
30. 巧克力削, 朱古力削 = chocolate curls
31. 巧克力珠, 朱古力珠 = choc bits／chocolate chips
32. 耐烤巧克力豆 = choc bits (澳洲的英文名) / chocolate chips (美國、加拿大的英文名)

C. Essence & Cream , 香精与奶类

1. 白礬 = alum
2. 硼砂 =- borax
3. 石膏 = gypsum
4. 鹼水, (木見)水, 碳酸钾 = alkaline water／lye water／potassium carbonate
5. 食用色素 = food colouring
6. 香草豆, 香草莢, 香草片, 香子蘭莢 = vanilla bean／vanilla pod
7. 香草精, 雲尼拉香精, 凡尼拉香精 = vanilla extract／vanilla essence
8. 香草粉 = vanilla powder
9. 班蘭粉, 香蘭粉 = ground pandan／ground screwpine leaves／serbok daun pandan
10. 班蘭精, 香蘭精 = pandan paste／pasta pandan
11. 玫瑰露, 玫瑰露精 = rosewater／rosewater essence essence
12. 皮屑 = grated zest／grated rind
13. 牛油, 奶油 = butter
14. 軟化牛油 = soft butter
15. 瑪珈琳, 瑪琪琳, 乳瑪琳, 雅瑪琳, 人造奶油, 菜油 = margarine
16. 起酥油, 起酥瑪琪琳 = pastry margarine / oleo margarine
17. 豬油, 白油, 大油, 板油 = lard / cooking fat
18. 酥油, 雪白奶油 shortening
19. 硬化椰子油 = copha
20. 椰油 = Creamed Coconut
21. 烤油 = dripping
22. 牛油忌廉 = butter cream
23. 淡忌廉 = light cream／coffee cream／table cream
24. 鮮奶油, 忌廉, 鮮忌廉 = cream／whipping cream
25. 包括﹕1 light whipping cream
26. 2 heavy whipping cream／heavy cream／thickened cream
27. 3 double cream／pure cream
28. 酸奶油, 酸忌廉, 酸奶酪, 酸乳酪 = sour cream
29. 酸奶 = butter milk
30. 牛奶, 鮮奶, 鮮乳 = milk
31. 奶粉 = powdered milk / milk powder
32. 花奶, 淡奶, 奶水, 蒸發奶, 蒸發奶水 = evaporated milk
33. 煉奶 = condensed milk／sweetened condensed milk
34. 起士, 起司, 芝士, 乳酪, 奶酪, 乾酪, 乳餅 = cheese
35. 起司粉 = powdered cheese
36. 奶油起司, 芝士忌廉, 奶油乳酪, 凝脂乳酪 = cream cheese
37. 瑪斯卡波尼起司, 馬司卡膨起司, 馬斯卡波涅起司, 義大利乳酪 = mascarpone cheese
38. 優格, 乳果, 酸奶, 酸乳酪 = yoghurt
39. 優酪乳 = yoghurt drink／drinking yoghurt

D. Types of Confectionery, 糕点名称

1. 麵包, 麵飽 = bread
2. 土司麵包, 吐司 = toast
3. 法式吐司 = french toast
4. 裸麥麵包 = rye bread
5. 派, 批 = pie
6. 塔, 撻 = tart
7. 凍派, 凍批 = cream pie
8. 蛋塔 = egg tart / custard tart
9. 法式蛋塔 = quiche lorraine
10. 戚風蛋糕 = chiffon cake
11. 海綿蛋糕 = sponge cake
12. 泡芙 = choux pastry / puff
13. 瑪琳 , 焗蛋泡 = meringue
14. 蛋蜜乳 = eggnog
15. 可麗餅 = crepe
16. 煎餅, 熱餅, 薄烤餅 = pancake
17. 厚鬆餅 = pikelet / hotcake
18. 墨西哥麵餅 = tortillas
19. 曲奇 = cookies
20. 慕斯, 慕思 = mousse
21. 布甸, 布丁 = pudding
22. 司康, 比司吉 = scones
23. 舒芙蕾 = souffles
24. 洋芋塊 = hash brown
25. 英式鬆餅, 瑪芬麵包 = english muffin
26. 鬆糕, 瑪芬 = american muffin　
27. 格子鬆餅 = waffle
28. 手指餅乾 = sponge fingers / ladyfingers / savoiardi (義大利名)
29. 蘇打餅干 = saltine crackers
30. 威化餅乾 = wafer biscult

E. Dried Fruits & Nuts, 干果/果脯

1. 腰子豆, 腰果, 腰果仁, 介壽果 = cashew nut
2. 花生 = peanut
3. 瓜子, 南瓜子 = pepitas / dried pumpkin seeds
4. 崧子, 松子仁 = pine nut
5. 栗子 = chestnut
6. 干粟子 = dried chestuts
7. 核桃, 核桃仁, 合桃, 胡桃 = walnut
8. 杏仁, 杏仁片, 扁桃 = almond
9. 北杏, 苦杏仁 = apricot kernel / chinese almond / bitter almond
10. 南杏 = apricot kernel
11. 榛果, 榛仁= hazelnut / filbert / cobnut
12. 開心果, 阿月渾子 = pistachio
13. 堅果, 澳洲堅果, 夏威夷果, 澳洲胡桃, 澳洲栗, 澳洲核桃, 昆士蘭龍眼, 昆士蘭栗 = macadamia / california nut
14. 山胡桃, 胡桃 = pecan
15. 石鼓仔, 馬加拉, 油桐子 = candlenut / buah keras
16. 白果, 銀杏 = ginkgo nut
17. 罌粟子 = poppy seed
18. 亞答子 = atap seed
19. 海苔粉 = ground seaweed
20. 涼粉, 仙草 = grass jelly
21. 椰絲, 椰茸, 椰子粉 = desiccated coconut／shredded coconut
22. 果子凍, 果凍粉, 啫喱= jelly
23. 魚膠粉, 吉利丁, 明膠 = gelatine sheets／powdered gelatine　
24. 大菜, 大菜絲, 菜燕, 燕菜精, 洋菜, 洋菜粉, 瓊脂 = agar powder
25. 乾椰絲 = dessicated coconut
26. 龍眼乾, 龍眼肉, 桂圓, 圓肉= dried longan
27. 葡萄乾 = raisin / dried currant
28. 無花果乾 = dried fig
29. 柿餅 = dried persimmon
30. 桃脯 = dried peach
31. 杏脯 = dried apricot
32. 蘋果脯, 蘋果乾 = dried apple
33. 蜜漬櫻桃, 露桃, 車梨子 = glace cherry／candied cherry
34. 蜜漬鳳梨 = glace pineapple／candied pineapple
35. 糖水批把 = loquats in syrup
36. 杏子酱 = apricot jam
37. 杏桃果膠 = apricot glaze
38. 水蜜桃罐頭 = peaches in syrup
39. 切片水蜜桃罐頭 = sliced peaches in syrup
40. 綜合水果罐頭 = cocktail fruit in syrup　

 

F. General Ingredients

1. 味精 = monosodium glutamate
2. 醋 = vinegar
3. 白醋(工研醋) = rice vinegar
4. 白醋 = white vinegar (西洋料理用的)
5. 烏醋 = black vinggar
6. 酱油 = soy sauce
7. 蚝油 = oyster sauce
8. 麻油 = sesame oil
9. 白酒 = white spirits
10. 加饭酒 = rice wine
11. 桂花酒 = osmanthus-flavored wine
12. 芝麻酱 = sesame paste
13. 辣椒醬 = chili sauce
14. 牛頭牌沙荼醬 = bull head barbecue sauce/Chinese barbecue sauce
15. 南乳 = fermented red beancurd
16. 薑粉 = ginger powder
17. 调味蕃茄醬 = ketchup
18. 蕃茄醬 = tomato sauce (普通甜的)
19. 蕃茄醬 = tomato paste (義大利料理用的)
20. 豆辦醬 = chilli bean sauce
21. XO醬 = XO sauce
22. 豆豉 = salt black bean
23. 薏米 = pearl barley
24. 西贾米= sago
25. 沙莪粒, 西米, 小茨丸 = pearl sago／pearl tapioca
26. 紅豆沙, 烏豆沙 = red bean paste
27. 綠豆片 = split mung bean
28. 芝麻 = sesame Seeds
29. 蓮子 = lotus seed
30. 蓮蓉 = lotus paste
31. 栗蓉 = chestnut puree / chestnut paste
32. 蜜棗 = preserved red dates
33. 紅棗 = chinese red dates
34. 棗泥 = red date paste
35. 百合 = dried lily bulb
36. 金针 = tiger lily buds
37. 陳皮 = dried orange peel／dried tangerine peel
38. 豆腐 = tofu
39. 腐竹 = dried beancurd sticks
40. 腐皮 = beancurd sheet
41. 酸菜 = pickled mustard-green
42. 蒸山芋 = steamed sweet potatoes
43. 咸黄瓜 = salted cucumber
44. 脱水蒜粒 = dehydrated garlic granules
45. 冬菇 = dried black mushroom
46. 木耳 = white fungus
47. 黑木耳 = black fungus / wood ear fungus / dried black fungus
48. 海带 = sea vegetable / Sea weed
49. 燒海苔 = toasted nori seaweed / roasted seaweed sushi nori
50. 板海苔 = nori seaweed / dried sea laver
51. 燕菜 = agar-agar
52. 蝦米 = dried shrimp
53. 鱼干 = dried fish
54. 鹹蛋黃 = salted egg yolk
55. 皮蛋（糖心/ 硬心） = preserved duck eggs (soft and hard yolk)
56. 咸鸭蛋 = salted duck eggs
57. 牛肉粒 = dried beef cubes
58. 牛肉片 = dried beef sliced
59. 猪肉松 = dried pork floss
60. 腊鸭 = preserved duck
61. 鸭肫干= preserved duck gizzard
62. 烤鸭 = roasted duck
63. 方便面 = instant noodles
64. 面条 = noodles
65. 米粉 = rice-noodle
66. 粉丝 = silk noodles
67. 餛鈍皮 = wonton wrapper/wonton skins
68. 水餃皮 = dumpling wrapper / dumpling skins /gyoza wrapper
69. 春捲皮 = spring roll wrapper , egg roll wrapper

The Family Picnic

This has been the longest in-planning picnic I ever got invovled in ! It was in skype back in May 2011 between Sabah and Kalimantan; between me and my lil brother David who is now working in Kalimantan about his coming home visit in August 2011. I told him "Lets plan camp and bring our boys to go fishing !" He said ok ! Well, that was 2 months plus ago and now he is back home and I poped the question "On or not ?" He asked me to find out the choices we have.

Beside this took 2 months to materialise, the final selection was entirely based on Facebook responses from my siblings ! Cool !

Since the site selection was FB base, so the To-Bring list is also online :-

I went on a personal mission on 6 August 2011 to check out the place after reading some kampung names from the Google Earth, copied to my handphone, armed with my Handphone GPS receiver, I drove all the way there to check it out. This was what I found out... So inviting ! So soothing !

Hope we will have a great time on Sunday !

When you have to face bereavement

Noone likes bad news, no matter how small or big but they are plenty around. When we hear  bad news, we listen and learn; we comfort and care; extend out hands where we can and that is all that we can do.

When we have to face bereavement of someone closed to us, seeing them going through the process and listening to the last things of the deceased can be quite a learning process for those of us who are still living. There are always lessons to be learnt; new things that we learn !

Once, I heard a speaker said, as you get older and start to work, you will get more and more engagement and wedding invitations; this is followed by baby fullmoon and baby 1,2,3 etc years birthday celebration invitation! As years go by, you start to get calls to pray for someone very sickly; attend the funeral wake, memorial and funeral services. It should not surprise you that the latter ones do not have invitation, you choose to go as you think suitable and there will be more and more of it !

The first few memorial services were very traumatic experience, a mix of fear and unknown. Then, the heart hardened and lost in the midst of the living and the dead ! I came to know a very certain fact that we all dont like :-

Life and death is as certain as sun rise and sun set;
As the sun rise from the east, it shall set at he west;
As life begins at birth, it shall return to the Creator when it dies !
The difference between the living and the dead is disparing to know :-
Some died very prepared; some died without preparation;
Some live very well planned; some live wihtout nay planning !
The choice is in our hand !