Peeping Through... And The Veil Is Removed...

It's just another day. A normal day. No hype. No fireworks. No butterfly in the stomach. In another 5 hours time, the new calendar will be put into good use. The old one will be tossed into the rubbish bin. I don't even have a planner. Roughly, I know what's the mundane stuff that I have to do. That's just a rough idea. Whatever happens in between, what kinda people I'm gonna meet, new faces... I'm not very sure about that. I have surprises every year. Walk into different situations every year.

Here I am, lying down on my belly typing away in the dark with the curtains down. The curtains in our house have never been up. The first time any of us had a good look at the windows was when we first shifted in then the rest was history. The whole body is aching and I've just vomited out a whole load of expensive dinner from yesterday. Stomach flu? I tried a pre-run on Monday morning and managed to make three rounds of runs after months of not exercising. The body wasn't going well with that. I'm not 15 anymore... *sigh* 

I'm not that sure why am I not looking forward to year 2014. Part of me is but another part is not. I stare at my work schedule and I've cut off a big chunk of classes because I'm very tired of working every day and trying to please people and follow the whims and fancies of people who couldn't care less. I know what I want in year 2014.. and I'll make it happen come what may... but then I can only plan. The rest will still be in God's hands. But I know my Father in heaven will grant me my wishes. I want to spend more time with my hubby and mi mama. I want more time for myself instead of doing things for other people all the time. No, I'm not being selfish. 

You know about making resolution. My new year resolution is still the same...which is not having one at all because I can't even keep to one. I had a talk with hubby about trying not to care so much for other people and be more stingy instead of generous. Hubby says I'm not created that way... I have a big heart to give but not everyone appreciates it. Hubby is right... I hardly say NO to people... if I say NO, at the end of the day, I will die of guilt, it will literally drive me with so much guilt that I will take back my words and do extra to cover my guilt of saying NO... and how not to care when you know you're able to make a difference?

Hubby is having a change in work environment already... and I've been waiting for that for many years. It makes me ponder how a person like me who has no patience at all, has waited for many things and changes in events for years. Year 2013 has been a wonderful year with ups and downs but it has been one really good and blessed year. Blessings were overflowing and we were living a really good life under the Lord's grace and blessings. It has just dawned on me that I have finally have the big house that I wanted. I'm living in it. For the whole year I thought waking up and walking down the stairs was just a dream. God has never failed to keep to His promises but many a times, I have failed to obey Him. I have failed Him in so many ways that it is laughable to come out with the resolution that I'm gonna finish the Bible in one Year. I have finished the New Testament in one month but I'm still stuck in the Old Testament. 

So what really matters after so many years of living? Listen to King Solomon. It's chasing after the wind everything that we have done. At the end of the day, it's our relationship with God that matters most. I want to be a better wife to my hubby. He has been a really wonderful husband. And I want to spend more time with mi mama. Mi mama seems to have more interesting activities after retirement compared to me. 

Anyway, if you have had a rough year in year 2013, do not lose heart. It will be better next year just that sometimes we forget to count our blessings, one by one... 

Soul Searching: I'm Not An Avid...

Angler

After trying out for a few times, I just know in my heart, deep down, I can never be an avid angler. The time spent waiting for a bite was torture. And having the fishes mocked you, jumping out of the water, it's like having a hyena laughing right in your face while you're holding on to the fishing rod. And to spend so much for deep sea fishing, I don't think I have the heart to do it. The school holidays is about to end and I'm not even sure what I've achieved this year. But I did find beautiful places in this island and I realized that to be an avid angler, I will have to change my mindset about some things like releasing your catch after waiting for such a long time just to get a bite. It's hard to let go... it's like letting go of something which you have been waiting for... that's a hard choice to make... IN conclusion, fishes are smarter than humans... that's why humans need large nets to catch small fishes....

Baker

I do not like myself to be covered with flour. I do not like oily fingers, too. I try to keep my work station clean. And I wash everything up immediately after measuring. I'm not into trying out new stuff all the time no doubt I do that at times. And I definitely do not enjoy baking the same thing over and over again. I do like baking... at times only. Not totally crazy to the max.

Cook

I don't feel like cooking... at all.... like for this month. I tried making new stuff... I enjoyed the moment of eating them... but then it is going to be my routine activity when the school term starts. I'm dreading the start of the school term. I'm kinda sick and tired of the same life. 

Reader...

I can't... While others might have the drive to read from cover-to-cover. I did a lot of reading but it depends on what I'm reading. And it's not my season to read now. I fail to read the Bible from cover-to-cover no doubt I have finished the New Testament. The Old Testament seems to be a slow crawl.

Couch Potato

The amount of dust on the television screen shows you just how much the television has been resting. The one in town has not been touched for years. The new flat screen tv, it's about to end up in the museum. I subscribed to Astro a few days back in hope that maybe I can keep to a mundane lifestyle but after much calculation, maybe I'm repeating history... paying for something nobody wants. There's hardly any free time left after working round the clock. Maybe I'll draw up a written law in the house, stating that the Astro channels must be watched everyday. 

Writer

I can't even keep up with writing down everything. I've totally lost it I think. I have so much to write yet I have nothing to write. I have deleted all the posts kept in drafts.

Photographer

Totally can't find the interest in learning the correct way or the interesting way to photography. What others view as 'beautiful' and 'fantastic' and 'awesome' photos, it's not to my liking at all. I like what I see from my view and I like beautiful colours, vibrant and I don't know. Photography is an art. You may like what I don't because I don't see it as you do. And likewise, you may not like what I snap through my lens at all. Editing photos? Try me... I will fall asleep on the computer.

Gym Goer

Everyday for 2-3 hours... I'm amazed with myself. I didn't know how I do it a few years back. No stamina at all....

Cyclist

Oh please... any cycling activities out of my housing area, I won't go. I can't imagine myself cycling uphill and downhill but I can imagine the bicycle end up on top of me or I might just abandon the bicycle with a tag there... take it, it's yours... or maybe I will wheel the bicycle aboard the public bus and enjoy the scenery back home.

Hiker

Been there, done that. Haven't place my footprints on hills ever since... Just don't find the same trail to be exciting. I ran up the hill once because I know where to place my steps. *sigh*

Cross-Stitcher

Again, I'm amazed at how patient I used to be to stitch such a big piece of thing. I don't even know where to begin now even if it's a small piece. I would stare at the chart and I even imagined myself stitching but in the end, I've done nothing.

Swimmer

I did many laps in the pool... *sigh* I don't want to get wet now... the initial plan was to swim everyday for this December but I don't know where I've buried the plan... will have to dig it out again.

Pianist

Oh, please... I'm having a tough time with my scales right now. To ask me to sit on a piano and practice the same song over and over again... you should ask my hubby what happens. The more times I repeat, the more mistakes I make. By the fifth time I'm playing the same song, it's no longer a song but just noise. It's best that I play once or twice will do. Practice makes perfect... doesn't apply to me. I don't remember practicing the piano when I was small. I just played them... *double sigh*

I AM A NOBODY....

...Captain Phillips Frozen Toilets...

The sea was calm. But the route was a disturbing one. The cargo ship has to enter the Somali Basin which was very famous with pirates' attacks. If you remembered reading the news about a cargo ship being taken hostage, so it's Captain Phillips' harrowing ordeal that happened in year 2009 being played on the big screen now. I wouldn't know what to do if it my was my ship under the attack of armed pirates. Captain Phillips is a very experienced person with survival skills. That's why he's the captain and not anybody else. And not to break down mentally during the horrible hold up in the hot and crammed orange shoe-like boat, being tossed about in the sea. The Americans are quick to respond. Errrr.... may I know what happened to our country's vessel that was also under pirates' attack in the same water? Anyway, salute to the Captain Phillips in real life... wherever you are... 

Princess Elsa was born with a curse, not Midas' touch to change everything into gold but this one, a 'gift' of changing everything into ice and snow. I love Disney movies and Frozen was a musical where after a few parts of short conversations, the whole conversation was transformed into a song. Have you watch Les Miserables before? If you do not enjoy Broadway musicals, you might 
not enjoy Frozen. I so many people telling me that there was nothing much to 
expect from Frozen but they were wrong. Frozen was a really wonderful cartoon 
with a twist. The true love was not about a man kissing a girl but it was about 
sisterly love. The love of siblings that melted the icy cold heart. There were only 
two things that we did not like about the cartoon. One was the beginning of the 
ending which sounded like chants, but the choir was in perfect harmony. The 
second was the presence of trolls in the cartoon.

There was no conflict of interest as the first movie that we watched, Captain 
Phillips was base on a true story.Frozen was a Disney cartoon. The third one
that we watched was by Jack Neo with his JTeam. This movie was like 
indirectly insulting the Singaporeans. Singapore was well-known for its 
cleanliness but looks like the people also threw rubbish such as laptops, 
tables and even durians into the manhole. The bursting of shit all over the 
place and the outbreak of the virus... oh, that's how Singaporeans live, 
of course a majority of people would not do that. Living in Singapore must 
be really taxing with all sorts of charges. The highlight of the story in this 
movie was about the cleanliness of public toilets in Singapore. The movie 
was giving us the impression that the future of a country depends on the 
cleanliness of the public toilets. I guess quite true.Thank God I'm not a 
Singaporean.

All in all, all three movies were great pick by yours truly. I am a good planner. No 
time was wasted hanging around doing nothing. We were busy rushing out of the 
cinema and walking in again. Really busy catching those three movies one after 
another but my hubby and I enjoyed doing that and we had my precious and my 
youngest with us, doing it for the first time. Did I just transfer some knowledge to 
them or spoiling them?

Yen's Kitchen: The First Flower Scrolls and Loaf...

It was my first time using the bread maker. I was thinking of making the first loaf, the simplest white loaf. It's like baking a cake. I've gone to such a level that I was not able to bake the simplest sponge cake. I failed right until now. So, the white loaf didn't appear. I think it was never meant to be for me to try out simple stuff. I couldn't remember who ask me the question that since I started with such a complicated recipe, how was I going to downgrade? The answer would be... I can't.... I don't know how to downgrade. The food that is coming out from the kitchen, the standard has been set way too high this time round.

The first time I see a bread maker working. I was fascinated when it started turning. Such a small blade could turn such heavy dough. That time when we used our hands, I could feel my muscles building up. Hey, it's my first time using it and I was hovering at the small little glass opening to peep into it. I was just standing there, mesmerized by the box-like machine, simply a bread maker which I bought at the spur of the moment. It's very dangerous when I walk around the shopping mall. I've never like shopping for those clothes, bags, shoes and definitely not accessories. I don't wear any of that kind and I don't even touch make-up or lotions. So, the best place you can find me will be the shops selling kitchen or electronic stuff but most of the time I'm in the cinema.

Okay, going back to my bread maker. To prepare the dough, it would take more than an hour. When it started to beep, marking the end of time according to the programmed function, we were really excited. I removed the dough, perfectly churned out and hubby and I used the rolling pin to flatten it out.

It's like making a cinnamon rolls. Mind you... I've never make cinnamon rolls before and I don't eat cinnamon rolls. I grew up eating bread. I came from a not well-to-do background with no silver spoon in my mouth. I'm never bored eating Gardenia white bread with only butter. It has been like that for many many years. I'm satisfied with a simple meal of bread with butter or bread with half-boiled eggs. Love them till this day. Then, it's bread with Nutella once in awhile. Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread is just getting too expensive. I'm a sausage bun addict and once in a while, I'll have the luxury of eating cheese sticks. 

Yen's Rose Scrolls...

Ish... I'm always running out of the main topic. Go back to the scrolls. You flatten the dough until it looks like a thin flat carpet then sprinkle with everything you wanted. Sprinkle... that's one word that have been abused in recipe instructions. If you use your common sense, it's not sprinkle... it's spreading widely.... or should I say spreading generously... Let it pour... if the recipe says 140g of cheddar, that's probably the most minimal you should use... I doubled almost everything. When it comes to fillings, I don't follow the measurements. Put as much as you like. The measurements given were just guidelines that's not to be followed :D

The bread that I chose... I didn't choose... you wanna know how I prepare my weekly menu? I just hold on to any recipe books or magazines that I have, then I simply open them, read them and took up the challenge to do it no matter how difficult it was. So... there... there... I got that... roll up and then cut them. Shove the whole lot into the oven and wait for the 'TING' sound. 

Seed and Grain Cottage Loaf... for the health freak...

The texture was just awesome. We have to bid goodbye to Gardenia and Massimo and all other bakeries in town. Goodbye... Yen's Kitchen will produce own healthy loaves and scrolls and buns from now on. And yeah... my very own burger buns for McJu... so bye bye to Arab bread... I will have my own size, as I wish... 

Yen's Kitchen: Re-open...

The price of outside food is soaring sky high. And all the time when we're at hawker centres, we will have a difficult time ordering food. The usual words that we would use will be, "There's nothing to eat." I'm not a fan of Penang's famous char koay teow neither do I enjoy a bowl of Hokkien prawn noodles. Western food was so-so only and my girls were equally as terrible as I am. Yeah, they take after me. My eldest was the worst of its kind. She got bored looking at all those common food. 

I cook with my blood...

Anyway, I decided to upgrade our daily menu so we could enjoy better quality food. Better in quality and more in quantity and it's not like I need a whole day to cook up a dish. I'm pretty good by now. I have a new toy, too. And today, I found the main supplier for all those imported air-flown meat like Australian beef and New Zealand lamb and all sort of cheese. It's so cheap and those sold in supermarket, the price has been multiplied by *counting... calculator exploded*.... too much. Oh, yeah... I have to keep in mind whenever I'm dining outside or buying anything, I'm actually trying to cover a small amount of rent and salary for the workers. 

My new toy... the bread maker... 

I'm not a stingy person... I'm in fact, very generous... I just want to make my every cent worth it. Why spend on something that you know you can do better? The whole house enjoys my cooking rather than eating outside... so... I'm playing housewife for the whole month... come next year, I'll have to squeeze my time, juggling with work and being a driver and cooking. Thank God the hubby does the laundry. 

By the way, I won't be writing about food everyday, dishes that I cook and sorts, it's just too tiring to do that. I have a life outside of the digital world and currently the Internet line sux to it's max. 

Seeking God with the Tenacity of a Bulldog...

Seen an angry bulldog before? It doesn't just spray spittle all over your face, it actually bites and never let go until it is completely satisfied.

Two weeks back, Dr. Paul Ang was speaking in North Zone and since the hubby and I self-declared our holiday, we went for the service up north. Dr. Paul Ang is an excellent speaker. Again, I'm only writing down what I can catch. I'm still not good in writing stuff down so I'm not quoting the God-fearing speaker word for word.

Seeking God and trusting Him at the same time. Well... you can't be seeking Him yet not trusting Him at the same time. That would be like sitting on a chair hoping that it will hold your weight but on the other hand you're so worried that you might end up like humpty dumpty falling off the chair. No one gives a second thought about whether a flimsy chair would be able to hold our rhinoceros weight or not, so the same goes to our trust in our own Creator who created us according to His image.

Most of the time we only listen to what we want to hear and read what that pleases us. Most, if not all, should be familiar with this verse...

Yes... prosper... prosper... prosper... but the whole passage was not about this. You'll have to tap into the very thing that God loves.... hearing our voices.

Ta.. .da~! The secret of a powerful prayer~!! When you call on Him, when you go and pray to Him, He will listen. Sometimes God went into hiding to see how much we really yearn for Him. Seek Him and you will find Him. He will never disappoint us but don't take things for granted that you will have a smooth-sailing life. A smooth sailing life is a very dangerous one. You know when God ask you to do something, He will provide... don't ask how... until today I don't have much explanation on how He provides... He just did in ways that will make you laugh out loud in sheer happiness and cry out loud because you're so touched that the word 'Thank You' isn't enough to express how you feel.

Have you ever read the book of Genesis. Read about the life of Jacob? He wasn't such a nice person, deceiving his own twin brother and also his own father. But let's not look into that. You know about the story where he met God, survived the ordeal whole nite long, wrestled with God for His blessings. He got both the blessings and a wrenched hip.You see, Jacob has the tenacity of a bulldog. Jacob refused to let go even though the sun is coming up. I think it's trying to let us know that the hard times will soon go to pass and there's always a light shining at the end of the tunnel. Just hang on in there long enough until you see the light.

No matter how bad a situation is, don't be bitter. Let God made your past as a mould to shape you into a better person. I went through that many times and failed. I'm still under construction. I think that's why God moved me to take up fishing, something I wouldn't want if given a choice but I'm into it now. Hubby agreed to it immediately when I told him about fishing. Good for me, he said.

We should spend some time together with God. The best is yet to come. It's like the holiday trips that you take. You will always say that it's the best trip ever. So which one is the best trip ever? The first one? The second one? Or the last one? It's always the last one and then the coming one will be better than the best. Get what I mean? You know our God doesn't let us know what we're walking into. I walked into a lot of stuff beginning of this year that sent me out of my comfort zone. Walking through it was wonderful though. Thus, walking with God in your life, it's never a big mistake. The journey gets more and more interesting. With God, all things are possible, so seek Him~!

God is a miracle worker, not a magician. I know I always get what I wanted so there are times I tend to forget that He needs time to do some of the things. He has His own timing. When you pray for someone, don't expect any changes. No one can change another person until that person has a genuine encounter with God and has been touched.

Star Gazing: The Double Shooting Stars...

This is the past post on our last night in Perhentian island. We just had dinner at the opposite island and being the two who refused to be shackled in the chalet, the cousin and I decided to stay outdoor for a little while longer. That little while turned into a couple of hours. The stars were extremely bright that night. 

If you asked me to take a stroll along the dark night beach, I wouldn't do it. So, we, the two wise people in the world, saw the wooden lazy chairs by the beach. We went charging for the sun-bathing chairs before other lovebirds decided to dominate them. And... hahahhaa... very funny... we were staring straight up at the trees. Smart people like us wouldn't give up a star-gazing activity so easily. We carried the chairs and placed then in the middle of nowhere the beach. At that part of the sky, it seemed like the stars were very much nearer to us. We were busy looking at the bright shining stars when we sighted a very long shooting star. 

Do you know how would you react when you first see a shooting star? I thought that if I have a powerful camera, then I would take a good shot of the shooting star. Then again, I thought that both of us would sit quietly and enjoy the shooting star and make a wish. But we were both like agitated monkeys with no understandable words coming out from us. We were both looking at the same direction when it happened and we both pointed our fingers up towards the sky and then at the same time, we went, "OooooHHhhh.... wwowwwwwww.... wwwwaaaahhhhh..... ooooohhhhhhhhh....." So those were the intelligible things that we said to each other. So long for making wishes. Our minds went completely blank. After the very long shooting star was gone, we were looking at each other and asking, "Did you see that? That's very long eh." Yeah, we weren't that smart after all. 

Then we continued talking while gazing at those starts and there again, we managed to see a short one further away. No kidding. And then the cousin saw a third one which I did not manage to catch. We sat there for another hour, thank God no mosquitoes partied with us. It was really a wonderful experience. When we walked back to call it a night, we saw that other parts of the sky was not brightly lit up. In conclusion, God must have wanted us to see His beautiful stars shining up there. 

My Virgin Catch...

Today was the second day of our little fishing adventure. We woke up late, an hour after the alarm clock rang. It's going to be like that for the whole month I think. We got ready in tortoise slowness pace and got ourselves to the tackle shop selling all the fishing equipment. Our house is really strategic, it's near to everywhere. We bought the hooks meant for saltwater fishing this time round instead of using the wrong hooks which managed to catch the puffer fish.

So, we changed location from Bayan Mutiara beach to the seaside along the back portion of all the factories. The place for cars to park along the beach was not to be found and so we parked at the huge signboard stating NO PARKING. The line was fixed up since yesterday, hooked the bait and it was good enough to be cast out into the sea. The wind was blowing quite hard. There was another uncle there, too... fishing for the fun of it.

.... the uncle behind must be thinking I was a little bit crazy when I reeled in my first catch, squealing away...

I was praying hard, telling God... gimme ONE catch will do, or else I wouldn't want to continue already. There was practically nothing for me to do except to wait and wait and wait. It was more like a waiting game for those who have too much time in hand to kill. The uncle cast the line a few minutes after me, and he caught a fish in no time at all. Argh~! You know what, the water was quite clean, kinda clear. Why couldn't I snorkel on the surface to have a look inside. There's no boat around, not a busy route so why couldn't I do that? Hubby said it would be cheating. Nobody has ever done that in fishing. Yeah... nobody has ever done that, so why couldn't I? Is there a rule stating that one should not dive in or snorkel on the surface to peep whether there's fish or not down there. I have my dive suit, my very own life jacket and I just need to get myself snorkeling items. Again, hubby said it's the best activity to train my patience.

... Staring at the rocks and the small splashes of water....

Never mind about that. It's back to nature... not the jungle though... done that before. I was having a conversation with God. Gimme the first experience of feeling the fishing line being rattled by a fish. Oh, yeah... I did not have enough time to say AMEN and the whole rod was rattling and I.... I got my first catch... and the fish was so cute. I felt the pain of seeing the hook piercing through its mouth. I was apologizing to the fish... *sigh* the fish didn't survive the night even with the seawater that I scooped up from the sea. It's in the freezer now, waiting to be the bait for tomorrow's catch. I'm very sorry, okay... very very sorry...

... the non-poisonous cousin of puffer fish...

I got the name of the fish from professional anglers. So it's called ikan Lembu in Malay... direct translation should be Cow Fish... but looks like in fishing, people speak different languages. Ikan lembu in English is called Helicopter fish. How did a cow turn into a helicopter? Another name is called Tripod Fish. Looks like a tripod stand meh? My fishing knowledge already zero now direct translation also fail. This is Malaysia so I prefer using Malay names. It's also called ikan RXZ.. what.. razor sharp because of it's fins? Or also known as ikan Cangat Langit. The fish is edible, actually a cousin of the puffer fish, without the poison. Remove the skin and then deep fry the fish... they said it's delicious.Maybe next time when I catch at least ten of it then I will make it into dinner. Anyway, in conclusion, let's just keep the name as ikan Lembu. It's an irritating fish to anglers... but it's the one and only one that made my day... 

View on the left, the Penang Bridge... View on the right, the second Penang Bridge... View in front, Jerejak Island... I'm an islander.... 

It was noon time and I think I got really burnt. There wasn't any fish after that. Nothing bite the bait as well. So, we decided to go home and be happy with the virgin catch. You know when you're fishing, you can't even bring a book to read. The whole book will be blown into the sea. And then I dare not take out the phone to play as I was afraid I might drop the whole phone into the sea. I used the camera a bit but I was fast enough to keep it zip in the sling bag just in case I got too excited when there's fish on the line and I throw the camera into the sea. *sigh* So the best way to fish is.... 

... to sit down and do nothing... 

The Fishy Experience...

Why fishing? I don't know... it just popped out of my mind. Knowledge about fishing... zilch... totally empty. I just wanted to do something with the hubby for the whole month of December instead of doing my own things all on my own, in my own world. Moreover, fishing is the best training for people who has no patience like me. It has been 10 years since I started working and I've never stop working until now. I find the courage to shut down almost all classes because I feel that life is not just about working. There must be time for everything and I just wanted time with the hubby or else when school reopens, none of us have time for each other except a few minutes before we go sailing to dreamland without any nice dreams but jumping off the bed because of the alarm clock. 

We went to a shop in town and when the man asked what we wanted to buy I just told him everything that we needed to start fishing. Then he started asking what kinda reel, what kinda fishing rod and what kinda this and that, so I asked him to decide. Hubby has a little bit of fishing knowledge but not enough to survive on. So, the shop owner grabbed us some fishing stuff and taught us how to tie knots, which none of us could master and I have no idea what he knots were he tying. He said by the look of our faces, we were looking at some strange things... oh, yes... strange indeed.

Yesterday (Saturday) I wasn't working.... *hip hip hooray* I checked the schedule for high tides and the tides were in the afternoon. I learnt that we could go fishing two hours before and two hours after, roughly... and I didn't want to drive far... hey, we're living in an island, we should be able to fish every where. We went to the Bayan Mutiara beach with some shades.

We settled down with nothing much to put our ass on except for some old newspapers. Hubby knows how to bring the whole house out wherever we go, which was kinda useful because I tend to walk out of the house with minimal items. Next time, when I'm a professional angler, I think I would leave the house with just a pair of pliers in my pocket, a fishing rod, a box of hooks and baits and my camera plus phone then I'll just slam the door shut. Oh, yeah... a pail, too... *sigh*

My precious has the ability to say a prayer that God will answer on the spot, every time~! We asked her to say a prayer so that we could catch some fish. While waiting for the hubby to fix up the fishing rod, I snapped a picture or two of the island's icon, the Penang Bridge. The weather was cloudy so not much of a view. It was cloudy as we have been praying that it would be cloudy, not sun blazing hot. I get sunburn very fast because I'm still very fair and lovely. Now, I looked like a cooked lobster.

Hubby taught us how to throw the line and I could throw the furthest. The first catch was a plastic bag filled with sand. The second catch was another plastic bag which was kinda heavy with I don't know what. The rest of the baits were eaten but none bit the hook. Fishes go to school nowadays. They know how to evade a hook. So, it was more like a fish feeding session where all of us fed the fish. I could see the ripples where the schools of fish popped their heads up. But we couldn't throw the line far enough. As we were thinking there was no fish there, a fish or two jumped out of the surface... were the fish mocking us? 

The puffer fish catch....

I was thinking if none of us caught anything, I wanted to go home and forget about this kinda activity. Yes, I have no patience and I have no idea how to be helped. God, being the amazing God, let my precious caught a fish. The fish was kinda cute so we let it swim in the container we brought along and filled it with sea water. Then, my precious caught the second fish immediately she threw in the line. Hubby said the fish looked like puffer fish so we threw the fish back into the sea and brought nothing home.

The floating heart...

I was trying out for the last time when all of a sudden a 'heart' was washed towards me. Oh, Lord... were you talking to me? If I'm sensitive enough, were You telling me you love me whether I have fish or don't have or you love me even when I have no patience? Guess what... Jesus loves me... despite by shortcomings... I love you, Jesus.... thank you for being understanding. While waiting for fish, I was saying out loud that I should have brought snorkeling gear and wore my diving suit, take a look down there to confirm whether there's fish or not, if not then we could go somewhere else. Why has nobody done that before? Is it wrong to do it? Or we shouldn't simply snorkel anywhere as we wish? Or we wouldn't be able to see anything because the colour of the water was actually brown instead of blue? 

When we came back, I posted the photo of the fish to the state angler's club site. Oh, yeah... greatly poisonous puffer fish and I think they had a good laugh. We used the wrong rig, meant for fresh water fish to fish in the sea. We shouldn't be getting any fishes so one of the members said that the Fishing God must be smiling on us. All things are possible with our Lord, whether the rigs were right or wrong. We have no idea what is a rig. The only rig I know is the oil rig for petroleum. The two fishes probably gave me a push not to give up and to try again. 

I got to know really nice people who are ever willing to share with us the knowledge of fishing. I have never felt so empty in the head before. I totally do not know what I'm doing. Oh, there were lots of fresh seaweeds down there... which means pollution was not that high?

Stop N Shoot...Point N Shoot...

Now, who's that crazy to stop and snap a photo? I am... I have to admit I have been doing that since the first digital camera was introduced in the market. When I was in primary school, I was holding a camera with the rolling films, seeing the negatives washed and turned into colourful photos just made me happy. I have all the clear shots and with a digital camera in hand, I snapped more photos than I used to. 

The one above wasn't that clear because when I stopped the car, the rainbow was diminishing real fast. I really admire those who snapped the sunrise and the sunset. I don't have a DSLR not because I can't afford that but I just don't want to carry anything that's so heavy. The first thing that will go missing is the tripod stand, I'm gonna leave it somewhere standing by the beach, look at it from far and thinking to myself,"Who the heck leave a tripod there?" That would be mine. The next thing that would go missing and I will only realize it after a few days or weeks will be the whole camera bag with all sorts of lens. And finally I might leave the camera hanging behind the door of a public toilet. There... there... that's the fear the whole house has if they get me a DSLR.

So I survive on the little compact camera. If it goes missing I will cry for a few days or weeks with all the missing photos then I will crawl to the shop and get another new one. 

You know the photos look perfect in your camera screen then when it's uploaded into the computer, it looks a tad different, like pixels have been stretched, that sort of thing. I've just changed mine to the highest resolution I can get from the camera, 14.2 M with more compact pixels and guess what, it's awesome in the camera screen until it appeared in the social network site. I think it has been reduced to 2 M. Last time with 10M it couldn't be uploaded at all. Now the only problem was imageshack couldn't support such heavy and compact photo thus, I wasn't able to upload any of the photos with 14 Megapixels and transfer them to the blog. I used up the space in Picasa so I needed another site to whole my photos. Actually I could edit the photos straight from the camera into 3M or 1M but that would be so tedious and I just don't have the patience to do such a thing. The easier way would be to choose the photos that I wanted in my blog from Facebook, download it back into the computer and then let imageshack hold it for me.

All in all... I can't find any patience in doing all these... so the blog posts will be... slow with updates. I'm going to practice patience... will start fishing with the hubby starting this Sunday BUT I might be busy with the camera instead of the fishing rod.

Thank You, Lord...

for the food...

I think we've said that many of times and then we went complaining about the food as we eat. No one's cooking today since I'm on a strike leave from cooking. Hubby went out to buy food and I was happy to see all the different and colourful dishes on the table. Then, as I eat, I started crying. Now I understand why my precious cried whenever I cooked something not delicious. The first bite was really good but when it comes to the second and the third, it was getting more sourish and they were all very salty. Why can't they cook something which tasted JUST NICE. The taste of ginger from one of the meats were so strong. So much for torturing myself... I'll survive on half boiled eggs from now... and I'll go catch my own fish. 

Cupcakes - Zebra Cakes - Cupcakes - More Cupcakes...

It's just another afternoon with nothing much to do. The whole house needs the air-conditioning system to work 24/7 or else, we would melt in the house. It's so hot. And guess what? My girls contributed more heat to the house.... weren't they great? The kitchen started producing cupcakes at 5 p.m. 

The kitchen has ample supply of self-raising flour and caster sugar. The only supply that keeps running out was butter. We had very limited supply because I don't plan to bake or do anything that has to do with pastry for a long long time. But thank God, the girls have more than enough butter to make three different types of cupcakes. They're very productive and creative. The difference was, when I was baking cupcakes, I had to make them in so many batches because it was never enough to go round but this time round, the kids made only one round of everything to try out. 

So, they started with the marble cupcakes.. .I think... I have no idea what they were up to. I wasn't that interested or else they would ask me to help out, which was a no no. By now I've hammered into their heads the basic of making cupcakes. The rest, they can read the instructions, printed clearly in the books with colourful illustrations.

Mi mama was in a baking frenzy, too. Mi mama made a zebra cake... mmm.... the zebra stripes decided to mix together in between. Nice taste... now I'm becoming the guinea pig? I'm on a diet la... but I swallowed how many cupcakes already... *sigh*

At first the girls thought there wasn't enough butter but being the queen slave of the house, I managed to dig out some extra butter, hidden in the fridge. Not hidden actually, more like they were too lazy to look for butter in the quite empty refrigerator. The next thing I knew, they were dividing the butter into two different portions. Hhhmmm... teenagers... with all the energy... they even have the energy to decorate those cupcakes after leaving the cupcakes to cool down right in front of the air-cond.

I like to bake... sometimes... geez... I don't even know what I really like. I seem to like a lot of stuff and then suddenly, I change... shucks... the photos from the camera were too big to be loaded up into the blog... haih...

Trust Me...

I'm a quarter way blogging, then I encounter writer's block because I have so many things in mind. It's always like this... trust me. Every year, in and out, I thought I will be very free during the year end school holidays. But it happens that I have so many things that I want to do, rather than sitting in front of the computer writing about stuff. And I have so many unwritten or unfinished posts. I want to write so that I won't forget when all those things happen. I don't seem to know what have I been doing with my life in year 2012, like the whole year just vanished in my head. 

I think some things never change in me after all these years. Why can't I just sit and do nothing in the house. Just stare at the television and do the few things like eat, sleep and shit. *sigh* November is coming to an end. I have a few things lined up for the month of December and I have filled up parts of year 2014 with things to do. Time seems to fly... and I don't seem to have enough time in end even though I have chop off the time in kitchen completely. Do I really have time management problem? I don't think so leh... so what seems to be the biggest problem? And by the way... I hate the humid and extremely hot weather... *sigh*

I'm not going to abandon this like earlier... but it seems so hard to keep to something for long... 

Catching Fire.. Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!

Brilliant movie. The producers. The crew. Those who work really hard to make the movie as much as like what has been written in the book. Bravo! A really great job. Not much has been cut from the book thus, the 146 minutes long movie. Most of the important parts are not left out that makes the movie worth watching over and over again.

I wonder where did Suzanne Collins get the idea to write this kinda trilogy. Not that bad after all, different from others but still crooked in one way or another. The sick ways of human entertainment. I would suggest that one reads the books first before watching the movie for better understanding. 

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR....

Sip 'N' Chew...

Nothing to sip...

.Nothing to chew..

Nothing to chew...

What went wrong? Nothing? The place just served nothing special. Hubby says once we know how to cook, it would be very difficult to dine outside. We will be making comparisons to everything. The price was not on par with the food as well. I wanted to try the Mille Crepe Cake but it was out of stock... haih... never replenish stock meh... how to do business like that? So, never mind lor... can I have the Happy Potted Plant ice-cream? But the waiter was so direct and straight to the point that I lose my appetite. It's not homemade ice-cream, he said, but ice-cream bought from Walls. So we would be served with two scoops of ice-cream only at the cost of RM9.90. Haih... waiter boy aa... don't be so transparently honest can or not? Walls ice-cream I have in the freezer and I eat straight from the tub. Haih.... 

But we snap a few pics here and there. The place was kinda quiet... I wonder why these cafes along the tourist belt, wouldn't serve anything more special?