.....times of refreshing.....

Herbal chicken - famous dish in Pekin restaurant. The chicken really absorbed the fragrance of  the herbs !

Assortment of vegetables in teriyaki sauce

Asparagus - my favourite !

Pork ribs in sweet sauce ....yummy!

:)

An assortment of sushi

Sake maki - My favourite!!

Kinsahi's special sushi.

My salmon bento which I shared with my little princess

My kid's Kani maki and Ebiko sushi .

I didn't took the pix of the ramen which my wifey shared with my kid as it was average only, cannot compared to those that I had in SG which is more authentic. I have yet to try a good ramen in JB so far.  I shall have one this week in SG, maybe. :)

Most of the times, whenever we felt down or depressed or frustrated, we will succumbed to our ugly and destructive habits. For example, some of my friends drank excessive cokes or coffees or chain smoked whenever they are stressed! Even for me, whenever I don't feel good, I will indulge in not so healthy behaviour. Some of my ladies' friends anyhow shop for expensive stuffs or stuffs that they may not need. Some munched on unhealthy or junk food excessively and etc ...

Well, I thought to myself, why not talk to God whenever you are not feeling good. Probably it helps to calm down first and then, search some Biblical verses which are suitable to our situation. For example, for money issues, the Bible have a couple of verses for it where we can meditate on it.

I felt God is alway with us but the problem is, we do not acknowledged or accept that. Since this is the birth of the mankind's greatest Gift, let's start acknowledging Him,that He is always with us.



Merry Christmas!!!

I had a pleasant Sunday service in my church today. Somehow I felt good after the church service. Maybe its due to prayers by the Methodist Bishop of Malaysia where my church invited him to preach as well as conducting the Holy Communion service. Somehow this reminded me of what I read in Norman Vincent Peale's (author of The power of positive thinking. I recalled he wrote in one of his books that even you don't listen to the sermon but by attending church will makes you feel good. I was not very focus on the sermon all the time ( which is normal ...hahaha) though I understand the gist of it. However, I felt really good after it, especially after I woke up from a nap in the afternoon,

Meanwhile, I had a fabulous dinner at Yew's Cafe in JB. It's been awhile since I have dined there and I ordered a Sirloin steak with herbs while my wifey ordered a fish fillet for the kids while herself had a yang chow fried rice.

Fish fillet in cereals

Sirloin Steak with herbs butter

I truly felt refresh after a church service. Have a good week!:)

Merry X'mas to everyone!! Wishing you a great, warm and wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and friends, as well as Happy New Year 2013! Though I was not as active in blogging for the entire year, I really appreciated your visits to my blog. I will continue to visit your blog as well!

A decor from Legoland :)

This is also a perfect Christmas for me as I got the biggest Gift in my entire life. I was baptized into the Christian faith two days prior to Christmas in the church which I have been attending since 2007. The immersion into the small pool of water makes me felt I was in the womb again and when I arose from  the water, I felt so refreshed! It was a great day for me and my family!

Christmas is again, all about the Gift from our Lord Jesus Christ and the gifts we bought for our loved ones are all about the love we had for them, which also reminded us about the Lord's love for us. Let's celebrate the birth of our Lord joyfully and merrily!

Again, Merry Xmas folks! Have a jolly good time! :)

 My interpretation of Ecclesiastes 9:11 is that persistence pays! We may failed the one or second or third time, but by being persistent, I am sure we will reach our goal or some other destinations which is planned for us by the Lord. Time and chance will happens to the persistence one who keeps going.

I thought my this humble story might motivates especially teens. I didn't do too well in my SPM though I got a grade 2. Seeing that my options for further education are limited then, with lack of funds, I decided to retake my SPM in a private school. I did well in the second attempt, though it's still grade 2 but with grade 1 results. Why I said this is because I got only a Pass for my Malay and thus, relegated to grade 2 though my results are grade 1 quality. However, the second attempt pays off as I got enrolled in a local polytechnic. I got good results in the Poly. then and also retake the Malay language paper again and rewarded with a credit, finally! With this credit, I managed to obtain a place in a local university. Luck do play a part here, I guess!

I am not very successful but what prompted me to write this post was that lately, I read an article on a local daily here, that some teens committed suicides due to academic results. To me, these are young, bright and hardworking young people who thought they failed to realize their goals and thus, gave up their lives. Perhaps I may not  understand what pressures these young beings are shouldering, but it's really sad.




 Everybody deserves a second chance....especially yourself, whatever situation you may be in.  I found  some motivational verses here from the Bible -
 
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

"I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14

"For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."
Philippians 2:13 

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6


"He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."
Isaiah 40:29-31
 
Have a great mid-week!!

I was kinda tired and lethargic lately, not really know what's the reason and Thank God, I felt uplifted, motivated and positive energy slowly returning back to me, after reading what my ex-Pastor posted on his facebook - 

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary (Isa 40:31) 
-God gives ample supply of strength to all who seek Him.. to soar like eagles...run without fatigue, walk without growing tired. Hope in Jesus, overcome challenges of our temporal world. Aches, pains, and struggles of our physical existence must give way to the healing and strength in Jesus. We soar on the wings of His strength always!

 

 Biblical verses always knock on your door when you least expects it and when it does, it strikes you - to support and lift you up.

Have a good mid-week! 

Just got an email that my Christian care group (CG) will stopped temporarily due to some personal reasons of the CG leader. After reading the email, I felt a tinge of sadness. The small group has been trying hard to 'exist' despite the geographical difficulties of the meeting point.

This group was form to cater to the working folks in Singapore who attended the same church in JB. Unlike, other CG where it almost existed in every geographical area or to put it simply, one at every 'taman', we only have this one CG in Singapore. Thus, travellling and time management is a challenge especially for those who stayed or work far away from the meeting point. Some of the folks are from the north, some from the west and I am the worst, I worked in the far east of Singapore. I gotta travelled one and half hour to the meeting point located at the far west of Singapore and usually will reached home by midnight unless I took a cab.

I have mixed feelings when my CG leader announced the group will be closed, at least for now. Sad because I have not been committed to the group and only attended as when I'm free or available ,though as mentioned, travelling there weekly can be a challenge for me. Meanwhile, the core members of the groups, which only comprises around three members are trying hard to accommodate everyone to come to the meetings and even organised events especially on special occasions. Of course, I do felt some relief that I don't have to attend the CG for a while and have one less commitment. However, I do feel bad that I didn't contributed much to the group as I felt that once you're in a group, you have a responsible to participate and help out the group, just like what my core members tirelessly did.

I did learn a lot from the CG and I hope I will be better prepare to take on some commitments when the CG is reactivated, in the future.

It's really fast...Chinese New year 2011 ends tomorrow with the popularly known chinese valentine's day or 'New 15th day' or  Yuan Xiao Jie  or in hokkien, Chap Goh Meh. What are your plans?

As for me, it can be considered the first time I celebrate this day, with a lou sang in office then followed by a potluck dinner at my church's cell group. I started off this CNY with a bang by having a buffet dinner with my colleagues and will close it with a bang too, by praising the Lord God with my cell group members and of course, makan.....!!!


Here's wishing you a happy Chap Goh Meh!

A young man in his late twenties was listening to some sweet Christmas melodies where all of a sudden, he felt lonely and yearned for a warm X'mas with friends and family back home. He was away far from home and had no friends in his adopted alien country. He watched with envy on folks who were jolly and busy buying X'mas presents and wrapping gifts, dressing up for X'mas eve , X'mas party, X'mas dinner and attending church's services with their friends and families. As 'silent night, holy night' played, he felt even sadder  on a Christmas eve.
Then, an insight came to him in the form of a thought that God is with him all alone and he's not lonely.


The above story is to illustrate that there's always a door open for us in our darkest times as God is always with us, if you let your door opens to Him. Thus, let's spread some Christmas cheers and love to our friends, families and the needy ones. Shower your gift of love to them on this special occasion as how our Lord Jesus Christ  did to us. Afterall, the biggest Gift we receive daily is Him. Thus, let's give ! Do some charities to the needy ones and let them know that God is with them and it's Christmas! Let the melody of Jingle Bells play in their lives!

Here's a pix taken with my cell group members. The group is not big, around 10 persons to the max but not all turns up for the weekly meeting and I'm one of those who was not a regular. I usually went monthly since the meeting place is too far away for me in terms of working place or my home in Singapore. Well, the church is in JB but since all of us worked in Singapore, the group was formed in 2008 to cater to folks who stayed and worked in Singapore.

Ever since I joined a cell group, I find that it helps me to grow in my Bible knowledge, though it's slow and gradual for me, and that could be because I didn't attend regularly. Another good thing about cell group is, you can discuss your problems with your group and they will help you to pray about it or even help you out with your problem, if it's within their means.

When I first attended my church, I was a lone ranger where I don't even know anyone there. And  that goes on for almost a year till I found this cell group and started to get to know folks there. Thus, it's also a good platform to socialise with your fellow Christian brothers and sisters.