CNY 2010

I thought this year we will celebrate CNY together with Daniel since last year I was still in pantang. Unfortunately, po po passed away the month before, so this year we are also in pantang.

So, didnt go anywhere except had our reunion dinner at home, following day, all of us (minus Tiki) went to Genting.

Rest of the days were just spent at home, taking care of Daniel and Egbert, where both of them were sick. Haiya...

So, basically, there goes my 1 week of holiday ...

PTPTN: Step Up Your Service, Please !

Me and syg submitted the form Pengesahan Lumpsum on the 9th feb 2010. Thinking we had a week holiday for CNY, we will settle our loans then. It requires 7 workings days to furnish us with that letter, stating the final amount.

We waited and waited, no letter came. Decided to go straight to PTPTN office at Damansara after spoken to the officer at Call Centre. She says we can always go to the office and get the calculation on the spot. Sad to say, when we arrive, the entire unit is away fora so-called emergency meeting and the officer can't supply us the letter for full settlement. Asked us to wait for 7 working days at least.

A week of holiday went by. The following week, again made a call to the PTPTN Call Centre, and they have yet to process my application. What the hell were they doing there ? Was it so difficult to generate the final sum ? Fortunately, this lady helped me to pushed the Unit Lejar to provide the letter. And they can actually generate the letter in a day. Typical service of the public. When public push for the service after waiting for soooo damn long, then only they decide to give. Real stupid !

And the letter they gave us was dated 24th Feb 2010, and had the gall to ask us to pay by 28 Feb 2010.

Real dumb right ? Not to mentioned, 26, 27 and 28th Feb are public holidays. I think the brain is missing somewhere. Or they are computerized is it ? No need thinking, just generate only. If that is the case, what took them so bloody long ? If not computerized, then have the same courtesy to the customer who is willing to do full settlement - provide 7 workings days as well. As simple as that. But that also cannot do. When asked about it, the reply was, "Oh, puan boleh bayar seminggu selepas itu pun. Sistem kami boleh buat update." What kind of answer is that ? So contradicting and downright stupid !

Urgghh, I am still so pissed off with the service. I think PTPTN should treat the payers with more courteous, especially the ones who are willing to do full settlement and is requesting for as much information as possible.

Restaurant Shabu-Shabu at Puchong

We were enjoying our food at this restaurant called "Shabu-Shabu". It is located near IOI Puchong. Not much variety of food for steamboat but in terms of ambience as well as cleanliness, better than Restoran Talipon in Happy Garden, KL. Notice how handsome Daniel is ? Hehehehe...

Me and little Daniel, who was mesmerized with the camera.

Daniel with his blur face...

Golf Balls vs Sand

When things in your life seems enormous and too much to handle, when 24 hours a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and two cups of coffee.

A Professor stood before his philosophy class znd had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions – Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first -- The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

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How true it is for most of us who spent time taking care of pebbles and sand and forgotten about those golf balls that we are holding in our hands. These are our prized possession and yet, we are taking it for granted.

It is never too late to re-prioritize and put the 'golf balls' first in the jar. The rest can always come later.

Listening To God In 3 Ways

1. EAR OF THE MIND
   WITH THE EAR OF THE MIND ,WE TRY TO USE OUR INTELLECT TO UNDERSTAND GOD’S WORD.WE MAKE THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD IN THE BIBLE COME ALIVE TO US…
   As an example ,St Ignatius asked us to use our imagination and our five senses to get into the scene of the birth of Jesus in the Bible.
   


2. EAR OF THE HEART
   THIS MEANS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW BIBLE PASSAGE APPLIES TO ONE’S LIFE IN THE HERE AND NOW…
   “I knew of a couple who were so engrossed in making more money that they hardly saw one another .In spite of my warning, they said that they wanted first to make lots of money and then settle down to married life. I quoted them Luke 9.25 ‘ What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul.’ My warning came true .Their marriage broke up.” – Bishop Paul Tan
   


3. EAR OF THE SOUL
   MEANS TALKING TO GOD AND ASKING HIM WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO..
   “ Of course , God does not speak to us like I am talking to you." God speaks to us through events , movements in our hearts to do good, through people, especially wise persons, through our conscience and like. God always wants us to do what is good and what is better, never what is less good and what is bad.

True Love ...

A rich businessman had a beautiful daughter, who fell in love with a guy who works as a cleaner. When the girl's father came to know about their love, he did not like it at all, and so began to protest about it.

It so happenned that the two lovers decide to leave their homes in order to build a happy future. The girl's father began a frantic search for the two lovers but was unable to find them.

At last, he accepted their love for each other and request them to come home via advertisement in a local paper. Her father said, 'If you both come back, I will allow you to marry the guy you loved, for I had accepted that you truly love each other.'

So, their love had won and they returned home.

The couple went to town to shop for a wedding dress. He was dressed in white shirt that day. While he was crossing the road to get some drinks for his wife, a car came and knocked him down. He died on the spot. The girl lost her senses. It was only after sometime that she recovered. The funeral and cremation had to be held on the following day as he died horribly.

Two nights later, the girl's mother had a dream. In that dream, she saw an old lady. The old lady had asked her to wash away the blood stains of the guy from the daughter's dress as soon as possible. But her mother ignored the dream.

The next night, her father had the same dream as well. And he too ignored the dream. The following night, the girl had the same dream. She woke up in fear and told her mother about the dream. Her mother then quickly asked her to wash the clothes that have blood stains on it.

She washed the stains but there are still some remained. The following night, she had the same dream. Again, she went and washed the stains but some still remained.

Next night, she had the same dream again, and this time, the old lady gave her last warning to wash away the stains, or else, something terrible will happen. This time, the girl tried her best to wash the stains, until the clothes nearly tore, but there are still some stains remained.

She was very tired. In the late evening, while she was hole alone, someone knocked on the door. She got up and went and opened the door. She shouted with fright and fainted for there stand the old lady of her dream.

The old lady woke her up and gave her a blue object. She was shocked and ask "What is this ?"

The old lady said, "Try la Dynamo Liquid Soap... Just a dab and it will remove all stubborn stains !! "

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I know how you are feeling right now... Don't look at me like that, I have been through this too. I am also hunting the idiot who sent me this... ;)

Gong Xi Fa Cai ...

This year will be the first time we celebrate Chinese New Year with Daniel. I remembered last year, because of me and my confinement, everyone stayed back in KL.

This year, we will all be gathering in Ipoh but as my grandma had just passed away last month, no ang pows will be given this year. But we can still receive ang pows.... **wink**

So, in lieu of this coming Chinese New Year, we (Egbert, Elena and Daniel) would like to wish everyone

A Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai !!!!

My Dream Car

I have a dream. And my dream is to own this car:

TOYOTA WISH

But that dream is still very far above reality line... Wait till I have additional Rm1k to spare every month, then only I can think of it. Now, it's only a dream...

Michael Schumacher

Oh boy... This year's F1 gonna be sooooo exciting with the return of 7x World Champion Michael Schumacher. Though a bit sad to see him change from Ferrari to Mercedes, but I am glad that he is still competitive based on the recent tests in Valencia.

Ferrari seems to be rather strong this year when they topped the time sheet for 3 consecutive days. But lets see how things go once the race starts next month. Massa has also recovered from his almost-fatal injury last year. Good to see him back on track. I am sure he is thrilled to be back behind the car. Wonder how will his partnership with Alonso goes ? Surely not as good as he had with Michael, I believe.

Well, can't wait for the season to start. Wonder if Daniel likes watching it as much as his mummy does ?

Hehehehe....

Like Father Like Son

Oh, how I love this two darlings...

Breakfast At McDonald

This is a story which never fails to give me goose bumps and tears in my eyes, no matter how many times I read it. And it gives me hope that God is there, listening to each of our prayer, answering our prayers in His time. And there are angels surrounding us, not the ones that flutters, but real people, who stood by us no matter us, who supported us, who laughed with us, cry with us - these are normal people, but yet, they are God's angel for God send them to watch over us...


I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.

Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.' The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.

I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.

He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching..

The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation.

I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted..

He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.

I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.

I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand..

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope..'

We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

We are not church goers, but we are believers.

That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'

I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.

In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son,the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to

LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE

Gud News

Finally, after a long wait, some 8 of us received the letter of acknowledgement.

We are now Research Officers Q44 (Memangku).

Congrats to everyone.

New Layout

How do you like my new blog layout ?

I personally like it very much but still trying to figure out how to play around with the HTML codes.
Looks like my memory already 'berkarat' and needs to be 'asah' balik ni...