Graceful

A Dusun Tindal Dancer in traditional costume performing at the Kaamatan (Harvest Festival in Sabah) open house on 7th June 2009 at Padang Merdeka, Kota Kinabalu. (pix by Gordon)

Sweet Thoughts

Walking along the Gaya Sunday Market this morning, I spotted a group of young children queuing up for the candy!

I remember my daughter Rachel who loved to have this huge candy, many times bigger than her little face. Now, she should have outgrown that!

I

Coffee High

Coffee does give a kick. Coffee does give a high!

I was searching all over the place for Nescafe last night in a supermarket. Finally, I asked for "direction".

I was given a "high". See how high are Nescafe being placed in this supermarket? With my 170cm, I could only reach the lower shelf of Nescafe packed in packets. The cashier (she was doing the job because the shelf is hung right above her cash counter) had to stand on a stool to bring down the Nescafe I wanted.

Shoplifters here need a coffee kick and high, I reason!

The Window

Watching out from my window, I have this scene!

Love this quote -

Better keep yourself clean and bright.
You are the window through which you must see the world.”

George Bernard Shaw

Is my window clean and bright?

Miracles

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle.
But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air,
but to walk on earth.
Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize:
a blue sky,
white clouds,
green leaves,
the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes.
All is a miracle.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Fruity Experience it was

Strolling along Kota Kinabalu's Gaya Street Sunday Market, I was drawn to this stall. The man, Hii Chang Ling, framed the newspaper reports featuring his "fruity experience". It must be his pride and joy. When I told him I am with the newspaper that reported him, he insisted to give me three seedless lemons cultivated by him!

The Scarecrow

Pix taken during the KK Gaya Sunday Market walk

“We must not make a scarecrow of the law,
Setting it up to fear the birds of prey,
And let it keep one shape till custom make it
Their perch, and not their terror.”
William Shakespeare

Spare the rod?

Spare the rod and spoil the child.
So, I am choosing one, that hits hard yet not painful!
Do you keep one to discipline your children?

Spotted this at Gaya Sunday Market this morning.
Strangely, the patrons are all women!

Hospital Stories

This is Wisma Khidmat which will be turned into a private hospital. Sabah Credit Corporation, a State Government agency which owns the building is entrusted to turn the building into a private hospital.

Cost? RM100 million.

Why? Chief Minister said the hospital would provide an alternative to the people of Sabah who preferred to seek medical care at private hospitals.

Earlier, Sabah Medical Centre was bought over by the Federal Government and turned into a government hospital at RM245 million.

I like the set-up of this picture. It tells stories -
From a vacant building into a private hospital.
From a private hospital into a government hospital.
But the tree stand tall!

(Thanks to Aniq for the photograph)

Homeless

In Labuan

270 houses

3000 people homeless

Keys

Keys, keys, keys to my new place of stay.

Keys to open new doors for improvements!

Keys to learning of new things....

Filling the shoes

I love this quote by Henry Courtney:

The bigger a man's head gets,
the easier it is to fill his shoes.

What size are you wearing?
Does the size change everyday?

The answer is blowing in the wind

There! Is Rev David also a food blogger?

One for remembrance

What's so interesting that Rev David MacDonald would like to take a snap?
(check out tomorrow here in this blog)

R & R

Take time to Rest and Relax
Just because you are not on the road
doesn't mean you've gotten lost!

Be inspired!

Calm on the surface,
paddling like the dickens underneath!

Journey's End

It is good to have an end to journey toward;
but it is the journey that matters, in the end ~

Emptiness

Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,
We fell them down and turn them into paper,
That we may record our emptiness.
- Kahlil Gibran

Believe

Shake hard enough and something might just fall out!
Just believe!

Helping hand

A little help from my brother.

One Step

One step at a time is good walking.

Italian?

Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian;
wine and tarragon make it French.
Sour cream makes it Russian;
lemon and cinnamon make it Greek.
Soy sauce makes it Chinese;
Garlic makes it good.”
Alice May Brock (of Alice's Restaurant fame)

Window

Windows greatly add to the pleasure and agreeableness of a habitation.

Living others' lives

A great book should leave you...
slightly exhausted at the end.
You live several lives reading it.
- William Styron

May Day

Words have nothing to do with this pix which I captured at KLCC! Just because it's May Day and I feel like singing away! But still, a good day for an outing after all it's your day!

When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall,
We used to love while others used to play.
Don't ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Some one else moved in from far away.

Now we are tall, and Christmas trees are small,
And you don't ask the time of day.
But you and i, our love will never die,
But guess well cry come first of may.

The apple tree that grew for you and me,
I watched the apples falling one by one.
And I recall the moment of them all,
The day I kissed your cheek and you were mine.

When I was small, and Christmas trees were tall,
Do do do do do do do do do...
Don't ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Some one else moved in from far away.

GB Expressions

(Crafts by girls of Girls' Brigade in their weekly activities)

“Crafts make us feel rooted,
give us a sense of belonging and connect us with our history.
Our ancestors used to create these crafts out of necessity,
and now we do them for fun,
to make money and to express ourselves.”
~ Phyllis George

Vanity, Vanity, Vanity

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord,
She shall be praised.
Proverbs 31:30 NASB

What's news today?

Knowledge is of two kinds:

we know a subject ourselves,
or we know where we can find information on it.
- Samuel Johnson

"By Hook or By Crook"

The expression, "By hook or by crook," you may be surprised to learn, originated from the 21st chapter of the Gospel of John. A hook is the symbol of a fisherman, while a crook is the symbol of a shepherd. Here then in this chapter are symbolized the two ministries of the church: fishing and shepherding. That is how the work of God goes forward.

Is your ministry by hook or by crook?

Feed my lambs

Here is the chief work of a shepherd.
Jesus says to Peter,
"Feed my lambs"
"Tend my sheep"
"Feed my sheep"
(John 21:15-17)

Feed my lambs - teach the children. Teach children from the Word what life is all about!

Fellowship, fellowship

(Pix: A Park in Ho Chih Ming City where few friends/senior citizens met to do exercise)

Harvard researchers have found that, for senior citizens, friendship and social activities result in longer life. Accoding to this study, friendship contributes to longevity just as much as regular exercise does.

Church

The Church is a society of sinners -
the only society in the world in which
membership is based upon the single
qualification that the candidate shall be
unworthy of membership.
- Charles C. Morrison

Fruitfulness

God said, "I'll make you fruitful. Your land will bring forth its fruit." Your life will be fruitful. It will be a blessing to others. You will have an effective impact upon others.

Choices

With the explosion of choice in products, services, and lifestyles, moderns are pushed to want the best of everything. A choice that used to take five minutes now takes days.
And the final choise is to take all home!

Children Welcome!

(Pix taken at an eating place in Hahndorf, Adelaide)

I hang on these words for dear life!
These words hold me up in bad times.
- Psalm 119:49-50 The Message

Showers of Manna

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
John 1:16 NIV

The Consequences

(Pix: Adelaide Supermarket)

God, help me choose the right way today.
Guide me by your Word.
Wash me clean.
Cleanse me white as snow.
Help me pay attention to the consequences.
Amen.

The Sunday Post

(Pix: Street of Ho Chih Ming City)

Do you ever think that there is just too much to know about in our world? Consider this: In the middle ages, the amout of knowledge the average person would acquire in a lifetime is equal to one Sunday editions of the New York Times (probably The Borneo Post/The Sunday Post?) today.

Get a copy?

The Plain Truth

(Pix: Adelaide Central Market)

In other words,

We reject all shameful and underhanded methods.
We do not try to trick anyone,
and we do not distort the word of God.
We tell the truth before God.
-2 Corinthians 4:2 NLT

Baking with Generosity

Spotted this at Adelaide Central Market. When was the first time I heard of Bagel? I have learnt it from JoMel. Here's JoMel's. I love the generous spread of sesame on top. The way one cooks also shows her very nature - generosity is her mark, I am sure!