Penang in Pictures

The "new look" for all serious travellers.

Penang Bird Park
This cockatoo was literally begging us to take a photo of him. Very cheeky birdie!!!
We had a good laugh over this ostrich. She is a huge fan of Philip. She followed him all the length of the enclosure.
Look at those huge eyes.
The white belly sea eagle. Absolutely majestic.
This yellow & blue macaw is so adorable. He kept saying "hello" to Jordan.
Philip & Miss Sarawak
Philip & Miss Australia.
At Fort Cornwallis
Have gun will travel
Philip & Thian Huat: What is their crime? Eating too much!!!
Shooting a few imaginary cannon balls
Reunion
After 19 long years, Philip met up with his music lecturer, Mr.Lim. It was a very heartwarming moment for all.

Eastern & Oriental Hotel
Going to E&O Hotel is a walk down memory lane for us. 15 years ago, we had our wedding reception here. We took the kids there for a hearty lunch.
The place has undergone a massive renovation but it still retains alot of its English charm.

Food Paradise

Penang is a food paradise. We ate from sunrise to sunset.
Char koay tiaw, Hokkien Mee, nasi kandar, dim sum, char ho fun, cendol, seafood at Telok Kumbar etc. With all that eating, we have to work off the extra kilos.... so I do retail therapy, walking the breadth & length of Gurney Plaza & Queensbay Mall while Philip swims everyday at Pisa.

Despite the A(H1N1) alert,we had a wonderful"balik kampung" time. We pray that in due course, A(H1N1) will no longer be a threat but a thing of the past & we can all travel freely with no worries.

Tranquil Terengganu

Driving from Penang to Terengganu is certainly a new experience for our family. 7 hours flat... stopping for the loo only. Criss-crossing-Kedah, Perak, Kelantan & finally arriving in Terengganu. My bums were sore from sitting too long but Philip thoroughly enjoyed it. His adrenalin was peaking throughout the drive!!!

The journey was scenic.. thru misty mountain ranges, lakes, thick & verdant cool rainforest.

Terengganu exudes a sense of tranquility. The long stretch of white sandy beach in front of our hotel beckons us daily.

Philip & the kids love it... creating their own masterpiece on the beach.



Playing football and netball. That day the wind was so strong, it almost blew us away.

Playing giant chess with daddy. Working hard mentally and physically!!!


Meeting up with Philip's old friend Ah Tia & family.

The only turtles we saw were those printed on T-shirts. To see actual turtles coming on shore, we've to travel further north or south & wait up all nite which we didn't feel like doing. We heard that nowadays, turtle landings are getting less and less. So we opted for the lazy no-frills hols... which is driving around Kuala Terengganu... pottering around the town buying souvenirs and their famous keropok.

Hee Hee Ha Ha

Laughter the Best Medicine

Recently I was shopping in Parkson and while waiting for Philip to pay for the items , I chanced upon a section in the store which sells fridge magnets and the quotes on it really tickled my funny bone.

Let me just share what I can remember:

Eat and be merry for tomorrow you may diet.

I did not fight all the way up the food chain to be a vegetarian.

If there is a will I hope I am in it.

A fool and his money is my kind of guy.

Mirror mirror on the wall, I am like my mother after all.

Philip and I are very blessed with many friends who have a great sense of humour. We also know some people who are so straight poker face and utterly humourless and we wonder how they can survive. Laughter and humor are just not their lifestyle. What a real pity. Everything is always so dead serious.

Recently I had a girls’ nite out with some friends. It was good food & good laughs. We giggled and laughed over how our hubbies’ proposed, 1st date and whether we were our hubbies’ 1st love.

Laughter is one of God’s gifts to mankind . Also when we learn to laugh at ourselves , we will feel less tensed and uptight. The important thing is to ‘use’ laughter positively . We aren’t meant to laugh at others but to laugh with them.

Better to die with laughing lines than worry wrinkles. Remember life is to be enjoyed not just to be endured.

Lord I Bow At Your Feet

Lord I Bow at Your Feet



Lord I bow at Your feet, with the fruit of my lips,
I set my heart to worship You
Your words are my light, and a lamp to my path
I’ve decided to live for You

Like the rain pouring down, like the dew in the morning,
Holy Spirit, rain down on me
My soul is refreshed, my mind is renewed,
Let it rain, rain down on me.

Let love and faithfulness dwell in my life.
Your words of life alive in me.

My Abba Father, in You I delight.
Lord I give You my all.

The psalmist in the Bible said: I have set The Lord before me. In another words, he has set his mind on God. To set upon something is a deliberate effort towards an object, like how ladies set their hair in order to look good, or a train sets its route before a journey. When we talk about setting our hearts on God, I have to admit that it is not an easy task. There are so many things in this life that demands our attention and immediate actions and there are so many attractive and tempting things that blur our priorities. Setting one’s mind on God is in fact the most rewarding endeavor in anyone’s life…. for you will find in Him, great joy, comfort, peace, hope, healing, restoration, renewal, revival and salvation. Friends, it’s time to turn and set your eyes on Him for in doing so you will find that He has already set His eyes and heart on you.

We Have A Teenager

A lot of negatives have been written about teenagers. But I just want to say there are a lot of positives too. Heather is 13 this year, so as parents we are of course concern about the many influences surrounding her. But we never bargained for the influences that she has on us.

In the car, unconsciously we begin to play Taylor Swift’s and Jonas’ Bros songs and we would be tapping away .

Fashion wise , she would help me look thru clothes in the stores. What is cool and not so cool. Absolutely nothing to do with the weather. She is especially particular about daddy’s dressing. Philip likes to tease her. He would tuck in his shirt, pull up his pants and belt them high up and pretend that he is going out. Heather would freak out!!! DADDY . You look so dorky!!!!!

On the other hand, she loves to tease him too. Last week, I bought her a ¾ top and it is supposed to be worn with tights or jeans. She naughtily wore it on its own and paraded in front of Philip, cheekily teasing, “ Look dad! Mom got this for me from KL.” Philip must have gone pale coz he bounded up the stairs looking for me asking why I got her such a short dress!!!


Recently I had to change my specs so we trotted to the optometrist and she had the final say in the spec frame…. insisting that the one she chose is trendy. So I took her advice!!!!

We have a lot to learn from our teens. As parents it is our duty to guard and teach them but we should also have the joy of letting them influence us.

Malaysia Boleh ???

Whatever happened to “Malaysia Boleh” ? I am still grinding my teeth over the decision to switch the teaching of Maths & Science back to BM. I thot Malaysia Boleh means we are capable of moving forward . I didn’t realize it also means that we can move backwards.

How are we able to compete in this global borderless age when our citizens don’t have good English ? So many students who come to my workplace for their training and placements can’t even string a few proper words together in English. When they finish their research I balked at their research papers coz the presentation in English was so poor.

I always tell my staff that unless they improve their English, I will never let them attend any conferences and seminars abroad. All the good conferences are always in English. What is the point of attending seminars presented in English if you cannot understand??? What a horrendous waste of money. Yet I see that happening many a times.

Few years back, Philip and I went to attend a Music Therapy seminar in KL. We noted that some people who attended couldn’t understand English, so they were always the last to arrive everyday and the first to leave. They spent their time over long breakfasts and lunches!!!!

So when are we going to stop this atrocious decline in English? I hope very soon which means today. We cannot afford another generation of bad English. Malaysia Boleh means in our population we will have people who can teach English and our students will also be able to learn English well.

It’s high time we shine again in our English.

May The Words of Our Mouths

May the words of our mouths,
and the meditation of our hearts
be pleasing in Your sight.
Let our hearts be cleansed and purified.
Lord, Your Name be glorified.

May the thoughts of our hearts
be made obedient to Christ,
Lord let Your Kingdom come.
In Your Name we serve,
By Your grace we stand
Lord, Your Name be glorified.

The Angels singing, and H'vens proclaiming
Singing Holy Holy, Holy is the Lord,
The lives we're living,
In all we're doing,
Let them be pure and holy,
Holy unto the Lord.


We are living in a time where holy living is rare. Celebrities are showing the world that they are still being adored and worshipped with careless living and even ‘weird’ lives. However, this is not a time to cast stones. At the end of the day, do you think God is pleased with the way you live ? The Bible says that we need to be holy (at least we try), because our God is a holy God. Holy living starts with the thoughts of our hearts. What comes out from the meditation of the hearts are our words and our actions. Let’s draw near to God today, listen to His words and ask the God of holiness to change and purify us so that the testimony we carry will bear Christ-likeness.