Even the English, known for their plain cooking, use salt when boiling potatoes and carrots. Yet the Asians cook rice in nothing but water. In stark contrast to the way other foods are prepared in Asia, rice is a singularly pure, simple, even bland dish; the perfect foil for well seasoned meat and vegetable dishes. A proper balanced meal.
Food, food, food. I love food. Everybody loves food. One friend actually commented on my MSN display. He said, "how come you always post food pictures?" Hehehe...nothing beats eating and food! Yesterday we had very simple dishes for lunch but one of the dish reminded us of home cooking. The significant version of kadazandusun's kimchi -- fermented Tuhau. Well, I associate them because both these dishes share the same color, reddish-orange like, preserved and can last the keep. We stir fried it with fish cake and added some spices and sauces as to somehow blend the sourness. The taste was super and what followed was toufu + tuhau for dinner!
Tuhau
the tuhau dish with side dish Chonggakmu kimchi
Did scrap-booking the whole morning and just finished cleaning the aquarium. The 3 stooges now can devour their swim!
Slept at 2am last night. Yeah...head is swaying! Nevertheless, came to school this morning and got my right brain to work. 37 minutes of work, thus the header banner!
What a day!!! I'm just so darn tired today! Talking, talking and talking and non-stop talking...I think I should quit my job! No, take that back "I think I should quit my job". Seriously people, I felt like my voice box is yelling at me right now to quit! I've been thinking lately, do I want to retire being a teacher for the rest of my life? With that thought, it lead me to think about education. Should I finish my MEd or should I do something else?? What if all I know how is TEACH?? Ah...I so badly need a vacation right now and forget about school for awhile! Well actually today the accreditation team (WASC) is in school so everyone is tense and trying to catch up on things and stuff. I was non-stop working the minute I came and even after school (now) needs to do some more preparation for tomorrow! What more, I have to tutor tonight and if I don't finish my work in school, I might have to do it tonight which will already be very late! I can say that I'm prepared for my classes tomorrow but one of the homeroom teacher suddenly ask me to take up her class with excuses such as students will be bored of her! Well, she's been having those periods through out the school year, why didn't she complain about it earlier? Now that the accreditation team is here then she can afford to complain and hand the class to me! I'm sick of being inaudibly used. I was expecting the WASC team to step into my class today but no one came. So no big deal if they come tomorrow, I'm not running away...unlike some people!
There was a big lizard starring at me when we opened the house door yesterday. As usual I was scared to death and had goose bumps all over! Poor Roy, he wrestled with it in the other room after hitting it once in the living room. Now it's on the 3rd floor -- dead.
I had a good Sabbath yesterday. The sermon was good. The preacher is a Brazillian from GC -- The director of the Publishing House Pr. Wilmar Hilre. It was about being God's messengers. Everyone can spread the gospel. He said to not overlook small things in life. He told a story of a Russian couple. This lady wanted her husband to know Christ but whenever she invited him to go to church, he will say in Russian "Nicata!" (not sure about the spelling) but it carries a strong "NO" which is the same with 'not today, not tomorrow and not in the future!" So she went to Pastor Hilre and ask for religious books. Next, she scattered the books like autumn leaves at home. She also scattered the books around the TV, in the kitchen, etc. So one day, she noticed her husband was browsing through one of the books and whenever he heard noises of her coming, he quickly put the book down and pretended not to have any interest in those books. Then the wife started to observe her husband. In no time, the husband is halfway reading "The Great Controversy" and to make the story short, he's now one of the church elders in Russia! What Pr. Hilre is trying to say is that God puts His Holy Spirit in those books to speak to people's heart. I enjoyed the sermon. After church, we joined Auntie Dulina's potluck! We had a good fellowship together.
After church, Jov came to our house and like everybody else, inspected our house. It was good having her, we watched a movie entitled One Night With the King, a story about Queen Esther. Bored of the unbearable heat, we head off to King's park. The environment was lovely, the wind, the blooming colorful colors, and some part of the garden looked almost like a painting. On our way to the parking lot where we parked the car, we got lost. Man we should have been wise enough to know that the garden is not small! It was getting dark and even darker and we could see less and less to almost no one in the park except for some guards blowing their whistle to remind people of the park closing up. Man...if only we weren't that in a hurry, I should have captured the night scenery in the park. It was just undescribable!!! At one point, I thought the King's museum looked ala Taj Mahal because right in front was a big lake and you could see the mirror image of the meseum on the surface of the lake! I was catching my breath and my legs were tired! Believe it or not? We got lost for almost an hour! Due to hunger, we went to the old time favorite restaurant Sizzler!
Today I made my favorite Kimchi Soup with silken toufu! My husband and I enjoyed it so much that we finished a serving of four!
To those of you who are married, read this by Jim Burns.
It is likely no surprise to you that God has wired women and men differently. We all recognize some of these differences, but others often hide in plain sight. Shaunti Feldhahn, a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, author and speaker recently wrote a fantastic book, For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men. In it, she recounts the surprising truths she learned about men after interviewing more than one thousand of them. Not long ago, I had the opportunity to interview Shaunti for our radio broadcast, HomeWord with Jim Burns. In our discussion, we spoke about ten things guys wish women knew about men. I think you’ll find these ten things fascinating! Even more, I believe that in understanding these issues, you’ll be equipped to lead your marriage to a better place!
1. Men would rather feel unloved than inadequate and disrespected. Husbands need to know that their wives respect them both privately and publicly. Men thrive when they know that their wives trust them, admire them, and believe in them. Shaunti Feldhahn’s research indicated that men would rather sense the loss of loving feelings from their wives than to be disrespected by them.
2. A man’s anger is often a response to feeling disrespected by his wife. When a husband becomes angry with his wife, he may not come out and say, “You’re disrespecting me!” But, there is a good likelihood that he is feeling stung by something his wife has done which he considers disrespectful and humiliating.
3. Men are insecure. Men are afraid that they aren’t cutting it in life -- not just at work, but at home, in their role as a husband. They may never vocalize this, but inwardly, they are secretly vulnerable. The antidote? Affirmation. To men, affirmation from their wives is everything! If they don’t receive this affirmation from their wives, they’ll seek it elsewhere. When they receive regular and genuine affirmation from their wives (not flattery, by the way), they become much more secure and confident in all areas of their lives.
4. Men feel the burden of being the provider for their family. Intellectually, it doesn’t matter how much or little a man makes, or whether or not his wife makes more or less money in her career. Men simply bear the emotional burden of providing for their family. It’s not a burden they’ve chosen to bear. Men are simply wired with this burden. As such, it is never far from their minds and can result in the feeling of being trapped. While wives cannot release their husbands from this burden, they can relieve it through a healthy dose of appreciation, encouragement, and support.
5. Men want more sex. Everyone’s natural response to this is probably, “Duh!” But, that response is probably for the wrong reason. We primarily assume that men want more sex with their wives due to their physical wiring (their “needs”). But, surprisingly, Shaunti Feldhahn’s research showed that the reason men want more sex is because of their strong need to be desired by their wives. Men simply need to be wanted. Regular, fulfilling sex is critical to a man’s sense of feeling loved and desired.
6. Sex means more than sex. When men feel their wives desire them sexually, it has a profound effect on the rest of their lives. It gives them an increasing sense of confidence and well-being that carries over into every other area of his life. The flipside of this coin also carries a profoundly negative affect. When a husband feels rejected sexually, he not only feels his wife is rejecting him physically, but that she is somehow rejecting his life as a husband, provider, and man. This is why making sex a priority in marriage is so incredibly important!
7. Men struggle with visual temptation. This means the vast majority of men respond to visual images when it comes to women. And, this doesn’t just mean the guys with wandering eyes. Even the most godly husband cannot avoid noticing a woman who dresses in a way that draws attention to her body. Even if it is just a glance, these visual images are stored away in the male brain as a sort of “visual rolodex” that will reappear without any warning. Men can choose whether to dwell on these images and memories or dismiss them, but they can’t control when these images appear.
8. Men enjoy romance, but doubt their skills to be romantic. True, many men appear to be unromantic clods, but it doesn’t mean that they want to be that way! Men want to be romantic, but they just doubt their ability to pull it off. They are plagued by internal hesitations, perceiving the risk of humiliation and failure as too high. Wives can do a great deal to increase their husbands’ confidence in their romantic skills through encouragement and redefining what romance looks like. For example, a wife may balk when her husband asks her to go along to the hardware store, but it’s likely that he’s asking because he sees it as a time they can get away as a couple and hang out together. What’s not romantic about that?
9. Men care about their wife’s appearance. This isn’t saying that all men want their wives to look like the latest supermodel. What men really want is to know that their wives are making an effort to take care of themselves (and not letting themselves go) because it matters to them (the husbands!). Husbands appreciate the efforts their wives make to maintain their attractiveness.
10. Men want their wives to know how much they love them. This was the number one response of men. Men aren’t confident in their ability to express this, but they love their wives dearly. Men want to show how much they love their wives and long for them to understand this fact.
Your Dominant Intelligence is Musical Intelligence
Every part of your life has a beat, and you're often tapping your fingers or toes. You enjoy sounds of all types, but you also find sound can distract you at the wrong time. You are probably a gifted musician of some sort - even if you haven't realized it. Also a music lover, you tend to appreciate artists of all kinds.
You would make a great musician, disc jockey, singer, or composer.
School re-opens again and somehow I was kinda lost for awhile! Sheeeeeze...lots of funny things from my students today, can't remember all of them but the first one I noticed this morning as I was checking their papers was this:
Fill in the blank questions:
Given context: The Colonists in Early America moving West from East.
The question goes: ...the people during that time have to travel on __________.
Answer suppose to be: covered wagon.
However...
This lil' guy answered: the Santa Fe train.
Oh well, I couldn't help but laugh! I never mentioned any Sata Fe train as far as the lesson was concern but I do know where they must've picked it from -- Santa Fe Restaurant!!! This restaurant used to be my favorite but since I'm cutting on meat (and budget)....oh well...inside some of the restaurants they have this very cool train-look-alike where you can actually enter and sit for a meal. The point is, see how kids make connections? We're talking about Grade 2.
I have a singing class with K1 and K2 today. I was all busy settin g up the DVD player in the kindergarten class and needed to switch on all the equipment. As I press the ON button on the DVD player, the welcoming message read "HELL". What happened to the letter "O"?????? Again I burst out laughing!!!
As I entered my last G2 class for Social Studies and Values, I was stunned as soon as I entered the door by what chaos the class had been through! Dark blue plastic bags on each student's desk, papers, picture frames, balloons, story books, toys, key chains, USD coins and dollars, decorations, stickers, tidbits, and so much more...it's all over the place! The kids wore HUGE smiles on the faces and they were all over excited!!! Then I was approached by the homeroom teacher with a plastic glass full of guess what?? CHOCOLATESSSSSSS!!! All these? They came all the way from the States....yup! It all started with a mail we recieved with a paper boy named Ryan 2 months ago. He was the imaginary Ryan sent by a boy named Ryan and his intention was to visit the community around Thailand. Since I was their Social teacher, I made Ryan's character came alive that students just can't resist writing to him. So they did and the homeroom teacher and I encouraged them to sent a little souvenir in forms of coins, keychains, and other small stuff to Ryan as he flew back in the mail to the States. Wow! The students did impress Ryan's teacher since almost everyone in my class wrote. So the bags and stuff were the replies to those letters we sent! Not bad eh? None of us expected it though...
Here's a bag of cotton candy given by my student which she got from Ryan's classmates:
Entertaining my appetite again. After that taste-bud captivating dish cooked by Roy, I couldn't resist to taste it again. So after school we rushed home and had dinner at 4pm!! Veggie Le Mix
Well, while helping one of students with his essay outline awhile ago, I stumbled upon this:
Friendship vs. Love
Friendship is a quiet walk in the park with the one you trust. Love is when you feel like you are the only two around.
Friendship is when they gaze into your eyes and you know they care. Love is when they gaze into your eyes and it warms your heart.
Friendship is being close even when you are far apart. Love is when you can still feel their hand on your heart when they are not near.
Friendship is hoping that they experience the very best. Love is when you bring them the very best.
Friendship occupies your mind. Love occupies your soul.
Friendship is knowing that you will always try to be there when in need. Love is when you will give up everything to be at their side.
Friendship is a warm smile in the winter. Love is a warming touch that sends a pulse through your heart.
Love is a beautiful smile to which nothing compares: A tender laugh, which opens your heart, A single touch that melts away your fears, A smell that reminds you of the tenderness of heaven, A voice that reminds you of the innocence of youth.
Friendship can survive without love. Love cannot live without friendship.
Author Unknown
Lastly, was it coincidence that the flower is RED??
You Are a Red Flower
A red flower tends to represent power, seduction, and desire. At times, you are loving like a red tulip. And at other times, you're very enthusiastic, like a bouvardia. And more than you wish, your passion is a bit overwhelming, like a red rose.
Today's the last day of the Songkran holiday. I wish there's more. Hm, why can't I ever have enough of anything? Well, I guess it's human nature, can't feed in too much!
I'm suppose to do my lesson plans today but boy oh boy...I just end up doing something else. Yeah, I updated the background of this blog too. Can't help the staring on the previous colors. I don't know, RED captivates me sooo much lately that my house is also decorated with red. The color just gives me more sense of LIFE. Blood maybe, but I LOVE RED! I think it's hot! My husband might not agree, but know what? He just bought himself a red shirt last week!!! Hehehee...RED influences...
Hey, I never knew my husband can actually cook. He cooked a yummy super delicious meal for me yesterday and the taste was unforgettable! On the other hand, he was inspired. He just started blogging AGAIN -- ROPOY
After a long wait, finally my husband got me an aquarium with 3 cuties (a type of Guppy and two Mollies) as a birthday gift. Nagging does work hehe! So those fishes are yet to be named. I'll post some pictures soon.
Discovered a new Korean artist yesterday who has a sweet captivating voice. Check him out:
1. Kids who live in families that eat dinner together regularly are less likely to be involved in at risk behaviors. According to the 2000 study done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), children who don't eat dinner with their families are 61 percent more likely to use alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs. By contrast, children who eat dinner with their families every night of the week are 20 percent less likely to drink, smoke, or use illegal drugs.
2. Families who eat dinner together regularly are more likely to have stronger, happier family relationships. As families struggle to find amounts of quantity and quality time together, family dinnertime provides the opportunity for both. When families hang out together and communicate, they grow strong and healthy.
3. Families who eat dinner regularly develop a stronger family identity. Eating together serves to build a family identity. Additionally, this family "routine" provides a sense of stability and security that provides kids with a positive environment where they can grow into healthy adults.
4. Families who eat dinner together regularly can keep in touch with each others' lives. Everyone - kids and parents alike - can keep up-to-date during your family dinnertime on what is going on with school, jobs, family life, and friends.
5. A regular family dinnertime provides natural opportunities for planning and problem solving. Scheduling family meeting times to discuss planning, needs, and problem solving can be difficult. A regular family mealtime can offer a natural solution to the challenge.
6. Eating dinner regularly fosters learning. When families who eat dinner together engage in a variety of conversation topics, learning is encouraged. Kids who are exposed to regular family discussion times learn a broader vocabulary.
7. Kids are likely to receive better nutrition when eating dinner regularly with their families. A simple, but true rule applies: when kids eat with their families, they eat better. A family dinnertime means kids are more likely to eat a nutritionally balanced meal, lower in sugar and fat content, than if they prepare or purchase meals on their own.
I have 101 things to blog about and don't know where to start! Maybe I should try start with my last day of exam. Well, it was such a relief being able to write all my exam papers and finish the same time when next day school starts for Songkran holiday. That means, end of Masters courses for this semester and break for teaching. I still had my cramps while writing the last paper, but it was all good thinking that it will be over soon.
We have been to Pattaya less than 5 times and visited quite a number of places already. However, this time is for pure relaxation and nothing more. So last Wednesday, my husband and I hopped into the car and took our trip to Pattaya. Pattaya as been told was once a beautiful city with awesome beach. However, business sprung and imagine the Pattaya now! It's more well-known for the red-lights. Well, all we cared for this trip was to get away from our usual routine and settle down to a more slower pace kind of a lifestyle. Noting that this was my husband's first drive to that city, we got very excited and perhaps we were anxious of how the journey was going to be like. The drive from our place is only 110km and we reached Pattaya city safe and sound. Of course on the way there were mild accidents where one car hit each other in a row. That was bad but thank God we weren't involved. As soon as we reached the central part of Pattaya, we immidiately looked for the hotel that we found through the internet. Well, too bad, the first hotel that we looked into didn't have a good parking lot for our car, and we moved on to the next with the same branch name as the first. Well, this one had a parking space but the rooms were not like what we've expected (the internet could be very deceiving!). As we were about to scout other places, the receptionist stopped us and said that she'll give us the super delux room for the same price as the standard once. Well, after checking out the room my husband agreed. Roaming around Pattaya was breath-taking. Different scenery, different environment, a diverse group of people with extraodinary characteristics...we enjoyed it. I took my husband to visit Ripley's most amazing park and managed to have a great time there. His main thing was to EAT while my main thing was to do site seeing. From the very top floor of Ripley's building, there's a place where you can go out and view the entire city. It was amazing. Walking out of the building, we stroll along the beach's pathway. Always wanting to visit the Hard Rock hotel, alas I have the chance. The outward appearance, designs, deco...everything was funky and we enjoyed the peep. The same night we also took a short road trip around and not forgetting to visit the Lighthouse. The jumbo smelling night wind and the splashing wave sound made the trip even splendor! Before we went back to the hotel that night, we scouted for other alternative place that we could enjoy the next day. The night life was noisy of course, but I didn't bother. I went to bed just nice.
Next day, we checked out and had our breakfast. Drove to several hotels and resorts, wow...not bad...most of the resorts are at reasonable prices. Well, we ended up in a place where it's quite secluded from noise and traffic. This place was also close to the beach, had a clean environment, quiet, relaxing and guess what? They have American Idol on TV hehehe! Well, not that I haven't watch the show, but being in this country and having these kind of program is rare. Well, our eyes were stuck on the TV the whole morning till late noon. We ate at a decent restaurant where we ordered fish in chinese red wine plus other stuff. Seriously, I haven't eaten fish for awhile so imagine my appetite! With our stomach full, we decided to climb to Pattaya's famous View Point. The walking up didn't quite help my groggy tummy. However, we managed to walk up and anticipate the marvelous scenery of the city! Heading back, again we decided to just drive around the city and stop by BigC. Maybe it's the raport of the city that makes this BigC kinda different compared to the ones we have here. It was all well decorated, attractive and not boring hehe! I fancy the toy shops. Well, our feet got tired from walking so it was time to head back to the resort. Promptly, everything was such a reflexiology treat!
Well last day of the trip was yesterday. We thought that traffic might be bad (eventhough we wanted to explore more...) and decided to head home. True enough, everyone was going for their Water Festival holiday, lots of cars on the road. Needless to say, I had good time!
Finally I was successful on downloading Veggie Tales - An Easter Carol. This download is offered by a friend so no issues on piracy or illegality! I've been trying since last night and the previous .rar files didn't work quite right and so I waited for another 4 hours for the new batch. It was worth it! The reason why I like Veggie Tale is that the story is so captivating and the message is simple. I would want my child to watch all the series next time. For the time being, my husband and I will enjoy it first!
I'm grateful that my four mouth ulsers had dissapeared and gone. I couldn't bear eating with 'em. I would constantly remind myself to drink lots of water since the weather here is unbearably hot and at times it reaches 41 degrees C. Basically I'm not complaining for I like the weather when it's dry but nevertheless I also wish that it would rain every once in two weeks. That would cool down the humid environment for awhile.
Oh, just found out that the oldest blogger in the world is a woman aged 107. Young for technology eh? I wanna grow old sophisticatedly! Here's her blog: allaboutolive
I have exams tomorrow. However, I wouldn't mind taking time to blog since I haven't been doing this for a while. It's Sunday today and thank God for a study day! *_*
I visited a friend who just delivered a beautiful baby boy yesterday. She revealed her birth experience to me and of course not wanting to be but I got jitters all over! Couldn't imagine going through the same process eventhough they say each mother will have different experience altogether. Well, a newly wed I am, pressure keeps coming from family and friends to have kids. Not saying that I don't want kids, but I need time...time to adjust and to prepare for the moment. Right now, I am so unprepared and still stingy of my own time and wants. I'm sure God will reveal the right time and by then I hope that everything will go well. For now, I still have tons of things to be done. Well, my friend's experience sure did make me realize of how hard mothers brought each one of us into this world. Don't forget the morning sickness and the on and off pain, and all the emotions that they have to go through. A mother even mentioned that it's good if human can be like sea horses where husband and wife carries each other's burden in conceiving!
Holiday is coming soon and my husband and I are planning to go to the beach just to relax! Hope to post some pictures by then.
Happy weekend and pray for me so that I could pass my exams!
