TW & JS

In life, there are very few things of equal value than true friendship. Though I only got to spend an afternoon with TW & JS, but it was well worth it. Not just the quality time together with my good buddies, but the FOOD as well! ;)


The day before, I tried the famous Seremban beef noodle. It was FABULOUS! So upon hearing it, TW brought me to try KL beef noodle. And as in any big city, u gotta do a lot of walking to go places, so was this beef noodle trip. We parked the car "somewhere"... and started walking...


And I realised it has been quite a while since I last walked this part of KL. Things have changed so much. But somethings are always "unchangeable"... like this drink seller.


After 20 minutes, the beef noodle shop loomed ahead. I know someone from Seattle reading this is salivating now...


I wasn't expecting this "style" of beef noodle whereby the noodle was skinny & the beef minced... When I first tasted it, there was no WOW-feeling. But the funny thing was, once u add the special chilly sauce provided - VOILA! It became a totally different BEAST!


The Seremban beef noodle was more "typical". I love the "juicy" noodle - fat & oily. They were served with chunky beef. And the sauce was simply STUNNING! And I must say I prefer the Seremban beef noodle above ALL else.


Even this "complicated & ultra expensive & super delicious" prawn noodle which I had a couple of days earlier in PJ, somehow, paled in comparison with the Seremban beef noodle.


The only thing that came close was this "simple but fabulous" Hakka noodle in Seremban. Especially in combo with the local fish balls & dumplings.


Nonetheless, it was a well worth journey despite the distance. And I was told my Seattle friend ta-bau like crazy the last trip here. If ONLY he tried the Seremban beef noodle...


As we proceeded to the NEXT food stall, I was happy to pass by these "notorious" KL buses. I was happy cuz I don't see the old yellow ones anymore. All were big & air-con type now. But one thing never changed - the bus conductor - still as LOUD as ever ;)


And finally we were here at PETALING STREET!!!


Here TW introduced me to the MOST FAMOUS wantan noodle stall in KL... but alas, the place was FULL... and TW pointed me to "notice" something. Boy, his eyes VERY the sharp one.


But TW did buy me drink from this stall. It was AWESOME!


We also tried some of these... Then we went to do so many other things before they dropped me off.


So much food to try, so little time. Thanks buddy for ur incredible hospitality.

Ratatouille

Last night, the whole big family went to see Ratatouille. I gotta tell u this - this is the MOST ENJOYABLE MOVIE I have had for a loooooooooooooooong time. This is SIMPLY THE BEST! This is such a BEAUTIFUL movie. And the story will warm the coldest hearts out there.


I can already foresee this will be a movie that I and the kids will be watching for a long time to come. Long long time.

Mary - Sign of Times?

It has been a long time since I last attended a RC mass. I was in Miri and decided to follow my colleague to attend an evening mass. Only later did I found out it was a mass to celebrate the Assumption of Mary. Meaning - Mary was taken to heaven "alive" akin to Enoch & Elijah. But unlike Enoch & Elijah, RC teaches Mary was "taken" cuz she was sinless. And by biblical definition, if a person is sinless, one cannot DIE. So I guess RC thus needs to explain as such for Mary's "end"...


Then the following night, I invited myself to my colleague's RCIA class! In case u don't know, I went thru RCIA in the 90's. So this is a bit of Deja-vu.


And what do u know! The topic for the night was: Escathology (The Study of End Time)!!! I really liked this lecturer by the name of David. I pray the Holy Spirit will open his eyes to see the truth as revealed in the Bible instead of the Tradition of the RCC which is mostly man-made.

One subject David touched on was - the SIGNS of End Time. I guess ALL of us are interested in knowing "WHEN WILL THE END COMES?". I mean even the apostles wanted to know!

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
(Mat 24:3)

Well, basically, the RC teaches we CANNOT KNOW, which incidentally is NOT what the Bible teaches. In fact, Christians are instructed to WATCH attentively onto the coming of our Lord! And God has given us literally TONS of SIGNS to look out for in the Bible!

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
(1Th 5:4-6)


Towards the end, another elder passed us some notes on the Assumption of Mary (thats when I realised the mass previous night was commemorating this). The Elder proceeded to tell us Mary WILL BE THE SIGN for the Lord's 2nd Coming. His theology is that since Jesus' 1st Coming was thru Mary, thus Jesus' 2nd Coming WILL BE THRU MARY AGAIN!!! Gotta wonder where in the Bible he get this idea...

Then he told us about these pictures that he passed out. And specifically he zoomed into the Lady of Guadalupe. He told the class that the last picture holds the TRUTH in revealing the 2nd Coming of Christ!

And one of the MOST SHOCKING thing I heard for the entire night was this statement: ONLY the Catholic understands the last book of the Bible - The REVELATION!

"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
(Joh 16:13-15)

So I guess the Holy Spirit isn't the ONLY Teacher, huh? May be thats why the RC has deviated much in their teaching thru out the centuries.


According to the elder, the painting of the Lady of Guadalupe is a MIRACLE painting whereby scientists have proven that the source of the paints are not of this world, and the whole painting itself actually is "floating" on the canvass... Hmm...

Anyway, he tried to explain the details of the painting in accordance to this verse in the Bible:

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
(Rev 12:1-2)

RC teaches that this WOMAN in the book of Revelation is none other than Mary. But we know this is not true. This woman is ISRAEL. How? Well, the Bible explains the Bible:

Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?"
(Gen 37:9-10)

IF "Mary" is indeed part of the Signs of Times of the hour we are living in today, it then plays the part of DECEPTION. Deceiving the Church into beholding her for "signs & wonders" rather than looking unto Jesus and The Word.

No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
(2Co 11:14-15)

Beach Day

After much food (KuNei complained WHY we keep on EATING & EATING), we planned to go down to the beach on Sunday after church.


We chose the beach cuz Diana loves to swim. So despite having a bit of flu the night before, praise God, it was all gone by afternoon.


The kids had a blast of a time.


Unlike the adults, the kids NEVER complained about having too much food.


Shortly, KuNei & Ah Lung kuku arrived together with Shirley & Philip.


So the kids swim & the adults chit-chat away at the pool side with plenty of junk food of course. We shared much on Christianity.


Soon it was off to the beach once the sun had set a bit.


Again, Diana surprised us. She isn't just an EXCELLENT artist...she seems to be GOOD at sculpture too... Here she was digging & beating the sand into a humanoid form...


TADA!

Just kidding!


We hang around at the beach until... the kukus cannot tahan anymore (who were waiting in a room). They told us there were some more other relatives to meet that night. So reluctantly Diana had to join them. I think she would rather be with the kids than go and meet some aunties & uncles ;P


After saying goodbye, Chin introduced us to eat at this place...


Boy, the food was DELICIOUS!


Absolutely NO food wasted. KuNei would have been proud. And thanks to KuNei also for her "ang pow" that helped to "buy" this wonderful dinner ;)


And on the way home...ALL the kids were knocked out cold...

Ku-Nei & The Gang

Two nights ago, we got some HEAVY WEIGHT VVIPs coming to Kuching! Non other than my most beloved Ku-Nei from Canada. I am so happy to see that she is SO HEALTHY and SO STRONG and SO COOL. Together with her is Shirley & Diana.


I was shocked when Ku-Nei told me she is 81 yrs old already!!! To me, she looks the same for as long as I could remember her.


To most of us here in Kuching, this is our FIRST time meeting Diana. And within like 30secs, she is already BEST FRIEND to all our kids here ;)


For this trip, Ku-Nei & the gang are staying at Chin's house. So after dinner, we all moved to Chin's house for some serious chit-chat to make up for all the years we had not seen each other.


We even called Uncle Pete in New York City! There is just so much info we need to update each other!


One new info we acquired: Diana is an AWESOME artist! She definitely got the blood of the Ting's family flowing inside her! ;) The kids were like blown away by her sketches. Obviously she like Japanese manga a lot.


The following day, Ah Lung Kuku also came! I understand she & Ah Lien Kuku & mom will be all going to Taiwan for 10 days at the end of the month... But from the heavy business phone calls Ah Lung kuku got during lunch... I wonder if she can "let go" or not.


We have arranged a series of places to visit for the visitors. The first stop - the Swak Museum - of course.


It was a quick "get-to-know-Swak" stop. From culture to FOOD.


Second stop: MORE local food... my favourite KomPia & Rojak...


Third Stop: MORE food... Hey, Ku-Nei told me she gained 4lbs while she spent a month in Texas... and I only got like 5 days to ensure I "beat" that record...

To be continued...

Cocker Pug

Visited my buddy Johnny this evening. Been hearing about his dog for a while but I myself have never met it. Then I heard from the kids that the dog has a "special visitor"...


Johnny's dog is a beautiful black Cocker Spaniel. Her name is Biscuit. She is 1 1/2 yrs old.


The "special visitor" is a Pug. Name is Toa-Toa. He is a few months younger than Biscuit. Toa-Toa is special not just cuz it won the BEST LOOKING DOG category not too long ago(!!!)


Johnny told me they had been trying to mate this 2 dogs few months back but "sadly" Toa-Toa was too "young"! I heard they want to try AGAIN!


I was SHOCKED to hear that Johnny wants to mate his gorgeous Cocker Spaniel to this "ugly" Pug!!! But according to Johnny THERE IS such a breed! So I checked the internet and lo-n-behold, indeed there IS such a breed - Cocker Pug! Question now is, will it be black or brown?