Day +1291 : A night visit to Setia Alam

I am fine today.

Our church would like to plant a church in Setia Alam. We are now considering purchasing a shop lot for the new church. The price of the 3-storey shop lot increases sharply over the last couple of months. The one that is facing the road with a launching price of RM0.8million is now selling at RM1.5 million :-( To make matter worse, most shop owners are reluctant to sell due to high demand, leaving us without much choice.

We were very interested at one shop lot that is facing the main road with a selling price of RM1.5 million. However, we have second thought when we were told that there was a night market on the street in front of it every Saturday. We worried that it will incur inconvenient to church members should we gather on Saturday as the street will be blocked from vehicle access to give way to the night market.

In order to understand the real situation, we pay a visit to the place this evening. We were surprised to find out that the night market was so crowded. It is very long, stretching from one end of the street to the other.

Parking can be a problem on Saturday night and traffic jam is another problem. We encountered traffic jam on the way back. As the population in Setia alam continues to increase, we foresee this problem will become more apparent in future.

There were a total of 70 adult and children visiting the place - a visit with the most number of church members participating. Before visiting the night market, we had dinner first at a restaurant nearby.

The restaurant where we had dinner - one with the best business along the street
Car park almost full
Church members arriving
We booked 7 tables - RM120 nett each
The dishes





Enjoying the meal


Homemade jelly by Rev. Lau


The night market - one of the shop lots is the one that I talked about earlier

See you next post :-)

Day +1290 : A great reason to have morning walk

I am fine today.

We discovered a shortcut to Daniel’s school on his first day at secondary school. I mentioned about this on Day +1280 : A surprise – Daniel’s school is so near.

Since then, I accompanied him to school every day. The whole journey – going and returning – took about 15 minutes. It is extremely difficult for me to jog anymore due to lung problem but walking 15 minutes in the early morning is definitely not a problem to me. At least I manage to do some exercise now :-)

Daniel is strong but I am weak. He can walk very fast even though he has to carry a heavy school bag on his back. I certainly can’t walk as fast as he is should I carry the same bag :-(

I like to walk with him as this is the time that we can have some personal talk. In addition to exercise, the walk allow me to foster a better relationship with him :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1289 : Lunch at Shogun Japanese Buffet, Sunway Pyramid

I am fine today.

I had lunch with Rev. Lau and his family at Shogun Japanese Buffet, Sunway Pyramid. This was the first Japanese Buffet I had this year and also the first ever Japanese Buffet at Sunway Pyramid. I had it twice last year; one at 1 Utama Shopping Centre and the other one at Wisma UOA II, Jalan Pinang, KL.

So far, this Japanese Buffet remains the best buffet that I ever had. In fact, all of us enjoy the meal very much; so many varieties of food we can choose from. We started from 12:00pm and left at 3:00pm :-)

If you like to eat a lot, I highly recommend you to give it a try. They are still offering promotion currently. We paid RM37.1 each only after 25% discount :-)

Promotional leaflet. Click on any of the images to get a larger view.

Price list
Address and contact

See you next post :-)

Day +1288: “No gain, no gain”

I am fine today.

We went to Bintangor town one day during last holiday. Adriel and Aaron followed us and we purchased some toys for them.

When we were on the way back to kampong house, Aaron wanted to see again what toys were in the plastic bag that Adriel was holding.

“Can you let me see again?” asked Aaron, in a begging tone.

“No gain, no gain,” answered Adriel.

We were puzzled what “no gain” meant initially but based on Ariel’s reluctancy to let Aaron see the content of the plastic bag. We knew that “no gain” simply meant “not a gain” or in other words, “you cannot see again”.

There is in fact some logic behind this. The “a” in the word "again" means one. So again means one time. No gain means zero time – which means you cannot see :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1287 : “White hair keeps you cool”

I am fine today.

Joseph noticed that my wife has quite a lot of white hair.

“It is good to have white hair,” he told my wife.

“Why?” asked my wife, not knowing what was in his mind.

“White hair keeps you cool,” he reasoned :-)

There is scientific reason behind this; black surface absorbs heat and white surface reflects heat. Therefore, white hair should divert some heat away through reflection.

Yes, my wife is cool. And with the white hair, she is even cooler :-)

I always advise her not to take the trouble to dye her hair black whenever she asked me whether she should do so. The internal beauty of a person will not be boosted at all with black hair.

In fact, with white hair, she is more beautiful, cooler and truer :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1286 : “Who coughed?”

I am fine today.

While sending Adriel and Aaron to kindergarten one morning, I heard someone coughing at the back.

“Who coughed?” I asked.

“Me”

“Aaron?” I asked again, uncertain which one coughed.

“No”

“Adriel?” I asked again.

“Yes”

The conversation ended in a very short time and both the two children participated instantaneously. The one who answered “me” was Adriel and when I asked whether it was Aaron who coughed, he denied instantly by saying “no”. And lastly, Adriel ascertained that she was the one.

It is a great challenge to wake up Adriel and Aaron in the morning. They were always very sleepy and many times, Aaron refused to go to kindergarten due to sleepiness. I believe both of them were very sleepy in the car while the conversation took place.

One thing that delighted me very much was that they were very responsive even when they were so sleepy. Responsive children make parents happy. Similarly, responsive members in a team make others happy too.

I correspond quite a lot with church members and I am always happy and encouraged when I received a response from them, even though the response might be negative. For example, cell group members might say that they are not coming or unsure whether they are coming for cell group.

A simple response not only indicates we are responsible but we care too :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1285 : The car’s leather seat

I am fine today.

A reader of this blog wondered how the new Innova car seats would look like. So I am posting of few photos of the new seats today.

The total cost of replacing the original seat cover with half-leather was RM2500. I decided to have this replacement not because I wish the seats to be classy but to prevent water from infiltrating the seat. With a group of little children in the car, there is a big possibility of spilling water onto the seat of the car.

Someone told me that the seats look classy now but I really can’t appreciate this. To me, they look no different from the original one.

See you next post :-)

Day +1284 : Making yogurt

I am fine today.

We started to make yogurt again. The children like it very much. Of course, it is not the raw one but the one with honey and fruit added. In fact, this one is no different from the one from the market :-)

It is not difficult to make yogurt. Just purchase a carton of HL low cream milk and a cup of yogurt as raw material. Mix two table spoons of yogurt in the HL low cream milk, stir and leave it in the yogurt maker for six to nine hours, there you have fresh homemade yogurt :-) So easy, isn’t it?

If you don’t have yogurt maker, just leave the milk in a container for a longer period of time, it will eventually turn into yogurt too. Yogurt maker maintains a higher temperature than the room temperature to expedite fermentation. Without it, fermentation still will happen but at a slower pace.

Yogurt is a valuable healthy food for people of all ages. If you want to be healthy but don’t want to spend too much, make it yourself. I make yogurt at least once a week.

Raw materials - HL milk and yogurt
Mix two table spoons of yogurt in the milk
Stir well - not too vigorous
Leave it there for 6 to 9 hours to yogurt to form
See you next post :-)

Day +1283 : Nasi Lemak Promotion!

I am fine today.

Pastor Tan brought me to Restoran Kenari Tiga Tiga (K33) located at Jalan Kenari 17C for Nasi Lemak last Tuesday. The night business - Night Grill and Nasi Lemak - is opened daily from 6:00pm to 12:00am, and it serves Nasi Lemak and many varieties of delicacies including western food.

The promotional Fried Chicken Nasi Lemak set meal which cost RM6.90 only. It comes with a big piece of delicious fried chicken, fried shredded ginger, peanuts, anchovies, keropok, sambal, cucumber, fried potatoes and a fried egg. The set also comes with a big glass of coffee or milk tea.

The price of the Fried Chicken Nasi Lemak alone is RM7.90. Adding the RM2.00 coffee or milk tea, the total cost of the set meal is RM9.90. So RM6.90 is really a good buy :-) The rest of the promotional sets do not give saving as much as the Fried Chicken Nasi Lemak set.

I brought my wife to have the Nasi Lemak this evening while I tried the Hokkien Mee.

The Nasi Lemak is something that we recommend as it is not only cheap but delicious.

The restaurant
Promotional set meals
Nasi Lemak

Drink - Milk Tea and Shali Plum Juice
Hookien Mee
See you next post :-)

Day +1282 : My camera is having problem

I purchased a Canon Digital Ixus 870 IS camera on 14 March 2009. I wrote about it on Day +983 : A new camera.

After using the camera for about 10 months, it is having problem now. It always releases burning smell after a few flashes. Sometimes, I even noticed smoke rising near the flash lamp :-(

Fortunately, this camera is still under warranty. I sent it back to the shop where I purchased it from last week. I was quite surprised to be told that I would only be able to get it back in about two months time and should the faulty parts are not available, it could take more than two months to service :-(

When I complained about it, the sales guy told me that I should be lucky if I can get my camera back in two months time. Some brand of camera such as Olympus would take even more time to service and some of his customers waited for one year to get their camera back. Worst still, many customers had their camera back untouched or not serviced at all :-( If you are planning to get an Olympus camera, do have a second thought.

Knowing that I need a camera a lot, my brother, Richard, lent me his old Sony Cyber-shot; else you won’t see any photos on this blog for at least two months.

See you next post :-)

Day +1281 : Please pray for Pastor David

I am fine today.

I received the following comment from Tarnya, wife of Pastor David.

Thank you David for your blog. I have read many of your posts especially when you went through the transplant. My husband has leukemia and is due to have a transplant in March. We have a blog at http://davidburge.wordpress.com/

Pastor David was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He is undergoing chemotherapy and is due for a transplant in March.

Please visit his website at http://davidburge.wordpress.com/ and say a few words of encouragement.

To comment, click John 16:33 below the title David Burge Updates, and fill in your comment on the bottom of the page.

Thank you.

See you next post :-)

Day +1280 : A surprise – Daniel’s school is so near

I am fine today.

Daniel started his firs secondary schooling day at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Puchong Jaya (B) located at Jalan Tempua 3 yesterday. The application to transfer to a secondary school in Wawasan earlier was unsuccessful. We decided not to appeal.

I sent him to the school yesterday morning and on the way I told him to walk home after the school. The school is not far from my house and based on the route that I took by car in the morning, it would take about 15 minutes to walk home.

But Daniel told me that there was a shortcut to the school which shortened the distance significantly. I told him to follow the shortcut home in the afternoon but he failed to locate the shortcut which was accessible by foot only. So he took the longer route to come home.

I investigated with him in the evening and we managed to reach the school in 5 minutes by foot :-)

This means that I do not need to send him to school anymore :-) This shortcut is the answer to his transport problem – he is his own transport now :-)

Just need to pray for his safety as he needs to cross a busy road on the way to school.

See you next post :-)

Day +1279 : Follow-up – a blood test only

My Blood Count Today: - Readings in square bracket [] are result from previous test.
Red Blood Count (HB) = 148[146] (Normal 130-180)
Platelet = 200[265] (Normal 150-450)
White Blood Count (WBC) = 7.5[10.6] (Normal 4 - 11)
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) = 2.625[5.406] (Normal 1.5 - 8.0)

I am fine today.

I experience stinging needle pain all over the body for the past few days. Besides that, I am getting tired very easily.

In order to make sure that my blood is in order, I went to Columbia Asia Hospital for a blood test this morning. The result showed that my blood counts are normal :-)

In fact I planned to do the test yesterday but when I requested Dr. Koh to refer me to Columbia Asia for a full blood count, he warned me that there would be an extra charge of RM30 for any test that was done off office hour. So I waited until today.

“Why you need a full blood count?” he asked.

“Just to rule out a relapse,” I told him after explaining the pain that I experienced.

He checked my body temperature and said that it was very unlikely that there was a relapse, which I agreed. A Leukaemia patient might experience pain in bone or joints but in my case the pain was more on the skin.

Anyway, I just want to rule out the relapse totally or in other words – to spend a little bit of money to have peace of mind :-)

Now the total cost of the test– RM10 (Dr. Koh’s reference note) + RM22.5 (Lab charge) = RM32.5. Not too expensive, isn’t it?

See you next post :-)

Day +1278 : “Bagaimana sekarang (How now) ?”

I am fine today.

While I was sending a Hong Kong visitor and his family to the church after a lunch last Thursday, a traffic police stopped me. I was very clear why I was stopped – picking up a phone call while driving.

A traffic offence had been committed and I apologized up-front.

“Bagaimana sekarang? (How now?)” the police asked.

“A summon will cost you RM150,” he continued.

“I am a Christian, I can’t give you money,” I answered.

“However, we certainly can have a drink together should you wish to,” I continued.

Upon hearing this, he let me go without issuing a summon:-)

A traffic police who wish to receive bribes would always ask an offender to propose a solution instead of issuing summon straightaway. Be firm when you encounter this situation. Just tell them that you are a Christian and can’t give them money. And most of the time they will let you go :-)

But the best thing to do is – don’t commit any traffic offence.

See you next post :-)

Day +1277 : The Innova came last Thursday :-)

I am fine today.

The Toyota sales agent, who is also a church member, sent the new Innova to me last Thursday. Even though I told him that I was not in a hurry to have it, he insisted that I should have it for Christmas which fell on Friday :-)

The one who was most excited to have the vehicle was Aaron. We told him earlier that the new car would arrive on Thursday, he was so looking forward to have it.

“Is today Thursday?” he would ask many times in a day, looking at the clock, since then.

He told many people that his father is going to purchase a Innova after we told him about that. And he never missed to point to a Innova on the road while we were traveling and saying that this was the vehicle that we would have.

Aaron was addicted to car. He recognized more car model than me. When we were traveling, he would point to a vehicle and tell us what car was that.

No other toys apart from cars would attract his attention. He collected so many toys, of course at our expenses:-(

I changed the seat cover to leather. The contractor came to dismantle the seat on this Tuesday and fixed it back on Thursday. They managed to take out all seats and the door covers in 15 minutes only :-)

All of us are happy that we won't need to squeeze like a sardines in a tin anymore with the new car :-)

The old Proton Perdana that I was driving was returned to the company.

The car



Control panel - a simple one as I purchase the economic version which is 2.0E. This saved me RM8000 :-)
The contractor is dismantling the seats





15 minutes later...
See you next post :-)

Day +1276 : New Year Eve's Countdown Celebration

I am fine today.

My church organized the countdown last night. About 50 church members attended the event where we remembered the grace of God throughout the year. This doubled the total of number of attendees compared to last year.

Yesterday was the 1276th day of my post bone marrow transplant. I am so grateful that I am alive.

I am still counting the day that the Lord bestowed me and I will never cease to count. The more I count, the more I experience the goodness of God :-)

“You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; The valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing.” Psalm 65 : 11- 13

Attendees
Playing a game


Singing session



A message from Rev. Lau

My wife, Angela, is sharing

Countdown...

Wishing each other a Happy New Year

Kuih Angku made by Rev. Lau
Biscuits
The youngest member who had shared. His sharing put many of us to shame as he could memorize the whole apostle creed with ease.

See you next post :-)