The settled- heart

today i was thinking to myself : " i am beginning to feel settled". On retrospect,  a lot of my emotions and views sprung from my unsettled heart. I was settling in my new marriage life, settling in my London church life, and settling in my job. Some people takes longer to settle and others sooner.

 

I am beginning to feel settled in my job when i accept what brother Soo Inn said that indeed this is life, the true reality of life, where not every task and job is exciting. I have accepted that, and also having that openness that life is full of potential and possibilties. Life is also an ongoing journey, not a dead end. Life is open ended. Two of my colleagues are leaving end of this month and i am the only remnant left in this exile. Others have asked me about how i felt and whether i was stressing myself being the only one in the squad. Surprisingly, i am calm. I will take it as it comes and do what i can.

 

This morning i read an article written by Soo Inn that confirmed the thoughts that came to my mind.

 

GRACE@WORK MAIL 46/07
[November 16, 2007 Edition]

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit . . . "
(Romans 14:17 TNIV)

Commentary: Football Highlights

I was in my mum's place in Penang over the weekend. Mum has cable TV
but she doesn't have the sports package so I couldn't catch the Reading -
Arsenal game on Monday. (Bernice and I are long time supporters of
Arsenal.) However we managed to catch the goals from that game on some
"Football Highlights" type programme. (Yes, Arsenal won 3 - 1!)

I suspect most football (soccer) fans are grateful for programmes like
"Football Highlights." In the space of an hour or so you see the highlights of
all the games played over any given weekend. Instead of having to sit
through hours and hours of football footage, much of which may be boring,
we get to see the most exciting moments.

This practice, of harvesting the most exciting bits of life to be packaged for
entertainment, happens all the time. Take shows like "Animal Planet" or
"National Geographic." In a one hour programme we see the most dramatic
moments in the life of the animal du jour. In truth the cameraman had to
cull those moments from numerous hours of film footage, much of which is
mundane and, well, boring.

Thomas De Zengotita describes what happens if we encounter real wolves in
the wild and they do not do the exciting things we see them do on TV nature
shows:

"The kids will start squirming in, like, five minutes; you'll probably need to
pretend you're not getting bored for a while longer. But if that little smudge
of canine out there in the distance continues to just loll around in the tall
grass, and you don't have a powerful tripod-supported telelens gizmo to play
with, you will get bored. You will begin to appreciate how much technology
and editing goes into making those nature shows on the 'Discovery
Channel.'"
(Mediated, New York: Bloomsbury, 2005, p.213 )

Unfortunately, this practice, of presenting life as packaged excitement, gives
a skewed view of life. Much of life is not crisis and/or miracle. (You don't get
a Bersih rally every day.) Much of life is just showing up and faithfully doing
what needs to be done. There are projects to be finished, diapers to be
changed, duties to be fulfilled. Some of us have the privilege of working at
things that draw on our passions but even then, few jobs give us a
continuous rush.

Similarly, we do not experience a spiritual high every other minute in our
walk with God. There are those moments when we have special encounters
with Him. But burning bushes are rare. Often, quiet time is a discipline that
we do because we love the Lord. (And sometimes done with the aid of coffee
so that it doesn't become too quiet.) Sometimes the heavens open during
corporate worship. Often, we discipline our hearts to look out for God when
sermons are not the most scintillating and the singing is flat. Walking with
God is not a thrill a minute.

Which brings me back to how life is presented in the media. Every day we
are exposed to shows that are emotionally engaging all the time. This is true
of the entertainment shows. Just look at the excitement level of popular
shows like "Lost" or "Heroes." But what is more insidious is that "serious"
programmes like the news or the educational shows are also packaged for
maximum excitement.

As a result of a constant diet of life served to us in this way, we begin to
expect that life must always be interesting and always exciting. And because
it often is not, we feel cheated and bored and are constantly on the look out
for our next excitement fix. Usually these fixes come from the world of
entertainment and from retail therapy.

A generation shaped thus by the media also expects the Christian life and
church life to be exciting 24/7. Some churches cater to this demand
and thus present the Christian life as one that promises excitement on tap.
As an unfortunate consequence God gets reduced to a divine entertainer
who is expected to keep things interesting for us at all times.

Not only is this idolatry of sorts, it makes us forget the real hungers of our
soul. Real life is communal and vocational. True joy comes from nurturing
our relationships with God and neighbour (Luke 10:25-28) and in giving
ourselves to the pursuit of our vocation (Ephesians 2:10). And not in being
constantly entertained. We need to look elsewhere for a better metaphor for
life.

A good friend just discovered that he is going to be a dad. Indeed this seems
to be the season for babies. A number of my good friends have recently
welcomed additions to their families. All of us who have walked the journey
of parenthood know that this is a long and hard journey. You can't reduce
this journey to just the "Kodak moments." In the early days, it is sleepily
moving from one feed to another, one diaper change to another. And as your
children get older, its dealing with the many creative evidences of original
sin.

But there is a certain joy that comes when you hold your flesh and blood in
your arms. (It's hard to explain. You have to be there.) And one day they
say "I love you dad" and go on to university and to the rest of their lives. Is
the journey of parenting always exciting? Duh? But it is joyful and it is right
and it is life.

Life is not a cabaret old chum. It is rooting ourselves in the Father love of
God. And giving ourselves in service to God and neighbour. And that is not
boring.

Your brother,
Soo-Inn Tan
E mail: sooinn@graceatwork.org

Workplace is my classroom

i strongly believe that God teaches me lesson and workplace is out of the classroom. I wouldn't say that my colleagues are the worst to work with. In fact, i am quite thankful that we are all quite nice and we get along with each other. One of the exception is a career woman, control freak and dominant woman. Trust me, she knows that.

I am learning the ways to talk and how to respond with you disagree. I hold on to the views that it's not right or wrong, it's just different perspective. Sometimes i have to give and take, although it may mean i am always the one who give in. I am learning to do that. Metaphorically speaking, I just can't be a dog who bite on the bone all the time.

Matthew 18: 21-35 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.


Also, as written by an actor of TVB, Steven ma, you just need to let go.... instead of trying to guess what's the motive and the heart's content of others..

真的沒法子, 拜讀唐君毅老師的作品已有好幾年, 可到現在,

還是沒辦法學會老師思路的那種透, 那種輕, 也許,

得要繼續好好自我提升提升一下!

記得老師在『人生之體驗』裡的毀譽之間中說過,

生命中常有很多來歴不明的讚美, 也有很多莫明奇妙的毀傷,

這些都不是我們可以控制的!

對了, 就是這個!

是與非?黑與白?對與錯? 到底由誰來分?

又有誰能定? 誰有權能去定?

一天二十四小時, 一年三百六十五天, 每天每年, 多少人與我們擦肩而過?

多少人與我們朝夕共對? 你是怎樣? 我是怎樣?

過程中誰欠了誰, 誰傷了誰,

又或是誰幫了誰, 誰又救了誰,

誰敢說自己最清楚? 最公正?

譽詞美話? 誹言謗語? 背後的原因, 潛藏的動機,

又是否真的源自事實?全是真相?

別誤會, 我這想法不是悲觀, 更不是準備妥協!

反而, 是更堅持, 不讓步!

人心? 多複雜, 多難猜啊?

與其要花心思去看透別人的心,

倒不如去學會如何釋放自己的心靈

How many bad news can you take?

I was informed this morning that one of the boy that attends our Sunday school, age 10, is diagnosed as having primary bone cancer, osteosarcoma.His treatment will involve chemotherapy, surgery, then more chemo. The duration will be for 6 months.

 

Thank God that his surgery will be minimal, only cutting out the cancerous section and as it hasn't spread as much, they won't have to take his leg out nor the whole leg bone out.

He should be able to recover with no permanent disability.

 

His nams is Chris and her mum is Shirley. Please pray for them, for courage, for faith, for peace, especially for a young boy like him, to face such challenge.

 

First it was my colleague's dad, oesophageal, in his 50s, then it was another friend of mine, in his twenties, now it's a boy in my sunday school age 10.

 

My heart aches.

 

Drama Review -King of Yesterday, TVB 2003

A friend of mine gave me a big bag of video tapes of TVB drama series recorded from Hong kong. Yes, those are antiques. I mean, how many would have VCR in their house, especially in london. I have verified that fact by asking a few. I am one of those people from those generation. Mainly because Albert has one.

Two weeks ago, albert and I needed some amusement and entertainment. So we watched King of Yesterday. More chinese synopsis from here.

清 朝 康 熙 帝 在 位 六 十 一 年 ， 統 治 期 間 文 冶 武 功 ， 史 稱 康 熙 盛 世 ， 又 因 皇 子 眾 多 ， 形 成 眾 皇 子 爭 奪 皇 位 繼 承 人 之 激 烈 場 面 。 康 熙 帝 四 子 胤 禛 ( 即 雍 正 ) ， 憑 著 其 堅 毅 性 格 、 處 事 果 斷 和 對 權 術 的 熟 諳 ， 終 在 九 子 奪 嫡 之 中 脫 穎 而 出 ， 於 康 熙 六 十 一 年 繼 位 ， 次 年 一 七 二 三 年 改 為 雍 正 元 年 ； 正 登 基 後 ， 深 謀 遠 慮 ， 欲 令 大 清 皇 朝 繼 往 開 來 ， 走 向 另 一 個 繁 榮 盛 世 。

雍 正 十 三 年 ， 八 爺 黨 策 劃 政 變 ， 欲 逼 宮 令 雍 正 退 位 ， 但 正 以 權 術 謀 略 破 解 眾 人 奸 計 ， 引 領 自 己 和 江 山 走 出 困 局 ； 唯 漢 女 呂 四 娘 仍 末 拋 卻 亡 國 之 恨 ， 誓 要 反 清 復 明 ， 怎 料 卻 在 行 刺 正 之 時 ， 風 雲 變 色 ， 二 人 被 捲 進 湖 中 黑 洞 ， 時 空 轉 移 下 ， 一 同 來 到 現 代 的 香 港 。

It's a story about a king from Qing Dynasty and a lady from opposition group who wanted to kill the king. They somehow got caught in a time capsule and transported into 21st century. There's where all the humour came in. Never even seen a car or a computer in their lives and in split second, everything has changed. The story went on about how they learn about the culture of those in 21st century and how the King used his wisdom in dealing with politics in a family-run business. A lot of wisdom from this words, his observation on human nature, behaviour and motives of their hearts and in his dealing with those politics and human heart.

He said although time has changed, but human nature and their motives haven't.

We both enjoyed it very much. It's definitely one of our favourite. A clear illustration of humanity, with its hunger for power, riches and fame. Sometimes in this process, has sacrificed relationships and love to gain those illusion.

The price to pay for freedom

Found this by chance. Guilty that i have been living my life in ignorance.

The real stories when media is not controlled by government :

Malaysian police have detained 245 people following protests calling for electoral changes in the largest political demonstration in almost a decade, a police spokesman has said.

They face charges and up to a year in jail if convicted for taking part in the illegal protest on Saturday, a police spokesman said.

more from here

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7088877.stm

Pure laziness

Following on from my entry yesterday on that whopping £300 for 50mls of cream. This morning, i commented my colleague from India, that her hair shines as it used to. There was a period of time where her hair looked dull, with all the dying for her white hair. She told me that she is using a shampoo with eggs in it. She bought it from India. True enough, her hair shines. I have asked her to buy me one from India.

 

Following that conversation, she told me that her cousin uses egg white on her face before she attends any occasion liks parties etc, and her face will glow.

 

Egg white tighten the pores and clean the skin.

 

I will apply egg white once a week from now on.

Congrats TS and TY!!!

My friend TS who celebrated his 29th birthday proposed to her gf, TS. AW.. so happy for them.  Details from Vagus,

 

Yesterday was a special day.

My Buddy turned 29. And he and his longtime girlfriend (to whom I shall refer as Buddi-ette) got engaged.

Yes, though I almost spoilt the surprise several times, he was able to keep things secret and popped the question without her expecting it. And true to her fierce loyalty and dedication to him, Buddiette said yes. Without any hesitation.

Yes, they have a long road ahead of them. Both oncologists, they know the odds are stacked high. But if there was anyone that were meant to be together, it has to be them. And if one ever needed an example of what true love and loyalty is, look no further. They have been together for 7 years; they will fight this battle together. With us right behind them.

Congratulations, guys!

 

 

I want to say thank you to TS and TY for showing me true love and commitment. In the midst of adversity, sticking by each other, supporting and walking with each other through the journey of life. Indeed, God's word is true in Romans 8

 

38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^{[ m]} neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord

 

The love that we show to each other on this earth is a glimpse of the eternal, unchangeable love of God for his children, through Christ.

Talk about expensive cream

Last Saturday, i was bored and i didn't want to do too much reading. The relaxing thing to do is to buy a mag with lots of pictures/photos. Since i am into make up lately and skin product, i bought VOGUE, the porsh fashion magazine. My friend tried hard to analysed what makes a famous model. We found that famous model are those who look alien. As my brother, a professional photographer explained to me, models are not meant to be beautiful. They are meant to be walking clothes hanger. The focus should not be the face, but the clothes or fabric that are on them. Good point. Second point is that famous model are volatile, they should be able to create the feel that the clothes or fabric that's meant to create.

The theme of that magazine is "Glamourous". According to the editor's definition, glamour is not about how expensive and what you wear, it's more about HOW you wear it.

As with most magazine, there's always some sample here and there. I found a very porsh sample card, black with gold letters, for Estee Lauder Re Nutriv creation set. I can only obtain the sample from Selfridges.Offer only for first 3000.

So, being desperate and kiasu, i went to Selfridges during my lunch hour. Fortunately, i got the sample, 7 mls for two , one for day time and one for night time. Being a pharmacist, of course, i read the ingredient. Here is a list of its expensive patented ingredients:

From science: calcium-optimising technology.
An unparalleled source of strength for your skin.

Powered by Padina--a unique sea plant that actually
grows its own protective, calcified shell--and other sea-sourced ingredients,
the Re-Creation formulas help the calcium in your skin perform its natural
age-fighting tasks with optimum results. This "Padina cocktail" helps restore
and maintain the natural protective- and barrier-strengthening capabilities of
your skin's own calcium.

From nature: micronised minerals.
Culled from the remote
islands of Okinawa, a micronised concentrate of over 74 vital trace minerals such as magnesium, zinc and selenium enriches the Re-Creation formulas.

Another extraordinary source of minerals was discovered in deep
sea water, sourced from approximately 2000 feet below sea level around
the Hawaiian Islands in what oceanographers call the "Zone of Regeneration."
With a unique level of purity and an amazing abundance of minerals, this
enriched water bears a striking resemblance to the mineral composition of the
human body. It is the correct mineralisation in young skin that encourages
natural collagen production and helps restore skin's appearance of vitality and
smooth, supple tone.

Re-Creation by day: Day Creme SPF 15
This silky day creme leaves a dewy finish that helps safeguard your skin with broad-spectrum UV protection and proven anti-oxidants.

An amazing lifted look is achieved with a select blend of ingredients
that helps your skin maintain the natural collagen and elastin support that
gives it strength and resilience.

Every day, skin looks and feels fresh and hydrated while it reclaims a
stunning translucency and a lifted, lineless look

So i tried on the sample. Albert said the cream smelled like green tea. To me, it smells very green and fresh.I told him about this deep sea water. He then explained that with the pressure in deep sea, it's precious. Once it's out in the air, the pressure is gone. It remains as normal tap water. Ha.

About those minerals, you can get it in the multivitamins and food right? So basically you are patting on minerals on your face. Correct?

More surprisingly, it costs a whopping £300 per 50mml. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? DUO pot, one for day and one for night cost £550!!!! Oh my goodness. Don't believe me? Check this out: http://www.esteelauder.co.uk/renutriv/recreation_search.tmpl

Anyway, after knowing the cost, i will treasure my sample more, take some before and after photos! Just another gimmick? I don't have the answer.

What are the chances ?

Is the world That small?

 

It has happened thrice to me now. First, i was browsing the net looking at some portfolios of a photographer in Malaysia. Then i saw a familiar face. Hang on a minute, the bridesgroom was my university mate, same class with me, when we were both studying pharmacy!

 

Secondly, this irony of life google search, again from the photos, realised he was my uni mate, a medic. Plus, he is a good friend of TY and TS in america. TY was my secondary school friend and TS was in my uni.

 

Thirdly, just few seconds ago, i was looking at some portfolios from another photographer in Malaysia. Wa la, the bridesgroom was my ex-uni mate. He was a medic, good friends with AW, who is a good friend of mine from secondary school.

 

This malaysian circle is scarily small small small, especially when you are in overseas!

You know You're Malaysian If .. by Vagus @http://doctorslife.blogspot.com/

I came across this blog when i typed irony of life in google one day. When i went into this blog, turned out this man is my senior back in international medical university days in KL. Our uni only had two streams, medic and pharmacy. I enjoyed reading his blog. I thought i'll share this with you, from his blog:

 

Being a smalltown boy, dating a Midwestern American girl is quite a cultural exchange. Though I've been away from home for almost 10 years now, I realize at heart I'll always be a Seremban boy. How you know you're Malaysian:

• You feel like you need to start with the most expensive food groups at a buffet. Salad, drinks are just a waste of precious stomach space.
• You save and re-used old wrapping paper.
• You don't feel comfortable if you don't wash your butt after taking a dump.
• You know of at least 10 ways to cook Maggi mee.
• Between satay and black Angus sirloin, you'd pick satay anyday.
• You eat every grain of rice on your plate, for fear that your spouse will suddenly sprout a healthy crop of pimples.
• You grew up hearing the "Don't you know kids are starving in Somalia/China/Ethiopia/etc" nag when you didn't finish your dinner.
• You use toilet paper as a cheap Kleenex substitute.
• You need to shower at least once a day.

Finding your Life Partner by Rabbi Dov Heller, M.A

Kindly shared by my friend, K

Life Partner

5 Golden Rules for Finding Your Life Partner

by Rabbi Dov Heller, M.A.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A relationship coach lays out his 5 golden rules for evaluating the prospects of long-term marital success.

 When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner, no one wants to make a mistake.  Yet, with a divorce rate of close to 50 percent, it appears that many are making serious mistakes in their approach to finding Mr./Ms.Right!  If you ask most couples who are engaged why they're getting married, they'll say: "We're in love."

 I believe is the #1 mistake people make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based on love.  Though this may sound not politically correct, there's a profound truth here.

 Love is not the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of a good marriage.  When the other ingredients are right, then the love will come.

 Let me say it again: You can't build a lifetime relationship on love alone.  You need a lot more.  Here are five questions you must ask yourself if you're serious about finding and keeping a life partner.

  QUESTION #1:

 Do we share a common life purpose?

 Why is this so important? Let me put it this way:  If you're married for 20 or 30 years, that's a long time to live with someone.  What do you plan to do with each other all that time?  Travel, eat and jog together?  You need to share something deeper and more meaningful.

You need a common life purpose.

 Two things can happen in a marriage.  You can grow together, or you can grow apart. 50 percent of the people out there are growing apart. To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of life bottom line-and marry someone who wants the same thing.

 QUESTION #2:

 Do I feel safe expressing my feelings and thoughts with this person?

 This question goes to the core of the quality of your relationship.

Feeling safe means you can communicate openly with this person.

The basis of having good communication is trust - i.e. trust that I won't get "punished" or hurt for expressing my honest thoughts and feelings. A colleague of mine defines an abusive person as someone with whom you feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings.

 Be honest with yourself on this one. Make sure you feel emotionally safe with the person you plan to marry.

QUESTION #3:

Is he/she a mensch?

A mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can you test?  Here are some suggestions. Do they work on personal growth on a regular basis?  Are they serious about improving themselves? A teacher of mine defines a good person as "someone who is always striving to be good and do the right thing."

So ask about your significant other: What do they do with their time? Is this person materialistic?  Usually a materialistic person is not someone whose top priority is character refinement.  There are essentially two types of people in the world: People who are dedicated to personal growth and people who are dedicated to seeking comfort. Someone whose goal in life is to be comfortable will put personal comfort ahead of doing the right thing.  You need to know that before walking down the aisle.

QUESTION #4:

How does he/she treat other people?

The one most important thing that makes any relationship work is the ability to give.  By giving, we mean the ability to give another person pleasure.

Ask: Is this someone who enjoys giving pleasure to others or are they wrapped up in themselves and self-absorbed?

To measure this, think about the following: How do they treat people whom they do not have to be nice to, such as a waiters, bus boy, taxi driver, etc. How do they treat parents and siblings? Do they have gratitude and appreciation?  If they don't have gratitude for the people who have given them everything, you cannot expect that they'll have gratitude for you --who can't do nearly as much for them!

Do they gossip and speak badly about others?  Someone who gossips cannot be someone who loves others.  You can be sure that someone who treats others poorly, will eventually treat you poorly as well.

QUESTION #5:

Is there anything I'm hoping to change about this person after we're married?

Too many people make the mistake of marrying someone with the intention of trying to "improve" them after they're married.  As a colleague of mine puts it, "You can probably expect someone to change after marriage ... for the worse!"

If you cannot fully accept this person the way they are now, then you are not ready to marry them.

In conclusion, dating doesn't have to be difficult and treacherous.

The key is to try leading a little more with your head and less with your heart.  It pays to be as objective as possible when you are dating, to be sure to ask questions that will help you get to the key issues.

Falling in love is a great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on your finger, you don't want to find yourself in trouble because you didn't do your homework.   

Extraodinary life : Dr Tami Fisk

I came across a poem written by her in one of the mission meeting. I later read about her from a website .  

 

Today, her poem came to my mind..

 

Denver native touched lives around the globe

Tami Fisk, MD, who died March 4 at age 39, knew she wanted to work overseas as a doctor from the time she was 10, and never lost sight of that goal. She grew up in Denver, but fulfilled her childhood dream to help those less fortunate on the other side of the world. She worked in Zambia, China, and Thailand as well as the United States before she succumbed to melanoma "back home" in Denver.....

....Dr. Fisk did go back to China in 1995 with Medical Services International (now MSI Professional Services), studying Mandarin in Chengdu before heading to Xichang in 1996. There, she worked at a local hospital and commuted to mountain towns in the region. Fisk conducted training for village health workers, and with coworkers held health fairs on village streets

.....Dr. Fisk returned to the US in 1998 for an Infectious Diseases fellowship at Emory. A few months later, she was diagnosed with melanoma. Tami underwent multiple chemo treatments while continuing her studies, then enrolled in a clinical trial at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. After only a few months, she went into remission and remained so for several years. Fisk spent half of each year in Thailand researching emerging infectious diseases, including AIDS and also SARS during the recent outbreak.   She spent the other half in year n Atlanta as an assistant professor at Emory Med School.  . Fisk kept up her Mandarin by having Chinese roommates and attending a Chinese fellowship and Bible study at her church. Her dream was to return to China in the future, but it was not to be.

Dr. Fisk spent her last days back in Centennial with her family, and many of her friends and family were able to visit her. She never lost faith, and everyone who met her came away encouraged. Her love for God and others were clearly evident to those around her, and people could see that she truly lived what she believed. Tami left behind a poem that sums up her thoughts at the end of her struggle with cancer:

Today I am healed.
Perhaps not the way you had hoped for, prayed for, waited for
But I'm in a glorious new body, free of pain, full of new strength
Free to run and dance in a place where God himself wipes my tears away
Immersed in a love, joy and peace that we have a mere taste of during our time on earth
In the presence of my God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves me more than His own life
Know that today I am healed

Such great faith and love in moments of physical illnesses. When i read my friend's guestbook, again and again, i realised that human beings are indeed a creature, who else can we look to, who else can we pray to, except to our Creator. Who can we turn to, except to the Creator who holds the key to life and every creation in this whole universe. Everything was created by him, in him and for him.

Thai food @Isarn, upper street,Islington, London

My indian colleague told me about Isarn when she went there with her friends. She said it's spicy and not westernised, despite its location at upper street.

I brought Albert there last night. The ambience was okay, but the chair wasn't comfortable. The chair wasn't cushioned.

We ordered jasmine tea. Nothing to shout about, you would think. But what i noticed was this: their tea pot was not only pleasant to the eye, but it managed to retain the heat. Normally, being a chinese, whenever we went to any chinese restaurant, the tea from the pot would be cold by the time you finish your meal. Surprisingly, not this time. We had our tea before the food arrived. When we finished our meal, i poured more tea into my cup and it was still warm!!

I told Albert i love the tea pot and would like to get one. Albert did compliment that the tea pot was nice to the waitress, but he didn't ask where did they get it from.

Tea pot aside, we ordered
1. Tom Yam Gong
2. Monkfish Green Curry
3. Beef Massaman Curry
4. Pad Thai with prawn

The tom yam gong was amazing! Spicy and sour, and the soup has the right intensity. You can taste the shrimp/seafood in the soup.They used galagal and lemon grass.

It's the BEST tom yam gong i had in London so far.Please note, so FAR. £5.50 Highly recommended if you crave for such hot and sour soup, especially in winter! Albert and I finished every single drop of that.

Green curry was highly recommended by my colleague. She had the vegetarian green curry and she said it ws good. My monkfish green curry was a bit disappointing, maybe because i had my expectation already. The green curry is spicy enough, they put enough chili and pepper, and creamy, lots of coconut. BUT, it doesn't have the curry taste. I can't taste the spices at all. Just coconut and spicy. Can't taste lemon grass, cumin, turmeric, coriander, shrimp paste, onioin, garlic.

Thank God i ordered massamam beef curry. The beef was tender and well marinated. Can taste the spices in the beef. The curry was great. Unlike the green curry, you can taste cumin. cinnamon, etc and other spices in the massaman. Full recipe and ingredients can be found here I like this.

Pad Thai was good when i had the first few bite. Later, Albert told me it tasted stale, something had gone bad. We then tried the dried tofu and yes it was the culprit. So it has ruined that pad thai. The pad thai goes very well with Massaman curry.

Speaking of pad thai, the best i have tried in London so far is Taste of Siam in Camden. Still my favourite so far.

All in all, it's not too bad. Two dishes worth trying is Tom yam Gong and Beef Massaman curry. Price is reasonable.

Our bill came to about £35 for both of us.

Overall: 6
Food: 6
Food Presentation: 6
Ambience: 5
Value for money:5
Recommendation : 6

What i learnt today: Push comes to shove

I first heard it at my work place here in London. I knew it was something push and shelf. But can never tell the exact idiom. I searched on push come to shelf, but in vain.

 

Finally, i found it : Push comes to shove

 

Meaning: If or when push comes to shove, the situation has become some bad that you are forced to do something: If push comes to shove, we'll just have to use our savings

Chinese wisdom in their chinese language character

I am having my second stage of puberty: spots and pimples on my face. I think mainly due to late nights and spicy food. Being vain, i am looking for some product to lighten the pimples prints on my face. I even bought this clearasil Spot treatment. My colleague told me she used it and ended up with more spots. Maybe it's just coincidental, i do have more spots after using that cream. This so -called association bias it not confirmed yet. So i didn't establish that. I just say maybe.

 

So i stopped using that cream. Then i remembered something: the white plastic bags full of white powder has been sitting in my drawer for years. Don't worry, it's not drugs. It's the powder that my grandmother made. She always put it on her face after her shower. I have seen it since i was young. That explains it. She is 80 years old and yet her face is definitely fairer than mine.

 

So i have started using it for the past 2 days. She made it from rice. Soaked the rice in water for some time, then sieve the rice. Obtain that water and dry it under the sun. Each time she uses it, she just add water to the solid, and it becames whitish liquid, and she apply it on the face.

 

Today i also googled on ancient powder using this search term: 古代水粉.

 

Guess what? Check out this explanation:

 

中国妇女使用妆粉至少在战国就开始了，最古老的妆粉有两种成分，一种是以米粉研碎制成，古粉字从米从分；另一种妆粉是将白铅化成糊状的面脂，俗称"胡粉.两种粉都是用来敷面，使皮肤保持光洁。关于米粉的制作方法，在《齐民要素》里有比较详细的记载，最原始的制粉方法，是用一个圆形的粉钵盛以米汁，使其沉淀，制成一种洁白粉腻的"粉英"，然后放在日中曝晒，晒干后的粉末即可用来妆面。由于这种制作方法简单，所以在民间广泛流传，直到唐宋时期，人们制作米粉，仍然采用这种方法.

 

That's the exactly what my grandma uses! Basically the above paragraph just talks about chinese women in ancient times , and how the different types of powder. One of them is from rice.

 

More interestingly, the chinese character 粉 has rice on the left: 米 and 分, means rice and separate respectively. So when you separate the liquid from the rice, dry it and then you get the powder.

 

I am intrigued. This is so wise! Chinese characters and their origin.