Christmas Buffet Dinner at Quayside

Last night, I went for Christmas buffet dinner at the playground of Quayside Condo where tents were erected and tables with red and green table cloth were placed. There was Christmas turkey with mixed vegetables and gravy, chocolate log cake, fish fillet, nestum prawns, thick mushroom soup, desserts, fruits and ice-cream besides drinks, etc. to feed everyone with surplus for taking back home. Santa Claus was there to dish out red and green candy sticks and presents for the children. We were entertained for 2 hours with lively music of line dancing, rock and roll, Christmas carols, and the like. At 10pm sharp, the lucky draws were announced with 15 draws for the taking. The 4 of us has our numbers called out except they were all 10 units more. Apparently a family with the serial numbers must have been very lucky to get something each.

Merry Christmas 2016!

Christmas is drawing near and now it is the month of December - the time where you get your bonus and school holidays are here and you get more time to spend with your kids. Everywhere I go, it seems to be crowded and packed with cars. I would like to wish all my readers here a Very Merry Christmas in 2016 that is drawing to a close. It is time for season's greetings and merry-making. It is also a time to give and to receive. Let us celebrate Jesus' birth on 25th December who came as a Saviour to mankind and defeated the evil one, once and for all. The resurrection power on the cross gave us eternity in heaven when we are called to be with our Maker.

Christmas is less than a Month Away

It's that time of the year again where people go shopping, travel, take a short break with their families and just enjoy Christmas. I plan to travel but haven't decided yet within Malaysia. It is the time you get your bonuses to save up for retirement or just splurge a bit to pamper yourself like getting a new bag, go for that spa or facial massage, etc. At this time also, I normally get a Christmas gift from my youngest sister like a bottle of perfume or something. She is thoughtful and will spend buying and wrapping up Christmas gifts for her family and church friends. I don't follow this tradition but rather spend the time with my partner perhaps in Genting Highlands or go for a cruise to the high seas.

Reading Herald Magazines have Uplifted Me

My dad passed me several copies of the weekly Herald magazines, a publication by the Catholic Churches in Malaysia. It was edifying and uplifting for my weary soul, considering what had happened by attending my local baptist church. I like writings by Anil Netto on the second page of Herald. It is written in 3 languages - namely English, Bahasa and Mandarin. They are more organised compared to my baptist church who hardly or never produce any magazines but play politics like a spoilt child when they don't get their weekly RM 1k tithes from my partner because of non-attendance due to business or other reasons. At the moment, I am contributing RM 50 per month for a Catholic church building fund, passed through my dad while my partner contributes RM 200 monthly.

Such Audacity!

We did not go to church about 4 times and missed the wedding of one of the elders' son. So, in effect, the church did not get RM4k as tithes from my spouse who is far too generous for his own good to the point of politicking. How dare, they condemn people with mental illness instead of praying and giving edifying sermons. Now, they are quick to condemn like the Old Messianic Testament filled with Law and punishments. I had been contemplating for a long time to change to a Catholic church where the message is universal and similar around the world. And not specifically targeting some members who they think is a nuisance.

Skipped Church

I haven't been to church for the last 6 months due to pressures from the authorities to 'force' you to join small groups and singling you out for not wearing a name tag while others get off scot free. Just because my spouse is giving RM 1k per week, they think, they can lord over me for not giving so much or think that I am bad influence to his generosity. Hello, I was the first person to ask my spouse to give in the first place for some wisdom from God in his finances. But little do I know that he was a bankrupt but currently dishing out tithes like a multi-millionaire. All thanks to my innocence and lack of information!

Uber CPM

There is a new publishing company like Google Adsense and is a good alternative with many adverts on its banners placed at your sites. To join this network, click on http://ubercpm.com/index.php?rp=5377 where you can join immediately but never click on your own ads. It is good to leverage on your various blogs via this network should you be banned permanently from Adsense. I don't know how good the conversion rates are but you can withdraw via Paypal when you hit USD 10, unlike USD 100 for Adsense. Though it is lower income, but nevertheless, something is better than nothing at all, don't you agree? Don't be greedy and don't cheat. Honesty is the best policy!

Look for Job Online - MauKerja.my and RiceBowl.my

There are 2 websites that you can look for jobs online: They are maukerja.my and ricebowl.my. Maukerja.my is catered more to the English speaking and Malay speaking job seekers, while RiceBowl.my is more for Mandarin speaking community. They offer jobs in Paparich, SakaeSushi plus many other companies that seek staffs without degree at the minimum. Who knows, in my retirement years, I might just seek out such jobs that do not require using your brains like hard coding and the like. But at the moment, I am quite satisfied with my current job in a home office with EPF and SOCSO benefits.

By the way, uncle Ernie David's funeral wake was yesterday and the mass will be held at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. He's Nicol David's uncle. He passed on at the ripe old age of 82.

We have been together for 13 years

Even though we are not married, we have been a couple for 13 long years! It is a win-win partnership as we work together as a team in a small company travelling together by car and by plane shuttling back and forth between Penang and KL for business. Most of the ideas come from discussing in the car while he drives as he leads the company from strength to strength and victory to victory. We enjoy doing things together as a couple and as business partners. We also give each other room for personal space and do our own things to recharge and rejuvenate. I have accepted him as he is just as he has accepted me as I am. Two heads are better than one as they say. He loves to watch wrestling or WWE, NXT while I love to read books in my room and sometimes join him in watching Astro.

Dinner at Thai Food Cafe

A few doors away from Tan Jetty, is a popular Thai Food cafe hidden along a small road. Above is the ambience of the place where is it usually packed with diners, but don't worry, there will always be an empty table or two for the taking.

This is the chicken 'lorbak' or spring rolls with cut vegetables and chicken inside which were deep-fried to taste. The outer layer covering the ingredients was crispy.

Above is Chinese kale stir fried with oyster sauce and minced garlic. This is one of my favourite dishes.

These are the remnants of white tomyam soup. If you order the red tomyam soup, it is spicy with red oil floating on top which is the usual tomyam in any Thai restaurant. White tomyam does not have the red oil and you could request for less spiciness if they put less bird's eye green chilly.

The liquid is finished and you can see that they put lots of herbs and minced garlic with lemongrass and lemon leaves, etc. It is one of the signature dish not to be missed.

Here is fried meehoon with prawns and shallots (fried onions). The dishes are enough for 2 persons, where I dined last night with my partner. Thai food is popular amongst the locals for its unique spiciness and ingredients like lemongrass that is ubiquitous of the food.

If you come out from the small road into the main one and a few doors away is Tan Jetty, where you can find another gem; a different Thai food café with ‘kelong’ and a good seaview. But parking is limited to about 5 cars.

Read the book of Proverbs

I woke up at 4am this morning and switched on the lamp to read the Bible. There are 31 chapters of the book of Proverbs, 1 chapter for each day! It contains lots of pearls of wisdom and right believing which will lead to right living. I have always read Proverbs for a long time for its timeless wisdom that spans through the centuries and it is God-breathed word from heaven. For instance, it tells you to follow the habits of the ant, storing up food in summer for winter and a lazy hands will lead to poverty. Another, too much sleep also leads to poverty. And don't make companions of prostitutes, or you will squander away your wealth. It has short stories that we can easily relate to and identify to our daily lives. This is so that our lives will be smooth sailing guided by the Holy Spirit.

Skipped Church Today to Write

Today, I skipped church service and decided to write and do charity at the same time in the comfort of home. I found a blogging or rather writing opportunity online and had already written 9 articles for USD 5 per article of 250 words minimum and 3 photos. For charity, I will donate USD 1 per article to any establishment of my choice like Doctors without Borders, National Kidney Foundation, orphanages and other charities. My second sister in UK just ran 5km to raise funds for cancer research by getting herself muddy, having to climb ropes and slide down an inflated giant slide for the fun of it while doing some charitable work. She also used Facebook to raise the cancer research funds and managed to collect Great Britain Pounds of 300 together with her course mates.

Got paid by Eastasy

I have written 5 articles for Eastasy already and got paid by them. I have chosen 20% of the post of USD 5 to be donated to various charities like National Kidney Foundation, Doctors without Borders, and orphanages. It is doing a blogging social responsibility for a win-win basis for both writers and charities. You get paid while donating a portion of your earnings to the needy. You can write as and when you like and there must be a minimum of 150 words with 3 photos that do not infringe on the copy right. Sometimes, I submit 4 photos with at least 200 words for my article. It is based on food and drink, culture, travel, and more in Asian countries. Eastasy started in Singapore to serve the readers looking for traveling tips and the needy.