A Saturday With Friends II: Hangout In Tourist Spots In Melaka Town

Since I was already at Bandar Hilir, I met up with VC who was also somewhere there. I was not in the mood to spend another two hours sitting and watching a movie, or letting myself be tempted by clothes and shoes. So we decided to take a stroll in the open air.

We walked to the park next to A Famosa-Porta de Santiago and rested for awhile on a bench. There was a lonely fellow doing the same activity.

When I last came to the A Famosa area in 2008, I was Kimly's tour guide.

This time, VC was the one who told me the interesting story of this well with a cross in the middle, to which I had never paid attention previously.

We had a hobby in commun--gazing at trees.

Then we also had a topic in commun--birds and their nests.

VC suggested that we went up to St Paul's hill and asked me if I was OK to climb so many stairs.

Had he seen how I travelled between floors with my high-heeled shoes in my work place, he would have got the answer even before the question.

Several minutes later, I was already watching the panorama from the uphill.

The colour of the marroon stones of St Paul Church looked wonderful at dusk.

Both of us took turns to pose with the beautiful background.

We did not stay until dark to take pictures in front of the statue of St Francis like I had done with Kimly. Instead, we moved to our next destination--Hang Tuah mall area by Melaka river. The ferris wheel had become the landmark since a few years ago.

I used to take buses there when I first settled down in Melaka. Since the old bus station was shifted, the place was transformed into a recreational park.

Rock music played in a high volumn from a nearby restaurant could be heard, which I think did not match with the nice view and the river cruise.

While I was busy talking on the phone after I received a call, VC photographed the new wall painting which recounted the history of Melaka.

The drawings were well done. It was a pity that not many people passed by.

We wanted to see the musical fountain at Jalan Kee Ann but there was no sign of it to be operational. So I ended my Saturday accompanied by friends.

A Saturday With Friends I: Hi-Tea At Holiday Inn Melaka

Last Friday night, I talked to Siew Hong on the phone. She was holding some hi-tea vouchers of Holiday Inn. We planned to have a gathering together next month after her children's exams.

The next day she called me back at around 12.30pm.

"What are you doing?"

"I just finished my lunch."

"Really? Why did you eat so early? We went out with Mdm Tsong just now and the hawker centre we wanted to go was close. So we decided to have our meals at Holiday Inn with the vouchers. Come for the second round, then you don't take dinner tonight. Or at least for a drink..."

Sensing that I was not very keen on the impromptu invitation, Siew Hong passed the phone to Mdm Tsong who assured me that they were going to wait for me even though it would take me forty minutes to drive to Bandar Hilir.

Actually I already had the intention to hang out in town that afternoon. So I just tuned my mood to theirs, accepted the treat with a thankful heart, dressed up and set off. About an hour later, I was sitting at a dining table again.

The happiest persons among us were no doubt Siew Hong's three children who did not yet have to worry about the cholesterol or weight problems.

Even though I did not touch the main dishes at all and I only selectively took a portion of the side dishes I loved, namely cheese, sushi, popiah, satay, baked vegetables, pizza, chicken pie, etc, my plate was filled very fast. My hospitable stomach was very glad to receive these international guests...

The greater pleasure to me was of course our fellowship. Since I had first known Siew Hong and Mdm Tsong at Agape Care Centre last year, it was the first time that we three had an occasion to gather together outside for a long chat. While we were having our ladies' talk, the two young gentlemen led their little sister to go to the buffet room several times to bring us drinks, ice-cream and other sweeties.

After two hours, I finally stood up from my seat to get other types of desserts. When I brought back those colourful cakes to share, I realised that besides myself, none of them was very interested to have a bite, not even Siew Hong's children. I began to miss the Calvary Care Home boys who had a sweet tooth like me and who would have immediately grabbed the cakes which were a hundred times more attractive than those I baked.

That afternoon, we stayed until four o'clock. We were not the last guests to leave the hi-tea buffet but we had definitely spent the longest time eating and chatting there.

My following activity? Exercise!

Two Memorable Days For John This Year

This year, there were two memorable days for John. The first was when he declared to the world that he believed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.

Not having expected his turn to be so soon after the other Calvary Care Home (CCH) boys' water baptism, I was very glad with his willingness to take the step of faith.

Since then, he has been behaving as a more mature born-again Christian.

The second day he was to remember was the celebration of his physical birth as a baby sixteen years ago. I had noted the wrong date in my calendar. One week earlier, I already sent him my greeting and planned the celebration for the next day when I went to CCH to give him maths tuition. Last week, I still could only turn up on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

Did John mind whether we celebrated his birthday on the exact date or another? Just look at his face when we gathered to have dinner together and then sing a birthday song to him,

and when he was cutting the cake.

Having learned my "hard" lesson with Daniel's "volcanic" coconut cake, I thought I was smart enough this time to use a packet of chiffon cake ready flour which Ping had passed to me some time ago. All I had to do was to add in eggs, water and oil, then bake the batter. My lazy plan did not work out very well--Not only I had not stirred the mixture until fluffy enough, I had forgot to grease the pan before I put it in the oven. As a result, the bottom of the cake was torn when I removed it from the metal container. Rushing to work that morning, I neither spread the half-melted chocolate properly. I think Ping would be shaking her head again at the sight of my dry cake which she would never associate with chiffon...

In spite of my numerous disastrous experiences, I was always consoled when I saw my little supporters drooling in front of my products which would by no means pass any quality control. The greater comfort came when one of them requested a second piece. The older supporters simply opened their mouths, chewed and imagined it was a kind of rice-flour cake.

John, you won't forget these two days, will you?

Attending The "Battlefield Of The Mind" Classes

Having quit my life as a student several years ago, I never fancied being one again until the end of 2008 when I joined the MLM class which had been introduced to Melaka during the first half of the year.

As I only had little workload at the city campus then, I arranged my lessons there on Tuesdays so that I would go to the MLM class at City Community Church (CCC) from town instead of my house which was quite far. In early May, Ps Richard launched the "Battlefield Of The Mind (BOTM)" syllabus for the women and conducts the classes in a rented shop lot at Malim which is suitable for our more frequent gatherings to learn the Word of God.

Mrs Ee took the challenge to be the host in Melaka and kindly offered me to be her assistant. So I often sit at the reception desk. Ps Richard's teaching evoked memories of my secondary school language teachers who always made the lessons very lively. I remember he said to us during the first classes, "I'm the one teaching you not because I know the women well, but because I know the men well!" Most of my classmates are married women with children. So when Ps Richard gives humorous examples regarding couples' conflicts, etc, they seem to relate to their own situations and listen to him with a serious look,

while I usually burst into laughter at the back. Once I felt compelled to tell him, "Pastor, I can laugh so loudly because I don't have a husband! Anyway, I thank God that I attend your BOTM classes before I get married."

Recently, I realised that a wandering or a wondering mind is not in the normal condition. Since, I have been disciplining my wandering mind and started to believe rather than wonder.

According to Ps Richard, we are the only group in Malaysia who did not want any break between the part one and part two of the syllabus. I am not surprised at all as I myself look forward to going to every class so much that I reorganise my weekly activities and even my holiday plans so that I will not miss any session.

Women in Melaka, come and join us to learn to combat negative thoughts in our mind!

That Day, I Heard That Three Children Had Stomachache In School

That afternoon, I heard a boy say, "Every day, I have stomachache because I'm hungry." When I asked the two other boys who were in the same school if they experienced the same thing, they smilingly nodded. All this while, I had thought that they had something to eat during the recess time. I even saw one of them carrying a tiny packet of junk food when he was back from school. I had not realised that he might have "fasted" by no choice since early in the morning. My heart began to cry though my face did not express much.

While thinking of solutions, God's word came to my mind, "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:14-17, NKJV). Without hesitation, I obeyed Him to satisfy these children's immediate need.

I was planning to look for others to help solve the problem in a long-term basis. Yesterday morning while I was cutting grass, God spoke to me by recalling me the lessons I had learnt during the MLM classes, the supper sharing by Ps Richard Tuesday, my conversation with VC regarding the spiritual gifts, the book "The Hole In Our Gospel" I had read last year, the sermon I had heard from Rev Teo more than a year ago, Ps Susan Tang's testimony, etc. I answered Him, "Father God, if I claim that I love these children, I am not going to keep my money in the bank and ask others to feed them. Afterall, it's Your money and You're the Provider."

Once again, I thank the Lord for stirring my heart and reminding me that He is looking for an available man, not an able man.

Two Surgeons-Librarians In The Calvary Care Home Office

Sunday afternoons, when the Calvary Care Home (CCH) boys were having free activities in the compound, Albert P would spend some time in the office. Even though nowadays he only stepped into it once a week as the home administrator, he always made sure the documents within his eyesight were arranged neatly. Once he requested that I took a picture of him keeping the office so clean and tidy.

Two Sundays ago after I came back from the opening of Harap Learning Centre, I suggested to Albert that we checked if there were any donated items which the CCH boys no longer needed and with which we could perhaps bless the preschoolers from poor families at Bukit Baru who would be attending the centre. He agreed and let me start to look inside the drawers.

That afternoon, besides a considerable quantity of stationery, I also found clothes confiscated from the boys as a consequence of neglecting their personal belongings during Sis Fei Gin's term. Before I left, I put the clothes into different bags to either give away through Sis Annie or pass to Daniel whose size could fit into some.

Having discovered his assistant's additional "talent", Albert created new "office work" last Sunday--reorganising the shelves. As we began to move books and boxes, I realised that we not only had to get rid of unused items but also dust which was laying and flowing everywhere.

Not willing to inhale more dirty air in addition to the haze which was already quite present in this season, I said to Albert, "I think we need to put on masks!" He immediately responded, "There are some inside one of the drawers." Two minutes later, the two "librarians" had a surgeon's look.

I had never worn any face protection even when going out during the SARS outbreak or the bird flu pandemic. This time, I had to cover my face due to air pollution in an office!

When I walked to and fro between the kitchen and the office to wash and rinse the piece of cloth which I used to wipe the surface of the shelves and cupboards, no boys noticed me except for John who was having tuition in the dining room. He looked stunned when staring at my masked face.

While the home administrator kept throwing things which he judged useless, I kept picking up again many of them from the garbage bag to reuse or recycle later. I managed to secure a box of books.

After two hours' work, we were done with the first "surgery". All Shelves were clean and some were empty. Next time, we will "operate" the stationery drawers which are now in a mess.

Batu Pahat: Hutan Lipur

Four years ago, I often joined YT, who was preparing herself to climb Mount Kota Kinabalu, to walk up the stairs at Hutan Lipur when I was back to Batu Pahat on weekends. After her trip to Sabah, we still went there quite regularly. Later, the number of my returns to my hometown reduced and YT was busy with her family buisness. As a result, we hardly gathered for tea in town, let alone outing to the forest. Moreover, as she hurt her foot, we did not resume the activity since.

Recently, we talked about exercising again. Last weekend, we finally made up our mind to exercise again. Saturday morning, the sky was unusually hazy. I thought our outdoor programme might be cancelled. In the afternoon, the weather was much better. YT picked me and Mum, whom I had invited to come along. When we reached Soga Perdana, several cars were already parked there.

A few boys had cycled there. When I saw their bicycles, I began to miss the ones I had in the past.

As soon as I took out my camera, both Mum and YT said to me, "Don't take my pictures!" So, I photographed two cute monkeys instead.

Though I do not behave like a fish when I am in the water, I am like a deer when I see the forest.

Three of us actually climb steps quite a lot in our daily lives--YT in her double-storey shop lot, Mum in our double-storey house and I in my sixteen-level campus building. To avoid the crowd in the lifts before and after class hours, I always walk up or down the stairs, which cause my high-heeled shoes spoilt faster than my colleagues'.

It was a more pleasant experience to climb the stairs in the nature thanks to the fresh air, beautiful scenery and nice company. We passed by a petai (parkia speciosa) tree which was extremely tall. I told YT that petai is expensive probably because it is very difficult to get its beans which grow at such a hight.

Mum already breathed heavily during the first minutes. So she stopped at the first turning while YT and I continued our journey.

We two also U-turned at another turning, like we used to do. When we were about to make a same second trip, Mum received a call from Ping to inform us that we were to meet Leong's family at a restaurant by 6.30pm to celebrate Zer Yih's birthday. As a result, we had to leave earlier than planned.

Taking it as a warm-up, I was not too disappointed. My next target is to reach the top to see the panorama of Batu Pahat, a view which I had last known in December 2006.

Dinner At Daorae Korean BBQ Restaurant Melaka

Two Sundays ago, Albert P told me that Calvary Care Home (CCH) was going to be given a dinner treat at a Korean restaurant at Melaka Raya by the Rotary Club on Monday 11th October and I was also invited to go with the gang. Since last May, I had been looking forward to eating a la Korean again. How quickly God granted my wish!

According to the address given by the person in charge George, Daorae BBQ Restaurant is just across Carrefour of Dataran Pahlawan. Having passed by the place by car or on foot so many times, I was not aware of its existence. Albert also had no idea of its exact location. He almost wanted to rely on his GPS to trace it. Finally, a call to George led us to reach the destination on time by 6pm.

After the whole day of watching my students' videos with many scenes of them role-playing at eateries, it was nice to be my turn to relax at a restaurant in a real-life situation. I was given a very strategic seat.

Sitting between Albert, who was fit again before this dinner but needed to avoid spicy and oily food though he intended to eat a lot, and Luke, who was recovering from his lack of appetite due to fever earlier, I could easily have access to the two same sets of dishes served on my side and on the home administrator's side instead of crossing my chopsticks with theirs all the time.

Daniel who was right in front of me was sick. David who had long awaited that evening to open his stomach was far from me, which saved my trouble of competing with him to grab the food. I supposed Matthew who did not like Japanese cuisine was not going to appreciate Korean dishes either. John who was in the midst of exams and Paul who was under discipline were not joining us.

I must confess that my "happiness" there and then was being built on the "suffering" of other diners...

The variety of free flow banchan (steamed, marinated, or stir-fried vegetables or shredded squid usually seasoned with sesame oil, salt, vinegar, minced garlic, chopped green onions, dried chili peppers, and soy sauce, served as side dishes) to accompany round rice evoked my memory of those days when Mum and I were savouring the local specialities during our trip to South Korea.

At our table, there was a lady Dolly who had brought children and staff from Salvation Army, the other organization blessed with the same meal. She had already been to this restaurant on her own a few times and seemed to be a Korean food lover too. She could tell whether the taste was authentic or had been modified to suit Malaysians' tongues.

That evening, what I cared most was whether the taste suited the CCH gang's tongues, especially my gluttonous "son" who was the best representative. Unfortunately, David was less interested in pajeon (Korean pancake) than our Malaysian roti cheese.

The CEO of Daorae Restaurant wearing spectacles and a white shirt appeared to give a simple speech in a friendly way. He told us that they had prepared typical South Korean party food for us because our gathering was like a party.

It was a pity that there was no karaoke session during the "party". Otherwise, we could have requested the CCH administrator, who was invited to pose together with Dolly, the A Famosa Club members and the management of the restaurant, to present one or two songs to entertain us.

Anyway, Albert's singing might not have energised Daniel who was still down with fever. This boy rather closed his eyes to listen to his own sipping of seaweed soup.

He loved it so much that he asked the waiter to bring him two, three extra servings. Had there been any seaweed soup drinking competition, he would have surely won!

When we came out from the restaurant, it was already dark. After the tasty meal, the two homes were blessed with boxes of Korean snacks, sweeties and instant noodles.

Now I know where to look for it when I miss Korean food again.