I've developed a taste for ramen and I'm still looking for the best ramen in town. Any recommendations?

I like the ones in Kissaten IOI Boulevard Puchong but they are quite pricey at RM25 a bowl.

I was in Sunway Pyramid today. I go to that place so often I take the usual route walking around the mall. I took a slightly different route today and found Ichiban Ramen in good time for lunch. I ordered the Smoked Duck Ramen and even though it does not come with the usual ingredients, it is good.



If you want to develop a liking for ramen, I suggest you watch the movie The Ramen Girl. It's not really that good a movie but the part when they cried eating ramen is priceless.

pearlie

I missed cell group last week because I fell sick and so I missed the first portion of the studying of Matthew 17:13-20.

When we got to verse 17-19, it got a few of us a bit worried.

"So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

None of us if any, would ever meet these criteria, we thought, and what about it not being a gospel of works but grace? The verses are clear in that good trees will only bear good fruits, not bad fruits and we know that we sometimes do bear imperfect fruits. We are then destined to the fire?

In the midst of the discussion, I opened up my TNT commentary on Matthew by RT France in my iPad (this is the very reason going ebook make sense!) and France addressed v.16-18 together, which made me realize a very important point and with that I shared it with the group.

We must read these verses in context. Matt 7:15-20 is about false prophets and Jesus gave the criteria to recognise false prophets, in that they are the ones who bear bad fruits, never good ones.

"Thus you will recognise them by their fruits." (v.20)

This brought understanding to all of us as we can now reconcile these verses to the gospel as we know it.

The lesson here is to always read Scripture in context.

pearlie

I have a problem I need to solve but I do not know how.

I go for a daily one-hour workout in the gym before I go to work in a gym a few floors below my office. It is very convenient and the timing is perfect.

However, by the time I step out of the gym, walk to the lift and get to office, I will be drenched in sweat.

I have been showering in cold or tepid water and not hot water. I thought since the reason we sweat is because it helps cool the body down and get rid of excess body heat, I help cool it down further with cold water, and so why do I immediately start to sweat again when I walk out of the shower stall?

I fell sick last week and took a break from gym but when I felt slightly better I was back exercising. This time I took hot showers and I felt cooler when I complete my shower. I tried it again today taking a real hot one but I was back to sweating like crazy on my way to the office.

So what gives?

pearlie

Pastor Marvin often bring up books that are relevant to the points he makes in his sermon; some books I have read, some I am not so interested in, some tough ones I know I will get lost in and some really interesting ones.

My reading spurt stopped about three weeks ago and I could not find any book that is good enough to keep my attention, until when he talked about an autobiography written by Andre Agassi. It caught my attention.

I was struggling today on what to post here today so as to keep up with my daily blogging. I have had a long break from daily blogging since 2009 and resuming it now in 2014, it is taking me a whole lot of discipline to keep to a daily knowing full well that the moment I miss a day, I will never come back to a daily.

I feel that I am not thinking or mulling as much as before. What does it signify? It could mean that I have resolved most of the outstanding matters in my mind, which means it is time now to expand and look for other areas to learn and think about, except that there are fewer things that concerns me now, and much of what comes to mind are trivial and petty - not worth thinking and blogging, and yet these are the things that somewhat mark my days and they end up in my blog.

I am revisiting the reason I blog and realized it has not changed from when I noted it down on April 8, 2008. Here were my reasons and they remain the same to this day.

One additional reason is that it will certainly become a snapshot of my life over the years. And I plan to continue to keep it a daily until there are no more days in my life, God willing.

So, sometimes there will be interesting and relevant things and sometimes there will be unimportant and frivolous stuff. But that is who I am, bits and parts of what makes me me, whilst I strive to imitate Christ in this life he has given me.

pearlie

Browsing the bookstore is never the same again. I went to Borders today but I didn't feel as excited or as expectant as before.

The pleasure has sadly diminished.

This is because I now find it more helpful browsing Amazon.com and Kobobooks.com. The moment I need a book, I check it out in Amazon and if I see what I like, I will pop into Kobo to see if they carry the title. If they do, I will purchase the e-book and if they don't, I will wish-list it in Amazon.

But back to bookstores, my CG friend sent me this photo some weeks back and I love it!



It is found in the UK Waterstones bookstores and here are a few more brilliant ones.







And this is my favourite. It's absolute brilliant copywriting.


Anyway, I saw some interesting titles in Borders and if I were still a print book devotee, I would have purchased this book. A good title and an excellent cover.


The Kingdom of Infinite Space: A Fantastical Journey Around Your Head
by Raymond Tallis

Too bad it is not available in Kobo. Soon, I hope.

pearlie

Pastor Marvin's sermon this morning was on 1 Cor 12:1-11, entitled "It takes the Spirit to build a church", broken into 4 points:
1. Spiritual gifts do not guarantee spiritual truths (v.1-3)
2. Every Christian has at least one spiritual gift (v.4-11)
3. Spiritual gifts are given for the sake of other people (v.7)
4. Every Christian's gift are determined by God (v.4-11)

Point 1
We must not confuse ourselves on gifts and truths, because great spiritual gifts evident in a church may or may not make a great church. A case in point is the church in Corinth. Paul talked a lot about its many spiritual gifts but it had many serious problems.

Point 2
Every Christian has at least one gift - not one is without. The list of gifts as laid out by Paul (1 Cor 12:8-10; Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11) is not extensive. As such there can be more than what Paul mentioned. Moreover, the gifts that we have may not have to be spectacular. Amongst the more mundane ones Paul listed are like giving, service, acts of mercy and administration.

Point 3
All our gifts are for the common good and not for personal benefit. These gifts are tools that are given to us so that the church can be built. We need to always ask ourselves if we are indeed playing our part in the church, and not blaming the pastor or church leaders when things are not happening, or when things go wrong.

Point 4
We do not choose our gift, it is God who determines it. But we need to pray and ask God for it, and whilst waiting, we take opportunties to serve and in doing so may discover our gifts. And when we discover them, we are to hone it to perfection.

pearlie

The world is getting weirder. I took a photo of a photo so I can post it here!

And the world is ever so small. I met my former church friend who happens to be my good friend's neighbour.

And it was my good friend's wedding dinner.

It was a lovely bersanding ceremony and I wish Fatin and Nadzri the best and a great life together as husband and wife!

pearlie

I was searching for verses in Proverbs on fools and foolish talk when I found this:

Proverbs 26:17-19
17 Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
19 is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I am only joking!"

I am interested only in v.19. This is because I used to have this person who always does that and it irritated me to bits.

He will usually talk to me condescendingly or disparagingly. When I give him a distasteful look, he realizes he said something he shouldn't have. He does not apologise but conveniently excuse himself by saying, "I'm only joking."

I used to get so mad and thought of him as someone who is not gracious enough to admit wrong. Worse, he laughed it off irresponsibly as a joke.

That was many years ago, and reading these verses brought back those memories. Forgive and move on, I know. Just that it is interesting that it is in the bible.

Now I can use it! Though I don't see him anymore. But good to know.

pearlie

pearlie
Photo source: SheKnows

I attended a training session today and thought about the different learning styles we all have. The most commonly talked about styles are the 4 learning styles of visual, auditory, read-write and kinesthetic or tactile.

But I don't see myself as any of the four.

What I find more relevant is the different learning styles according to the dichotomies of the 16-types, i.e. extraverted-introverted, sensing-intuition, thinking-feeling and judging-perceiving. It seems like the four learning styles above are all the Sensing kind.

Here is a good write-up of the different learning styles from wnc.edu.

Their description of my learning style is so darn accurate for an INFP:

- learn best through quiet, mental reflection. Attention will naturally flow inward to own thoughts, ideas and impressions.

- enjoy reading, lectures, and written over oral work. Prefer to work independently, do well at verbal reasoning, and need time for internal processing. Enjoy listening to others talk about a topic while privately processing the information.

- may encounter difficulty with instructors who speak quickly without allowing time for mental processing. Often uncomfortable in discussion groups, may find it difficult to remember names, and hesitate to speak up in class.

- excel when can work independently with own thoughts, through listening, observing, reading, writing, and independent lab work.

- need sufficient time to complete work and to think before answering a question. Need instructors to allow a moment of silence, if necessary, for this thought process and to process experiences at own pace. More comfortable if not required to speak in class but are allowed to voluntarily contribute.

- want to know the theory before deciding that facts are important, focusing on general concepts more than details and practical matters. Quickly see associations and meanings, relying more on insight than observation.

- creative, innovative and work with bursts of energy. Desire only a general outline, and enjoy new material. Best with tasks that appeal to intellectual interests and call for grasping general concepts, seeing relationships, and using imagination. Can remember specifics when they relate to a pattern.

- always ask "why" before anything else. Want to clarify ideas and theories before putting them into practice.

- when a concept or skill is understood, may find continued repetition or practice boring. Might become frustrated with instructors who pace the material too slowly for them. Tend to anticipate a speaker's words, which sometimes results in not really hearing what is being said.

- thrive when they have opportunities to be inventive and original and to find ways to solve problems. Do well with opportunities for self-instruction, both individually and with a group.

- look for a personal connection in classroom material, seeking to relate ideas and concepts to personal experiences.

- enjoy working in groups as long as individual relationships develop. Learn well by helping others and responding to needs. Study well with others.

- do best with topics of study cared about and might have difficulty with topics that do not relate to people or relationships. Need to develop a personal rapport with the instructor and receive feedback and encouragement. May have difficulty with instructors who appear impersonal or detached.

- work harder when personal relationships are developed with instructors and other students. Need specific, positive feedback with corrective instructions from instructors, and want instructors to also show appreciation for students. Understand best when they can see the relationship of the material to people and/or human values.

- start many tasks, want to know everything about each task, and often find it difficult to complete them. Work in flexible ways, following impulses.

- stimulated by the new and different. Study best when surges of impulsive energy comes.

- good at informal problem solving and adept at managing arising problems.

- biggest problem is procrastination. May make a calendar of things to do but often won't follow it. Feel energized by last-minute pressures and often do best work under pressure.

- need to find novel ways to do routine assignments to increase interest. Thrive on spontaneity and don't mind surprises.

- like some choices in aspects of assignments. Work best when the reasons for assignments are understood and when assignments make sense.

-enjoy variety and spontaneity.

pearlie

Today is quite an eventful day. A bit too eventful in fact.

Firstly, I performed my first facilitation duty here in this company, and it was a good one. I have done facilitation of training and workshop sessions quite often, but it has been awhile. So, I rather enjoyed myself doing it for the morning half of the day.

Secondly, in my rush to get to the workshop this morning, I dropped my gym card. I had too many things in my hands. I was trying to get something out but my gym card flew out of my hands. The lift doors were ajar. It flew up, dropped down, fit itself perfectly in the gap, and fell right into the lift shaft. There it goes, and I had to get a replacement card.

Thirdly, there was much to do to get ready for a training session in the next three days, as well as to cover for the three days I will not be in the office.

Finally, on the way back from work, I used the route that I usually take, and missed the turn I told myself never, never, never to miss, because there will be no turning back. I missed it today, and took a extremely long way back home -- more than 50 km of detour that is.

I am certainly glad the day is over, but I am nevertheless thankful to God -- it was still a good day, but what a day!

pearlie

My reading today was from Exodus 4:10-17, where Moses was arguing with God about his incapabilities and asked God to send someone else.

The lesson here is for us to trust in God. When he calls us in spite of our inferiorities, we obey because in the end we respond to God for his glory.

I am then wondering about the other side of the coin. What if we are good in the area serve God in, but is plagued by pride instead?

Pride is a struggle for me. I am not excellent in what I do, but I do believe I do a fair job most of the time. I do feel proud of my capabilities sometimes, and feel utterly guilty about it and often seek God for his forgiveness.

When Moses told God that he is not eloquent and not able to speak for Him, God responded by saying, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?"

It is all for God's glory.

Would I then we able to divert my thoughts from myself (pride) to God (His glory)? I have often thought of removing myself from service, because I find it so hard to battle the pride that comes most of the time uninvitingly.

But I am willing to serve Him and I am good in what I do. So what I will try doing now to praise and honour him everytime I catch myself wallowing in pride. Will still be tough, but I will see what difference it will make.

All glory be to God, our Father, alone.

pearlie

Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen

I have always wanted to read a Jane Austen book, but I never did.

I finally started on one and it begins well for a good read and I look forward to digging in.

I started on it because a good friend of mine kept talking about a Mr Darcy and I also watched the Austenland movie over the week. With ao many references to Mr Darcy, I might as well go find out who he is all about, albeit a fictional character.

Let me see how long it will take for me to finish reading Pride and Prejudice and what will my review of the book be?

pearlie

Have you ever embarrassed yourself by arriving at a wedding dinner a week ahead of time?

It happened at ours 20 years ago when a husband-and-wife friends of our family arrived at the dinner venue a week early and we happened to be there for a food tasting session. It was quite embarrassing.

Naturally we offered them seats at the table. Naturally they declined and left very quickly.

It was our turn to do the same this very evening!

The only consolation was that there weren't anyone we know to witness our boo-boo. We quickly scrambled away and pretend to be none the wiser.

pearlie

It is a Friday, and as most of my Fridays are, I'd be exhausted after a long week. This day though is quite a pensive one, although I am quite busy tackling one matter after another.

There aren't any big things that fill my mind, nothing big or substantial. It's the little, little thoughts that I have that do not really amount to much but yet I feel quite complete.

I suppose A.A. Milne said it best:


pearlie

Working in an operation environment -- compared to consulting -- can be more tiring, unless of course if you are in a consulting project with crazy demands and hours.

I remembered when I was back in a generalist role in a legal firm, I came home every evening almost zombified, and all I could do is to sit in front of the TV for some mindless shows to keep my mind off work and to de-stress myself.

It is not so bad now, as I am not in a generalist position but holding a more specific role, but I am still more tired than usual. Maybe it is because when I was in consulting, my work was more focused. Now in operations, I have to manage several different things all at one time.

But I have been enjoying myself, all thanks and praise to the Heavenly Father. There has been several good accomplishments, albeit small ones, and there are a few good things to look forward to.

Thank you, Abba.

pearlie

I've been watching this series lately and found it quite entertaining. It's interesting to note that although the police officer protagonist's android partner is one who is "almost human" -- he has a synthetic soul, imagine that -- it is the police officer whose history in the police force that has made him "almost human" himself.

Too bad the series has not been renewed for the second season.

pearlie

It was a very pleasant day today. We had the day off being a public holiday, and we drove up to Ijok for lunch today. Weird name for a town and a bit farther than usual for a meal but it was a nice drive and a good seafood lunch.

I was told that the beggar chicken dish is very popular here but I didn't feel like having chicken today. I will certainly try this out the next time I'm there:




pearlie
Photo source: Ah Lian Ah Beng

I have been asked about my favourite comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes, today. It has been a long, long while since I've checked it out.

She asked me what personality would I be looking at if I refer to Calvin. I told her, "Definitely obnoxious, intellectual, creative, precocious and mischievous. Has an absolutely sophisticated vocabulary and a philosophical mind."

Just these few strips below will tell you how brilliant Bill Watterson is.


Too late for me.


* yea...speechless...


This is plain hilarious. Look at his mom.


I love the snowmen strips. What imagination.


Awww. You squeeze my tears out.

That does it, I'm going to dig out my comic books and dig in.

pearlie

Chris Abner spoke to us in church today with a sermon entitled The Gospel and Motherhood. He opened with the above video, which I have come across before but not watched. It brought tears me my eyes, and mom, Happy Mother's Day - I love you!

The main message of his sermon this morning will be something I will put close to my heart. It is a fact that all mothers are plagued with guilt. All. The. Time.

The only way out is to cling to the Gospel of Christ. His grace, his salvation, his providence, his mercy.

Chris quoted a mom, the source of which I think is from here by Julie Coleman.

When you are a mother, guilt is a state of being...(but) when Jesus suffered and died on the cross, the Heavenly Judge banged the gavel, and those who believed were set free. One man's act condemned us. The other One's act paid our debt in full. So technically, we are not guilty any more, at least in God's sight. Yet we do often continue carrying the often crushing weight of guilt around on our shoulders...one of the many benefits to our salvation is the fact the Holy Spirit resides within us as a guarantee of our salvation. He does more than inhabit us. He guides us and teaches us...yet still we may hold tight to the guilt, refusing to forgive ourselves...once we have confessed the sin, we must place the guilt in God's capable hands and walk away. Jesus' shoulders are big enough to bear our guilt. And His sacrifice was big enough to pay the price for that sin.Be wise enough to see the difference between conviction and guilt. Let the forgiveness that has been so freely given us wash over you. Bask in the grace of God. Because you are free."

Bask in the grace of God, my
fellow mothers. Happy Mother's Day!

pearlie

I was not sure how my life - family, faith and work - would be like this year with the uncertainties that I had at the beginning of the year, that I was afraid to commit to much.

I don't crave for excitement (though I must say I love roller coaster rides!) and life as God has granted me for now has settled to a pace I'm quite comfortable with, though I recognise that this is a respite before he continues to test and buils me in perseverance, character and hope (Romans 5:3-5).

For indeed, "...the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." (Heb 12:6)

God is good, even when times are bad.

pearlie

When in first joined the gym, I was instructed by my personal trainer to cut down on my meal portion intake. But I asked him, how about snacks? I can sometimes get really hungry at work. He said to munch on nuts.

And so I got myself some roasted almonds, my favourite.

But one day, I saw and bought a bag of roasted almonds with dried cranberries. It was a delightful combination - crunchy aromatic almonds with sweet tangy cranberries.

But soon I was mixing it myself, since I can't find it in the other supermarkets I went. Much cheaper and just as yummy!

pearlie
Photo source: AllisonKnott, MS, RD

Our office was recently renovated and so our department moved into our new place today. Long story short, I moved from a "semi-detached" cubicle to a "terraced" desk.

Not very pleased but life goes on. C'est la vie.

pearlie

On the roof the window pane
The rain it beats
Rain of the night
The darkness comes
The eagle the dove
Entrapped and drowned
Beneath the watery bane

Stars no more in sight
Torrential rain
Drowned its call
The voice we hear instead
The darkness
Loud and jarring
Declaring its might

Whatever it said
Short-lived
An empty vessel
Proud and baseless
Nothing but
Just rain of the night
Soon will be dead

But the morning star
Always there
Ever shining
Bright eternal
The eagle the dove
Fly fly free
The day is here
It is not far

All rights reserved © 2014 Pearlie Ng

I have quite interesting weekday mornings these days when I get ready for work in the changing room after my gym workout. I don't personally know any of the ladies who frequent the gym the same time I do, and so I don't talk to them. But a few of them will be chatting away - about cakes, shopping, sales and mostly, traveling.

It's hard not to eavesdrop. The changing room is smallish in size and they speak quite loud. I even found out that one of them is planning a trip to North Korea. Now, that I find interesting.

This made me think how different I am from most people I encounter. I don't travel much. I would love to but I don't think that it is worth spending the money on during this point of my life. I suppose it all boils down to life priorities and traveling isn't very high on my list at the moment. What I would spend thousands on are books definitely, and I'm sure these ladies will say that I am just nuts.

pearlie
Photo source: Quest Gym

Exodus, Saved for God's Glory
by Philip Grahm Ryken

I am still using this commentary series as my devotional material. I have completed the ones on Ecclesiastes, Genesis and Hebrews. I started on the Exodus one last year but stopped half-way to read up on Hebrews instead.

Today, I am re-starting on Exodus. The challenge with this Exodus commentary is that it has 1248 pages in print! It has 102 chapters and each chapter is from 10 to 15 pages. In short, it is very long. I only hope I can manage to read, meditate and pray on a chapter a day.

If I were to be faithfully doing that, I should complete it on 30 September 2014. Let's see if I can meet that goal.

Exodus is an amazing book in the bible. Ryken says, "Exodus is an epic tale of fire, sand, wind, and water...almost every scene is a masterpiece...once heard, the story is never forgotten...for Jews it is the story that defines their very existence, the rescue that made them God's people."

And note this, Ryken continues to say, "For Christians it is the gospel of the Old Testament, God’s first great act of redemption. We return to the exodus again and again, sensing that somehow it holds significance for the entire human race. It is the story that gives every captive the hope of freedom."

And with that I look forward to every morning spending time with God, in his wonderful glory, through the book of Exodus.

pearlie

I learnt something interesting today. Pastor Marvin was preaching on the Holy Spirit being the one who reveals the Word of God to us and he opened his sermon with reference to the Rosetta Stone.

I have heard of it before but I've never found out anymore beyond that.

I've always thought that hieroglyphs are pictorial in nature, something like the Chinese language, only to learn today that it is actually a language of "combined logographic and alphabetic elements". The "hieroglyphic signs are phonetic in nature, meaning the sign is read independent of its visual characteristics."

Apparently, that was only discovered not long ago in 1822 with the help of the Rosetta Stone. The stone has three sections of the same content in three languages - the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek. It took Jean-François Champollion 20 years to transliterate the Egyptian scripts, based on the other two scripts.

And with that, "the term Rosetta stone has been used idiomatically to represent a crucial key to the process of decryption of encoded information, especially when a small but representative sample is recognized as the clue to understanding a larger whole."

And that's where I've first heard of it, i.e. being idiomatically used.

pearlie
Source: Wikipedia

Today is a good Saturday. I did not waste time playing iPhone/iPad games (which was exactly what I did two days ago playing FarmVille 2, which I have since deleted) or watched TV, the whole day.

I spent my day reading. It is a good reading day.

This nicely described my day, except for the tea part. Wish I had it too.


No, really.


Yes, and this too...I plan to read in through the night. Though I need to find a new good book to dig into. I've just completed all of the two books I was on.


pearlie

We had bible study on Matthew 6:19-34 this evening during CG and the verses that caught my attention were these two:

22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (ESV)

It may seem unusual in our modern understanding for these two verses to appear in a passage about not laying treasure on earth but in heaven, and not serving two masters but one.

However, seen from an exegetical context, it actually make perfect sense. The meaning of a bad eye or in some translations evil eye is being stingy and set on wealth and material things. Having a healthy eye means being generous. And it is notable and interesting that the eye is in the singular and not plural, pointing to the person who sees.

In that context, when a person whose eye is bad is a person who wants everything that he sees, whereas a person with a good eye wants to give to others what he has.

It strikes me because I notice myself having an evil eye lately, and this is a good and timely reminder and commandment for me to guard my eye and focus it on Jesus and Jesus alone.

pearlie

It's Workers Day today and I had a nice day off. And we've been wanting to try this premium burger joint for awhile now and off we went there for dinner.

When we walked in, the place was full!


This apparently is the new menu:


My husband ordered the Porky Nest: Fired Wire Potatoes, Homemade Herbed Cream Cheese, Grill Italian Zucchini. He is not well, and so it was almost tasteless for him. We dare not try his burger  lest we fall sick too.


My son chose the Blue Label: Italian Gorgonzola Blue Cheese, Arugula Leaf. I tried a bite of his, and it is absolutely yummy.


I was recommended the Bacon Bits Bull: Cheddar Mild Cheese, Candy Pork Bacon Bits. When it arrived, it wasn't hot anymore. The bread was cold and the meat just lukewarm. I didn't like it at all.


I am not sure if I would return. The place is packed with patrons - mostly teenagers - and we were lucky to grab half of table, which we had to squeeze in to fit. My burger was cold, and even if I were to return, I will make sure they serve it warm and maybe I will get the Blue Label.

pearlie

Photo source:
Cakes and Beyond, EmilyChoong, ijkrooling