Our son wanted us to try out the newly opened Olive Garden in MidValley Mall, and it turned out quite good. Their serving was quite big and every main comed with soup or salad with their famous breadsticks, both unlimited.

Here was what we ordered and it was delicious.


Breadsticks with Pasta e Fagioli Soup


Smoked Mozzarella Chicken Penne Pasta


Five Cheese Ziti am Forno

pearlie
Photo Source: Your Slow News Day and The Mama Report

I'm not into chick lit but I want to get into a reading binge today, and what better than chick lit.


The In domestic Goddess
by Sophie Kinsella


Remember Me?
by Sophie Kinsella


The Statistical Probability of Live at First Sight
by Jennifer E. Smith

pearlie

Today is Malaysia's Bersih 4 Rally and as of now, it's still ongoing. Bersih means clean in Malay and it's a call for a clean government. I did not manage to go, but I'm following the live feeds from Malaysiakini.com.

The entry here in Wikipedia gives good perspective and background.




Photo: REUTERS/Edgar Su


Photo: Michelle Liew


Photo: Melissa Goh


Photo: Matthew Wong


Photo: Steven Yap


Photo: Malaysiakini.com

pearlie

I was introduced to this very interesting social media app that allows you to chat without network connectivity. It's a peer-to-peer "mesh networking" service. It uses the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in your mobile to connect it to other devices directly, and the more people uses it in the area, connectivity increases.

With the Bersih 4.0 Rally coming up tomorrow, I downloaded and it works, and it was very busy too. There is too much chat in there. I only hope they will stop chatting when the rally begins tomorrow so that the app can be used more effectively.

pearlie

I think whilst Generation Z kids are a generation that whizzes ahead in technology and the digital world, they are quite conventional and traditional in some of their behaviours.

Like my son, he would still insist on reading print books. Even after much persuasion, he would not relent. Like most conventional readers, he tells me he likes the smell and feel of books.

I must mention that I do too. I love the smell and feel of books. Just that the convenience and mobility of ebooks trumps smell and feel.

I was in KLCC today for a conference and I invited him to join me for a meal after school. And naturally after that, we stopped by Kinokuniya. It's our favourite book store, though we have not visited it in ages.

There he fished out his personal book list kept in his iPhone, hunted for the titles and settled with these three books.

They look so interesting that I would love to dig into them too, except that they are in print.

But I'm happy with his book choices. A reader indeed begets a reader.


Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension
by Matt Parker


What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
by Randall Munroe


Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline

pearlie

The Emperor of All Maladies, A Biography of Cancer
by Siddhartha Mukherjee

I read this book in January 2013. I noticed back then that more and more people around me were getting cancer, and I wanted to know more about it.

I found this book, bought a copy and dug in. It was not an easy read. It gets technical at times and the book is thick. But it is a good book.

Two and a half years down the line, the number of people contracting the disease has not abated. I myself is getting a little paranoid as well.

Mukherjee begins the book with this:

In 2010, about six hundred thousand Americans, and more than 7 million humans around the world, will die of cancer. In the United States, one in three women and one in two men will develop cancer during their lifetime. A quarter of all American deaths, and about 15 percent of all deaths worldwide, will be attributed to cancer. In some nations, cancer will surpass heart disease to become the most common cause of death.

In Malaysia, the ratio is one in four, though I was told that for Malaysian Chinese, it can be as bad as one in three.

I'm thinking, in looking for a book to read, I might just reread this one.

pearlie

I am a learner. But I find myself presently uninterested in attending seminars or classes, even though the topics are very interesting to me. I thought about it and concluded that this must be the phase of my life where I am more introverted than extroverted.

According to the personality type theory, every person, whether an extrovert or an introvert, will have their more introverted and extroverted phases interchangeably. As much as I am an introvert, I can extrovert when required. Just that, for now I feel that I prefer to spend my time mainly in more introverted activities.

So in terms of attending classes, I am currently more attracted to online learning rather than actually attending them physically. I used to hate online learning, maybe because of the compulsory sessions that I needed to do then. But with the many MOOC programmes available online, this is the perfect time to look for programmes that interest me and spend my introverted time in them. When I was introduced to MOOC programmes two years ago, it did not catch on to me like it does now. I feel that I was in my more extroverted phase then.

I have signed up for Fundamentals in Project Planning and Management with Coursera.org, and just after the first week, I am learning so much from it, and wanting more.

Having said that though, I have signed up for a symposium in the next few days. Not that I wanted to, I was required to.

I am looking forward to the learning, but just thinking about the hoard of people there, I am feeling tired already.

pearlie

I have been watching too much TV lately and have not been reading at all, which is bad. It is just that I can't seem to get myself into a book. And I find it harder and harder to find my next read.

I have been watching Bones, Haven, Criminal Minds and Orange is the New Black. Oh dear...

I blogged before about watching TV versus reading and asked if reading were a waste of time. That was when I felt I was actually reading too much. I decided then that both is good, if done moderately.

But now? I am getting too much TV and I need to get back to reading.

But the challenge is first to get my next read. I have not found a good tool for that yet. I don't go to the bookstore that often anymore, if at all. So book browsing is out. I use sites like Amazon, Kobobooks and especially Goodreads to recommend me books. It is hard if not impossible to book browse in a website.

Sites like YourNextRead.com, WhatShouldIReadNext.com are just ok. OpeningtheBook.com is interesting as it recommends books to you based in your preference and mood.

If you have another other good tools or ways to find your next read, do let me know.

pearlie

The sermon this morning was on 1 Cor 6:1-8 about lawsuits against believers. The preacher did not much talk about lawsuits per se, but about how Paul admonished them as being too caught up in silly lawsuits when there are more important things around them.

One point which I found interesting was when he gave a brief introduction on the Corinthian context. He said the Corinthian church was a church that was reflecting the world in many ways.

This is also true he says, in any churches at any place at any time. Churches reflect the world and context they are in and at the times they are in.

This reminds me of what NT Wright has been writing about, the kingdom of God which is already now with us. We are both the citizens of the country we are in and citizens of the kingdom of God. We behave like most citizens of the country and we must also behave like children of God.

How do we do that? How do we be loyal to both and yet not betray either?

Interestingly, in the recent blog post by Roger Olson, he was against putting up flags of the country in the church. I never thought of that, since I have never seen that done here before. At first, I wondered what was wrong with that.

But he says there are two reasons why it is not right, one for the sake of our allegiance to God, in that the flag may symbolise one's highest loyalty even above Jesus Christ and two for the sake of the flag, one would be flying it in submission to God, and apparently a flag cannot be flown in submission.

I know Matt 6:24 or Luke 16:13 is about choosing between God or money as master but the first portion sounds relevant here, does it?

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

Can it be applied in terms of our citizenship? One to our country and one to the kingdom of God?

pearlie

I have had my share of mean doctors, and I encountered another one today. He was downright rude and overbearing. He spoke to me and asked me questions like I'm inferior and deserved his rebukes and reprimands.

He even asked me if I exercised regularly expecting me to answer in the negative so he can chide me further. He was surprised when I answered yes, that I do exercise regularly. I knew that because he further challenged me, asking me in disbelief what exercise do I actually do.

Argh, it makes me angry thinking about it. I'm thankful he is not a doctor I need to go back to. Good riddance.

This reminds me of a doctor I've met when I fell sick when I was once in Ipoh. He was so nice, courteous and kind. He spent almost twenty minutes attending to me, making sure I was okay, and answering my questions. I remember thinking to myself, why can't we have more doctors like him.

pearlie

I am catching up on the latest season in Criminal Minds, and I am amazed I am totally into this TV series for ten years now. And ten years is a long time.

As much as the episodes are mostly so violent that Mandy Patinkin called it quits after two years, I find the stories they have interesting and captivating. And of course it matters that in the end, justice prevails.

pearlie

My hair is very long but limp. I finally cut it short today. Not a bob cut but almost. My head feels much lighter and I suppose my face looks brighter now, I hope.

But so far neither my husband nor my son have noticed that my hair is almost 6 inches shorter.

Proves that we no longer look at each other much. Sadly, our eyes are always stuck to screens.

pearlie
Photo: SalonPriceLady

I am still following on the older Introduction of Psychology course by Coursera. I'm on the fifth week lectures on memory, where I was linked to this very good TED Talk by Joseph Foer.

He spoke about his adventure in training his brain to perform amazing feats of memory that people have actually mistaken it as being a savant.



I learnt a lot watching the 20-minute video. He was very interesting and engaging that the 20 minutes did not feel long at all. And I finally learnt about The Memory Palace.

The thing is this: I couldn't believe that even after watching many TV programmes that made references to The Memory Palace, I did not know what it was. I had in mind my brain like in the cartoon The Numskulls and was wondering how can one compartmentalise the brain to keep memories.

Now I realized it is not about compartments in my brain but it is in using any building that is familiar to me, e.g. my home, office, church. It's in imagining the building in my mind and using every imagined area in the building to store memories by mentally putting things in there that I can relate to what I want to remember.

Check this video for more information.



I tried The Memory Palace and succeeded in memorizing Psalm 1. It was fun and not hard at all.

By the way, a new Introduction to Psychology course by Professor Steve Joordens has just been put up and the next session will begin on 5th October 2015. I'm looking forward to it.

pearlie

I watched this video on speed reading and actually managed to increase my number of words per minute from 300 to 500.

Not bad after just 35 minutes of lesson.



Do check it out!

pearlie

P/S 17/01/2016: But Scientists say sorry, but speed reading doesn’t work

I came across this article today: The Rise of Phone Reading.

For those who scoff at me reading from the small screen of my iPhone, you need to read this article.

Ever since the first hand-held e-readers were introduced in the 1990s, the digital-reading revolution has turned the publishing world upside down. But contrary to early predictions, it’s not the e-reader that will be driving future book sales, but the phone.

It is because of the smartphone that I'm back to reading. It's mobile, convenience and compact, holding close to a thousand volumes just in the palm of my hand.

The article does downplay it a bit but as far as I'm concerned, I am so used to it, I'm no longer a print person though I still like print books for keepsakes.

What do you expect? I'm an Ood, remember? LOL

pearlie

My hubby, son and I were at lunch today in a restaurant when this usual scene emerged: all three of us staring into our phones while waiting for our food to be served. I'm usually the one who notices it first and will put my phone away. I will attempt to start a table conversation. Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, I will pick up my phone again.

This reminded me of an article I read in The Economist recently.

It is about the rapid proliferation of the smartphone. It cleverly begins with a reference to the Oods in Doctor Who, my all-time favourite TV series.

It was then I realized, "Oh no! I am an Ood!" Except I don't look so ugly. And I am actually having second thoughts in putting such an ugly picture here in my blog.



I have always regarded my iPhone as an extension of my brain. I cannot remember everything and so I use it to help remember. I cannot put everything in my brain and so I when I need to find out or know something, I use my iPhone to search for it or to refer to my stash of books in there.

Therefore, I am very much an Ood after all. One brain in my head and one brain in my hand. Aren't we all?




pearlie
Source: An except from Telecoms and Society: The Truly Personal Computer, The Economist (Feb 28 - Mar 6, 2015)

It has been a long time since I've been to the mall with my son, what with his additional classes every Saturday to get him prepared for the year-end public examinations. But we took the time to go to mall after his classes today and had some good quality time together.

One thing which I find quite odd is this: I can never find a comb anywhere. My son wanted one. We did not find any. And this was not the first mall where we looked for one. Can't find it in the pharmacy, or in the grocery store, or in the personal care department in the departmental store. So where in the world can I find one to buy?

But I manage to get some of my favourite stuff.

This tea is the most aromatic I have ever had. Some one once commented that it's like I've opened a bag of potpourri. But it is sad that I could not smell it anymore. It's odd right? I might have what they call olfactory blindness but that's another story for another day.


And this tea infusion is my favourite. It's the sugarless tangy fruity taste that I crave.



I finally finished using the hand cream I have in my office. It's suppose to be a solution for the driest hand, but it literally smelled the worst. I'm glad I've used it all up. And so I am happy to get a bottle of this. It's time I smell rosy? rose-y?



Yeah, a simple day with some simple stuff that makes me happy.

pearlie

I have been thinking and posting about the infidelities of men, of husbands against their wives but what about the other woman. And of course the label The Other Woman is most famously pinned on Monica Lewinsky whom I have blog about recently when she made an amazing come back.

She may be an example of the other woman who is a victim. But when the suggestion came to me that there will be women who purposefully prey on married men, I was incredulous. But apparently there are such women who are pathologically addicted to sexual encounters and self-gratification.

I happen to find this eye-opening article written based on Proverbs 7. I have not seen the verses interpreted literally in this way before, but this is a warning to all men, particularly ministers and men of the church:

Beware the Seductress
by Douglas Weiss, Ph.D
"I know it's hard to believe that there are women in the church who are seductresses, but it is true."

pearlie

I will be leading bible study tomorrow in CG and since we are beginning on 1 Corinthians, I thought it will be useful for me to spend some time with an introduction to the letter especially on its historical background.

I got this deck done, though I must later add in sources of info and photos I included in there, and maybe even notes and references for more information.

Will update this post when I get it done.

pearlie

My colleague receive a bunch of flowers yesterday for her birthday, and I was then being introduced to flowers from Happy Bunch.

This is a very different online florist started by two friends. Their concept is very unique. Their product is simply the-bunch-for-the-day. They give a sneak peek the day before as to what flowers will be bunched for the next day, and all you have to do is order and they will deliver, but only in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. You will only see how it will look like late evening or the next day from their website or Facebook.

My colleague got this bright bunch of Lavender, Wheat, Phlox, Spray Pom and Ruscus:


I ordered a bunch for a good friend yesterday, with this sneak peek of the Lotus flower:


And it turned out into this amazing bunch of Lotus, Tuberose and Sanderiana:


My friend received it late morning:


Tomorrow's bunch of Agapanthus, Madonna Lily, Trachelium, Peacock and Monstera also look so amazing. Wish I would get one. Sigh...I have a sad story with flowers I will tell you another time.



pearlie

I got honked at this morning in my commute to work. It was a honk of displeasure and discontent. I wasn't in the wrong. I was in the right of way but just because I got in the way of the other car, I got honked.

I hate it when that happens. It's rude. And the fact that it's anonymous irks me. But it got me into thinking this morning.

I have been to Vietnam and India where car honking is a norm. The reason why they honk though is different. They honk to let you know they are coming. They also honk so you will move faster.

But in Malaysia, it's them cursing you. And from my search in the Internet, it's the same case in a lot of countries.

Gone were the days where it is used to warn other vehicles of any impending danger. Would it be a good idea then to do away with it since it's no longer used for its original purpose.

pearlie

I read an interesting albeit old article today: The Flip Side of Talent.

It is a fact that when you are doing what you are good and most natural at, you'd be happy and motivated. On the flip side, if you are having experiences of mind-numbing boredom and hair-pulling frustration, you must probably would be doing something that is not your talent.

I spent time building a training deck this evening and I was totally in the zone.

What makes you energized? What would you do even if no one paid you?

pearlie

I was in my family church today in their anniversary celebration and thanksgiving service. Grace Notes was invited to sing and so we were there. I call it my "family" church because this was where my grandparents attended church when they accepted Christ. Here was where I grew up in, where I spent my youth and young adult days and where I served as an adult. This is where most of my extended family members still go to church. Except I don't anymore.

During service today, when it was the church leader's turn to give some words to the church as part of the anniversary celebration, he began with some scathing remarks about the absence of one of the church's pastors for the anniversary event and launched a series of admonishment to the church leaders and members for their lack of interest in the church and its activities. He ended the speech with his resignation.

Whilst I feel that it was not the right time or place to say such things, I can see how far the church has deteriorated.

This got me to thinking why and how a church would die. This church is not dead yet. And I do not think it will stop operating, except it will be sad to see it drag on and on with the few dedicated but drained leaders and workers, and mind you, the only full time paid workers of the moderate sized church are 3 pastors and 1 church administrative clerk. The rest are working adults.

So why and how would a church die. From what I've seen, I think these are valid reasons:

1. Prolonged focus on church activities rather than on Christ, his Gospel and the people's relationship with their Saviour.

2. Running too many programmes with a focus on attendance and involvement.

3. Lack of love between people in the church, both in the leadership team and members at large. Most exist only for themselves and their own interests.

4. Too much focus on building the church as a building but less on the building and discipling of the real church, the people.

5. Depending too much on working church members to serve and not hiring any full time workers except for the pastors.

I understand that for now, while we are still here on earth in anticipation of the one true church of Christ, no churches here are perfect. But we do need to be holy as he is holy (1 Pet 1:16), be prefect for her is perfect (Matt 5:48). And we can only be so in Christ and in the power the Holy Spirit.

I feel that the only way out of the dismal downward spiral is for the church to strip itself bare of everything--all its committees, all events, all programmes and all groups--gather the few still faithful and fervent to the Lord and pray and pray and pray, coming back to the presence and holiness of God alone.

pearlie

Recoiling from the numerous accounts of adultery both of renowned Christian leaders and those closer to home, I begin to wonder why and how it could have happened for each of those person.

Adultery is both a public and private sin. Private in that it's between a husband and wife with the relationships, the family and lives it breaks and public in the sense that for Christian leaders it can break a church and the lives of its members, and on top of it a bad testimony to Christ.

So why? Why do people succumb to it knowing that the cost is oh so high?

I believe that it is the attractiveness of the temptation. Inasmuch as I kept telling myself I will never do such a thing, after I read an account here by a Christian woman, I wondered that given the circumstances, would I also fall into it.

I wondered if someone actually did come along my path and the "romance (that) had slipped away, (which) I never thought about its absence until it suddenly reappeared...in the form of silly cards propped against my coffee mug, flowers tucked under my windshield wipers, and Post-It notes tacked to my computer screen...(the act of) being pursued—and (that) it felt good," will veer me off course to take up the extra-marital relationship to fill the chasm I have or thought I have, not fully in cognizance that only Christ can fill it.

Of course I'd dismiss and say there will not be anyone. I mean, who would be interested in me? But that is when you think it's impossible, it will be the perfect strategy for the evil one against us.

She said, "I still don't fully understand what caused me to do what I did," and "Christians, like everyone else, are vulnerable to temptation. And I understand that a marriage, even a good one, requires constant nurturing to sustain it."

And on top of that, our marriages need Jesus in it, in our own personal relationship with him, and in our relationship with each other.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

...sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Genesis 4:7b

pearlie

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
~ 2 Chronicles 7:14

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
~ Colossians 4:2

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
~ James 5:16

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
~ James 5:14-15

pearlie

I learnt something during lunch with my colleagues today. They were talking about Taiwanese serials particularly one about the only female emperor in China in all history. I never knew about that. The only more interesting lady in the history of China was Empress Dowager Cixi. But here's Empress Wu Zetian.

I went searching for a historical novel to sink in and found this.


Empress, A Novel
by Shan Sa

The book started very well. I was reading it in the past 4 hours and I'm three quarters way through. The later portion of the book got a bit boring. But I'm looking forward to finishing it in the weekend. I will have a full day tomorrow.

pearlie

pearlie

My husband was once a Scrabble aficionado and he used to play everyday in the office with his colleagues during break time. I didn't play it as much, only every now and then. But we have not played it in years.

We were watching the movie Still Alice a couple of weeks ago. The mother and daughter in the movie were playing Zynga's Words With Friends. And we thought it might be interesting to pick it up again with each other and this time digitally.

So we began. It's a good app and I like the experience. There is no rush to it and you play as and when you feel like it, though my husband kept pushing me to play when my turn comes.

And I lost the first game. It was frustrating! Grrh!!!


And we completed two games today, played simultaneously and I won both! Yay!!!




Next game dear? And as the game says, may the best friend win ;)

pearlie

I had wanted to blog about impending death, with the growing number of people around me suffering from cancer, which scares me. I wanted to think about what I will do if I had only several months to live.

I then found this very interesting article, which seem to be trending as we speak: When I'm Gone.

It's a very poignant story about a man whose father died very young from cancer. Before the father died, he had written him letters to be opened at specific events, for example When You Had Your Worst Fight With Your Mom or When You Have Your First Kiss, etc.

But as I read along, I began to think that it is all made up. Then came this sentence at the end of the article, for When Your Time Comes, i.e. for when the son is himself on his death bed.

The father wrote, "You know, this letter was the easiest to write, and the first I wrote."

The question is how would he know that this was the easiest letter to write when he hasn't even written the other letters yet?

pearlie

Have you ever wondered why God designed marriages? If I interpret Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25 correctly, there are no marriages in heaven. And so why have it here at all?

I suppose you won't ask the question if your marriage is perfect and smooth sailing. But even the strongest of marriages are not perfect. And I have seen a few too many broken marriages these days that I'm feeling so scared and disappointed.

I may be wrong but this is what I think. The reason God designed for us his creation to have marriages is to allow us to live a prototype of what heaven will be like in our relationship to him, in that our relationship with God is and will ever more be the closest relationship we will have in our lives.

A marriage is an experience of living for the other, in sickness and in health, in lack and in abundance, till death do us part. We each lay down ourselves for the other. It's no longer I, me and myself but we, us and ourselves.

But what if we betray our husbands or wives? Woe is he who commits adultery for he will face death (Lev 20:10) and he who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. (Proverbs 6:32-33). The are many, many more passages like these. God is serious about fidelity and faithfulness.

If you think about it, don't you agree that acts of adultery are the most selfish and self-centered of all kinds of sins? It's a betrayal of the person who is one flesh with you. It is the most painful experience with the literal cutting and separating of flesh from flesh.

And with that, God uses the theme of marriage to teach us faithfulness, and the inverse of it unfaithfulness. Israel was many times been accused of adultery in her unfaithfulness to God.

If we cannot even be faithful to our spouse, how could we be faithful to God?

pearlie

While on my way back from church just now (after a just okay song leading on my part; my voice was not "in" today), I was listening to Gungor in my Spotify.

I really like this alternative Christian group. I have blogged about them before last April.

I find that worship songs these days sound pretty much the same, in tempo and style and lyrics. And worse, I do not like it when they have these two characteristics:
1. A 5-note melody song.
2. Repetitive and cliché lyrics.

And so Gungor songs sounds really fresh to me. I can't use them in church worship though - too unconventional for now. Check these out.

Brother Moon
This video like the one done on Beautiful Things is very well done. And I really, really like the last bridge part. It's excellent but oh so unconventional lyrics this one.


Please Be My Strength
A really real and poignant song with true to life lyrics: "please be my strength, cause I don't have anymore".


Wake Up Sleeper
This is a good imprecatory-like song you will never hear in church (note the last line!). And since I could not find a vid with embedded lyrics, I'm putting up this one creatively recorded in a noisy train station. I'm loving this group!

Oh alright, if you found it too noisy, try this then.

Rejoice all you who are poor
The kingdom is yours
The kingdom is yours
Rejoice you jaded and torn
Both sinner and saint
The kingdom is yours

Woe to you religious teachers
Rich and worshiping your book
Woe to you who use His name to justify the souls you took

Wake up, wake up
Oh sleeper from the dead
Wake up
Rejoice you lonely and lost
You sick and despised
All will be made right
Rejoice you cynics and freaks
Those searching for peace
All will be made right

Even you religious teachers
Separating us from them
Heaven’s found inside us all
So turn and come alive again

Wake up…

Awaken us, awaken us
Open our eyes and wake us
(let your church now wake up)

pearlie