Alpha, this is what really makes me a modern day damsel in distress!
I think I'm being harassed, or at least that's what my colleagues say. For the last 3 days I've been kindly escorted to the train station because I happened to mention in passing to a colleague about how lately I've been bothered on my way to the train station after work.
It so happens there is a chap, a Middle-Eastern looking chap, who seems to get off the train that comes just before my train. When he does, he happens to walk past me when we are both walking through a short narrow lane that everybody walks on to get to the train station because it's a shortcut.
And when he passes me, he seems to veer as close as he dares towards me and just as he passes me, says in a soft but breathy voice, "Ooo... baby..."
Like, YUCK!
He has done this at least 5-6 times when we do happen to cross paths and when I initially just ignored and kept going my way, has come to the point that I always watch out for him when I take that said train.
So anyway, I told this to my colleague and she went into a fit about how it's harassment, and another male colleague was listening and declared he'll walk with me and tell the chap off. I was a little surprised at the intensity of the response I've had as I usually just brush these things off (unfortunately get enough unwanted attention that I can't go reacting to everyone of it).
However, it has occurred to me that I needed to be very cautious with this slimy character. If I have to walk to station alone I will just have to take the long way round, and my colleagues have been very nice to escort me since then.
Yesterday, me and a colleague got to the station early, before the slimy character's train came. She queued up to get a ticket and the train came, and the chap got out and I pointed him out to her but kept my face away from him.
Today she told me that he was looking at me as he left the station and I started to get more concerned. Because now I'm not just some random girl he leers at but someone he watches out for.
I'm no lily-heart and not easily cowed. But this dude is seriously creepy. So today, I finally went to talk to a colleague of mine, Dennis. Like Dennis the Menace. Dennis with super-duper inflated biceps. Dennis the body that looks like it'll crush you to powder Dennis.
Another English chap offered to come with me and he'll tell him off and tell him to stop bothering his "wife", but I mentioned to him that it could be likely he doesn't understand any English except "baby" so I thanked him for his offer, but Dennis is my man. Those biceps is a cross-cultural language.
But I kept telling Dennis tat he was meant to just look scary, and not be violent. Unfortunately, I finished some stuff late, so by the time we got to the station, my train just arrived and no sight of the creep. And I think Dennis is more than happy to put his muscles and Jujitsu skills to practice because he already offered to walk me next week until he delivered a message to the dude.
Err... in case parents are worried, the police headquarters is 5 minutes walk away from the train station! So if there is any funny business with him, he'll have to contend with a lot of gym-and-martial-arts-loving colleagues in the office and the police.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Real modern day damsel in distress!
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Friday, August 28, 2009
Staplers
Was rushing around yesterday morning from 8.30am till 12pm trying to get a proposal done on time. I had to staple together some papers for the proposals but really struggled trying to get it stapled properly. The staples just kept getting bent and crooked.
I was so frustrated, I tried every staple I could find as per below. You name it, every size of stapler I tried it.
I was getting ready to curse and even blamed (jokingly of course) my colleagues for the utter uselessness of their staplers. The big industrial one was just way too big for the documents.
Finally a colleague offered his, and seven was our lucky number! But found out the real problem was actually me, with no real strength to get it stapled properly :P
So one of the guys had to do it for me.
I was so frustrated, I tried every staple I could find as per below. You name it, every size of stapler I tried it.
I was getting ready to curse and even blamed (jokingly of course) my colleagues for the utter uselessness of their staplers. The big industrial one was just way too big for the documents.
Finally a colleague offered his, and seven was our lucky number! But found out the real problem was actually me, with no real strength to get it stapled properly :P
So one of the guys had to do it for me.
A little card
As I was rushing out of the house this morning (as I always do) my eye caught sight of something by the side of the door. An orange slip.
I picked it up and my heart went aawwwwwwwww.
11 yo Naomi L, made me a card just because.
The front, which are pictures of a stuffed Peter Rabbit
The dearest people to my heart in the UK is 85 yo Pam and 11yo Naomi. How sweet is Naomi!?
Last weekend I saw them after they've been away for what felt like ages and got lovely hugs from Naomi, Hannah and Jess, their mom. Sat with them during service and in the afternoon they asked me over for lunch but was at Paul and Claire's.
In the evening I was playing around with the kids and Naomi and Hannah were trying hard to persuade me to sleep over at their house. How I love those girls!
I picked it up and my heart went aawwwwwwwww.
11 yo Naomi L, made me a card just because.
The front, which are pictures of a stuffed Peter Rabbit
The dearest people to my heart in the UK is 85 yo Pam and 11yo Naomi. How sweet is Naomi!?
Last weekend I saw them after they've been away for what felt like ages and got lovely hugs from Naomi, Hannah and Jess, their mom. Sat with them during service and in the afternoon they asked me over for lunch but was at Paul and Claire's.
In the evening I was playing around with the kids and Naomi and Hannah were trying hard to persuade me to sleep over at their house. How I love those girls!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Church family
I love how most people in London are from somewhere else, even the English folks themselves. And because of that, everyone else's families are living somewhere else. And the church becomes the alternate family for them in London.
I never knew it possible, and certainly never ever experienced it in any church in Malaysia before, but IPC, especially in the last 12 months, have really became a solid family for me.
Before I went to Scotland, I asked Graham, a church elder, if I could borrow his GPS, confident he would. He did need it but still lent it to me (and afterwards told me he got lost and late for a church service he had to speak in). We laughed about his misadventures when I got back.
In July, I house-sat for the Meiners and someone who visited and stayed a night there mentioned in surprise that they must really trust me to let me house-sit their lovely home for them. I was a little surprised at her comment because I didn't think much about it, because everyone in church always welcomes one another to each other's house readily enough.
When my mom visited in Easter, I was amused when I introduced my mom to 85 year-old Pam, the first thing Pam did was to give my mom a hug. And then in the same afternoon during the church potluck, it was Pam that chided me from the end of the table to serve my mom a cup of water.
The last two Sundays I was over at the pastor and wife's home for meals. I loved how everyone just sat comfortably chatting with one another.
Matt in blue T-shirt and Martin on the right having a simple supper at Paul and Claire's on Sunday night.
Emma. I love her features, everything about her just seems to stand out.
Having dinner in the garden in the summer evening.
Iain, the assistant pastor and John "Salivaman". It was Paul the pastor who started calling him that by the nickname (coz his family name is Silva).
Gillian
Last Sunday I was back at Paul and Claire's for lunch this time.
Paul the Pastor. He's a good man. A very good man.
Paul's mother. As gentle as can be.
Sarah and Martin
It was a lovely afternoon, but truth be told, the Malaysian in me really doesn't appreciate hot sun as much as the English folks do. They can never understand why I'm perfectly contented with or without the sun.
I never knew it possible, and certainly never ever experienced it in any church in Malaysia before, but IPC, especially in the last 12 months, have really became a solid family for me.
Before I went to Scotland, I asked Graham, a church elder, if I could borrow his GPS, confident he would. He did need it but still lent it to me (and afterwards told me he got lost and late for a church service he had to speak in). We laughed about his misadventures when I got back.
In July, I house-sat for the Meiners and someone who visited and stayed a night there mentioned in surprise that they must really trust me to let me house-sit their lovely home for them. I was a little surprised at her comment because I didn't think much about it, because everyone in church always welcomes one another to each other's house readily enough.
When my mom visited in Easter, I was amused when I introduced my mom to 85 year-old Pam, the first thing Pam did was to give my mom a hug. And then in the same afternoon during the church potluck, it was Pam that chided me from the end of the table to serve my mom a cup of water.
The last two Sundays I was over at the pastor and wife's home for meals. I loved how everyone just sat comfortably chatting with one another.
Matt in blue T-shirt and Martin on the right having a simple supper at Paul and Claire's on Sunday night.
Emma. I love her features, everything about her just seems to stand out.
Having dinner in the garden in the summer evening.
Iain, the assistant pastor and John "Salivaman". It was Paul the pastor who started calling him that by the nickname (coz his family name is Silva).
Gillian
Last Sunday I was back at Paul and Claire's for lunch this time.
Paul the Pastor. He's a good man. A very good man.
Paul's mother. As gentle as can be.
Sarah and Martin
It was a lovely afternoon, but truth be told, the Malaysian in me really doesn't appreciate hot sun as much as the English folks do. They can never understand why I'm perfectly contented with or without the sun.
Culinary skills
Last Saturday I had guests over for dinner. About time actually, since I'm always being fed, especially by Shanx2. I had invited a few people including one of my best friends in the UK - 85 year old Pam. I am more comfortable hanging out with her than most of my peers!!
I bumped into my neighbour an hour before the dinner and invited him and his wife along too! Only because I have a habit of wanting to include anyone and everyone as I don't like the idea of anyone feeling left out. Months ago, when I cooked hospitality lunch, I ended up over-inviting people and a few also invited themselves along (how un-English of them).
When my neighbours said yes, the dynamics suddenly changed from having friends over for dinner to having people over for dinner! And I panicked, as I always do when the thought of people waiting for me to finish cooking. My mind literally blanked out and I stood in front of the frying pan saying, "I'mpanickingI'mpanickingI'mpanicking." And couldn't function for what felt like ages.
Thank God for Shanx2 because when she came, she helped me make the shrimp dumplings. She's a fantastic cook, so her helping calmed me down.
The menu for the night was Kong Po Kai Ting (chicken with roasted cashew nuts and dried chilli), drunken clam (sounds fancy innit!), shrimp and chives dumplings, some Chinese vegetables and rice. It actually all tasted quite good. Anyway, I did want to take pictures that night, but I was panicking so much while cooking and anxious to get everyone into the food when I was done I forgot.
I had an Australian, two English people, an Italian, a Hongkie, and a Korean as guests that night. It was the sort of right mix of characters that made sure the night was never short of conversation. The only problem I suppose would be that there were so many outspoken people at the table sometimes it felt like everyone was fighting for air time!
Today I thought I better cook the food in my fridge while I remember and have the time before the food go bad and turn to waste.
Cooking is much less stressful without worrying whether it'll be good enough for someone else. Truth be told, I rarely disappoint myself. Either I'm still astonished I can cook at all and everything taste miraculous or I'm not too bad a cook after all!
I let my instincts guide me this time tonight with my Kong Po Kai Ting. After having it for dinner I thought it was restaurant-worthy!
My, I-don't-know-what recipe. I got too lazy at this point to cook I just threw in whatever I thought would do. It didn't taste that bad, but not fantastic either. Just edible. It's for dinner tomorrow night.
I bumped into my neighbour an hour before the dinner and invited him and his wife along too! Only because I have a habit of wanting to include anyone and everyone as I don't like the idea of anyone feeling left out. Months ago, when I cooked hospitality lunch, I ended up over-inviting people and a few also invited themselves along (how un-English of them).
When my neighbours said yes, the dynamics suddenly changed from having friends over for dinner to having people over for dinner! And I panicked, as I always do when the thought of people waiting for me to finish cooking. My mind literally blanked out and I stood in front of the frying pan saying, "I'mpanickingI'mpanickingI'mpanicking." And couldn't function for what felt like ages.
Thank God for Shanx2 because when she came, she helped me make the shrimp dumplings. She's a fantastic cook, so her helping calmed me down.
The menu for the night was Kong Po Kai Ting (chicken with roasted cashew nuts and dried chilli), drunken clam (sounds fancy innit!), shrimp and chives dumplings, some Chinese vegetables and rice. It actually all tasted quite good. Anyway, I did want to take pictures that night, but I was panicking so much while cooking and anxious to get everyone into the food when I was done I forgot.
I had an Australian, two English people, an Italian, a Hongkie, and a Korean as guests that night. It was the sort of right mix of characters that made sure the night was never short of conversation. The only problem I suppose would be that there were so many outspoken people at the table sometimes it felt like everyone was fighting for air time!
Today I thought I better cook the food in my fridge while I remember and have the time before the food go bad and turn to waste.
Cooking is much less stressful without worrying whether it'll be good enough for someone else. Truth be told, I rarely disappoint myself. Either I'm still astonished I can cook at all and everything taste miraculous or I'm not too bad a cook after all!
I let my instincts guide me this time tonight with my Kong Po Kai Ting. After having it for dinner I thought it was restaurant-worthy!
My, I-don't-know-what recipe. I got too lazy at this point to cook I just threw in whatever I thought would do. It didn't taste that bad, but not fantastic either. Just edible. It's for dinner tomorrow night.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
My Bible hero(in)es
In the past, my guy friends have talked about their heroes in the Bible. I would nod - a picture of sage understanding at what they were saying.
But actually. I understood the word hero, but I never really connected with it.
But now I DO have heroes!
Make that heroines.
I've been reading Lost Women of the Bible: Finding strength & significance through their stories by Carolyn Custis James. Highly recommend it!
Funny innit that I was reading a book about men and now I'm reading a book about women. Purely coincidental. But then, with the Lord, is there ever such thing as coincidence? I happened to pick it up at a friend's house and thought the first few pages was an interesting read so I borrowed it and then couldn't put it down!
Last year a guy friend gave me a book about the women in the Bible as well but written by a man. It was such a dry and boring book, I could not read more than a few pages. The man just simply did not get it.
But I must say, Bro O perhaps actually does come quite close to understanding what it takes to be a woman - but then again, some of you would just say I'm biased. But it really shouldn't be a big surprise. He has one of the best of us women by his side teaching him. I'm slowly (as always) starting to understand some things he has been trying to teach me for a long time now.
Hannah is now my favourite heroine! An extract from the book (italics mine):
"We will never understand Hannah until we begin with the assumption that her heart beats the same as ours do, that she has feelings just like we do. In her barrenness she was, by her own admission, in bitterness of soul. She wanted nothing more in all of life than to hold a baby of her own. Only when we allow these very human passions to exist in Hannah will we begin to see the fierceness of her love for God. Yes, she was devastated when her husband took a second wife. Yes, she felt every sting of Peninnah's barbs. And yes, she prayed relentlessly that God would give her a child. But somewhere along the line everything changed for Hannah and something else became even more important. That change showed up when Hannah prayed.
Hannah's psalms seem to reveal that everything changed for her when she realized Peninnah was laughing at God. Suddenly, much as Hannah longed for a child, she wanted something else even more. She wanted God to vindicate himself as the God who hears and answers the prayers of those who trust in him. In prayer, she raised her sword in the battle for God's glory. The passion of her heart voiced the passion of the prayer Jesus later taught his disciples - "Hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9). She willingly offered up her most priceless treasure to shut the mouth of the one who dared to mock her God. Hannah was an ezer. She subdued and ruled over God's enemies. She sacrificed for his glory. She stood squarely in the path of those who mocked him and fought to take back the honor and praise that rightfully belonged to him. And so she offered up Samuel, before he was even conceived."
(1 Samuel 1 for context)
In the flow of Israel's history, Hannah is significan, both historically and spiritually, as the three men who follow her in the Samuel narrative - Samuel, Saul and David.
She lay aside her honour for the Lord's honour. If today we choose the same - to lay aside ourselves for the Lord, what shall we see happening in our lives?!
Perhaps nothing at all in our minds. But consider this, "if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42) Then how much more if we thirst and hunger each day to give the Lord more and more and more of our lives!!!
But actually. I understood the word hero, but I never really connected with it.
But now I DO have heroes!
Make that heroines.
I've been reading Lost Women of the Bible: Finding strength & significance through their stories by Carolyn Custis James. Highly recommend it!
Funny innit that I was reading a book about men and now I'm reading a book about women. Purely coincidental. But then, with the Lord, is there ever such thing as coincidence? I happened to pick it up at a friend's house and thought the first few pages was an interesting read so I borrowed it and then couldn't put it down!
Last year a guy friend gave me a book about the women in the Bible as well but written by a man. It was such a dry and boring book, I could not read more than a few pages. The man just simply did not get it.
But I must say, Bro O perhaps actually does come quite close to understanding what it takes to be a woman - but then again, some of you would just say I'm biased. But it really shouldn't be a big surprise. He has one of the best of us women by his side teaching him. I'm slowly (as always) starting to understand some things he has been trying to teach me for a long time now.
Hannah is now my favourite heroine! An extract from the book (italics mine):
"We will never understand Hannah until we begin with the assumption that her heart beats the same as ours do, that she has feelings just like we do. In her barrenness she was, by her own admission, in bitterness of soul. She wanted nothing more in all of life than to hold a baby of her own. Only when we allow these very human passions to exist in Hannah will we begin to see the fierceness of her love for God. Yes, she was devastated when her husband took a second wife. Yes, she felt every sting of Peninnah's barbs. And yes, she prayed relentlessly that God would give her a child. But somewhere along the line everything changed for Hannah and something else became even more important. That change showed up when Hannah prayed.
Hannah's psalms seem to reveal that everything changed for her when she realized Peninnah was laughing at God. Suddenly, much as Hannah longed for a child, she wanted something else even more. She wanted God to vindicate himself as the God who hears and answers the prayers of those who trust in him. In prayer, she raised her sword in the battle for God's glory. The passion of her heart voiced the passion of the prayer Jesus later taught his disciples - "Hallowed be your name" (Matthew 6:9). She willingly offered up her most priceless treasure to shut the mouth of the one who dared to mock her God. Hannah was an ezer. She subdued and ruled over God's enemies. She sacrificed for his glory. She stood squarely in the path of those who mocked him and fought to take back the honor and praise that rightfully belonged to him. And so she offered up Samuel, before he was even conceived."
(1 Samuel 1 for context)
In the flow of Israel's history, Hannah is significan, both historically and spiritually, as the three men who follow her in the Samuel narrative - Samuel, Saul and David.
She lay aside her honour for the Lord's honour. If today we choose the same - to lay aside ourselves for the Lord, what shall we see happening in our lives?!
Perhaps nothing at all in our minds. But consider this, "if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42) Then how much more if we thirst and hunger each day to give the Lord more and more and more of our lives!!!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Yummy yummy food in my tummy!
I'm easily satisfied by my own cooking (sometimes). As long as it's colourful, I'm happy!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Why can't chocolate be the answer?
Sniff.
Not only have I put on a lot of weight lately (my si fu went back to China for summer I also took summer break from exercise :P), my back, neck and shoulders have been pretty painful the last few weeks!!!
Also have been encountering a bit more manic mood swings and everything is telling me to EXERCISE.
So okok, started exercising again today and can you believe it, I couldn't even twist fully initially during warm up because my back was stiff and painful.
I can cope with being fat (barely) but I certainly can't cope with the neck and shoulder pains. Sigh.
Not only have I put on a lot of weight lately (my si fu went back to China for summer I also took summer break from exercise :P), my back, neck and shoulders have been pretty painful the last few weeks!!!
Also have been encountering a bit more manic mood swings and everything is telling me to EXERCISE.
So okok, started exercising again today and can you believe it, I couldn't even twist fully initially during warm up because my back was stiff and painful.
I can cope with being fat (barely) but I certainly can't cope with the neck and shoulder pains. Sigh.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Manchester
Dang. Road trip pictures has shown me how much weight I've put on. Yes ma, I'm going to go on a diet.
After Scotland we drove to Manchester so I could meet a friend of mine and Rizal could meet his cousin.
I met Japanese Chi last year when she was doing a course in the local university. She has since given birth to a baby boy who is just 5 weeks old!
It was lovely getting acquainted with baby Raimu! Although...
This was when he finally got tired of the attention and started bawling and I was frantically trying to calm him down.
After 30 minutes of trying every different ways of carrying him, he finally seemed to accept being held up by his shoulders and lifting him up and down for 10 minutes AND singing Amazing Grace to him.
-_-
I only knew the first two verses of the song so I had to keep singing it over and over. I did have some other songs to sing but he liked Amazing Grace the best.
He only slept for 15 measly minutes before he woke up and started bawling again!!! By that time I was desperate and passed him back to his mother and he calmed down just a little but still continued bawling. We made our goodbyes at that point.
Man... my respect for mothers just keeps going up and up.
After Scotland we drove to Manchester so I could meet a friend of mine and Rizal could meet his cousin.
I met Japanese Chi last year when she was doing a course in the local university. She has since given birth to a baby boy who is just 5 weeks old!
It was lovely getting acquainted with baby Raimu! Although...
This was when he finally got tired of the attention and started bawling and I was frantically trying to calm him down.
After 30 minutes of trying every different ways of carrying him, he finally seemed to accept being held up by his shoulders and lifting him up and down for 10 minutes AND singing Amazing Grace to him.
-_-
I only knew the first two verses of the song so I had to keep singing it over and over. I did have some other songs to sing but he liked Amazing Grace the best.
He only slept for 15 measly minutes before he woke up and started bawling again!!! By that time I was desperate and passed him back to his mother and he calmed down just a little but still continued bawling. We made our goodbyes at that point.
Man... my respect for mothers just keeps going up and up.
Friday, August 07, 2009
What next?
For some reason this picture just makes me feel happy.
Despite, or rather, because of my happiness I feel bad, because a friend's entering a very different season in her life, and really hope that you'll find some measure of peace soon. =[
Another friend also entered a new season in her life; both these friends somewhat similar in some ways but both entering it through different doors and onto different roads. This second friend however, has something to celebrate and I'm glad she chose to invite me to celebrate it with her.
Although for some very odd reason, I do feel as if the three of us have been 'advanced' to the next stage setting in our lives.
You may not see it yet, but I sense you will be going through very interesting times. Take heart, nee chan!
Roadtrip and back
Back from road trip. Good but tiring but not going to do it again anytime soon. Before I went up to Edinburgh EVERYONE who has been there kept telling me how beautiful it is and how different it is from anywhere else in England.
Rizal really did bring good weather with him because we had lovely weather throughout the entire trip.
Edinburgh is an artistic city and has done an amazing job preserving its history and essence and it is one city that makes me want to move permanently to!!
Lots and lots of pictures in Rizal's SLR so will have to wait to get it from him while these pictures are from my Sony mobile.
The pictures are taken in Old Town I think, and the streets despite being a Monday morning were filled with tourists and entertainers and hawkers. Some entertainers clearly amassed quite a bit of coins while there were some that didn't even ask for any money but we reckon they were sponsored by the authorities.
This chap was VERY entertaining. We stopped by to watch him perform magic tricks in the morning and Sky channel was there to film it and air it the same evening! Too bad we didn't have TV to try to catch ourselves on it. We stopped again to watch him in the late afternoon but didn't see any magic tricks. He was just entertaining us with his showmanship and jokes.