Busy moving...

This week I'll be busy moving from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur.
There'll be lots of packing and unpacking to be done.
Won't be able to come up here and post.
See you all next week!

:-)

Today is my last day at Masterskill College

Finally, after 6 months of counting down, today is my last day working at Masterskill College. I'll be moving to Kuala Lumpur and join my husband there.

This is my first job since I came back to Malaysia. When Pr.WS was assigned to Ipoh, Perak, I was thinking, would I be able to find a job in such a small town (actually its status has been changed to city, but for me it's always a town)? I was planning to take a break for a year before starting to work again, but Pr.WS discovered this college and asked me to apply.

I've been working here for almost 4 years (3 years & 9 months, to be exact). It seems like it was only yesterday that I started working here (I still remember the interview with HR department!), and today is my last day already!

I've taught close to one thousand students. If I remembered correctly, at least 5 batches of them have graduated. I've taught subjects of Diploma in Healthcare, Environmental Health, Pharmacy, Medical Lab Tehcnology. Working here is a wonderful experience. I still keep in touch with many of my ex-students and I felt happy whenever I heard that they've found a good job.

Another thing I'll miss is the lunch break with my colleagues. Thanks for bringing me along before I got my car. Thanks for showing me the nice kopitiams for lunch.

And thanks, my students! I've learned a lot while teaching all of you.

I'm going to miss my colleagues and students here. Thank God we have Facebook - it's easier to keep in touch nowadays.

May God bless all of you, my colleagues & students! :-)

The secret of a lasting marriage

from i can read

Marriage is not a disposable lunch box.
Fix the problems. Don't use shortcut & throw your marriage away!

Some people are like clouds...

from i can read

Agree...

As much as possible, I try to avoid negative people. I don't want my days to be ruined by criticisms and gossips. Usually these people are also naggers; they complain about the same thing again and again (including those that happened more than 20 years ago).

If you are unhappy, maybe that's because you are hanging out with negative people who have clouded your views. Stay away from them, look for a cheerful company.

I refuse to be an emotional dump for naggers. How about you?

Glue!

Was preparing the required files for MQA last week ago and needed to paste some labels. Been keeping this glue for years in the drawer, hardly used it.

When the glue couldn't be squeezed out I thought the little sponge on top was totally blocked by hardened glue. I open the sponge cap and squeezed...

The glue was half solidified!

He's a man because he knows how to take care of a woman

I was inspired by Dancing Barnflakes' post - He's a man because he knows how to take care of a woman. She gave examples of how her husband took care of her when she was sick. This is one way of counting blessing - to look at what my husband has done for me everyday and appreciate him. So I'm going to do that too.

Some examples:

• He is the one taking care of the cars. He checked the gas, the water, the various oils, the headlights and taillights, even the wipers! He sent the car for cleaning, he filled the gas. What I did was to drive and he'd take care of the rest.
• He massaged my left knee when it's painful.
• He helps me check my appearance, whether my collar is properly folded, whether my skirt is at the correct position and not turning to one side, whether there's any food residue between my teeth, whether my eye glasses are straight, whether my hair is messy etc.
• He fixes everything in the house. He changed the light bulbs, he cleared the clogged toilet and water pipes, he put oils in creaking doors and windows, he reassembled whatever I'd dissembled and couldn't put back (e.g. an optical mouse), he installed the water filter, he set up the wireless router etc.
• He washes the front porch.
• He makes sure that every equipment/gadget in the house is clean and functioning - he checked and wiped the washing machine, laptops, printer, scanner, camera etc.
• He killed the ants at the backyard to prevent me from being bitten and getting anaphylaxic shock. 
• He subscribed to Digi Family Plan so that he could call me frequently.
• He sits beside me and talks to me until I fall asleep.
• He reminds me that I need a haircut and brings me to the barber's. 
• He bought an iPad2 for me so that I could read anywhere and everywhere.
• He checked the hangers & clippers and threw away those that were brittle due to overexposure to sunlight. 

The list could go on and on... I'm blessed indeed! :-)

Love ya, Pr.WS!

Ants colonizing a scanner

Francois Vautier installed an ant colony in his old scanner and scan it weekly for 5 years! What he says:

Five years ago, I installed an ant colony inside my old scanner that allowed me to scan in high definition this ever evolving microcosm (animal, vegetable and mineral). The resulting clip is a close-up examination of how these tiny beings live in this unique ant farm. I observed how decay and corrosion slowly but surely invaded the internal organs of the scanner. Nature gradually takes hold of this completely synthetic environment.


The ants are still alive : the process will continue…




And the video editing is amazing & very sci-fi!

[I wonder what brand is that scanner, which can last for 5 years with thousands of ants crawling within!]

The power of nature!

Go away, I'm reading

from Etsy.com

I don't like to be disturbed while absorbed in reading. Really should get this...

Red bean soup

Been thinking about making red bean soup for some time. 2 days ago I went to Tesco to get groceries; I bought a small pack of red beans & sago.

Red bean soup is very easy to make.  Before I left for work, I soaked the beans. I've always wanted to add more beans into my diet. I seldom ordered red bean soup or other legumes when I ate out, because the beans were usually not soaked before cooking and they caused intestinal gas in me, which made me feel bloated and uncomfortable.

When I came back from work, I discarded the soak water and boiled the beans in fresh water for about 1 hour (soaking the beans also soften them and shorten cooking time). I added sago when the beans were almost done. Finally I added brown sugar.

The final product:

I added a 2 teaspoons of coconut milk. I love coconut milk; it's so creamy and fragrant! Since I can't drink cow milk, coconut milk is a wonderful substitute.

After mixing...

Red beans & sago! I reduced the amount of sugar so it's not too sweet. One good thing about cooking at home - you can always adjust the amount of ingredients & sugar as you like.

The leftover for breakfast! :-)

MQA

A group of delegates from MQA is coming to evaluate one of the programs offered by my college.
Will be busy today!

Dog's footprints

Dogs seem to be fond of walking on wet cement...

A chick embroy's heart beat

First place of Nikon Small World in Motion 2011. Won by Anna Franz.

"Ink injection into yolk sac artery of 72 hour-old chick embryo to visualize the beating heart and the vasculature (10x)".




The technique as explained by Anna Franz:

A window is cut into an egg to expose the 72h old chick embryo. The embryo is then placed under a stereo microscope. A finely drawn glass capillary needle is filled with India ink and then inserted into an extraembryonic yolk sac artery. Some ink is gently expelled from the needle and the distribution of the ink in the vasculature is followed by time-lapse microscopy. The only challenging part of this technique is the insertion of the needle into the artery without spilling too much ink and without damaging the embryo. 

Simple amazing!

Nowadays anyone can be a photographer, as long as he/she has a DSLR and a photo editing software. However, being a microphotographer requires much more than just snapping and clicking. First of all you need to know the anatomy of the microorganism that you are taking picture of. You need to know how to operate a microscope and the techniques (e.g. staining, like in the video above) required to take a clear picture/video.

This video struck me - there's life in the little embryo and the heart is already pumping. It reminds me of what Jesus says about not worrying:

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside of your Father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows." - Matthew 10:29-31

If God is sustaining the heart of a little chick embryo, how much more would he take care of us?

Happy Sabbath! :-)

Banana spread + banana

One of my favorite ways of eating bread....

My breakfast: Banana & chocolate spread + banana, & a cup of hot chocolate... :-)

My fish paste meehoon photo on The Ramen Rater

I sent my fish paste meehoon soup photo to The Ramen Rater (a blog about instant noodle) last week in response to the author's post "Show Your Noodles" and this week the photo is there! He also included my short comment of the meehoon soup:

“I ate this fish pastes vermicelli soup last Sunday at a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Wonderful soup base!
You can also add condensed milk (I didn’t because I’m allergic to milk) to make the soup creamier.
This is a popular Chinese dish in Malaysia.”

I was thrilled! :-)

Thanks!

Green drink + green book

Actually the drink wasn't green - it's made from green limes.

A cup of salty limau suam (warm lime) and a novel for sore throat... and I recovered the next day!

The power of green!

RM1 X-ray

Been having knee pain for years (that's why I have to drive an auto transmission car, pressing clutch is painful). It comes and go. Recently I've decided to go to the doctors. This morning I went to the nearby government clinic for checkup. It was my first time there, after staying in Ipoh for 4 years.

Klinik Kesihatan = Health Clinic

I always prefer government clinic/hospital. Even though the service is slow, it's cheap and more advanced. In my case, if I went to private clinic, the doctor would put me through many unnecessary diagnostic tests and scans (which might increase the risk of overexposure), so that the hospital can charge me more.

The outpatient unit

It's only 7.30a.m. but there were already many patients. All government clinics in Ipoh open at 8a.m. However, you can take your number starting at 7.30a.m.

I was #54! I waited for about an hour before my number was called. Luckily I brought a book with me. Anyway I didn't spend much time reading because I was walking around snapping photos.

Most of the patients here were old people. I was probably the second youngest (the youngest was a little boy).  Maybe they have more time than the younger ones.

This nurse measures your height and weight, and take your blood pressure. However, it wasn't necessary for me to take these measurements, so I went directly into doctor's room.

I went into room #6. The doctor was very kind. Probably because there were so many patients, she didn't spend much time talking to me. I went in only for about 5 minutes, and she ordered an X-ray for me.

Medical charge: Malaysians = RM1 (USD 0.33); foreigners = RM15 (USD3). Government servants, students, retirees = FOC.

The receipt - RM1 (USD0.33) for my X-ray! Can you believe it? An X-ray is at least RM60 (USD20) in private hospital!

Even though the waiting time was long, for such a low charge, I had nothing to complain about. I'm very grateful for such service, for the doctors and nurses who work for a lower pay than that in private clinics/hospitals. Low cost health care service is the best thing a government can provide for the people. I really appreciate it! :-)

A Wedding!

Just came back from KL this morning, and went straight to the office. Luckily we made it back to Ipoh on time. Attended a Desmond's & Apsorn's wedding yesterday. Quite tired now, but I'm happy for the newly wed!

I love attending wedding; it reminds me of my own. :-)

Flowers for the couple...

The bride & her father

I love the exchanging of vows. It drove me to tears every time. Had to hold them back very hard, since we are not supposed to cry during wedding. Hopefully nobody noticed.

To have and to hold, for better or for worse,  for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and cherish... 

Reminds me of one of my favorite Bible passage:

Place me like seal over your heart,
   like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
   its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
   like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love;
   rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give all the wealth of one's house for love,
   it would be utterly scorned.

- Song of Songs 8:6-7

Love ya, Pr.WS! :-)

The power of nature

After a freaky storm...

Whatever humans build could be destroy in an instant. Nothing lasts.

Why love the world?

Choose eternal salvation!

Subway Chicken Slice Sandwich

A simple dinner :-)