....... of fish and fishing

This is the "Tenggiri" / Mackerel ( 3. 5 ft long. 4 kilos plus which Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) landed. You can estimate it for yourself . Never believe the anglers. They have the tendency to exaggerate, especially for those catches which got away !!!) Y S does not wish to go into the nitty gritty story of how the poor fella got hooked to my line but the aftermath of the fishing trip.

While you are still harbouring the seasickness and covered with sea salt and dirt, especially for Y S, you have to clean up your catch before they deteriorate. If you land one like this, then you have storage problem. You have to clear up your fridge and if it is already full, you have to think of who to give to. Then you start to call up your kith and kins, friends and associates. Since your fishing day is usually Friday, a rest day for Kedah, your land line calls return unanswered and those on cell phones are answered, " Soli, we're in Penang ! Weekend outing !."

Just take a look at Y s' tools for chopping up the fish, very crude and barbaric. It is hard labour and very bloody, too. The hand tugging at the tail of the fish for it to stretch out belongs to Better Half. " Ai ya..... you give me work only!!! Mess up my kitchen!!! "

Finally you manage to stuff a few pieces away in your fridge and a good other pieces are distributed here and there, you have a good bath. While resting, you start to calculate :-

The boat and the boatman = RM450.00
The fishing gears. (The lines, hooks, weights and floats you lost) = RM 20.00
The transportation to the jetty. = RM 30.00
The "Jaga Kereta" ( Self appointed car attendant) = RM 10.00
The food and refreshment for the trip. = RM 40.00
The ice for the coolers . = RM 4.00
Total ................... .................. .................. = RM 554.00

RM554.00 for 10 pieces of Mackerel. Of course, the fun is always immeasurable. The gratitude of those receiving the fish is even more pleasurable, " Wah !!! You caught one ya...?"

That's life.

.... of Church leadership & Responsibility

Church leaders should be like torch bearers. They know when to light, when to pass it on and when to receive it.

The church Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) has been attending holds her election of leaders. It has been staggered over a period of two months starting from posts in the BECs (Basic Ecclesiastical Community) or the cell groups last January to those in the Ministries or Service Teams last February.

Y S has been put in charge of facilitating the elections, and this Y S did with prayers and Bible Readings, stressing the importance of discernment and not popularity votes. Y S pleaded for fellow brothers and sisters -in-Christ to take up leadership, to perpetuate the church life and to carry on being a church. It was surprisingly an uphill task, all the more in godly institution. Little did Y S think that the children of the Good Lord could shy away from such responsibility. Perhaps there are few now who want to be Christ's donkey. It is difficult work, full of inconvenience, hardship and heartache also. These could be the reasons people are shying away.

It also shocks Y S that a majority of church goers shy away from posts and responsibility, especially the eligibles and prospectives. Posts in the church seem to come along with leprosy and other sicknesses. No one wants. ( Compared to those in the political parties where people lie, curse, swear, cheat and fight for them. ) Those whose turn has come up. Those who are supposed to receive the torch or baton and run on. Those whose time is up. We pass this way but once. The good that we can do, "Just Do It" for we shall not pass this way again.

Some come with excuses of not having time. Well, then who has time??? Besides "Moanday, Tearday, Wailsday,Thumpsday, Frightday and Shatterday." This surprisingly comes from those who have retired, and they moan for more time. This round they have grand children "pula" to care for ! So, they claim having one leg here and one leg there. Well, one sure thing Y S knows is that for the 'Retired Category" one leg is already half way there or there already - 6' X 6' X 3. When is the next time to lift a small finger for Christ?

Then, the other extreme group is those who sing their false humility, " Oh! I'm unworthy", " I can't"' " I'm unequipped." Ar.... but then, who is equipped? Who is equipped ? When Y S took up leadership ages ago, or rather leadership was thrown at Y S and he unknowingly caught it, he hardly read 2 pages of the Bible. Ar..... but then, leadership comes with expectation and that motivates Y S to plough through the Bible with jest and gusto of the Bible loving Bereans.

Consider the following people : -

Noah was a drunk !
Abraham and Sarah were too old !
Jacob was a liar !
Moses has shuttering problem, and also a murderer !
Gideon was afraid !
Rahab was a prostitute !
Elijah was suicidal !
Job went bankrupt !
Noami was a widow !
Paul was too religious !
Peter denied Christ !
Lazarus was dead !!!

Jesus helped them all !!! We are enabled by faith in Him. A measure is given to everything that desires. So, better don't desire so you are not given a measure ! LOL



This was a dead chapel in Pokok Sena which has been resurrected with masses and fellowship, at least once a month. Fancy the zeal of the missionaries of the good old days, they could even get a group of Chinese from the New Village to believe in Christ and built a chapel for them. We, the present generation, cannot sustain it.

The chapel was ignored for a good many years until the Local Village Council eyed it. Y S and friends managed to initiate a signature campaign from the local faithfuls to retrieve the property and raised fund to renovate it. The dilapidated chapel has been renovated and life resuscitated. Last month Y S put up her new sign board: " Chapel of St Teresa." It gives Y S a joy that words cannot explain.


This is the St Michael Church of Alor Star which has also been renovated and given a face lift.

" Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worth while." - Wilfred Grenfell.

......... of Steam Boat Porridge, intestines and stomachs.

Yours Sincerely had a very nostalgic reunion with an old, old college mate from Johore Bahru. We parted 30 over years old ago. Both full of gusto and zest to accomplish the best for the teaching profession. We met again grayer and more wrinkled and the brotherhood is stronger.

Our reunion was done at several top restaurants in Jb (Johore Bahru) over two nights. He made us feel very warmly welcome and this is the best part of his unchanging personality . On the last evening, we decided to do something simply. So, we did it over " Steam Boat Porridge." We used to do Steam Boat with plain or Tom Yam (The most abused Thai cuisine. I'll blog about it one day.) soup but this one was done in light porridge. O la la ..... delicious, refreshing and healthier.

The ingredients were more or less like the usual steam boat, but was also baited with sea cucumber, abalone etc. You know, those that might cost you a limb. Well, the choice is yours. If you want to save your limbs, don't touch them. Other ingredients which include pig's intestines and stomachs, for example, tasted excellent. They also added a variety to the bites and chews.

( Y S saw a stall like this in Ipoh and how he wished he had his camera with him to capture the sign " DITANGGUNG TIDAK HALAL" hung by its side. LOL )

Y S has also heard about the delicious pig intestine porridge at New Lane in Penang. So many friends have sung praises about this delicacy and salivated Y S. Y S had tried and the comment is that the intestines are certainly not well washed since they are still heavy with piggy stench ( It has to be piggy. What else?). Perhaps that is where the flavour comes from.

(Some stalls and shops only give you one or two strips of stomach and intestines. " Where got enough one ?" )

Over at home, the better half has started to venture into more adventurous cooking with lots of advice and tips from the sister-in-law from Kelantan. She is a superb cook. And like all cooks, they don't eat !!! She doesn't eat much.

The better half has started to experiment with crabs, the hairy life ones and also pig's stomachs and intestines which she would never touch in her younger days but ate when washed and cooked by others. LOL

Y S has been wondering why those stomach and intestines cooked in stalls and shops are so " smellyly " delicious. They are not fullyl washed so the flavour, though a bit stinky, is still deliciously stuck to the meat . Better half must have washed hers like washing clothes ( Maybe with Fab " Buku Biru " LOL ) and also disinfected them with "clorox." LOL. The stomach and intestines are immaculately clean and in the process "the baby is thrown away with the bath water."

God be praised, better half is experimenting with many new things these days. She does not have to worry because Y S would salvage everything, lock, stock and barrel, successful and also failed cuisines.

Life is for the living. Eat on before you lose your teeth.

Yours Sincerely took a leaf out of Randomshot (http://amelia7@blogspot.com) and cannot agree more with her that the best meaty meal is still at restaurants that specialise in meat, of course. During Y S' trip down to KL last week, better half suggested dropping by at " Thank God Is Friday ", Mid-Valley Mega Mall, but we were there on Wednesday. Don't worry about the day, just bring your wallet.

We were wiser this time, we shared "Jack Daniel's Glazed Ribs" , very well done as you can see . During our last visit we ordered one plate each and so we had to gobble up 4 ribs each and anything eaten in abundance will never taste good. ( The same goes for "Char Koey Teow" (Fried flat noodles). Glutton Y S would order a second plate and it never tasted better than the first plate. In fact, it gave him that queasy feeling.

Y S does not have to tell you the taste. Just look at the killing fields. Wiped clean. Some times Y S wonders how they cut the ribs. They must have sawed them. So, grotesque !!!


This is the perfect scene after a good meal at noon. SNOOZE. We napped at "The Garden." Y S wonders why do people who put such comfortable sofas at the rest place also put up such repugnant notice. Anyway, she was not sleeping, just closing her eyes. Snore.......snore...snore...

Life begins after you retire .......................................

... of empty nests

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) was clearing some dried palms when he spotted this empty nest. It struck him hard as he thought over his situation, now that his two dearest children are not living with him anymore, and would only come home for an occasional visit once in a blue moon.

Mention the term "empty nest" and one's mind immediately conjures up a picture of an empty house. Gone are the hustle and bustle of growing children, the noise and laughter, the activities and all the chores of parenting. There is a big gap and an emptiness left by the last of the siblings who bid farewell.

This could be a very difficult time of a parent's life, especially for retirees. They may feel "useless" or "redundant" now that the children are gone and they are no more needed. Coupled with mid-life transition for men and menopausal changes for women, the "empty nest" has the potential of turning into a very unsettling time, or even a crisis in some families.

When a grown-up child leaves home, parents will feel the pain of loss. Often they miss the little boy or girl whose life was so dependent on them. They are suddenly made aware that the parent-child relationship has now evolved into that of an adult-to-adult relationship. They need to allow themselves time to grieve the loss and to adjust to the change. If they accept this change, and begin to relate to their children as adults, they will begin to enjoy their sons and daughters in a new and different way.

To prepare for an empty nest, we must learn to let go of our children. Y S once watched on NatGeo how the mother eagle nudged its babe over a steep cliff and once the babe dropped from the nest, it desperately flapped its wings to try to fly. All the while, the mother watched intently and was every ready to render help if the babe could not make it. So, the babe flapped and flapped its wings mightily and finally it was airborne and able to make height and finally soared.in the sky.

This is not easy, because it goes against the desire and instinct of every parent to protect and care for the children. But in order to grow into a confident and mature individual, every young person needs to learn to stand on his own feet, to take care of himself, to make decisions for himself, and this is often best achieved when he is away from home.

The husband-wife relationship is also sometimes put to test when the children are gone. In a family where the focus is primarily on the children, or where the children are the "buffer zone" between their parents, it is especially hard to face the prospect of an empty nest. This only underscores the importance of not neglecting to strengthen the marital relationship during the hectic child-rearing years. One has 17 to 20 years to do it from the time the child is born.

Whatever life dishes out for you, Y S strongly believes that finally one has to watch his own sunset. The first spouse who is taken away is always the lucky one for the one left behind has to grieve over his / her absence. It is quite scary to think about it when you look around and as age catches on. Will Y S be able to cope???