Kiwi Laksa

Another Miracle

2009-07-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting anxiously for my kidney operation for a few months and it finally happened just this Monday. I had a keyhole operation to remove a big stone (thought one consultant) or a big cyst(another's opinion) in my kidney. Miraculously, during the operation, they found the cyst was outside the kidney and not inside as they originally thought! So the operation was about an hour less. I actually requested a lot of my friends to pray for me before the operation so I believe that had helped a lot. The operation went smoothly and now I am on my way to recovery after a rough days the last 2 days. Apparently people tell me the worst days are actually a few days after the surgery and not immediately after because it takes a few days for the aneasthetic to wear off and then your interiors wake up and struggles to catch up with the rest of your body! I am now officially painfree for the last 24 hours and I hope it stays that way!

Praise God for taking good care of me during my surgery as everyone told me that the operation went smoothly except for the intubation which left me with a very sore throat.

Getting Bella!

2009-05-24T02:50:00.000-07:00

Teenage Deaths

2009-04-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

courtesy of home.comcast.net

I was never really exposed or aware of the high rate of teenage deaths unlike I started teaching in New Zealand. Almost every year since I have been teaching, there was a death amongst one of my former students and 4 out of 5 times, it will be suicide.

Teenagers here take their own lives for reasons known or unknown but when you look at the known reasons, they seem to be so miniscule for the young people to take their own lives. Here in NZ, there are lots of counselors available and most of them are free to the youths. One year the police were even looking out for a so called 'death pact' going around when one teenager took her life and everyone watched closely all her friends who were at her funeral.

Most of the teenagers are usually what experts labelled as high risk in that they usually would be your disruptive kids in class or the rebellious type that do not fit into your normal average school environment.

I have always wondered if the way that children are raised today (with velvet gloves and very pc oriented!) are making them too soft and thus not able to handle everyday problems and taking the easy way out when they are faced with any issues they think they cannot solve!

God works in mysterious ways!

2009-04-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

courtesy of www.phrasecrazy.com

Recently I was stressed out at work so much so that about 3 weeks ago, I had sharp abdominal pain in the middle of the night and my 12 year old daughter had to call the ambulance and I ended up in the Dunedin Hospital Emergency.

My pains started at about 1.30 am, was admitted about 2.45 am. Doctors tried to give me all sort of painkillers, took my blood for test, took ECGs, X-rays but still I had my pains and was vomiting, too, (due to the side effects of morphine) until about 8.30 am in the morning when they decided to take a urine sample. I panicked when I saw how pink my urine was but found out later that it was a result of my passing a kidney stone! Immediately, they sent me for a CT scan and then gave me different painkillers again. Then the director of the ED came and informed me that I had stones in both my kidneys and also a very big 2.5 cm big stone! I waited at the ED for the specialist who never showed up so at about 1.45pm, the ED director told me I could go home as the Urology Department needed to talk about the big stone tomorrow before they get back to me. So I left at about 3.40 pm when one of my friends picked me up and send me home.

It was only after I saw my GP and got him to call the specialist to find out what they planned to treat me that I found out that I actually have a big magnesium cyst. I saw it on the CT scan when I finally got to see the urologist last week and it is about 1/3 of my kidney. Now I am waiting for the shock wave treatment which hopefully will break up everything or I may have to go for the keyhole operation.

Looking back I would never have known that I have all these kidney stones if I was not stressed out so GOD must have decided for me that it is time I took care of my health and brought it to my attention. I always think that things happen for a purpose and GOD does work in mysterious ways....

Quick and Easy Chicken Rice and Pickled cucumber

2009-01-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

Pickled cucumber

Chicken rice

Living overseas, I have to cook most of our home delicacies myself as we get very limited Malaysian restaurants. So I experimented and look at some of the ingredients on the bottled chicken rice so here's quick and easy chicken rice.

Chicken Rice Ingredients

2 cups rice

500 ml chicken broth

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

2 tablespoon cooking oil

salt to your own taste (my daughter likes it salty!)

Instructions

Put all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker. Stir it until it is all mixed up well and cook.

I am sure most of you will have very good recipes for roast chicken or steamed chicken as I do not have the time to roast chicken and normally just buy one from the supermarket!

But I love fresh pickled cucumber and experimented and come up with my own pickled cucumber which I love to eat together with my chicken rice.

Pickled Cucumber

Ingredients

1 medium size cucumber or half a telegraph cucumber

1 red chilli (optional)

1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

Slice cucumber thinly. Deseed the chilli and cut into thin strips. Put in a bowl together with the salt and sugar and squeezed the lemon juice into the mixture. Allow to sit for at least one hour for the pickling process.

Enjoy!

Malacca, World Heritage Site

2009-01-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

View of Malacca Straits from outside the chapel at ST. Francis Hill with the Taming Sari and the Eye on Malaysia in the foreground

Statue of St. Francis Xavier who preached and died in Malacca and was briefly buried there before he was exhumed and moved.

The remains of a chapel with numerous memorials to Dutch, Portugese and English parishioners of the past.

The bright and colourful trishaws available to transport tourists around Malacca town.

The only movable large ferris wheel in Malaysia which will make a tour across all the states in Malaysia starting with Malacca.

On our recent trip back to Malaysia, my close friend, Shirley invited us to visit her in Malacca. I have not been to Malacca for almost 10 years so decided to take her up on her offer. My two other close friends based in Kuala Lumpur drove down with us and we stayed overnight.

It is quite a change from when I visited last. Going on a Sunday was also a no - no as there was traffic jam all over town as I understand the Singaporeans love to drive up to Malacca for the weekend.

We did a few tourist attractions including taking a ride on the Eye on Malaysia ferris wheel which is visiting Malacca for the year after being in KL for 2 years. We did it at night and I must admit I do not advise a night ride as there was not too much to see in Malacca in terms of night lights.

We had a great stay catching up with friends and tasting the local delicacies including chicken rice balls, now everywhere in Malacca.

What I missed was the trademark bullock cart pulled by buffaloes where we once took a ride around the padang as in place is now a shopping centre and no water buffaloes in sight. The price we pay for modernisation!

International Air Travel

2009-01-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

I have just got back from travelling back to Malaysia for about 3 weeks. What I discovered was the inconvenience of air travel these days.

First, Air NZ has restriction on amount of check in luggage, i.e. one piece per passenger and not more than 25 Kg. And they worry about people breaking their backs carrying heavy bags! Hand luggage is not more than 7 kg.

Next my girl decided she wanted to bring her skates and that she was going to hand carry them but nooooo! At the boarding gate, we were told we had to check in the skates so I had to fork out NZ$15 for the extra piece of luggage as we had already checked in 2 pieces of bags.

When we got to the international airport in Auckland, we had to repack everything (because fo the skates) only to find out about the liquids in hand luggage limitations and at the last minute I had to open up our luggage (we were checking in at the same time) to squeezed all the manuka honey jars into one of our bags.

Even then I missed out a half full bottle of shampoo which was still in the hand luggage so I told security he can chuck it out. It just seems ridiculous the liquid rule only applies for international but not the domestic which means to say it is alright to bomb the domestic flights but not the international ones???!

As we were passing through security towards boarding our flight back to NZ, I saw a couple in front who got pulled over for having several big bottles of lotion and perfume in the lady's hand luggage. Boy! Did I feel sorry for her as I know that she will loose them all as I doubt they will check them in for her as everyone was already boarding the plane. Even with all the notices at the check in counter people still do not read or following instructions and get caught up and lose money in the process.

Accidents - What does it mean?

2008-11-22T23:57:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia:
An accident is a specific, identifiable, unexpected, unusual and unintended external event which occurs in a particular time and place, without apparent or deliberate cause but with marked effects. It implies a generally negative probabilistic outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence.

However, nowadays, people always try to put someone at fault so the idea of accident may no longer exists as someone always will be found to be the cause of the 'accident'.

Why on earth am I on about?

Well, a few months back some students and a teacher were swept away when a sudden flashflood occurred where the school trip was doing water activities. Now the school board is held responsible as they were told that they did not do enough to ensure that thorough risk management had taken place!

With that in mind, recently our school principal reminded all of us about doing our risk management properly and that if we went to bed and snored away because we had a drink, then we will be liable should a student sneaked out of camp and gets into trouble. One teacher was quick to ask but what if we did not drink but just snored away?! Then he said it was OK!

Then another teacher brought up the subject about being responsible for the students while on overnight trips or camps (very common in NZ) and that there seem to be no more accidents and people are always trying to find fault and place someone responsible for the so called accident and thus accidents do not exist. And with that type of possibility hanging over teachers' heads, many would not like to volunteer themselves for trips anymore as with age, their reaction may be too slow to prevent 'accidents' from happening and thus will be liable should something happen to a student under their care. That is quite a sobering thought, actually!

As teachers, we have to be careful about giving students lifts to anywhere because their parents should give their permission first in case anything happens. I only give lifts to my daughter's friends if I know the parents quite well and vice versa and I do not give lifts to my own students if I can help it knowing the consequences should anything happen. It is a sad world we live in nowadays because people will sue their friends or find someone to fault either to find closure or something to dull the pain they suffer. Ultimately someone innocent may get faulted as a result of a real accident!

National is the New Government!

2008-11-08T02:26:00.000-08:00

Well, it is all over! Or is it just starting again??? We now have a new government just like US has a change back to Democrat. After 9 years we need a change. All are predicting the National will have their work cut out for them in that Labour did not let the people know how much debt NZ is in.....

Well, we will see!

New Zealand goes to the polls, too, this coming Saturday, November 8.

2008-11-04T01:37:00.000-08:00

Do we keep Helen and the Labour Party in government.............OR

do we make a change and vote for John Key and the National Party?

Everyone seems to be going to the polls about the same time and New Zealand is no different. We have been under the Labour party rule for a while now and a lot of people are unhappy with the high crime rates and very lenient sentences. So will National win and take over the next government?

As a permanent resident, I found that we are expected to vote if we have at least one year residence in NZ. So I have to vote this Saturday...

What frustrates me is that the Labour government would dangle some carrot just before the election to gather votes every time. The last was interest free student loans! Now is parents' income will no longer impact on students' allowance just to gain votes from university students! Then there are there are the ridiculous ads on tv, too!

I am a skeptic in that do they actually carry out their promises???

I still haven't decide on my vote yet although my tween is telling me to vote for the National as they are the ones who understand the education system! I find it amusing that she is getting into the campaigning and I am sure National would love to have her in the campaign!

Whatever it is, I have to vote on Saturday and we may have a new government come Monday.

Teenagers will be teenagers!

2008-11-04T01:20:00.000-08:00

This is my 100th posting! I have been wondering what to write about and finally something happened in school today which I thought amused me a lot.

I normally put my notes for my students to copy on powerpoint so today was not different. Only the students were rather restless and noisy so I told them I am not going to wait for anyone who talks but will wait for anyone who does not talk and writes away. Then some boys objected and I reminded them that they could not talk and write at the same time as 'boys cannot multitask'.... Well, of course I provoked them and got them protesting and calling me sexist! But my point was proven when the loudest point started arguing with me using his writing hand to make his point and then, I happily pointed out to him that what I say was correct! He was talking and not writing at the same time! That was quite amusing as it got more of the boys to quieten down to copy the notes.

Then another boy said, "I wonder if there was anything boys could do that girls cannot." I could not help myself and said that I will enlightened them on some biology and that in the future when they and their spouses or partners could not have baby boys, then they should remember that only males have the Y chromosome and they are the ones responsible for not having any boys and not their wives. It was amusing to me as it took them by surprise and it took about a minute before it click with them to absorb in what I was on about.....

Do you have pain in the soles of your feet?

2008-10-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I slipped and fell twice on the morning ice in winter. I thought all I had was 2 sprained feet (still went to work) but now the pain had gotten worst so I resorted to seeing a Chinese doctor who is also an acupuncture expert. The first thing she said to me was I had very poor blood circulation in my feet. No wonder I always had extremely cold feet and could never seem to get them warm so I end up wearing socks to bed as most old houses in NZ do not have central heating.

Not only did she tell tell me that I had poor blood circulation but also my pain in the heel part on the soles of my feet when I put pressure (like walking!) on them is also due to my sciatica which I had for years. I did not even think that my falls were that bad. Anyways, the 2 treatments I had seemed to be working but I still have a lot more to go. All I am hoping for is the pain to disappear in the near future so I can go back to enjoy my walks while doing window shopping!!!

It has been quite a few years since I had acupuncture done and I do believe they work on chronic aches and pains. However, I was a bit surprised that now they have also attached some electric current to stimulate the points and speed up the process. I am not a newcomer to passing electric currents through my body as I had that done for my sciatica years ago.

I cannot wait for the day when I can walk pain free.....

Visit to a NZ sheep farm

2008-10-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Jo-Ann with Mower the Mohair goat with some sheep in the background

Our friend, Winnie, with the mother sheep and 2 day old lamb

In between our competitions we had some free time where we went to a sheep farm as my daughter has never been to a real farm in her young life so I thought it would be a good experience!

She decided after the visit that she does not like farm life as she was all squeamish at the amount of mud, poohs and some dirty animals (after a full rainy day before!) in a farm. The only spark in that visit was "Mower" the Mohair goat they had! She was tied up but she hated Murphy the town dog who was there on a short holiday while his 'mum and dad' are off on a vacation. Mower kept chasing after Murphy each time he passed in front of her so that was really hilarious as Murphy was so hyper jumping into the pond and out despite the cold water. The 2 black swans in the pond just ignored Murphy while the white duck was more cautious.

I also learnt that a lot of farmers are switching to dairy farms due to the high price of diary products where each cow is worth about $2000. However, the sheep farmers do not like the diary farmers as apparently the diary farms are polluting the rivers with their discharge. Diary farms are more work because of the twice daily milking that needs to be done but the returns are high with the current milk prices.

It is nice to be in Southland as the people are generally friendlier and that was what struck the Aucklanders the most about how life is more relaxed and people are not stressed or in a hurry to get anything done! The small town of Gore welcomed the 500 odd people who visited Gore during the Figure Skating Nationals as all the visitors are always hungry and in search of food all the time! The small town does have Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut but too small to have a MacDonald's. I think the nearest big M is in Invercargill about 45 minutes drive away.

NZ Figure Skating Naitonals

2008-10-04T02:34:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from my daughter's NZ Figure Skating Nationals in a little southern town called Gore, famous for its country music and brown trout.

It is amazing how the standards keep improving every year so the competition gets tougher and tougher. It is also nice to catch up with skaters from the North Island whom we see once a year at the nationals. My girl came in 5th in her grade but she still maintained her position as the top skater from the south.

This is the first time that we have professional sports photographers taking photos so I purchased my daughter's and it is good to see her shots and she can also see her actual posture and if they meet the standards.....

Pick Pockets

2008-09-08T03:37:00.000-07:00

I just received upsetting news about my 80 year old father. He was out doing marketing with my mother at this Sunday wet and fresh market in Kuching when someone bumped into him and picked his wallet. The inconvenience for him was not only that he lost a substantial amount of cash but he also lost his driving license and his identity card.

What is the world coming to? I mean why pick on the elderly??? They are not rich and they are barely getting by with their small pensions but some ruthless individuals or group of people just prey on the elderly instead of working for their own living! It is really disgusting and very worrying about what society is becoming nowadays!!!

Common Sense

2008-09-02T23:48:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me this article which is SO TRUE!!!

Date: Aug 27, 2008 10:08

Subject: Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

(Interesting and sadly true)

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little on her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Noro Virus

2008-08-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

Noro virus

courtesy of www.dbtechno.com

For the past month or so Dunedin has been struck by suspected Noro virus where you get diarrhea and also vomiting. Today I tried to visit a friend whose baby is in the children's ward but was turned away from the hospital with a sudden lock down at the hospital. Yesterday, I was still able to visit her and her baby but we had to gel our hands before going up into the wards as well as on the way out.

All schools are affected by the outbreak with an average of 100 - 150 students away from our school for the past 2 weeks and teachers are out too with some sort of illness. My daughter and I are hoping that we will survive through this very very long winter which started in as early as April and still snowing here and there now even though we are supposed to start our spring in September! The cherry blossoms are out but the weather in Dunedin still hovers around 10 deg Celsius during the day and drops below 5 deg at night.

It has also been very wet in the past 2 -3 weeks. Two Saturdays ago, I went to the laundrette for my usual Saturday drying loads but was I surprised to see the long queue! My usual 40 minutes to dry our clothes was not even enough wait time! And people were getting grumpy if you used more than one drier! One man mentioned that it was worst than watching paint dry! I think I spent close to 3 hours there just to dry 2 loads of laundry!!! What a waste of time but I had to dry my daughter's school uniform so had no choice! Luckily, today it was almost empty when I got there at my usual time.

I wonder how long this winter is going to be..... The only good thing now is that petrol price has come down to just $2 for 91 octane despite the lower oil price. However, the economist are telling us that the price is not coming down as fast as the Kiwi dollar is weakening against other currencies......Oh well.....

Do you remember everything you see?

2008-08-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

I was helping out ice skating club with marshalling this past weekend at the South Island Figure Skating Championship. A female skater was doing a double jump when she fell to land and thus ended up on the ice. I saw it happened as I was in charge of getting the skaters on the ice for their warm-up and their programme. But when someone asked me can you describe what happened? For the life of me, I could not describe it as it all happened so fast! All I remember is she fell and did not get up so her sister who is also a skater went in to check on her first when she failed to pick herself up and continue skating. Fortunately she did not break any bones I think but fell on her hip.

Now I understand when people said they cannot recall when they saw. If it happened really fast, it may not even register on your brain later! I mean we saw it happened but cannot describe how it occurred after that. I was not even traumatised as it was nothing to do with me but imagine someone who witnessed something terrible and expected to recall everything later! How can they remember?!!!

Incidentally, Jo-Ann did come in first again in her division but failed to make it on time to the prize giving so missed out on all the photo taking opportunity!

Wanaka - hometown for the wealthy

2008-07-25T03:21:00.000-07:00

One of the illusion rooms in Puzzle World

Jo-Ann and Rina in front of Puzzle World, Wanaka

The leaning clock tower at Puzzle World

The outdoor maze

Rina, Jo-Ann and Winnie by the lake with Wanaka town centre in the background

On our last visit to Queenstown, I decided to take an hour detour and take a tour of Wanaka as we have never been there. Always heard that only the rich can afford to live there and apparently there are lots of American retirees who had settled down there. My first impression of the tiny lakeside town centre was that the architecture really reminds me of suburban USA.

I think the main attraction for tourists to Wanaka is Puzzle World where you can go and walk through an outdoor maze, an indoor area with illusion rooms or just sit down, have some snacks and try the puzzles for yourself and decide if you want to buy them. It is quite a good marketing ploy to let visitors try out as it gets people hooked and some people spend a long time day or bring their kids there to play the puzzles for free. There were a lot of wonderful wooden puzzles plus others made of other materials. My daughter and her friends really enjoyed their visit there. So if you are in Wanaka area, you may want to visit and give yourself at least an hour or more if you are a puzzle king or queen!

Queenstown Skyline Gondola

2008-07-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

View from the viewing deck in the main building looking down at Queenstown

Looking down at the bungy jump from the viewing deck

Part of the luge track we 'drove' on

Rina, Jo-Ann's classmate on the luge

Jo-Ann on the podium with her trophy

Last week we were back in Queenstown again for my daughter's regional figure skating competition. We had some free time so we decided to take the cable car ride up to take a bird's eye view of Queenstown and the surrounding area.

It was an awesome ride and the view was breathtaking! There was also a small platform where people could bungy jump and a cliff where people can jump off and parachute down and my daughter's favourite was the luge rides.

I hope you enjoy the photos......

I brought a miracle to my friend!

2008-07-21T03:12:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of my friend who is in financial trouble and decided to visit her just now and I bought some baby clothes, diapers, baby food and some firelogs for heating. When we showed up in her house with the firelogs, she was so touched and revealed to me that she did not know what to do as she was on her last 2 pieces of fire wood and less than 20 pieces of coal which was supposed to last her until the next pay out on Wednesday! She just cannot believe that when she prayed to God for help for wood for her burner that God sent me with 2 boxes of firelogs for her.

It was really surreal because originally I did not plan to visit her this evening but decided to do so at the last minute. She had a major accident a couple of years ago and has 6 slipped discs and cannot carry heavy loads so even if she could afford to buy the firelogs, she could not carry the box to her car or from her car to the log burner. That was the main reason I decided to buy them for her and deliver them to her up to the log burner! Low and behold, I did not know that my decision was the miracle God gave to her when she prayed for help (as we are still in the middle in winter)! And I am telling you it feels really GREAT(!!!) to know that I brought a miracle to my friend!!! PRAISE THE LORD!

God's Will

2008-07-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in our lives we are bombarded with surprises and shocks that we cannot even think would happen to us! Just beyond our wildest imagination! And this happened to me last week which makes me thankful for what God has blessed me with in the past 40 odd years of my life.

It was really strange but during one of the many Cadbury events I attended with my girl last week, that of all the places I chose to stand, I selected a spot which is opposite to the house of one of my friends that I have not been in contact with for the past 2 years. I do come across her shopping once in a while but not really get together to meet or chat. I found that she has a big change in her living conditions and life in that she was separated from her husband. For the life of me I could not forsee that happening as they were such a happy family together when I last saw them. But circumstances change and when we are forced to make a decision where lots of sacrifices have to be made, it is really hard but I admire her strength and have decided to give her whatever support she may need as a friend.

I never thought that I had to face up to my own opinion on pro-life even though I have heard or read or seen on tv dramas of how people have to make extremely difficult decisions. My friend was drugged and raped and she had no recollection at all until she found that she was pregnant. There was great pressure for her to abort (which she could not do as well as for medical reasons) and was also pressured to give up her baby upon birth. Because of her decision to keep the adorable baby, she was disowned by her own family and was separated from her husband before her baby was born. She had been a homemaker so now she is living on the minimal welfare that she gets. I feel really angry for her that her family abandoned her because of her decision and at the same time grateful to my own family for not abandoning me in my times of need. To top it, she has been harrassed by the baby's father to give him the baby or compensate him with money as he knew that her husband is doing well financially! And to add insult to injury the church she used to go to has also told her she is not welcomed as only one of them can attend so she chose to let her husband continue with his worship as he was one of the elders. Meanwhile she really needs the spiritual help which she is not getting so I hope to support her there. Despite all her 'nightmare' she still believes that GOD is helping her get by day to day. To that I salute her and hope to help her out whereever I can.

I just pray that she will have a light to the end of her black tunnel right now as she struggles to everyday life as well as court cases. I just felt that God has brought me back into her life when she needs help and moral support. It also makes me realize that some of my problems at work are so minor compared to some of the problems my friend is facing!

Cadbury Chocolate Carnival!

2008-07-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

The girls, Winnie, Jo-Ann and Rina, at the bottom of Baldwin Street - World's Steepest Street!

The 'well beaten Jaffas at the finish line!

Just before the finish line!

Half way down the street!

The start with the 'orange wave' coming down Baldwin Street........

For the past 7 years or more, Cadbury in Dunedin has been holding an annual chocolate carnival every July school holidays and this year was no different, except my daughter decided she was going to take part in as many of the free activities as possible! Of course, there's lots of chocolate freebies given out in most of the activities, too! So chocolate overload for the young ones!

We started with going on a Sunday trip to the Royal Albatross Centre at the Otago peninsula, a very nice and scenic drive (unfortunately my girl erased all the photos by mistake the next day!) where we saw several species of sea gulls (alas! no albatross!), a few seals and some black swans and ducks. Then it was onto a treasure hunt in the Otago Musuem which she did with a couple of friends and they enjoyed the hunt very much.

On Monday we went to Baldwin street for the Jaffa race where 30,000 Jaffas were rolled down the world's steepest street. Tickets for each numbered Jaffa were sold for $2 each and over $70K were raised in the 1 -2 minute event! It was quite a site looking at a sea of orange Jaffas rolling down the street! This race is only unique to Cadbury Dunedin which has been doing it for the past 7 years and last year they rolled 20,000 Jaffas but this year it is increased to 10K! Cadbury Dunedin produces about 80% of NZ Cadbury products.

Exploding Pyrex

2008-07-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

I had a scare a couple of days ago. I accidentally left my delicious apple crumble (so said my guests!) on a stove top that was still on! I will always double check from now on! Fortunately no one was nearby when it exploded! Took about an hour to clean up all the mess!!!

Truckers' Protest but petrol price is up 6 cents!

2008-07-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

Despite the nation wide truckers' protest in New Zealand in the main street in 14 major cities and towns on Friday 4th July, the price of petrol is up 6 cents today to $2.19 for 91 Octane!

Since our unemployment rate is still low at 3.6%, the government wants all Kiwis to think that we are still okay! But anyone with a brain can see that price of consumer goods have all gone up and a lot of households are suffering as a result.

Winter Break is here!

2008-07-05T02:10:00.000-07:00

It really is a winter break as it even snowed on our first day off from school! We are having our 2 week well deserved break! The past 3 weeks have been setting exams, marking exams and then writing reports for each and every student we teach including those in our form or tutor group (sort of a pastoral group each teacher is responsible for apart from the subject classes we teach).

So we get the usual, "Thank you for the good report" as well as "You are mean" for those who did not get a glowing report. I think in NZ reports do not always tell the truth about what is happening as we must be very PC (politically correct) about everything so we cannot be too frank but instead have to be a master at creative writing. I learnt quite a few good sentences from more experienced colleagues. My favourite is "So and so communicates very well but often not on the topic in hand" - which means your kid is a chatterbox which cannot be used of course!

At least now I have a well deserved shot break before the next 10 weeks of Term 3!

Prayer Reflection

2008-06-22T03:29:00.000-07:00

Life has been really hectic lately with mid year reports due and also there was the mid year exams so lots of papers to mark and then lots of comments to write. Then my girl had her club championship today so I ended going to Sunday mass in a different parish which cater mostly to the university community. While I was there I say this beautiful poem by Joy Cowley, a very famous author of children's books, in the weekly bulletin which I thought I'll share with you.

The Heart of Stone by Joy Cowley

There are times when I've cried out,

"God, give me back my heart of stone

and a ladder so that I can climb

up to my head and live there

with doors and windows shut on feeling.

God, God. I'm tired of all the hurt.

For a little while, let me live

a second-hand life. Let me tread

the safe path of other people's ideas.

Just let me drop this awesome responsibility

you have given me, to grow

through love and pain."

Then I remember what it's like

to exist with a heart of stone.

How cold and dead I felt inside,

and how divided the world was

when viewed without love in my heart.

Remembering, I poor myself before God

and whisper into His waiting,

"My God, there is no going back.

It has to be a soft heart,

one that is always vulnerable

to love and wounding

which is life,

which is growth,

which is You.

Keep within me, my God

the heart of flesh

Up again!!! This is ridiculous!

2008-06-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

picture from www.raymond.cc

I have not filled up my tank but driving by a petrol station just now, I cannot believe my eyes! Up again in the same week!!!

It now costs $2.13 per litre for 91 Octane!!! How are we going to survive this?!!!

Our fortnightly paycheck is getting smaller with the ever increasing fuel costs! I think soon we will be seeing restaurants closing as if they raise their prices, they will get less customers and the domino effect will be they have to close down if they do not get enough business.

Petrol Price Up AGAIN!!

2008-06-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

Just one day after we got back from Christchurch, price of petrol went UP AGAIN!!!

91 Octane is now $2.07, up 6 cents! Analysts blamed it on the rise of oil price worldwide as well as the Kiwi dollar dropping in value! But the weakening dollar is always good for exporters as they have been suffering for a while with the strong Kiwi dollar.

Industries depending on petrol prices are calling for the government to drop some tax on the petrol. Apparently there are 5 different taxes on petrol plus the GST of 12.5%!

We the consumers are just suffering the consequences as it has a domino effect on the price of everything else!!!

Disney Ice show in Christchurch

2008-06-09T00:29:00.000-07:00

Jo-Ann and Winnie in front of the ice rink stage in Westpac Stadium, Christchurch

'Gabriella and Troy'

Troy and his mates after his winning goal!

We just had a busy weekend with a long drive to Christchurch and back to Dunedin. Normally it takes me about 4 1/2 hours to get to Christchurch but Saturday's trip took about 5 hours due to the sudden snow storm along the way about 2 hours away from Christchurch. It was quite a journey driving from a cloudy sky through to heavy snow in Timaru where everything was literally white as in postcard picturesque scene and then out of the snow when we were about an hour's drive to Christchurch. It also snowed in Christchurch but not enough to stick overnight.

After 24 hours in Christchurch, we drove back and all the snow was gone except for some small patches here and there outside Christchurch. But Boy! I had a hard time holding on to my steering as we had gale force winds along most of the drive back and I could feel the wind trying to push our Rav 4 off the highway! Today, my shoulders are aching from all that stressful holding on to my steering! Jo-Ann did take a picture of the snowstorm but unfortunately she deleted the picture by mistake!

Well, our trip to Christchurch was to watch the Disney on Ice -High School Musical show. The show was well choreographed and the lip sync was impressive, too. As for the skating, my daughter and her skater friend were analysing the jumps after the show and concluded that the male skaters were more impressive with their triple jumps. There were some spins but nothing really outstanding from a skater's point of view. But to them, watching triple jumps was thrilling as there are not many skaters in NZ able to land triples!

Finally! She landed a double salchow!

2008-06-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

This month has been a milestone for my daughter, Jo-Ann. She finally landed a double salchow without the use of a harness. She actually landed one at the beginning of the month, 'lost' it for about 2 weeks, got sick and then landed another one again!!! I was not around to see the first one but did see the second one but did not video tape it so I downloaded one of Nancy Kerrigan's with step to step instruction of a double salchow. It always amazes me how the ice skaters defy gravity and twist their bodies in the air two, three and even quadruple times during their jumps! And if they make a little mistake, it will surely end up with a fall and hopefully not a bad one. Some days skaters can land their jumps with no problems while some days, they keep falling so much so that they had to give up and stop jumping for the day.

How to maximise filling your vehicle with petrol

2008-05-23T03:30:00.000-07:00

I received this in my email today so I thought I will share it with all of you in this day of high petrol/gasoline price!

Tips for filling your vehicles:

Only buy or fill up your car in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Reason: All service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground, the denser the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening .... your litre is not exactly a litre
When you're filling up, do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a Fast Mode. Reason: In slow mode, you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created, while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less for your money.
One of the most important tips is to fill up when your tank is half full. Reason: The more fuel you have in the tank, the less air occupying the empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.
If there is a fuel tanker pumping into the storage tanks, when you stop to buy, do not fill up. Reason: Most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Compiled by Ramesh Patel and edited by yours truly.

Price of Gasoline is UP AGAIN!!!

2008-05-23T03:14:00.000-07:00

This is getting ridiculous!!! I had to put petrol in my car today and had a chat with the station attendant and she said she thought her customers were going to lynch her yesterday when the price went up to $2.01 per litre! Apparently some of her customers knew the price was going up before she knew it was going up!

To top it that, the New Zealand Labour government came up with the annual budget presentation informing the public that there will be a personal tax cut for us this coming October. However, the media is calling it 'a family block of cheese' for us! Why?! Because it ranges from NZ$16 - NZ$22 per week. So guess which one am I getting? Yeah the lower one of course! Sigh....... Critics say it is just a last ditch effort to gain some votes with the upcoming election where the National party has been predicted to win in these times of high inflation and high interest rates! To me, the $16 will just cover the price of petrol increase in the past year!

Price of Oil is up again!!!

2008-05-20T01:03:00.000-07:00

picture courtesy of www.cartoonstock.com

With the price of oil constantly going up, nowadays, even the radio stations are into it! How you may ask? Well, listeners who spot a sudden increase in price will call in and everyone will be rushing around to hopefully find a station that has not up its price yet!

It is now $1.97 for 91 unleaded on Monday 19 May 2008!

I think people are now just waiting for the price to hit $2 as the price of everything else is steadily increasing as the price of oil increases! And the current Labour government says they are not reducing personal taxes. Whatever increase in salary or wages one gets will be eaten up by inflation caused by the ever increasing oil price!

Also, a few more big companies are closing plants or factories creating redundancies! Crime rate is also on the increase with more jobs lost and less money to go around! New Zealand is definitely in depression right now>......

Gifts from GOD - see awesome video!

2008-05-15T01:25:00.000-07:00

Most of us always take for granted of our normal body by finding all sorts of superficial imperfections which on the whole does not matter compared with people who are missing some parts of their body! If you watch the following video, you will be awestruck with how these two Chinese dancers overcame their handicaps and performed such a fantastic and wonderful performance and it does give a new meaning to perseverance!

I was mesmerised while I watched how they substituted and make do despite missing a limb so much so that I do not even see anything lacking at how they danced. At the same time, it strucked me of how God have blessed them with such gifts to make up for the missing limbs.

A big THANK YOU to my friend, Azlina, for sharing this video that I am more than happy to share with all of you.......

Ecclesiasticus - The Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach

2008-05-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

Growing up in a catholic family and in an all girls' catholic school I was really not exposed to the Old Testament as much as the New Testament. But in the last few years, I have begun to appreciate the Bible more and I find that the book of Ecclesiasicus or Sirach is so applicable to every day life. This book as I was told is found in the Catholic Bible so if you have not read one, I am sharing with you and how I parallel it to everyday life.

Sirach 1: 1-10 In Praise of Wisdom

All wisdom is from the Lord,

and with him it remains

forever.

The sand of the sea, the drops of

rain,

and the days of eternity - who

can count them?

The height of heaven, the

breadth of the earth,

the abyss, and wisdom

- who can search them

out?

Wisdom was created before all

other things,

and prudent understanding

from eternity.

The root of wisdom - to whom

has it been revealed?

Her subtleties - who knows

them?

There is but one who is wise,

greatly to be feared,

seated upon his throne - the

Lord.

It is he who created her;

he saw her and took her

measure;

he poured her out upon all his

works,

upon all the living according to

his gift;

he lavished her upon those

who love him.

We are always told that people who are old are usually very wise because they have seen it all and experienced it all! But I totally agree that what wisdom we have is from God and that God can grant wisdom on anyone who believes in the Lord. For example, you can view this video of this 8 year old preacher boy from Indonesia. I strongly believe that he was given the wisdom and gift from God to preach the Word at such a young age and he talks with such wisdom about the problems of Indonesia. Click here to view the video and judge for yourself how such a young child can have such wisdom if not from God!

Modern Excuses for Not Doing Homework!

2008-05-09T02:25:00.000-07:00

photo courtesy of www.uiowa.com

A few of my colleagues and I were thinking about all the excuses students come up with when asked why they cannot hand in their homework. The old excuse of "My dog ate my homework!" has hardly ever come up if any at all!

Here are some of the excuses given by Kiwi kids these days:

I had a big game last night!
I had to work last night!
I was at my Dad's/Mum's last night so did not have my books with me!
I had an accident and all my books got wet/really disgusting!
Oh! I forgot! I did it honestly! I left it on my desk and forgot to put it in my bag!

And finally, the straight forward and honest but lazy answer(!!)

I couldn't do any of it!

I am sure some other teachers have more creative answers, too!

How much does your child assimilate what they are taught?

2008-05-09T02:06:00.000-07:00

I was supervising one of my classes during their internal assessment when one boy put his hand up. I walked to him to see what he wanted and he pointed to a table and one of the columns with the title "Calorie intake" and asked me what the word 'calorie' meant. I tried my best to explain to him but at the same time wondered what he had been taught in his Physical Education and Health classes. Then he went on and asked me what the word 'urban population' meant and I told him (wondering what he had learnt in Social Studies). Finally, before I could walk away, he asked me again and pointed to a column 'literacy rate' and asked me what it meant! This time I was wondering he really needs help and told him it meant read and write! He goes," Ohhh.. "and some of his classmates around him burst into laughter!" I was really not sure if he was trying to entertain his classmates in an assessment or he really did not know at all!!! We are talking about a boy around 15 - 16 years old here......

It just goes to prove that what teachers always say is true, i.e., 'One ear in and one ear out!'

It is always so gratifying when a student you have taught from the previous year or years who comes to you and said,'Oh yes! I remember you taught us that last year!'

Figure Skating Camp

2008-05-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

End of dance classes with their dance teacher

With their two Russian coaches, Fanis and Maryna

Well, Jo-Ann has completed her 5 days figure skating training camp in Queenstown. She also met up with some of her friends and made new ones in the process. I think it will be more fun for her next time she goes to competition as she knows her competitors as well as their capabilities.

Their camps included 4 - 4 1/2 hours of skating everyday, a hour of dance, and hour of technical class and an hour of off ice training! Very intense of full of calories burning everyday! Now she is winding down with lots of sleep and also eating junk food! Not allowed at camp, of course!

Next skating event, club championships next month......

Giant Pumpkins!

2008-05-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

Giant pumpkins at Millers Flat

Lots of giant pumpkins!

The 204 kg NZ record size pumpkin!!!

On my drive out to Queenstown, I passed this shop which caught my eye and I thought I'd stop on the way back to take some pictures.

I found out that it is a shop selling pumpkins including giant pumpkins and decorative gourds. Thought I'll share some of the photos with you including that of the biggest pumpkin in New Zealand, all 204 kg of it!!!

Found that these pumpkins are not for eating but restaurants purchase them for decoration over the winter months. The unsold pumpkins will be fed to the sheep later on. These pumpkins were planted in November last year and harvested about this time of the year.

We did not buy any pumpkins but bought some apples and walnuts instead. Jo-Ann had a fun time cracking and eating walnuts yesterday and today!

Winter comes early this year!

2008-05-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

A really beautiful rainbow on the way into Dunedin.....

Snowing as we drove from Alexandra to Millers Flat

Friday 2 May morning looking at downtown Queenstown to your left

Picture taken on Friday differs from that on Wednesday, see previous post...more snow covering the mountains in the background

Well.. we are back in Dunedin but what a drive back. It started snowing at the lower levels on Friday morning and was still snowing on our drive back for about 2/3 of the way until about one hour from Dunedin where it started to rain as well as raining hailstones.

We are supposed to be in autumn but it looks like winter is here early this year! Our winter months are supposed to be June, July and August! Looks like we are going to have a long and cold one, too! We had a nice long summer, too! Oh well.....

It did snow last night in Queenstown!

2008-04-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

View from the garden of backpackers on Wednesday, 30th April, 2008

We were told that it was going to snow last night (we are in the middle of autumn season now) but we only got poured buckets early this morning! But surprise! Looking at the hills beyond it did snow up top as you see a sprinkling of snow on the peaks but none on the ground though. Yesterday there was no snow on the peaks at all........The ever changing weather in New Zealand! Of course, a lot of people blames the climate change for the unpredictable weather...

Living in a Backpacker hostel!

2008-04-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

And I really mean living in one unlike just passing through! I just found out last night that a lot of the people in the backpacker hostel I am in are actually living in it for several months or more or even a year or so! Why? There is just no cheap rental accommodation for these young people who came to NZ on a one or 2 year work and holiday visa so they live in a backpackers where they rent a bed for about $26 per night with free utilities and also free wireless internet and kitchen with all the utensils and all the other things in a normal kitchen. I saw one guy making pizza last night. Most of the people come from Ireland, Great Britain, Europe and South America and most are waiting for the winter ski season where there will be more jobs. Most of them like to stay in Queenstown where an American described to me as very similar to Colorado where he originates from.

I can never live like they do i.e. share everything with everyone and put up with everyone. I hear interesting snippets of conversations where they look for jobs as well as any possible rental accommodation coming up. They probably can do better elsewhere but they just want to stay around Queenstown where everything is expensive as most properties here start from at least half a million NZ dollars. This is the first time I learnt that people actually live in backpackers!

Queenstown Skyline Gondola

2008-04-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

It is always nice to wonder around downtown Queenstown when we have such a nice and beautiful day. Above is a view of the Skyline Gondola or cable car ride, just a little off from downtown and you can ride back down or luge your way back down.

Views from our accommodation...

2008-04-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

View from the balcony of Jo-Ann's room at skating camp

View from the garden of Deco backpackers with downtown Queenstown on your left

Continuing view (my simple camera cannot do panoramic view!) from the above

Thought I'll share with you the beautiful scenery we see from my daughter's motel room and from the garden of my backpackers. The view from my window is too depressing so I am not even bothered with taking a picture of it!

Friends are precious treasures!

2008-04-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Jo-Ann and Abbey - long distanced friends

I have always considered myself lucky to have a whole lot of close girlfriends from my schoolgirl days in an all girls' catholic school. I hope my daughter will also get to have such friends, too, but I feel guilty as because of my changes in life and career, she had to go to 3 primary schools and now I hope that she can go through her intermediate and high school in the same school for the rest of her school days.

But having said that, last year in one of her figure skating competitions, she met a little girl in Christchurch, whose parents had recently immigrated from Scotland. They hit it off and got along great immediately! It was really interesting for me to watch their part time friendship as we live about 4 1/2 hr drive apart. Today they met again and are rooming together at her skating camp. They are just so happy and excited to meet up again and will probably do so again in for another 2 more competitions in 2 different towns in the next few months. It is just really fun to follow their relationship through texting and phone calls. I think part of the reason they get on so well is because my daughter is bossy but her friend Abbey will follow her lead so that friendship works out really well! I hope she will keep up this skating friendship into the future........

Memorable sign from the past!

2008-04-27T00:54:00.000-07:00

On our drive into Lawrence, over 2 years ago, we pass the above sign which caught out eyes and we had always wanted to take a photo of it! We finally did today! We think it is 50 cents a bag!

Is horse poo very good manure????

Dunedin to Queenstown - Part 2

2008-04-27T00:40:00.000-07:00

The air was so still that Lake Dunstan was like a mirror! Awesome sight!

We came upon Cromwell and just as we cross Lake Dunstan, it was quite a sight from the Lookout point just before we cross the bridge. The whole lake was like a mirror. Our photo did not show this as clearly but it was a really pretty sight!

From Cromwell we drove on and past numerous wineries in the Gibbston valley area (Central Otago is fast developing into an up and coming vineyard area). Then we drove past the turnoff to another historic gold mining town called Arrowtown. Then finally got to Queenstown and we started to look for my daughter's motel where they are based for the 5 days 5 nights camp.

I off loaded her and her baggage and then head off to my own backpackers for my stay in Queenstown! Yeah, she gets the nice place to stay and I'm on a budget!!!

The long drive though very scenic was a bit overcast with light showers along the way.

Journey to Queenstown from Dunedin

2008-04-27T00:16:00.000-07:00

Clyde Dam located between Alexandra and Cromwell

Looking back at Clyde Dam from the rest stop

We left Dunedin at 12.15 pm today and arrived just before 4 pm after a few quick photo stops. We drove through Milton and then through the historic town of Lawrence, an old gold rush town started in 1861.

From Lawrence we continued pass the orchards and nurseries in Central Otago. It was quite a sight seeing red apples hanging on the trees. I did not have any photo of them as my photographer (my 11 year old girl) was taking a nap! Then we drove through Roxburgh and onto Alexandra and then pass along the scenic Clyde Dam. My photographer woke up just before Alexandra and we stopped for some photos along the dam.

Continue next post.......

Free Rice!

2008-04-26T00:51:00.000-07:00

We just found out a website called Free Rice. What it does is let children improve on their vocabulary and at the same time for every question the player gets correct, 10 grain of rice is donated to a poor undeveloped country where the children are fed with the rice the player wins.

My daughter was really happy to find that she can win rice for some poor African children somewhere else in the world. It is a good way to teach children how lucky they are and what they can do to help out other deprived children in poor countries.

The website is created by World Food Program to help feed hungry people in the world. So get your kids to play and improve on their vocab at the same time.

FreeRice has two goals:

Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

My daughter's artistic talent!

2008-04-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Aerial view of Jo-Ann's painted pottery

A couple of Jo-Ann's favourite pots done when she was 9 years old

Jo-Ann's indian ink print of The Palm Beach

Jo-Ann's oil painting of The Green Eye

From time to time, my daughter surprises me with her paintings and the above is an oil painting she did in school when she was 9 years old! This picture of an eye blew me away and I still cannot believe she did it 99% by herself! Her teacher did a little of the yellow colour and the rest is all hers!

I was also told that her pottery using the potter's wheel was the best amongst those in her age group so much so that she was also helping her busy art tutor teach some younger beginners' on the wheel and this was also when she was about 9 years old. Currently she has stopped going to her art tutor but told me that her current art teacher in school gave her Excellence in her shading method. Well.... she did not get her artistic talent from me! I can hardly draw although I appreciate paintings very much and have collected a few paintings! I blame it on my poor art classes when I was in school! Now I do encourage or give my girl all the advantages she can have if she shows any interest in art which included art classes after school which she did so for a couple of years!

I am no art critic but I welcome any commentt from any of you bloggers who are artists, too!

Price of Oil is up again!

2008-04-23T03:50:00.000-07:00

picture courtesy of www.mrdowling.com

Price of oil is up 3 cents again making 91 Octane at NZ$1.89 per litre and over $2 for top grade gasoline!

So we can expect another price hike in everything now! And I also have to drive to Queenstown this Sunday to send my girl to her figure skating camp being held there! Wonder how much that trip will cost me now...... It is roughly about 270 km away through windy mountain roads and I drive a Toyota Rav 4.

Oh well... we just have to suffer the high price of oil!

Tasty Spare Ribs

2008-04-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

Baked honey glazed spare ribs

Marinate for at least one hour before cooking

Living overseas meant that I always end up experimenting with the ingredients I have to work with and some dishes turned out better than others! I am also a great believer of sauces as if the basic fresh ingredients are unavailable or too expensive, then make do with the cheaper alternative!

Here's one easy (and very popular dish with my friends) dish if you can find the sauces in your hometown....

GRILLED/BAKED SPARE RIBS

Ingredients:

600 - 700 grams of spare ribs (about 5 pieces; chopped up if desired)
1 tablespoon of Hoi sin sauce *
2 tablespoon of Char Siu sauce *
Honey for brushing

* I like to use Lee Kum Kee's sauces and I can get them easily in Kiwi supermarkets

Directions:

Marinate the ribs with the two sauces at least for one hour before cooking.

You have a choice of baking (if you have the time) or grilling (if you do not). I baked the above lot at 180 deg preheated oven for 20 minutes and then turning it over and baked the other side for another 10 minutes or so. I brushed honey (NZ has so many variety of wonderful honey) 5 minutes before I serve the ribs.

If you decide to grill, watch out that you do not burn the ribs.

Optional: If you like to make a sauce to pour over the ribs, collect the liquid from the baking tray and stir in a teaspoon of cornflour to thicken the sauce and heat for 20 seconds in the microwave. My daughter loves the sauce on her steamed rice!

Enjoy!

The Big R is here!

2008-04-18T01:05:00.000-07:00

picture source

Kiwi economists have been skimming around the edges but let's face it! Manufacturers and banks laying off staff and moving production overseas because of the strong Kiwi dollars has hurt the exporters while importers are making the big bucks! Recession is here!

Yesterday ANZ bank announced a big layoff (430) to move some operations off shore. And in Dunedin Fisher and Paykel, a Kiwi icon in whiteware announced that the factory will shut down in the next 6 - 12 months' time moving operations to Mexico, Thailand and Italy where cost of living is lower. Then a wool factory also announced closing down in July, too. For Dunedin, with a population of less than 120,000 of which about 30,000 are from the University of Otago, there will be quite an effect on all the support services so experts put the figure as closer to 2000 jobs will be affected. Fronterra is also shutting down their cheese production (more lay offs) in the North Island and concentrating on milk powder products instead.

With high interest rate, prices of houses had started falling this year, some places more so than others. Prices of food has risen steadily as price of 91 octane petrol is at $1.86 per litre today!

Every week some company is closing shop, some with notice and some without. We're are suffering and in great pain with all this recession! All this was brought down by the artificially inflated Kiwi dollar!

Demanding Parents!

2008-04-12T03:07:00.000-07:00

When I went to school, my parents never got involved in any of the discipline that was dished out by the school. Not that I ever got into trouble back then. The worst that ever happened to me was I got hit on the side of my head with a book by a male teacher when I was too slow to stand up to greet him at the beginning of the class. I was just finishing up writing a sentence from the previous period. And if we cannot answer a question, we had to stand up until the teacher deemed time for us to sit down again. The only time my parents hear from my teacher was in the report card written by my form teacher. They did not interfere with what happens in school.

Nowadays, we have to write about every student we teach, then see the parents at least twice a year as well as keep in touch with any problems or issues. Students also play the 'I don't understand the teacher' card with me as I do not speak the kiwi accent as I have more of an American accent after living in US for 5 years and working for an American corporation for almost 8 years! In between I also worked for British and Australian companies! My accent is not something I can change but I try to pronounce the Kiwi way with some particular words!

Fellow teachers sympathize with me and even English, Scottish and South African teachers share similar problems, too.

Do not get me wrong! There are some really wonderful and supportive parents but there are some really demanding ones who can even come out as bullies! I mean what do they want?!! There are lots of times when we feel that we are underpaid baby sitters! If a student is truant, we have to chase up to see where they are and then to figure out their alibis! Then we have to call home with the bad news! A lot of what a student older than 16 years do are not known to their parents as under the law, we cannot tell their parents unless it is life threatening!

Nowadays, teaching is not just a job! You are a role model as well! My best satisfaction is when a student does well in some subject if not all of them. We always tell a student who talks too much that they will make a good lawyer! They find it very complimenting but we are actually a little sarcastic but usually they hardly figure that one out!

I know I have a lot of influence on the kids but parents also have to take the responsibility as well! If their children ask for help in any subject, they need to remember never to reply, "I don't know! I'm never good at it!" This negative reply will give their children the impression that it really does not matter because their parents got through life without knowing much so why should they bother?! So actually they are not setting a good example already! Then they expect their children to do well in that particular subject!!!

Low Fat Milk......

2008-04-08T01:46:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me this little video and I thought all low fat milk drinkers will love it!

Cheats - Why do students do it?

2008-04-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

picture source

Every year I come across students who cheat in tests or exams. I always have to supervise them with two eagle's eyes, not one! And still some manage to slip pass me! I usually found them out when I marked their papers. Students who copy others always copies everything including every incorrect working and answers! If you do not catch them red handed, it is sometimes up to you to prove to senior management that you think a student copied in the test or exam. Most times, it is not worth the time and effort so some smart alec student got lucky! But sooner or later it will come back to bite them!

Why do they cheat?!

Desperate to pass? Too lazy to study? The most recent excuse - no retention! I think it all starts with copying answers from friends or from the back of the textbook! All these unwise actions normally lead to failure in tests and exams! I always tell my students that if they copy the answers, they are only cheating on themselves and not me! They are the ones sitting for the exams, not me! They are supposed to ask if they do not know how to do the questions and not just take the easy way out and copy answers!

I think that if students cheat in schools and do not get penalised they will go on to their adult lives thinking it is okay to cheat. They will probably be the ones who copies others' ideas and gets sued, etc.... I know it sounds harsh but that is how life is! Once you do something wrong and you get away with it, you will always be tempted to do it again until you get caught!

Kiwi Teenager linked to International Cyber Crime

2008-04-02T00:11:00.000-07:00

Wow! A teenager confessed to a international cyber crime that stunned investigators because of the sophiscated nature! This self taught 18 year old was home schooled and has aspergers. He was the mastermind of botnet, a software that infected a million computers and caused million of dollars of damage.

To read the details of this incredibly talented young man, go here.

Who knows? You may have been one of his victims if you had Adware in your computer!

Trouble Teens

2008-04-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

Picture courtesy of www.blueflamepolitix.org

Recently in Dunedin, two schools encountered 'Wake-up call' problems that prompted the police to ensure that all schools in the Dunedin area are ready for any emergencies.

According to the Otago Daily Times, a school boy was heading to his high school and he met a woman on his way and told her that he was bringing a gun to school! She was alarmed and so alerted the police who in turn alerted the equivalent of 'swat' team in New Zealand. On searching they did find a toy gun!

On the same day, in a primary school, teachers had to disarm an angry boy with a kitchen knife!

And this is in slow and peaceful Dunedin! I think these are the result of too much influence from watching too much violence on tv!

April Fools

2008-04-01T01:41:00.000-07:00

photo courtesy of www.istockphoto.com

Well, I survive today without getting tricked! Actually 2 of my 4 classes today have their internal assessments so there was no time for jokes on the teacher! Phew! What a relief!

But my girl told me they did trick one of their teachers by moving the classroom clock forward! Quite a good trick for 10 - 12 year olds, I must admit! Luckily for them, their teacher took it in good humour and they still had a good period!

Well, my students would not be able to play that trick on me as I depend on my own watch as I do not have a clock in my classroom because some immature idiot will always steal the single battery it needs to run! Sigh!

Our school website got hacked today!

2008-04-01T01:27:00.000-07:00

Well, our school website got hacked today! The funny thing was that the hacker made sure we knew that he or she got in as in our homepage there is a photo of our principal. Well, he was spinning around for a while, his pic, that is!

We doubt we will know who did it but if it was a student (we hope not!), imagine all the test papers and answers they can get their hands on! I guess we can figure it out as maybe suddenly we see great improvement in test results where we do not expect any!

A bunch of us teachers saw the hacker's humour (must be an April Fool) and our webmaster quickly corrected it at the end of school day today!

Socials

2008-03-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

picture source

My 11 year old girl went to her first social last night, and Yes! they have it on a school night! It lasted from 7.30 to 10 pm. The social was held at an all boys school which invited 2 all girls school to attend at $5 per head. It is only restricted to Years 7 and 8 students so ages may range from 10 years to 13 years old. I was a bit apprehensive to let her go but of course, all her girlfriends are going so she wants to go! I found out from my colleague who has a girl going to the same school that it is well supervised so I have nothing to worry about! My reluctance was also that 11 years is too early an age to socialise with boys!

So last night I sent her and her good friend (whose parents were too busy to send her at the stated times) before 7.30pm. All girls are told that they are not allowed to wear pants or too short skirts! They were really excited to go and I dropped them off at the boys school. At about 9.40pm, I went to pick them up. I went past 2 older boys seated on guard on two chairs at the entrance. I found out later that they were on duty preventing the younger ones from leaving the building! Actually both my girl and her friend complained endlessly all the way home about how they were not allowed out of the stuffy hall to get some fresh air.

On the way home, it was quite amusing when my girl told me the fierce look she gave the boys so no one dared to approach her while her friend had 3 requests to dance with boys but she said,"No!" I laughed at them and told them they should have let the poor boys down softly like, "No, thank you." Then they chatted about whether they would dance with the boys next year!

It finally dawned on me that the girls wanted to go more out of curiosity rather than to meet up boys! They were also anxious to meet up with their ex-classmates who went on to the other girls' school! They had practically no interest in the boys at all! Phew!! Hope this continues for a few more years...........

Well, this is the New Zealand way of life for the young school children, socials, that is, but usually well chaperoned by parents and teachers, too!

Teenagers' Faith in God

2008-03-23T01:54:00.000-07:00

My parish - St. Joseph's Cathedral in Dunedin, New Zealand

My daughter has just participated in her first full Easter celebrations by altar serving in the Wednesday's Chrism mass, the Good Friday's mass and Easter Sunday today. She is always eager to serve as I think it is a novelty for the children her age. These days the altar servers are between 10 and 13 years old as the teenagers probably see it as not cool to be an altar server once they get older. Also, the number of teenagers going to church with their parents has dwindled through the years.

This is one of the laments of the church and almost every religious education teacher you talk to. A lot of teenagers would rebel and frankly tell their teachers how they hated their RE classes and as they grow older they always try all sorts of ways to escape these classes including truancy! The church is very aware how they loose a lot of teenagers as they struggle with all the problems of growing up into adults. Then when they start to have families, some will come back to the church if they want their children to grow up having God and embracing God in their lives.

Here in New Zealand, all Catholic schools and also Christian schools are all integrated in that the school buildings belong to the church but the teachers' salaries are paid by the government. Because of these reasons, only 5% of the students can be other than preferred students in that one parent or even grandparent in some cases is Catholic. International students are not in the head count as they pay full fees and thus no connection with the ministry of education.

No one seems to know the solution to get teenagers to be interested in their faith and I guess it is always easy to blame God when things are against you and then drift away as they cannot reason as 'where is God when bad things happen to them!'

I know all I can do is pray for my students in that they will accept God and have faith in Him!

Teenage Freedom

2008-03-22T02:16:00.000-07:00

In New Zealand, the 'freedom' age is 16 years old. They are allowed to leave school or home and parents have not much control over that as the law allows them to do so. Most school principals would also try to get rid of challenging students once they reach 16!

When I first started teaching in here, one of the hardest thing for me was to keep anything a student tells you in confidence as secret. We only passed information on if we think what they tell us may endanger their lives. Otherwise it is zipped up! I really feel sorry for parents who are in the dark about the actions of their children because once they reach 16, we cannot pass on any info if our students say their parents do not know what they are doing. The NZ privacy law really should not in my opinion be for young people until at least they are 18 or 21 years old! And they wonder why the teenage suicide rate is one of the highest in the industrialized nations.

Most of my fellow teachers would agree with me that we really do not want to know their students' private lives especially their sex lives but sometimes students are very open and they would tell all and sundry what is going on with their lives or their friends' lives. Once you know, you are somehow obliged if something happens sometime in the future. So I would rather not know if my integrity is at stake. But somehow it will not happen that way because to get your students' respect, you have to bond with them and that would mean you have to share your life and they will share theirs with you and some have quite miserable backgrounds, too.

In the long run I always console myself with the successful students who have left school and lead good and useful lives rather than think about the number of funerals I have attended since coming to New Zealand.....

Easter Celebrations

2008-03-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

courtesy of wikimedia.org

As we are in the Holy Week, we have been busy with my daughter taking part in altar serving for the Chrism Mass and also for Good Friday. As we approach Easter, stores are offering Easter eggs galore as well as bunnies, too. However, from the Catholic point of view, eggs signify new birth and thus we are not allowed to eat any until Easter Sunday. Also our Director of Religious Studies always stressed to all of us teachers that we are NOT ALLOWED to give out Easter eggs until next week when school starts back on Wednesday! Here in New Zealand, we get a 5 day Easter break starting from Good Friday.

I just learnt recently this past Tuesday also known as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday, a tradition when all pantries are cleared in preparation for fasting on Good Friday so leftover flour are made into pancakes and there were lots of pancake tossing competition in many parts of the Western world. It is quite a sight seeing priests take part in pancake tossing and running competition and some parts of the world it is done inside churches and cathedrals, too!

There is a current fight in New Zealand between retailers and church organizations on Easter working days. Only retailers associated with the tourist industries are allowed to open and restaurants and fast food places can open but some charge extra to cover the wage cost over opening on public holidays.

Here's wishing all you fellow bloggers a very Happy and Blessed Easter 2008! It will be another 152 years before we have Easter this early in the year again!

Gold Price Yesterday - $1000

2008-03-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

The largest gold nugget found at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia in 1869 was called the "Welcome Stranger" weighing in at 72.04 kg : above picture was a piece of 210 lb which was broken into 3 pieces so that they could be weighed. (source)

Gold bars (source)

Gold nugget (source)

Today I was teaching my 15 - 16 year olds about density and we calculated the density of gold and I thought I'll drop in the price of gold per oz. We only teach the metric system in New Zealand so almost all the students have no idea about the Imperial system. So it was a good place to slip in some conversion to them.

So I told them that the gold price was $US1000 per oz yesterday. Then I told them that 16 oz make 1 lb and that 2.2 lb make 1 kg. So what does 1kg of gold cost? To my pleasant surprise the naughtiest boy in class actually calculated in his head and told me that 1 lb of gold cost $16000. Then I asked him how about 1 kg? He estimated and told me about $34000. Another student calculated on his calculator and showed me the answer at $35200. And I told them that is how much a 1kg gold bar is worth now. We then went on to discuss about money based on gold reserves and how Asians like to buy gold as investment. It was quite fun for me as I got to share my work experience with them on the days when I was exploring for gold.

One student also asked me what is the biggest nugget ever found so which made me decided to look up so see above picture. The biggest nugget I have ever seen and touched was in Kalimantan, Indonesia in a gold smith shop which was over 200g (cannot remember exactly how much as it was about 20 years ago!). Even then I can just imagine the gold miner who found it in the river when he or she saw it! Must have been ecstatic!

Curry Puff - part 2.

2008-03-15T02:31:00.001-07:00

Using the side of your thumb, fold and press down.

All brushed with egg and ready to go into the oven.

I cannot get all my pics on a single post so hence the continuity.....

Pastry

1. Roll out the pastry and using a round mould cut up round pieces.

2. Put the filling into the centre and fold into half. Press the dough together until they are blended or they will open up in baking and leak out.

3. Using the side of your thumb, fold in and press firmly to get the traditional curry puff pattern.

4. Another option is put in a little pie tin.

5. Brush with beaten egg to give it a nice shine.

6. Bake according to the frozen pastry recommended temperature. Remove when curry puffs are a little brown. Serve warm.

Hope this will satisfy fans of my curry puffs! ENJOY!

Curry Puffs - Yummy!

2008-03-15T01:59:00.001-07:00

The main ingredients: mince beef, diced potatoes, diced onions, frozen savoury pastry and curry powder

Cooked curry beef with potatoes and onions

As a busy single mother, I opted for frozen pastry as they are handy and saves me time from making the dough up, too.

Ingredients for Filling:

350 g of minced beef

2 medium to small potatoes - diced

1 small onion - diced

2 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup (optional)

1 teaspoon sugar

salt to own taste ( some like it more saltier than others - potatoes absorb salt, too)

2 tablespoon cooking oil

1. Heat the oil and fry the onions for a minute.

2. Add in the mince beef and curry powder and ketchup and fry until the meat is cooked.

3. Add in the potatoes and fry for another 3 - 4 minutes.

4. Then add in the salt and sugar a minute before you turn off the heat.

Set filling aside to cool and start rolling out the dough.

Continue with next post!

Cake decorating

2008-03-15T01:44:00.000-07:00

I have close to nil skills in cake decorating but my daughter's school have their annual fund raising fair today and she wanted to take part in the cake decorating competition. This is her first year at the intermediate and high school so we do not know the standards. Although she did not win anything, I thought her idea of joining the mini marshmellows was quite creative so I told her I'd put it in my blog. We were lucky to get the mini Easter eggs, too.

The competition was tough and there were some good looking cakes but a lot of them were just sugar overload! Nice to look at but probably a nightmare to parents with young children! My girl's was okay as marshmellow has less sugar and fat! There was a silent auction afterwards and I bet most parents just buy their own cakes! I did not as we are not big cake eaters so it was fun to watch as there were a few bidders and the last bid for my girl's cake was only $4.50!

It was about the cost of the pre-mix cake I bought! Yes, I cheated and could not be bothered about baking a cake from scratch! I make muffins from scratch though!

Memorable minute from the past

2008-03-08T00:32:00.000-08:00

Whenever I look at this photo, it always bring back wonderful memories of my encounter with these two enterprising young girls in Vietnam. They told us they had finished school for the day and they sell postcards to make some pocket money and at the same time improve on their English. They were always smiling and we had a good time chatting with them as they did not really push us to buy the postcards but rather enjoyed talking to us so much so that we felt obliged to give them some business in the end. They were a breathe of fresh air after the few times that we were surrounded by beggars in a some of the places we stopped.

Children who do without

2008-03-08T00:10:00.000-08:00

One of the positive things I like about New Zealand is that there are no orphanages or institutions for children left on their own for personal or tragic circumstances. All children are fostered out to families who want to take up the challenge of loving these children. Even in schools we are always reminded of children who are living with caregivers and not their own parents.

When I visited Vietnam in the mid- 90s with my friends, we came across this little boy who was left at the monastery. Unlike the other boys at the monastery who were entertained by our tour guide, he refused to socialize with us but we managed to take this side picture of him (see above photo) and looking at his photo again reminds me of how some children are so lucky in life while others go through life with minimum everything.........

Another Baby Miracle!

2008-03-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

As I had mentioned in my old post, I always pray for my friends who wanted to have babies but encountered a lot of challenges along the way. And my close friend Betty and her husband Michael are no different. They have been trying for years and had lots of disappointed but God have finally granted them twins, a boy and a girl! Wow! Above is the photo of the happy parents with their bundles of joy! CONGRATS to both of you Betty and Michael and may God shower you blessings with your journey as parents! Finally!

Leap Year

2008-02-29T00:26:00.000-08:00

Picture courtesy of edubuzz.org

I have been enlightening my daughter about the leap year and about how it happens every 4 years. When I teach time to my students, it is always easy to remind them that the Summer Olympics always fall on leap years. My girl also learnt from watching the news that February 29 is the only day that women can proposed to their men! She asked,"Why is that?" I then tell her that traditionally men proposed to women but on this day it is okay for women to pop the question instead!

How well do you know your teenager?

2008-02-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of www.buycostumes.com

Every year I come across parents who have no idea who their children are outside of their home. They believe everything their children tell them and when they find out about their teenagers from their teachers, you can see the stunned and disbelieve looks on their face when you tell them what you see. Some refused to believe the teachers and even accused the teachers of victimizing their children!

This week had been no difference when I had to deal with challenging students and am so mentally and physically exhausted! Parents who believe that teachers are out to find fault in their kids are not living in the real world! We have enough and better things to do then to call home about unacceptable behaviour in our classes! We are bogged down with extra administrative work apart from classroom teaching to waste our time making up stories and trying to reach parents over the phone or by email. In New Zealand, all teachers are entitled to 5 free periods a week and it is so frustrating when we have to waste our free hour away calling home when we could be finding challenging material for talented students! Also there is paperwork or computer involved for all incidents inside and outside the classroom within the school hours.

I have a pre-teen myself and I always encouraged her from her early school years to tell me what her day in school have been like. I can only hope that I know her behaviour at home and in school into her teenage years, too.

So if you are a parent of a teenager, REMEMBER! Their teachers would not contact you unless it is really necessary because their time is limited and if you have to teach over 1oo students a day , they do not have the luxury to make up stories in their free time! Your child must have pulled the wool over your eyes all this while if you think your 'angel' cannot be the 'rat bag' the teacher is describing to you!

God comes through!

2008-02-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before I will share with my fellow bloggers the miracles God has granted me in the past. Here goes a major miracle!

A few years ago, I was getting ready to go back to Malaysia for our first visit since we left over 3 years ago. I got both our passports together and decided to take a look at my custody papers when I saw a piece of paper which said that my daughter is not allowed to leave NZ! At the time that I got my custody, I did not bother to think twice but this time at 3.45pm on a Friday, I decided to call my lawyer in Hamilton where the custody was finalized, on the matter. He confirmed my fears and that I cannot bring my daughter out tomorrow. He also told me he was too busy to talk further with me as he had to prepare for his court appearance the next day. The only help he gave me was a phone number for Interpol in Wellington and a name to contact.

By the time I called Interpol(my previous experience with Interpol was what I see in movies!) and tried to look for the person I was given, it was closed to 4 pm. To my dismay, he has left for the day. The person who answered my phone call must have sensed my stress and asked if he could help. I told him my situation and he confirmed that my girl's name is in the system and that I could not bring her out of NZ! I was getting desperate so I told him that maybe I could just pretend I did not know and go anyways! I told him that and he said, "You'll be breaking the law! They will stop you at immigration. Then he told me that there may be hope for me yet if I can get a family lawyer and try to lift the order temporary and then do a permanent one when I get back. I thanked him for his suggestion and rang off.

I felt like crying then and pulled myself together and told myself that when has God never come through for me at times of need? So I pulled out the yellow pages and look for a family lawyer.
I found a female one and tried. She has already gone home. Then I tried the next on the list and I managed to talk to her about my situation, She was very calm and said she could file it tomorrow for me but first I have to get a consent fax from her father to lift the order and then if I have a means of receiving a fax in Auckland (where I catch my Malaysian flight) just in case the computer is too slow to catch up on the temporary discharge. Then to come to her office asap after that.

This was about 4.30pm then! I called up my daughter's father in Malaysia and told him to get a faxed letter sent to me to my lawyer's office immediately or he would not get to see his daughter in the next day or so. Then I called my friend in Auckland who happened to have a fax machine at home and asked for her help. She would be glad to help and I was to meet her at the airport for me to get the faxed discharge.

I then rushed to my lawyer's office and the moment I met her, she said," I am trying to get you a miracle here!" It was amazing because that was exactly on my thoughts, too! We then got the fax and she got all my documents and we exchanged cell phone numbers, fax numbers, copies airplane tickets and passport, etc. She told me not to worry and when I asked her about payment for her service, she told me she would bill me when I get back. It was after 5pm when I left her office

The next day we left Dunedin at 8 am, all tensed. I turned on my phone when I got to Auckland to see the text message that the order has been discharged and faxed to my friend in Auckland. When I got to the international airport, my friend was already waiting for me with the copy of the temporary discharge filed a couple of hours ago in Dunedin.

True enough when we get to immigration we were pulled aside and a policewoman was with us for about half an hour while they checked out my faxed copy. By the time, they let us through we were the last into the plane and I managed to call my lawyer to give her my thanks and that I am on the plane. I still never got over how my problem was solved in less than 24 hours!

The experience really strengthen my faith in God as in the end my daughter's father also paid for the lawyer's bill, too, as it was his request that the order was in place.

GOD IS GREAT!

Teenagers! What are they thinking?!!!

2008-02-22T00:49:00.000-08:00

Every teacher you ask in New Zealand will agree with you that the fourth form boys or Year 10 boys are the most challenging customers we have every year. Somehow that is about the time where their hormones goes beyond control for the majority of the 13 to 14 year old boys.

About a week ago I had to managed a boy (we do not use discipline in NZ anymore) so I had to get in touch with home on his behaviour. Apparently he was given a conversation about how he will end up in jail some day if he does not follow rules and instructions. This 13 year old boy could not for the life of him see where the connection was with his disruptive behaviour in my class! And here it is his family thought that they have impressed upon him the seriousness of his bad behaviour and that he will be better after that heart to heart talk! I only hear a little from the boy's view but was not privy to the whole conversation although I was assured that he was given the 'talk' and he should be better behaved now! NOT! He was just too immature to put 2 and 2 together to make 4! Somehow I think he only got about 2.5...... What was he thinking? What is on Utube, I guess.....

Oh well... I guess I just have to soldier on and hope I win some battles even though I know I will never win the war! We always remind each other that when all else fails, pray for the poor soul!

More Balloon Fashion!

2008-02-22T00:09:00.000-08:00

Wonder how long it takes to put one costume together!!!

Balloon Fashion!

2008-02-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Look at these fantastic photos of balloon 'clothing'! WOW! The amount of time it takes to make them and what if one balloon burst! Then the dress or gown does not look quite right!

World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney

2008-02-20T19:30:00.000-08:00

World Youth Day is almost here and this is the first time, it is celebrated in Oceania and all the Catholic youths in Asia has a chance to attend it as it will be less costly to attend. The final mass is scheduled for 20 July 2008.

Our school will have a group attending as preparations are on the way leading to July. For many it will be the only chance in their lifetime to celebrate mass with the Pope. And for others, it is just a wonderful opportunity to gather in the millions to celebrate their faith in God.

For more information go here for New Zealand news or here for the main website.

Xmen Origins; Wolverine

2008-02-17T00:44:00.000-08:00

The latest excitement in Dunedin is that the shooting of the movie X-men Origins; Wolverine is in Dunedin. This is the site of the movie shoot as pictured in the Otago Daily Times.

Movie stars are spotted shopping around town. But to tell you frankly, I would not be able to tell one from the other. Stars spotted included Hugh Jackman in a gym; Liev Schreiber and his partner Naomi Watts in the local Warehouse store (similar to Walmart in the USA).

There are probably some fans going crazy trying to spot the stars but I guess the general public in Dunedin are pretty laid back and just get on with their own lives.

If you are interested in reading more go here.

Laws for Teenagers

2008-02-15T01:42:00.000-08:00

In New Zealand, children under 14 years old must be supervised by someone 14 years or older. But at the age of 15 years, they can start to get their learners' driving permit. Then at 16 years old, they can leave school and home legally! In fact in a lot of schools, principals cannot wait for the 16th birthdays of their truants or misfits of society so they can tell them to shape up or ship out!

In my opinion, it does not make much sense that a teenager cannot stay at home by themselves but 12 months later, he or she can get behind the car and maybe even kill someone on the road some day.......

Schools are also fighting a losing battle with smokers and alcoholics, too! Today, I learnt from a 16 year old that her father supplies her with the booze and she just have to use her own pocket money to buy her own cigarettes. To add to this shocking information, her father is a high court judge who may one day have his own daughter in his court for drunk driving! Lots of students informed me that their parents who are smokers supply them with the cigarettes, too! I know who the smokers are because whenever I get my form class to pray, I do not need to find a lighter or matches for my candle! There will always be someone who has a light!

Teachers today may have smaller classes to teach but today's teenagers are harder to manage with the removal of any physical punishment of any kind. It is ridiculous as I once had a student threw a paper dart with a drawing pin at the pointed end and it hit me in the head and was stuck to my head until I removed it! Later it dawned on me as to what might have happened if it had hit another student in the eye or some other part of the body. I would have been in big trouble if that had happened! But nothing much happened to that boy apart from his mother being called in to a conference with the assistant principal. The mother did not even say anything or apologize to me for his son's actions! Well, I left the school not long after the incident.

It can be stressful as a teacher in the high school. We cannot touch our students but we can get beaten up by them and that has happened in a lot of schools, too! We are told not to break up fights physically as there is no help for us if we can injured in the process!

It is now a scary and violent world even in schools these days!

Valentine's Day - It is all overrated and commercialized!

2008-02-13T00:30:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia says this day is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

But today it is all about buying over priced flowers and gifts exchanging. Don't get me wrong as I am not a 'sour grape' as my daughter's school teacher will always get them to draw and make a card for this day and I will get a card from someone I love. And that it really touching! But I just think that some people put so much effort on this day that for the rest of the year, their loved ones do not get any show of love. I have a friend who is married for over twenty years and every week her husband makes sure that she has a small vase of flowers on her table at work! I call that real love and effort! I think it is better than paying the florist 200% on flowers on February 14th every year!

Bonjour Madame

2008-02-08T00:22:00.000-08:00

All over New Zealand school started this past week for the academic year 2008.

My 11 year old daughter started her first week of French lessons. During her second lesson, her teacher asked her class if anyone knew what a baguette was. Someone said "Is it a croissant?" She said,"Nooooo... a croissant is a croissant!" Then someone else said,"Is it a bagel?" The poor French teacher almost had a heart attack when she exclaimed,"Wash your mouth out!" Then she told them that it is a French stick or bread. My daughter thought the teacher was so funny! I am just happy that she is enjoying her French class.

As for myself, it was interesting to see how my own students have matured from last year or the year before. It was also good to find out that my ex-students could impress upon their current teacher of what I have taught them previously! I was just ecstatic to know that they remembered what I have taught them! Why? Because year in and year out I feel like I am teaching the 13 to 16 year old the same old stuff! Some how, the retention span of teenagers these days are really poor... They are mostly too busy listening to their ipod or text messaging on their cell phones!

Oh well... one week down and ten more weeks to go before the end of term 1....

Comfort Food???

2008-02-01T01:45:00.000-08:00

Having lived in a few countries, this is what I have found out but I cannot think of one for my birth country... Maybe some of you can help me out!

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich is to USA

Vegemite sandwich is to New Zealand and Australia

Kaya sandwich is to Malaysia???

You really have to be a locally born to enjoy the former two!

Do share your country's famous comfort food.....

You again!!!

2008-01-28T21:33:00.000-08:00

Picture courtesy of Matton Images

Every year at the start of the school year, all the teachers are anxious to see the roll of their students they will teach for the year. And that is what some of us did today!

Some of us have all the luck! We get the same students who just drives us up the wall all year round!

Sometimes it is quite scary, too, because you will realize that if you have a student 3 years in a row, you are actually the main influence on whether they like the subject or hate it!

The subject I am teaching was one I dislike when I was in school, too, but after teaching it for over 4 years now, I find that I actually enjoy some topics now.

It is also quite interesting to follow the progress of some students through the years. Some actually do get better while some fall along the wayside. I must admit the way we are able to bond with the students does have an effect on how the students feel about the subject. But then there are times where you will never bond with a particular student at all. It is also easier to talk to their parents on parents teachers night because you already know a little about each other.

So on to 2008 and here's to hoping that 2008 will be a good year in school!

Are we eating right?

2008-01-26T01:39:00.001-08:00

In Michael Pollan's book: In Defense of Food : An Eater's Manifesto, he claims that what we are eating is not food as we eat in the car, in front of the tv (guilty as charged!) as well as alone.

If you are a health food person, read on as one study found the among 18 - 50 year old Americans, roughly a fifth of all eating takes place in the car!

This really reminds me of how often my daughter and I have take-outs in the car while rushing to her lessons of one kind or another! I dread to count when school starts, how often we do that! As her ice skating lessons are in the morning we do end up eating breakfast in the car or car park!

I know they say only buy food at the end of the aisles and surrounding the aisles where all the fresh foods and fruits and vegies are but easier said than done! And if you are also feeding a picky eater, it is worst!

So what are we to do? To eat or not to eat???

Trouble with teenagers?

2008-01-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

Photo from tinypic

A couple of years ago, one of my good friends was having a lot of trouble agreeing with her growing teenager and she was at wits end on what to do as they were always arguing or shouting at the other. She mentioned it to me and I suggested she try the method I use with my students when they test my patience.

This is what I usually do. When a student misbehave, after a couple of warnings, we can withdraw them to another room. Instead of threatening them with "You either behave or you are out of here!" which is usually our very first reaction, I will use," You have a choice. You can behave yourself and stay in the classroom or you can go for timeout." Nine out of ten times, the students will say," I'm sorry, I will be good for the rest of the period and I want to stay."

My friend used this same method and gave his son choices and she called it the enpowerment!
She said it worked really well! Now she is getting along fine with her son. She was really grateful for this tip so I thought I'll share it with you!

The method works because they think we are giving them a choice and they are choosing what they want to do! But instead you are giving them the choices you want so whichever they pick it will be one of your preference! In my years of teaching, so far only one senior student caught on to my method, i.e. they really do not have a choice at all! Either one they pick, you still win!

What are we teaching our kids???

2008-01-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

The results of the New Zealand exam results are just out middle of last week. As like any dedicated teachers, I was also looking and comparing the results of my students against other teachers. There were some pleasant surprises but also some disappointment in my students' performance.

As teachers we have to be up to date and I found this video clip on Teacher Tube and somehow agree with the video message. Just as students try to outsmart us by texting in class, we also text their parents if they are not in class, too! So click here and see for yourself!

Awesome picture!

2008-01-18T00:06:00.000-08:00

A close friend of mine send me this picture with the caption:

"Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time, and you get a picture worth 1000 words"

and I agree with her totally! To me it feels like a sign to the photographer from God and I hope he or she felt really wonderful, too!

Crunchy broccoli - Stirfry Vegies with Prawns

2008-01-17T00:14:00.000-08:00

If you like crunchy broccoli in your stirfries, read on.

Some people like well-cooked broccoli but if you like your broccoli just cooked with a crunch, it is quite easy.

Boil some water and add half a teaspoon of salt in the water (salt keeps the broccoli from turning yellow)
Add your broccoli into the boiling water to blanch. Remove after about 30 - 45 seconds depending on the amount of broccoli.
Remove and set aside. Keep the water for use later.

Stirfry Vegetables with Prawns

Ingredients

2 tablespoon oyster sauce (I like Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 cloves garlic or 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1/4 of a head of broccoli
Half a red bell pepper
1/4 of a head of cauliflower
Half a tin of baby corn
10 - 15 medium sized prawns * ( as desired)

Cooking instructions:

Heat up oil and add in garlic and fry for a minute.
Add in prawns and oyster sauce
When prawns are just cooked, add in the bell pepper, cauliflower and baby corn.
Stir fry vegies and when cauliflower is about cooked, add in broccoli.
Add in half a cup of the water that was used to blanch the broccoli if you like more gravy with your stir fry.
Finally add in the salt and sugar and mix into the stir fry and turn off the heat.
Serve with steamed rice.

Note: You can substitute the prawns with chicken or beef if desired. Sometimes I use fishballs, too.

1939 London Tube Map

2008-01-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

My grandfather used a 1939 diary planner to record all the births of his children and deaths of his parents and my grandmother. I found that it has a London Tube Map so I thought I'll share it with you. It is incredible to me that this little book is almost 70 years old!

All my uncles and aunties who are still living were amazed at my grandfather's meticulous records and it enabled them to learn of both their Chinese and English birth dates. I was shown this diary when I was a teenager but I was surprised to learn that some of my uncles did not know of its existence until last Christmas!

First ever Santa Parade in Kuching, Malaysia

2008-01-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

For those of you who missed it Dec 22, 2007 was a significant date for the Christians as they were allowed to carry out the first ever Santa Parade in Malaysia. It was simple with a few floats but with lots of carolers singing in both English and Mandarin.

My daughter was so happy that she got to join in the parade with her godmother, my cousin and also my uncle. We went to watch them and halfway through, my 8 year old nephew rushed in to join in the 4 km walk.

About four thousand Christians took part in the parade with a majority from the Methodist denomination and a branch of the Catholic church. It is great that we Christians are finally allowed to celebrate our faith in public in Malaysia! Kudos to the Kuching authorities who granted the permission to hold the parade. Surely GOD IS GREAT!

How to get lipsticks to stay on longer!

2008-01-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

Do your lipstick disappear quickly? Are you one of those ladies who has to open your compact at the dining table to reapply your lipstick? If so, here's two tips which will help you!

After you apply the first layer, use a piece of tissue paper and place it between your lips and hold it down with your lips for a few second. Then reapply your lipstick again. The more times you repeat this process, the longer your lipstick stays. However, it will depend on your preference of strength of colour though.
Instead of applying your lipstick directly, use a lip brush and apply the lipstick with the brush onto your lips. Somehow lipstick stays on longer this way!

Now if you do no. 1 and no. 2, you definitely will have longer staying power!

Gold or Petroleum?

2008-01-12T19:46:00.000-08:00

Over 25 years ago when I took my first geology course, one of my associate professors said, if you are thinking of becoming a geologist to have a career in the oil industry, you will be disappointed. Back in the early 1980s, he predicted that at the rate we were producing and using petroleum, we will not have a job for long! Well, we still have oil and gas but it is dwindling fast! I am out of the petroleum industry now but still read about it from time to time to update myself of the latest.

Now gold? That is an interesting question! There will always be a demand for gold. Why? Let me share a personal experience with you. When we Chinese get married, it is traditional to give gold jewellery as presents for relatives and even close friends. When babies are born, we also give gold jewellery. Most of the time, we do not wear this jewellery. They are mostly kept in a safe somewhere. Now that I think about it, it is really a wise gift. My mother made some money with the ever increasing price of gold and this helped towards financing our tertiary education in the USA.

If you get a piece of gold jewellery 10 years ago, you probably have made about 200% (read gold price 1998 and gold price today) from selling it! Wow! You wonder why Chinese always buy gold! Indians buy a lot of gold, too! Now there are about 2 billion Chinese people in the world and over a billion of Indians! You do the Mathematics and you have the answer as to why there is always a demand for gold and thus the rising price!

Petroleum, you use and it will be gone! Gold, it can be melted and resold again!

Are you dating a competitive sportsperson?

2008-01-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

My daughter is a competitive figure skater and the ice rink is like a second home to me! Most parents of skaters will chat and compare notes.

And I found out an interesting possible fact that I thought I'll share with my readers. If you are dating a competitive sportsperson and not one yourself, then read on.....

A couple of the teen senior skaters were having trouble with their partners demanding that they do not hug a member of the opposite sex or to skate with them as a dancing or pair partner. Their partners actually gave them the ultimatum that it is either me or them!

Guess what?! They got dumped! Just think! If they have dedicated more than half their lives to their sports, they will always choose their sport! Hugging after a bad or good competition is automatic and considered as part of emotional support for your friend. It is a given!

It is always hard if you put your partner in a position to choose between you or their sport. Of course, they will choose their sport. So be more patient and understanding and do not demand them to give up on things they have been doing for years for you. The chances of this happening is slim to nil. You may end up single again!

Sir Edmund Hillary - 1919- 2008

2008-01-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

It is a sad day for all Kiwis today as Sir Edmund Hillary passed away this morning (Friday 11th January) in Auckland Hospital, Auckland. He was 88 years old. He was a great New Zealand icon.

He put New Zealand on the map when he conquered Mount Everest in 1953.

Sir Edmund was a well liked and humble man who devoted most of his life to charity work and his adventures.

He will be missed by all New Zealanders and all those who knew him.

How to Get Money through the internet

2008-01-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

Have you just started a business on the internet and not sure as how to get your clients to pay you? You are in luck today!

You can find out more about Credit Card Processing Services and Accepting Credit Cards on Website.

You may also want to protect yourself in case of bad credit cards through the Bad Credit Merchant Processor.

Whatever your business may be or wherever your business is located, you can always seek help from this Provider of Merchant Accounts.

Product review

Education is NOT FREE in New Zealand!

2008-01-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

The New Zealand government likes every interested possible migrant to believe that primary and secondary education is free. But sorry! I have to burst your bubble! I have just done the shopping for my daughter's new school year. She is entering into her Year 7 this year. Her stationary supplies came to almost $100. Her summer uniform gear came to over $1200. And that is not counting the winter uniform which she will need in Term 2.

Then when school starts, there will be activity fees, too. Yes, textbooks are free but you have to buy any essential workbooks yourselves. Then there are fees if you are in integrated schools or in schools with vary high deciles where government subsidies are reduced as parents are supposed to be able to afford to pay more....

New Zealand education free?! Dream on!

Insurance? Wait! Read on first....

2008-01-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

Most people with insurance will just ignore another advert on insurance but wait!

Do you want to Save Money on Insurance?

Do you want to save your money and Reduce Premiums?

You do not even have to leave your computer as you can get an Online Insurance Policy.

Are you a smoker? If so find out more about the Cheap Smoker Rates.

Do not let this great opportunity slips through your hand. Check out this website or you may miss out on saving money on your insurance!

Scenic New Zealand

2008-01-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

When I first decided to move to New Zealand back in 2002, I never thought that how beautiful New Zealand countryside is so I would like to share with you some of the lovely sights as well as some of the places we have visited in the last 5 1/2 years or so.

But I found some really great photos from this site www.accommodationinnewzealand.co.nz just now and it just reminds me the winter and springtime scenery commonly seen in south island and also in the mountain area in north island.

So stay tuned and check out my blog for more personal photos in the future.......