Marriage Vows

"To have and to hold, from this day forward,
for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,
'till death do us part"

...simply means that I promise you my present love and my future love no matter what happens.

The Care Bears Are In Town!

Yesterday the Care Bears came to town.

TADA!

The Care Bear entourage

The occasion was Mel's birthday and these adorable and yummy Care Bear cupcakes almost created a riot in the office. There were plenty of oohs and ahhs with everyone fighting to take pictures and staking their claim for the cupcake of their choice.

A rainbow cupcake for me
and a blue Care Bear one for hubby

Pamela's Mother

This morning's telephone conversation went something like this.

Me: Hi Mr M, I'm Lillian's sister.

Mr M: Yes, what can I do for you? BTW, what's your name again? You're Pamela's mother, right?

What a cheek! He remembered my daughter's name but forgot mine. That's life. It's always easier to remember the names of sweet, young things. I should be offended.

To Combat WInd

Nothings beats a nice cup of ginger tea to chase away a bout of wind.

TOP's 32nd Anniversary Bowling Competition

This year we celebrated TOP's 32nd Anniversary yesterday with a difference. We still had the usual combined service but after that the whole church - both the Hokkien and the English congregations, the old and the young - adjourned to BJ Bowl for our first ever bowling competition.

Members getting ready for the competition

We managed to form 35 teams of 5 players per team. There was even a pastors' team and we even managed to persuade our guest speaker Pastor Clement Wong to stay back and take the place of one of our players who was away to KL. I, with my injured finger, also also had to take the place of another player who went down to KL for the weekend.

Combined GLO photo comprising 4 teams
- Power GLO, Super GLO, Mighty GLO and Wonder GLO.

Many people commented that the names of our teams reminded them of washing powder. Maybe that's why some of us ended up being "cuci longkang" specialists.

But we didn't do too badly considering the fact that all of us were amateurs, most of us have not bowled for the past ten or twenty years and some have never bowled before. Power GLO was runner up for the title of best team and they lost to a team whose members came with their own shoes and bowling balls. So we're actually the best even if I say so myself.

Power GLO members with their medals

Pastor Clement, our anniversary guest speaker,
with Sean Hooi a.k.a Super Hero, Wonder GLO's team leader

Don't know what this is but I like it

The Essence of Courage

Found this in my inbox this morning.

"Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole truth can be won. Endow us with the courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy."

- "Cadet Prayer" that is repeated during chapel services at the U.S. Military Academy

I Did It

They said I would but I didn't...cry when watching "How To Train Your Dragon."

I Limp, She Also Limp

Woke up limping. I don't know how I did it but I managed to sprain my left foot in my sleep.

Our dog was also limping this morning.

Two old ladies, same problem.

Enough Is Enough

Last night was SGGS's 125th anniversary. We, the glamorous divas, recycled our "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" dance from Fame Up for the finale. Our dancing is nothing to shout about so we made up for the lack by blinding the audience with our bling-blings!

At the end of the night, we resolved that:

1. we shall not dance at next year's ex-pupils' annual shindig if we have to wear the same skirt again, and

2. we shall not attend if the theme is red, again. Two years of red in a row is simply too much.

Realist

A pessimist sees only the obstacles.
An optimist sees only the opportunities.
A realist sees the possibilities.

Be a realist.

This gem, although not quoted verbatim, came from the audiobook "The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns which I was listening to over the past few months.

Nine of Us

Here are the nine of us from the office who went for the makan.

Photo from Esther

It's not

...the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. - Mark Twain

That reminds me of our Princess. She's a plucky ole gal. A centenarian and still fearlessly protecting me whenever she thinks that I'm being attacked or threatened.

It never crossed her mind that she's only a Miniature Pinscher and that one kick can send her flying.

Good Food at Homestyle Restaurant

Nine of us from the office went for a scrumptious dinner at Homestyle Restaurant at Permai 32, off Vale of Tempe Road.

Skinny French Beans in Black Sauce

This looks like toast but it's actually beancurd
topped with sauted aubergines

Prawn curry

Arthur's favourite - Guinness Stout Chicken

Bittergourd in lightly scrambled eggs might not look good
but tastes fantastically smoooooth

The most expensive dish of the night - braised fish,
ngo-ar (in Hokkien) or ma yau yu (in Cantonese)

Cheongsam Night

Last Saturday was our ex-neighbour's son's wedding. The dress code for the wedding dinner was 'Traditional' so we obediently put on our cheongsams.

In our traditional best

It was a shame that few of the guests bothered with the dress code. Which goes to show that trying to impose a dress code is a pretty pointless exercise. At least in Penang.

I was very impressed by the couple's ability to enjoy the moment despite the embarrassment of forgetting the guest list and having their guests stand outside the hall for almost an hour. In the end they simply declared free seating for all, apologized for the boo-boo and carried on with the evening.

Some couples could have easily allowed this problem to spoil their big night but all I saw were happy smiles on their faces. I salute you Ee Keong & wife!