Swimming Pets

Roger and I stumbled 'accidentally' upon a secret hideout recently. It had a lot of curious monkeys and lovely picnic spots that are so quiet you can hear a bird flap its wings (we went 'WOAH'). I really like this place a lot because it is just so beautiful and restful. We also met alot of lovely families with kids here who are very eager to share with us 'hunting' tips.

Hunt for what leh? From fishes to yabbies (small lobsters). At first, we thought everyone was just looking at turtles until we realised they were busy catching the fishes & yabbies. It was awesome... to just see parents and kids wading in the water with their tiny nets! The best part was this 3 generation family there - from grandpa, dad to kid son (along with grandma, mom and kid sister) all enjoying a day out and catching fishes, prawns and lobsters. It's really rare to see an entire family just enjoying a day out together like that.

Well, anyway on our second trip there recently, I was intent to hunt some lobsters too. Armed with a tiny tank and 2 nets, we proceeded to the waters... But alas, it was high tide! So only caught 4 SMALL TINY shrimps, 4 guppies and 1 goby. The family was kind enough to give us 1 lobster they caught. We called it Crusty. We thought the tank was much too small for Crusty and his pond family. We wanted to get a bigger tank the next day. But imagine my HORROR when I discovered to my dismay - CRUSTY HAD DIED!!! With the 4 SHRIMPS!!! And the GOBY!!! Only the guppies were alive! We don't know what happened! Anyway I tried to remove the 'dead' ones and change the water for the guppies... and... 1 GUPPY commited suicide and jumped straight into the sink hole!! I couldn't save it. It was too much...

The next day... GUPPY NUMBER 2 died. This is like a big epidemic... I was naturally distressed and quickly surfed the net for a cause. Found a possible cause that it is because they are depressed due to the small space.. especially CRUSTY - that they like to hide in holes... they may be stressed without that. The guppies that are alive now refused to eat. I really don't know what to do and sent Roger to the neighbourhood aquarium to buy nice fish food and ask the owner if fishes & lobsters died because of depression. The owner said no. He thinks it's the water. We asked my dad. He said it's the water.

So now we have super murky water (we poured lots of algae fishfood to achieve this result) for the 2 guppies that are still alive. They have been there since morning. They are still alive. I think they are eating finally too. Thank God... Jesus please don't let any more of my pets die... AMEN! Weekend go and catch some more! ^ __ ^

Baker's Heaven

I have been in a baking mode lately. Baked chocolate cherry cupcakes, jaffa cakes and raisin bread. Raisin bread was a disaster. I decided I won't bother with bread anymore. Too much effort, waiting and I don't like bread that much anyway. It's just easier to buy them.

However, I enjoyed doing the cupcakes and jaffas extremely. Mostly - you can't really buy these and I love eating them - especially jaffas. I still remembered my first taste of jaffa which an ex-colleague bought for me from London. I got hooked and the next time anyone went - they had to get me one big tub which I stored jealously over. But that was maybe 3 years ago. One day, I stumbled upon the recipe of jaffas online. Tried it and modified and 'perfected' (according to my tastebuds anyway) the art of baking jaffas. Now, Roger is an experienced apprentice in smoothing the luscious chocolate over the jaffas. Only problem - I have a very small oven. So at any one time, could only bake 8 jaffas at a go. Too much work. Praying for a BIG oven and it will be jaffa heaven for me!

I still got the awesome scones recipe somewhere in my email from my Australian host who cooks some of the best dishes I've eaten. And that chewy cookie recipe... one day... maybe after Japan... ^__^

For now... it will just be jaffas, jaffas and more jaffas...

互相勉励之放眼看天下

人要远看千里，不要只近看眼前。

Nippon Bebe Update

I have finally settled my onsen project after many days of research and settled on Katasekan (http://www.katasekan.com) in Ito at the Izu Peninsula. After being torn between choosing a hotspring beside a rushing river, amidst the mountains, beside waterfalls, in a beautiful sea-side cove or on a cliff with gushing waves right below you... I've settled on a tranquil sea-side onsen ryokan. The place looks simply incredible on the website. It is pretty expensive (S$250 per pax per night) but I'm being told by my friend this is a good price for such an exquisite place complete with 1 night stay, breakfast & dinner and use of their onsen. Anyway I'm just so happy to be going and to have such a beautiful place to stay... even if it's just for a night! Thank You JESUS!!! So here are some pictures to share from Katasekan...

A View from Balcony

The Rotemburo @ Katasekan

Another View of the Rotemburo

The Shared Bath @ the Top Floor

Beautiful right?

What a blessing... from Jesus....

brainless question

Who says English is easy... try answer this, yes or no

___ I do not have a brain.

Siao liao

学英文不难

英文其实不难，

1) “快” 叫发死，
2) “脸” 叫飞死，
3) “姿势” 叫破死，
4) “请” 叫霹雳死，
5) “邀人跳舞” 叫赌又万士电死，

对方听完肯定会被你笑死，加油啊！

A Piece from the Nippon Bebe

Well this is cool... at least I can write some frivolous stuff... like wedding date announcements la... (JUST KIDDING!!! NOT YET!!! WILL DEFINITELY LET YOU ALL KNOW IF WE ARE GOING TO!!!)

Anyway I want to complain (which Ruth already know) - I cannot blog in the office! Don't know why... Been quite frustrated about it... When got 'flow' cannot blog! *SIGH*

Then I want to praise God leh... I AM GOING JAPAN!!!! Well, it's a strange thing - I never really had desire to go there & then voila! Suddenly Japan seemed like a good place to visit and then there's free lodging in Tokyo and when I fretted about who can go travel around Japan with me, the Lord provided a companion. (No - Roger is not going.) Now I'm all psyched up & excited about it. *BEAM BEAM* 2 Whole Weeks! Will start off Tokyo then to this famous onsen resort in Japan called Kusatsu Onsen (Check this out: www.kusatsu-onsen.ne.jp/eng). I enjoy hiking in 'cool' weathers so shall check out the 5 lakes at Mount Fuji, this Bamboo Forest in Kyoto and go Kobe eat some Kobe beef!!! Hehehe... Only thing is... lodging outside Tokyo a bit hard to book now leh... But shall trust Abba for His favor and provision lah! And must agree with me the SAKURAS will bloom ONLY WHEN I AM THERE! HaH!

Poll: Blog Banner

Hello!

1st post! It's by me!

Yippee!!!

I've been tasked by the most revered Sheep to come up with a blog banner for The Way We Blog.

It is an honor and a pleasure.

I've designed three preliminary ones and would like to hear from you.

Please poll and tell us which one you prefer!


Design A: Streaks

Basically this design is simple and classic, with minimal details but the attention is drawn to the central red streak that runs across. I guess I was simply playing around with the paintbrush tool.

Design B: Word

The Word of God, our bread of life. The way we blog is a reflection of His goodness and grace. And a little fun fact about the design is the opacity used for the three bible images. The first one is set to 30%, 2nd one is 60%, and the third one is at 100% opacity.

Design C: Love

I hope you can see the imagery.

Comments? Hope you like it and get voting!

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AlwaySane