2% Clear Sky | Lin-Li Ng

Poem

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:31:30 -0500

someone special sent me this... may it bless you as it blessed me.

IT MATTERS TO ME ABOUT YOU

My child, I know thy sorrows,

Thine every grief I share;

I know how thou art tested,

And, what is more - I care.

Think not I am indifferent

To what affecteth thee;

Thy weal and woe are matters

Of deep concern to Me.

But, child, I have a purpose

In all that I allow;

I ask thee then to trust Me,

Though all seems dark just now.

How often thou hast asked Me

To purge away thy dross!

But this refining process

Involves for thee - a cross.

There is no other pathway

If thou would'st really be

Conformed unto the image

Of Him Who died for thee.

Thou can'st not be like Jesus

Till self is crucified;

And as a daily process

The cross must be applied.

Just as the skillful gard'ner

Applies the pruning knife,

E'en so, I too would sever

The worthless from thy life.

I have but one sole object -

That thou should'st fruitful be!

And is it not thy longing

That I much fruit should see?

Then shrink not from the training

I needs must give to thee;

I know just how to make thee

What I would have thee be.

Remember that I love thee!

Think not I am unkind,

When trials come to prove thee,

And joy seems left behind.

'Tis but a little longer

Until I come again;

What now seems so mysterious

Will all be then made plain.

Take courage then; and fear not!

Press forward to the prize,

A crown of life awaits thee,

Glory before thee lies!

The grapefruit workout

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:50:58 -0400

We buy groceries at a food wholesalers.. meat, fruit, yoghurt, milk, eggs... enough to last a month (don't worry we check the expiration on everything). It's a weighty affair carrying 5 pound packages of chicken, beef, fish and more up the stairs b. Of special mention is the grapefruit workout, which includes carrying a sack of grapefruit, cutting in and then squeezing it with all your might. As you can see from our live model, you get some nice arms from all this exercise, which is then rewarded by a glass of iced grapefruit juice.

Today

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:17:17 -0400

Today was a great day to walk dogs, but I don't have any. Right... so, off I go to the animal shelter. After a brief cuddle with the gigantic kitties and the wiping down of their quarters with disinfectant, I proceeded to the doggy department. Potty breaks are at 4 fixed times a day, which encourage the dogs to poop and pee outdoors rather than in their cages. Since they would rather not dirty their own lairs, the dogs DO try to hold out to potty break time (which are predictable, thus giving them greater motivation.) So, the dog area is pretty clean most of the time.

Took quite a few dogs out, but remembered to shoot these two with the camera phone. Most of the dogs in the animal shelters here are actually 'pedigree' dogs, or at least pedigree mixes.

Here are mindy and dasher (but if you adopt them you can change their names, the dogs don't care). They are currently housed in a room together, and after I returned dasher to the room with mindy, I found that I couldn't get out of the room.. the cute beagle was trying to squeeze its way out from the bottom of the door, and the taller dog was trying to get out by jumping on the handle.

I mean, seriously, how do you hold on to 2 dogs in a room you are trying to get out of?

Fortunately, there were 2 other volunteers onsite and one of them asked me through the glass door, "do you need help getting out of the room?"

I toyed with the idea of saying, "I'm fine!" and trying to get out on my own, but I realised this was not the time to look cool and independent.

So one of the ladies comes in, and she says, "I'll throw this chicken to the other side of the room and distract the dogs, then we make a break for it."

And that is exactly what we did. The two pieces of chicken breasts went flying across the room, the two dogs flew after them, and we turned and bolted out of the door. The dogs kind of looked a little deflated when they realized what had happened, but no matter, they can try again at the next potty break.

Apparently, this kind lady had been in the same predicament earlier that day, and had opened the door to get out only to have the Get Smart beagle make a break for it.

Today was also Claypot Chicken Cooked in New Pot day... have been trying various methods (there are so many recipes out there) to see which is THE easiest and tastiest and well-portioned for 2 mouths.

Niagara Falls by night

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:00:21 -0400

We took a drive out to the border of US and Canada, and made a stop at Niagara Falls. It was quite cold and very windy by the time the lights came on, so we shot what we could before getting blown away.

Toronto has some pretty nice vineyards. We made a few stops and had a few sips of grape juice. Very scenic... especially after the grape juice.

It was rainy and cloudy on the way back...

Boston in Fall (the season)

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:31:35 -0400

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:13:37 -0400

self-discovery

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:57:52 -0400

I've decided that I have a short attention span problem when it comes to recipes. I make it down the list to the fourth ingredient, get tired (or cross-eyed) from reading the rest of the 1/2, 5 qts, 1 tbsp, 2/3 cups, 8, 13, 7 tsps... and proceed to cooking a simpler 1-2-3- step dish, which thankfully tastes good enough for a hearty dinner. That being said, I tried a long recipe this weekend (supposedly "easy" as the cover says. we were fooled) and while complex and taking quite long, we made enough to last another 3 meals. hurray! there is some upside to this. So, let me know if you're coming over for some defrosted dinner :)

I've also realised that its a good idea to watch CSI while trying to brown onions. The reason for this, for me at least, is that I often get bored hanging around the stove waiting for my little friends to turn golden brown as prescribed. I then resort to, a) turn up the heat and start to burn the onions, or b) fish them out early so I can get on to other things. IF however, you are watching CSI, the one hour show has about 6 advertisement breaks or more, allowing you to get up and stir your onions a sufficient number of times in an hour. By the time the show is over, the onions are done perfectly as the book suggests, and I would have watched Grissom or Horatio battle crime once again.

Do I like cooking? I do in my current situation because a) its practical, b) it feeds us, c) I like using my hands (e.g. crafts, camera), d) its actually quite stimulating, e) it will come in handy some day (no, I don't know which day right now), and f) it saves us money. Can I cook well? nah... well enough to have friends over for a relaxing and affordable dinner, but cooking to entertain is not my thing ;)

Segway

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:52:58 -0400

A what?

That was my question too, and I found the answer. Its a machine with two smallish wheels and a battery that will last you 25 miles. There is a small platform above the wheels on which you stand, and the neat gizmo takes you where you want. Lean your body forward (while holding onto the handles!) to move the segway forward, and lean back to .. yes, you got it, move backwards and/or stop.

We took the segway across a couple of pittsburgh bridges and saw downtown on it. I highly recommend it if you want to see pittsburgh city and the surrounding areas. The segway works because its too long a distance to walk over the bridges of Pittsburgh, and driving means you have barely get a glimpse of the sights- not enough to check it out. A segway gives you a great outdoors experience with minimal effort, although standing on the thing for 2 hours does make your legs pretty sore too.

Narnia

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:21:51 -0400

Just watched narnia on DVD, it was longer than I thought! I read the whole series (9 books or so) when I was young, and it gripped me with excitement, anticipation, dreams and courage for the future. Watching the show reminded me of those raw feelings, of the world that I escaped into, a world where you found hope, loyalty and a calling beyond yourself. I just marveled at the world Lewis created, marveled at the reality and imagination in each page, marveled that there should be a world where the grass was greener, the water alive, and animals lived in peace and could talk.

I wasn't a christian really when I read those books, but watching the show now, you can't help but think of christ. There are entire blogs dedicated to describing the similarities. christ, like aslan, was there when the world began and right and wrong was clearly established- the penalty for wrong being death. christ went to the cross willingly, trembling, not blaming the actual wrongdoer... he went so that the wrongdoer would not be put to death, would have an opportunity to live rather than be handed over to the evil one. and christ rose, because he had done no wrong and because he was part of God. In his rising, victory is found.

So yes, I teared during the show, not because the scenes were touching, but because they touched a deep part of me that I dwelt in in childhood. A deep part where I believed justice and goodness existed and would prevail, but not necessarily in this time and age. I believed in a time when the old and messed up present would pass, and a time would be heralded in where we lived as free and whole subjects under a law of love and a king of power and goodness. Sometimes all we need is a vision to keep our heads out of the mud when times get tough,and to pursue excellence.

Last few summer weekends

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:22:50 -0400

Seeing that this warm weather might not last for too much longer, we have tried to do more outdoor activities. We visited North Park one evening in an attempt to rent a kayak and paddle around in the lake there. There was a huge sign at the entrance saying "Boat rentals 11am- dusk, EVERYDAY", just like it showed on the website. Of course, the boat rental shop was closed. It was not dusk, and as far as I knew, today was considered an 'everyday' day. But, that is about as efficient as it gets sometimes, so we went on to jog around the lake. We also had a friday evening picnic with 3 other people at a park near school. Yesterday was a potluck for various graduate and undergraduate students from CMU and their families, and today was well.. recovering from cleaning and standing the day before.

Next week brings fresh faces as my older sibling and sib-in-law come and visit. I wonder if we could get that kayak rental shop to open SOMEDAY.

Twilight zone

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:23:09 -0400

Traveling from one place to another never fails to give me a sense of amazement. One moment I'm sitting at a noisy roadside coffee-shop in humid Singapore, the next day I'm in the midst of peaceful green foliage in Western Pennsylvania. Of course these experiences are separated by 24 hours or more of being in a droning airplane and being shuffled through customs and immigrations along the way... which at times makes it even more surreal as I arrive at my destination (usually) sleep-deprived and just plain dazed. I mean, just yesterday I was sweating buckets walking to the bus stop in singapore, and today, here I am, in the US suburbs where there is hardly any public transport worth mentioning.

My roles and responsibilities change as drastically as my surroundings. Asia/singapore contains family (errands!), in-laws, ex- colleagues, past school mates, childhood friends, sporting friends, pets, and yes, even favourite food sellers that we visit. We don't maintain our own home there, but have responsibilities to help out at two homes, including its residents ;) Being back for a short while, activities and meetings are packed into a few weeks. In PA, its mainly me and k, and a small group of new friends who have made our lives here more "homely" and less isolated. Basically, we can count the people we know on both our hands here, life is less harried and we work around our home more. Obviously, I think there are pros and cons for both environments, and its pointless contemplating which I would rather be in, since we are where we are. I do however believe and see that PA is probably the best place for us now and that God has a purpose for us here, and we should just be thankful for that and keep our eyes open for the areas that we can be obedient in.

Meanwhile, I'll probably be struggling to stay awake in the day and stay sleeping at dawn, for the next few days.

this week in singapore

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:22:36 -0400

Events

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:10:09 -0400

click on the thumbnail for a larger image, and on the right arrow on each photo page to continue viewing...

Weddings and waterparks

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:24:35 -0400

Hello, sorry haven't been updating for awhile. We went to a waterpark last week, since its summer. I don't like rollercoasters or anything too adrenaline-inducing, so I wasn't sure what I could and would do at the Waterpark! Fortunately, the slides and stuff were not really scary (haha) and I had good company (i.e. peer pressure). So it turned out to be pretty fun, except the last part when the sun went out and it became really cold. BBRRRRRRRR.

I've also been editing wedding photos, no, not my own unfortunately, the ones which I have yet to send out :P I wasn't expecting to shoot any events here, so I left my mega big flash in another country.. note to self, carry mega big flash back...

why did the turtle cross the road?

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:14:45 -0400

We were driving home today and saw a small animal SCURRYING across the busy road. We just about missed squishing it and we realized it was a turtle/tortoise. To its credit, it was scurrying. I don't know what shocked us more, that there was a turtle crossing the road in the middle of nowhere? Or that it was moving so -relatively- quickly?

big basils

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:36:40 -0400

my basil has grown really big!! I now have three pots of basil. Pluck a bunch of leaves and they grow back in about 48 hours! may you "bounce back like basil". the fly photo is just for fun. Basil is supposed to keep bugs away, this fly didn't hang around for long so I guess it works :)

Freebies

Fri, 16 May 2008 08:48:33 -0400

I've been busy visiting various airports these few weeks, and I have to say that in terms of freebies, Singapore Changi Airport wins hands down. Free telephone calls, free wireless internet, free massage chairs and free luggage trolleys... you just can't beat that!

Tokyo's Narita Airport is great too, but that's biased since K. and I really like sushi and I really like Japanese noodles, and the food there is happens to be very fresh and delicious. The airport is modern and peaceful, has half-sized trolleys (very convenient for shopping in transit), an origami museum, art exhibitions and lots of shops. Most importantly, a convenient day room and shower for exhausted travelers. No freebies here except the trolley.

Coming into a U.S. airport is a different story. While they are generally upgraded, they still tend to be very "well-used". Gate entrances are usually very packed with limited seating, a problem compounded by plane delays and passengers on long layovers. Trolleys cost USD 3 on both sides of immigration and 3 minute phone calls within the U.S. are at least a dollar. On the plus side, you get into the U.S. through one of these and if you like Starbucks, there's usually one in each terminal (look for the long line of customers!).

No flashing

Mon, 05 May 2008 03:05:48 -0400

Went to the Night Safari with relatives and friend. It has changed so much since I last went, when it first opened probably 10 years ago? It is much larger and you see many more animals, most notably different varieties of (night?) deer. It was a lot busier than I expected, but the crowd mostly disappeared by 9pm. The park closes at 11pm, so maybe its a good idea to get there around 8pm, catch the 8.30pm show and then see the rest of the park without having to line up for the tram ride. We got there at 7pm, and EVERYONE stopped at the entrance to watch fire-spitting macho men (native Singapore tribal dance?) and when it ended, all 800 ++ of us rushed to take the trams. To the zoo's credit, we were herded in the right directions pretty efficiently and the trams came soon enough. Another alternative would be to come at 6pm, take the tram mid-way and start to walk the trails, enjoying the sunset across the water.

It was a pretty interesting experience, and I liked that the tram driver stopped the tram mid-way, walked to the back where we were and asked, "WHO IS USING THE CAMERA FLASH??! WHO is it?!" When no one owned up, the tram driver reiterated the warning not to use the flash ( it would hurt the sensitive eyes of the nocturnal animals). The tram ride continued and the guilty Japanese tourists behind me ceased flashing the poor animals, as did the other 5 flash-happy tourists.

Iron Chef & Harumi

Fri, 02 May 2008 17:17:01 -0400

We watch the Food Channel a lot here. It is what it says, a channel dedicated to food- cooking, competition, the making of, where to eat. Late at night, when we are chilling out and having ice cream, yes, just before bedtime when we burn the least calories, we watch the Iron Chef. It's pretty compelling even though you know who is going to win (hint: the show is called 'iron chef')... they do instant replays of chef so-and-so throwing pasta into boiling water, food going up in flames (intentionally) and a running commentary like you were watching sports. My husband has even hung up on me to watch the judges eat their steak dishes.

Lately, I've been cooking from this great book by Harumi Kurihara, yummy Japanese food! I like that the ingredients are pretty easy to get and are used in multiple recipes. Made a few dishes one night for dinner, some grilled fish, a cold noodle dish, salad and some sauce. K. proceeds to taste each dish, and soon it becomes obvious that he has been watching too much Iron Chef. "The fish is nicely balanced... the noodle sauce is unique... the salad is too mild". I didn't feel criticized at all, because it was done a la Iron Chef Judge way- in a tone that communicated a deep appreciation for the food, but with some personal comments nevertheless. I felt honored that he took dinner so seriously but I couldn't help but pat him gently on the back and tell him, "We are not ON the Iron Chef program, you know."

Open Paws

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 15:30:55 -0400

There is an amazing animal shelter here called Animal Friends. Its amazing because its a no-kill shelter, the people there do really love animals and care for them well by drawing on the large volunteer population. The volunteer population is well-organized and cheery, good for the adopters and good for the animals.

We start by attending an orientation workshop, then a 2-hour Open Paw workshop. Choose between working with dogs or cats. There are about four different levels of accreditation, which each higher level allowing you more access and activities with either cats, dogs or rabbits. To get to the next level, you need a certain number of volunteer hours and then attend another workshop to ensure you are equipped to handle more difficult animals and varied activities. I believe there is testing at the higher levels too.

Other than feeding, socializing and exercising the cats and dogs, volunteers can eventually help train the animals, use the animals to work with people and participate with the animals in various events.

Jamie Oliver

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:03:42 -0400

"My guide to making you a better cook", promises Mr. Oliver with his 500 page manual to cooking. I borrowed this book from the library and have three weeks to absorb its contents... its a hot book and there's no extension on this one (usually you can extend the due date online).

Mr. Oliver says, "Cooking should be as normal to you and me as it was to our moms and grandmas, and the only way this is going to happen is if it becomes compulsory to teach kids how to cook at school again. Its' important to learn about the integrity of homemade food before this knowledge is lost for ever." Wah. This is serious stuff.

"I want you to shop well and recognize when you're being ripped off by a market seller or a supermarket, when you're being sold rubbish or average stuff... Cooking isn't hard or elitist."

Best of all, ALL the profits from this book goes to Fifteen, a program where disadvantaged youths stuck in ruts and tough situations are given training and nurturing, so that they might go on to work in the food industry and grow from where they're at. That's really cool.

"Many of them are homeless, have been raised in difficult circumstances, have spent time in prison or gone off the rails and got into drink and drugs. But at Fifteen we believer that we can inspire them to break habits and believe in themselves to become incredibly passionate chefs...I see Fifteen as a family- a place for students to feel safe and appreciated."

Growing Basil

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:41:51 -0400

One of the things I like to make is Basil Pesto, and mix it in with pasta for a quick dinner.. its a nice basic recipe from Giada-queen of the italian cooking show. The problem is that the basil costs about $4 per serving (you need about 2 cups of basil), its sold at this one place, and its sometimes all squashed at this one place, so since it is springtime and Cooking Light magazine claims that growing basil is easy, I decided to try it. In case you are wondering, no, I didn't suddenly become an aunty and subscribe to aunty magazines, it was a gift, and a useful one at that. Here are my babies. (see photo). So far, so good. They remind me of weeds back home.

Apple Cake

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:32:20 -0400

Got this recipe from a good friend in Pittsburgh. I decided to try it when she said she and her husband finished eating it in 2 days, and the recipe looked pretty simple- always a plus :) She has a blog called What Bryan Eats, Bryan being her husband and a well-fed one at that. I won't scare Ken's mum (and mine) by blogging about what Ken eats (what I cook).

This cake was made without the use of an electric beater (since I don't have one), making it a little painstaking holding the big mixing bowl and working through the batter with a whisk, but great for toning my flabby ex-netball arms while I watched American Idol.

The cake turned out pretty good. There is as much chopped apple as cake so it tastes pretty authentically like apple. Gee, what a surprise.

Microwave Kaya

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:00:15 -0400

Kaya was the flavour of the week!

Not the double-burner, back-breaking sort of course (fortunately and unfortunately). This one was made in the microwave.

Recipe is from a favourite food blog Lily Wai Sek Hong. I visit it regularly to get local food inspiration. hah! and she makes the effort to make recipes easy and unpretentious so its great!

http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2005/05/kaya-rich-egg-custard.html

I halved the recipe, reduced the sugar, and it was pretty yummy and fresh. (We could probably buy kaya here, but they would be dusty jars that have been sitting on dusty shelves for ages.) Perhaps it made our kaya karma stronger, because a week later, a friend gave us a jar of Ya Kun she brought back from Singapore. yahoo!

Blog

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:49:36 -0400

Some of you have been wondering what I do here other than take photos, so here's a blurb. small, random things that keep me lively, interested and learning!