Sky on fire

These days, we witness some very dramatic sky... here are two pictures I took.

Sunset with oncoming storm

Another oncoming storm

Dancing Merengue Dog

Something to relax your mind on this Sunday. May you be blessed!

This dog is from Chile, her name is Carrie, and the owner's name is Jose Fuentes.

Relationship

This is a very good article. Those who are still single may learn something from here...

Those who are already married may take it as a guideline to improve your marriage & relationship.......

Relationship.

by Keidi Won on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 1:25pm
(This article is found on Stephanie Ting's Facebook)

DID I MARRY THE RIGHT PERSON?


During one of our seminars, a woman asked a common question. She said, 'How do I know if I married the right person?'
I noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so I said, 'It depends. Is that your husband?'
In all seriousness, she answered 'How do you know?'
Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it's weighing on your mind.


Here's the answer.


EVERY relationship has a cycle. In the beginning, you fell in love with your spouse/partner. You anticipated their call, wanted their touch, and liked their idiosyncrasies (unconventional behavior/habit).

Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called 'falling' in love... Because it's happening TO YOU.

People in love sometimes say, 'I was swept off my feet.' Think about the imagery of that __expression.


It implies that you were just standing there; doing nothing, and then something came along and happened
TO YOU.

Falling in love is easy. It's a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few years of marriage, the euphoria (excitement) of love fades. It's the natural cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts.


The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship, but if you think about your marriage, you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.


At this point, you and/or your spouse might start asking, 'Did I marry the right person?' And as you and your spouse reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience with someone else. This is when marriages breakdown. People blame their spouse for their unhappiness and look outside their marriage for fulfillment.


Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes. Infidelity is the most obvious. But sometimes people turn to work, a hobby, a friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances.


But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your marriage. It lies within it. I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else.
And TEMPORARILY you'd feel better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later. Because (listen carefully to this):


THE KEY TO SUCCEEDING IN MARRIAGE IS NOT FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON; IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE THE PERSON YOU FOUND.


SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. It'll NEVER just happen to you. You can't 'find' LASTING love. You have to 'make' it day in and day out. That's why we have the __expression 'the labor of love.'
Because it takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it takes WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make your marriage work.


Make no mistake about it. Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your spouse) to succeed with your marriage.
Just as there are physical laws of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships.
Just as the right diet and exercise program makes you physically stronger, certain habits in your relationship
WILL make your marriage stronger. It's a direct cause and effect. If you know and apply the laws, the results are predictable... you can 'make' love.


Love in marriage is indeed a 'decision'... Not just a feeling.


Remember always this:
'God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let to walk away, who you let to stay, and who you refuse to let go.

Bintang Megamall and Hotel

Did you notice the difference of Bintang shopping center on the left? The open car park is  now grilled up to prevent further suicide jump!
The building of the hotel is progressing fast and it is beginning to take shape!

Merdeka Mall

We visited the new Merdeka Mall yesterday afternoon...

Ta Kiong will be opening soon as they are now looking for people!

One angle of the mall

Makan is our tradition!

Fancy cybername .. this one is call Cafe World

Wear Us!

A Dream World ... the name actually change colour!

A corner at the ground floor.

APEX Departmental Store seems to be well stocked.

Stylist Selection ... nice layout!

My friend Jackie is smiling all over because ...

he has his futuristic computer store there!
Haven't been there? Go! The aircon is now working properly.

Chan Clan 15th Anniversary Celebration

Miri Chapter of Chan Clan Association celebrated 15th anniversary on Sunday night. The show started off ...

with drummers ...

... multi-racial native dancers ...

... Chinese dances

Singing competition by 8 song birds .. she is ladies champion.

Group photo for competition

One of the singers!

More photos can be found at my facebook. First night; 2nd Night

Life is such a contrast ...

I took these photos during a course at a hotel in Miri. I was relaxing at the swimming pool and then I realised that a storm was approaching. The wind was very strong. So, I went to the top of the rock, set my camera on tripod and waited for almost an hour for the storm to come and then ...

storm clearing up. It was cold, very windy and the sea was rough. Initially, the sky was covered with black cloud. And soon, the sky cleared and the sun came out in the horizon.

On the other hand, I saw this flower (Miri Flower) standing alone amongst the bush. Braving the storm and rain and it survived... looking even better after the storm.

Now everyone can look younger!

"Now everyone can..." has become a popular slogan. So, here is mine... "Now everyone can look younger!". Photo retouching in my younger days meant that I have to sit in front of an easel with a back light and a special retouching pencil. I had to work on a photo for hours to get any good effect. But this was limited to fine lines removal. Now with modern digital technology this job has become easier.

Before retouching ... original

After retouching... clock is turned back some 10-20 years! What do you think?
Oh, if you like yours to be done, please let me know. You can submit to me a clear high resolution image or you can get me to snap the photo for you. With Hari Raya celebration coming up and family reunion, this is an opportune time to have family photos taken.
Retouching will remove fine lines and blemishes and may also change the shape of the face to make the person more handsome or pretty.

POINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

While you practice all of the above, share this knowledge with the people you love, people you school with,
people you play with, people you work with and people you live with.
Not only will it enrich YOUR life, but also that of those around you.

Merdeka Mall - Miri latest landmark

After a delay of a few months, we saw the opening of the Merdeka Mall on 31st August 2010!

We were also very curious as to what this mall has to offer. However, we were disappointed that only a few stores were open. There were lots of visitors on the opening day. The most popular are the ice cream and makan/eating stores.
More photos will follow soon... 

His Mashiro

Ah Jon brought his Mashiro everywhere...

This one was taken at the beach. Don't you think this Mashiro is nice?

Our Limbang Trip

We went to Limbang to visit our aging grandma and also my second sister. My 2nd brother-in-law just pass away two weeks earlier. We left Miri at 4:20PM and arrived in Limbang at about 7:00PM. The queue at the immigration was short by any standard! We went for "dinner" at the lake garden on Bukit Mas. The road up the hill was dark and when we arrive, they have no customer!

After we ordered food, there was a blackout! So, the boss switched on his car headlight so that they can cook. Then, they gave us a candle. Ah Jon and Janice.

Joshua was fast... the moment he arrived at the place, he found what he liked to eat... fried chicken chop costing RM12!!

Timothy loves his usual... lemon chicken rice.

For the rest of us, we have 炒煮麵. Total cost... RM45!! I know my friend STP in Sibu will faint when he hear this!

We met my 4th brother...

... and my 3rd sister's eldest daughter.

My 2nd sister is so thin. She looks older than her age.

Grandma is getting old. She is 92 this year and every time we met, she repeat the same thing... and predicted her own dxxxx!

This time, she has toothache. A wisdom tooth is giving her problem.

Her collapsed or compression fracture of the vertebrae or spine is very serious. She is forever suffering pain. An x-ray of the bone can be seen in one of my blogs. So, we must take care of ourselves and have enough calcium. Her back is seriously bent.

Departure after less than 24 hours is not very nice. The older generation always loves the younger one. She insisted on giving away her limited fund to our children for good luck. What can we do? We just accepted it or we will be seen as "disobedient"! 

My Trip Back from Limbang

We went back to Limbang on Friday and return to Miri on Saturday as I had function to attend on Saturday night. The trip back was fast at the Limbang side...

However, when we reached Sg Tujuh side, we found a long queue some 1KM plus away from the checkpoint . We thought there was an accident... never mind, we wait in queue. An hour later, we finally reached the check point and realised that it was actually a very long queue. The checkpoint officers must had been working extremely hard!

After passing Brunei side, we had to queue again on the Sarawak side... finally, we could see the checkpoint!

On the Sarawak side, a new immigration checkpoint is being built! It is a huge complex and I hope it will ease up border crossing.
I was told that it will be holiday in Brunei for the next few days. So, many cars crossed over to Miri. Some people actually waited from 8AM and didn't arrive until 1PM. So, we have been very lucky.
It seems that every time we went back to Limbang, something would go wrong with my car. Last time, it couldn't charge. This time, the aircon compressor jammed and therefore burnt out the moment we started our journey from Limbang. So, we have no aircon from Limbang to Miri and have to be baked under the hot sun for four hours!

Changing face of Miri

I took these photos from a bus...

New Centre Point of Miri

Bintang Budget Hotel taking shape!

Not sure what Shin Yang will call their new budget hotel. This is the ex M2 of Miri in Pelita Commercial Centre. Looks like going to open soon.

New wing of the Good Shepherd Anglican Church of Lutong.

庆中元 Ghost Festival

These were photos taken this evening at the Tua Pek Kong temple in town.

Lots of people

Offering

Burning of paper money

Devotees ...

To ask for blessing

Perhaps prosperity

There were two items for auction in the evening. This 平安灯"lamp of peace" was hung high above the bamboo tree and the starting price was RM5,000. Finally, someone bought it for RM10,800 (US$3,400). The other item was what they call 黑金"black gold" and was finally sold for RM8000 (US$2,500). Both item promises good luck, prosperity, wealth and health for the owner.