A-Z of Stress Management

Always take time for yourself, at least 30 minutes per day.
Be aware of your own stress meter: Know when to step back and cool down.
Concentrate on controlling your own situation, without controlling everybody else.
Daily exercise will burn off the stress chemicals.
Eat lots of fresh fruit, veggies, bread and water, give your body the best for it to perform at its best.
Forgive others, don't hold grudges and be tolerant -- not everyone is as capable as you..
Gain perspective on things, how important is the issue?
Hugs, kisses and laughter: Have fun and don't be afraid to share your feelings with others.
Identify stressors and plan to deal with them better next time..
Judge your own performance realistically; don't set goals out of your own reach.
Keep a positive attitude, your outlook will influence outcomes and the way others treat you.
Limit alcohol, drugs and other stimulants, they affect your perception and behaviour...
Manage money well, seek advice and save at least 10 per cent of what you earn.
No is a word you need to learn to use without feeling guilty.
Outdoor activities by yourself, or with friends and family, can be a great way to relax....
Play your favourite music rather than watching television.
Quit smoking: It is stressing your body daily, not to mention killing you too.
Relationships: Nurture and enjoy them, learn to listen more and talk less.....
Sleep well, with a firm mattress and a supportive pillow; don't overheat yourself and allow plenty of ventilation.
Treat yourself once a week with a massage, dinner out, the movies: Moderation is the key.
Understand things from the other person's point of view......
Verify information from the source before exploding.
Worry less, it really does not get things completed better or quicker.
Xpress: Make a regular retreat to your favourite space, make holidays part of your yearly plan and budget.......
Yearly goal setting: Plan what you want to achieve based on your priorities in your career, relationships, etc.
Zest for life: Each day is a gift, smile and be thankful that you are a part of the bigger picture........

About English word

I overheard my colleague talking about a computer about to expire. What she meant was that the warranty is about to expire. So, what is the meaning if we say someone has expired? Well, it means that the person has breath his/her last. Or he/she is dead!

Tudan Methodist Church Dedication Service

Last Sunday, we witnessed the dedication service of Tudan Methodist Church. This church is built with the indigenous people in mind as it is built amongst their midst.

The magnificent church

Rev Dato Su, President of SCAC put his signature on.

Later we were all treated to a sumptuous meal cooked and prepared by the ladies.

Arrival of  the VIP

We have a good time for praise and worship.

A lot of people turned up for the event.

Group photo

Choir presentation by the kids. They did a good job.

Macro

Special effect of macro ...

With modern digital photography, special effects have become so easy. There are free public domain software easily available. I personally like Photoscape very much as it is very easy to use and it can produce stunning effect with a few clicks. Go and download a copy at photoscape.org

Kids Are Quick

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America .
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?
CLASS: Maria.

TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.

TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.

TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with ' I. '
MILLIE: I is...
TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'

TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand...

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher

10 Commandments" for Big Ideas

1. Be passionate about the idea
2. Let quality differentiate your product or service
3. Select your company name carefully
4. Believe in yourself
5. Step out of your comfort zone
6. The "devil is the details"
7. Experiment and listen to your customers
8. Select the right people for your team
9. Value your employees
10. Persistence wins the race

Today at Bulatan Park, Miri

I was disappointed that I didn't really capture any good macro this morning as the park had just been trimmed. So all the wild flowers were cut and I was left to search for others objects....

I found a few bees busy at work. Here was one of them. Any idea how fast the wings move? This photo was taken with a shutter speed of 1/1250s. I later found that I need to set the shutter speed to 1/4000s to freeze 80% of the wings.

I think this flower is called golden shower. Please do correct me if I am wrong. I included a bible verse for you to meditate upon.

Senior version of Jesus Loves Me

92 Year old pastor once said:
"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me... The only thing that would comfort was this verse...

"Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
We are weak but He is strong.....
Yes, Jesus loves me....
The Bible tells me so."

A pastor once stated, "I always noticed that it was the adults who chose the children's hymn 'Jesus Loves Me' (for the children of course) during a hymn sing, and it was the adults who sang the loudest because I could see they knew it the best."

Here is a new version just for us who have white hair or no hair at all. For us over middle age (or even those almost there) and all you others, check out this newest version of Jesus Loves Me.

JESUS LOVES ME

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.
(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may,
He'll be there to lead the way.
(CHORUS)

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song..
Telling me in words so clear,
"Have no fear, for I am near."
(CHORUS)

When my work on earth is done,
And life's victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I'll understand His love.
(CHORUS)

I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.
(CHORUS)

A new look

After almost a year, I think it is time for me to revamp my blog layout. I hope you like it. However, please give me your comment.
I change the background to black so that it gives more contrast to the photos. Also, I made the blog column larger as it is giving a lot of problem to IE. At the same time, the photos can now be bigger so that you don't need to strain your eyes.

Thanks for reading my blog and do come back often. Work is still in progress.

Will you adopt me?

These two adorable fully grown guard dogs are out for adoption. The owner is leaving Miri and they are looking for a good home. They are currently healthy and well taken care of.



Mixed bred. Called Star. Female and nine years old.

 



Hello... I am Rover and male. Eight years old. Strong and healthy!
If you want to adopt them, call Olive at 085-665700. Just mention that you knew about  this from my blog.

  

To eat or not to eat

Hari Raya is a time to see lots of beautifully made kuih, ie, cake, etc. They were so beautifully made that looking at them will cause me to imagine the amount of work and time required to make them. So, would it be a waste to eat them? They do taste fantastic!

See the fine artwork. I was told that those from Kuching were not so nice as they spend less time and love in it! From Kuching, the pattern is bigger.

More ....

See the dedication required to make the pattern in the center. 

Macro around the house

I personally think that macro photography is challenging, rewarding and also frustrating. For me, without a tripod, it is very difficult to snap sharp macro photo as the depth of field is far too shallow. Anyway, here it goes...

"Orange flower"

This is mango flower. The size of the flower is tiny.

Dyke (dike) in Miri

I have been using the Miri Airport bypass for a long time and not long ago, I noticed this structure and immediately, I knew that it is a dike because when I was young, we used to have a simpler structure.

Just in case you don't know, dike is used to control water level or flood prevention.

This structure was built across the small river. In this case, it was made of concrete  walls on both side with a  metal  "door" that can be lowered or lifted up. If flood water prevention is desired, the door would be lowered when the tide was low. When water retention is desired, the door would be closed when the tide came in. 

A close up view of the door.

Beauty from the wild

I am not sure what is the name of this plant. Anyone knows? This plant has huge leaves and big yellow flowers. When the flower set, the seeds mature and ...

and this is what you see.
This plant brought back memories of my childhood days. We used to collect the leaves of this plant for sale.  I can't remember how much we had to collect in order to get just 20 cents. The leaves were used to wrap meat, veggie or fish. We were so environmentally friendly at that time.

What is this?

A small quiz from me today....

What is this structure, its use and where can you find this in Miri? Sorry lah, no prize from me. More pictures will appear tomorrow.

Beauties from the wild (Macro)

How many of these flowers can you recognise? You normally step on them or destroy them as they are weed!

They are common weed found in any garden. I found the first two in Bulatan Park. The last two were from my own garden.

2010 Curtin Open Day

I went to Curtin Open day yesterday. I thought this was an open day to show the public what the uni has to offer. But actually, it was like a funfair .. food stores, kids corner, Kite flying, etc.
(Make sure you click on the photos to see a bigger image)

This is a panorama shot of the lake which is suspected to contain 3 crocodiles. A beautiful place. (This pic is stitched from 3 photos)

Kites .... this one flew very well...

... this one also flew very well. 

However, this one had problem as I think it was too heavy and the wind was too weak.

Finally, "musical kites" show. The team of eight who controlled this kite formation/show did a fantastic job. I enjoyed it very much.

May you be blessed today

May you have a blessed weekend.

I literally waited for months for this tree to bear the perfect flower at the correct height so that I can take a  nice picture. This flower is actually from a tall tree at a local park.
May you have a beautiful day!

Have you been there... Tusan Beach

This beach is some 40KM away from Miri. Let the pictures do the talking ...

Caves along the beach

Rock formation. Look like what?

More rock formation ...

Water is clear. You see fishes, prawn, etc....

Colourful fishes...

Stick fish also...

... and birds for you to ...

enjoy....

Macro Photography - flower

I spend some time last week at Bulatan Park, Miri, looking for flowers. Big flowers were easy to find but then, I found a lot of beauties at ground level. They were normally being stepped upon by people.  Enjoy...

This flower is everywhere...

This type is tiny. You need to look really hard for them.The petal is about 3-5 mm only.

This one has fallen to the ground otherwise, they were high up on the trees.

They are very tiny flowers. Perhaps, only 10mm across.

This one was on a tree. It is quite big.
Macro photography is not easy and very demanding. If you don't have a macro lens,  you can't snap those tiny flowers or you will not get the effect.

Belian Furniture

Egg shop in Seberkas, Miri has moved to e-mart and a new furniture shop is now in its place. They are selling furniture made from belian (iron wood) and they are very solid. Belian is beautiful and very lasting. I personally like them very much. The only issue is perhaps the prices. But, I strongly believe that those furniture  were built to last 100 years or more!

The shop front

Table. Notice the thickness of the table top.

Another super table. They are built to last!

Another table. Look at the stools...

A belian bed set!

They have a mountain of chopping board. They are probably one of the few items not made from belian. Chopping board made from Belian is no good as the wood is brittle. Chopping anything on it will be spoilt with tiny bits of wood chip!