Scenic Sunday/Sunday Bridge: Bintangnor Red Bridge

This is the bridge linking Sarikei & Bintangor which enables a fifteen minutes drive only to reach one town to the other. Francis Chen Posted this on his FB page, and has kindly allowed me to blog it.

Oh for the wonders of social networking.

For 3 years, I was happy blogging and making friends with people all over the world. Last March, I published my book, Diary of a Bereaved Mother. I decided to use Facebook as my marketing tool. http://annkitsuetchin.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/diary-of-bereaved-mother-foreward.html


Out of the blue, I got this Facebook message," Are you Miss Chan? I am a student from Kai Chung School."

Miss Chan was a persona I had left in 1975 when I went to Canada. Miss Chan was me during a gap year from High School to when I left. I was Miss Chan in a secondary school in a small town called Binatang. The town may be small, but the respect for teachers is big.

To cut the story short, I started befriending ex students and colleagues. To be honest, because the students too have changed their names, I do not really remember who they are. Except for a group I knew very well before I left.

It's not only our names have changed, even the town has changed her name, it was Binatang for a long time. Binatang is animal, so the town authorities changed it to Bintang, which is bright star. Before I can get used to it, they changed it to Bintangnor. I will have to ask my students what this means.

When I was there, I went back in the weekends in another town Sarikei to my parents place. I could take an express boat shaped like an aeroplane, which plied on the Rejang River, or went by bus. Both these journeys took at least half an hour.

Today, I learn that the express boats are long gone. They have a new bridge which cut the trip to 15 minutes.







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A LOVELY FEW DAYS

 We just a had a lovely few days staying in the city .... it was my daughter Meg's 18th birthday on Friday (can't believe my baby is 18 !!!) ...... anyway, she said she didn't want "things" for her birthday she wanted experiences, so we saw This is Our Youth

on Wednesday night, drank lots of coffee here, saw some films at

French Film Festival ......

but the highlight had to be seeing Jane Birkin .... (excuse the bad quality of the photo)

she was so amazing, first we saw a little documentary "Souvenirs of Serge" which Jane had made from her own super 8 films, so personal and so beautiful then she did a Q & A after, she was so "real" so unpretentious, so gracious, we were totally captivated and left feeling very happy and very inspired  .....

 

 ..... on our walk home (well, our home away from home, you may remember it from this post ) we saw this dress in a shop window, it was so lovely and such a perfect "turning 18 dress" that I did have to break the "no things" rule .....

so the next day (her actual birthday) we went and bought it ....

 it will always have such lovely memories attached to it,

 it can be her "Jane Birkin Birthday dress" !!!

It really was a lovely few days, we had a nice family dinner Friday night and have been catching up with family and friends over the weekend  ....

 which has been so special,
just like my girl 

XXX

Oh and we have one more "experience" this Wednesday, we are seeing this band .... should be a nice way to top off a lovely birthday week !!!

Aeonium cyclops , red succulent

In warm Auckland, many gardens have rock gardens where there are succulent plants.
This beautiful tall succulent has rosettes of dark reddish-bronze leaves on stems

Aeoniums are members of the Crassulaceae, a huge family of succulents that include many other popular and commonly grown succulents, including some that look a lot like Aeoniums. Echeverias in particular are often confused with Aeoniums and there are several other rosette-like succulents (eg. Dudleyas, Graptopetalums, Pachyverias and Graptoverias). One thing that sets t these plants apart is the way their leaves attach to the stem- they are wrapped around the stem with a fibrous attachment so that when a leaf is pulled away, the stem is intact with only a transverse line showing where the leaf was attached. The other rosette Crassulaceas have succulent attachments and their being pulled off the stem leaves a divot in the stem.

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Macro Flower Saturday
Macro Flower Saturday Macro Flower Saturday ">
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Last Monday, I went to my doctor for my flu vaccination, and came back with almost the whole shebang of things done. The most important of which is the smear test. She said I had it last done three years ago, and it was time again.

In New Zealand, not all women want this done, especially the ethnic women. There is a fear of going. Women is like the red succulent, strong but if you don't take care of yourselves, nobody will take care of us, and your family will lose someone they depend on.

http://www.nsu.govt.nz/about/what-is-screening.aspx

1. What is a cervical smear test and how is it done?

Cervical screening aims to detect abnormal changes to the cervix (the nechttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifk of the uterus or womb) before they can develop into cancer. Safe and effective treatment for pre-cancerous lesions detected by screening will prevent progression to cancer. When you have your smear you will be asked to lie on your side or your back with your knees bent up. The lower part of your body will be covered with a sheet. The smear taker gently opens the vagina with a plastic or metal speculum and carefully sweeps a sample of cells from the surface of the cervix with a thin broom or brush. It takes only a few minutes to take the smear. Some women may find the test a little uncomfortable. The test sample is either smeared onto a glass slide or placed in a liquid. It is then sent to a laboratory approved by the NCSP.

Skywatch Friday: Peter Hillary

Peter Hillary with his wife (red) Yvonne and Diane Harding. Diane had worked in Nepal for 2 years.

Peter talking to the children about his Dad Sir Ed Hillary and his work in Nepal.


On the 50th anniversary of Sir Ed's conquering of Mt Everest, Peter and his friends climbed the mountain. Here I took my photo from the video that Peter showed the children of him talking to his Dad. His Dad asked him if he reached the summit.


In 1992 Hillary appeared on the updated New Zealand $5 note, thus making him the only New Zealander to appear on a banknote during his or her lifetime, in defiance of the established convention for banknotes of using only depictions of deceased individuals, and current heads of state. Peter had a joke about the $5 note. My ESOL kids remember him saying," Sorry, Dad, I have to buy something, good bye."

Our beautiful sky after the talk, view of my part of my school.

Like our Sky Tower, Sir Ed is an icon of New Zealand. View from my school.

When I was 11 in Borneo, we had to cut out photos from Newspaper and make a scrap book and learn the facts of important and famous people. The hero in my scrap book was Edmund Hillary. He was the first man who climbed the highest mountain in the World, Mt Everest in 1953 just before I was born. He came from New Zealand.

Sir Ed was not just an adventuror, He was a philanthropist. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Following his ascent of Everest he devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built in Nepal.

As an adult, I was privileged to come to study at the university and then to live in New Zealand. Today, I was just as excited as the students of Pt Chevalier to hear our speaker, Peter Hillary. Peter is the son of Sir Ed. I was very pleased he was very obliging when I asked to take his photo for my blog. Peter by his own right is a remarkable man.

My colleague Diane Harding had organised his talk. It was Peter and Yvonne's wedding anniversary. It is indeed a great privilege to have them come to school. Diane had spent 2 years up in the mountains of Nepal as a nurse with her partner Liz who is a doctor.

Nepal, of course, has a special place in my heart. Occasionally, I blog about Ganga and Jemunah. They were the pair of con-joint twins from Nepal. In 2000, they came to Singapore to be separated. I spearheaded the fund raising in Nanyang Technological University. I felt very touched when their mum and grand dad invited me to see them while they were still con-jointed.


Peter Hillary comes from one of the great families of mountaineering and has a history of world-class achievements in climbing.

Like his father, the late Sir Edmund Hillary, who made the first ascent of Mt Everest with his climbing partner Tenzing Norgay in 1953, Peter has summited Everest and forged a new route to the South Pole. The names Everest and Hillary are forever linked, and will always be associated with high adventure.

Peter Hillary is an accomplished mountaineer, speaker and expedition leader. He raises funds for Himalayan Foundations around the world and owns the Hillary Brand, a line of HILLARY branded goods. Together with his sister Sarah Hillary, they manage the intellectual property of the Ed Hillary estate.


The last photo I show is of Auckland Sky Tower. It is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, just as we are proud of the Hillary name who is an icon is New Zealand, so is the Sky Tower where we can see from our school on a fine day like this morning.



Climb every mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow every byway,
Every path you know.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
'Till you find your dream.

A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life
For as long as you live.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream

A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life,
For as long as you live.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream.

Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/sound-of-music-lyrics-climb-every-mountain-q47jrxt#ixzz1pFhQtIdg
LetsSingIt - Your favorite Music Community

http://youtu.be/X1GQpoRhmno


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JEWELED RICE

This would have to be the prettiest rice dish I've seen in a long time .....

Jeweled Rice .... even the name sounds pretty !!!

via here

Water for Thailand

This past Sunday at Mt Albert Baptist Church, I manned the EFTPOS terminal, New Zealand's electronic transfer machine. Handling other people's money is stress ful to me. On Sunday, it was extremely stressful. I had a lot of business. My church was selling shares to help build a well in Thailand. We were selling token water. I was amazed that people paid above value to the share values.


http://www.cbcthailand.blogspot.co.nz/


Here is an email from my pastor, Jonathan Dove.

Dear Church



Just a reminder that this Wednesday is our ‘Water Wednesday.’



This past Sunday we explored how healthy churches engage with the needs of people on the margins through both the spoken message and strategic action. As part of our application, we launched Project Thailand, a 5-year initiative to come around a range of needs and people groups within Thailand (check it out at www.mabc.org.nz/project-thailand). This year’s focus is bringing clean water, sanitation and health education to a village that (right now) has none of these.



So, what do you do on Water Wednesday (14th March)?



1. Abstain from all liquids except water for the duration of the whole day: No coffee. No tea. No milk on the weetbix. Just water. For the whole day.



2. Every time you want to have something other than water, take a moment to be grateful to God for the water you do have (and for the bountiful choices normally available to you).



3. Consider what it must be like for people in Northern Thailand (and others parts of the world) without access to safe running water. Reflect on what you can do to help.



4. If you purchased a water share bottle in Project Thailand, carry it around with you for the day. Look at the project sticker through the clean water you have and what we’re enabling others to enjoy. Speak to others about the needs and opportunity.


5. Share your reflections with your family, flat-mates, and small group. Together, reflect on the statistics at the end of this email or check out the upcoming world water day at: http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/campaign.html.



This Wednesday, let’s appreciate anew what God has given each of us and consider what we can do to help those on the edges.



Journeying Together

Jonathan Dove
Lead Pastor



P.S. Here’s some figures to reflect about:

• Globally, diarrhea is the leading cause of illness and death, and 88 per cent of diarrhea deaths are due to a lack of access to sanitation facilities, together with inadequate availability of water for hygiene and unsafe drinking water. (Source: JMP).



• Today 2.5 billion people, including almost one billion children, live without even basic sanitation. Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation. That's 1.5 million preventable deaths each year. (Source: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC))



• Nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease. (Source: WHO/UNICEF).



• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease. (Source: United Nations Development Programme).


http://www.mabc.org.nz/project-thailand/


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NOTICE BOARD

This is the noticeboard in our kitchen ....

and this is the play we are looking very forward to seeing on Wednesday night  .....

and the rest is just lots of favorite stuff .....

Louise Bourgeois ....

and Picasso postcards ....

smoking nuns  ......

a paper lantern .....

favorite cards .....

a feather from a special day .......

and Serge Gainsbourg .....

speaking of .... Jane Birkin is presenting a documentary on Serge and a
Q & A at The Chauvel on Thursday night as part of The French Film Festival .....
so excited to be seeing such an iconic woman, actually very, very excited !!!