22 May 2010

I admit that I have not been doing daily devotions for long. Today's reading of Our Daily Bread is again a reminder to me.

Often times, I compare myself to others and forget how blessed I am. It is easy to want what God has given to others. This may be human nature, to want what others have. The pasture is always greener on the other side.

God has been good to me. May I be content with what God has provided for me all this years - my family and whatever I have now.

Our Daily Bread - 22 May 2010

I shall not want

Before they were a week old, the eaglets were fighting over food. Neither was strong enough to hold up his head for more than a few seconds, so the pair looked like fuzzballs with bobble-heads attached. But whenever the parents brought food to the nest, the bigger eaglet was quick to peck down his brother to keep him from getting a single bite. His aggression would have been understandable if food was scarce, or if the parents couldn’t be trusted to supply what he needed. But nothing could be further from the truth. The eaglets were being fed fish many times their size; there was more than enough for both of them.

The greedy eaglet reminds me of our own foolishness when we try to get for ourselves something that belongs to someone else (James 4:1-5). Conflicts erupt because we want something that God has given to a friend, colleague, relative, or neighbor. Instead of asking God for what we need, we try to get what He’s given to someone else (v.2). But God has something good for each of us. We don’t need what belongs to anyone else. And we certainly never need to harm anyone to get what we need.

Our loving heavenly Father has more than enough for everyone. — Julie Ackerman Link

The secret of contentment is
To let the Lord supply;
Just do your part and put God first
And on His Word rely. —D. De Haan

Our needs will never exhaust God’s supply.

http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread

Bolognese

Yea! I finally made my own bolognese sauce today. I used macaroni, a quite weird combination though. Anyways, now I know how to made one sauce :)

You so free, go do some research la!

That was my sister reply after i bothered her with my indecisive questions - which wine to buy.

There are so many things out there that I don't know, and wine is one of them.



Wine basics
There are two basic types of wines - white wine and red wine.
All wines are manufactured using grapes, but different flavours are created by combining the basic wine with fruits, or other additives, and the actual manufacturing and ageing process.

No wonder the lady was reading lime, peaches... among the ingredients of the wine.

The main difference between red and white wine is that the juice used to make red wine includes the skins, stems and seeds of red or black grapes. White wines can be made from any color grape, but only the clear juice of the grapes is used. The general rule of thumb is that red wines tend to be heavier while white wines are usually sweeter. Whenthe wine is prepared in a way that produces carbon dioxide, it is termed as a " Sparkling wines". The sparkling wine that specifically comes from the Champagne region of France, is what we all know as "Champagne". These wines can be further categorised as Sweet or Dry, which is usually scaled between 00 (very dry) to 6 (very sweet).

Now I get it, the lady asked whether i wanted sweet wine. My response was "huh??" + scratch head.
And this explains that maybe the red wine I tasted in the past was not sweet enough. Seems quite bitter to me.

It is the TANNINS that produces the bitter taste. Tannins are a vital ingredient in wines, especially red wines. It comes from the stalks, skins and pips of grapes. Tannins in a young wine produce a bitter, taste on the palate, while the aged wines are more subtle in flavor.

After several readings, the name Riesling keep catching my eye.

Flavour profile:
Riesling wines can be highly aromatic with apple, peach and pear at the forefront mixed with delicate floral undertones and often honey and spice on the nose. On the palate, Rieslings echo the apple, pear and peach along with citrus and tropical nuances. Rieslings tend to pick up a noticeable "minerality" from their native soils, explaining why hints of slate or limestone can be exhibited.

It seems quite mild, sounds good! Maybe I can look out for that in the future. Haha.

So much for my wine research. Informative and interesting!

Self portrait photos

You realised that you don't take your self portrait a lot when you need a photo of yourself and you browse through your photos can cannot even find one suitable one.

Lack of knowledge

Do you feel confused and intimated when you have to choose a wine as a gift or to serve one at dinner? YESSSS!

I walked into Ta Kiong with zero knowledge about wine. I intended to maybe get a red wine or at least a wine glass for my dad for a belated parents' day gift. My sis and I got a sunglasses for mum, but nothing for dad yet. I looked around and was befuddled. So many choices! Different brands different names! Tried to get help from the staff there, asked so many questions, but still could not decide.

In the end I went home with this.


Disappointed.

Teachers = Entertainers?

I did not intend to attend this session but it was one session that I will not forget.

"Teachers are Entertainers "by Dr Roslan Baki.

Dr Roslan, also the chair for MICELT 2010 has lots of sense of humour. Listening to his presentation is really entertaining with important advice for teachers and future teachers.

Some ideas that still remain in my mind now.

• Enter the class with enthusiasm and high spirits!
  
• Smile!
• Be jovial!
  
• Wear bright coloured clothes! (Research has proven that the colour the teacher wears affects students' learning)
• Be open-minded
• Show interest in students answer. Eye contact. Don't ask students a question but look elsewhere.
• Build good rapport, class management would not be a problem.
• Show students that you are smarter than them.
  
• etc
  

In conclusion, teachers are the entertainers in class. Make learning English fun!

How I wish to have such cool teachers!

MICELT 2010

Before attending this conference, when the elders asked me what conference am I attending, I didn't know what to answer. I have no idea what was the conference about and I was only looking forward to the play part after the conference!

I usually dislike early morning flights. The thought of waking up early just to leave home and only come back months later saddens me. But for MICELT, I actually bought a 730am flight so that I can reach earlier and have fun! The alarm rang at 5.05am and off I was getting ready. The downside of thinking too much about fun is that I forgot about Kalmeet's kek lapis Sarawak. After visiting 4 different stalls to buy the kek lapis I actually forgot to bring it to the airport. What am I to do with 4 cakes in the frigde?!

I was very troubled because I only remembered about it 10 minutes before departure and I could not do anything about it. I was restless in the flight when I should be enjoying my flight with MAS.

To cut the story short, I finally reached Melaka at 3pm.

First stop, Ijat's house! We were welcomed with very warm reception, so much of food to finish! Thank you very much Ijat, and for your mum's cooking.

FInally, we reached Hotel Equatorial at 8pm sharp.

We were given the opportunity to chair a 40 minute parallel session each day. My sessions were mostly in the afternoon, but also during the plenary which I would love to attend. Anyways, all sessions were good because each presenter came to share their findings or something close to their heart to the participants. Their many years of experience can definitely enrich and inform the participants.

Now I know that MICELT stands for Malaysia International Conference for English Language Teaching and what is it about. I am glad and thankful for UPM to have sponsored us to attend MICELT. I think that if we were to fork our own money for this at the age of 23 and one year before graduating, many would not have come.