Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Torchbearer


Father, make me as a torchbearer, bringing truth and knowledge to the minds of my students. Amen

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Light


Help me to keep such a cheerful outlook on life that it shows in my countenance. Make me a ray of sunshine to students who are starved for light. Amen

Monday, April 28, 2008

Fail

When I fail, Lord, teach me to turn over my paper and begin again. Help me to teach my young scholars the same approach. Amen

Friday, April 25, 2008

Precious



Father, when I wonder if what I do is worth anything, remind me how precious each of my students is to You and of what an impact a single day can have in their education. Amen

Monday, April 21, 2008

Consciousness


Teach me, Lord, to bring to everyone all that I am and all that I do as a consciousness of You. May I be known as a Christian first and a teacher second. Amen

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Superman

I am hooked to this song!

Superman by Five for Fighting

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
I’m just out to find
The better part of me

I’m more than a bird...i’m more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It’s not easy to be me

Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I’ll never see

It may sound absurd...but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed...but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream
It’s not easy to be me

Up, up and away...away from me
It’s all right...you can all sleep sound tonight
I’m not crazy...or anything...

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
Men weren’t meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I’m only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
Inside of me
Inside me
Yeah, inside me
Inside of me

I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
I’m only a man
Looking for a dream

I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
And it’s not easy, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm...

Its not easy to be me

Friday, April 18, 2008

Grand Palace, and Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok

Grand Palace? Ok. When?

Tomorrow


What time?

9:30 a.m.

Fine with me.

On Wednesday I went to the Grand Palace, and Wat Phra Kaew with 2 or my lovely friends. As soon as we went out of the Taxi a man came to see if we need any help. Ohh… he’s being so kind to tell what we shouldn’t be doing inside and what is not allowed. He pointed to my friend’s sleeveless shirt (not really) and told her that she needs to cover it. That was really nice of him… until when he uttered his next words… “oh the place is close! You can come and visit it later.” As soon as he uttered that magic words, my pigeon sized brain immediately fired-up. I remember reading somewhere about this scheme. Our friendly but crooked friend was trying to use the same method he may have used thousands of time to unsuspecting visitors. My two lovely friends somehow kinda’ started to fall into this crooked but friendly man trap. When one of my friends spoke to him in Thai, he was surprised and kinda’ backed-up a bit but he didn’t give up… I forced myself into the conversation and told my friend that this nice guy is trying to trick us.

* Those who wish to visit Wat Phra Kaew/Grand Palace, do not listen to those nice guys/ladies outside the gate. Just ignore them and walk in. You can get the ticket from the counter inside (Baht 250 for foreigner).

* No short pants and/or sleeveless shirt.


I was able to go in as Thai (free). Perhaps it’s because I’ve been staying in this country for years and I’ve actually considered Bangkok as my home.






Missionary

I would love to share this story to those who may read my blog. I actually got the link from Aims blog (Thanks).

By Jim Kavanagh
CNN


(CNN) -- A missionary family from Minnesota is glad to be alive and together after surviving a plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the father said Wednesday.


From left: April, Barry, Keith, Marybeth and Andrew Mosier, with Marybeth's mother, Dorothy Burghart.

Barry and Marybeth Mosier were on their way to visit their son Keith, 24, in Kinsangani, Congo, with two younger children when their plane crashed on takeoff Tuesday in Goma. At least 36 people died as the plane plowed through a market and burned. Most of the people who died were on the ground, according to the U.N. mission in DR Congo.
April Mosier, 14, managed to escape quickly, her father said from Goma.
"April raced ahead, and she got to the front of the plane as one of the first people, I think," said Barry Mosier, 53.
The girl encountered a man who was tearing through an opening in the fuselage, Mosier said.
"He was pulling parts of the plane in or pushing them out, trying to make a hole. And she told him -- she speaks Swahili well -- she said, 'We've got to get a hole in this plane, or we're all going to die.' " When the hole was big enough, April tried to dive through it. She made it with a push from the man, and other passengers followed, he said.
Meanwhile, Mosier said, he and his wife were carrying their son Andrew, 3, in the shoving "mass of humanity" trying to escape the burning plane. They got out through the opening in the fuselage. The child's leg was broken in the crush of people, but his parents didn't realize it until later.
April became separated from her parents and was whisked away to a hospital, convinced that her family was dead, her father said.
"Outside the plane, she was wandering around. ... It was total chaos," he said. "People were screaming and yelling because the plane had landed on this market. All of a sudden, out of the blue, all of these people who were just standing there are now dead.
"So there's parts of bodies and people burning and people screaming and yelling, and she was out there by herself."
About 25 minutes later, the Mosiers were reunited at the hospital.
"When we saw each other at the hospital, I can tell you, it was a grand reunion," he said.
The Mosiers, who have been Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in Iringa, Tanzania, for eight years, went to the church office in Goma to let Keith and other loved ones -- including two other grown children in the U.S. -- know that they were all right.
While there, someone noticed that Andrew's leg was swollen, and the Mosiers returned to the hospital. They learned that Andrew's femur was broken near the hip, and he is now in a cast that reaches from his toes to his rib cage, Barry Mosier said.
"He doesn't like it very well, as most 3-year-olds wouldn't," Mosier said.
The family will recuperate in Goma for a few days before deciding whether to resume the trip to Kisangani, where Keith Mosier has been a volunteer missionary for two months, Barry Mosier said.
"But flying here is not a popular thing to talk about just now," he said wryly.
Andrew has made up his mind, his father said.
"He says he doesn't want to ride in airplanes anymore," he said.
Marybeth Mosier, 51, suffered a black eye and bruised ribs, said her husband, who added that he was unhurt.
"We couldn't believe that our family of four could all escape a plane that was crashed and on fire, but by God's mercy, we did," he said.
Mosier said he believes the family made it for a reason.
"I think the Lord has a plan for us, otherwise we wouldn't have survived," he said. "He still has work for us to do."
And that work just might be in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
"We actually came here with the idea of seeing if we could move here to Congo, so it's been kind of a rough introduction," Mosier said.
"I think we'll keep praying about that. We know that the safest place in the world to work is where the Lord wants you to work."

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/04/16/congo.crash.survivors/index.html?eref=rss_latest

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Emporium

I didn't know what to do today and it was too hot to do anything anyway so I went to Emporium ('High-So' shopping mall) to cool down a bit (didn't want to use the AC at home - Save $$ bah).


After spending hours at Kinokuniya Book Store, my 'botutung'(stomach) started grumbling for food… of course I can’t just let my stomach grumble for long so I decided to satisfy my hunger at the Food Hall.








(The first 2 pictures were taken from http://www.thaiwebsites.com/emporium_bangkok.asp)

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Songkran 2008 (Thai New Year)

Bangkok is quite quiet today and it will be like this for at least 4 to 5 days as many Bangkokians went home to their hometown or went abroad to spend their Songkran holidays (Thai New Year). I've been living here in Bangkok for quite sometimes now yet this year is my first year to actually spend the songkran holidays in Thailand. I am looking forward for the fun time I will have getting WET, WET, WET, and to have water fight with others (maybe) !!!!!








Happy Songkran! Have fun getting WET, and be SAFE.



(Check this site for more info. on Songkran)
http://sunsite.au.ac.th/thailand/special_event/songkran/
http://www.sriwittayapaknam.ac.th/songkran.html

Friday, April 11, 2008

Old and New Testaments

Can you imagine yourself to be the Rev. Father or Nun that is sitting at his/her desk grading these papers all the while trying to keep a straight face and maintain his/her composure???

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE WORDING AND SPELLING. IF YOU KNOW THE BIBLE EVEN A LITTLE, YOU'LL FIND THIS HILARIOUS! IT COMES FROM A CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEST. KIDS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE BIBLE WERE WRITTEN BY CHILDREN. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RETOUCHED OR CORRECTED. INCORRECT SPELLING HAS BEEN LEFT IN.



1. IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, GUINESSIS. GOD GOT TIRED OF CREATING THE WORLD SO HE TOOK THE SABBATH OFF.

2. ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED FROM AN APPLE TREE. NOAH'S WIFE WAS JOAN OF ARK. NOAH BUILT AND ARK AND THE ANIMALS CAME ON IN PEARS.

3. LOTS WIFE WAS A PILLAR OF SALT DURING THE DAY, BUT A BALL OF FIRE DURING THE NIGHT.

4. THE JEWS WERE A PROUD PEOPLE AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY THEY HAD TROUBLE WITH UNSYMPATHETIC GENITALS.

5. SAMPSON WAS A STRONGMAN WHO LET HIMSELF BE LED ASTRAY BY A JEZEBEL LIKE DELILAH.

6. SAMSON SLAYED THE PHILISTINES WITH THE AXE OF THE APOSTLES.

7. MOSES LED THE JEWS TO THE RED SEA WHERE THEY MADE UNLEAVENED BREAD WHICH IS BREAD WITHOUT ANY INGREDIENTS .

8. THE EGYPTIANS WERE ALL DROWNED IN THE DESSERT. AFTERWARDS, MOSES WENT UP TO MOUNT CYANIDE TO GET THE TEN COMMANDMENT S.

9. THE FIRST COMMANDMENTS WAS WHEN EVE TOLD ADAM TO EAT THE APPLE.

10. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT IS THOU SHALT NOT ADMIT ADULTERY.

11. MOSES DIED BEFORE HE EVER REACHED CANADA . THEN JOSHUA LED THE HEBREWS IN THE BATTLE OF GERITOL.

12. THE GREATEST MIRICLE IN THE BIBLE IS WHEN JOSHUA TOLD HIS SON TO STAND STILL AND HE OBEYED HIM.

13. DAVID WAS A HEBREW KING WHO WAS SKILLED AT PLAYING THE LIAR. HE FOUGHT THE FINKELSTEINS, A RACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN BIBLICAL TIMES.

14. SOLOMON, ONE OF DAVIDS SONS, HAD 300 WIVES AND 700 PORCUPINES

15. WHEN MARY HEARD SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF JESUS, SHE SANG THE MAGNA CARTA.

16. WHEN THE THREE WISE GUYS FROM THE EAST SIDE ARRIVED THEY FOUND JESUS IN THE MANAGER.

17. JESUS WAS BORN BECAUSE MARY HAD AN IMMACULATE CONTRAPTION.

18. ST. JOHN THE BLACKSMITH DUMPED WATER ON HIS HEAD.

19. JESUS ENUNCIATED THE GOLDEN RULE, WHICH SAYS TO DO UNTO OTHERS BEFORE THEY DO ONE TO YOU. HE ALSO EXPLAINED A MAN DOTH NOT LIVE BY SWEAT ALONE.

20. IT WAS A MIRICLE WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND MANAGED TO GET THE TOMBSTONE OFF THE ENTRANCE.

21. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LORD WERE CALLED THE 12 DECIBELS.

22. THE EPISTELS WERE THE WIVES OF THE APOSTLES.

23. ONE OF THE OPPOSSUMS WAS ST. MATTHEW WHO WAS ALSO A TAXIMAN.

24. ST. PAUL CAVORTED TO CHRISTIANITY, HE PREACHED HOLY ACRIMONY WHICH IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MARRAIGE.

25. CHRISTIANS HAVE ONLY ONE SPOUSE. THIS IS CALLED MONOTONY.

Monday, April 7, 2008

April Calendar of Events

Ken Lee 2

Slightly better version of 'Ken Lee' (Without you)

Thursday, April 3, 2008

EARCOS KL 2008

KL was not bad after all! I am happy that things went well during the EARCOS conference and I am quite pleased with the presentations and workshops.


(Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok Thailand)

We arrived at Traders Hotel at around 11p.m. and were immediately given our room. I was too tired to do anything after a very long day but was not tired enough to fall asleep right away. I ended up watching movie till 3 a.m. (Haven’t watched TV for a weeks now). Got up at around 6:10 a.m. and it was still dark outside so I decided to continue my sleep before finally getting up and showered at 7 a.m. Breakfast was ‘superb’- Nasi Lemak and so on. ‘aduh monotos makan’. I was surprised to know (see/meet) that one of the Hotel Chef is my friend from the same ‘kampung’ and the same church. It’s a small world after all.. hehe.




(Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur)

We were at the meeting hall by 8:05 a.m. and it went on and on till 5 p.m. As soon as we were free to go, we started to explore KL. We went to Bukit Bintang, Sungai Wang and places around. I didn’t get to buy things as I can get better things and deal in Bangkok plus I don’t want to have excess baggage.

We spent our Saturday at KLCC Park. It’s great to have trees, fountains, birds and places to sit and relax amid the busy city life. I had ‘Laksa Sarawak’ for my lunch after meeting a friend at Suria KLCC. Later in the evening at around 5:00 p.m. we get to go up to the connecting bridge of Petronas Twin Tower.




(Petronas Twin Tower, Kuala Lumpur)


Our flight was supposed to be at 4 p.m. Thanks to Airasia (www.airasia.com), they’ve canceled their 4 p.m. flight and we were asked to take the 6 p.m. flight. They are known for their expertise in canceling flights, changing the schedule and delaying flights.. hehe.. After all, its just low cost airline.