Xander's posterous http://xanharris.posterous.com Life... Plain and Simple posterous.com Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:42:47 -0800 27/12 : Reverend Joshua Hong's last sermon on "Jesus Christ is Lord" & distant relative's birthday disguised as a Christmas party :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/2712-reverend-joshua-hongs-last-sermon-on-jes http://xanharris.posterous.com/2712-reverend-joshua-hongs-last-sermon-on-jes
Picture 1
I knew it was the reverend's last day of service at KCMC. But I didn't expect to feel so sad at the end of it. Mr. Joshua gave quite a number of gifts as a token of appreciation to the various ministries in the church, including 2 guitars (1 guitar to bless the young church in Setia Alam).

After the sermon and gift presentation, the chairperson asked Mr. Joshua & his family to come in front to give the congregation an opportunity to say their farewell. At first, it was just the leaders who came up, shook their hands & gave them a hug. Then, all the others followed.

I can see tears & emotional exchange of words in the eyes of the family and church members. Guess it's partly due to the sad "Shalom, my friend" tune & us singing it.

Though I'm not close to the reverend, I felt sad & almost had tears in my eyes. It was the knowledge that he's going to JB for good that got to me. Thank God it's just separation by distance, not a permanent one (death).

He's the second separation I experienced this year. Another was someone close to me who is now working in a foreign land. I'm starting to wonder, who's next?

Picture 2
This was a happier event at night on the same day. My mum got invited by a distant cousin of hers (Not blood related) to a Christmas party. Since I'm familiar with Bukit Tinggi, I was naturally chosen as the driver :-D Though we got to the wrong road once, we managed to find our way.

We got to her house on time, but didn't know what would happen next. Red eggs & a big birthday cake made their way into the house. That was when we knew it was actually a birthday party. Good thing my mum gave wine as a gift as it seems to be appropriate for the occasion.

Why didn't the distant relative told us the reason earlier? I don't know, but my mum speculated it's because she doesn't want people giving her red packets.

Mum and I enjoyed the food, particularly the satay. I'm not sure when I started having a strong liking of it :-) Then, we proceed to chat & catch up with relatives & church friends (Distant relative is a member of KCMC).

Looking at the picture, you should be able to see 3 generations of family: Grandmother, mother, sons & their wives. All looked happy to me. One of grandson called Victor is taller than me; 6 feet 2 inches. But my mum still thought I was nearly as tall :-)

My mum's distant cousin is now 83 years old. She's a contented & bright person, always with a smile. And she can still walk. I'm impressed by the old people I come in contact these days. Wonder how I'll be if I'm able get to their age? Anyway, Victor was telling her that when she reaches 90, he'll buy a bigger cake for her :-)

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Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:31:41 -0800 25/12: Went to my 2nd sister's church in Damansara Utama. In addition to celebrating Christmas, it also had baptism & a sumptuous lunch :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/2512-went-to-my-2nd-sisters-church-in-damansa http://xanharris.posterous.com/2512-went-to-my-2nd-sisters-church-in-damansa Went to Reformed Baptist Church for Christmas. I haven't stepped into the church for more than 10 years. It's no wonder nobody recognized me. But the pastor thought I was familiar, so that's good. Spent most of the time with my sister and nephew. He was sitting beside me asking me all sort of questions, which I find amusing :-) Am grateful that he still wanted to spend time with me despite not seeing him in a long while.

Witnessed 5 people being baptized; my first time seeing it done on Christmas day (See first picture). My nephew went to the front row to get a closer look. By lunch time, he was running around and playing with the other kids. So, I spent time catching up with my sister. There was lots of food... and people too. I guess food has a way of attracting Malaysians :-)

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Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:59:42 -0800 How do you know Christmas is around the corner? By trees, carols or banners? Well, I only have 2 small "paintings" to tell me it's here :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/how-do-you-know-christmas-is-around-the-corne http://xanharris.posterous.com/how-do-you-know-christmas-is-around-the-corne
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Yeah, no decorations in my office unlike in the US. Somehow, the decorations I saw made the office looks cozy and it reminded me of the holiday season. It was a nice surprise to see the building management to spray the pictures on the glass doors; don't remember seeing it last year. Though it's only a minor celebration in Malaysia (Shopping malls don't count), let's not forget the real reason for the season...

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Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:44:29 -0800 23/12: Ate @ Manhattan Fish Market using company's Get-Together-Fund :-) Main sponsor was Ronald with RM180 in his account. I only had RM35 http://xanharris.posterous.com/2312-ate-manhattan-fish-market-using-companys http://xanharris.posterous.com/2312-ate-manhattan-fish-market-using-companys
Our counterpart in Japan was on holiday. So we took the opportunity (Less emails to entertain) to empty our funds before it burns on January 1st. I suggested Manhattan Fish Market because I wasn't satisfied with the fish & chips I had in US. Surprisingly, Chong agreed to my idea and sent a mass email to all relevant person :-) We had the Santa-For-Four set costing RM120 each. It was more than enough for 4 person. We even had leftovers to contribute to another group who seemed to be voracious eaters :-D Guess that happens when you've all guys in a group. 

I was satisfied with the taste & it filled my longing for fish & chips. Nah, just kidding! But it was really better than the one I had at Jerry's Deli in US. I should've tried it at a restaurant that specializes in cooking fish instead. During the meal, colleagues asked if I had tried eating fish in the real Manhattan. Unfortunately, I had to say no. I was sure I set foot on Manhattan Island (That's where New York City is), but my geography might be wrong :-) Will confirm this later. Came back to office about 3pm. It almost felt like I was in a company trip to some fabulous holiday location...

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Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:11:35 -0800 19/12: Went caroling around Klang. Bethany Chapel brought cheers to 2 old folks home, 1 nursing care center & 1 shelter home http://xanharris.posterous.com/1912-went-caroling-around-klang-bethany-chape http://xanharris.posterous.com/1912-went-caroling-around-klang-bethany-chape
After coming back from US, I had jet lag again. But thank God, I managed to recover by Saturday. Saw the email from someone in charge of youth ministry; practice supposed to start @ 8.15am in church. Got there 10 minutes later, but only a few were there. Guess it was a good day to sleep in :-)

After a good warm up of our vocals, we started caroling about 9.30am. Here's where we went (Picture from left to right):

Picture 1 & 2
This is an old folks home in Taman Sentosa. Quite a lot of residents here. They were happy to see us. One even sang loudly as if to welcome us. Started to drizzle when the gospel message was spoken. 

The guy from Port Klang Gospel Hall (PKGH) did a good job of delivering the message in Hokkien while we stood and listen (Picture 1). In Picture 2, you can see some of the residents. But the gentleman sporting a nice batik shirt at the center isn't. He's Uncle Kong Lam, my grandfather's comtemporary. At 91, he's still active and preached for the next 2 locations. Plus he remembers me too :-) Simply amazing...

Picture 3 & 4
This is the regular old folks home Bethany Chapel visits for caroling every year. It's located near the cemetery. Someone told me it's probably because land is cheaper. I feel kinda sad because old as they are, they deserve a better scenery and not be reminded of where they'll end up.

Some of the residents are lively as they recognize Uncle Kong Lam. It made sense because they attend a regular meeting in PKGH every Sunday evening. We sang our carols, 2 in Mandarin. Of course, since I don't understand Chinese, i just memorized the pronounciation by looking at the pinyin. That's the same for most of us. But we manage to sing well despite faking it :-) Gave the residents presents as we sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas".

Picture 5
Our next stop is the nursing care center. It has 2 floors of residents, so we had to split into 2 groups. We didn't sound that powerful but it would have to do. Uncle Kong Lam climbed upstairs and told his story. Since he's probably older than everyone in the center, he has every right to earn their respect. His life is interesting, with 6 generations of Christians in his family line. His message centered on how important Christ is to a person. How he hold fast to his faith is an encouragement to me. The host gave us drinks as refreshment.

Picture 6
Our last stop is a shelter home for women & girls. This is also a regular place for caroling. It is always the last stop because we spend more time with the children. Some of them attend the youth meetings in the church.

There were less people this year. I found out that's because the girls have to leave the place when they reach 18. I guess there were many Form 5 students last year. We had a fun time with them. After singing carols, there were 2 activities: "Bananas of the world, unite!" and passing the box. First was singing and acting like a banana. There were a total of 5 moves, which are peel, shake, dance, chop and mash. It was hilarious!

The other activity was passing a box to the next person until the music stops. The person with the box must take a piece of paper from it & do what it said. Pretty interesting. The message was given by a youth & talks about remembering Jesus, the Son of God as the best Christmas gift to mankind.

Picture 7 & 8
It was after 1pm when we left the shelter home. Had lunch at Burger King, Bukit Tinggi with the carolers. I enjoyed the fellowship. But the grilled chicken buger I ate wasn't what I expected. Maybe I'm spoilt by US burgers! :-D I had grape juice as drink.

That's about it for caroling. Of course, I did other stuff too, like got my haircut and sleeping like a log. But those aren't interesting stuff to write about :-)

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Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:11:44 -0800 18/12: Had lunch with my parents @ Cheong Foh. It's well known for coffee (Didn't drink). Yong tau fu & fried kuey teow are also famous :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/1812-had-lunch-with-my-parents-cheong-foh-its http://xanharris.posterous.com/1812-had-lunch-with-my-parents-cheong-foh-its From left to right:
Probably the cheapest yong tau fu in the Klang Valley. It has risen only 5 cents over the past 1 year. It's currently priced @ RM0.35 per piece. Each piece is home made with fresh fish stuffing. The owner has a machine to mix fish & turned them into ball shaped pieces. Watery sauce suits well with this dish.

Fried kuey teow + mee is also good here. With a generous helping of prawns, not overly oily & fried just right (Not burned), I think it's the best I've eaten :-)

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Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:00:15 -0800 2nd & 3rd Dec: Went to customer site in Dayton, home of Wright Brothers. In the pantry, I saw a tea variety pack which was interesting :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/2nd-and-3rd-dec-went-to-customer-site-in-dayt http://xanharris.posterous.com/2nd-and-3rd-dec-went-to-customer-site-in-dayt
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Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:10:10 -0800 My meals plus a camera in US on the 30th of November http://xanharris.posterous.com/my-meals-plus-a-camera-in-us-on-the-30th-of-n http://xanharris.posterous.com/my-meals-plus-a-camera-in-us-on-the-30th-of-n
It's 6.15am EST on 30/11 . Went downstairs for the hotel breakfast. Saw the CNN news on TV. 2 news items: David Hasselhoff's ex-wife was convicted due to drunk driving & Dubai's crisis will affect US. I find the news interesting, partly because I can understand it :-) It's different from my experience in Japan for obvious reasons. In US, I can enjoy things better, which includes listening to small talks around me.

Here are the descriptions for pictures from left to right: 

Picture 1 
This is my breakfast. According to my mum, this ain't American; it's English breakfast :-) I kinda agree because scramble eggs & waffles were missing. But let's talk about what's there. The egg's cute & strange at the same time because the egg yellow's shape was a near perfect circle.

Then there's something crispy & crumbles in my mouth. I don't know what it was, but I'll call it American scones :-) Tastes really good. As usual, I had my daily dose of milk + cereal. It's definitely not fresh cow's milk as it failed to compare with the one I drank in Perth, Australia.

The wheat bread was ok & I ate with the egg. Another pastry was really sweet. Maybe Americans like things to be sweet? Fruits were a disappointment because they don't taste like they're supposed to! :-D Calvin said only the grapes tasted like grapes. I suspect that the fruits are from cans rather than freshly cut. First time experiencing this in a hotel breakfast.

Picture 2
Had dinner @ Chili's. The picture shows a menu holder with a big chili on top. That's proof that I ate there. Can't stand the cold outside to take a picture of the signboard :-D Calvin had mango tea while I drank sky juice :-) Found out that mine's free.

 
Picture 3
Now, this has rice. It's called Taco chicken combo set. At $9, I think it's cheaper than what one can get from Chili's in Malaysia. The set had something kind of pastry that tasted like capati plus some pickles. Overall, the taste is acceptable. But I had expected it to be the same or better than Malaysian western food. I guess the Malaysian version has undergone fusion with the local culture. That's our advantage :-)

Weird thing about my appetite in US so far is that I feel hungry pretty fast, but after eating a lot, I feel neither full nor hungry. Sounds dangerous to me as I don't know when to stop :-)

 
Picture 4
Don't worry. This isn't an advertisement about using animal skin to make security cameras. Rather, it's Panasonic product brochure about a surveillance camera for pets. I find it pretty interesting as the featured animals are closely associated with me ;-) Must be resaonably priced. Otherwise, pet owners can't afford one.

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Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:48:37 -0800 Stuck in transit in HK International Airport. No HKD on hand & Airline Express to HK City's too expensive (HK$100). At least wifi's free :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/stuck-in-transit-in-hk-international-airport http://xanharris.posterous.com/stuck-in-transit-in-hk-international-airport
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Hong Kong through my eyes from a food court table :-D Conversion rate from USD to HKD  is pretty bad here and there isn't enough time to justify the RM50 (Think it's 1 way) for the Airline Express to HK City. Calvin and I thought about it as it only takes 24 minutes to the city. But we ended up sitting in the food court and waiting for time to pass (About 3 hours more)

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Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:08:38 -0800 Lunch: Had Cantonese fried kuey teow + mihun @ Chia Yen restaurant. It's the best in Klang according to my parents :-) Good choice before US http://xanharris.posterous.com/lunch-had-cantonese-fried-kuey-teow-mihun-chi http://xanharris.posterous.com/lunch-had-cantonese-fried-kuey-teow-mihun-chi
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Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:21:32 -0800 Genesis 30: Leah & Rachel fight it out on who can bear children for Jacob (Servants included). His wealth multiplied despite Laban's efforts http://xanharris.posterous.com/genesis-30-leah-and-rachel-fight-it-out-on-wh http://xanharris.posterous.com/genesis-30-leah-and-rachel-fight-it-out-on-wh
I'm not sure what to make of this chapter. It starts with the rivalry between 2 sisters, trying to outdo each other on who will bear children for their husband, Jacob. This just doesn't happen at present. In fact, we've the opposite case of people trying to avoid having children!

Because of this, I find it difficult to understand what is going through the minds of the two women. Even more bizarre when they lend their servants to Jacob to become surrogate mothers (Similar to how Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham two generations earlier). And it doesn't stop there. Both Leah and Rachel regarded the children from their servants as answers to their prayers. In verse 18, when Leah gave birth to Issachar, she said, "God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife".

Looking back at the previous chapter, Jacob married Leah first (Out of Laban's trickery). Then he married Rachel. I wonder what God thinks of a man having 2 wives. The number increased to 4 when the servants came into the picture. To be honest, I struggle with this because God was silent about it. And it is difficult to conclude whether the problems Jacob faces are a direct consequence of multiple marriages (Jealousy, ill feelings, etc).

But after some reflection, I believe that God's silence does not mean He condones the actions of the people in this story. From other parts of scriptures, it is clear that God's plan has always been 1 man with 1 wife. Nevertheless, He was being merciful and had compassion for both women. He even enables them to have children and paid attention to their sufferings.

The second part of this chapter focuses on Jacob. He seemed to turn over a new leaf when he made an honest bargain with Laban. Jacob was seeking Laban's permission to take his own family back to Canaan. Although Laban agreed to the bargain, he tried to reduce Jacob's wages. As mentioned in the translator notes:
Three days' traveling distance from Jacob. E. A. Speiser observes, "Laban is delighted with the terms, and promptly proceeds to violate the spirit of the bargain by removing to a safe distance all the grown animals that would be likely to produce the specified spots" (Genesis [AB], 238). Laban apparently thought that by separating out the spotted, striped, and dark colored animals he could minimize the production of spotted, striped, or dark offspring that would then belong to Jacob.

Jacob knew what was happening and tried something that seemed very strange: Putting sticks in front of sheeps when they're mating. The translator notes shed some light on this method
He put the branches in front of the flocks... when they came to drink. It was generally believed that placing such "visual aids" before the animals as they were mating, it was possible to influence the appearance of their offspring. E. A. Speiser notes that "Jacob finds a way to outwit his father-in-law, through prenatal conditioning of the flock by visual aids - in conformance with universal folk beliefs" (Genesis [AB], 238). Nevertheless, in spite of Jacob's efforts at animal husbandry, he still attributes the resulting success to God (see 31:5).

The method isn't scientific at all. But even if it is, Jacob was right when he said that God made him prosperous. It is certainly God who provides for us and give us the power to create wealth.

All quoted text and scriptures are from the NET Bible unless otherwise specified 

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Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:35:09 -0800 Lunch: Had kajang satay & cucuk udang with Japanese counterpart in Taman Warisan Pertanian, Putrajaya. I enjoyed it, though I prefer Klang's http://xanharris.posterous.com/lunch-had-kajang-satay-and-cucuk-udang-with-j http://xanharris.posterous.com/lunch-had-kajang-satay-and-cucuk-udang-with-j Yes, I'm clearly biased towards the food in Klang :-) The best satay ("Barbecued meat") in Klang has virtually zero fat, is tasty and the gravy is full of ground nuts. Anyway, this entry is about the one I ate in Putrajaya, so I'll talk about Klang's another day.

Primary purpose for choosing satay is to give an opportunity for my Japanese counterpart to taste the local food here. The cucuk udang (Prawn fried with flour) is only average; tastes ok but oily. I don't remember how kajang satay is like but this one's a little sweet (Might be due to honey) and lots of burned fat. Price is RM0.60 per stick. We also had roti john, which is simply fried eggs, meat and ketchup all stuffed between plain buns.

The pictures from left to right: cucumber and ketupat ("Compressed rice"); roti john; satay and cucuk udang

More information about the venue can be found here.

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Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:15:31 -0800 Genesis 28: Jacob left for Laban's house in Paddan Aram to find a wife. He had a dream; God assured him of His blessings & protection. http://xanharris.posterous.com/genesis-28-jacob-left-for-labans-house-in-pad http://xanharris.posterous.com/genesis-28-jacob-left-for-labans-house-in-pad

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Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:59:04 -0800 Lunch: Ate a better loh mee @ Ming Chu Restaurant for RM5. It tastes better, has no smell & vinegar is provided :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/lunch-ate-a-better-loh-mee-ming-chu-restauran http://xanharris.posterous.com/lunch-ate-a-better-loh-mee-ming-chu-restauran
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Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:46:46 -0800 Last Night's Dinner: Dad cooked ginger fish with "kai choy" (Bitter vegetables). Unlike his previous cooking, this one has tomatoes :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/last-nights-dinner-dad-cooked-ginger-fish-wit http://xanharris.posterous.com/last-nights-dinner-dad-cooked-ginger-fish-wit
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The fish was soft and tasted ok. I'm personally not fond of fishes especially those with lots of bones. Guess I'm not skilled in eating fishes :-D But someone I know loves to eat fish head; a part I wouldn't dare to venture. Anyway, since fishes are generally healthy and classified as white meat, I'm eating them...

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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:06:00 -0800 Genesis 27: Jacob deceitfully took Esau's blessings & lied to poor Isaac in the process. Rebekah sent Jacob away & she won't see him again http://xanharris.posterous.com/genesis-27-jacobs-deceitfully-took-esaus-bles http://xanharris.posterous.com/genesis-27-jacobs-deceitfully-took-esaus-bles

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Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:03:00 -0800 Psalm 15:1-5: How does responsible integrity look like? It's all here & the ultimate purpose is to have God's companionship http://xanharris.posterous.com/psalm-151-5-how-does-responsible-integrity-lo http://xanharris.posterous.com/psalm-151-5-how-does-responsible-integrity-lo

Yesterday's venue for worship service is different from the usual: I went to Bethany Chapel Klang with my sister. Her going there is also an unexpected event :-) Speaker was a deacon from the church and he spoke on responsible integrity taken from the book of Psalms.

Definition of responsible integrity is broken into two parts: responsible means taking initiative while integrity means uncompromising in upholding Godly principles. So, together it means we must take the initiative to uphold principles that glorifies God. The translator notes in NET Bible puts it this way:

This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.


The next question is, how do we practice responsible integrity? There are 4 ways:

  1. Align our heart to God's truth (e.g. Meditate on His word & memorize scriptures)
  2. Align ourselves with those who fear God (Includes people we don't see personally, such as Billy Graham by listening to his sermons)
  3. Live up to our promises (Our words, money & time)
  4. Assist others without selfish ambition (e.g. Not charging interest when lending money)

There are a few reasons why we should have responsible integrity. People would usually say it'll help us to sleep better (No fear of being caught due to accepting bribes), stay happy (No anxiety from telling different story to different people) and more. But the ultimate reason is to have God's companionship and presence.

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Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:44:00 -0800 Last Nite: Had dinner @ MCD. It's famous for kebabs. At least I think so :-) The fish & chips tasted fishy until I dipped it in tartar sauce http://xanharris.posterous.com/last-nite-had-dinner-mcd-its-famous-for-kebab http://xanharris.posterous.com/last-nite-had-dinner-mcd-its-famous-for-kebab

I had Earl Grey tea which seems to complement the fish and chips well enough. The occasion was to celebrate the birthdays of my sisters and me. It was my mum's idea :-) The dinner also has another reason which I will reveal soon...

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Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0800 Spent my Saturday trying to fix bro-in-law's PC, had lunch @ Pizza Hut & talking abt winter in US. Nice fellowship with sis & bro-in-law :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/spent-my-saturday-trying-to-fix-bro-in-laws-p http://xanharris.posterous.com/spent-my-saturday-trying-to-fix-bro-in-laws-p

The day started late because I woke up abt 10.30am. Had a quick breakfast & chat with 3rd sister. Then I'm off to 1st sister's house across the Klang bridge.

Saved some Windows XP articles in my thumbdrive the day before. Alas, the simple ACPI fix didn't work on my bro-in-law's PC :-( So, he decided to backup important files into a thumbdrive. Since he doesn't have a high capacity one, we had to go shopping.

We had lunch at Pizza Hut. Tried the new crunchy pizza with prawns on it. It was indeed crunchy as advertised & tasty. We noticed there was a girl outside carrying a huge cardboard on her back to promote the crunchy pizza. Wonder how much the girl is getting? Gotta admire her courage & thick skin :-)

After lunch, we went to see some winter apparel. Talked about how cold US will be at this time, especially New York City. Since my bro-in-law stayed during the winter in a few countries, he knows what's important and what isn't. Why all this talk about winter? Well, that's a story for later ;-)

My bro-in-law bought a Transcend 4GB thumbdrive, which unfortunately didn't work on his PC. But it work flawlessly on his laptop. I certainly didn't see this coming but I guess it happens on older PCs, especially when using Safe Mode.

Took some time to backup the data into a different thumbdrive (Bro-in-law found a 4GB Kingston in his pencil case). I tried to repair Windows but met with the same result. You see, the PC would startup until the login screen and then the monitor mysteriously goes to sleep. I was puzzled. Safe Mode works and Event Viewer showed many ACPI errors.

So, I tried the advice I got from another article: Choose Standard PC during fresh install. That didn't work either. I concluded that some hardware is faulty but I can't pinpoint which one. Don't really want to spend more time to find out. Instead, I offered my old PC to my bro-in-law which still works well but it's currently running Linux (Will change to Windows). I'll also transfer his existing hard disk into my PC. Came back home at 7.30pm. Going out for dinner later.

The picture below shows how hungry we were during lunch. Couldn't think of taking a picture before we ate the pizza! :-D

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/269885/Nedo_s_Cat_Small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36jCZqdMYny9 Xander Harris xanharris Xander Harris
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:11:37 -0800 Good news: My phone line is reconnected! :-D Really thank God for it. But I bought a prepaid calling card; will keep for future use :-) http://xanharris.posterous.com/good-news-my-phone-line-is-reconnected-d-real http://xanharris.posterous.com/good-news-my-phone-line-is-reconnected-d-real Yes, certainly thank God for the fast reconnection. My dad waited at home for Telekom (Phone company) to send a technician over to fix the line. But until the evening, no one turned up. That's when dad decided to ask our neighbor's help to call Telekom. My neighbor offered to call a private contractor she knew is working for the company. Apparently, this guy helped her to fix the phone line twice from the same problem: Her phone wire snapped due to her own mango tree!

The guy came about 5.30pm and reconnected our line. But this time, he avoided the mango tree altogether. This problematic tree belonged to another neighbor, not the one mentioned above. If we've waited for the official guy from Telekom, he would've stopped by tomorrow (I called up before leaving office and they said my appointment is 9am tomorrow). Sometimes, all you need to do is to ask your neighbor... :-)

That's a valuable lesson learned during the communication training, that asking questions is usually a good thing. It doesn't pay to keep quiet and suffer in silence. The challenge here is how to ask questions tactfully, especially to one's manager. Anyway, Internet is back to normal and I can stay in touch with people again.

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http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/269885/Nedo_s_Cat_Small.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36jCZqdMYny9 Xander Harris xanharris Xander Harris