How I learn to play guitar

Since young I love to see people playing guitar.  I always admire those who can play it.  I never thought that one day I could play too. 
During school days I bought a box guitar.  With the help of some friends I started learning guitar.  I followed the chord chart and practiced to press the chord with my fingers.  After pressing for a long time my fingers were painful and the skin turned hard.  After some time I was able to strum some simple songs. But I could not play when leading a group of people to sing as in our church gathering.
In the house gathering I had to depend on my pastor to play for me when I led song. When he was not around we had to sing without any music instrument.  Again I never imagined one day I would be able to play while leading songs in gatherings.
Years later I participated in discipleship training for many years.  It was compulsory for every disciple to learn guitar.  We learned in small groups and those who could play would teach the beginners.  I practiced according to the instruction of teacher.
Without environment I could not go far. Every week I had the opportunity to follow a pastor to a house church.  This pastor could play guitar very well.  He played for the song leader at the house church.  I quickly grabbed hold of the opportunity by bringing my guitar along.  While he played I imitated his style.  I played softly so that I would not cause disturbance.  These went on for some time and slowly I gained confidence to play.  I was given the opportunity to take over the guitarist role. 
At the same time the guitar training continued in church.  Soon they put my name in the worship duty list to play for church worship service.  I was excited and yet worried whether I could do it well on stage.  I practiced even harder because in church worship I had to use electric guitar.
The day came and I played in the front with the electric guitar.  I was nervous and scared to make mistake.  In fact I concentrated on playing correctly and did not worship at all.  I was comfortable with the slow songs as I did not have to move my fingers fast.  I struggled with the fast songs as my fingers were not fast enough and I still have to looked at where I pressed.
Practice makes perfect as time goes on I am now able to switch chord rather easily and quickly.  I need not look at my fingers.
Mind you I only started learning guitar seriously at the age of 42.  Now I am in the late fifties and I still play guitar for church.  I find it a very good exercise for fingers.  No chance for the fingers to be stiff.
Thanks to the convenience of you tube.  I can improve and upgrade my skill whenever I want to.  There is no end to learning.  I want to improve further.  Learning is fun!

catering confinement meals

Nowadays it is costly to employ someone to help to cook and to take care of baby during confinement period.  Not everybody can afford it.  Some of my friends have no one to help and have to do everything by themselves.  They were supposed to rest and recover but too bad they could not do so.
Recently my friend gave birth to her fourth child, a beautiful girl.  She just shifted to a new place and could not find anybody to help her to cook Chinese confinement food.  Someone recommended me to cook for her as she saw me always preparing lunch for church on Sunday.
I had no experience at all to prepare confinement meals.  I was hesitating whether to take the challenge and do something I had never done before.  Finally I decided to give myself a chance to try something new.  This will widen my scope and experience. And it is good to keep my mind from getting old and inactive.
I started to ask the people around me to share their experiences.  Besides this I managed to get hold   of a good cookery book about confinement meals.  I browsed through the whole book and selected some meals which I could manage to get the ingredients and cook.  Some meals can be taken during the first week.  Some can be taken everyday and some can be taken only after two weeks.  I listed down few sets of meals to be taken at different times.  To be sure of success I tried out beforehand some of the meals.
Every alternate day I went to market to get fresh "kampung chicken" and some vegetables.  I also purchased some Chinese herbs like red dates, black dates and others. At night I started to boil the red dates drink for the next morning.  During confinement period it is an important drink to replenish the blood loss.
Every morning I had to get ready the food before 10am.  A friend would come and collect the  food daily.  I prepared food enough for her lunch and dinner.  She ate not much ,half chicken for two meals.  I gave her one vegetable dish and one meat dish together with the red dates drink in thermos flask.
In the process of cooking I learned new ways of cooking which I could use in future .
I think it is one way to cut cost and yet to enjoy a good confinement.  The only thing is to find someone willing to help.  After the first experience I look forward to help and bless someone again in future.  All glory to God.

Trip to Newzealand - part 4

It was an exciting experience for us to fish in Newzealand.  The country has strict rules about fishing.  In order for the future generations to continue enjoying the fish, all those who fish have to abide by the law.  Small fish caught has to be put back into the water.  The fishing rod and equipment also must be according the standard of the country.
We tried lake fishing at Lake Taupo.  At the lakeside we could see many boats.  We went around to look for the cheapest boat.  After negotiating we went out with the boatman.  His name is Alex.  He took us to the far side of the lake.  Alex told us if we were lucky we could get a Rainbow trout. This lake is actually at the mouth of a dormant volcano.  Alex told not to worry about the volcano as it has been dead for a long period of time.  At first we caught a small trout and put it back into the water.  We prayed and hoped for a big trout.  After some time the fishing line was being pulled strongly.  To our joy we caught a big Rainbow trout about 2 kg in weight.
In our country we normally steam the fish but we did not have any equipment for steaming.  So we wrapped it in aluminium foil and baked it.  To our disappointment it had a strong taste of shellfish.  Probablty we did not cook it in the right way. Even though we spent quite a lot of money and just caught a fish we were satisfied .
Then we tried sea fishing near Opotiki.  Our friend Loy took us out fishing when the weather was fine.  The sea was 30 meters away from his house.  He towed his boat and put into the water.  We started off soon.  At a certain part of sea it was rough so we bounced above the waves.  We had to wear the life jackets.  We anchored at a place to fish. Loy prepared the fishing rod and bait for us.  Each of us fish at different corners of the boat.
We waited for some time for the fish to be caught.  My daughter started to vomit as the sea made the boat toss about.  Strange thing was that after the vomit we began to catch a lot of fish.Ernest caught the first fish. It was a gurnett fish.  Then we began to get some Kahawai and red snappers.
Our expert in fishing caught the least number of fish.  But the others who had no fishing experience caught more fish.  Thank God I caught the biggest fish among them .  I caught a 4 kg red snapper.
After going back we helped to cut the fish into fillets.  We took some to bake and it.  This time it tasted good especially the snappers.  Loy smoked the rest of the fish.  Smoked fish also tasted great.

Trip to Newzealand pt 3

Skydiving is one of the exciting game tourists love in Newzealand.  My son and daughter did not miss the opportunity.  We looked around and chose one near Lake Taupo.
Skydivinig with camera man would be more expensive .  The camera man also jumped down from the plane together with you to take photograph while you are flying with parachute in the sky.
They were given a short briefing and video before taking off.  They have to wear the flying suit.

Each participant had an instructor with them to control the parachute.  A small plane took them to a height of 12000 feet where they jumped down from the plane.  Soon you could see many colourful parachutes in the blue sky.  About 5 minutes later all would land on the ground.  It was a thrilling experience.
Next my son tried to drive an airplane at the driving school nearby.  Certificates were given to each new pilot .  I followed and sat behind.  It was a small plane.  The instructor explained how to fly the airplane.  From the sky I could see the river beneath.  It was bright blue in colour.
The two activities were exciting and interesting.  Further more it was cold up at 12000 feet.
After the flight we continue to travel to the next town.  Along the way we stopped at Lake Rotroiti to take some beautiful sight.
For that evening we lodged at a friend's place at Opotiki.  His name is Loid.  He has a bungalow with many rooms.  He did not charge us for our lodging.  The night at Loid's house was very cold. May be the cold air leak into the room.  I felt very cold even with the thick blanket and a sweater.  The next night he provided us with heater.  Then I felt comfortable.
Loid's house is at the seaside.  He has a boat outside his house.  He planted flowers and lemons around his compound.

Opotiki is a small town.The population is small.  We walked around the house to the nearby areas. It was windy.  The town is quiet, peaceful , a relaxing place..
For dinner we cooked asian food and Loid enjoyed the food with us.  We used his oven to bake some cupcakes.  The dishwash is biodegradable.  Loid washed the plates with the dishwash and did not rinse with water.  We were not used to it.  The people in this country cared very much for the environment.  Nobody threw rubbish everywhere.  At the beautiful lakeside or seaside I could not find a piece of rubbish.  Everybody was conscious of cleanliness.

Trip to Newzealand part 2

For the first week we spent most of the time visiting places in the North Island of Newzealand.  There were not many cars at the outskirt.  Sometimes for five minutes I did not see any oncoming cars.  In fact we could sit in the middle of road to take photogragh.
As we travelled we stopped at the side of road to snap some photographs of beautiful scenery.  My son and my husband took turns to drive.  We cook breakfast and dinner at motel or backpackers.  For lunch we just took some potato chips or biscuits in the car while travelling.  I love the potato chips here especially the one with vinegar flavour.
We stopped at Lake Taupo to walk along the lakeside.  It is big and beautiful.  The scenery in this country is like beautiful picture.  We found a bench and put our bread and margarine there.  I spread the margarine on the bread but the bread dropped down on the sand.  As shown in the picture it formed a nice picture.

We felt free and relax to travel on our own.  All the kitchen stuff and food were in the car with us.  We had to make sure the petrol enough to go from one town to another town.  The price of petrol was different in each petrol station so we went around to look for the cheapest.  We had to abide by the speed limit strictly as you could be caught and fined the next moment.
We visited Huka Falls.  I was so amazed when I first looked at it.  The water was flowing down at great speed at bottle neck junction.  It rushed down splashing white foams.  The water was clear and blue in colour .  We stood on the bridge and admired the majestic sight.

Then we moved further down along the upper stream and stopped at lake side to fish.  There were many wild ducks and they were not scared of people.  They came to us for food.  They were beautiful.  After feeding I washed my hands in the lake water.  It was ice cold.  I never realised the cold could stay on in my palms and fingers for few hours even though I tried rubbing my hands.  It was winter time.  That day we caught no fish.

It was quite far from one town to another town.  In the afternoon we had to decide whether to go to the next town, whether there was enough time to reach there before 6 pm because we had to find a lodging place to stay and cook.  We checked the price of different motels or backpackers and
booked the place.  In backpacker those who wanted to cook had to go to a common kitchen to cook.  Everybody had to put back the things in order after cooking.  We usually bought the food to cook from hypermarket nearby.  They closed early that was why we had to stop travelling before sky turned dark.

Trip to NewZealand part 1

Newzealand is my dream country to visit.  My son and wife went there to work and tour for about 9 months.  Two weeks before they came back my husband and I took the opportunity to visit the country together with my daughter.
We did not join the tour group but traveled on our own.  Earlier on Air Asia provided direct flight to  Newzealand.  Now we had to take a transit from Singapore.  Changi Airport is beautiful and clean. Food is not too expensive.  I particularly like the Awang Stall there.  With about six dollars Singapore money, I could enjoy a bowl of curry mee ,two slices of toasted bread and a cup of coffee, all satisfying.

We flew across the continent of Australia and soon we reached Auckland.  It was winter time in Newzealand.  I had not experienced winter before so I was quite worry whether I could stand the cold.  I managed to get a winter coat back home in my country.  It was good and cheap though I got it from a second hand shop.  The weather was cold but bearable.
My son and wife waited for us at the airport.  We were not allowed to bring in any food at the airport.  We drove a short distance to have breakfast at Mc cafe.  My son bought a stationwagon for travelling.  Cars are cheap here.  We managed to put all our luggage inside the boot.  My son and wife had stopped working and packed up everything to travel with us.
In tropical country we see tall trees everywhere.  Now I could see large areas of pasture with few trees.  We wanted to stop and take photogragh but my son said there were better scenery along our journey later on.  But the first sight attracted us so much.
Along the way we saw many pasture land with a lot of sheep.  It was common there.  We saw some fruits being sold at road side.  Nobody was there but any buyer would just put the money and take the fruit.   In my country we could never do that.

For the first night we stayed in a motel in Taupo.  We rented a place where we could cook.  We had bought some food at hypermarket.  We baked some oysters.  It was cheap.  Everyone of us helped to prepare food and soon the dinner was ready.
After the hot water bath, I felt stronger and could resist the cold as it was getting colder at night.  The toilets were in another building about ten meters from our room.  In the middle of night I struggled to leave my warm blanket to go to the toilet as it was very cold outside.  I had to run fast
to and fro.

The next morning the windscreen of the car was covered with a thin layer of ice.  I used to complain about too much sunlight back home in my country but now I yearn for the sunlight.
I felt happy with the surrounding.  The land is big but the population is small.

Turning over a new leaf

Pure and undefiled religion before God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
There are many people in this world that need a shelter even though they have their own house to stay.  My cousin in Pulau Ketam is one of the case.
When he was young he was a good man, handsome and hardworking.  His job was to row a small boat called sampan to transport the passengers from the ferry to the fishing village.  When the jetty was built he lost his job but instead he was given a place at the jetty to sell drinks and other things.  His was the one and only stall at the jetty.  He was doing well and soon I saw him wearing a lot of gold on his neck and hands.  This is what the villager normally invested in when they have money.
The houses here were built above the seawater and the roads were built above the swampy mud.  Only bicycles and motorbikes are used as transportation.  No car is used in this island.
The past time for the villagers are gambling, cinema shows, videos and karaoke.  The island is small.  In fact most of the young people went to big cities to earn a living.  The remainders are mostly old people and small children.  Not many people are interested to continue the grandfather's profession of catching fish.
I did not see him for about 15 years.  Recently I visited my auntie.  I was surprised to see him changed totally.  He is no longer innocent and kind looking but he looks like a bad guy.  His sister told me about many things that happened to him that caused a lot of trouble to the whole family.  He takes drugs and sells drugs, owes people money.  The brother and sisters had helped him to settle a lot of debts but he still continues to live in the same way.  His sister is fed up of helping him to pay his endless debts.
One week ago he was beaten up by the neighbours who gambled with him claiming that he played trick.  One of the man rode motorbike and knocked him from the back.  His right leg was broken and he was hospitalized.
Knowing that I am doing social  caring work my cousin sister wants me to house him after discharged from hospital.  The Vietnamese wife and the small daughter came together.  For me it is a joy to be able to help him.  The sister fears that he might be further harmed by the neighbours.  He needs to get out of the former environment.  So my place provides a new and healthy environment for him.
Every morning we have prayer and worship time in the sitting room.  His bed is in the sitting room as he cannot walk upstairs.  He will need few months to rest and recover.  I hope his life will change after knowing Jesus as his personal saviour.  No drugs and cigarettes are allowed so that he will get rid of these bad habits.