Becklee's Blog

I have moved!

becklee — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:01:31 +0000

Dear readers, Becklee’s Blog has moved to http://beckleesblog.com/ If you have problems getting to this link, please type the address in your browser or let me know. See you there!

Ladies handbag, does it reflect a woman’s personality?

becklee — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:49:08 +0000

Last Friday night, 13 February 2009, my church launched a new Care Group and more than 20 people turned up. Some of them were from other Care Groups and they came to lend us their support. After the singspiration, teaching, sharing of testimonies and prayer we had refreshments. While they were all eating at the dining hall, I took pictures of the women’s handbags. Do you think the handbag a woman chooses reflects her personality? I think it does.

I knitted another shawl

becklee — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:34:45 +0000

I just completed knitting another shawl. Ah Loot says the colour sucks, it looks so “jingjang”. Actually, when I first bought the wool, it was to knit a sweater but it turned out awful and so I decided to do something simpler like a shawl. Never mind lah, as long as both Max and Tiger (my cats) love sleeping on it.

Here, Tiger is sleeping on the other black shawl I knitted some months ago……

Le Tour de Langkawi – the road was like a car park

becklee — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:19:13 +0000

I can’t remember when was the last time I used this phrase “the road was like a car park”. Many moons ago when I worked in an office located in the Golden Triangle in Kuala Lumpur I would be late for work occasionally. Whenever my boss asked me why I was late, I would reply, “Bad traffic jam woh, the cars all stationery on the road like in a big car park” . Since I started working in Petaling Jaya, traffic was slightly better and I had forgotten what it was like being in a big car park on the road until……. yesterday.

I had left my house before 7 a.m. and noticed that there was not a single policeman at the traffic light junctions directing traffic as was usually the case in the mornings. Where have they all disappeared to? Their absence contributed to the chaotic traffic and by the time I entered the Penchala Toll on the LDP, traffic was very heavy. Oh yes, I saw speeding police cars and motorcycles with their loud sirens and we had to make way for them. Was there some motor vehicle accident or disaster? No, it was merely the Le Tour de Langkawi! How I wish the police would react to a distress call with such speed. But we all know the reality of it all, don’t we?

So there I was stuck in a big “car park” on my side of the road whilst on the opposite side of the road, it was clear, an airplane could land on it and not hit any motor vehicle…

And then several cars (could be sponsors or what) started zooming past, oblivious of the massive traffic jam and mess this whole event had created for the thousands of people. I didn’t see the cyclists participating in the Le Tour de Langkawi passing by though, as they were due to cycle past that area some time later.

I think it was bad timing on the part of the organisers of the event. Can they please pay us back (the thousands trapped in this massive jam) the time and money spent on petrol that we lost.

Happy Valentine’s Day

becklee — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:24:11 +0000

Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin

你问我爱你有多深
Ni wen wo ai, ni you duo shen.
我爱你有几分.
Wo ai ni you ji fen.
我的情也真，我的爱也真
Wo de qing ye zhen, wo de ai ye zhen.
月亮代表我的心
Yue liang dai biao wo de xin.
你问我爱你有多深
Ni wen wo ai, ni you duo shen.
我爱你有几分.
Wo ai ni you ji fen.
我的情不移，我的爱不变
Wo de qing bu yi, wo de ai bu bian.
月亮代表我的心
Yue liang dai biao wo de xin
轻轻的一个问，一经打动我的心
Qing qing de yi ge wen , yi jing da dong wo de xin.
深深的一段情，教我思念到如今
Shen shen de yi duan qing, jiao wo si nian dao ru jin.
你问我爱你有多深
Ni wen wo ai, ni you duo shen.
我爱你有几分.
Wo ai ni you ji fen.
你去想一想，你去看一看
Ni qu xiang yi xiang, ni qu kan yi kan.
月亮代表我的心
Yue liang dai biao wo de xin.

English Translation

You ask me how deep my love for you is,
How much I really love you…
My affection is real.
My love is real.
The moon represents my heart.

You ask me how deep my love for you is,
How much I really love you…
My affection does not waver,
My love will not change.
The moon represents my heart.

* Just one soft kiss
is enough to move my heart.
A period of time when our affection was deep,
Has made me miss you until now.

* You ask me how deep my love for you is,
How much I really love you.

* ** Go think about it.
Go and have a look [at the moon],
The moon represents my heart.

Repeat *

Repeat **

(I found the above English translation here. Thanks to whoever you are.)

Happy Chap Goh Meh

becklee — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:05:11 +0000

Happy Chap Goh Meh!! It is also the Chinese Valentine’s Day for some. For those single ladies, hope the orange you throw into the river today will find its way to a nice gentleman.

This is also the end of the Chinese New Year. Two weeks of feasting and merry-making just flew past. Now, it’s back to serious work and hoping that the economy will improve fast.

Scorching heat and freezing cold

becklee — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:50:30 +0000

I read about the forest fires in Victoria, Australia today. Paul Kiah tells me that it is really hot in Melbourne but where he lives, there aren’t any fires. At the same time in Wales, my best friend Helen sent me some pictures of snow in Denbigh Moors which is about half an hour’s drive away from where she lives. It’s freezing out there! These pictures were taken yesterday.

My best friend Helen and her husband Steve

Children tobogganing in the snowfield

Snow everywhere

Brrrrrr!

Happy Thaipusam

becklee — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:04:12 +0000

Happy Thaipusam to all Hindu readers.

Once when we were young

becklee — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:01:37 +0000

Chinese New Year is a time for reunions. I met up with my old classmates in Malacca on Monday night for dinner. Some of them, I have not seen since Form 5 and yes, we were able to recognise each other. Of course, it took some time before my brain picked up the signal from my memory bank and connected the names to the faces. Here we are …….

This fish came later, but we managed to finish it up.

Outside the restaurant (I think it was in Banda Kaba) after dinner.

Thank you for being a friend

becklee — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:31:24 +0000

On 2 February 2009, Irene and I drove down to Malacca to meet up with Jen who is back here from Melbourne to visit her family for the Chinese New Year as well as to attend a relative’s wedding in Singapore. We bunked in with Jen and her two children at the Mahkota Hotel Melaka. She had booked a two room deluxe apartment and we had a comfortable stay there.

Mahkota Hotel Melaka

After unloading our bags into the apartment, we walked to Mahkota Parade which is right across the road from the hotel. The mall was brightly decorated…

Inside Mahkota Parade

Little red lanterns

We went to the food court to have our late lunch. I had chicken rice and so did Jen’s two children. Irene had fried koay teow and Jen had some spicy chicken rice. We also shared the popiah and ice kacang. The ice kacang was delicious because of the “gula melaka”.

Popiah

Ice kacang

Jen and her kids did some shopping but the three of us were so engrossed in talking inside the shops that her kids disappeared on their own without our knowing. Anyway, we then decided to go back to Mahkota Hotel to continue yakking. Jen, Irene and I have been best friends since we were classmates from Form 3 to Form 5. Even after we left school to pursue our further education and careers, we kept in touch through letters and in recent years through emails.

That night, we joined our former classmates for dinner (that’s a story to be told in my next posting). After dinner we continued yakking until nearly 1 a.m. before going to bed.

The next morning, after breakfast, we decided to explore the facilities at the hotel. Jen had scouted around early in the morning and had done some work-out at the gym while Irene and I were still in bed.

First off we went to the spa which was next to the swimming pool. Both Irene and I didn’t bring our swimming suits so we thought we could try our luck by jumping into the spa pool with our shorts and t-shirts. But luck was against us and the pool attendant said no, we couldn’t use the spa and that if we wanted we could use the kiddie pool. So we left and tried our hand at the mini golf. This was the first time that Irene and I held a golf stick and hit a golf ball. My first hit sent the ball flying out of the mini golf course but after a few swings, it was okay. Then we walked bare-footed on the reflexology path. It was good but Irene gave it a skip. We saw this model of a kampung house ….

Model of Malay kampung house

and trishaw…

Trishaw

After that we decided to explore outside the hotel. We walked to the Jetty. This jetty connects the Mahkota Hotel to the Holiday Inn.

The Jetty connecting Mahkota Hotel and Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn

As we walked along the Jetty, we could see the Straits of Malacca. It was almost mid-day but it looks hazy, is the place polluted or what? There are pubs, karaoke, cyber cafe, massage centre, cafes and shops along the Jetty. It was quite deserted in the day time, maybe this place would come alive at night.

Straits of Malacca

The Eye of Malacca is here now. This ferris wheel used to be in Kuala Lumpur for one year before being relocated here.

Eye of Malacca

Best friends forever… and thank you for being a friend, Irene and Jen.

Beck, Irene and Jen