Good and Evil

Do you see 'Good' or 'Evil'?
It is difficult sometimes to tell good from evil, isn't it?
Evil has a way of disguising itself as good.

God's Pharmacy

It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish... All before making a human. He made and provided what we'd need before we were born.
The following food are best & more powerful when eaten raw. (Don't think I can handle raw onions or garlic, though.)
God left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body!


A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.
A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three dozens neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.
Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.
Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries
Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

When there is not enough

As you might know we are homeschooling Kioni, and we use the literature based curriculum - Sonlight.
We started Kioni's first grade (using Sonlight Core 1 curriculum) last September, she will have two more weeks, and then she is done.
Two months ago, we were planning her homeschooling, using Core 2 curriculum and advanced readers. I was considering how in the world would we be able to buy the curriculum and all the books that come with it. I know we can go to the library for the books, but so many of them are not available in a Scottish library, plus it is always a hit and miss.
I was praying and asking God as to how we will be able to pay for the books.
Then comes tax time.
We found out we got some money back for Kioni's education, plus since we don't have sufficient income, the tax return is enough for buying Kioni's books for next year's homeschooling! We even have a little left for Dan to buy the much needed books for him to do research for his PhD! (Ahhmmmm... no, they don't have the books that Dan needs in the University of Aberdeen library to do his research, the Divinity Department receives the least funding out of all the departments.)

God is good. When we thought we didn't have enough, He's there to save the day.
The homeschool materials arrived yesterday, and Kioni is enjoying the Magic Flute (music, opera singing and story telling) this morning. She has been sitting still (which I didn't think she is capable of) of over an hour listening to it!
God is good.

Chill out, I got it!

I was chatting with my friend from seminary for the first time on Facebook, she asked me how we were doing in Aberdeen. Since we have been friends for 16 years, I did not hesitate to tell her that financially, we are tighter than ever. We need student loan to pay for Dan's tuition, the support of faithful churches and individuals to our ministry does help to pay the monthly rent, however, everyday expenses is still an uncertainty. It depends on the exchange rate, sometimes we have enough, sometimes we don't.

About a month or so after I shared it with my friend, she wrote to me saying that she is going to talk to a few people at her church to see if they would like to support us. I was quite surprised at her initiation, and extremely thankful, however, I was highly skeptical, wondering who in the world would support someone whom they have never heard of!

In fact, Dan and I were wondering if we should continue with this ministry, we would love to continue, because if only just one person is saved, it is all worth it. But if the funding is not sufficient, we just don't know how we can continue.

About a month after that email, she wrote to me again, telling me she has talked to three people and asked me to pray while they were making their decisions.

Not long after that, she told me one of the three potential supporters emailed her a list of questions, so I answered them all. My friend said when he decides that he is going to support us, he will write to me directly. A few days later, I got his email, he is going to support us! Not only that, he has made a 3 year committment, (depending on yearly review).

Now the interesting thing is, just days earlier, Dan and I were figuring out how we are going to pay for the ReachGlobal European Conference, which all missionaries in Europe have to attend.

Our account with ReachGlobal has two categories, one is our monthly salary, the second is ministry expense. The expenses of the conference can be taken out from the ministry expense, however, it can only be reimbursed when our overall account has over 4,000 USD in it.

The end of last year, our support level was low, and we had to stop our monthly salary for two months in order not to dip further down into the red. Since then, God has provided through various faithful supporters, and we are able to be paid monthly again. However, for another two months more, we cannot reimburse our ministry expenses, because we didn't have more than 4,000 USD in our account. What that means is that whatever ministry expenses we accumulate, we have to pay for them out of our salary. We are thankful that we do have enough to cover our ministry expense now, but paying for the whole trip for three people? That would put us right back into the hole!

However, ReachGlobal requires that we let them know our travel details before April 15th. Which means we have to book our plane tickets, train tickets, book hotel rooms, etc, with no time to figure out where the money will come from. Dan and I spent days online trying to get the cheapest plane tickets, we booked hostels, etc, but still wondering if, for the first time in my life, I will have to owe the credit card company money!

I was worried, my heart unsettled.

Little did I know, at the time when all those worries were overwhelming me, God has already prepared this supporter from afar, someone whom I have never met, never talked to, not even one direct email exchange, since we have been communicated once only, through my friend.

I didn't tell Dan about my friend's proposal because Dan tends to get quite stressed out when it is related to support. When I told him yesterday, he just laughed and said, "You have to thank Ella and tell her now we have money for groceries."

Then Dan started to wonder if our newest supporter knows "everything" about our ministry. I told him I think he knows as much as Ella knows, and as much as our newsletter has talked about. Then Dan said, "I wonder why he would support us without knowing EVERYTHING." (If you know Dan, you know how thorough a person he is.) I then answer him, "I think because God wants us to know it is not our efforts, our talks, our persuation that caused our supporters to support us, it is Him, and Him alone."

Not only God has provided financially, through Ella and this supporter, He is telling us that this ministry is to be continued. Keep on going even though the response might be slow. This is the biggest confirmation for me that we are to charge ahead, no matter what the outcome is.

When I thanked my friend Ella for what she has done, for her taking the initiation, for her not to say, "Go in peace, my sister," for her to follow up with actions. She wrote back and said, "Money is of so little significance in the God's kingdom."

I am surprised at how much worries I have gone through, while all these years, God has not failed, not even once, in taking care of us in every way. This has proven again that I am a person of little faith, but God doesn't condemn me for that, rather, He opens His arm and embraced me and tell me,

"Chill out, I got it!"
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Nothing says Easter like...

A Tesco (UK grocery store) commercial says:

Nothing says Easter like a warm, toasted hot-cross bun.

Well, of course you know Easter is more than that, Easter is also about colorful eggs, and kids running after them, cute bunny baskets, bunny chocolates, cards, flowers and everything that might put a smile on your face.

No one wants to remember Good Friday, who wants to remember the pain, the heartache, the betrayal, the isolation, the insult, the beatings, the thorns, the blood, the hole that was poked in Jesus' side, of course, please don't mention the three long rusty nails that held Him there until He suffocated.

Well, as for what happened next, it is just a story that was made-up. Jesus came back to life again, won over death? Easter bunnies are real. Jesus? Hmmm...

It is really really sad, that the majority of the people have forgotten, or in fact in most cases, choose to ignore, the meaning of Easter. The victorious resurrection of the Son of God is reduced to eggs, bunnies and chocolate. Jesus is totally out of the picture.

Don't get me wrong, I like hot-cross buns, colorful eggs, (still trying to find a egg dying kit for Kioni), chocolates and flowers. But minus Jesus' glorious victory over death, the colors on the eggs fade.
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Paid

The crime show last night was about the Green River Killer - Gary Ridgway, one of the most notorious serial killers in the United States. In November of 2003 he pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated murder, although he says he actually killed 90 women or more, almost all prostitutes. He started the killings in early 1980s, and for almost twenty years, he was able to evade the police. He has an IQ of 82, however, he was doing all the 'right things' to not to get caught. In exchange for not receiving the death penalty, he pleaded guilty to all those accounts of murders and disclose the location of some of the women he has buried.

At his sentencing, many family members were allowed to make statements in court to the killer of their beloved family members. One by one, they walked up to the stand and looked him in the eye with utter hatred and despise, cursing him with the worst possible words and thoughts.

"You belong in hell, and you will never come out of it."
"I hope you have a long, horrible, painful death, just like what you did to my sister."

Gary Ridgway sat there, listening to all of them with a stone cold face, not one ounce of remorse, not one of his face muscles moved.

Until the father of a young girl who was murdered stepped on the stand.

"There are many people who hate you in this room, but I am not one of them. Although you have made it very hard to live up to what I believe. My belief in God asks that I forgive you, and I do. I forgive you for killing my daughter. You are forgiven."

Before the father even finished, Gary Ridgway's mouth turned down, then he buried his face in his hands and started sobbing in the crowded courtroom.

This is the most dramatic scene I have seen on how powerful forgiveness is.

The lamb's blood covering us, and we are forgiven. What that father did was only possible because he knew he was forgiven himself, his own sin was paid in full when Jesus died on the cross.

Isn't this what the Chinese word 義 is all about? 羊 (lamb) over 我 (me), and it is 義 (justified).

Feelings, nothing more than feelings...

Here are two lists of words describing our feelings by Center for Nonviolent Communication.
Notice the length of the two lists.

Feelings when your needs are satisfied

AFFECTIONATE compassionate friendly loving open hearted sympathetic tender warm CONFIDENT empowered open proud safe secure ENGAGED absorbed alert curious engrossed enchanted entranced fascinated interested intrigued involved spellbound stimulated INSPIRED amazed awed wonder

EXCITED amazed animated ardent aroused astonished dazzled eager energetic enthusiastic giddy invigorated lively passionate surprised vibrant EXHILARATED blissful ecstatic elated enthralled exuberant radiant rapturous thrilled GRATEFUL appreciative moved thankful touched HOPEFUL expectant encouraged optimistic

JOYFUL amused delighted glad happy jubilant pleased tickled PEACEFUL calm clear headed comfortable centered content equanimous fulfilled mellow quiet relaxed relieved satisfied serene still tranquil trusting REFRESHED enlivened rejuvenated renewed rested restored revived

Feelings when your needs are not satisfied

AFRAID apprehensive dread foreboding frightened mistrustful panicked petrified scared suspicious terrified wary worried ANNOYED aggravated dismayed disgruntled displeased exasperated frustrated impatient irritated irked ANGRY enraged furious incensed indignant irate livid outraged resentful AVERSION animosity appalled contempt disgusted dislike hate horrified hostile repulsed CONFUSED ambivalent baffled bewildered dazed hesitant lost mystified perplexed puzzled torn

DISCONNECTED DISQUIET agitated alarmed discombobulated disconcerted disturbed perturbed rattled restless shocked startled surprised troubled turbulent turmoil uncomfortable uneasy unnerved unsettled upset EMBARRASSED ashamed chagrined flustered guilty mortified self-conscious FATIGUE beat burnt out depleted exhausted lethargic listless sleepy tired weary worn out alienated aloof apathetic bored cold detached distant distracted indifferent numb removed uninterested withdrawn

PAIN agony anguished bereaved devastated grief heartbroken hurt lonely miserable regretful remorseful SAD depressed dejected despair despondent disappointed discouraged disheartened forlorn gloomy heavy hearted hopeless melancholy unhappy wretched TENSE anxious cranky distressed distraught edgy fidgety frazzled irritable jittery nervous overwhelmed restless stressed out VULNERABLE fragile guarded helpless insecure leery reserved sensitive shaky YEARNING envious jealous longing nostalgic pining wistful

An introverted city girl

Nightsky of Hong Kong vs. The North Sea

Writing to a professor at Trinity got me thinking about what I am actually. Most people who have had two words with me would immediately classify me as a flaming extrovert, but all the personality tests that I have done over the years, would put me, undoubtedly, in the introvert category, well, that sounds pretty hypocritical, doesn't it?

The truth is, though I love everything about city life, e.g., convenient public transportation, museums, restaurants, shops, etc., I absolutely hate the crowd, the noise and everything else that come with living in a big city. I don't like partying and I haven't have urges to buy new clothes every so often. I do like to know that when I need to go to a museum, eat out at a restaurants and shop for towels, I have nice places to go. I like to have choices, though I don't necessarily utilize the power of making those choices very often. I miss living in Hong Kong, in D.C., and in Chicago, I miss what a metropolitan city has to offer, of having things to do and see when I want to do things and see things. I like to know exactly where I would go if I ever want to buy Elizabeth Arden Green Tea perfume. I like to be able to decide 10 minutes before dinner that I don't want to cook, and then walk down the street and eat out at an affordable restaurant with reasonably good food. I like to be able to go to a museum when I feel like being 'cultured'.

My favourite thing to do, in fact, is to stay home, dressed in my comfy clothes, and read. I could easily read for hours, it is so enjoyable to be lost in a book, just stopping to do the inevitable, "input" and "output". I was able to do have the reading life-style for a period of time before Dan decided to do this marathon studies, and before Kioni was born. This life-style, as unrealistic as it is, I intend to continue if I can.

I also like swimming laps, another "lost in time" experience. Swimming laps helps me think, the rhythm of my own breathing and water swooshing sounds are soothing. Long walks (2-3 hours) serves the same need, when I had MeMe dog, we took long walks everyday, but in later years of her life, she went blind, and the long walks stopped.

According to StrengthsFinder, I have the strength of intellection, which means, I need alone time, a lot of it, to think. That doesn't mean any earth-shattering idea would come out on the other end, I just need a lot of alone time to do my thinking. If I don't get it, I become irritable, depressed and feel absolutely stupid. And I haven't had a lot of alone time since Kioni was born, that means, I have been feeling stupid for the past 5 years.

All in all, if I have to decide if I want to live among the Scottish rolling hills with horse and sheep, or the concrete jungle in Hong Kong with smog and noise, I still would prefer Hong Kong, or D.C. for that matter. I can create my own oasis to hide in the concrete jungle, but it would take a lot to build a museum and a swimming pool in the Scottish rolling hills.

Family History 家族歷史

Eldest Aunt's wedding picture　大姑媽盧素德和大姑丈陳述文結婚照
My father is the first one on the left 我爸爸是左邊第一人

Secret meeting of my two aunts and their children
Standing from left to right (Cousin 陳祥開, Aunt Ming 二姑媽盧素明, cousin陳祥國)

Sitting (Eldest Aunt 大姑媽盧素德, cousin 何國偉 - son of Aunt Ming)

My cousin emailed me some old photos of my father's family. I always thought my eldest aunt died a horrible death during the Great Leap Forward, because my grandfather, her father, was a landlord and businessman, this immediately classified her as the "people's enemy".

Well, it turned out oral tradition was not quite accurate. While looking these old photos, my father recalled the circumstance surrounding my aunt and her family. My aunt married her husband before the Chinese Communist took over China. As seen in the photo, my uncle was in his military uniform. He was a military man, belonging to the First New Army (新一軍), which is under the Kuomintang 國民黨 (Republic of China) government, stationed in Sichuan 四川 province.

The cousin who sent me the pictures has send this new comment to my Facebook:
The First New Army was hailed as the "world's number one troop", because during World War II, the troop was stationed at the border of India and Burma, they not only stopped the Japanese from going further across the border, but also defeated the Japanese, saved the lives of 7,000 British troops. My uncle's oldest son 祥開 recalled even at places with signs that said "No Dogs or Chinese allowed", my uncle could go in without a problem. His superior, General Sun attended their wedding.

新一軍被稱為天下第一軍, 是因為在二次世界大戰時, 新一軍被派註印緬邊境, 截斷日軍的入侵, 打敗日軍, 救了7,000英軍, 所以號稱「天下第一軍」。祥開說「華人與狗不淮進入」的地方（有代考證）,　他父親都可以進。他父親是孫立人將軍的部下, 他父母親結婚時, 他說孫立人將軍也有出席。”

While Chinese Communist took over China, my father's family moved to Hong Kong upon losing their land and houses in Guangzhou, but my aunt refused to go with the family. She stayed in China and did not leave with the family because she believed in the New China. She named her children 開 (beginning, new) and 國 (country), she loved her country, she deeply believed that the Communist China would bring a brand new start to China. My eldest aunt visited Hong Kong once, her family urged her not to go back, she finally decided against it.

My uncle, obviously, didn't go with the troop to Taiwan when the Republic of China lost their battle with the Communist Party, probably because of my aunt's trust in the New China. They remained in Sichuan. But after some time, they went back to Guangzhou, where my aunt was from. When my grandmother heard about her whereabouts, she forbid her sons and daughter (my second aunt) to have any contact with her, she basically disowned her because she viewed her oldest daughter as "heartless" and "cold". I suspect that it was because of my aunt's politically view that made my grandmother very upset about her, and in turn, my aunt decided to stay in China instead of going to Hong Kong to be with the family. But my second aunt, out of sisterly love, secretly went to Guangzhou to meet her sister, even hauling her baby along (the one seen in the picture that was on my eldest aunt's lap.) That's when they took this picture, a secret meeting between two sisters, disregarding their mother's will.

I always heard that she died a horrible death from starvation during Great Leap Forward, but it turns out, it was far from that. She lived through the Great Leap Forward, because the picture was taken on 1963, that's after the Great Leap Forward, and three years before the Culture Revolution officially started.

My uncle (her husband), suffered greatly during the Cultural Revolution because of him being an army guy under the Kuomintang government, and tragically, he suffered tremendous criticisms under the hands of his own wife! The"verbal struggle" (文鬥) often turned into "physical struggle" (武鬥). I cannot imagine how he got through those 10 years of struggles, but he did, he lived to his 80s, he went to live in Hong Kong for a while, and died in China. My aunt was sick in the middle of the Cultural Revolution and died of kidney failure.

Their two young boys (my cousins) in this picture are now in their late 50s to early 60s, made their way to Hong Kong by holding onto a basketball and swam the shark infested South China Sea all the way from China to Hong Kong. They are married and are living in Hong Kong. I remember my father commented when they first arrived in Hong Kong that it would be difficult for them to make a life for themselves because they had very little education. The older one ended up being a truck driver (I believe) and still come to every family gathering we have. The younger one is street smart, he made a lot of money during the real estate boom, he still owns factories and big businesses in Hong Kong and China. However, he didn't bother to link up with the family, we have not seen him for a very long time.

It is intriguing to put the puzzles together.

我為何愛花....

This is a translation of what I wrote in our Jan-Feb 2009 newsletter.

因為花不作假。我以它們被創造的樣子來欣賞它們：簡潔、美艷、燦爛悅目的顏色和形狀，能把最有才華的畫家的作品比下來。然而，它們不會為你妥協：奶白色的玫瑰絕對不會因為你喜歡粉紅色而變為粉紅色，除非你強把花剪下來放入粉紅色的水中。它們全心全力地盛放幾天或幾個星期，然後它們的工作就完成了。

自然界中有很多動物基於不同的原因會作假裝，主要原因是防護自己的生命，像變色龍或八爪魚那樣。相反地，人類假裝不單單是為了掩蓋真相，而且還故意造成別人的痛苦和傷害。為什麼呢？因為我們違背了上帝，犯了罪了、花郤沒有犯罪，花不能犯罪。花存在的目的是要彰顯神的榮耀，花不作假，只是靜靜地從土裏生長出來，展示令人眼花繚亂的美態。

這就是我喜歡花的原因。春天來了，是鮮花綻放的時節。我喜歡替花拍照，捕捉花的美姿，因為我每次通過鏡頭看見花的時候，它們提醒我耶穌所說的話：（馬太福音第六章）

「你們那一個能用思慮使壽數多加一刻呢？何必為衣裳憂慮呢？你想野地裡的百合花怎麼長起來；他也不勞苦，也不紡線。然而我告訴你們，就是所羅門極榮華的時候，他所穿戴的，還不如這花一朵呢！..... 所以，不要憂慮說：吃甚麼？喝甚麼？穿甚麼？..... 你們需用的這一切東西，你們的天父是知道的。你們要先求他的國和他的義，這些東西都要加給你們了。所以，不要為明天憂慮，因為明天自有明天的憂慮；一天的難處一天當就夠了。」

誰畫的？Who painted it?

有見過這麼美的小鳥嗎？牠的名字叫 Painted Bunting，是誰畫出這麼美豔的衣飾？
馬太福音6:26 「你們看那天上的飛鳥，也不種，也不收，也不積蓄在倉裡，你們的天父尚且養活他。你們不比飛鳥貴重得多麼？」
Have you ever seen a bird that beautiful? Wow! Its name is Painted Bunting. Who painted its stunning coat?
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:26

http://birdsbybaranoff.com

How to be original

Even in literature and art,
no man who bothers about originality will ever be original:

whereas if you simply try to tell the truth
(without caring twopence how often it has been told before)
you will, nine times out of ten,
become original without ever having noticed it.

C.S. Lewis

Ah, that's why people are still reading his books.
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When you are desperate...

You have heard of what crazy things people do when they are desperate, like rob the bank, kill their wives for insurance money, or drink your own urine when you are totally out of water while you are lost at sea. For me, I decided I am going to cut my own hair.

Well, today started out as a very different day. When I woke up at 7:30, looking into the mirror when I washed my face, I could stand my hair anymore.  I need a haircut!

With no proper hair-cutting tools, I took Kioni's craft scissors, a mirror and the extra shower curtain out to the backyard.  It was cold, my fingers don't work very well, but I was determined to conquer the mess.

Four hours later, it's done!  I am happy with it, and will definitely do it again.  I saved myself some money, and most important of all, I got the satisfaction of creating something on my head, that was a great feeling.

Letting Go

Picture from www.janicemarinerward.com

Kioni is playing outside with her two neighbour friends. Dan wrote a google chat to me saying that it is difficult to see our only child playing out there, all by herself, not needing our help or constant care at all. There comes a time when parents realize that their children are not little anymore, it is time to let go, but each step is hard, because that represents independancy, something that the parents are so used to the day the child was born. Different stages of the child's life will require different kinds of letting go, right now for us, it is just letting her playing outside without checking on her every 5 minutes.

Gadget

We received this today from a Freecycler, made a bit of popcorn and they tasted just as they should, minus the butter and salt, clean up is just an easy wipe. Though I like grease and salt, this is good for Kioni because she tends to eat too much popcorn whenever she gets her hand on them.
This gadget is real easy, just pour some popcorn kernel in there, turn it on, and they came flying out of the chute after hot air pops the popcorn.
They have a gadget for anything you do in the kitchen. Some of them are plain waste of money, but this one is agreeable to use, because it is MUCH better than popping popcorn in a pot with oil and mess.

When that day comes....

When that day comes, when we don't move to another continent every few years, then I will start growing a bonsai. I always love Japanese Maple, I think this is what I am going to grow, a Japanese Maple bonsai. Let's see if that day will come. If upon research that growing a bonsai is more than I can handle, maybe just a regular Japanese Maple in the backyard, if we have a yard wherever we are living.

Prepared

"We forgot half of things they teach us at school (high school), but we remember every episode the bullies did to us." - from Criminal Minds

Bullies exist everywhere, they can be 5 years old or 50 years old, they are just really pitiful people who needs attention but not getting it anywhere. We need to know how to deal with them, and we need to handle them with care. I am glad that I am homeschooling Kioni, at least, I can teach her a few more years about life and the evilness in life before she has to face it herself. No mother can protect their children from facing the inevitable, but I can help her better prepared for it.

狗媽媽Izzy

這是唯一的小狗女

在美國的奶奶去年七月份收養了一隻拉布拉多獵犬狗女 Izzy，她是導盲狗協會的狗，但是 Izzy 本身不會做導盲狗，郤被定命了做導盲狗媽媽，協會說 Izzy 身體十分健康，有良好基因，所以選中她做媽媽。跟 Izzy 相處了一會之後發現，可能是因為她天性特別活潑好動，又有獨立思想，所以可能不容易受訓練，選她做媽媽比較好。
今年一月底，Izzy 生了第一批小狗，八隻小狗，七男一女，全都健康活潑，十分愛吃。祺祺笑說他們是Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. （雪姑七友）
我十分愛狗，真想抱一隻回家。可是這些小狗都是導盲犬協會的，長大後都會做導盲狗。
Izzy 還要多生幾胎才會完成她的「責任」，之後，我奶奶就會全權擁有她了。
人真是厲害，懂得怎樣利用動物去幫助我們。狗也真奇怪，願意合作。是猫的話，睬你都傻。

Inspiration from a diamond rose

I often wonder how it would be like for people who can basically walk into a store and buy ANYTHING they want, price is not a issue, because there will always be money at their disposal. I finally have a taste of that when playing with Growing Gift in Facebook.

You can send Growing Gifts to friends, and it is particularly attractive to someone like me, who cannot resist plants and flowers. The trick is, you only have so many seeds to 'buy' the flowers, they all have a 'price'. The more special it is, the more seeds it requires.

Now, the one 'plant' that costs the most seeds, is a rose that is made of diamond. It costs 1000 seeds. Which is hard to obtain, and even if you get that many seeds, you have to weight if you want to spend it all on one plant, or if you would rather use it on other plants.

I surprisingly, found a way to obtain as many seeds as I want, legally (I am not breaking any Facebook rules, nor am I hacking in anything. (Well, not like I can hack into anything even if I want to.) I just found a way. Which in just one night by working hard on it, I obtained over a thousand seeds, and in the process of doing that, I also benefited my friends. After a while, I gradually accumulated several thousand seeds.

The big question comes: Do I want to spend a thousand seeds on the diamond rose? Does it even worth it?
Suddenly, I understand why rich people might not necessarily be happy with all they have.
They are not happy because the diamond rose that costs 1000 seeds are not that special anymore. Yes, I worked hard in obtaining it, but now, it is in my pocket, what's next? They don't have anything that costs more than 1000 seeds.

I suddenly understand why Michael Phelps smokes marijuana and drink excessively. After you reach the top, where are you going to go next?
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Chinese restaurants

In the U.S., "authentic" Chinese restaurants often serve Szechuan food, Chop Suey and Pizza, and of course, the one and only "fortune cookies."

In Scotland, we see "Chinese" restaurants serving Chinese Take Away and "Fish and Chips". (In the photo above, I guess they permanently run out of fish.)

Now, with the hints above, guess where the following "Chinese" restaurants are located:

Chinese food + tortilla

Chinese food + sushi

Chinese food + paella

Chinese food + creme brulee

So how is your world cuisine knowledge? See answer below.

Answer: (mexico, japan, spain, france)

香港揮春 與眾不同