Coolcat's Jottings

To the lovely lady and gentleman who have helped me so much last night, thank you. I wouldn't have known what to do or where to go had it not been for the two of you.

Thanks for caring and sacrificing your time to be present with me in my time of need. And for being God's hands to me, making things lighter and bearable.

Thanks for everything.

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My mom got all excited when she saw this dish of a cat in the papers over the weekend.

Bless her heart, she thinks she has found the antidote to chase my occasional doldrums away.

"I've got a cat pic to show you. I think you'll love it!" she said and flashed the page at me.

Now, I've seen my share of the cutest cats in town. So I wasn't expecting much from the papers. But nothing prepared me for Ziggy who has the widest whitest face and odd coloured eyes. Coupled with that dour look on his face, he's a darn irresistible cat! I melted. I think I must have looked positively sappy.

My mom was delighted at the immediate transformation. "Here, let me cut it out for you so that you can keep it."

My sis had other plans, "No, mom. You cut it out and keep it so that you can flash this pic to her whenever you want her to do something for you or agree with you on anything!"

All this time, I had no idea my sister was that cunning. Still, there's really something special about that Ziggy.

Photo Source

The Faces of Malaysia... Hee!

"It must be difficult, to pray for the well-being of our country and at the back of our minds planning to migrate to another land," said pastor HS during the prayer meeting yesterday.

I couldn't agree more.

Not that I was not tempted with the thought of migrating to Australia some years back. I liked the country and there was a whole new chapter of life waiting for me there. But upon further consideration, I felt it wasn't the time to do so and stayed on. I believe that I was born and bred here for a purpose and unless there's a really compelling reason for God to transplant me elsewhere, this is where I'll be for a long, long time to come.

Twinnie did a great post on her Malaysia. It's truly written in the spirit of Muhibbah (unity). Reading it touches a chord in my heart. We get along so well even though we are from different backgrounds, color and creed. So much so that we think that everyone feels the same as we do. The recent scary speeches made in the UMNO general assembly was a sober reminder that there are still those who do not share our sentiments. It is heartening to note that action will be taken against those who aim to sow seeds of discord in our nation.

Now I can't imagine living permanently anywhere else. For this is my Malaysia. This is the place that I call home.

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Lazy, I'm so lazy
I don't want to
Get out of bed... Meeeooooooow!

* sung to the tune of Mr. Lonely by Akon & The Blackeyed Peas

It was a wonderful weekend of just resting, reading, learning up on some software and generally, just bumming around. So, when the time came for me to go for the NECF Prayer Commission Thanksgiving Tea, I was so relunctant to crawl out of my cosy house.

But I gave my word that I'd be there and so, I said to God, "Ok, I'm going. I'm going. I know that something good is going to come out of this, either immediately or much later."

And sure enough, I was so glad I went.

Firstly, the message that was given by Pastor HS hit me right in between the eyes. He was talking about Hannah's prayer - how she used the pain in her life to be a passionate intercessor to turn around a seemingly impossible situation. Wow. It was something I really needed to hear because I had been looking at certain directions in life with a sense of despair and defeat.

Also, I bumped into some very dear and old friends whom I've not seen in years because we are in different churches. One of them was my spiritual mentor who held my hands and guided me in one of the most defining moments in my life.

Another person I met was someone I had come alongside with to help her in her journey and it's just so amazing to see how joyful she is today.

And the third person I talked to was a lovely lady I met during the Father's Love conference. Today, we had the opportunity to get to know each other better and it was such a joy to be able to connect with someone who has the same wavelength and like-mindedness. She was exactly the encourager I needed to rekindle the hope of not giving up and just settling for a mediocre life.

After she prayed for me, something prompted me to pray for her.

"Are there any concerns in your heart that I can pray for?" I asked.

She blinked in surprise. "Why, normally people don't ask that from me nor have the time to draw out things from me. I'm so glad you asked!" We were amazed that God used us to meet each other's need.

And what transpired after our meeting with each other was a deeper friendship. It was not a chance meeting, but rather a divine appointment.

I'm so so glad I dragged my lazy behind to this prayer hi-tea. I'm truly humbled and blessed by it all.

Photo Credits

Ever since I read the Narnian Chronicles, I've always wondered what honest-to-goodness Turkish Delight actually tastes like. I mean, they had to be rather fantastic and out-of-this-world to get naughty Edmund Pevensie to betray his siblings and friends the way that he did.

My longtime childhood question was answered not too long ago, when Ben brought a box of Turkish Delight to the office. A friend of his who actually went to Turkey got it for him. I had the honour of posing with the box before unwrapping it and sinking my teeth into the hopefully delicious contents.

This is the box. Notice the dubiously 'enticing' tagline:

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This is me officially endorsing the food as being safe to eat. :

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This is me looking ripped off because the content of the box did NOT match it's cover image:

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And to my utter disappointment, the Turkish Delight tasted sickeningly sweet - so sweet that it caused my molars to ache. It was also sticky and not at all appetising. Bleh. How Edmund Pevensie sold his soul for these I shall never know.

I am not alone.