.. Famous Amos Cookies and I ...

Every time I look at the my blog's new skin ... it reminds me of my favorite cookie .... Amos Famous Cookies ... yes ... I know ... its called Famous Amos and not the other way round ... but from the first time till now .. I have always known it as Amos Famous .... somehow I always have a soft spot for Amos ... be it the cookie .... or the book in the Bible ... have not found a man called Amos though ... :0 ...

Anyway ... I was first introduced to Amos way back in 1980s ... I was living my Cousin Eng Hor's house in Taman Hijau. At that time, she was working and living in KL .. so every time when she comes back, she will buy 300 or 500g of the cookies.This started a life long romance with Amos Famous. I love the precious cookies so much that I had to even finish the crumbs!!! They just melt in your mouth! At that time, Eng Hor already told me briefly about the history of Amos ... most importantly , its freshly hand made cookies ....

My favorite type is the macadamia nuts! Yummy!!!

Then when I started my second job ... it was in Sg Wang Plaza ...guess what's in the 2nd floor of SWP -- yes ... its Amos!!!! You can smell it from miles!!!! So, every day I smell Amos ... hehhehe .... I believe that it produces the best Amos ... cos the turn over is very high for this outlet ... after leaving SWP, there was a season I went crazy after Amos (actually I will buy 300- 500g of it and claim it under dinner bill from the company -imagine how many kilos of Amos I accumulated in 1 week's outstation trip in KL.. hehehe) ... that I will go either Section 14 Asia Jaya (now the building is demolished) .. or Subang Parade or Mid Valley's outlet. But I find that the Subang Parade's outlet not so nice .. no wonder my size so cute now .....

Coming to JB .. there is no Amos outlets ... imagine that .. but when it first open in Senai Airport ... I actually drove all the way just to buy myself a packet .... in the the inflated airport rate!!!

O yes .. I will also make Shally buy them every time she comes back to JB from KL .... and off course ... there was once she bought and did not manage to see me ... guess who finish ALL my cookies ....its non other than Famous Ms Dorithy Tay!!!

When m Spore ..... there is Amos outlets --- the one that always entice me is in John Little of Orchard.... but bit ex la ... so my dear nieces (especially Nee) and SM will buy them for me ... every time I go back Sban!

Yes, Amos and I have come a long way ..... in fact, some years back when I was still in KL, Susie gave me the recipe .... since I cant bake ... I pass it to SM ... she bakes them for me!!! Off cos, not only for me la ... all the kids also chiang eat them!!!!

Below is a brief history of my favorite cookie which I took from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_Amos

Wally Amos, an Air Force veteran who worked as a talent agent with the William Morris Agency, would send home-baked chocolate chip cookies to celebrities to entice them to meet with him and maybe sign a deal to be represented by the William Morris company. Amos grew up in the State capitol of Florida, born in Smokey Harlem of Tallahassee, FL and graduated from Lincoln High School in the 1940s.

On March 10, 1975, Amos took the advice of some friends and opened a cookie store in Los Angeles, California, naming it "Famous Amos". In the first year he sold $300,000 worth of cookies, followed by more than $1,000,000 in sales in the store's second year of operation.

The store proved so popular that the "Famous Amos" brand eventually branched out to sell cookies in supermarkets, a move that would later be emulated by other specialty stores like as Baskin Robbins, T.G.I. Fridays, and Starbucks.

The Famous Amos brand has gone through a number of owners since inception. Between 1985 and 1989, the Famous Amos company went through four different owners. In 1992 the President Baking Company purchased the brand from The Shansby Group. Then, in 1998 Keebler foods purchased the President Baking Company. It was then owned by Keebler Foods until the Kellogg Company purchased Keebler in 2001. The brand is now a part of Kellogg's Company.

Wally Amos has created another brand of cookie called "Chip and Cookie", named after two characters he created in the 1980s. The Chip and Cookie brand is owned by Wally himself, and has a slightly different recipe than that of the Kellogg's variation.

p/s : didn't know till now that Chip & Cookie is made by Amos ... no wonder I LOVE it too ..... especially the soft cookies .... found them in Cold Storage next to TTC .... ex ... like Sin5.95 for a small packet of it ....

... the agony of wAiTiNg ...

Think that one of the most challenging thing in life is to wait .... the Bible says that those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength .... why do we need strength when we wait ... wait on the Lord? .... waiting is the worst thing that one can be asked to do ... it is tiring ... hence, the Lord knows that those who are waiting on Him for answer .... breakthru .....needs strength ... and strength renewed all the time ... else our spirit will be weary ... and we will loose hope ...

There are many waiting people around me ... including myself ... some are waiting for a job, ministry doors to be open ... baby .... husband/wife .... breakthrough .... new job .... new husband .... new wife .... kids to grow up ...spouse to change .... some ... sadly ... is just waiting for life to pass by ...

I have been waiting for a house of my own ...past 3 months .. and m still awaiting .... m saying that my house is stuck some where ... that is why have not reach me yet .... but I will continue to wait on my Father who is my Provider ... a suitable house for mom and I ... with furniture -- and a new bed with good mattress :)

In the mist of waiting ... it is very easy for our steps to slip ... slip off God's path for us ... then example of how Saul was instructed to wait for seven days for Samuel to come and offer sacrifice to God (1 Sam 13). Saul did waited for seven days .... but on the 7th day ... mid day ... he sacrificed to God instead of waiting through .....and just after he offered the sacrifice .... Samuel came .... Saul eventually lost the throne .... not because he did not waited for Samuel but because he had a unrepented heart ... he basically did not come out clean when confronted by Samuel.

We also see others who was asked to wait by God -- Noah ... in the boat ... he was asked to wait until the land is dry after the non stop rain of 40 days and 40nights .... Joshua was asked to wait as he led the Israelites to march round the walls of Jericho for 7 days ..... imagine what will happen if Noah or Joshua did not wait ....

Was it easy for Noah or Joshua to wait? Off course not.Waiting not only involves patience but also the testing of our faith --- our faith can be tested and shaken during waiting period .... do we really believe that God will come through for us at the end of our waiting season?

I think that waiting season is important and good season for our soul .... it is a time to stop, pause and take stack of our life and relationship with God ... it is a time for us to see God's hands at work ... (remember the song God will make a way by Don Moen --- God works in ways that we cannot see) It is in the waiting period that God's hands is at work in our lives and that situation. Waiting season can be a season of purification --- a season to remove that is not from God in our lives --- like our power to make things happen our way .... waiting season is a season of character moulding and building -- David had to wait 20years .... before he was officially installed as king.

All the examples of waiting in the Bible shows us that God did come through at the end ....

Waiting season will either draw us closer to God or further away from Him ... which will you choose my friend -- closer or further away from you Father who loves you ... and will definitely give you good things in life ... God may be give you this waiting season because He misses having you sitting in His presence ..... your Father is calling you to sit with Him ...

Waiting is also a very humbling process - a humbling process because you know that you are no longer in control / in charge of the situation or your life anymore .... you cannot do anything anything else except to wait on God ... you have no choice but to surrender and submit yourself to His sovereign will and trust that He will sort things out for you in His time. It's humbling not to play god over our lives or the lives of people around us anymore ... and allow God to be God in our lives and the lives of those around us ...

So to all those waiting ..... including myself ....

"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."

(Ps 27:14)

Your God will come through for you ..... just watch and see ... the miracle will be delivered to your door steps when you wait patiently for Him .....

.... Shopping The Korean Way ....

We never really had time to shop when we were in Seoul .... our schedule was jammed packed with allocation for prayer .... meals ..... travel time.... travel takes quite a bit cos for us to travel out into the city and Sam-Gak San .... two ways ... we need at least 3hrs ... and not to mention ... Seoul can be quite jam .... especially peak hour!!! Highways and byways .... all packed with vehicles!! Reminds me of KL .... especially Federal Highway or Golden Triangle peak hours.

So, did we shop in Korea? What we heard from Pastor Joyce and Bro Dae Koreans shop online a lot ... they will just call their neighborhood supermarket and order all that they need for a meal and the things are delivered within 1hr or so ... so by the time they get home from work ... the things are at their doorsteps .... ready for them to cook dinner. Seems this is the typical way of working moms operate in Korea ... anyway ... my dear Pris also shop the Korean way ... she will order clothes online ... and they will ship it into Spore from Korea ... she seems to like this way of shopping so far ... she loves Korean fashion ...

Anyway .... on our 5th day, we was taken to a local supermarket that sells fresh vegie and fruits ... cheap cos its a joint venture between the government and the local company. Here, we were given 20minutes to shop.... which was later extended to 30mins ....

We rushed into the supermarket .... grab all that we can ... we dont have time to think if its cheaper here or not cos we dont have time to convert ... we don really have time to read the labels because 95% of it is in Korean!!! So how do we shop??? Hahhaha ... using the "aunty" instinct .... we just grab grab grab ... you buy what ... i also buy mode .... hahahha ...

It was really hilarious - because at the end of the way ... what I wanted to buy was Kimchi .... and discovered that what I got at the end was kimchi paste instead ... what I wanted to buy was something like Uncle Ben's rice with some instant dish .... spicy chicken etc ... what I got was just the instant dish ... I had to rush to cook rice to eat with it just now ....

Anyway ... I ended up buy lots of instant noodles (yummy2) ... 2.8kg of kimchi sos and more ... cos got free gift (super heavy ... make me over weight ...25.1kg!! .. so happy cos tot I can eat kimchi when I get back ... but low and behold -- its just the sos ... hahhaha ) ... few boxes of the instant chicken meat cooked in some Chinese sos ... but Korean style .... seaweeds .... and also chili power ... and anchovies powder ... to make kimchi myself (I have not learn how to make it but I have seen someone doing it .... go hopefully .... can agak my way into making kimchi) .... got a set of those powder for SM as well ..... I shd be expecting kimchi from her as well :0

After "attacking" the supermarket for 30minutes ... we lined up to pay ... we could not understand what the cashier was trying to say to us ... after awhile they gave up ... showed us the total sum ... we paid.

Then comes the packing time .... hahhaha ... betul2 like siau char bors .... we quickly packed them into carton boxes available .... imagine 15 people buying stuff ... race against time .... and now ... race against time to pack ... lolz ... betul2 crazy one ... the aunties each carried at least one non stick pan to bbq chicken/beef etc ... it seems no need add oil and easy to clean up after use.

We laughed all the way in the bus after the shopping experience ...

After attending the Fri prayer meeting at ChooYong Ci church .... we headed for our 2nd round of shopping ... where we were taken to was a place like Bai Yoke in Bangkok ....its the area where wholesellers and distributors sell their goods .... from shoes .... bags ... accessories ... clothes ... you name it .. they have it .... we spent about 2hrs there ..... the place opens at 12midnite - 4am ... there are some things that we want to buy from stall ... but the owner is not around ... either because she is eating and chatting away with some of the other owners or she is just not to be found ... I manage to buy some tshirts and blouses here ... but I find that the things are not cheap ... very hard to bargain because we do not buy them in bulk. But it was quite interesting to see the night shopping of Seoul...

The last place we shopped was off course the airport .... the flight was delayed 1hrs ... so aunties had opportunity to shop again .... I did not shop because I will NOT pay for airport price items unless I know that it is super cheap --- which it is not in the normal case.The aunties bought watches .... ginseng sweets .... etc ... I ...NIL ... I logged into the net to clear my mails and virus attached my hotmail ... hahhaa ....

Here ends my shopping story in Seoul .... interesting ... fun .... m sure their is much more to explore ... but things are expensive ... so ..... cant really shop here ... at least for my standard ... perhaps if I can go with a local .. it can be much cheaper ...

... New Skin ...

I have been bugging Win to change my layout for quite sometime ... and last nite at 1230am she started doing it!!! Seems she was very stress with her studies / assignments .. and re-doing the layout of my blog was a stress relief! Hahhaa ... thank God for that ... now I get new skin!!!

Wonder how many of us are just tired with our own looks that we need a beauty make over --- for ladies .... its either u "iorn" your hair straight or "rolled" it up ... after keeping my hair permed for 1.5years, I rebonded my hair 2.3mths ago ... Win has been wanting to perm hair from kingdom come's day and 1 ago ... she made a trip to JB to purposely perm her hair!! I introduced Wen the hairdresser ... Wen introduced him to Win ... now like satu kampung goes to him -- I have been going to him off on for the past 8 years!

Likewise, in our spiritual lives ... those of us who believes in Jesus and asked Him to come live in us, we now have a new life! We do not need to feel sian or bored with our life because ..... "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:4)

The new life we live now is a life of power through the Resurrection of Jesus ... the power that resurrected Jesus from death 2000years ago is with us now ... so, let's move and live in our new life .... through the power that has been given to us!

Our lives will be different ... will look different from the inside out because of the life of Jesus and power of resurrection that lives in and through us!

Do you have the "new skin" in your life through Jesus? I do .... la la la la .....

Memories of Mooncake Festival

Coming back from Gelang Patah prayer meeting ... I saw many groups of young people and children carrying their lantern walking around the housing estate ... and as I drove into the street I live ... my neighbor lighted a row of lanterns and hang them over a poll the place between the gate and fence.

Here in Taman U ... one can really feel this festival .... the festive mood is in the air ... kids are outside their house at almost every Chinese house ... it has been a long time since I see groups and groups of young people and kids carrying their lanterns ... :0

When I was young, I remember the celebration of Mooncake festival .... perhaps I was about 6 or 7 years old ... we were living in Sitiawan Estate and we used to hang out with my second cousins who lived in the mid way along the road that lead to Sitiawan Estate.

So, that evening we went to their house .... they made lanterns from Milo and Nestum empty tins because our parents will not buy us lanterns that is made of colorful plastic papers. So, we need to make our own lanterns if we want to play with them. All you need to do is to cut the bottom of the tin, then cut stripes on the walls of the tins, lastly you press the tin downwards that made the tins roundish in shape. Then at add a wire to hold the candle at the bottom. Actually, this is the best lantern because you will not set them on fire .... :0

With these homemade lanterns, we will carry then along the road ... to the house that is a home keropok factory ... while we carry the lantern ... we shout .... "niang-teng ah" "niang-teng ah" ... literal translation from Foo Chow -- lantern display ... lantern display ....

Simple fun we had as kids .... :-0...

Off course, not too long later, we had paper lanterns which is cheaper than the colorful plastic paper lanterns ... and the Milo/Nestum tin lantern slowly fade away .... what is left is just memories of it ....

In Foo Chow tradition, we do not only have mooncakes during this festival ... we also have 2 other type of delicacy ... one is small square biscuit ... made from flour and lard ... and another .... small hard sugar coated biscuit .. which is called "lor-chu-piang" -- literal translation from FooChow ... rat's tail .... actually when I was in Fu Zhou 2 years ago, they sell these type of biscuit all year round in the supermarkets. Guess, in Sitiawan, we can only get it during MoonCake Festival ...


This is my memory of Moon cake festival - what is yours?

Samgak San - the National Prayer Altar of Korea

This piece of article is taken from the the official site of Bukhansan National Park - http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=312935

"Procession of Large Granite Rocks Create a Superb View" Mt. Bukhansan is situated in the northern part of Seoul. Designated as a national park in 1983, the mountain is 78.45 km wide and has 6 districts and extends out into Gyeonggi-do. The name Bukhansan means "big mountain" in the north, and it is also called Mt. Samgaksan. Mt. Bukhansan has such smooth curves that the large granite rocks sometimes look as if they would slide down the mountain. The sharp peaks provide contrast to the dozens of valleys and rivers flowing below. The mountain has many different kinds of peaks but its main peak is Baekunbong. The granite peaks blend well with trees, and there are about 1,300 kinds of animal and plant life living on the mountain. Among the granite peaks, the best known is Insubong Peak's Giam. The world famous granite rock peak Insubong is over 200m above sea level, and there are about 100 mountain paths leading to the rock. When you stand on Baekundae and look down, sometimes you can see as far as Seoul and the Hangang River. Bukhansan has a rich history as well. The cultural treasures it possesses attests to the historical events that occurred on the mountain. King Jinheung's Sunsubi on Bibong Peak, the Bukhansan seong Fortress built along the mountain's ridges, Sangunsa Temple built by the monk Won-Hyo, and numerous other temples occupy the mountain areas. Bukhansanseong Fortress is also a must-see tour site if you are visiting the mountain. Bukhansanseong Fortress was built with a wall spanning about 8,500 m, built specifically to stop foreign invasion. It is one of the representative mountain fortresses of the Joseon Era. In the fall, especially, the view you can get from the fortress of the mountain is spectacular. Temples are also representative of rich culture that flourished on Bukhansan. The Seungasa Temple on the east Bibong Peak, with Seokgayeorae Ma-aebuls carved into a 5m granite rock, and the Munsusa temple located halfway up the Musubong peak, with purified mountain water dropping from the ceiling of Munsugual Cave, are indicative of both Bukhansan's history and culture. With its granite peaks and Bukhansanseong fortress, Bukhansan is perfect for hiking in all seasons. In the spring, all kinds of flowers bloom, and in the summer, lush forests carpet the numerous valleys. The hiking path along the valley is perhaps the best summer mountain climbing course there is. The fall is the perfect time to visit the temples and pavilions in their autumn colors. In the winter, the snow-covered mountain scenery is very beautiful. Bukhansan National Park has many attractions and beautiful scenery, and is near enough to the city, that many come to visit. The park averages 5 million visitors and has received the Honor of being in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the national park with the highest number of visitors per square foot.

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Samgak was introduced to us by Bro Dae, a Korean whom we have been praying with for the past one year. Samgak San used to be his "home" for 7 years -- he hike up daily to pray for hours ... and coming down only for a couple of hours before he hike up again. I was very touched by his passion and heart to impart to us what he had experienced .... I keep saying its really crazy to bring a group of aunties and uncles up the mountain .... 3 days in a row ...people who do not really have experience in hiking and have not exercised for a long time .... why does he do it .... cos he loves the Lord .... thus he loves us enough to bring us up .... down ... in the sun .. through the wind .. rain .... lightening ... and moonlight ...

Samgak San in is located 1-hrs drive from the city of Seoul ... and in the Bukhan-san National Park ... means 3 points ... San means mountain. So true to its name, Samgak San has 3 summits .... and 2 of the summits is where people go and pray .... the summit that we went is called the summit of unity -- where people pray for the unity of north and south of Korea .... and the summit which is opposite this is called the summit of power --- where people go and pray for anointing .... many famous pastors in Korea used to go and pray on this mountain before they are launched into their ministry ....

Yes .... Samgak San is a prayer mountain .... its known as the national prayer altar for Korea. About 60years ago ... just before world war 2 .... a pastor was led by God to go to this mountain to pray for Korea ... and his prayer has stopped the invasion of communism into south Korea. There, he built a small chapel on the mountain .... however, after the war, the government torn down the chapel .... but allowed for many temples to be build. However it did not stopped people from going to the mountain to pray .... the pastor who started to pray on this mountain is now 90plus and unable to hike up .... God raised another lady pastor to pray daily on this mountain top. We met her on the 1stday when we were coming down from the mountain ... she starts her hike (alone) at 6pm and comes down from the mountain at 4am .... so, prayer has been ongoing past 60years.

Today, there are many temples in Samgak San (thank God the path we took did not pass any of them but we can see the temples from the mountain top). We can only see the ruins of the Chapel just before we reach to top of the summit. On the mountain --- besides our voices ... we can also hear other people praying ... it seems many many people used to hike up to pray - when Korea was declared bankrupted .. many went up to pray ... to seek God .... now we know why Korea has the largest church in the world .... now we know why Korea experienced revival .... now we know why Koreans are loud and passionate in their prayer ...

However, with growth and programs ... less and less people come up to pray ... now the lady pastor continues to pray for the unity and restoration of north and south Korea as well as for the pastors and churches in Korea ... because they do not pray as much as they use to ...

Certain parts of the mountain has been blocked off to preserve nature .... so they claim ... so, this has also prevented people from going up to pray. At the foot of the hill, is the home to many many rich and famous people (the Arab Saudi Embassy is just down the road) ... I guess they must have complained that people praying are very noisy ... so, when we came down from the mountain (especially midnite or early morning .. we were quiet ... ).

Just at the foot of the mountain, there is a house that is converted to a church and a prayer house. Seems the prayer house was given by someone to the church ... and the house (very beautiful) .... estimated value at the time when it was given -- $US15million! Houses are very expensive in Seoul as it is a mountainous city .... this is why there are more condos compared to landed property. Even when one has a landed property ... they have very limited space for parking. That is why it is very common for cars to be parked right along the roadside of the house .... I saw one house with at least 4-5 expensive cars parked outside the house ... BMW, Volkswagon, Merdz ....

Every 2 days, there will be rangers or police who will round the mountain to check the mountain. We placed a Malaysia and Israel flag hidden among the rocks on the 1stday after our team prayed .... seems the flags were removed by the police the following week.

On the second day, we packed up to leave the mountain at 10pm .... and as we were climbing through the rocks ... we heard people praying and saw lights ... it was the lady pastor with a group of other pastors .... they were praying for Korea .... we can hear words ... Ooo Bapa ... ooo Bapa ... we were excited because we hear people using Malay words in Korean woods!!!
[later we found out that the group was praying for Msia!!amazing .... God just impress in their hearts to pray for Msia when we are there!]

On the 3rd day .... a Korean missionary looked our group up cos he heard us praying .... he was on a 40days liquid fast - he was in the mountain praying ... he found us at 230am ... and prayed with us, for us .. for Malaysia .. and we prayed for him and the reconciliation of South & North Korea!

Its really an honor to be at the national prayer altar of Korea .. to pray for Malaysia .... its really encouraging to see Koreans crying over Msia as they pray for Malaysia ... Malaysians .... will you rise up to pray for our land?

Hope to blog more .... another time ...... its really an experience money cannot buy ... :0....