What a Laughing Stock!

Hi SNee,

While I was browsing through your collection of World Wide Jokes (a compilation from the Net), I came upon this joke that I find amusing. Here it goes!

Once upon a time, there lived a man who had a passion for baked beans. He loved them, but they always had an embarrassing reaction on him. One day, he met a girl and fell in love. When it was apparent that they would marry, he made the supreme sacrifice to give up beans. Shortly after that they were married.

A few months later, on the way home from work, his car broke down and since they lived in the country, he called his wife and told her that he would be late because ha had to walk. On the way home, he passed a small cafe and the wonderful aroma of baked beans overwhelmed him.

Since he still had several miles to walk, he figured he could walk off any smelly effects before he got home. So he went in and ordered, and before leaving had three extra large helpings of baked beans. All the way home, he putt-putted and putt-putted. By the time he arrived home he felt reasonably safe.

His wife met him at the door and seemed somewhat excited. She exclaimed, 'Darling, I have the most wonderful surprise for you for dinner tonight!'

She put a blindfold on him, and led him to his chair at the head of the table and made him promise not to peek. At this point, he was beginning to feel another one coming on. Just as his wife was about to remove the blindfold, the telephone rang. While she was gone, he seized the opportunity. He shifted his weight to one leg and let go. It was not only loud, but ripe as a rotten egg. He had a hard time breathing, so he felt for his napkin and fanned the air about him.

He had just started to feel better, when another urge came on. He raised his leg and putted again, this time it sounded like a diesel engine! Then he felt another urge coming, he shifted his weight to his other leg and let go. While keeping an ear tuned in on the conversation in the hall-way, and keeping his promise of staying blindfolded, he carried on farting and fanning each time with his napkin for another few more rounds before it stopped finally.

When he heard the phone farewells being uttered, he neatly laid his napkin on his lap and folded his hands on top of it. Smiling contentedly, he was the picture of innocence when his wife walked in. Apologizing for taking so long, she asked if he had peeked at the dinner table. After assuring her he had not peeked, she removed the blindfold and yelled, 'Surprise!'

To his shock and horror, there were twelve dinner guests already seated around the table for his surprise birthday party.

A merry heart is good medicine,
but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

(Adapted from the collection of World Wide Jokes)

Saying Sorry Up In The Sky!

My dear SNee,

On Friday July 18 2008, while reading the article from The Sun on 'Pope Benedict praised the Australian government yesterday for apologising for past injustices to Aborigines...', then I remembered the photos that we took on 26 January 2008 - that day happened to be Australia's Independence Day, that was, the next day after attending your Homecoming service on 25 January 2008!

Initially, we were surprised when we saw several jet planes flying around in circles not knowing that they were trying to form the word 'sorry' in the sky!

I was amazed to see such a big word written so clearly by jet planes right up in the sky! Bravo to the pilots, they're really good at it - no messy tail-end to blur up the word!

As we were walking along The Opera House, we saw a helicopter flying a huge Australian flag above it! This combination makes a great picture!

As we strolled along Harbour Bridge, we came across the bona fide Aborigines with their paraphernalia (showcased their unique cultures) displayed by the sidewalk!

While the Aborigines were posing pictures with visitors, this lady was trying to sell some DVDs!

As we walked further on, we came upon this 'silver man' shaking hands and waving to passing by holiday-makers! Uncle Jin was in the background smiling away - saw something amusing?

I was captivated by this beautifully crafted mask at one of the souvenir outlets at The Opera House! Many other interesting items are sold there too.

Later part of the day, your sister went to Bondi Beach with Karina and the Tay sisters, she wrote your name on the beach and encapsulated it in memory! Shieh Nee we love you and miss you very,very, very............... much! Your bubbly smile and bountiful spirits of life will always be seen and felt in our deep hearts' core! See U in Heaven!

A Trip to Cambodia

SNee,

During the recent school holidays, your Aunty Zee Ee (mum's sister) and Uncle Soon Lai went for a short holiday to Cambodia with some of Uncle Soon Lai's colleagues. Let's take a quick picture tour of their holidays.

A photo session of the adventurous members who are mostly from SRJK Kong Min (Pusat).

The front entrance to the Cambodian Cultural Village at Siem-Reap.

A dance on stilts at a Chinese Village inside the Cultural village.

Walking further, one can see lots of ruins of old temples, this is one of them!

Smiling ladies posing from the inside of the ruins of Angkor Wat.

Already goggling your eyes away? This snapshot was taken when they visited a local museum at Siem-Reap.

Are your eyes popping out again? Hey, this dancer is made of wax and displayed in the local museum of Siem-Reap!

This pathway is lined with skulls of bulls on both sides which leads to the homes of a local tribe. These skulls signify their peculiar identity!

Wow! Look at Uncle Soon Lai! He has undergone an amazing metamorphosis into a modern-day Superman at the Cultural Village at Siem-Reap!

Ouchhhhh.....it's painful! says King Kong to cheeky Uncle Soon Lai!

What are you eating? Local Cambodia -chocolates? Are they yummy?

Looks like chocolates but they are not chocolates? They are deep-fried cicadas delicacy and they are very very crispy when eaten whole! You must be kidding Uncle Soon Lai, eating that stuff? Yak!

Pinky-skinned banana, anyone? Wonder if the inside is pinky as well? Alas, they didn't stay long enough to find out, just snap-n-go!

Aunty Zee Ee and Uncle Soon Lai enjoying a traditional 'Cambodian' curry (the dish is called 'amok') served in folded banana leaves! Take note that the thick curry gravy does not leak out from the 'banana leaf' bowl at all! Do you know that a plate of plain rice here cost about 1USD, and when converted to malaysian ringgit, it's about RM3.25 per plate!

The huge 'sleeping buddha' at Siem-Reap!

Posing with the famous Angkor Wat standing in the background!

An elaborate amazine sculpture of Bayon (built by stacking slabs of stones on each other) at a Buddhist temple!

An ancient ruined temple being 'devoured' by the roots of a big tree at Ta Phrom!

The loving couple posing by another section of the ruined building at Ta Phrom!

my16.cn101.cc? Learn Mandarin without tears and fear? Prepare U for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games? Mandarin Mania is on!

Gateway to Mandarin e-learning!

The typical traditional masks that grace the face of the website!

Another classic feature - The Great Wall of China as introduction to e-Mandarin!

One of the modules in the e-learning package!

SNee,

The Mandarin mania heat is on! 32 days t0 Beijing 2008 Olympic Games? Well, most of us who are interested in it are struggling frantically to learn up the language. Even though some of us are not for it, we still have to learn it...why?...maybe/perhaps to get a link to the potential vast economic boom of China?


I could easily sign up with a local educational institution to take up the Mandarin language course. But alas, most of the time, I'm so busy that I may have to miss the classes. On top of that, I have to face the hassle of parking in a busy town. And now with the steep fuel price hike, I have to think twice before travelling to and fro to the institution regularly and then to drive around in circles looking for a parking space!


Well, I managed to solve the problems, now I can study Mandarin within the comforts of my home - no more missing classes, able to study it according to my own leisure time and days, able to save time when travelling to and fro to the centre, no more facing parking woes and most of all to save on my petrol bills!


How? Go for online e-learning! When I was introduced to this new concept of learning, I was sceptical about it. I may be conned? Are the learning contents reliable and practical? Many questions popped up before I go for it.


Then a friend who works as a business consultant in Taiwan for many years convinced me (he has already made a thorough check on the company!) that the company operating the e-learning is authentic, solid, cleaned from debts and reliable.


This company has been dealing in the educational field professionally for the past nine years. They have just launched global e-learning recently(this explains why we have never heard of this global mandarin e-learning prior to this) in tandem with global internet growth.


It is highly recommended for those who are interested. There are different packages to choose from to suit your needs. The company will continue to update its packages.


I am now learning how to read mandarin words(there are even sound frequencies to check my pronunciations), doing exercises on basic grammar, vocabs and idioms; using virtual pencil to practise writing, doing interactive self-test assessments and many others.

For myself, I have chosen the 'white gold package' (sponsored by a dear friend) because it covers different eleven modules, thus providing me with more learning options.


Finally, they have a special promotion drive for the newly launched e-learning, that is, if we are to sign up before 08.08.08, we will be given an extra one year of duration to enjoy the three packages (normal duration for silver, gold and white gold packages is only for one year) except for the normal package.


If you are interested, then click the following link for further information. When you enter the web-site, remember to click the white box on your right to choose the language that you want to use as the medium to read the website - English, Japanese, Korean etc?


Click my16.cn101.cc



Happy learning!

Uncle Kok Cheng's Latest Passion

SNee,

Your dear Uncle Kok Cheng is still as adventurous as ever. Scaling Mount Kinabalu did not give him enough ooompphhh...... he had to get the actual feel of spine-chilling thrill of paddling down the rough rapids at Paras River as his 'final countdown' finale to the day's events.

Please click the link below to view and to get a 'feel' of his exciting experience:

White Water Drafting - Riverbug


Below is the commentary on the Riverbug adventure as given by Uncle Kok Cheng via email:

'Above, is the highlight of the rapids that we paddled down the Padas river in Sabah.

Our team was in action last week during our trip to Sabah for Padas River White Water Rafting and video it to the tune of Final Countdown.

This was after we have summit Mount Kinabalu the day before.

Visual more impressive than reality. Feel the energy, thrill and adrenaline flowing.

I was rowing from the front seating on the right side of the raft, wearing an orange (Holland fan) T- shirt.

Turn your volume up.

Enjoy!!! '

Wow, that's really full of first-hand thrills and fun! Thank you Uncle Kok Cheng for sharing your exciting colourful experiences with us.

I noticed a lady's name on board the raft (Do let me know if there were more than one) - bravo to the lady who's brave enough to take up the challenge of an experience that many of us (the fair ladies?) do not even think of doing it for fun!