Reminiscence

Shinrin Park 森林公園 Thursday, Aug.28th 2008, I went to Shinrinkouen in Namegawamachi, Hikigun, Saitama Prefecture. I arrived at west entrance (西口) which has many attractions, such as water park, athletic field (wood swings, balance beams, climbing ropes, sliding ropes, jungle gym, see-saw, pyramid rope, kid's dome/playground, circulation bus, restaurant, toilet, etc.). If you come with your kids, it is better to enter from West side. If you want to explore the park, the best way, I think, is from the central gate (中口) then go clockwise. At North Side, there is not a circulation bus and it is quite dull there, nothing but greenery and trees. The bus ticket costs 100 yen for kids and 200 yen for adults and 400 yen for one day pass. The Park entrance ticket costs 400 yen for adults and for kids (6-14 years old) 80 yen and the parking costs 610 yen. Rental bicyles will cost 410 yen for 3 hours (70 yen for every additional 30 min.) for adults and 250 yen for 3 hours (30 yen for every

Imagine if a bank gives you the amount of money of $86,400 on a daily basis. Then they ask you to spend all of the money in one day. Every night, the remaining amount of money will be erased from your account if you fail to spend all of it in one day. What would you do? Surely you will try to spend every penny that you have. We all have that kind of bank. The name is TIME. Every morning, you are given 84,400 seconds to spend. At the end of the day, it would be count as loss if you fail to invest it wisely. The remaining time that we don’t use will not be carried over for the next day, and you cannot withdraw more than the amount determined for you. Every new day, a new account will be opened for you, and every night, the account will be erased. If you fail to use your savings for the day, you will lose it and it will never come back. You have to live for today, for your ‘savings’ today. Invest your time to get the yield from the investment, such as health, happiness, and success. To re

Bread flour about 2 cups. It depends on your need. Bread flour will give a more solid and thicker texture. If you want a soft texture, choose all purpose flour or special flour for cakes. Sieve the flour. Unsieved flour will cause clumps of flour in the dough. Sugar 110 grams Baking powder 2 tea spoons butter 120 grams (Please refer to my explanation on Sweet Coconut Cake) (some or 2 table spoons) brown sugar to make it brown, instead of pale white colour. Some Vanilla oil/extract, two or three drops. Do not put too much it will make the cake taste strange (Indonesian, bikin eneg) 2 eggs with the white but not the shells. 1 Earl Grey tea sachet. If the tea sachet is a double one, just put one. But if the tea sachet is one, you need two of them. Do not put too much of Earl Grey tea because it will make the cake bitter. I failed once because I put two double sachets of tea. Stir them well. Mix them with an electric mixer is better. Grease the pan. Preheat the oven 170 degree celcius fo

Use all purpose flour 2 cups, it depends on your need. If you just want to serve 4 - 5 people in one serving, 2 cups are enough. There are several types of flour, flour for making bread, all purpose, pancake, starch, maizena, soba flour, etc. For this cake, I used all purpose flour. It gives a light texture. Sieve the flour, put some sugar, baking powder (2 tea spoonfuls) and brown sugar. If you want it sweet, put more white sugar or brown sugar. I never use grams nor measures because I prefer mild taste. Put half of the coconut powder sachet, if you want thick flavour, finish one sachet. Mix them well. Beat one egg. Mix them. I do not have an electric mixer so I just use a spoon with more minutes and strength to stir them well. Mix them with electric mixer will give a soft texture to the cake. Put some butter/margarine. Butter will give a nice aroma to your cake so pay attention to the type besides the calories. I use Canola butter with half calories. The usual type of butter contain

Poor thinking produces negative progress Average thinking produces no progress Good thinking produces some progress Great thinking produces great progress (source: jimmyoentoro.com)

Bahasa Indonesia English Asinan Jakarta Pickled vegetables Rujak Juhi Vegetables served with shredded dried squid and peanut sauce Sop kaki kambing A rich lamb soup Semur jengkol A type of pungent smelling vegetable stewed in a soy sauce Kue ape-ape A soft centered cake with a flimsy but crisp crust Kue gemblong A coconut cake with brown sugar Kue pepe Sticky sweet layer cake made of glutinous rice flour Dodol A sticky confectionery made of coconut, glutinous rice and brown sugar Kerak Telor Rice with eggs and dried coconut and shrimp topping Ketoprak Rice noodles, bean sprouts, tofu, served with peanut sauce Roti buaya A pair of crocodile-shaped loaves of bread, which is a symbol of loyalty and monogamy

A lthough things are not perfect B ecause of trial or pain C ontinue in thanksgiving D o not begin to blame E ven when the times are hard F ierce winds are bound to blow G od is forever able H old on to what you know I magine life without His love J oy would cease to be K eep thanking Him for all the things L ove imparts to thee M ove out of "Camp Complaining" N o weapon that is known O n earth can yield the power P raise can do alone Q uit looking at the future R edeem the time at hand S tart every day with worship T o "thank" is a command U ntil we see Him coming V ictorious in the sky W e'll run the race with gratitude X alting God most high Y es, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but... Z ion waits in glory...where none are ever sad! (from holyspiritinteractive.net)

THE FOUR BLESSED LOOKS: 1. Look back and Thank God. 2. Look forward and Trust God . 3. Look around and Serve God. 4. Look within and Find God!' 'I asked God, 'How do I get the best out of life?' "Bagaimana aku mendapatkan yang terbaik dari hidup, tanyaku pada Allah?" God said, 'Face your past without regrets. Jawaban Allah, "hadapi masalalumu tanpa penyesalan." "Handle your present with confidence." "Kerjakan masasekarangmu disertai keyakinan." "Prepare for the future without fear!'' "Persiapkan untuk masadepan tanpa ketakutan." 'Without God, our week is: Sinday - hari perbuatan dosa Mournday - hari kepedihan Tearsday - hari cucuran airmata

1. Give something away (no strings attached). 2. Do a kindness (and forget it). 3. Spend a few minutes with the aged (their experience can be priceless guidance). 4. Look intently into the face of a baby (and marvel). 5. Laugh often (it is life's lubricant). 6. Give thanks (a thousand times a day is not enough). 7. Pray (or you will lose the way). 8. Work (with vim and vigor). 9. Plan as though you will live forever (because you will). 10. Live as though you will die tomorrow (because you will die on some tomorrow). In Christ abundant grace Ps. Caleb & Lusi

One day my husband and I came home really late at night and we were starving. As a nice gentleman, my husband told me to take shower while he prepared our dinner. Without any argument, I gave him the instruction on how to put our frozen dinner into the oven and then rushed into the shower. Shortly after my shower, I smelled something burning from the kitchen. I rushed into the kitchen and asked my husband, “Babe, did you smell the burning?” Looking funny, my husband told me that he burned our dinner. He told me that he saw the instruction to bake the food at 325 degree. However, he thought if he increased the heat 100 degree more the baking time would be faster. Listening to my husband's explanation, I didn’t know whether I should be angry or laugh at it. The only thing that I knew in that instant, God reminded me of “God’s timing”. In one point or another, we all have to wait; waiting for our legal status to stay in US, waiting for the job or the most common one: waiting for our p

When we offer something to God, whether it is our time, energy or money, there are two extreme of false points of view: 1. Give “whatever is available” because God is good and accept us whatever we are 2. We have to do all effort to give the perfect one for HIM Of course God loves us whatever we are, without any requirements! However do not forget that He is also A KING, who deserves more than “whatever” or “just enough”. It does not mean that we have to work all effort to become perfect so he will be pleased to our offering. It is not right if we feel that whatever we do will never be enough to make God pleased. Actually, God seek the best offering that we have. What He seeks is “your best”, not “the best”. So now what do you have in your hand? Do not give half-heartedly when you give to God. Probably it is still far from perfection, but if that is your best that you have now, do not doubt that he will be pleased to receive it In Christ abundant grace Ps. Caleb and Lusi (IFGF Tokyo)

To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey (Mat.25:15) God does not want us to fail. God wants us to be the light and salt of the world for people around us. Elbert Hubbard explained that successful people are those who try, not those who complain: those who work, not those who are idle; those who take responsibility, not those who escape from it; those who bear the burdens, not those who stand still; those who look ahead; those who give advice. Charles Kingsley said, "Successful people are those who are always cheerful and hopeful, those who do his jobs with smile on their face, those who have the same attitude when facing opportunities and difficulties." Levels of Success: 0% - I do not want 10% - I can not 20% - I do not know what to do 30% - I hope I can 40% - What’s this? 50% - I think I probably can do it 60% - I may do it 70% - I think I can 80% - I can 9

The word of God says, “where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18), a free translation of that verse will be “without a vision, people will perish.” Vision is like a dream that will drive us to the future. Now the question is “how can we be a professional dreamer?” What are the characteristics of a dearmer? 1. A dreamer finds a hope for the future. Many people do not dare to dream, especially when they face a difficult situation in their private life or nation/country. They are afraid to dream and hope. To dream is considered something useless and it is sometimes derided by other people. In fact, “To dream” is Holy Spirit language! When you read Joel 2:28-29, God’s Word wrote about people who received dreams. Do you have dreams? • What do you desire? • Where are you going? • What are you going to do? • What are your plans? 2. A dreamer trust God for his future. Proverbs 3:3-6 reminds us to trust in God with all our heart for our future. A dreamer al

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! —1 John 3:1 Some people looking for love have found help in an unusual place—a taxicab in New York City . Taxicab driver Ahmed Ibrahim loves to set up blind dates for his single passengers. His matchmaking services have been featured on the Fox News Channel, The Wall Street Journal , and NBC’s Today show. He doesn’t assist just anybody though; they have to be serious about looking to settle down with someone. Ahmed loves to help romance blossom, and he even hands out roses on Valentine’s Day. The best place to find love is not in another person but in a book, the Bible. The Bible tells of God’s great love for us. This is expressed in what my friend called the best love note she had ever received. It’s found in John 3:16. For God so lo V ed the world , That He g A ve His on L y Begott E n So N T hat

Sulawesi 2008 – Trip Report Introduction I must thank my Indonesian friends for all of the time and effort that they put in to our project, the search for and document of Rhododendron Vireya in the Minahasa Peninsula of the Island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Things, unfortunately, went bad from the very beginning of this journey. The first leg of the flight from Seattle to Indonesia , was cancelled. I lost one of my bags in the airport in Manado , our first stop in Indonesia . We were led up two mountains which our guides said were the highest in the region only for us to find that when we got to the top we could see much higher mountains right across the hill from us. I found that I was completely out of shape. I could not take the heat as I once did. I thought that I was going to collapse on the homeward legs of the first two mountains, as small as they were. Then the Indonesian department of Forestry set us up to climb the wrong third mountain, again the smaller o