In Memory Of Mary Morgan

We came to know Mary Morgan when we first attended Nottinghill Chapel. Mary Morgan was one of the few that made us welcome in the church. Every Sunday Mary would sit with us at the church service. This went on for 13 years until we left for another church. Though we have left the church, Mary continued to keep contact with us and never fail to send us a Christmas card every year. She is one kindly lady who is alway willing to help. On one occasion, when we had a friend and family migrating over from New Zealand asking for help to enroll their son in Mt. Waverley High School. The school head mistress was prepare accept my friend's son into the school provided they have a Mt. Waverley address. I asked Mary for help since she lived in Mt. Waverley. Without hesitation and without meeting my friend or his son, she agreed.
She came to Australia in 1959 with 5 children from England to start a new life. England was in recession after World War 2 and job was scare. She left her family so she could start a new life for her family. It was not an easy road but persistence, hard work and God's guidance she and her family today had a blessed life.
I guess as a migrant, she knew the hardship of settling in a new country away from the love one. She took us in and try to make our stay in this country as smooth and comfortable as possible.
Sadly Mary Morgan passed away last Sunday and today we attended the church service to celebrate Mary passing into a new life in Heaven with Jesus.


Mary, thanks for your love and care. We will always treasure this and remember you always. When our turn come we will be happy to see you welcoming us into a new home again.

Mary's favourite Bible verse:

Psalm 121 (NIV)
I lift up my eyes to the hills -
where does my help come from?
My help comes from tile LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip -
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you -
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day, I
nor the moon by night.
TIle LORD will keep you from all harm -
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Mary's favourite Hymn:

There is a Green Hill Far Away

There is a green hill far away,

Without a city wall,

Where our dear Lord was crucified

Who died to save us all

We may not know, we cannot tell,

What pains he had to bear,

But we believe it was for us

He hung and suffered there

He died that we might be forgiven,

He died to make us good,

That we might go at last to heaven,

Saved by His precious blood

There was no other good enough

To pay the price of Sin,

He only could unlock the gate

Of heaven and let us in

0 dearly, dearly has He loved!

And we must love him too,

And trust in his redeeming blood,

And try His works to do

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

I bought myself a webcam on Thursday. So I started setting it up the same night. This webcam is a clipped on camera suitable for the notebook computer and I was unable to clip it on my desk top LCD monitor.
Since I used the desktop computer more when I am at home, I was obviously disappointed that the webcam could not be clipped on to the LCD monitor. This call for necessary action to make it work.
After a few minutes cracking the brain and looking for the necessary material at hand, I came up with an idea. There was a cork from an open bottle of wine on the table. I took it and cut it down 25mm long and slot out each end approx. 10mm deep leaving a 12mm wide shank. Then I drill a hole of 6mm diameter with a 5mm depth at the base of the cork.



Got a piece of blue tack and pressed into the drilled hole of the cork and flattened the base. Then I pressed the cork with blue tack, pressed it down and stuck it to top of the LCD monitor.
I took the camera and clipped on the shank of the cork. Whoila, it worked. I am good, don't you think so? Macham MacGyver, so inventive.


The moment of truth was to test the contraption. I fired up the computer, logged into skype and rang Francis, my BIL, since he was online and tested the webcam. We chatted for over 2 hours late into the night with the webcam sitting properly on the LCD monitor. I was so happy it worked.

What happen, man?

Got an email from one of my reader inUSA.

"What happen man, lost interest in blogging ah? "

Well, no I have not lost interest. Ever since I been back to work I been inundated with work load. Orders were flooding in. It is like this every year. After the long Christmas and New Year holiday, everyone wants everything urgently.
Staring at the computer for a long 8 hours with a fatigue overworked mind, I do not want to see the computer. I just want to take it easy, relax and just slough on the couch staring at the idiot box that put you to sleep. I guess there was no mood for anything.
I was told this year the workload may double. So if you do not see me posting often, please be patience. Normal posting will resume as soon I get the time.
In the mean time, thanks for dropping by and sorry for the disappointment.

Crazy Weather

USA

Malaysia

Australia

Where is our Water, Lord?

Year 2007

It was a tiring 2006. After 17 days off from work, you would think I would be glad to get back to work. Oi, you must be dreaming. I need more time off to recover from my holidays. Sigh.

Anyway, after serious & cautious consideration.....your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2007 !

It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!!


My Wish for You in 2007

May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words ............
May 2007 be the best year of your life!!!

Williamstown

After the long drive and a long day to Shepparton, the next day we decided for a shorter trip to Williamstown. It is about half an hour drive from my place and 10 mins from the city driving over the West Gate Bridge. The town is situated at the mouth of Yarra River looking towards the Port Phillips Bay.
The place is always packed with tourist. We were here for the fish and chips, coffee, cakes, ice cream and a wee of shopping and fresh air.

Williamstown at the Bay

Stopping for Ice Cream

Town Centre

Shops in town Centre

Coffee Break and Cakes

Gift Shop

Fish and Chips eaten by hungry people while I was taking pictures

This is what my wife bought for my BIL. Ha, ha, ha.

Yarra Glen, Yea and Shepparton

* Warning: This is a long post! *

Just before the Christmas, things were rush to meet delivery before the long holiday. Off course, not all things will go smoothly as planned. And out of this something good came out of it.

In the rush of this season, one of the SIL’s staff forgot to dispatch some computer parts. Due to the urgency and being a responsible manager, she decided to drive to Shepparton the day after Boxing Day to deliver the parts. We all “Kay Po” decided to join her for this drive North West of Melbourne.

Me, being the nominated driver decided instead of taking the direct direction via Hume Highway, decided to take the country road via Melba Highway and Goulburn Valley Highway to Shepparton. This way is more scenic and have more things to see compared to the Hume Highway route.

Along the Melba Highway to Yarra Glen, there are many wineries. Most offered free sampling. So we dropped into one of the winery – Yerring Station. Since I am the nominated driver there is no drinking for me. Sob, Sob, Sob. So I browsed around while the others go wine tasting. This station is very beautiful overlooking into a vast landscape. After the others were satisfied with the tasting we headed for Yea.

As we headed into Yea, my BIL was hungry and decided to have lunch in Yea. We popped into the Royal Mail Hotel for lunch. It was a reasonable lunch ranging form $16 - $18. I had seafood basket, Maureen had fish of the day, BIL and SIL had roast pork with crackling and another SIL had roast beef.

Driving up North, we reach the town of Seymour. We drove around the town before heading for Shepparton passing Nagambie. Nagambie is well known for its lakes.

“The region is known for its water as the majestic Goulburn River is its life-blood. Fishing, water skiing PWCs, sailing, rowing and canoeing are all available in the Nagambie Lakes Region. Nagambie is home to one of Australia's premier rowing and canoeing venues and regularly hosts state and national championships as well as the famous Heads of the River. Aerial pursuits are also a feature of the region with world-class skydiving and gliding.

The regions growing reputation as a wine and food destination is attracting attention from across the country. More than sixteen cellar doors, including the award winning Mitchelton, Tahbilk, Plunketts and David Traeger wineries are within your easy reach and are complimented by a fabulous array of excellent restaurants.”

In the next holiday, I think I will like to explore this place.

Shepparton is known as the fruit growing region and is 180Km from Melbourne. Most of the stone fruits come from here.

“The City of Greater Shepparton is synonymous with great food, wine, waterways and weather. Greater Shepparton boasts a diversity of cultural, outdoor and sporting activities seldom found anywhere else.

Located only two hours north of Melbourne, the area features magnificant food and wine, glorious weather and all the attraction and activities you could imagine in a regional city.

The region has an international reputation for quality fresh and processed fruit and dairy products. The irrigation channels that criss-cross the region and the neat rows of fruit trees - bare in winter, blossoming in spring and bearing fruit in summer - provide just some of the contrasts of the region.

A number of Australia's largest food processing companies have their home in the Greater Shepparton area.

Early settlers discovered that the Goulburn and Murray Valley soils were ideal for not just stone fruit but also for the fruit of the vine, and established some of Victoria's - and Australia's - oldest and best wineries.

Many wineries can be found within an hour's drive of Shepparton, offering visitors the chance to sample an extraordinary range of excellent wines.

Restaurants abound throughout the region, offering an international taste experience to suit all palates.

Endless hours of fishing, boating, and other water activities are offered by the Goulburn, Broken and Murray Rivers and the Waranga Basin located between Tatura and Rushworth. The wetlands of the region are home to an abundance of flora and fauna and the magnificent red gums of the Barmah Forest hark back to the time when nature reigned supreme.

Visit historic towns to see the evolution of the region from the days of the early settlers to the dynamic City of Greater Shepparton of today.

Studios and galleries offer artworks for the discerning buyer and shopping in Shepparton is not to be missed.

All this can be experienced in a climate offering warm summers ideal for the outdoors and winters perfect for that indoor indulgence within an easy drive from Melbourne.”

We made a quick drop of the parts into the computer shop located centrally in the city before heading for a walk around the lake in the city.

We, then, headed for Mooroopna, a town 2Km away and visited the SPC Ardmona factory sales. Here you can find bargain for canned fruits and food. The store also stock some other goods, some are imported. We bought canned fruits, baked beans, canned tuna and sardine and many other misc. items.

At the end of the day we headed back to Melbourne and had a hearty Chinese dinner before calling it a day.