The Future Model

This is my 4 year old niece. She's a model wannabe and I think she really has a great future in this career. :) As you can see, she's a natural 'poser' and knows how to project with her facial expression. So cute huh?

I could just imagine her being one of the models for Gap, Levi's or Burberry. Hehehe!! Or maybe some beauty products. And speaking of beauty products, I need to read an article on therapores reviews the now.

Staying In My Bro's House

I praise God for his great favor and provision. My Mom, my daughter and I are here in my brother's house now. We never thought that we could visit my brother and we are so happy that God made this possible.

Even if our visit is just going to be short but we are thankful for the privilege to see them and experience how it is to be in the country where they are working. Oh, I've had some culture shocks on the first day I set foot in the country but I will have to share those later.

The weather is cold here and it makes me want to eat a lot. So, I really have to think of dieting and read some cleansonix reviews when I get back home. ;) I'll have to share more about our trip later.

Intermission: Detox

I think I will need to have some kind of detox when I get back home. I've been eating a lot lately and not everything I've taken in are the most nutritious and healthy food. I'm on the lookout for the best detox when I came upon opiate detox. Only to find out that this detox is a different kind, not the one I'm looking for.

Fun Times with Family and Friends

My sis family and friends who came for a visit already left to the Philippines last Friday. They stayed in our house for more than a week and I would say that I enjoyed that week so much.

I think I have really missed the Filipino kind of fellowship in which jokes are cracked and we will be laughing so hard until our jaw aches. I’m sure our neighbors would have been surprised why our house is filled with roaring laughter for a few nights. But I’m sure it would be okay for them because seldom we would have guests in our house and very seldom our house is noisy.

Anyways, I thank God for family, friends and laughter. These really refresh and renew the soul.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

I have always been wondering what Black Friday was all about. I initially thought that this is the Friday during the Holy week. But when I checked it's actually the Friday after Thanksgiving when there's a countrywide sale in the US and other countries.

Then came Cyber Monday. This is now a worldwide sale online the Monday after Thanksgiving Day. Hmm.. so much of sale going on huh.. But I'm already contented buying some stuff from the 'after flood' sale in Hat Yai.

Putting the Star

While we were preparing our house for our family's arrival, we thought of putting our Christmas decorations too. Our li'l girl got so excited that she couldn't wait for us to set up the Christmas tree. Even if it was already so late, we just allowed her to stay up and help us decorate our house. But then, we asked her to leave the 'star' and let her brother put it up on our tiny tree. Lyle was already sleeping during the time we were decorating and so, we left the star for him to put so, at least he will have a part in the decoration.

But while we were finishing up, Lyle woke up and he got so excited to see the Christmas decorations. So, we let him put the star on the tree and he was so happy! He ended up dancing and singing his own song " Christmas Tree! Christmas Tree! Christmas Tree!" after putting the star. We just let him dance for awhile ( for him to start burning belly fat .. LOL!) and then put him back to sleep after his excitement waned.

So, that's the story of our early Christmas decors. I'm also planning to start the Christmas countdown on the first of December and also read them the Christmas story daily.

Fun and Busy Week

It's just now that I realized that it has been a week since my last post here. Well, I've been having a fun and busy week with our family and friends here in the city. So, that explains my absence from the blog world and even the internet world. And who would want to be glued to the internet when the 'real' people are already there in front of you to chat with "live"!

Oh, it has been really fun and I can't count how many times I've been giggling and laughing over many 'Filipino jokes' told by our Filipino 'guests'. Just this tonight we all went out for roti and tea and I guess, we were the nosiest in the shop. But it's good that the shop also had music playing over so, our laughter were 'muted' by the music.

Praise God for provision and for family who can regularly visit us here. Just a few months ago, my brother's family came and now my MOm and sister's family are here. We're really blessed with all their visits.

Okay, I better go now..it's already quite late and I'm so sleepy now that I could go to sleep even without natural sleep pills .

Intermission: Online Reputation Management Quote

This is a post sponsored by www.reputationmanagers.com

Online Reputation Management is a term that's quite new to me. I never knew that a service like this exists. As far as I understand this service has a task to make your online reputation the way you like it to be. I'm sure everyone would want to have a good reputation, right? So, a service such as this would enhance your online reputation. It's more like protecting your online reputation. I'm sure that a most politicians who are campaigning would want to avail of this service and have received their online reputation management quote . Celebrities too get a lot of negative press that are mostly not true and are just made up by other people. So, with this service, one will get to protect its reputation online which would naturally happen in the real world too. Like for example, if we search for someone or a company online, both negative and positive press would appear in the search engines. With this service, they have the control to what kind of press would appear as you search for a person, a company or an establishment.

So, if you want your company's positive ratings, reviews and feedback to shine, then better get an online reputation management quote . You might also want to try out and see your own online reputation management quote from reputationmanagers.com.

Friends And Indian Meals

Thank God for friends, family and leaders who are very thoughtful and concern for everyone of us here. Many of our friends have been praying, calling and giving us encouragement during the time of the flood. Right after hearing the news, one of our leaders even immediately flew from Malaysia to our city and came to give us encouragement, moral support and assistance for the Center. We were so blessed by his presence and one of the sweetest gestures that he did was he cooked chicken curry and shrimp sambal that same day he left Malaysia and brought them to us. And wow, the curry and sambal that he cooked was just amazingly delicious!! So, our team has been enjoying Indian food for 2 days now. We are treating these curry and sambal like gold bullions since they're really so precious with the hope that they could last for many meals. They're just so delicious that we would want to eat them everyday for a week!!

And by the way, as I mentioned gold bullion, I remember that I saw in the news about the buying value of gold has gone down. So, if you want to invest in gold, there's no better time to buy than now.

Why Is It Flooding?

" Why is it flooding?", " Why is our houses flooded?". These have been my li'l boy's set of "why" questions during the 2 days flood in the house. I just couldn't count how many times he asked those questions. I guess, he was just too 'amazed' of the flood and seemed like he just couldn't believe what he is seeing like the streets are filled with water and there's water inside our house. Everytime he asks why, I mechanically explain to him why and ask him to pray for the flood to stop.

And right after the water has subsided, he was the one who would always say, ' there's no more flood!". Even a day after the incident while walking on the streets, he suddenly exclaimed, "There's no more flood!" Yes.. Praise the Lord!

Excited for Thai School

Oppsss.. I guess someone will be sad tomorrow.

Our li'l girl has been very excited to go back to her local Thai school but because of the rain last Monday ( which was supposed to be the 1st day of school for the second semester) classes has been canceled. And then, a few days ago, we saw a sign at the gate of her school which announces that classes were to resume tomorrow.

So. today we already prepared all her uniform and school stuff. And even let her sleep early. But then, I just found out ( a few minutes ago) that classes have been postponed and will only resume on the 11th.

So, that will be another few days wait again for our li'l girl.

The Needs Of Many People

My Hubby is having a meeting right now with other friends who have the heart to help out the people most affected in the flood. In the area where they do the football training every Saturday, the water reached almost 2 meters there with most houses are only a single story houses. I don't know where they evacuated during the flood but one thing I'm sure is that they must have lost everything they own as they don't have a second floor to put their things up. :( Our hearts goes out with these people and it's our prayer that they will be able to see God even in this situation.

On another side, we went to checked the exchange rate a couple of days ago and found out the the shops here are giving very low exchange rates for Malaysian Ringgit. Just last week, the rate was 9.60 Baht for every 10.00 Malaysian Ringgit. We even felt that is already very low since it used to be 1:10 a couple of years back. But now, the rate has dropped further because of the flood with only 8.60 Baht per 10 RM. I guess, I would understand now why most investors would rather invest in gold coins rather than paper money.

The Flooded City Center in Hat Yai

My friend posted the following photos in her Facebook page and I was surprised to see that the water level in the city center has really reached so high. Yes, I've heard that the water has reached until 2-3 meters there, but it's still shocking to see the photos.

When we checked to see the city center the other day, it was really a mess with all the debris from the flood on the street. But the city mayor, civil servants and students has just done a clean up while the shops that got affected tried to sell all there wet and damaged goods at a very low price. Many of the shop owners lost almost everything with their point of purchase displays being badly damaged too. But they would rather earn a bit by selling the items at a very cheap price and earn some cash rather than throwing them away. So, the city was packed with people buying all the shirts, watches, shoes and bags only at 30-10% from the original price.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them. Pakpasis will be asked to approve all tags before others can see them.

Hat Yai Flood Photos

Here are a few of the photos that my Hubby took during the flood on the 2nd of November this year. Our area wasn't the most affected area since it only reached until the waist level, but some areas have the flood water as high as 2-3 meters high.

During the time of the flood, I can't help but pray and think about the people who are living in one story houses. The current of the flood waters were really strong and one can see the people struggling to walk straight in the water. Praise God that most of the people in Hat Yai have been safe during the flood. And it's our prayer that those people who have been badly affected will be able to recover soon.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

And here is my friend's photo of the flood on her area. The water almost reached the 2nd floor. But thank God she's safe.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

More Precious...

Solomon is one of the richest men ever record in the Bible. When he became King, God has blessed him with riches, wisdom, and honor. Every desire was met and all that he owned was beyond compare. But despite his richness he felt that everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Why do you think so?

In today’s times a lot of people are collecting precious metals, gold coins, and bullion as a form of investment. Men are truly fascinated with the beauty of gold, silver and other precious metals and it has always been related to changing the lives of many people.

King David said, “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver (Psalm 119:72). He also said, “Therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! (Psalm 199:127).

Now you know what King Solomon truly wanted in his life.

Thank You Lord!

I just want to thank God today for all that He has done in our lives. We thank Him for his divine protection and provision in our lives. Thank you Lord for giving us friends who gives us encouragement. Thank you Lord for relatives and friends who never fails to pray for us.

A Shelter from the Storm

I am thankful to God that the flood here in Thailand has finally come to an end. I am thankful for all the people who prayed for us. I am thankful for my family and friend’s safety. Some families in the other parts of the city have been greatly affected and some of them have no place to stay for the mean time because there house was flooded.

While writing about my flood experience here in Hatyai, I can’t help but be reminded of my flood experience in the Philippines. During those times, we don’t have a place to stay because our house was totally flooded. But God is a God who provides. One of my cousins, offered us to stay in her house as long as we want. Some of our neighbors who were also affected settled on built in tarps and canopies. In most affected barangays, blue poly tarps were put up just to accommodate those people who needed a place to stay.

It was a frightening experience especially for my daughter, but God allowed us to trust in Him for He is in control of the situation. This flood in Hatyai is nothing new to me because I have proven before that God is indeed in control of these situations in our life.

Hatyai Flood Short Update

For friends and family who prayed..thank you so much for your prayers! We are all safe now.. water only reached until waist level inside our house... we still don't have running water (3rd day) and internet connection in our house..please continue to pray for those families who are most affected in the city..the water reached to 2-3 meters in some parts of the city.

Intermission: The Good Patient

We went to the dentist yesterday for our daughter's 'last' dental appointment. They sealed her teeth and put fillings on her upper teeth too. While we were waiting at the reception hall, we hardly recognized her dentist because she was wearing medical scrub pants with her doctor uniform. She usually wears a dress inside her long lab coat. But yesterday was different. It must be because of the heavy rain which made her dressed more casually.

Anyways, my daughter really likes her dentist and would be observing her every move. And since this dental clinic is child friendly, they also give out 'rewards' for the kids after each procedure. So, yesterday, Tricia got a mini 'barbie' doll and her doctor praised her for being such a brave and good patient. Thank God for that!

The 'reward'

Thank God For Safety

There is a major flood in the city of Hat Yai now. But I consider it as a miracle that our house is not flooded. You see, our drainage in our neighborhood has some problems and even on the summer heat, it'll be full halfway. A heavy downpour for at least two hours will fill the drain so fast and that same water would enter our kitchen and sometimes dining area. We've experienced this a lot of times already.

But guess what, just last Saturday, some workers from the municipal came to clean up our drainage. They took out all the things that got stuck the drain water has really lowered. Then came the heavy downpour since yesterday. It rained non-stop and that caused the flood in most parts of the city. But miraculously, our neighborhood was spared and our drain didn't get full. Praise God!

Still our hearts are with most of the people here in the South. We're praying continuously that the rain would come to a complete stop. It's not raining now as I'm typing this post and I praise God for that. Thank You Lord for keeping us safe and answering our prayers!