Mackerel fish paste

You don't learn this in school...😝

I've seen my mom making mackerel fish paste and I told myself that I am not gonna do this in my life. It was simply too messy and too "complicated" for a simple person like me. I could buy it from the market with just RM14 a pack. 

Although the fish paste from the market smelled fishy and tasted fishy, I had no choice but to continue buying from the fishmonger. 

Last month my sister in law gave me two fish...I had no inkling what type of fish was that. So I had the first one steamed. And it ended up that the whole family had a VERY VERY frustrating dinner because the fish was full of tiny little bones and it was such a hazard to feed the fish to the little one. 

In frustration, my husband said, give the other one to Hooi Thiam please. I asked my sister in Christ, Hooi Thiam, and she asked me, "Is it 'sai-tou' fish? It is a very delicious fish if you make it into fish balls."

Then she started to teach me how to un-flesh the fish and so on... Following her instructions, I tried for the first time in my life to make fish paste. It wasn't good but at least we had a good dinner without bones.

Being one that didn't want to give up, I bought mackerel fish and tried again. The second time ended up bad as well because I added too much of water. I called up my friend and asked her some more - wishing to pick up on details which I had missed previously. 

And today, I bought mackerel again. I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP! 💪💪

And TA-DA!!! This is the first successful mackerel fish paste and there will gonna be more and more and more by God's grace...🙏😊

I have to give special thanks to my sis in Christ who is always ready to teach me something I never learned in the school. And I can't praise the Lord enough to let me have a friend like her so that I can taste the love of Christ and smell the fragrance of Him. 🌈

Zipper bags

Phew! Finally... I've completed two zipper bags to be used as busy bags for my son. ✌️

I wanted to save some money from buying. But I used almost 1 and a half hour from cutting the fabric to sewing. Is it worth the time? 

Fun & Cheer is selling bags this size for RM2-3 each only. 

😣 feeling confused

Laugh again, hope again

When someone asks you, "How are you?", what would you say? Most often than not, we would say, "I am fine, thank you." And that's what we taught our kids too. 

As I was reading the book, "Laugh Again, hope again", I was exhilarated. Yes, I definitely need this booster. 

Human is so superficial nowadays. We asked questions but we didn't really want to listen to the answers. Everyone is so busy. We would "touch & go" on a subject rather than having a lengthy talk about it. And even when we opened up, we may retreat when we sense that the other person may not like what we are saying. 

According to John Powell's "Why am I afraid to tell you who I am?", there are five levels of communication which are presented in a concentric circles, from the most shallow (outer circle) to the deepest (smallest circle at the core). 

Level 5, the outer circle and the most basic one is called cliche conversation. Eg. How are you? 

Level 4: report facts. There is no personal, self-revelatory commentary. Eg. Little tales about others 

Level 3: ideas and judgment. May retreat if the listener raise an eyebrows or yawn. 

Level 2: feelings. 

Level 1: absolute honesty and openness (usually between spouses)

We rarely reach level 2. And to be exact, we may not even be able to stay in level 3. That's a pity. We rarely open up our feelings and be authentic! If we are open, we fear we will get hurt. So we rather closed up. 

We fear to be too authentic. We fear to reveal our weaknesses because we don't know what would the other person think of us. We don't want others to think less of us. 

Worries, stress and fear steal our joy away! 

It's so true. I was always worrying what the other person might think of me. Would she think I'm crazy? Would she think I am incapable of handling a task because I'm depressed? If not, why is she distancing herself? Why did she say what she said? Shouldn't friends be authentic to each other, without hiding any feelings? 

Well, I've been worrying too much. Why should I put my joy in the hands of others? Why did I put my joy solely by looking and keep rehearsing the expressions of a friend (keep yawning😵😵) in my mind? Ok. I guess she's being authentic by not hiding herself under the table to yawn. 😬

That's enough. 

Joy here I come! 🌈 praise the Lord for there's rainbow after the rain.