The Wisdom about Fishes

But Jesus fed not just our physical bodies but also empowers us to fulfil His Great Commission. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Photos: Above – fishes at Sapi Island, Below – fishes at Manukan Island

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Confusus

Mighty Mountains

Above: Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

Below: Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

~~~~

P/S: This is a thought about the 2 mountains that I have seen recently.

Sunset

Psalm 113:3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.

Photo taken on 6th July 2008 at Tanjung Aru Beach, Kota Kinabalu where many local people are enjoying the splendid colour of sunset together in harmony.

A day in Manila

3^rd July 2008

Weather: 32C, cloudy, humid with occasionally sunshine

This is our 2^nd day in Manila, we slept so well the night before and by the time we woke up, it is already past 10am. Feeling a bit more energized and adventurous, we decided to walked to another malls within Ortigas area i.e. the Podium and the SM malls. SM malls are huge and covering 2 big buildings which is a bit overwhelming and made us feel lost in the mall. The brands are primarily the same but this place is definitely lack of charm but huge in size. We didn't spent very long here but head back to the hotel with a coffee pause at Starbucks located at the Podium.

Makati City

Having enough of Ortigas, we took a cab to Makati ciity which is may be 5 to 8 km away from Ortigas. The taxi ride experience was okay, not as scary as what described in lonely planet or hotel warning. Makati is a new blooming commercial and financial centers where most of the five stars hotels are located here. This is definitely a better part of Manila where again boasts of more shopping malls. We walked around the Greenbelt square which is like an oasis in the midst of the concrete jungle. In the center of the park,, there is a church and surrounding the church is a man-made ponds, plenty of leafy greens and fauna. The 5 Greenbelt shopping malls are evolving around the park. We spent most of the time walking at the park than actually going inside the malls (we already had enough!!). The place and concept reminded us very much of Florida, Miami. Partly due to the humidity of the weather, but mostly is due to the merchandised brands are predominately from the USA. Banana Republic, Bubba Shrimps, Guess, Nine West, outdoor cafe concept etc you name it, they most likely have an outlet here.

Mabuhay Manila

2^nd July 2008

Weather: 32C, cloudy, humid and drizzling

After slightly over 12 hours we finally arrived at Manila International airport (including a missed landing). The flight was almost full but passengers were quite polite. I watched August Rush, Atonement, Charlie Wilson's war, Linger (Cantonese movie), Micheal Clayton, Match Point and etc. The immigration and custom were quite welcome. We were greeted by the pick up driver and directly transferred to the hotel. The view along the ride were quite depressing, even though I already kind of expecting it, perhaps the recent after typhoon effect worsen the city view and the cleaning up is definitely still in process. This is particularly clear at the slums nearby the airport.

Once checked in to the hotel, the Lord blessed us with an upgrade to a suite. We slept for hours as soon as we saw the bed, although the original intention was for a quick nap, the jet lag is definitely after us.

We spent the rest of the evening checking out Galleria Robinson which is a relatively small (big to western standard but small compared to other shopping malls in Manila) and discovered that things are really cheap here.