Pastor Jack’s Blog

Yesterday we went out with Eunice, and there were a few good things, and 1 bad thing about our day!! First the bad thing……

#1 bad thing about KL; We got stuck in traffic! Eunice was not that familiar with the city center, and driving us around she got stuck in this traffic jam….. it was horrible!!! Then going out of the city at about 5:00pm to the restaurant we got stuck in the traffic again… even worse! It took us almost 2 hours to drive 15K. It seems that the public transport here is not very good, so no one uses it, everyone drives…. KL traffic is not so good!!!

Now the good things about yesterday…..

#1 good thing about KL; was seeing Eunice again. Eunice came to study in Lincoln University in 2005 and started coming to our Church. She got really involved in helping us lead MOSAIC, and was a real blessing there, leading worship and helping out in many ways. She came back to KL in April this year, and is working here. I think she misses NZ!! She took us to the famous KL Chinatown on Petaling Street;

#2 good thing; then we went to see the Patronis Twin Towers, made famous by Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones in the movie “Entrapment”. These twin towers are very impressive, beautiful, specially at night, all shiny and silvery.

(These things are too high to get into one picture) There is a lovely park out the front of the towers.

#3 good thing about KL is the seafood. Eunice took us to a seafood place and we were joined by three of her friends from her Church. (From L. to R.; Bronx, Ivan and Vincent) All very nice young men, smart, handsome…. and available!!! The crab was deeeeeliiiiiciouuuuuuuuusssssss!

#4 good thing about KL.…..what better way to finish off a nice seafood meal than……. yes, you guessed it…… Durian!!! These guys new the best durian place in town! A good friend emailed me and told me not to eat too much Durian, because it makes you very “heatty”. Well I asked Eunice what the symptoms of being “heatty” are so I can watch out for it. But she was unable to tell me what heatty is, except for; yellow phlem and sore throat. If that is being “heatty” I don’t think there is too much to worry about.

Are there any other signs of being “heatty”?????

I was told that if we came to K.L. we must come to Jalan Alor, and if we came to Jalan Alor we must come to Wong Ah wah Restaurant, and if we come to Wong Ah wah Restaurant, we must try the Famous Chicken Wings! Well, last night Sai-mei took us out for dinner and we tried the Chicken Wings at Wong Ah wah …….. they were yummy!!!

it was great to catch up with Sai mei last night…. she still looks exactly the same! (How come Chinese never seem to age???) Sai-mei was part of our Cantonese Congregation from 2000-2003. Like many Malaysians she came to NZ to study and became a Christian at University in Palmerston North. After getting a Computer software job at Trimble in Chch she started coming to our Church. Sai-mei was a real blessing in our Church, she was very caring, very bubbly, and served a lot in the Church, and she still has many friends in Chch. Sai-mei left Chch and went to work in Summer Camp in the USA for a few months, then to London for a year, and is now back in K.L. working as an “IT Consultant” for a company which is part of a large German Multi-national; SAP. (Being a “Consultant” must be great…. you can charge for your consultations whatever you like!!!) Sai-mei is part of a young and growing Church here in K.L. and is busy in her work.

We had a really lovely evening with Sai-mei, made even more special by buying another Durian off the back of a truck in Jalan Alor. Oh…….. Malaysia is a wonderful place!

Mary took us out today, and one of the first places we went was here…. (I thought I was in heaven….)

Only problem is that I think my cholesteol levels are skyrocketing… going up as quickly as the NZ$ is going down! We also went up the KL Tower and here is a pic of the City. (Tomorrow we are having dinner with another old friend from CCC…… I wonder who??)

It has been a long time since we have seen Mary Wong 13 years actually! Mary came to Chch to study at Lincoln University in 1992. She was invited to our Church by Ho Yeoh-liang who was then the Student President of OCF (Overseas Christian Fellowship) at Lincoln University and a member of our Church at the time. He is now a business man back in Singapore. Mary started coming to our Church and over time came to believe and put her faith in Jesus and was baptised in our Church in 1993. Mary was such a sweet young lady, and we loved her very much, and were very sad when she returned to Malaysia in 1995. That was a long time ago and we have not seen her since, so today was a special day, we were so glad to met her again and her husband and 2 1/2 year old daughter Celine and 9 month old son Collin. We chatted about the old days at CCC and about old friends. Mary is going to take us out tomorrow to find some Malaysian Laksa!!! Yum!

After returning to Malaysia Mary worked for a Telco training their staff, then got married, and now she owns and runs an after school, school, kind of like a “bu-shi baan”, but a bit different in that they are helping children reach their creative potential and develop their academic skills. Her husband owns a cell/hand phone business. They are active in their Church, and seem very happy here in K.L. Here is another pic of their family;

Mary may not want me to show you this, but she sent it to me a few years ago and I have had it on my computer ever since, so I share it with you today. Very cute huh!!! Still very cute!

We arrived in KL yesterday afternoon. The flight on Air Asia was was better than I expected. The plane, a brand new Airbus A300 was good. But for some strange reason Air Asia do not allocate you a seat number so the passengers were like a mob of wild animals fighting for the “best” seats. I didn’t really understand what the “best’ seats were, until we arrived in KL and had to join a l-o-n-g que to get through customs. (It took almost 1 hour!!!) So the “best” seats are at the ones right beside the door so you can get in the Customs line first. While sitting on the plane we heard a familiar voice. Loud, non-stop talking, and loud laughter…. who is that? I know! Sounds just like John Ngo! Same Malaysian Mandarin accent, same volume, same high speed talking… couldn’t be?!! And no it wasn’t, it was some middle aged Malaysian guy. Pity, ‘cos John could have shown us around KL and helped us do a bit of Real Estate Investment too!!!   hahaah…

Checked out the food stalls last night…. wonderful!! (All the Malaysians back at CCC are wishing they were here too…. food, foood, food.)

First impressions of K.L. Malaysia; The thing that strikes me about this place is that it is REALLY, REALLY Multi-cultural! Far more multi-cultural than HK, Thailand, China, or Taiwan. There are heaps of whites, blacks, Arabs, Indians, Asians….. (what else is there???) Every kind of people you can imagine are right here in the center of KL. It is also very multi-lingual. Today is a public holiday; Deepavali, an Indian festival. (Wouldn’t it be great to be a Malaysian, you can have Chinese, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu holidays!!! …….. I wonder if Atheists have holidays? Maybe another good reason not to be an Atheist!!! Nothing to celebrate!)

We are going to rest a bit here in KL. Have a few old friends to catch up with, so will introduce them to you soon. Here in Starbucks Malaysia you can get all day broad-band with your coffee, not like HK… they only give you 20 minutes, and then you have to pay. Got a pre-paid SIM card this morning, can you believe it, only RM$8.50, including RM$5.00 air time. (RM$8.50 is only NZ$4.20, which is sooooo cheap! But the NZ$ is sinking fast….. so sad for us!!) It took about 4 and a half minutes to get the SIM card and get connected to the cell-phone network, cheap, efficient, and fast… wonderful!!

Tonight we met up with a few more old/young friends from CCC. Haven’t seem them for ages and it was really great to see them again.

From left to right;

Brother George Chang brought his wife and family, John, Danny and Lisa to Chch in 1989. So they were in our Church almost from the very beginning. George and his wife now live back in Kaohsiung and continue their business there. Over the years George has continued to come back to CCC to visit. George; hope you can join us for our 20th Anniversary Celebrations, first weekend in Oct next year!!

Victor Zuan… it was great to see Victor again. (Check out my blog entry a few weeks ago where I introduced Victor.)

Danny Chang became a christian, was Baptised in our Church and was in our Church for many years and in 1996 returned to Taiwan to go to Medical School. Danny has been working now as a G.P. Dr. in a large hospital here in Taipei for the past 4 years. Like all Dr.s in Taiwan he works long hours and works very hard. It was great that he was able to take a few hours off to have dinner with us. Danny is still single….  (He looks like a Dr. huh!!?)

Lisa Chang was also baptised in our church and served in our church for many years, she taught Sunday School for many years too! Lisa was her normal, joyful, lovely self tonight, and it was great to see her again! Lisa is working for a publishing company that is producing children’s books here in Taiwan. (Check out the cool pics below!!)

Cecelia came to Chch with her family when she was 15. (I won’t tell you what year that was!) Her mum; Hsu Fen-fen, big sister Loh-loh (I have forgotten what her real name is, ‘Loh-loh’ and ‘La-la’ aka. Angela Chen now in Singapore, are names taken from the popular British children’s TV programme ‘Tele-tubbies’, presumably these 2 girls liked watching Tele-tubbies…. or was it because they looked like Tele-tubies? I don’t know. Anybody out there know why these two girls are called La-la and Loh-loh?) and younger brother Nick stayed in Chch, and Dad continued his business in Taiwan, but would come to Chch from time to time. (I remember teaching him English in our Church English classes many years ago.) At first Cecelia was a bit anti-Church, but after her family members started becoming Christians, Cecelia finally received Jesus as her savior and was baptised in our Church. The family moved to Auckland about 2000 and Cecelia got a couple of Masters degrees, one in Auckland, one in Sydney, and is now back in Taipei working with a company selling computer components. (Cecelia told me that her father recently received Jesus as Lord and was baptised so now the whole family are Christian.) Cecelia was her usual happy, positive lovely self.

Yi-pei was also in Chch for ages. She came to our Church on and off, but it wasn’t till she went to Wellington to study Uni that she really came to know the Lord. Yi-pei came back to Chch, and studied at Teacher’s College and was part of our Church for those years. She worked as a teacher for a while then moved back to Taipei. After doing a 2 year course at Bread of Life Seminary, Yi-pei is now working for the Bread of Life Church here in Taipei. Her official title is “Campus Missionary” and she is part of the large youth ministry in this mega-Church. Their youth ministry has over 2,000 young people!! It was wonderful to catch up with Yi-pei again, she is still lovely and still has her beautiful smile.

Here are the pics I promised you of Lisa. Pretty cute huh!!!! (Tomorrow I give back my “USB Wireless Widget Thingie” so I will be off-line till I get organised in K.L., Malaysia early next week. Sat we go to Macao, and Sunday to K.L. So make sure you check things out here on my blog next week. See you in Malaysia!)

Back in CCC Sarah Chang always has her camera out to take photos of food. Well today, at the National Palace Museum here in Taipei, Becky and I went to the most classy restaurant we have ever been to!!! So Sarah, hope you enjoy these pictures of the dishes in the “Silks Palace”…….. because we certainly enjoyed eating them!

Barbecued Suckling Pig Combination:

Minced Prawn Wrapped with Lettuce:

Buddha Soup Tureen……….. (I asked the waitress if she had any Christian Soup, but she said no):

Pan-fried lamb Chops with Red Wine Sauce:

Cabbage Jade:

Steamed Fish Roll with Ham and Mushroom:

Fried Rice with Conopy and Egg White:

Finally…….. Milk Flan with Mango Sauce & fresh Seasonal Fruit Platter:

It was a really special meal, and a very beautiful, traditional/modern restaurant, and we were so happy to be able to have this lunch with Dr Chou, who did the operation on my eye-lid, and also Jasmine who has spent a lot of time with Becky and I showing us around and arranging so many things for us here in Taiwan.

After the Silks Palace we walked over to the stunning National Palace Museum and spent a very enjoyable few hours looking at so many ancient treasures. To see beautiful works of art from 2,000 years ago (the time of Jesus), 3,000 years ago (the time of David) and even 4,000 years ago (the time of Abraham) was very amazing.

The other day I was in Taipei and I think I saw Angela Liu. I am not completely sure, what do you think? Is it really her?

Have a closer look….

Angela is this you? If you are in Taipei, give me a call….. I just wonder who the guy is?

One of the things that is very striking in Taiwan are the scooters, or ‘mo-to che”….. they are everywhere. Last week a Pastor at Linnan Church took me for a ride on his scooter. I was a bit nervous at first, but I must admit it was kinda fun. Must have looked a bit weird to see an overweight ‘lao-wai’ on the back of a scooter zipping through Taipei city.

We are about to leave Taiwan after being here for almost 30 days. We have really enjoyed our time here. It has been much better than I expected. Here are some of the things that stick in my mind about Taiwan;

Food, food, food. Cheap, convenient, yummy, and so very, very tempting.

Public transport. It is cheap, quick, convenient, and clean. The MRT is brilliant!!

People, people, people. (Not as crowded as Hong Kong though!) We have found the Taiwanese, generally to be friendly, polite, helpful, and very hard working. But many of them look a bit stressed out.

Big Hospitals. We live near Chang Gaan hospital in Lin-kou, and go past it a couple of times every day in the bus on the way to Taipei City. This Hospital is very, very, ‘re-nau’. (I know Chinese people like ‘re-nau’ but this is crazy!) Chang Gaan is more like a train station. I cannot believe how many people go in and out of this hospital. Is it because the Taiwan Govt. fund the Health System so well, or is it because there are really so many sick people in Taiwan?

Politics. I get the impression that most people in this Country are sick of politics and politicians. Almost everyone we talked to about the Political situation was very upset with past President Chen Sui-bin. Only one, a taxi driver, thought that it was all a conspiracy created by the KMT dominated Media to make Chen Sui-bin look bad… but he was the only one. But it seems like President Ma’s political honeymoon with the public is well and truly over! He seems to get blamed for everything in this country, and most people tell me, “he is a good man, but not a good president”.

The Christians we met were very lovely people. The Church seems healthier than I had heard. Someone told me that in Taipei 10% go to church, but over the whole country it is only about 3%. The Church in Taiwan faces many challenges, but God is a BIG God, and He loves the people of Taiwan, and you get a feeling that God is at work in this place. Next week there is a big Franklin Graham Gospel Festival in the middle of Taipei. (Franklin is Billy Graham’son.) It is a very big deal, so please pray for Taiwan over the next 10 days that God will stir up His Church and many will receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Finally the thing that strikes me about Taiwan is………………..

Cram Schools….. who would want to be a student in Taiwan???????

Make sure you check out my blog tomorrow. There will be something here specially for Sarah Chang, as well as pics of a few old YAG members!!

Lisa Ma’s husband Dr. Ma is the Head of the “health check-up” at the prestigious Veteran’s General Hospital in Kaohsing, and this morning Becky and I were his guests. Back in Chch before this Sabbatical Break Brother David Zoan often encouraged us to have a health check while we were in Taiwan, but if it had not been for Wendy and Lisa’s arrangements on our behalf, we would not have done it.

We arrived at the hospital at 8:00am, not knowing what to expect. The hospital was very modern and clean. The waiting rooms had comfy lounge suits, 42″ flat panel TV screens and computers for patients to access the internet while we were waiting. (Maybe this is to keep us from imagining how big the needles are that they are going to stick into us. haha) The nurses were warm and friendly, patient and kind. One of our nurses was a Christian, and we chatted a lot. She was lovely, her name was Annie. The nurses were all very impressed that I could ‘speak Mandarin… “na-me hao”. After dressing up in the hospital gowns, we were given a “to-do list”. We had 10 tests, 10 little boxes on our to-do list to check off. Hight/weight/temp, blood pressure, blood tests, upper abdomen scan, chest x-ray, ECG, eyes, urine and ‘stoole’  and finally a consultation with Dr. Ma. (We also got a free breakfast.) It was a half day health check….. I am so glad about that… I didn’t want them to put anything ‘down’ inside me, or ‘up’ inside me.

There were about 20-30 other patients checking off their ‘to-do’ list, as well as us and Annie the nurse told me that this was a quiet day. I don’t really like to see Dr.s Dentists, or go to Hospitals, but it wasn’t too bad. So we will wait for our results in a couple of weeks, and hope we get our WOF sticker with no problem. Thank you so much Lisa and Dr. Ma. (I must tell you that Lisa offered to fix up my teeth while I was in Kaohsiung, but I politely declined… there is only one thing worse than going to see the Dr….. going to see the Dentist!)

We are back in Taipei now, after another ride on the rocket back from Kaohsiung. We will be here for just 3 more days then sadly we will leave Taiwan for Macao on Sat. and Malaysia, KL, on Sunday.

Thanks to all those who are reading my blog, it is quite encouraging. Yesterday was a record for hits on this blog for 1 day; 170 people. Keep checking on my blog regularly…. I have lots more interesting stuff and photos to share with you all.

Here in Kaohsiung we have been staying in a 5 star homestay with Dr. Chang and Wendy and their son Charles. Wendy and Charles were in our Church from 1997 to 2001. Dr. Chang continued to work in Taiwan and would come to visit from time to time.

Wendy was invited to our Church by Joseph and Susan Chang who worked for an Immigration company which helped Wendy immigrate. (Joseph is now a Pastor in Melbourne.) She started coming to our Church because life in Chch was a bit quiet, (you know… nothing to do…) and so that young Charles could find some friends. She was a sincere Buddhist, and in the beginning would not come into the Sunday Worship service, instead she sat at the back of the Sunday School reading her Buddhist Scriptures. But slowly, gradually, Wendy became more and more open to the Gospel and after a few months was Baptised in our Church. (It is a long story so if you meet Wendy you can ask her to tell you.) Wendy joined the Home Group that Becky and I led and we got to know her really well. Wendy has the spiritual gift of teaching… as well as other gifts, and after returning to Kaohsiung she got a Masters Degree in counselling from the Theological College here. She is a member of the Bread of Life Church and leads a Home Group in her home. Wendy has been a wonderful hostess to Becky and I, very warm, and very joyful.

Charles was a lot of fun when he was in our Church, very talkative, and a little ‘tiao-pi’. All the Sunday School teachers will remember him well!! Meeting him again now as an 18 year old has been great. He is a warm, friendly, confident ,nice young man. He is in High School, and is also involved in the Bread of Life Church. He plays the guitar well and sings really nicely, and is a really clever well balanced young man.

Dr. Chang is a specialist Dr here in the area of Hyper-baric Medicine, and he has been working in the Navel General Hospital for the past 26 years since he graduated from Medical School. We have really appreciated his kindness in hosting us, in his beautiful home.

I must tell you about their home. Next, next door they have a very famous neighbor; guess who?

Chen Sui-bin the ex President of Taiwan.!!! (No one is more loved AND more hated in Taiwan than Chen Sui-bin.) Guess what number his house is???? Here is a photo of the front door of his building; (Charles wondered where all that gold on the doors had come from…..haha)

This is a view from the top of Wendy’s building;

Tonight we went to Gaang-saan (half an hour from Kaohsiung) to see more friends there. Here in Wang Lao-shi’s living room you will see; Eric Wang’s parents Spencer Wang (Wang Lao-shi) and his wife Liao Lao-shi. Wang Lao-shi and his wife have been part of our Church for many years, but not always in Chch. Wang lao-shi led our Cantonese Congregation Choir for a couple of years, and they all miss him very much.  His elderly mother is not well, and they are taking care of her now. You will also see Amber’s parents Mr. and Mrs. Hsu and Amber’s Grandfather. They wee in Chch for Amber and Adrian’s wedding a few years ago. You will also see Su Lao-shi and her daughter Candy.

Here is Su Lao-shi, Candy and son William. (Older sister Cindy who is doing her masters degree was in class, so could not join us for the lovely dinner.) William (Bill) is now working as an apprentice technician for an orthodontist. Candy has not been so well but looked really good tonight. She is taking a break from school, but will be back into her studies soon. Su Lao-shi is a teacher here in Taiwan. Su Lao-shi and her husband moved their family to NZ in about 1997. Su lao-shi was not always in Chch as she continued her work in Taiwan, but all the Children went to school in NZ and they and their father were part of our Church. Sadly her husband got very ill and passed away in 2001. Su Lao-shi then moved her family back to Taiwan, but she has kept in very close contact with our Church. (She is Amber’s Auntie.) When our Church was building and decorating our new Church Building, Su Lao-shi was a tremendous help, she was our “purchasing agent” here in Taiwan. She helped us get so many things we needed for our new building, spending a lot of time and energy to help, as well as being very generous to our Church. We shipped all her purchases over in a container. So next time in our Church you hold a bowl or chopsticks in your hands, remember Su lao-shi and her family.

We had a very lovely Japanese dinner, but there was one dish……… well I have never seen it before. Su Lau-shi said it had been brought in from Africa……….. do you believe that?

Have a look; A “Black Boned Chicken”. Yum!!!!