THE BEST SAMURAI

SORRY, HAD BEEN SWATTING TOO MANY FLIES LATELY, BUT THIS JOKE I JUST COULDN'T RESIST.... Way back in the time of the samurai, there was a powerful emperor. This emperor needed a new head samurai. So, he sent out a message to everybody he knew for them to send a message to who they knew, and so forth.

A year passes, and only three people show up: a Japanese samurai, a Chinese samurai, and a Jewish samurai. The emperor asks the Japanese samurai to come in and demonstrate why he should be head samurai. The Japanese samurai opens up a matchbox, and out pops a little fly. WHOOOOOSH. The fly drops dead on the ground in 2 pieces! The emperor says, "That is very impressive!"

Then the emperor asks the Chinese samurai to come in and demonstrate why he should be head samurai. The Chinese samurai opens up a matchbox and out pops a little fly. WHOOOOOOSH. WOOOOOOOSH. The fly drops dead on the ground in 4 pieces! The emperor says, "That is really impressive!" Then the emperor asks the Jewish samurai to come in and demonstrate why he should be head samurai. The Jewish samurai thinks, "If it works for the other two..." So the Jewish samurai walks in, opens a matchbox, and out pops a little fly. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHH. A gust of wind fills the room, but the fly is still buzzing around. The emperor says in disappointment, "Why is the fly not dead?" And the Jewish samurai replies, "If you look closely, you'll see that the fly has been circumcised."

"FRUITY-FULLNESS"

After church on Sun afternoon, just didn't feel like cooking, but there were lots of fruits in the house. So we decided to have a healthy fruity platter for lunch...

CELEBRATION SUNDAY

Went to church this morning and was surprised to find no chairs... they were all pushed back to the walls because it was celebration Sunday today, and everyone was kicking off their shoes and getting ready to celebrate. Destiny church has been running a 40-days of Destiny program since January and today was the end of that 40 days. It was also in commemoration of Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem with a donkey and the Hebrews waved palm leaves welcoming the King into the city. There were no palm leaves today however, but lots of other things including shofars, flags, streamers and sparkling apple juice for a welcome drink. Kick back and break out of comfort zone time.. perhaps it took some getting used to for some, especially the older folks for church done in an unconventional way like this but I love it... There was a festive celebration mood and Jordie was surprised even to hear "Celebration" song being played - the secular version. I told him the lyrics fit into the mood for today.

Praise session kicked off with a very lively "Conga" south american beat version of "As the spirit of the Lord moves in my heart." They sang it in French and Hispanic as well. The South Africans couldn't translate on the spot, haha... They had put in another set of electric drums and it enhanced the celebration sounds. Certainly today defies the opinion that church does not 'rock' on the Gold Coast. But it was a festive & praise kinda 'rock' which declared God's goodness that was pleasing, and not just for self-enjoyment.

At the end of worship, shofars were brought to the front and blown in declaration of God's victory over our lives. The shofar is considered an ancient and sacred Jewish instrument made of ram's horn, blown to call assembly or people, to signal sacrifice or to panic the enemy in battle. . Not many can blow it, in fact- not just anybody should blow it. Feel most at home here at Destiny. Their credo, beliefs and stand for God is incredibly forward and radical for an Australian church. The strange thing is that for just plain ole me, this all just plain sits right.....

LAUREL & HARDY

Just couldn't help taking this shot seeing how close the boys get over a star wars comic book.. Jordie with his neighbourhood buddy... b;cos it reminded me of this famous cute pair... LAUREL & HARDY

BYRON BAY

Went for a drive on Saturday to Byron Bay in NSW. We heard it had breathtaking sceneries at Cape Byron and wanted to take a look at the 'eastern most point of mainland Australia'. So, we packed lunch and headed off in the morning, hoping perhaps to catch the farmer's market there as well. It is a pleasant one hour's drive from Gold Coast to Byron Bay but alas, we were kinda late to make it there, since Byron Bay is in New South Wales and therefore an hour ahead of Queensland. The market closes at 11am- there are a few there, in Bangalow as well as Mullumbimby. Plus, it was unfamiliar territory so we took some time finding our way around. Well, I must confess, we left with no maps on our hands with the intention of getting some info at the information centre when we stopped by the town centre.

Anyway, we decided that the lighthouse and Cape Byron was a better 1st stop, so we parked downhill (to avoid paying for parking uphill: $7!!) and walked up to the lighthouse at the top of the hill. Good exercise, definitely...There are steps leading the track down to the eastern most point from the lighthouse, so we could catch a scenic view of the waves crashing upon the rocks below.

Beautiful place, and we even saw an outdoor wedding being held there. Romantic venue to get married for sure, that is if the wind isn't too strong to lift off the tablecloths or mess up hairdos ... We walked right till the end of the track where it was officially the eastern most point of mainland Australia.. gotta have this "been there done that" badge, rite??

Cape Byron was named after Lord Byron the famous English poet's granddad, (don't ask me why his grandad and not him. Ask James Cooke) and the lighthouse built in 1901 still functions till this day, guiding ships away from the rocks. The place: Byron Bay was originally known as Cavvanbah by the indigenous people here who are the Arakwal tribe- a subtribe of the Bunjalong people. The name Cavvanbah means 'meeting place'. Today, the Arakwal people are the official custodians of the area. They take care of the parks & the aboriginal reserves of the place and participate actively in decision-making for natural resources here.

 

Cape Byron has been cited as the spiritual 'east gate' of Australia and not surprisingly, Byron Bay has drawn a lot of spiritual-related activities here, including new age, yoga and stuff.. It's very hippy and well-known as a physical hub for spiritual guides and alternative healing and for tolerance towards different religions and lifestyles. There's hooroos for gurus with psychics and astrologists, yoga, pilates and tai chi, day spas, crystals, body care, massage therapy, naturopathy, homeopathy and aromatherapy for relaxation and healing. There are also strong communities of both major and minority mainstream religions and dedicated devotees to the more eclectic spiritual sects. Eccentric place and rather quirky in its own style. You will see many leisure and health-related shops in the town area.

There was this shop with the amusing name of Happy High Herbs. I will leave you to your own imagination what it possibly sells.....

On the way back, we also took at peek at the Macadamia Castle, right beside the M1 highway hoping to see perhaps some factory for producing those nuts and peek at how they might roast those nice wasabe-flavoured macadamias.. ahh let down.. just a shop cum cafe with some playground for kids and a few nut-crackers for free nut sampling. Macadamia ice-cream is divine, though...but not a hit with us. No kick this place...

EPISODE 42: NEW ROLE, NEW RESPONSIBILITIES

So, yes, finally Jordie did get the position. He was so happy to get voted in.

He and another girl will represent the class for student council. ..And we were glad that he was popular with classmates enough to get voted in. New job, new responsibilities...but we are proud of him.

EPISODE 41: RUNNING FOR STUDENT COUNCIL

Jordie comes home today to tell us he is running for student council. I am amazed they actually get the kids to vote in their class rep for student council. Each candidate is supposed to stand in front of the class to give his or her reason why they think they should be voted. Well, good shot at instilling some democracy in children, I guess... He seemed very eager to try and confident about himself and asked us to help him to prepare his 'electoral' speech.. So this, perhaps, is the beginning of his political ambition..haha...

"OM... WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE.."

NERANG is the wrong 'cultural' place for a 15m-high Thai Buddhist temple, say some Gold Coast councillors who asked if Buddhism was even a religion. Councillors were alarmed by the proposed design which features a traditional steep-pitched roof. Nerang councillor Peter Young, a devout Christian, led opposition to the proposal, one year after he opposed the Gold Coast's first Muslim school in Carrara. Cr Young said the Thai temple would become a regional Buddhism centre that could draw as many as 5000 people to major events, although the applicant expects a maximum of 300.

"I'd say it's culturally relevant in a Buddhist community, it's not culturally relevant in Nerang," he said. "What hasn't been taken into account is the cultural elements of the Nerang community." Cr Susie Douglas said the temple would make people believe Nerang may be a Buddhist community. "Is Buddhism actually a religion or is it a way of life?" she said. "It's going to become such a landmark and it will influence the way people think about the area, in that it will become a Buddhist community.This is a massive building ... to have this in the next-door paddock is beyond belief, this was never envisaged in this area."

Cr Young will move at Monday's council meeting to defer a decision on the development application to allow negotiations to reduce the height of the proposed building. The temple would be built at 133-137 Beaudesert-Nerang Road and five monks would live on the site. An enterprise named Wat Sangharatanaram Inc lodged the application at the council's request after operating at the address without a permit since 2005. Wat Sangharatanaram treasurer Robert Fraser said temple roofs were traditionally tall to remind worshippers to show reverence. He said the building would be set back and concealed by trees. "Anybody that's travelled to Thailand would understand that this is a symbol of Thai Buddhism and we would like people to recognise that," he said.