Inspirational

Dr. Randy Pausch是一位有名的教授，他卻得癌。两天前，我們從電視得知 Randy Pausch 已於上星期去世。Steve覺得很可惜，Dr. Pausch是個很激勵的人。幾個月前，我們買了他的著作＜The Last Lecture＞，我還没閱完，我實在很慢閱英文書。

Dr. Randy Pausch, a famous professor who had cancer. We found out from the TV two days ago about his death last week. Steve felt sad when knew he was gone, as Dr. Pausch was a very inspirational person. We bought his book ‘The Last Lecture’ months ago, but I still haven’t finished reading it. I am too slow reading English books.

Evidence

我的好友（中文書寫器）惨遭肢解… 誰是謀害者？你看這家伙（吸塵機）！這証据是足夠讓警方逮捕的！

我的丈夫將設法開刀救治我的好友… :-(
My good friend (a Chinese writing pad) was dismembered…. Who was the murderer? You see this guy (vacuum)! It should be enough proof to get caught by the police!

My husband is going to do surgery to try to save my good friend... :-(

P.S. 最近被馬來西亞的警方案件及政治人物影響太深了！Recently, I am impressed by the cases of Malaysian politicians and police.

Sweet potato balls

少年時，我常去菜市場帮忙父親及三哥的生意，有一陣，我們攤口對面有一攤炸番薯蛋（通常是用黃番薯），我喜愛番薯，故常買來吃。你曾吃過嗎？后來這類小食很少見到…

我在店内買了整包庄的红番薯，有這麼多番薯，不如就炸番薯蛋啦。

When I was a teenager, I often went to help my dad and brother’s business at the wet market. Sometimes, the stall opposite ours was selling fried sweet potato balls (usually they used the yellow type of sweet potato). It is one of my favorite snacks and I often bought some. Have you ever eaten sweet potato balls? Later, I rarely found this snack stall…

I bought a bag of sweet potatoes (red type), so why not try to make some fried sweet potato balls.

Retreat

夏天的花園、水池到處有花茂出來，特大的芙蓉花。我們參加其中一天的禪修營，继如法師特從閉關期出來給佛法講座，這是他閉關的住所。午休時，他出來到池邊，不知他是賞蓮還是遙望觀音？我們聽說開始是他自己遊下池種蓮，我們没看到他之前的艱難，卻享受欣賞到如今中美佛教會的美景。

In the summer, the garden and pond sure have a lot of flowers blooming. What big hibiscus flowers. We joined one day of a meditation retreat and Venerable Jiru was still in his silent retreat for two years, but he came out to give us a Dharma talk. This trailer is his place for silent retreat. He came out to the lotus pond after lunch for a little while. Does he see lotus or look at ‘Kuan Yin’? We heard that he swam to the bottom of the pond to plant the lotus himself. We didn’t see how difficult it was for him to do all the hard work to establish & build this temple; however, we enjoy seeing this beautiful scenery at Mid-America Buddhist Association now.

Long episode novel

我以前曾一度沉迷閱讀借來的武俠小說，也曾有每日追看一小段續篇載於報章上的。嗯…那些江湖人物被作者刻畫得多麼生動，情節弔詭、撲朔迷離，人心險惡、復雜。人物中不泛…有人笑裡藏刀、借刀殺人，讓你恨得咬牙切齒的‘臭人’。當然也有人肝膽相照、俠義清廉，讓你爱慕的英雄好漢、俠女。更有為了爭奮最高地位的明爭暗鬥而使出種種絕招，不過通常结局是邪不勝正！红透半邊天的小說作者﹕金庸，令我很佩服他的文才創思！

我最近常追看馬來西亞政治的‘長篇小說’（新聞）。啊…情節弔詭、撲朔迷離，那些政治人物就有如小說中的… 至今我還端瞄不出那一個正、那一個邪！嘿…誰是作者？

A long time ago, I used to be fascinated with stories about ancient Chinese people with martial arts, and would borrow and read the novels. I would also read the episodes of a novel that were printed in the newspaper everyday for a while. Mmm…those novels’ characters were so lively, as described by the author, with weird, confusing, dangerous, complicated, mysterious plots. Some characters … “hide a dagger in a smile” – having a murderous heart hidden behind a smiling exterior – or “kill with a borrowed knife” – tricking an ally to attack one's rival. You might hate those villains very much. Of course, some characters … treated each other with great sincerity, have a strong sense of justice and were ready to help the weak. You might have loved those heroes and heroines very much. And they contended with each other for the highest position, using their strategies either openly or as secret means to fight each other. However, evil can never prevail over good at the end of the story! The famous author 金庸 (Jin Yong) is very popular; I admire his literary talent very much!

Recently, I have been reading the ‘long episode novel’ of Malaysia’s politicians (news) everyday. Ahh…those politicians are like the characters in a novel… up to now, I still can’t read which one is good and which one is evil! Hey…who is the author?

Pan Mee

我不知道我煮的這碗麵，能不能叫做板麵？雖然材料不完全如馬來西亞小販檔賣的，所謂板麵就是用當場制作麵及煮熟，我這碗的麵確實我們自己制作的。
I didn’t know if this bowl of noodle soup can be called ‘Pan Mee’? Even my noodle soup’s ingredients are not exactly the same as Malaysia’s hawkers; the noodles are homemade by us. A ‘pan mee’ hawker makes the noodles on-the-spot and cooks them when they are ordered by the customer.

Chicago trip

TLing夫婦邀我們同往芝加哥的法鼓山道场聽聞佛法，台灣果徹法師主講＜佛說大乘稻稈經＞，我們只上星期六及星期日两天課。從Missouri州的St. Louis城市到Illinois州的芝加哥城市，由TLing的丈夫Mark駕了约五小時的車，來回都是從傍晚開車至將近十二點深夜抵達，只他一人駕車，真是辛苦他！我們在途中只停一次，他買了一杯咖啡上車提神，身為醫生在醫院工作的他說，白天和晚上已没有什麼分别。

Steve和我不是很精進到真的只為了聽聞佛法，那是我們都未去過芝加哥，好遊的我當然是高興有人邀往，我們聽說那裡的唐人街蠻大的，所以上綱查看是否有Malaysian的餐館？

我們上星期六的課完后，乘機就到Lake Shore Drive 走走，Michigan湖很大很大，湖邊停泊着很多很多私人帆船，芝加哥的人似乎都很富有，可以養船！過后，我們就到唐人街… 哈哈，我看到Penang 餐館了，我迫不及待的帶頭進去。坐下后看menu，我看到都是熟悉的Penang小食及麵類食，興奮到不知要order那個好… Steve一看到有roti canai，也很興奮。一個roti canai US$3.50（在檳城，不超過US$0.50）！是不是很貴？有得吃到，已不介意了… 做着roti canai的華人，不知是否來自Penang？走出餐館，已是夜幕低垂，很多商家已打烊，走進其中一間… 我看着店内的商品，耳聽到两位店員用廣東話在交談，“都不知她的腰怎麼這麼粗，什麼size才合她身，她的肚腩這麼大。” “係呀，這麼年輕肚腩就這麼大，都不知飲什麼。” 她們談后，其中一店員找了一件衣物，皮笑肉不笑的對着一位站在一排吊着各款中國旗袍服裝前面的非華裔女客人說，“Come with me（跟我來）。” 我看那女客人歡喜的跟着女店員，似乎要去試穿… 唐人街的小插曲，有時候，聽不懂别人缺德的話是好的。

這次很短的行程不僅有緣聽經法喜，還可滿足一点吃到Penang食物，希望再見芝加哥！

TLing and her husband, Mark, invited us to attend a lecture series on ‘The Shalistamba Sutra’, given by Venerable Guo Cheh from Taiwan at the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association in Chicago. However, we could only attend the sessions on Saturday and Sunday. The journey from St. Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois was about five hours by car and Mark drove. We felt Mark was tough because he drove all the way on both the trip there and the return trip. Both trips started in the evening and we arrived close to midnight! We only stopped once on the way for gas and a cup of coffee to keep him awake while driving. Because he is a doctor, he says, day and night are no different to him.

Steve and I didn’t go just for the Dharma lecture; we also hadn’t been to Chicago before. Of course, as I like travel, I was glad to be invited to go. We knew that Chicago had a Chinatown, so we searched online to see whether there were any Malaysian restaurants?

Saturday evening, after the class, we went to Lake Shore Drive for a little sightseeing. Lake Michigan is huge; a lot of private boats park at the lake side. I suppose the people in Chicago are rich since so many of them have their own boat! After that, we went to Chinatown…. Haha, I saw a restaurant called Penang. I couldn’t wait and led them in. After we sat down and had a menu, I saw the Penang hawker foods that I knew and became too excited and couldn’t make up my mind which one to order…. Steve was excited too when he saw they had roti canai. A plain roti canai is US$3.50 (not over US$0.50 in Penang)! Is it expensive? We didn’t care anymore since we could find it here…. I wonder, is this Chinese guy making roti canai from Penang? It was almost dark when we left the restaurant; a lot of stores were already closed. We went in one of the stores, and while I was looking around I heard two salesgirls having a conversation in Cantonese. (I translated) “How come she’s got a large waist? I wonder what size will suit her. She has a big stomach.” “Yeah, she is young but has a big stomach, I wonder what she drinks.” After the conversation, one of them took a dress, ‘smiled’ and talked to a non-Chinese woman customer who was standing in front of a rack on which were hanging several patterns of cheongsam (a close-fitting Chinese woman's dress with high neck and slit skirt), “Come with me.” The woman looked happy; I think she is going to try it on…. A short episode in Chinatown; sometimes, it is good when you don’t understand the mean words spoken by other people.

This short trip was great. We had joyful dharma lectures and were satisfied with a little bit of Penang food. We hope to see Chicago again!

Butterfly melody

This is the butterfly house here.


這裡的蝴蝶公園，


The butterflies are flying around the house; 


蝴蝶可以在牠們的屋内飛來飛去，


但這個門牠們肯定推不開！sure they can’t push this door open! 


穿鞋子的蝴蝶？This butterfly is wearing shoes?




走在蝴蝶公園内，


We were in the butterfly house but my memory flew back to the butterfly farm in Penang…. 


我的記憶飛回檳城的蝴蝶公園…


我帶Steve來到 Teluk Bahang參觀蝴蝶公園，Steve拿着相機拍照，相機卻不知何故無法操作，我看他弄着但還是不能，他說要試換另一個存儲卡，就打開相機袋，小小的相機袋一打開，看到裡邊有一個盒子，他只好拿出盒子及打開它…是一顆鑽石戒指，他遞向我說，“這不是很适合的地方，我應找一處羅曼蒂克的環境，但我不能再隱藏它。你願意嫁给我嗎？” 我對這樣的情景有点突然，也見有其他遊客在這兒，我要他先收回戒指… 就這樣他忐忑了整個下午，不知我是否答應。至到晚上，他又提起… 但也不是在羅曼蒂克的環境下向我求婚咧…

I brought Steve to visit the butterfly farm. He was taking some pictures and suddenly he found that his camera wouldn’t operate. I saw him trying but it still didn’t work. He said he had to change the memory card. He opened up his camera case; there was a box in his little camera case. So he took out the box and opened it… It had a diamond ring. He handed it to me and said, “This is not a right place, and I wanted to choose a romantic place but I can’t hide it anymore. Will you marry me?” That surprised me, and I saw some visitors around there, so, I wanted him to put the ring back…he was wondering the whole day what my answer was. Until that night, when he mentioned it again…. However, his proposal was not at a romantic place…

Language

我察覺到我在考車的整個過程都非常緊張，Steve問我何因，我想應該是我還很不習慣單獨與不熟習的美國人接触，我很擔心我聽不明白他们的英語。

据我聽聞，有些國家如法國人、德國人…他們對自己的母語非常執持，只用他們的母語，如你要在那些國家生活，你最好學他們用的語言！

在馬來西亞，雖然學校教育以母語馬來語為主，但大多數都有英文課節，華校有華文課，印度校有淡米爾文課。即使是我們的英語不很好，但遇到外國人用英語跟我們談話，也竟所能用英語回應。馬來西亞的華人，即使是不會華語（不知誰諷刺他們為香蕉人），但没人會介意，都會用他們聽懂的語言交流。

我之前的工作常與中國商家聯系，我想中國商人為了要與外國人做生意，都給自己取一個洋名，如Harold、Carl、Tim。我的朋友中也有一些是以取用洋名稱呼，我問其中一位朋友，“我常不明白為什么很多華人要另取一個洋名，我可問你為什么嗎？” 他說，“主要是可方便社交及職場。”

我在美國認識一些華裔朋友，我介紹自己的名字時，有人問我，“你有英文名嗎？” 我認識一些美國人，我介紹自己的名字時，有人問我，“我稱呼你的名對嗎？”

方便他人顯出中國人或馬來西亞華人的一種美德！但很多族群生長在其它國家的，已漸漸不再保留祖先的語言…

I noticed that I was so nervous when I had my driving test. Steve asked me, “Why?” I think I am still not used to talking alone with American strangers yet; I worry I won’t understand what they say to me.

I’ve heard that some countries like France, Germany… they stick with their language and use only their mother language. So, if you want to live there, then you better learn to use their language!

In Malaysia, Malay is the mother language. Even though the majority of subjects in school are in Malay, they also have one English language subject too. And Chinese schools have Mandarin language subjects; Indian schools have Tamil language subjects. If a foreigner speaks English to us, even if our English is not good, we still try to use English to respond. Even though some Chinese-Malaysians don’t understand Mandarin (don’t know who made the joke, calling them “banana people” – Chinese in yellow skin, but white inside), we don’t care and we use a language which both can understand.

My previous job dealt with vendors in China. I think those Chinese business people liked to have a western name like Harold, Carl, Tim, to introduce themselves to their foreign customers. Some of my friends also have a western name as a nickname. I asked one of them, “I don't understand why many Chinese want to have a western name. May I ask you why?” He replied, “Mostly, it's for the convenience of 'social communication' & 'business'.”

In the USA, I met some Chinese friends and I introduced myself. Someone asked me, “Do you have a western name?” I met some Americans and I introduced myself, and someone asked me, “Am I pronouncing your name right?”

Convenience for others is one of the virtues of Chinese people and Chinese-Malaysians! However, most races born in another country gradually lose their ancestors’ languages…

No kopi license

有人說，如你能在檳城開車，一定也能在任何地方開車… 我有點贊同但我想‘任何地方’的馬來西亞吧！

馬來西亞的駕駛者位置是在車内的右邊，我們的教育是，若在雙線路你要過去對面，靠近你的路線車輛是從你的右邊來的，所以，要先看右，看左，再看右。

我的習慣用在去中國公幹過馬路時，我看了右邊没車輛，一隻腳就開始要踩出去了，同事望着左邊提醒我，有車輛來了，我才驚覺趕快縮回身。來了美國，我也很不習慣…我是坐在車内的右邊，但不是駕駛者。若在雙線路你要過去對面，靠近你的路線車輛是從你的左邊來的！

在檳城我有駕駛執照廿多年了，想起之前考車的過程…我想幾乎大多數人都是去找駕駛學院，帮你安排日期去考交通規則選擇題筆試，考及格的話就可擁有L執照，用學院的車學駕駛及會被考的各類技術… 我還記得那時我並不是考得很好，有些小錯的，我的學院代理人悄悄對我說，“你要给考官kopi duit（咖啡錢即是桌底錢）嗎？” 我對我做了小錯而緊張，心神還不定，聽他如此說，我更加心神不定… 我好像不願意（太久已忘記了），之后不知怎么的，考官给我及格，我有了駕駛執照。

在美國，我不能駕車！想到又要重讀交通規則及考試等等，心裡很不情願，再來是因為我很不喜歡駕車，樂得順理成章做乘客，所以一拖再拖… 終於我讀了一些交通規則、學駕Steve的車两次之后，（也許我還没準備好），上星期要Steve帶我到附近的考車地點。在這裡你自己可去辦理並可即時考試。我的選擇題試（使用電腦的）及辨視交通示牌險險過關，過后我也想考路上駕駛。我的考官在車外檢視我要駕的車（用自家的車）及指示我開各别的燈。當她要開車門坐上車時，因我的車一開引擎，左右四門就自動關上，我在車内一時找不到開銷，讓她在外等了半分鐘我才開銷…她問我一些車内的設置物，有些我聽不懂。她要我開后退出停車位，我嘗試移手擋，但我奇怪為何移不動，她說，“你没踩剎車制。” 我以前都是駕手擋車，不慣現駕的是自動車。她疑惑問我，“你之前駕過這輛車嗎？” 我說，“很少。” 出了停車位后她叫我向前至停處左轉，我駕到停處，停一下看了右邊没車，我就向左轉，一左轉后，我才覺察兩輛車從左邊駛過，她指出我的錯誤，“你應該停至讓左邊的車輛駛過后才可左轉，你駕回停車位，你不及格。”

啊…真的要改習慣了! 我還没有駕駛執照。

Some people said if you know how to drive in Penang, then you probably can drive anywhere…. I agreed, but I think you can just drive anywhere in Malaysia!

In Malaysia, the driver’s seat is on the right in the car. We are taught that when you want to cross the street, the vehicles will come from your right side. So you must look to the right, then look left, then look right again.

I used it to cross the road while I was on my business trip in China. I looked to the right and I didn’t see any vehicles, and my leg wanted to step out. My colleague looked at the left side and told me vehicles were coming; I just noticed them and withdrew my body immediately. I have not gotten used to this in the USA too… I sit on the right in the car, but I am not the driver. If you want to cross the street, the vehicles will come from your left side!

I drove in Penang over twenty years and I remember taking the driving test… I think most people take lessons from an agent or driving school, where they help you set a date for the written test. After passed, you have a ‘L’ license, and you can use the school’s car to learn driving and the skills that will be tested…. I remember I made a little mistake when I took the driving test. After the test, my agent asked me, “Do you want to pay ‘kopi duit’ (under-the-table money) to the examiner?” I was still anxious about making that mistake in my test, and I got more anxious when the agent talked to me…. I responded that I didn’t want to do so (too long ago that I’ve forgotten already). I don’t know how the examiner passed me, but I got driving license.

I can’t drive in the USA! When I think about needing to re-study the road signs and all the driving skills, I am not willing to do it again. I don’t like driving and am happy to have a good reason be a passenger. So I delayed this…. Eventually, I read some exercises from the written test and practiced driving in Steve’s car twice. Maybe I still wasn’t ready but last week, I wanted Steve to take me to a Highway Patrol office close to us. Here, you can go take the test yourself; you don’t have to go through a school or agent. I narrowly passed the written (on computer) and road sign tests. After that, I wanted to take the driving test. The examiner checked my car (you must use a car with which you are familiar) and wanted me to turn on the lights she instructed. After that, when she wanted to get in my car, I couldn’t find the unlock button for a few seconds. The doors automatically lock when the engine starts. She waited outside for about a half minute …. She instructed me to operate a few things on the car, and asked a few questions I didn’t understand. She wanted me to back out of the parking space and go out from the parking lot. I tried to change gears and wondered why I couldn’t move the gear shift. She said, “You didn’t press your brake” I used to drive a manual transmission, and I am not yet used to driving an automatic. She doubted, “Have you driven this car before?” I replied, “A few times.” I reversed my car, and she instructed me to drive straight and then turn left. I came to a stop and looked to the right; no vehicles and it was clear, so I turned left. Just after I turned, I realized that two cars passed by from my left. She pointed out my mistake, “You should have let those cars pass before you made the turn, I must fail you. Drive to a parking place.”

Ahh…I need to change my habit! I still haven’t got a driving license.