August 26, 2001: To Be Six, Puzzle

Hi,

Have you ever heard a handbell choir? This morning at church, the
Singapore Bible College Handbell Choir performed the instrumental prelude
and played several other pieces of music as a musical offering. It was
great. One of them was Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". The sound of the bells
were so crisp and lovely to hear. After the service, I went up to the
front and got a chance to play the handbells myself. I thought that
perhaps some day, I would get a group of friends together and we would
borrow a set of handbells and just have fun playing some good classical
pieces.

For lunch, we went to a really good buffet at the Copthorne Kings hotel.
They have many Southeast Asian dishes, such as popiah, rojak, otak, chicken
satay, and oxtail. I really liked the popiah, which is pork and vegetables
wrapped in a flour shell with some tasty sauces. It's made like a burrito
or mooshu. They also have a drink called "teh tarik", which is tea mixed
with condensed milk.

This weekend, I watched a play called "Autumn Tomyan" and the movie
"Knight's Tale". Autumn Tomyan was very good and thought provoking. The
play reminded me of M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, because it dealt
with the same sort of controversial issues, such as East vs. West cultural
values mixed with gender/sexual issues.

Since I love medieval history and the subject matter of knights, castles
and battles, I really liked Knight's Tale. In some ways, I see
similarities between this movie and Gladiator, but Gladiator is definitely
better. There was a lot of jousting and action in this movie.

Here's another photo album taken with my previous digital camera. It is of
the Golden Gate area in San Francisco, along with two pictures of the San
Luis Obispo resevoir.

Golden Gate Bridge
http://community.webshots.com/album/20097740ZrMeFcQVuY

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you could have a telegram
from one famous person now alive, who would it be from, and what would it
say?"

This week's humor piece was forwarded by Anna Man.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

To Be Six

A man asked his wife what she'd like for her birthday.
"I'd love to be six again," she replied. On the morning of her birthday, he
got her up bright and early and off they went to a local theme park. What
a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the
Screaming Loop, the Wall of Fear - everything there was! Wow!

Five hours later she staggered out of the theme park, her head reeling and
her stomach upside down. Right to a McDonald's they went, where her husband
ordered her a Big Mac along with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate
shake. Then it was off to a movie - the latest Star Wars epic, and hot
dogs, popcorn, Pepsi Cola and M&Ms. What a fabulous adventure!

Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed. He
leaned over and lovingly asked, "Well, dear, what was it like being six
again?"

One eye opened. "You idiot, I meant my dress size."

The moral of this story is: If a woman speaks and a man is actually
listening, he will still get it wrong.
_________________________________

New Puzzle: Trial

A medieval count organized a court trial in which he gave the defendant a
chance to save his life if he could pick a white markbe out of a bag
containing, in the count's words, one white marble and one black marble.
The accused knew that this was a trick, because he had seen the count place
two black marbles in the bag. However, he went ahead and took out a
marble. What did he do to save his life?
_________________________________

Last Week's Puzzle Answer (sent in by John Chao)

One weighing. Here's how you do it...

1. Label all 10 sacks from #1 to #10.
2. Take one ball from sack #1; two balls form sack #2, etc. up to all ten
balls in sack #10. Total of 55 balls in one big sack.
3. Put the big sack on the scale and weigh it.
4. The total weight if all ten balls in each sack weighted should be 550
oz. 550-(the actual weight) will tell you which sack has the 9oz balls
(i.e., if the big sack weighs 544, 550-544=6. The #6 sack has the 9oz
balls.

August 19, 2001: Perfection, Puzzle, Happiness

Hi,

How was your week? This past week, I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. KL
was fairly different from the other cities in Southeast Asia I visited.
First of all, the KL airport is ultra modern and huge. The long drive from
the airport to my hotel was on a wide and very clean highway, with few
exits and cars on the road. The highway reminded me of the Massachusetts
turnpike on a sunny day.

For the first time in Southeast Asia, I saw large gas stations, like the
ones in the U.S., with a 24-hour market and plenty of space. Off one of
the highways, there was a large rest station, with restaurants, and truck
stops. It was very much like the rest stop on the Mass pike in Sturbridge.
Over another highway, there was a KFC restaurant over it, like the Tara
hotel over the Masspike at Watertown.

We visited a potential customer in Ipoh, a city about 2 hours north of KL.
The drive was smooth and fast. On both sides are lush green vegetation.
Suddenly on the left side, the green mountaineous area of the Cameron
Highlands appears before you. It was very scenic. Unfortunately, I didn't
take my digital camera with me on this trip.

I liked Ipoh. It was a smaller, less hectic city. It's also a city with
long history, and a very large Chinese population. My colleague missed a
turn, so we ended up driving through the main parts of the city, which was
nice.

After I got home, I worked most of the weekend creating a major Powerpoint
presentation for work. Kind of reminds me of my days in B-school.
However, on Sunday after church, I did get a chance to visit the Singapore
Botantical Gardens for the first time. They had a lovely garden devoted to
orchids, the largest in the world. If you like pictures of pretty flowers,
here's the photo album:

Singapore Botanical Gardens
http://community.webshots.com/album/19645924vZfOlZpyAI

I also posted the pictures I took of the Grand Canyon from the summer of
2000. They were taken with my previous digital camera, so the resolution
is not as good.

Grand Canyon
http://community.webshots.com/album/19647041NoKVEAlkhV

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you had to choose the
greatest work of art in history, what would you say is the best?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces were forwarded by Angela Loo and
Minna Huang, respectively.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

Perfection

Once upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect
courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course,
perfect.

One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve, this perfect couple was driving their
perfect car (a Grand Caravan) along a winding road, when they noticed
someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple,
they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys.
Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect
couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle.

Soon they were driving along delivering toys. Unfortunately, the driving
conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an
accident. Only one of them survived the accident. The mind numbing
question is: Who was the survivor?

Scroll down for the answer...
~
~
~
~
~
~
The perfect woman survived. She's the only one who really existed in the
first place. Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such
thing as a perfect man.
_________________________________

New Puzzle: Sack of balls

We have 10 sacks full of balls. All sacks contain balls weighing 10 ounces
each, except one of the sacks, which contains balls weighing 9 ounces each.
By weighing the balls, what would be the minimum number of weighings
required (on a scale that gives weight readouts) to identify the sack
containing the defective balls?
_________________________________

Puzzle Answers

Here are the solutions to the previous puzzle. Thanks to you guys who sent
me the solution to the 3 I didn't have.

26 letters of the alphabet
7 wonders of the ancient world
1001 Arabian nights
12 signs of the Zodiac
54 cards in a deck (with the jokers)
9 plantets in the solar system
88 piano keys
13 stripes on the American flag
18 holes on a gold course
32 degrees Fahrenheit at which water freezes
8 sides on a stop sign
200 dollars for passing Go in Monopoly
3 blind mice (see how they run)
90 degrees in a right angle
4 quarters in a game
24 hours in a day
1 wheel on a unicycle
5 digits in a zip code
57 Heinz varieties
11 players on a football team
1000 words that a picture is worth
29 days in February in a leap year
64 squares on a chessboard
40 days and nights of great flood
80 days to get around the world
2 pound it toe to toe
6 points on the star of David
50 ways to live your life
31 flavors of Baskin Robbins
40 hours in a work week
_________________________________

Happiness

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a
baby, then another. Then we are
frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when
they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal
with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that
stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse
gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are we able to go on
a nice vacation, or when we retire.

The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not
now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to
admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the
way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because
you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time
with...and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting....
--until your car or home is paid off
--until you get a new car or home
--until your kids leave the house
--until you go back to school
--until you finish school
--until you lose 10 lbs.
--until you gain 10 lbs.
--until you get married
--until you get a divorce
--until you have kids
--until you retire
--until summer
--until spring
--until winter
--until fall
--until you die

There is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So-work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching.

August 12, 2001: Snail's Car, Puzzle, $20 Bill

Hi,

I hope your week went well. As I mentioned last week, I went hiking along
the MacRitchie reservoir and Bukit Timah summit. At Bukit Timah, there
were many monkeys all over the area. Here are some pictures of the hike.

MacRitchie & Bukit Timah Hike
http://community.webshots.com/album/19175154ZpqrjhxBLM

This past week, I went to Manila to visit paper distributors and current
customers. Manila is interesting because it is different in many ways from
the other cities in Southeast Asia that I visited, but similar in other
ways. As we drove through certain neighborhoods, it reminded me of the
U.S. The road was wide, there were only a few cars parked along the
street, the signs were in English, and the houses looked fairly nice.
Those streets could have been streets in the suburbs of LA. However, there
were many other streets that were more congested and unclean, like parts of
other ASEAN countries. Traffic was also very bad here, like the other
countries.

One interesting thing was that just about all of the paper merchants or
printing companies that we visited were family owned businesses. They
operate on the ground floor of their apartment building, usually in a very
residential area. In fact, for several of them, there are no signs that
there is a business there. Inside, the office is very cramped, and several
people work at desks right next to each other. For many of these family
businesses, everyone in the family gets involved. The husband, wife, sons,
daughters, daughter-in-law, etc. all work for the family business.

So here is a hypothetical question for you. If you work in business, would
you want to own a business and have most of your family members work with
you every day? Also, would you want to work right below where you live,
and have your employees come to your house/apartment to work?

This weekend, I also had an opportunity to do some sightseeing in Singapore
with some friends from my church in LA who were visiting. We walked around
Chinatown, ate at Clarke Quay, and took a brief cruise on the Singapore
River. Here are some pictures:

Singapore River Cruise
http://community.webshots.com/album/19175603OMnAFTiyGD

I think the best thing to see in Singapore is the Night Safari.
Unfortunately, they don't allow flash photography, so I have no pictures of
the animals to show you. But many of the animals, especially deer, come up
right to the tram. I think my favorite was the tigers that were prowling
around. We also looked at bats up close.

This week, I'll be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After this, I should be in
Singapore for a while.

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you could have been the
first person to discover any part of the world, what place would you want
to have found?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces were forwarded by Anna Man and
Elaine Wong, respectively.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

Snail's Car

There was once a snail that was sick and tired of his reputation for being
so slow. He decided to get some fast wheels to make up the difference.
After shopping around a while, he decided that the Datson 240-Z was the car
to get. So the snail goes to the nearest Datsun dealer and says he wants to
buy the 240-Z,
but he wants it repainted "240-S".

The dealer asks, "Why 'S'?"

The snail replies, "'S' stands for snail. I want everybody who sees me
roaring past to know who's driving."
Well, the dealer doesn't want to lose the unique opportunity to sell a car
to a snail, so he agrees to have the car repainted for a small fee.

The snail gets his new car and spent the rest of his days roaring happily
down the highway at top speed. And whenever anyone would see him zooming
by, they'd say "Wow! Look at that S-car go!"
_________________________________

Puzzle

Here are the solutions to the three remaining items from the previous
puzzle.

16) 100 C in a R = 100 cents in a rand
19) 13=UFS = 13 is unlucky for some
31) 6 B to an O in C = 6 balls to an over in cricket

Here a similar puzzle that I sent out a while ago.

1. 26 = L of the A
2. 7 = W of the A W
3. 1001 = A N
4. 12 = S of the Z
5. 54 = C in a D (with the J)
6. 9 = P in the S S
7. 88 = P K
8. 13 = S on the A F
9. 18 = H on a G C
10. 32 = D F at which W F
11. 8 = S on a S S
12.200 = D for P G in M
13. 3 = B M (S H T R)
14. 90 = D in a R A
15. 4 = Q in a G
16. 24 = H in a D
17. 1 = W on a U
18. 5 = D in a Z C
19. 57 = H V
20. 11 = P on a F T
21.1000 = W that a P is W
22. 29 = D in F in a L Y
23. 64 = S on a C
24. 40 = D and N of G F
25. 80 = D to G A the W
26. 2 = # it T to T
27. 6 = P on the S of D
28. 50 = W to L Your L
29. 31 = F of B R
30. 40 = H in a W W

I used to have all the answers, but now, I can't remember the answers for #
6, 12 and 19. Please let me know if you figure them out.
_________________________________

THE TWENTY DOLLAR BILL

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In
the room of 200, he asked,
"Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am
going to give this $20 to one of
you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the bill up. He
then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground
and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now
crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the
air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I
did to the money, you still
wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are
dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and
the circumstances that come
our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has
happened or what will happen, you
will never lose your value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled
or finely creased, you are
still priceless.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know but by WHO WE
ARE! You are special -
Don't ever forget it!

August 4, 2001: Only a Child, Puzzle Answers, God's Boxes

Hi,

Selamat Pagi (Good morning, in Indonesian). Well, I returned safely from
my week trip to Jakarta. I felt relatively safe all week, since my
colleague from Avery picked me up from the airport and took me around to
all our customer visits and to all meals. On Thursday, I did hear from
another colleague that there was a bombing in the city on Wednesday. We
also drove through several areas of the city that were sketchy.

I didn't take any pictures of Jakarta. However, I did notice that Jakarta
is very stratified. There are some streets where the buildings are very
nice and modern and many of the people drive expensive cars. However,
there are many sections of the city that is very poor and dirty. In these
areas, there are trash everywhere. Some of the streams are extremely
polluted, and people live right by the stream.

As in Thailand, all of our customers are ethnically Chinese. I was able to
speak to half of them in Chinese. My colleagues translated our conversation
with the remaining customers from English to Indonesian. I'm really amazed
at one of the merchants we visited. He is one of the largest paper
distributors in Indonesia. However, he operates in this side alley in the
Chinatown area, in a shack that measures about 3 feet wide by 6 feet deep.
The only thing in there is a desk and a phone. Some of the other
businesses we visited were in very impoverished areas. However, once
inside, their businesses were surprisingly nice.

Some of my more memorable activities in Jakarta involve food. My colleague
took me to the Hotel Borobodur for a buffet dinner. They are known for a
great oxtail soup. I also ate a lot of sashimi there. For lunch, we ate a
traditional Indonesia meal called "Padang", where the waiter sets in front
of you a huge # of small dishes. At the end of the meal, they only charge
you for the dishes that you actually eat. Finally, one of our very best
customers took us to dinner at a nice restaurant called Paprika. It
featured good Western food and a wine bar.

Today, I went hiking in Singapore along the MacRitchie resevoir, all the
way up the Bukit Timah summit. It was a long, tiring hike of 12 kilometers
(about 3 hours). Luckily, it was cloudy, so it wasn't too hot. I did take
some nice pictures of the resevoir and the hike trail. I'll post them up
by next week's email. Afterwards, my friends and I ate dinner at a pretty
decent Japanese restaurant.

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you were to give one person
you know an award for something, who would it be, and for what?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces were both forwarded by Jennifer
Deniega.

Enjoy!

-Josh.

Chiang Mai's Two Waterfalls:
http://community.webshots.com/album/17725403PRcdMoCUtx
_________________________________

Only a Child

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it
was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even
though they were a very large mammal their throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The teacher
reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was impossible.

The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah"

The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"

The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."
_________________________________

Puzzle Solutions

Here are the solutions to the puzzle from last week. I still have not
received the solutions for:

16) 100 C in a R
19) 13=UFS
31) 6 B to an O in C

The reason why it was difficult to get many of these was because the
questions had to do with items related to the British Commonwealth.

Answers:
24 Hours In a Day
26 Letters of the alphabet
7 days of the week
7 wonders of the world
12 signs of the zodiac
66 books of the Bible
52 cards in a pack (without jokers)
13 stripes in the United States flag
18 holes on a golf course
39 books of the old testament
5 toes on a foot
90 degrees in a right angle
3 blind mice (see how they run)
32 is the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit at which water freezes
15 players in a rugby team
3 wheels on a tricycle
16) 100 C in a R
11 players in a football (soccer) team
12 months in a year
19) 13=UFS
8 tentacles on a octopus
29 days in February in a leap year
27 books in the New Testament
365 days in a year
13 loaves in a bakers dozen
52 weeks in a year
9 lives of a cat
60 minutes in a hour
23 pairs of chromosomes in the human body
64 squares on a chess board
9 provinces in south africa
6 bowls to an over in cricket (according to the puzzle spreadsheet, this is
not the correct answer. Could the spelling be wrong?)
1000 years in a millenium
15 men on a dead mans chest
_________________________________

God's Boxes

I have in my hands two boxes which God gave me to hold. He said, "Put all
your sorrows in the black box, and all your joys in the gold."

I heeded His words, and in the two boxes both my joys and sorrows I stored.
But though the gold became heavier each day, the black was as light as
before. With curiosity, I opened the black, I wanted to find out why. And
I saw, in the base of the box, a hole in which my sorrows had fallen out
by. I showed the hole to God, and mused, "I wonder where my sorrows could
be."

He smiled a gentle smile and said, "My child, they're all here with me."

I asked, "God, why He gave me the boxes. Why the gold, and the black with
the hole?" "My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, the
black is for you to let go."