November 4, 2001: English Teacher, If I Knew

Hi,

This week's email will be a continuation of last week's email about Penang,
and a description of the photo albums. Last Friday night, after we arrived
in Penang, we ate at a hawker food court (more on Penang food later), and
then walked along Gurney Drive, which is the coastline. We then went to
the Gurney Hotel, where we played pool, sang karaoke, and then went
clubbing. Here are some of the pictures:

Penang KTV
http://community.webshots.com/album/24205168NorpidQbgt

On Saturday morning, we tried to go to Penang Hill, but by the time we got
there at 10:30 am, the line to get the tram was already a 3 hour wait. So
we preceded to the large Kek Lok Si Temple, also in the hills nearby. Here
are the pictures of the city from the temple, and pictures of the temple:

Penang Kek Lok Si Temple
http://community.webshots.com/album/24205676nBcZXqoxvs

Here are the pictures of my friends and I at the temple:

Penang Temple - Friends
http://community.webshots.com/album/24171416XwzAdRWYle

After that, we went and ate at another food court area. Here, I took
pictures of two dishes, Char Koay Teow and Ice Kacang. Basically, food in
Penang is delicious and inexpensive. For a dish of food, it costs 2 to 3
Ringgit (which is less than 1 US$). However, the portion is also smaller.
So for meals, we order anywhere from 2 to 4 different dishes. Penang is
known for its Char Koay Teow, which is fried broad noodles with beef. It
tastes good, but high in fat. Satay and the duck rice was also pretty
good. Basically, the food prices are about half of Singapore's prices.
Ice Kacang is a dessert with shaved ice and all kinds of sweet stuff in it.


Penang Streets
http://community.webshots.com/album/24205954krqYjgTxXE

After lunch, we went to the downtown Georgetown area and walked along
Penang Street, where there are many older two-story shop houses. We
stopped by several to do some shopping, include looking at pewter items
(which Malaysia is known for), and nutmeg (which Penang is known for). The
photo album above also contains a few pictures of the nice view from Wei
Hsien's high rise apartment (as you recall from last week's email, Wei
Hsien is our host and he's originally from Penang).

It started to pour, and we nearly got soaked. A few of us went with Wei
Hsien to a chess tournament. It just so happens that Wei Hsien and Mark
are very good chess players. I really enjoyed playing chess (especially
when I was in high school), so it was good to play some chess and do
something different while on vacation.

Penang Chess
http://community.webshots.com/album/24171996klUSFKPXbk

On Sunday, we woke up early to go to Penang Hill, had lunch, and then went
to the beach (which I described in detail last week). Over all, it was a
very fun weekend.

This weekend, I went with Wei Hsien (the master organizer) and Mark to go
biking on Pulau Ubin island, off the coast of Singapore. It was quite
good. I'll describe the trip in more detail and post the pictures next
week.

A few weeks ago, I highly recommended this French movie called "Amelie from
Montmartre" (English title). I came across this good review of it in the
New York Times. When it is released in the U.S., you should go and see it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/02/movies/02AMEL.html

This week's thought provoking question is, "If you could be a guest on any
television talk show, which would it be?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces was forwarded by Anna Man and
Audra Khoo.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

English Teacher

An English teacher at Iowa State University spent a lot of time marking
grammatical errors in her students' written work. She wasn't sure how much
impact she was having until one overly busy day when she sat at her desk
rubbing her temples.

A student asked, "What's the matter, Ms. Dalton?"

"Tense," she replied, describing her emotional state.

After a slight pause the student tried again, "What was the matter? What
has been the matter? What might have been the matter...?"
_________________________________

In memory of all those who perished; the passengers and the pilots on the
United Air and AA flights, the workers in the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, and all the innocent bystanders. Our prayers go out to the
friends and families of the deceased.

If I Knew

If I knew it would be the last time
That I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute
to stop and say "I love you,"
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything just right.

There will always be another day
to say "I love you," and certainly there's
another chance to say our "Anything I can do?"
But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day,

That you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today,
and whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you'll always hold them dear

Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
"Please forgive me," "Thank you," or "It's okay."
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.