Yunnan trip! - Part 1

It's been a couple of weeks since I've visited China, so, finally, here are some of my experiences. I went with my parents and my aunt. We joined this tour with my mom's old childhood friend, who went on this trip with a large not-for-profit organization that she was involved with. [My mom was also very involved with it back in the day.] The organization actually had an objective to promote cultural exchanges, so we visited a lot of cultural and historic memorials. Also, everyone on the tour pretty much knew everyone else (except for my family), which probably made for a generally better tour than otherwise.

Rundown of the tour:

Fly to Kunming from Hong Kong, toured a historic event memorial, had dinner, and stayed for the night. It was much cooler than expected! Thankfully, no one got sick (it was ~14 degrees and felt much cooler because it was rainy... but we were wearing our Hong Kong clothes).

Drove to DaLi (~ 4-6 hours??) - An economically thriving city in Yunnan. Three attractions: (1) a traditional (rather wealthy) "Bai" people's house, very decorative, beautiful stones. The natural stone design paintings were very nice. (2) The three towers temple. Because of the economic wealth, the temple area was completely renovated. Amazing greenery surrounding it. (3) A historic market [recurring theme =p]









I thought these gigantic incenses were pretty funny. =p


My mom wanted a picture with all the monks, haha

Where to start? Some milestone dates...
Recital - September 10
Departure - October 1
Now - October 7

The recital was great, beyond my expectation [true, I generally have no expectations for many things]. Despite my terrible piano playing, it was just fun to share about me, to just be myself! It was great to have so much support and helpers... it was great to have everyone work together [thanks for dealing with my last minute stressing, my general last-minute everything, and non-detail-orientedness! ;)] in order to make everything run as smooth as it did. Hopefully, people enjoyed themselves too! Overall, I hope it was clear that this move to Hong Kong was a long time in coming, and to me, God had paved the way to make things happen with a great job opportunity, a good time in my life and in my career, all motivated by various things including the objective to improve my Chinese, catch a glimpse of the booming Asian economy, and to participate in other professional services trips into China. I'm also affirmed by other things such as starting work with Ray, who will also be based out of Hong Kong for now and having another co-worker from Toronto join the same group as me. It has been amazing how things have panned out over the past couple of years, including having waited until now.

Further, I am simply reminded of the nature of the community of believers... thankful that through different social circles, there still exists a spiritual and eternal bond between us. I am so thankful for being blessed by so many people who have played a part in my life, in building up who I am.

Then, after the recital, it was a mission to clear out my room and get rid of any nonessentials! The beneficiary [if you can call it that ;)] of my old CA magazines was Agincourt Collegiate Institute! It was funny to visit and see a couple of old teachers who were still there (although, retiring by end of this year). I saw my old calculus and algebra teacher, Mrs. Chow, who was known to be the hardest [and of course, because I had her for both subjects, I was called "double Chow girl" as an affectionate pitying name. haha...] It was just funny to hear her teach her current class with the same tone and same lines as before ["I want you to reduce the radicals to the *general* form! *General* form!"] Too bad my old accounting teacher wasn't in!

I was able to adequately clean out my room (and pack) in good time... my old clothes will go to the Salvation Army, and all that's left in my room are mainly books, my old notes, and various stuffed animals! I also successfully re-archived my old greeting cards, which was a painful exercise of anal attentiveness. The exercise was also nostalgic as I read over various cards from different points of time in my life... one distinct phrase was for my baptism in 2000, "...if we've had an effect on your life, it's because you let us." That is how I feel in response to the many encouragements that I have received for my going away...

Then, leading up to October 1, it was a rush to finish off as much work as I could while meeting up with people, including good times of prayer. I took various days and timeslots off, but ended up going into the office on Friday, September 29, which probably wasn't the wisest thing to do. =p Oh well, I did as much as I could...! [And fortunately (or unfortunately), I care soo much about work. =p]

Now, it has been a nice time of doing nothing at all in Hong Kong! Nothing really tourist-y, good family time with my parents... funny to meet up with my mom's old friends (they left 30 years ago and have only been back 2 or 3 times) and be a good daughter, haha. No shopping yet either!

Today is the mid-autumn festival celebration and had a family dinner with my aunt and her sons.. and their kids. Came back up to the apartment after dinner for some taro (a traditional thing??), mooncake and fruit. She has a nice view to a park on her balcony... take a look at all the kids playing with electronic lights instead of lanterns [this was taken at 11pm so it was cleared out already]! Because of the danger of kids playing with fire, wax burning is now prohibited everywhere. [Now, it is 12:45am, and I *still* hear kids running around outside... ah... Chinese families, haha!]



Waking up early for another day with the Yam (or, Yan) extended family...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

One whole month with no reflections! =p

It's been a good summer. *Kind of* makes up a *little bit* for the busy year that I've had, basically from last September to June, with a slight break in January. =p

So, the much-anticipated recital has come and gone. It's amazing how God is faithful; it turned out way beyond my expectations... only by God's grace, especially considering how much effort I put in. =p Perhaps, though, seeds may have been planted? All entrusted to Him...

Finally, today, I had a little bit of resolve to start cleaning my room and packing things into boxes. I guess I have more books than I thought [I am majorly "spatially challenged" --> cannot estimate if a certain volume can fit into a box. =p] But, it's starting to kind of shape up, and I think I have finally come to terms that I will never look at my CA magazines ever again to give them away. Why am I such a pack-rat??

I also found two years worth of "golden bricks" way back from high school fellowship. Golden bricks were simply encouragement notes that we wrote to each other at our winter snow camp. The first year was my first year attending church (not sure if I actually accepted Jesus Christ by then) and I didn't really know the rest of them. It's funny how I've grown since those days of "You don't talk much do you." "You are so quiet!" A very respectful one was to Gladys, "my silent but honourable friend". Hahaha..

The second year was more meaningful after I started building some relationships... it's cool to read back on those encouragements. By then, I had accepted Christ and was serving in various capacities. It's also amazing how the Holy Spirit works in the provision of spiritual gifts. Yes, spiritual gifts are developed and matured over time, but reading back on these notes from ?? years ago also kind of affirmed what I believe are my spiritual gifts now. And, it demonstrates to me that the spiritual gifts were definitely provided to me... especially for someone who didn't speak at all a year before that! =p God is good. All right, maybe I'll keep these notes for another 10 years or so. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. - Ephesians 3:20

Probably, if I were to characterize the year by a Bible verse, the above verse would stick out in my mind the most. Not that I necessarily engage in such annual characterizations, but I was obviously reminded this year by a friend of my "likely last birthday in Canada" -- at least for the near term. I leave it open as to where I will be in the long term.

Annually, though, I *do* take a step back and stand in awe of the abundance of blessings that have been showered on my life. And annually (especially documented since 2002... some years more elaborate than others =p), the theme recurs -- of praise and thanksgiving to God for the blessing of a community that is bound together in Christ.

I echo my sentiments from 2004 as I see that by God's grace, he has expanded this small band, "Despite being in all different years, I consider them all to be peers whom I admire and strive to embody their various virtues. It is our peers who walk alongside and pick us up when we need it, yet, understand the trek while we are walking it, unlike mentors or other authoritative people who have walked ahead of us." It is evident that I have continued to seek for that which is real... real friendships... real people... real life... what is the real me?

This year has been an interesting discovery into the "real", through challenges in seminary, looking at behavioural experiences in the corporate environment, and through encouragements from brothers and sisters in Christ, I have seen a slight maturation of understanding... and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to experience my real struggles and insecurities, only with the support of so many real people. But not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [Phillippians 3:12] Today's Sunday sermon also validated this challenge with much timeliness -- to dig through the illusory and temporal things of this world in search of the real... which is also lasting.

No doubt these reflections have been likely catalyzed by my preparations to relocate, and I realize the significance of the move is (finally) starting to hit me... I look forward to sharing my reflections before the time comes, and afterwards for those who wish to keep tabs on me ;). On the other hand, perhaps with age, maybe I'm just reflecting all over the place in too many abstract ways, haha.

Thanks for sharing in a truly fruitful year... to help me continually see God in so many ways. Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

FINAL DATE for Recital!

Sunday, September 10, 2006 3pm

Sorry for the switching... sigh.

On a good note, work has been very nice lately, allowing me to catch up with deliverables within reasonable control. I'm thankful for this slower summer period!

Sigh sigh sigh... I've been extremely conflicted lately about this recital date, and likely stemming from a lack of prep and a hasty move of the date the first time, I've been thinking about moving it again to September 10... which would have been better if I had just moved it there the first time. =p

Will keep you updated..

OK, I've been really lazy... so, here is my main thought coming back from Hawaii:

The most striking observation for many people (including myself) is that there are a lot of Asians in Hawaii. Although they're not all Chinese, walking around the city (non-tourist areas) does feel like walking around in First Markham Place.

Although there may be an "assumed look" of a Hawaiian, it's interesting to trace their ancestry because the history of the island is not extremely old. And, being volcanically formed islands, there are no indigenous peoples. Apparently, the first inhabitants may have come from the nearby Marquesas islands... but I don't know about the details tracing back. There are, however, many many Asians who settle there from all over (which is why whenever we're served at a restaurant, they assumed we were Japanese... I think because there are many Japanese tourists, but also many locals). A number of locals that we met were always mixed... Filipino and Chinese, or mix from Vietnam, etc... and so, maybe within these lifetimes, there may not be a "predominant race" in Hawaii.

Which led me to think... will heaven embody this aspect? From a humanistic point of view, the mixing of gene pools is a good thing. =p As cultures develop, with world travel, etc. there will be less and less pure peoples.

I mean, in Genesis 11, peoples were spread out as a result of their sin... as a result of the separation, peoples and nations developed... would heaven, with the defeat of sin, result in a merger of sorts? Hm...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

September 3, 2006
Tyndale Seminary Chapel
25 Ballyconnor Court (Bayview / Steeles)

See link to invitation to the right!

Vacation...

You can read more details of our vacation on Ina's vacation blog.

It has been a very restful and sun-filled vacation -- a lot more sun than i would have liked, but oh well... that's why we come to Hawaii, i suppose! I kind of burned my legs, which is very very surprising because my legs don't easily tan at all. I need to compare the skin tone of my face before and after this trip. I'll be using my whitening mask often enough after I get back. =p

Ina and I are enjoying our last restful day in Honolulu before going to San Francisco / San Jose for a couple of days before returning back to Toronto. (Janey left yeserday evening.) We attended took the bus to church this morning at Kapahulu Bible Church (we searched for churches last night), a small congregation not too far away from our hotel. It was a nice and simple service, but very pleasantly refreshing to worship God (on land -- there was no service on the cruise) in his house. It's always a comforting reminder that Christ prepares a community for his believers (I've been trying to get through Cost of Discipleship), although his call to us and our response is an individual journey.

The main reflection of this trip is definitely the awesomeness of God's creation. Hawaii is an amazing chain of volcanic islands, and it's fascinating to learn about the geological and anthropological history of the now American state. The terrain of the islands is beautiful with mountains, valleys, and many varieties of plants and trees. It's amazing to realize that these islands were created via the lava flow of volcanoes... the lava which destroyed all life standing in its path on eruption was the mechanism for much new life. And the ground that is formed from this destructive lava is very rich in mineral content, providing noursihment for all the future life living on it. Amazing...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Hopefully, now, I will be less busy. Sigh... been working way too much, and finally, it's time for a much needed vacation. ;)

Before I go, I'll follow up on a promise (quite a while ago) to blog about JEDP. [As an aside, I really do miss the Tyndale classes which were mentally, spiritually, and even emotionally stimulating. However, I'm thankful for the small opportunities here and there that allow me to do the same thing on an informal basis...]

You can easily read more into JEDP at Wikipedia. However, as a summary, as part of biblical research, there is a study called "documentary hypothesis". The Documentary Hypothesis studies how the Bible came into its final form, especially focusing on the Jewish Torah, also known as the Pentateuch of the Bible -- the first five books. Although the Pentateuch is generally attributed to the hand of Moses, the hypothesis proposes that there were four "root" sources: the Jahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D) and the Priestly (P) sources. These four sources had their own writings and collections, and finally, some redactor (or, editor, but academically referred to "R") took pieces of each of J, E, D, and P, and put together what is known now as the Pentateuch.

Researchers have come up with this hypothesis as a result of different and unique styles that occur throughout the Pentateuch, most prominently through the words used to describe God (hence their names) and other foci for each of the four sources.

Anyway, I won't explain too much more... the documentary hypothesis isn't studied that much anymore -- it is more of a "modernist" approach starting during the mid-to-late 1800's. Whereas it is interesting to dig into the possible sources of each studied text, the more "postmodern" approaches take the Bible as a text as it is presented in its final form [what we generally do now]. Many older Bible commentaries will, however, go into the nuances of each JEDP source for each verse -- and that was what I was sifting through for my assignment on Exodus 1-15.

That's all!

So... other than getting some much needed rest from work, I hope the vacation does give rise to some reflection time; probably not difficult at all as we take in some views of God's amazing creation.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Wow, my parents moved fast to buy air tickets... so I followed suit.

Drop dead date: October 1, 2006. One-way.

Can't believe how swamped we all still are...

Can't believe it's already mid-May... although *can* believe that I have not yet opened my CFA materials!

It has still been busy, although I'm glad that I've been generally in a good mood likely because I was able to make it out to Ultimate (although terribly late...) and because of the teams that I've been working with lately. Next fieldwork starts in two weeks... it all keeps on coming.

But thank God for carrying me through... I desperately need him... by His grace.

A verbal contract is still a contract, although, soon, I'll be bound within contract law by the "mailbox rule" anyway -- October 16, 2006. Countdown begins...

Actually, I was *going* to segue from my accounting / biblical interpretation post into finally explaining the change of my blog name!

Hm.. let's go back in time to May 29, 2002:

What *is* it about balance that we strive to achieve it? We (should?) strive to balance our diet, balance our time, balance our life. (Not to mention balance our chequebook; how fitting that I'm an accountant. =P)

OR, is it worth striving for at all? Does balance lead to mediocrity across the board and lack of excellence in any particular area?

I always thought it interesting that "balance" is such an oft-used word (or, maybe, just by me =p) mainly because we know that extremes are dangerous. I think the word merely expresses the recognition that we cannot *be* on any extreme -- the ideal position is *somewhere* in between extremes. [I'm not talking about black/white or right/wrong issues here...] So, the accounting illustration is another simple illustration of the pull between the two extremes...

Last term in Biblical Interpretation, the prof was developing a model for interpretation that recognizes the meanings that are inherent in the text (including the historicity of the text, original audience, etc. but also relating to the textual characteristics such as narratives, poetry, etc.) but the significance that we read as a reader. Therefore, the person sitting beside me could take away different things out of the text... of course, on the extreme, one can argue that the Bible could then have an infinite different definitions. Of course, that does not make sense (especially if we were to go into the realm of heresy), so that's where the role of the Holy Spirit comes into play.

As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit that has changed us such that we strive to be:
- God-fearing [one who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15)],
- Bible-believing [believe that the Bible is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16)], and
- faith-seeking-understanding [we do not believe in Christ because we gain a full understanding, rather, growth in our faith increases our understanding (Acts 17:11)] followers of Christ...

Therefore, as we truly seek to understand God's word, the Holy Spirit keeps us from going to extremes between being totally subjective and totally historical. You may call it a healthy tension, and this healthy tension is good because it keeps us from going to either extreme.

So, with this general, overall model, I draw parallels to all aspects of life, where we are faced with many opposing tensions that pull us on either side. So, with all tensions, we can be pulled more to one side at one moment, but then get pulled to the other... is that necessarily healthy? Recognizing that the tension is a dynamic one, we did see the challenge as finding a certain point of sustainability between the two -- that, to me, is a more precise articulation of what I was seeking to say back in 2002. So, for example, in terms of my sleeping patterns, what is my sustainable point? I can survive on five hours all week but then will "crash" on the weekend... that's not necessarily a sustainable point. =p I actually think I need 7 hours but haven't been able to figure how to implement that one yet. =p

Anyway, so, there's no *real* change in the name of my blog, just a more precise articulation of the dynamics of the process throughout life =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I am (unfortunately) still going pretty strong but am happy to clear at least some items off of my plate. Of course, there is still enough left on there...

I seriously think that if it were not for Tyndale class this term, I would have had a nervous breakdown already due to stress from work! (Sigh..) I am very thankful for the class as it constantly encourages and challenges me to think about my faith and how I integrate it into my life, how I think about the world and the "order" of things -- and my place within it all. The course has been very enriching and stimulating; it has truly renewed me... and I am so very thankful for this. I was thinking back to a year or two ago, again at busy season, and remember feeling very stagnant and sluggish -- never really *thinking* about anything of substance... so this year has been an answered prayer.

I was trying to determine when I used to feel that way by reviewing my old blog entries... it's so funny to read about those select points over a period of a year or two in a few minutes! Now that I've been through two Tyndale courses, I cannot imagine what I used to do when I studied for those Certified Business Valuator courses and the CFA because I had/have zero passion for those studies. [On the other hand, I can't believe how busy I am now compared to when I used to have time to study for additional exams...]

But, I guess my overall point is, I am thankful that God has totally renewed my thinking and transformed my mind through the courses. I am thankful to be empassioned with these studies and to apply (or "appropriate": a-pro-pri-ehte) them into the rest of my life and share it with those around me. I'm not sure I can really go back to studying other business-related courses that I don't really care about [even though I already knew I did not have such passion before when I wrote those exams...]

I often say, "motivation is an interesting thing". Interesting because we often need and seek it, but don't know where to find it. How do some people have such a strong internal drive? Is it possible for external influences to trigger or stimulate our motivation? How do we "force" ourselves to be motivated to accomplish something which we do not care about?

Haha... so now, I'm debating if I want to study for CFA. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I'm alive! Praise God for carrying me through this busy season (it's my first really bad one) and I'm happy there is some end in sight (albeit likely just a temporary one.) I'm also happy I got to finish my assignment for Old Testament Theology, although only slightly late. It's been a rough week for many of my co-workers and I am truly blessed to share our burdens with a number of sisters in Christ at work. Through the struggles, it's been a very reflective week and I hope to post some of those thoughts later...

For now, I leave you with a "reading response" from class. It's a personal response of an article.. and I realize you have not read the article! But, I just see this response as an expression of how I see similarities between Accounting and Theology (or basically, the application of Christian principles) [sorry, it's long, but I *do* find it interesting =p]. I'll supplement if people don't understand...

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After having taken Biblical Interpretation (BIBL0501) at Tyndale last term, the majority of the discussions presented by Silva were not new for me. I thought his article very thoroughly and systematically presented the issues surrounding the development of biblical interpretation from the historical-critical method, to the autonomy of the text, and finally to the role of the reader.

I am going to continue my response by drawing parallels from Silva’s discussion to my area of expertise and vocation: the field of Accounting. I enjoy the study of accounting very much because I see a similar process to that of Theology; in Accounting, there is a pool of technical guidance akin to the “Bible” – generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). In Canada, GAAP is mainly governed by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accounts (CICA) Handbook. When businesses perform transactions, accountants look to GAAP for guidance and interpret it to apply the principles in order to ultimately conclude on a numerical analysis. However, as technical and objective accounting may seem, I realize how subjective it can really be.

All advanced accounting students in University will take courses called “accounting theory” whereby the general framework of GAAP is laid out. There are two fundamental extremes: reliability – where a financial number is determined based on objective evidence, or relevance – the information value portrayed by that financial number. For example, when a company purchases or builds a building, they will pay an original cost, say, $1 million – this is a reliable figure, based on objective evidence (say, cash payment). After 10 years, the value of the building will decrease due to age or required repairs. What is the relevance of this figure? The building is hardly worth $1 million after 10 years of age. How should the company present this value on their financial statements? It would even be misleading to present the then-reliable figure of $1 million; this number is now not relevant. To get into some technical detail, the accounting industry has developed methods to approximate the decrease in value over time, for example, decreasing the value every year on a straight-line basis over the useful life (say, 20 years) of the building. After 10 years, we say the building is worth $500,000. Clearly, this is only an estimate – not very reliable – but it is more relevant.

The accounting industry, in conjunction with the world markets, has found a methodical medium between the two extremes by developing such methods to approximate relevant figures. Still, there are many areas of contention. Similar to the world of biblical interpretation, it is interesting to see how accounting principles have progressed over the past five years. Understandably, the world markets see the difficulties in producing purely relevant financial statements – there would be too much subjectivity and the result would be companies issuing financial statements that may be outrageously optimistic without basis. Unfortunately, the world of accounting does not have a Holy Spirit to keep the tension in check! But, an estimated “reliability” is not necessarily a better solution.

To go back to Silva’s article, he expresses my sentiments exactly on page 112 in discussing the progression towards reader-response theories, “To a practitioner of the historical method, it is simply shocking to hear that eisegesis may be a permissible – let alone the preferable! – way to approach the text.” To all Bible students, we must have heard countless times of the dangers of eisegesis. However, as I better understand the current environment, coupled with my understanding of relevance for readers of financial statements (would you invest in a company that only has their original costs on their financial statements?), it is clear that the purpose of a text is to effectively communicate an intelligible message that requires a response (pg. 121).

A quick post -- for once I am home relatively "early"!

Trying to really get into the richness of Exodus 1 to 15, the subject of our upcoming assignment. I'll see how fast I can write up this essay! Haha, meanwhile, I'm trying to drink of "God as the redeemer God"...

An aside on the mechanics of (Biblical) interpretation -- with reference to the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

All in all the movie was pretty true to the book, which is not *too* much a surprise as I'm sure it was quite a long journey for the producers to get the movie rights to begin with. Overall there were two things that I've wanted to blog about, ever since watching the movie way back when...

Whereas it was generally true to the book, the love of Aslan's sacrifice was only mentioned once -- and that in mockery by the white witch ["You call this.. love??"]. For those who do not know the story, I wonder if they understood the full impact of his sacrifice. For me, armed with a "pre-understanding" of the symbolic imageries, I found myself to be unexpectedly emotionally wrought, naturally drawing parallels with the extent of one man's own human and bodily sacrifice in the Passion of the Christ. Perhaps it was more effective that this was a children's movie portraying a brutal sacrifice of a noble lion -- which brought me down in worship.

The second item that I thought about was as a geeky student of biblical interpretation. BEWARE the dangers of interpretation by only looking at the level of the text (or, if you will, the "world of the text!) The white witch neglected to interpret the "world behind the text and her interpretation proved to be imcomplete, leading her to misapply, to her detriment! Aslan also did not forget the "world in front of the text as he understood the implications for himself!

Haha... anyway, back to the Bible commentary... and trying to determine whether I should consider the differences of JEDP. ;)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

A peaceful comfort in the middle of client-service busy season...

Psalm 100.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Sigh... ok, i'm not a huge fan of "tests" but this is just... a conditioned dream? I don't know. =p

You Should Get a MD (Doctor of Medicine)

You're both compassionate and brilliant - a rare combination. You were born to be a doctor.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Maybe I'll get around to it after I do an M.Div... haha... right.

As a personal response...[see this]

On this topic, would it be a reasonable assumption that we (as participants in this discussion, even if just in thought) are using "judge" as synonymous to "rebuke", and that we are not using "judge" in the "Divine Judge" sense? [as in to clarify, that we are communicating with a communal belief that we know we are not to judge as God judges and will (ultimately) judge] -- rather than to discuss semantics of those words...

But another question is -- what does rebuke mean?

Checking "rebuke" in Strong's concordance...

In the Greek, occurrences of rebuke as "elegcho" in Greek [Strong's G1651] have been used as "rebuke", "reprove", "expose", "convict", or "fault". I find it extremely interesting that a modern dictionary for "reprove" indicates gentleness or with kind intent. Rebuke doesn't, on the other hand. It's interesting that this instance of rebuke appears practically always in the context of Christian teaching, discipleship, and mutual edification.

Even more interesting is that the occurrences of "epitimao" [Strong's G2008] in Greek is largely used as "rebuke" or "charged" -- and primarily by Jesus only. There were only two instances when the word was not associated with Jesus speaking, and that's when Jesus' disciples started rebuking the crowd when everyone wanted to bring their babies so that Jesus could touch them, and bless them [Mark 10:13 and Luke 18:15 -- same incidence in both gospels], and the second instance was one robber rebuking the other robber as they were being crucified by Jesus.

Clearly, in the Greek, there is a difference even in the single English translated term "rebuke", essentially as his position as the Judge. In any case, I don't think we're disputing this... it's just so interesting!

Anyway, perhaps we are segregating among components of questions, for example:

- are we questioning people's hearts in the act of rebuking others?
- are we discerning among acceptable and unacceptable communication styles; since, what we encounter as the one who is communicated to may feel a different response than originally intended...
- and with a realization of potential misunderstandings, should a rebuker realize an ineffectiveness that may come with a "thou shalt be this way" attitude (or at least, the perception of this attitude even if it's not there)?

On the question of grounds... I think the short answer is Ephesians 5:21 -- of mutual submission. Interestingly, Ephesians 5:21 in the NASB is a direct continuation (rather than a new sentence and hence thought) from the previous passage and thought (pericope), and the G1651 "rebuke" is used as "expose" in Ephesians 5:11 and 13. [It's another interesting discussion on the translator's interpretation of the placement of Ephesians 5:21. ; )]

But some other instances of G1651 rebuke are:
Titus 1:9 - refuting those who contradict sound doctrine
Titus 2:15 - The truth of the gospel / grace of God will reprove with authority.
Matthew 18:15 - showing a brother his fault
1 Timothy 5:20 - a public rebuke against sin -- as a deterrent for others

But I am reminded by recent discussions and by Pastor Daniel's sermon today... that we are all fallen and inadequate... made to be righteous, was tainted by sin, was made righteous again, and by the grace of God... He continues to make us righteous in sanctification. And as all of us, who are God-fearing, Bible-believing, and faith-seeking-understanding followers of Christ... we do need each other as we work out our faith.

Do we all have moral authority? Yes. Do we all need to submit to it? Yes as well! Will we get a more positive response if we're harsher or gentler? Depends on who you're talking to! Are people more responsive to gentle rebukes? Probably!

I like the translation of G1651 into "convict" because it reminds me that we're used as messengers of the Spirit. Ultimately, it is the Spirit that convicts us of our sin... and it is the Spirit that convicts us to approach people of sin. But this conviction to approach people would also convict ourselves.

Nice discussion topic -- to make me think -- even if I didn't necessarily answer anything... it is so amazing to study the Word of God. Thanks. =)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Just got back home after spending some time in New York / Connecticut! New Year's was cool, although the club could have been a little more organized =p otherwise, it was just fun to hang out all (extended) weekend, and catch up on some rest.

Unfortunately, I feel a little sick, which led me to initiate my "smother" process. Actually, the train ride from Connecticut to the airport and the 3 hour delay was perhaps timely in this respect, giving me some nice quiet time to do some reading and reflection. I got through half of Bonhoeffer's "Life Together" which was a reflective read. I'm feeling better now, although I only realize now how much it hurt to talk -- after not talking for half a day. Think i'll try to refrain from speaking as much as possible for the next couple of days. =p

It's a new year, a new beginning, with many things to clean up from before, in all aspects, [enjoyed service on New Year's] and I'm looking forward to all of small group, work, friends and family, including those whom I missed last week.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet...

-- Psalm 8:4-6

Went to the Bodyworks exhibit today with my family. It's a cool exhibit -- really amazing how all the bodies were preserved and plastinated to show every single detail, or other specimens showing just the network of arteries or nerves... the complexities and intricacies of human body are just so amazing.

The above quotation was actually the first quotation of a series throughout the exhibit, which was also cool. To me, it is no question that anyone who studies the sciences, including the creator, Gunther Von Hagens, can deny the any intelligent design.

Just amazing... go see the exhibit (even though it's $25 =p).

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called,
Wonderful Counseller, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
-- Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is bo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-orn!

We went to watch the Messiah on yesterday -- it was the first time I've watched a full performance of it! I thought the performance was great and it actually went by swifter than I expected [I'm not generally a huge fan of vocal classical music]. I thought the conductor, Jane Glover, was absolutely fabulous and the Toronto Mendelssohn choir did not disappoint (they didn't disappoint for Beethoven's ninth either), although perhaps I had somewhat depressed expectations after hearing a plethora of criticisms last year. ;)

As always, Kevin Bazzana's programme notes pack a lot of classical music trivia/facts and it was interesting to read about the controversies that Handel stirred by promoting the musical form of the oratorio [a musical setting of a religious subject intended for public entertainment outside the church]. I guess I just haven't thought much on church history to realize that the questions of "form" will never change... that the debate of what is "appropriate worship" will continue, as it has since 1743 and probably long before that too.

Janey also pointed out that the Messiah was performed back then around Easter as the Messiah concludes with the confidence in the resurrection of Christ.

As I mentioned, I'm not generally a huge fan of classical music, and it would be interesting to travel back in time to see if people really enjoyed melisma. Sometimes, I wonder if Handel thought it would just be amusing to succomb a bass or any of the other voices to see if they would still make sense in expressing the lines of Scripture while packing into that line a couple dozen of notes. =p

The Hallelujah chorus was actually felt anti-climactic to me, although it could have been because I was figuring out where we were at that point. =p Of course, it is only the conclusion of Part II, whereas the real conclusion -- at Part III packs the climax of the oratorio. I enjoyed that final chorus (as well as the "For unto us a Child is born" chorus -- my favourite Christmas verse!) very much:

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. Blessing and honour, glory and pow'r be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. [Revelation V9 and 12-13]

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Last stretch...

Thank God for getting me through these few weeks; I've just clocked more hours than usual (seriously -- I'm a slacker!) Last week of the year-end fieldwork on the larger client, but then I'm juggling a few others over the next couple of weeks. Sadly, our group is very busy with work this December; it seems to have gotten much busier compared to last year. And unfortunately, we cannot be busy with all of the *other* busy December / Christmas stuff.

But, I have enjoyed spending the long hours with the rest of the team... we will survive! Haha...

I'm happy that we had a pretty good time of sharing last night at fellowship; hopefully we were able to provoke some self-evaluation / reflection / or in general, thought in everyone in order to better understand our inner passions and hopes for the fellowship.

Anyway, just a quick update and to say that I'm alive; I didn't really move to Mississauga permanently. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Ahh.. swamped... swamped...

I guess it was no suprrise that after my trips, I would spent a lot of time catching up on work that I neglected while I was away. In any case, this December seems a lot busier than last year, especially with many client complications. I guess I also have to deal with a lot more clients than I did last year.

Sadly, the entire (extended) team has been living to work, and sadly, most of my discussions surround the status of my "work". Still, I do find the camaraderie comforting as we support each other during this busy time.

Biblical Interpretation has already come and gone! I thoroughly enjoyed the course -- all of the classes that I attended, anyway. I find it amazing to continually learn about the Bible and how to better appreciate and understand it. Of course, the starting of understanding is simply *faith*.

Looking forward to the end of this busyness... until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

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FINALLY I was able to successfully install the Windows Chinese input! Don't think my Chinese is that grammatically correct either... but anyway. It's been a LONG time... and slightly too late, but at least I can do it now.

It's actually quite interesting that the pinyin is different between the PRC and Taiwanese Chinese selections... and is dependent on either simplified or traditional.

Anyway, I am back in Toronto and I've been swamped. Busy season has officially started for our teams... and it seems as though every team is having a rough ride. Sigh.. we'll get through it though! Go team! Haha...

It's also refreshing to come back to Tyndale class... I catch the last two classes. I really missed them.

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Ah! I'm on the road and my computer has broken down! Thank goodness for business centres where I can catch up with email (both work and personal) at night. This is quite ridiculous!

Although, it's been a good test... especially our last assignment that focused on Psalm 73.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to coming back home, after living out of a suitcase for about four weeks straight.. hope to catch up with everyone when I get back.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I'm back in Lincoln, Nebraska for a few days. Despite the travelling (including the fact that I need to connect in Chicago to get here,) I do look forward to coming here because it gives me some space and some quiet time. Not that I come here a lot (and much less now that I'm in a different role,) but some some reasons it feels like "home" here. Haha, perhaps it's the quiet midwestern hospitality, perhaps it's the quiet time which I really welcome, but it could also be the following letter, which is written on a card placed on our cards every day. It's a great greeting and definitely makes me feel at home. I posted this last year when I came here for the first time, but it has since been a whole year... so here it is again. I really like it. =)

To Our Guests

In ancient times there was a prayer for
"The Stranger within our gates"

Because this hotel is a human institution to serve people, and not solely a money-making organization, we hope that God will grant you peace and rest while you are under our roof.

May this suite and hotel be your "second" home. May those you love be near you in thoughts and dreams. Even though we may not get to know you, we hope that you will be comfortable and happy as if you were in your own house.

May the business that brought you our way prosper. May every call you make and every message you receive add to your joy. When you leave, may your journey be safe.

We are all travellers. From "birth till death" we travel between the eternities. May these days be pleasant for you, profitable for society, helpful for those you meet, and a joy to those who know and love you best.


Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Thank God for getting through these past two weeks... it has been nonstop, but "full" in a great way. Despite once again experiencing the anxious last minute assignment crunch for school, I had a great time the weekend before teaching a Bible Study workshop for the UWCCF retreat.

It was encouraging to receive positive feedback and to know that at least some students were empassioned and motivated to do more Bible studies in order to apply the theories, and in general, read God's living word. I was also asked to facilitate a strategic analysis of the fellowship, which turned into a visioning session --> action plan brainstorming session for them. Yu-ling was also there to lead a workshop on small groups, which was useful and insightful. He also shared some good material for visioning which immensely supplemented my very standard structure for the session... It also helps me think about what I want to do with fellowship at church.

As usual, CCF reminded me about the passion for serving Christ... It's unfortunate to know that I really enjoy doing Bible studies, yet don't spend that much time on them. So, I really need to *make* those opportunities to get me to do them. The next question is... "how?" I have envisioned a number of new things to start... the harder thing is to follow them through.

Just a quick update for now -- I'm finally experiencing a wireless hotspot that works (now that E&Y has changed our wireless software) at a Markham library. Back to writing for my Tyndale assignment!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

[A quick post while I have time before I go to bed... by 12!]

Project "Get Organized" has been quite successful so far!

The first week back to work was great. I was sleeping at around midnight and getting to work earlier than 8 in the morning!

Having been rejuvenated from my vacation, with a relatively clean plate [I was thankful that many things were put to bed before I left for Asia,] stepping into a new role as manager and now going into my main October-December client, I really felt the need to "get organized", in all aspects of my life. =p

So, from now, I am actually motivated to sleep early and get in early in order to be more on top of things before everything comes (crashing?) down.

Of course, the firm is preparing for our busy season as well and training has made everything more busy -- me being in training and also teaching -- but so far it's been manageable. Going back to school for Tyndale has been great too.. but really need to keep up with the readings.

Anyway, I'm thankful for rest and strength -- these two weeks have been really long, although they've all been really worthwhile, but I'm really looking forward to this long weekend. ;)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Same question that Anita has posed in the past...

Today was my first official day back from work, aside from our work retreat last Thursday and Friday, and since last thursday, I've been getting a lot of comments:

"You look really refreshed!"
"You're so relaxed! -- Good vacation??"

So how did I look before?? Haha...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Don't know why blogger was messing up the Chinese.

Hopefully this works now: the poem written by one of our students. Anyone care to do a translation for me? =p

I am home! I love the feeling of stepping back into YYZ... every single time! It feels great to come home.

I arrived on Tuesday night at midnight -- so really, in the end, I was only delayed for about 2 hours... which means I was getting worked up over nothing! Things always work out in the end!

Sorry I still haven't been around yet, I've been occupied with Tyndale and Ernst & Young activities so far, which has been nice to come back to many exciting things. Unfortunately, 3 weeks also seems like a long time to see so many things happen to the people around me and to the rest of the world...

Such great distress, of illness, pain, suffering, violence... there is so much more than this life!!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Delayed! Guess I was jumping the gun in thinking that my trip would be hassle-free -- my flight out of Beijing is delayed for 4 hours, which means that I will very likely miss my scheduled flight out of Vancouver to come home.

Anyway, I've come to accept that I will return home half a day or one day later. Oh well... there is probably a reason for this, if even, just to spend some quiet time (which I did pray for ... haha..) and catch up on some reading. For the first hour, though, I was frantically running around looking for a ticket counter while speaking my very broken Putonghua. Finally found and spoke to the right person at the right place though (very mah fan... entailed going back out of the China immigration departure checkpoint) but at least I'm thankful that I was able to ask the Air China rep to at least try *something*, even if to no avail... although I realize this is for my own satisfaction to say that I did exhaust my own avenues to try and change my flight.

Just another example of wanting to remain in control and do stuff on my own, rely on my own strength. On the plus side though, at least I'm on stranded in Beijing for one night, and I did get in reading time. I also finished "Return of the Prodigal Son" by Henri Nouwen which directly speaks about human weaknesses and our inadequate self-sufficiencies.

And I suppose it's also a blessing that internet is so expensive (despite any bargaining I tried =p) that I did not feel right to pay 100RMB for one hour of internet (paid 20HKD for 15 minutes now...) in order to kill time. However, the guy let me sit on the couch in the business centre so it's been nice to read here instead of in the noisy waiting areas.

Now, an hour and a half left to kill... I'll see how much I can get through of "Out of the Saltshaker..." I always muse that I bring books with the unreasonable expectation of reading any of it -- but it is a blessing to be given the opportunity to do so now!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Has three weeks (less two days) flown by so quickly?

I'm in the process of trying to pack all my stuff... I should have really taken up all offers for a bigger suitcase (I really have one medium-sized and one carry on). Oh well, making do with what I've got (and what other things my aunt can give me), just got to think out of the... suitcase. Just another challenge, or "game", haha! ;)

But, I am finally, done! Not a bad job, kf I could say so myself! ;) I thought I would be packing through the night; I may actually get one more hour than the trip to Asia!

Not particularly looking forward to 24 hours of travelling time, including overlays, but it will be nice quiet time -- hope that I will not be sleeping all the say through.

Anyway, I'm very thankful for this opportunity to come on this trip... and hope to share with you personally about China!

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

A poem that one of our students wrote for us -- really meaningful!

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Hello! Finally, Anita and I have arrived in Hong Kong after about 24 hours of travelling. I got to my aunt's at 12:30am or so... and as a late night snack, just *had* to have fish balls noodles!

It's so weird to travel; you just eat, sleep, eat, eat, sleep... continuously. We had delays in Toronto and in Beijing, but thank goodness there were no missed connections.

The weather here isn't too hot -- it's been raining nonstop for the past three days -- which makes the weather cool, but really really wet and humid.

Well, just looking forward to meeting up with friends for the next couple of days, and spending quiet time working on our lectures, which we *did* talk about on our flights! Unfortunately, instead of having a "working" leg, all of our flight legs turned into sleeping legs. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

I passed CFA!!! Thank God for that! I was quite worried about this one because I had no idea. I felt okay coming out of the exam; of course, I felt okay coming out of it the first time through too.

I get home at about midnight and my parents are going out... to go to the 24-hour Sobey's 15 minutes from our house (I think it's rather far)... just to go grocery shopping... at midnight. I love my family... haha...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Part of the reason of my split upbeat / solemn post on my birthday is because of an accident that happened to one of my UW Accounting classmates this week, Bonnie Ho.

No doubt, this incident has shaken many people, including many of my classmates, who may have never experienced any "young" deaths until now [she was 26]. Although most of my friends and I were not really close to Bonnie, it was inevitable to think about the past few years and about whichever encounters we had. It is very sad. Bonnie was a really nice person, very intelligent and diligent... I suppose like the rest of our class in general. =p

A bunch of my closer classmates and I went to the funeral this morning. The turnout from our class was tremendous; unfortunately it is sad that we are only brought together by this sad incident. Other than being a painful loss for her parents and sisters, she was going to be married to Jason, another classmate, in 6 weeks. I think that's the saddest part...

However, despite the grief, it is a solace to know that she is now with our Father in heaven. The funeral was a Catholic one, and even though I found the service overly solemn and monotonous, the message was clear:

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in ALLLLLLLLLLLL creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -- Romans 8:38-39.

[Probably my favourite verse. Of course, I must write the verse as I would say it; too bad I can't *really* write in the hand movement. =p ]

It is my prayer that those, especially in my class, who do not know Jesus will consider... that there is much more to this life, to this world... what is a >$100K job, when you can't bring the money anywhere? [And if you have to work so much you can't spend it anyway. =p]

It *was* joyous to see that a large number of classmates do know the Lord as they lined up for communion... but there is still much work to be done. God is sovereign -- as he has created, so he can take away. Man can only control so much...

Bonnie, may you enjoy the riches in heaven; until we meet again.
Jason, all of our prayers go out to you; may you be comforted as your mourn, and may you also one day meet us in heaven.

---------------------

On a more upbeat note though, after the funeral, Joyce and I went to Bally's for some exercise. It felt GREAT to swim again! Having missed *all* of my ultimate games this summer season, I have not exercised in a very long time! It was quite apparent last month in Yosemite walking on the trails... I couldn't believe how out of shape I already was at that time.

After our workout, I rushed home to shower in time for our "high tea" appointment! Thanks to Joyce, our social co-ordinator, we try to have a get-together every month. Windsor Arms was a great place... I highly recommend it! Better than the King Edward!

I was REALLY looking forward to this Saturday, to spend time with girls! Haha... it is so refreshing to laugh and joke, to catch up, to joke about guys ;) and (we do!) talk about other serious stuff. Especially, given the turn of events this week. Eva and Teresa also both work for PwC, Eva in the same office as Bonnie... I pray that one of the last ones of our circle will know Jesus. I'm happy that there have been some chances to share.

After eating a lot of desserts and an additional quarter of a cake (!!) [I *was* surprised...] we went to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was hilarious! Very well done! Go watch it! =)

Poor Teresa had a ridiculously early inventory count to do today, so she was beat... Joyce, Eva, and I went back uptown to [Hui Lau Saan], aka "the mango place" to the CBC world. ;) Bumped into some CCF-ers and some other classmates... I'm really thankful for these communities. =) Especially amazing how news among my classmates travelled really fast... I'm really happy to see this support among us, something that I never really felt before.

All in all, a packed day... very thankful for all of those around me, whether physically or through the cyberworld. ;)

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Thank you thank you thank you!

This day is always a reminder of God's abundant gifts every single year... and counting!

Something cool that my mom got from one of her clients, I'll see where we can hang it up in our house:



Unfortunately, while I'm celebrating my birthday, many others are not in such joyous occasions... this verse is quite fitting for the times, then [the Korean one]:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."
-- John 14:1

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

The view from our hotel room, the Merced River [very good soundproofing, I must say! When we went into the room at night we had no idea the river was right behind us!]. The Merced River is basically the river that carved out the entire Yosemite valley over time.


Amazing morning by the river drinking (pretty good) 3-in-1 instant oatmeal (actually, very much like my barley embryo drink) courtesy of Joyce.







I think our first major stop along the Tioga Pass Road: Lake Tenaya. Simply amazing...



A rushing creek by Tuolumne [pronounced "twah-lum-ne"] Meadows. This creek was rushing pretty quickly -- so the water was REALLY COLD!!! This was the first place where Joyce made me take off my shoes to get into the water. =p





On the way back out to the Valley, we decided to stop by Lake Tenaya again and get into the water (since we had already gotten into sandals and such). The plan was to set the autotimer to take a picture. There were no flat places to put the camera; I basically used Joyce's "slipper" to keep it level, haha... as could have been foreseen, I rushed down, lost my balance, and as the Chinese would put it, "dragged her into the water" -- literally, and translated literally. =p Notice my pants were all wet!

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We hiked up for a little bit by Lembert Dome.



Joyce's pretty balanced yoga "tree pose" in such a peaceful place in front of Lembert Dome.




My attempt at the "airplane" pose...


Haha.. just a "thinker" pose...


Haha, the Chinese version of the "Thinker", although I need to refresh my memory as to its name. =p


The *main* reason why I wanted to come to Yosemite in the first place... ignorant me didn't realize the rest of the beautiful sights there!


A giant sequoia pinecone! Isn't it kind of freaky??

Second road trip!

On Sunday, we attended Teresa's church service at the River of Life Church. It is the biggest Chinese church I have seen outside of Asia! Their history is quite interesting though, just an amazing church that is rooted in prayer and missions.

Then on Monday, Joyce and I headed out for our second road trip to Yosemite National Park.

Amazing -- could it really be by chance?

Distance-wise, it is not too far from San Jose, but a lot of the roads are mountainous; the total drive time is exactly 4 hours. Having slept in, we left at around noon, so we arrived to check in at our hotel right at 4pm. Every day, there is a sunset tour that leaves from our hotel at 4pm; everyone has to reserve early because a dinner is arranged. But we asked if we could join if we had our own food; there was room, so the tourguide was happy to have us join them! Timing couldn't be more perfect. [We also saved $10 because we weren't going to eat their food, haha.]

The tourguide was an amazing person, just exuding with joy and awe at nature. On the tour, we took a couple of trail hikes that most tourists don't find [but there are SO many hikes you can take at Yosemite, it's a huge park.] so it was really nice.

Here's a map of Yosemite (pdf) for reference.

The sunset walking tour took us close up to the Yosemite Falls, short hike to Bridalveil Falls, the quiet frog-singing Summit Meadow, up on the Glacier Point Road and a moderate hike atop Sentinel Dome for the sunset. After the sun went down, we hiked back to the parking area and just admired the starry, starry night sky. Our tourguide, Sarah, was incredibly knowledgeable about all aspects of nature, including the constellation-laden sky... pointing out and describing the size of the Scorpio constellation (too bad we couldn't rotate the earth... it's cut off in half by the horizon) and others.

The size of the park and the sights are just incredible.

The next day, Joyce and I explored on our own, and following Sarah's advice, took the less-taken Tioga Road to Tuolumne Meadow. The drive didn't take a long as we expected [it's *so* fun to drive... mastering the mountain curves, haha, despite my fear of heights. =p] Along the way or on the way back, we stopped at Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake (beautiful!), Tuolumne Meadow area, and around Lembert Dome. Finally, took a tour of the Yosemite Valley (it's the most popular place but we didn't spend too much time there), before heading down to the Mariposa Grove of giant Sequoias. All in all, we covered a *lot* of ground!

Of course, being as silly as we were, the breathtaking scenery was accompanied by silly photo-taking. =p [click on photos to enlarge]


Generic shot of "Cathedral rocks", one of Yosemite's many signatures.



Bridalveil falls from a slight distance. At its peak, it's the fifth-longest "single-stream" waterfall. We came at an amazing time! The strength of the waterfall is determined by melting snow; usually by July, the waterfalls are drying up, if not dry, but due to the heavy snowfall this past winter, the waterfalls were still going strong!





The two of us getting wet underneath Bridalveil





Summit Meadows, where we were listening for singing frogs, but some people were making a lot of noise around to distract...





Incredible sight on top of Sentinel Dome







Backdrop looks fake =p but it was amazing!








So romantic! Haha...

One day's worth of pictures first... =)

Don't know why I've been feeling so sluggish lately. My guess is the post-vacation apathy coupled with a couple of really lax weeks at work. But still, my motivation level is usually not this low!! I've really got to get my act together though, in order to get through the upcoming four weeks. Not just in terms of physically getting through, but really striving for the excellence that I used to know in all that I do.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Road trip!

Fortunately, Teresa was able to take Friday off so the three of us head out for our road trip to Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. It was great to be pretty leisurely and spontaneous; on Thursday night, Teresa researched the directions while I researched some vineyards... but we were to leave only after we had breakfast at Cheesecake Factory (which unfortunately, was at 11am -- should have researched that one more.)

We drove pretty much over the three days, taking the scenic routes (including going around for the Golden Gate Bridge). Finally, we arrived at our chosen winery at around 4pm, Sterling Vineyards. We chose this one mainly because it was well advertised and boasted a gondola ride up to the main building for the winery tour and tasting room.

[Finally, a picture with the three of us.]


The "impressive" presentation at the bottom of the gondola ride to attract tourists.


The winery tour was... okay. It was mainly self-narrated, but the view of Napa Valley was so nice. As an aside, for winery tours, I do highly recommend the Jackson-Triggs tour (one of the bigger producers in the Niagara region). When I went we had a great tour guide -- and all of the tours are led by a tour guide! The admission is also less expensive. =p

Of course, Niagara doesn't have *quite* the backdrop as Napa Valley:



We tasted five different wines... all of which I didn't like except for one, the lightest sauvignon blanc, which I did end up bringing home! My pallet is weird -- if I don't like the taste of something, I physically can't swallow it. So that's the main reason I don't drink alcohol... and that also goes for a lot of wines. Oddly, that also goes for milk.



After the tasting, we head out for Lake Tahoe, which was a great mountain road drive. We were working the poor Pontiac Vibe pretty hard! TOO BAD I didn't have my own car, it would have been *so* great to take those turns with it. ;) I'm not sure about the elevation of Napa Valley, but Tahoe's at about 8000 ft. It was quite a drive. =) [Haha.. I love driving...] We drove into Lake Tahoe just as it got dark. Fortunately we found an open hotel room at the Best Western for a good price! Great timing!

Lake Tahoe is popular for its ski hills in the winter and watersports in the summer. The three of us, being difficult Chinese females, didn't want to get wet. =p So we mainly enjoyed the sights (including walking through some of the casinos that were right on the California / Nevada border line), [the Lake is split up the middle between the two states,] and waited to take a short boat cruise into the lake.



The boat cruise was... okay. =p The three of us also went to the Dominican with another friend, and our best boat cruise was there. Of course, *that* was labelled as a party boat and being in the Dominican, alcohol poured freely and some people were pretty crazy. =p The crowd here was more family-oriented and definitely, wouldn't be called crazy. It was a nice ride nonetheless -- just slightly windy though!



The drive back was much easier going downhill and we safely made it back to San Jose in good time. Oh yes, a picture of Teresa's one-bedroom apartment -- it was such a blessing to stay there for free, haha... very spacious with high ceilings. [I don't think either of us knew Joyce took this picture...]



Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

San Francisco!

Joyce and I arrived in California on Wednesday night. Teresa still had to work so just the two of us went into San Francisco as tourists. We took the CalTrain in (kind of like the Go train, but smaller) and explored the city on our own.

I like San Francisco -- it's such a laid-back west-coast city. Weather was amazing -- the Bay area gives a nice breeze. Of course, we took a tram ride, and as I mentioned before, the "conductor" Jamie gave us a short lesson how to drive it. It's pretty cool!



My "Darth Vader" friend *trying* to make it go, haha [Just put your body into it!]



No, I don't have any pictures of Darth Vader with her mask down. Of course, it doesn't matter, I could easily just post something like this and it would just as easily passed off as her. =p



Anyway, of course, we got to the Fisherman's Wharf, the piers, and expected to see the many sea lions that have taken over Pier 39. I didn't expect this!! I couldn't believe it! One lone sea lion!



We also checked out the SF Museum of Modern Art and walked around Union square for a bit before leaving for the day. All right, so I had to walk around with Darth Vader, but she had to walk around with me. Of course, a picture of me on the phone... with my big hat. =p



Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Ok, thought I'd change the layout since there's no use trying to fit old wine into new wineskins...

I'm back in Toronto!

Took a week off to spend time with a couple of classmates -- sort of a UFE study group vacation! Teresa has free housing and a free car in San Jose so Joyce and I decided to visit and explore the west coast. It was a great trip -- incomparable weather, incredible sights. Due to Joyce's charm, we also got a San Francisco tram-driving lesson! ;)

More to come... but to leave off for now, I just have to complain that I had to walk around with a Darth Vader. How embarassing. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Way to go, Albert!

First place in his division at the Canadian National Kendo championships!

Go YAM!

Argh... I don't know what happened to the font in my template because I didn't change anything! I just posted it and everything got screwed up... will fix it later, somehow... argh... =p Meanwhile, you'll just have to deal with the LARGE font (driving me nuts!)

A bunch of us went to watch the movie the other day -- probably the best turnout I've seen since "Along Came Polly". Anyway, I think it's safe to say that no one was disappointed with the movie; I don't think I've read any bad reviews about it yet. I did enjoy it thoroughly!

Aside from the action thriller part of the movie, the movie does deal with issues such as

- What is justice? --> Vengeance?
- How much can one person do?
- to a lesser extent "What is balance?" [A convoluted definition of balance as the antongonistic objective...]
- and finally, "It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you."

I know I am initiating a semi-pointless and resolutionless discussion [it's all about semantics, I know, and I'm not making any arguments, per se], but here goes... for some reason, that line really makes me uncomfortable! Perhaps it is because I have always preached about the importance of one's character; in fact, that is what God sees of every one of us. A simple tally of "good works" easily becomes hollow because man's motive is so often and easily clouded. I am reminded of my previous post about the New Pioneer Awards back in March -- I was too lazy to post my follow-up sentiments about the night. As impressive as each award winner was, I couldn't help feel that it was all about building personal empires which realistically can be "destroyed" in a night. What lasts?

On the other hand, I am reminded by the apostle James in his book, which to me, summarizes the moral of the movie:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

- James 2:14-17

Taking it one step further, I am reminded of the Catholic Council of Trent, which essentially declared justification by the merits of good works (as opposed to the protestant position of faith). Even though this comparison is not really accurate (topic of fighting for justice vs. salvation), I just want to present the discussion about semantics... "faith" according to the Catholic church, did they mean to exclude works anyway? Not that I agree with the institutional nature of the Roman Catholic church, but their doctrine...

And not that I disagree with the line from the movie, I just don't like how it's worded even though the underlying message (although not explicitly stated) is the same...

Anyway... just a discussion of what went through my mind after the movie... that's "type C" for you.. =p

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."

There's nothing like listening to the Christmas Song at any time during the year!

Haha... anyway, an item of praise: I've finally qualifed for the CA designation after a long wait! Haha... so yes, I can officially do passports now! Haha...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

Guess it's only been two weeks since the CFA. Still, I have not started my Mandarin "classes" in preparation for a brief visit to China this August [even though it was refreshing to go to Janey's Ryerson class.] Just need to see what I need to drop over the next couple of months...

Now recruiting for my next "initiative" -- Tyndale course BIBL 0501 - Biblical Interpretation -- Tuesday nights 6:30 to 9:30 [unless anyone would consider taking it in Oakville -- that's on Thursday nights instead]. [You can probably audit the course if you don't want the credit...]

Any takers?? [See the Fall term course calendar (pdf file).]

Think I'll take a break from the CBV for now... still debating if I want to dump more money into that one.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

The exam is over! Now, I can *really* start to enjoy my summer! Looking forward to practising mandarin, getting back in shape, catching up on my expense reports, finishing my taxes (I know... it's bad...), and really, just *rest*.

Need to slow down and think more...

Yes, I've *way* exceeded my unspoken "at least one blog per month" rule.

I guess for the past while, I've been trying to enjoy the great weather by jogging or playing Ultimate (Go team Vertigo!) I haven't been working *too* much, which has been nice. But I *am* studying for the CFA... so really, I'll continue blogging after that. =p

But Daniel, there are more letters coming... haha

I've been good this week, getting home at decent hours (before 11!)

Tonight, for some reason, I picked up the April 2005 issue of CA magazine (I don't remember the last time I did that... but I think I did it because this one wasn't shrink-wrapped -- I'm usually too lazy to open it.) Every so often the magazine features some super-accountant who pursues his or her life dream while building up a solid accounting career.

Well, this issue featured Darren Lee, whose resume features the following timeline:

2001 - obtains CA designation
2002 - becomes tax manager at KPMG
2003 - obtains CFA and CPA designations
2004 - competes at Les grands amateurs de piano, Paris, and then leaves KPMG to pursue his music career!

Sigh... what am I doing with my life?? But wow, just imagine the possibilities! The article is funny -- and I do agree with him how music is analytical and technical details are worked out int he same thorough manner as in accounting. Hahahaha...

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.

All done -- At least for the time being! The next one is June 4th... But I'll worry about that after a short break. =) Good thing th CFA is all multiple choice because I'm afraid any more case type exams just will not be legible! Usually, at least the first question is neatly written. Today, it was chicken scratch all the way through... So much for any attempts to try and improve my penmanship.

I wrote the Law and Tax exam today--it's towards the CBV designation (Chartered Business Valuator), something that I kind highly doubt I will get. I don't know, I don't really know *what* I want to do with my career... I should probably settle down soon though.

Anyway, I got home tonight and had nothing urgent to do! It was nice to just tidy my room, change my sheets, etc. And of course, the Yam family's newest pasttime, Taiko Drum Master!





Haha...

Exciting times at First Canadian Place...



Bad picture, I know... my friend and I were geeks and took pictures from our phones. His is much better though!

It's George from the Apprentice, signing his new book! Haha..

I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch!

Crazy going slow am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, switch!

All right, I'm procrastinating. At least I'm getting *some* studying done... I'm done my second pass of Advanced. Now onto Law & Tax, for which I am still finishing up my first pass.

I'm going crazy because my desk is all cluttered up and I don't want to spend the time to clean it up! And on my desk are the following two *cute* cars... I couldn't resist doing this... haha.

I love my Mini Cleaner.. it's so cute! As much as my mini Mini Cooper, although I realize the mini Mini Cooper isn't as functional as the Mini Cleaner, haha.







All right, back to studying, kind of... Hm, can anyone guess the functionality of the Mini Cleaner, actually? =) I suppose it's not that obvious at first glance.

Until next time, this is Gladys Yam.