Trav'ling Whisperer

The catchy lyrics with the catchy tune with the catchy drum pattern goes: "And if our God is for us Then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us Then what could stand against?" -Words and Music by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman, "Our God" It's a rhetorical question, but I'll answer anyway - it's nothing.  Not even my ceaseless selfishness.  In Matthew 16 - Peter, the rock on whom the church would be built, rebuked Jesus for prophesying His own death by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, saying "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!".  In response, Jesus says, "Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." Satan.   Merely human  concerns.  Ouch.  But there's hope!  As I alluded to before, in Matthew 16:18, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my churc

Strawberries, Deglet dates, cinnamon, coconut, sunflower seed butter on top of oatmeal.  And a Texas grapefruit :)

There is something therapeutic for me in typing out lyrics... We are not what we should be We haven't sought what we should seek We've seen Your Glory, Lord...but looked away Our hearts are bent, our eyes are dim Our finest works are stained with sin An emptiness has shadowed all our ways Jesus Christ Shine into our night Drive our dark away... Till Your Glory fills our eyes Jesus Christ Shine into our night Bind us to your cross Where we find light Still we often go astray We chase the world forget Your grace But You have never failed to bring us back Reveal the depths of what You've done The death you died, the victory won You've made a way for us to know your love Written by Joel Sczebel

Bike-riding in San Francisco is great exercise and great fun!  I like to rent a bike, helmet, lock, and basket from the Sports Basement by the Golden Gate  and set off to explore San Francisco!  This Sports Basement also has a large selection of clothes :)

"And why did they nail his feet and hands? His love would have held them there." "Why?" by Michael Card & John Michael Talbot The melody and singing sound really medieval and so I'm not a huge fan of those aspects - but, I do like the lyrics.  Here they are below: Why did it have to be a friend who chose to betray the Lord? And why did He use a kiss to show them, that’s not what a kiss is for Only a friend can betray a friend, a stranger has nothing to gain And only a friend comes close enough to ever cause so much pain And why did there have to be a thorny crown pressed upon His head It should have been a royal one made of jewels and gold instead It had to be a crown of thorns, because in this life that we live All who would seek to love, a thorn is all that this world can give And why did it have to be a heavy cross he was made to bear And why did they nail His feet and hands, His love would have held them there It was a cross, for upon a cro

I have been learning so much at  BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) .  I am so glad that my mother urged me to enroll in it when I was feeling so lonely after summer 2013.  Leaving my women's group in San Diego was difficult, but the new BSF group I attend in Mountain View is wonderful!  The lectures every Monday are interesting, well-prepared, and filled with wisdom from Scripture and from the teaching leaders' experiences. We have been going through the Gospel of Matthew  this year, and tonight, we were going through  Matthew 26 .  The teaching leader tonight, Terri (oh, I love her lectures), gave a mini principle: "when Christians fail, it is never final.  When Christians fall, they fall into greatness."  I can think of so many times in my life where I fail and fall hard, and God always picks me up and makes something great  out of my mistakes.  And I mean always .   Terri also asked us a question as we pondered Judas' betrayal of Jesus for a meager price (

Mo, I miss you.

I saw this baby (extra-large photo so you can see how cute she is!) with my own eyes in Kaohsiung City (高雄市, why is the English spelling so complicated?), Taiwan's Lotus Pond temple.  No, I didn't take the picture...my friend did. Here's a picture from Google of the Lotus Pond temple !  You can walk in and out of the mouths of tigers and dragons without getting hurt. :) The temple is in a country-side area, and they sell the most delicious, fresh meat jerky there.  It's not chewy like the beef jerky in the U.S. - it's crispy, red (tastes like the sauce on Beijing Pai Gu ), and delish.  I'm starting to salivate.  (Picture below from here )

I met the sweetest black cat at Drake's Bay Oyster Farm named Aphrodite.

I have had the most delicious lunch for the past week: bell pepper, cucumber, eggplant, onion, garlic all in brown rice!  I am looking forward to eating it this week as well! I made pickled cucumbers yesterday (mirin, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey) and sprinkled toasted sesame seeds on top! Perfect for this warm weather :)

It has been warming up very nicely (but we in Cali are in a drought )!  Last night, I sat out by the lovely pool in our apartment complex. Today, I went rock climbing at Planet Granite Sunnyvale  and then sat out by the pool...I had a wonderful day today!

This weekend, I decided to visit Japan Town in San Jose!  It is on one street that goes for a few blocks - but according to jtown.org , it is one of the last three authentic Japan Towns in the U.S.!  I want to check out their farmer's market that is put on every Sunday! It seems like there are several stores that I went to that are well-known:  Gombei (restaurant, cash-only), San Jose Tofu Company (you can order the Chinese dessert,  Dou Fu Hua , there; cash-only), Banana Crepe  (cash-only), Jimbo's (Hawaiian food, has natto/mochi/ice cream/normal lunch food, $3.75 credit card minimum), and Nijiya Market (groceries)! One of the shops, Jimbo's, sells ice cream from Marianne's in Santa Cruz!  I got the Macapuno (young coconut) flavor, and it was so delish.  It even had chunks of real coconut in it!

I've been adding coconut to everything recently.  It just makes everything yummier! 1/4 cup        steel-cut oatmeal 1 cup           water 1 tbsp          sunflower seed butter 1 tbsp          strawberry jam A splash      almond milk A sprinkle   shredded coconut Cook the steel-cut oatmeal in water, stirring occasionally until the consistency of the oatmeal satisfies you.  Add a splash of almond milk, your sunflower seed butter, and strawberry jam.  Sprinkle coconut on top and you have a yummy, healthy breakfast!

Have you played with fire before?  How about colored fire ? I was literally marveling at its beauty for 30 minutes straight (see beautiful pics below)!  The natural color of a fire is partly determined by its black-body radiation level (a red flame is cooler than an orange flame is cooler than a yellow flame is cooler than a white flame).  Using chemicals, we can change the atomic emission spectra of soot and gas to change the colors of the fire we see (ref:  popsci , wiki - colored fire ,  wiki - black-body radiation ).

Have you seen the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco ( history , reviews , wiki ) during the daytime? It's beautiful, isn't it? I have been twice in the daytime and have seen one wedding there.  Here it is in the night time.  It took my breath away!

For Chinese New Year 2014 (it fell on Jan. 31), I got to give out these cute envelopes that I bought while in Hong Kong! Instead of the traditional lucky candy, I put Hi-Chews in them :) Did you do something for Chinese New Year? Please share in the comments below!

I went to Tahoe twice this season!  They were perfect weekends! Here is the Treetop Adventure Course (obstacle course with zip-lining!) at Granlibakken Resort!  It costs $45 for a three-hour session (I did 4 obstacle courses in that time!).  Bring sturdy shoes, a pair of thin gloves, and a brave heart! Here is a course at Squaw Valley! Here is the lovely campfire seating area at Squaw!  There are delicious Belgian waffle and crepe carts behind the camera :) Here is the view from one of the cable cars at Squaw!  You can see Lake Tahoe on the left behind the mountains! Have tips for visiting Tahoe? Please share in the comments below!

1             Mango 1             Avocado 1/2         Frozen Banana 1/2 cup  Pineapple 1 cup      Almond milk 1/4 cup  Shredded coconut Blend all ingredients together for a delicious smoothie! My favorite part is the bits of coconut in every bite! Please share your favorite smoothie recipe in the comments below!