MERDEKA

'Merdeka' is a word in the Malay language meaning 'independence' So Hari Merdeka (INDEPENDENCE DAY) is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule. In a wider context it is to celebrate the formation of Malaysia!

And 31st August 2007 marks the 5oth year of this country's indepence!!!!
Every year mumsie's church will hold a mass on this day asking parishioners to pray for peace and justice ect ect ect...This year our Cathedral in conjunction with this celebration gave some of her parishioners a 'MAKAN' ...The church gave us a 'sumptious ' lunch at Tai Son Restuarant as a 'thanksgiving' and 'appreciation 'do...for all those who has helped in the church 'in some way or other' as Shirley Howe the 'chief'' of the Parish Council puts it....And Mumsie and Daddy was invited..!!!!
So the service started with some of the parishioners marching in with the flags of the different states that make up Malaysia...
The church encouranges all its parishioners and all those who take part in the ceremony to wear the 'national' costume...and so as each flag was brought in they were put on the altar....

'Uncle ' Whyner who works in the church (and he happens to be mumsie's boys's Godpa) was there to help them to place the flags on the flag poles

The church and its proud Malaysians...ooops they were quite a few Singaporeans and Singaporean PRs and Philipinos...

Most of the parishioners came in colourful national costumes...wonder if mumsie can suggest to the Parish Council that next year to give a prize for the best and most pretty national costume!!!

The last flag to be brought into the church is of course our 'Cemalang' national flag......then we sang our National Anthem..

Wonder if these youths will appreciate Merdeka Day???

All ins all 5 priests and one deacon were present to say today's mass.....with Father Peter being the main celebrant....

Father Peter...ajusting the National Flag

Then he 'blesses' it

then he blesses the altar

The whole mass was in BAHASA..even the liturgy was read in BAHASA....(mumsie is a bit loss here)

All the readers were dressed in national costumes

All readers read in Bahasa... Wonder if you have ever heard the Usual prayer of our Lord...the Our Father ever said in BAHASA?? It goes something like this......

Bapa kami yang ada di syurga, (OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN)

Dimuliakanlah nama-Mu (Holy be your Name)

Datanglah kerajaan -Mu (Your kindom come,)

Jadilah kehendak-Mu (Your will be done)

di atas bumi seperti di dalam syurga ( on earth as in heaven)

Berilah kami reziki pada hari ini (Give us today our daily bread)

DAN AMPUNILAH KESALAHAN KAMI (forgive us our sins)

SEPERTI KAMIPUN MENGAMPUNI (as we forgive those who shin against us.

YANG BERSALAH KEPADA kami

Dan janganlah masukkan kami ke dalam percubaan, (Do not bring us to the test)

tetapi bebaskanlah kami dari yang jahat (but deliver us from evil)

See all those flags behind the priests....

Except the priests most of the parishioners were quite patriotic...most of them came in national costumes....

5 priests and one deacon....(priest to be) and today @ the restuarant Father Peter anounces that Brother RYAN will be ordained as a priest on October 1st this year.....

The Altar 'Servers' we used to call them Altar Boys....now they allow girls to take part so gotta call them Altar servers!!!

The Chinese choir......

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These are the 'communion' ministers....the people who distribute 'the body of Christ'..to us... They too came in batek shirts!!

The church is 'full' and I'm sure Father Peter is very happy....normally the attendance for 'Merdeka Day ' mass is 'luke warm' but today it is full!!!

The General Intercession or "prayers of the Faithful" presenting some intention for prayers...today were prayed in 7 languages....English, Bahasa, Tamil, Philipino, Sabahan, Sarawak, and Chinese....

Recently our Cathedral 'created' a fountain for babtism and today Father Peter the 'boss' of the Cathedral invited our 'Bishop Emeritus' (retired Bishop Chan) -as our present Bishop is in Thailand attending a meeting...to bless this fountain

Nothing is wrong with mumsie's photography.. Bishop Emeritus..'s face is covered with smoke...that's why it's a bit 'blur'

The whole service was in Bahasa.... and with the help of this overhead projector...mumsie was able to follow the mass quite 'comfortably' but had to admit that when it comes to the reading of the day (liturgy) and the Gospel....mumsie dunno what it was all about...There are times when the church has'multi-lingual' services ie BAHASA, CHINESE TAMIL AND ENGLISH all at once but mumsie has never attended mass in only BAHASA......Every thing was in BAHASA today except a few hyms and part of todays's homily

(sermon given by the priests...during mass...that draws upon some aspect of the readings or the liturgy of the day though some priests use this part of the service to 'lecture' us...some to 'scould' us, but today Father Peter read part of ArcBishop Pakiam's homily...asking us to pray for peace and justice....and hope yes hope that our govt. will continue to give us 'freedom' in worship and 'transparency ' in jurisdiction......ect ect .

Young and old, they came in their national outfits...

Mumsie like this outfit

After the service (mass) we ajourned @ the restaurant...for our lunch ... About 50 tables....

Daddy met some of his "patients" there ...Wency, Michael and Migale...one of Daddy's babies...ya he delivered her a few years ago! Quite a few of daddy's 'babies' were there too....

Shirely Howe the chairperson of the Parish Council making a speech before the makan......AND the 'lucky draw' hampers...

The first dish of the day...sorry too busy eating so forget to take photos of the rest of the dishes.....Any way daddy didn't get to taste any of the dish cos he was 'called out' to deliver a baby...before the first dish was served and didn' t get back when the last dish was served...so mumsie gotta take a lift back home..........(sigh)

DAY6 JULY 22ND VENICE

After getting off the coach we were taken by boat to VENICE nicknames include "City of Water", "City of Bridges" and "The City of Light" . Venice makes you a believer in fairy tales!! Cars are banned, so the only way to get around the old city is by FOOT or by water. So we got out of our coach and was taken by "water taxi' the only means of public transport to our hotel

On our way to the hotel...seems there'll be another 'lorry' boat taking our luggage for us...

We went on the GRAND canal and all the way we were able to admire the amazing achitectecture of this great city. Venice is a very very magical destination...

ALL thru our journey the canal is lined with magnificent palaces each one more beautiful then the next...The Grand Canal is the main thoroughfare thru Venice. And with its worldwide reputation brings with it hoads of tourists! Even though it is one of the world's most expensive cities in the world mumsie thinks only a few people will regret coming here!!

With its hotels, restaurants boutiques, casino and of course gondolas, the Grand Canal is the greatest attraction in Venice

Venice is a dream shimmering on the waters, a city of painted palaces and serene churches. Except that in this case, the dream came true..

This unique urban masterpiece has canals instead of streets, boats instead of buses, and ornate bridges instead of subways.....

Mumsie has never seen anhything like this before So mumsie's camera keep on 'clicking'

We're still on the Grand Canal

Venice is rotting away, sinking slowly into the sea

they say. Yet most everybody who comes to Venice comes away entranced.

Gondolas in the Grand Canal

The Gondola rides are EXPENSIVE tourist attractions (dunno about romantic) 80 euros for 20 to 30 mins!!!!..not included in our Tour..so gotta join the 'optional tour'....but our tour director managed to get us 'discounted price'

Venice also often called the Queen of the Adriatic is an unbelievable mix of land and water, strait alleys and wide canals, bridges and islands, fish markets and palaces, oozing an atmosphere comparable to no other place...

Look Daddy is bz bz bz with his video cam.. throughout the journey to our hotel!

Historical palaces along the Grand Canal

Historical buildings along the Grand CAMA;

Some of the most typical isghts in Venice are its bridges......

Finally we arrive at a 'harbour' of Venice. WELCOME TO VENICE...or VENETO in Italian...the city of the canals. This city is known as the most serene among Venetians, because of the absence of cars and mopeds in its streets.

We landed at the 'harbour' of St Mark's Square..

cos our hotel is only 3 mins from St. Marco the biggest space in VENICE

You can see here the San Marco Square, the Basilica and the Bell Tower. It's possible to go to the top of this bell tower, from where you can see a fantastic view of the city (if the day is clear)...mumsie and family didn't do that..even

though our ticket include this place...? no time or ? no energy to climb..
This is taken @ the "water" entrance of our hotel

(there are 2 enctrances...one via water and the other via foot...ie dry land) Mumsie's bathroom

And beds

Window scene from Celine's room

Celine's room ..has upstairs and downstairs...

The stairs @ the hotel leading us to our rooms

This the other entrance..via boat..literally the boat parked outside this door

This is the 'landing' where they unload our luggage

The hotel's name is Albergo Rist. All'Angelo...3 star (could be fairly expensive...Venice being the most expensive city in Italy and also this hotel is sooooooo

near the tourist area...and it also boast that it has a private water landing, allowing guests to arrive and depart by water taxi directly to the door step...only 50 meters from ST Marco The Hotel's Restaurant and like all Itailian Restaurant has outdoor tables...

Eleanor trying to get everybody's attention @ St Mark's square

Look at all the pigeons...

This is also the busiest places in town. In this square one find orchestra cafes, but what makes this square unique are its visitors, you will find people form all over the world.

St Mark's Basilica...This is one of the most beautiful cathedrals mumsie has ever seen...

After a short rest @ our hotel we joined another optional tour "A Venetian night out.." we were taken by private water taxi to a picturesque fishing village of Burano, renowned for pastel-coloured houses, and a four-course dinner .

Along the way we passed by quite a few big liners and ships

The Bell tower of Burano at the far end

Burano is a small island in the Venetian lagoon with a lace making past.

We were taken to this restuarant for our dinner

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Our tour companions...we were informed that not everyone might not appreciate being on our sourvenir home video or holiday photo, so gotta respect the their privacy but as days go by we got 'more and more friendly' so you might find more pics of our travelling companions

Our tour director Eleanor and Nick one of our tour companion...

Beautiful lace umbrellas

..And beautiful pictures made of lace

And they are all hand made..

Mumsie would like very much to learn this art...

Handmade lace is labour intensive and EXPENSIVE !!!!!!!!

Only a few steps but look at the 'thing' stuck on the wall, when 'pulled' down this is a 'chair lift' which means that one can put the wheelchair on it and move the chair up & down the steps

Mumsie loves these flowers on top of the shops!!

Burano is much quieter, less crowede and quite colorful. There is very little business or shopping here, as it's almost all residential.

Nice bread but they never er come with butter

Think this is Polenta...made by slowly stirring maize flour into boiling salted water or is it some kind of risotto....

This is how they served their spaghette...mumsie thought that since Venice is always boasting about their sea food they would served this pasta dish diffently..with clams...ect ect

Venice cuisine is based largely on seafood . Nowadays Venetian food is known for its so,pilicity with plain pepper and salt as the principal means of gingering up a meal..Fish and seafood dominate the restaurant menus...
Our travelling companions...husbands on one side wives on the other

Typical Venetian sweets...zaeti , biscuits . .supposed 'wonderful' when dunked in sweet Vin Santo...(not a favourite of mumsie)

After dinner a slow walk back to our taxi boat then back to the mainland. Daddy with Josephine...

Taken just outside of our restaurant

Trying to get the 'Best shot'

The houses , it is said were painted htese brilliant colours out of the fishermen's desire to see their own houses from far out at sea

Thes small brightly-painted houses are popular with artists. The colours of the houses follow a specific system originating from the golden age of developement, if someone whishes to paint their home one mst send a request to the govt, who will respon by making notice of the certain colours permitted for that lot. This practice has resulted in the myriad of warm, pastelly colours that characterises the island today.

By the time we were 'ferried' back to Venice it's night...so the scenery changes to night scene

After landing we stroll back to our hotel and we passed by many bridges and restaurants

One of the many bridges of Venice

Walking toward St Mark Square

One of the many landings for gondolas

Passed by some shops

The night scene at St Mark Square is very different from the day time...The restuarant around put out chairs and tables and also a big stage for their life band...!!!

Planning to take a coffee and sit at St Mark? Beware of the hidden covercharge . Tje sogm saod "8 Euro" for the coffee. So that means 16 Euro for 2. However when the bill arrives don't get shocked to see 55 Euros for 2 coffees. The explaination?? The place charges for sitting thier chairs and listening to their orchestra!!!!

And their orchestra is no ordinary orchestra....

They are really good.... And they were about 4 restaurants around St Mark and each one has their own band...so if like mumsie who didn't sit down and had coffee we were able to move around to listen to all the orchestra!!!! And free of charge...

After which we went back to our hotel which is only 3 mins walk from here!!!!!! Thanks to Globus....