Best Yum Cha in Melbourne

The Age 

Date: 19/1/10

Found on this article on The Age today.

So the best according to their taste is...

The Yum Cha Directory

Best all-rounder Golden Dragon Palace
Best prawn dumpling David's
Best pork siu mai David's
Best pork bun East Imperial
Best vegetarian Mahjong & Oriental Tea House
Best condiment Red Door

Golden Dragon Palace
363 Manningham Road, Lower Templestowe 98524086
Food ****and a half
Atmosphere ****
Noise factor ***
Trolleys Yes
Yum cha Daily lunch (dishes $4.40-$9.80)

GDP's food is a cut above. Dumplings are flavour-packed parcels, the balance of flavour and texture just right, like soft pork siu mai and Shanghai dumplings with a hot burst of salty broth. Roast pork comes with crisp skin and the dessert trolley is loaded with favourites such as mango pancakes. The room is spacious with ornate wooden tables and chairs, and the service upbeat and friendly.

David's
4 Cecil Place, Prahran 95295199
Food *****
Atmosphere ****
Noise factor ***
Trolleys No (tray service Sun)
Yum cha Daily lunch (dishes $4.90-$13.90)

WHITE linen, oversized lamps, comfy chairs. David's is a premium yum cha experience, with a premium price tag, and it's worth every cent. Delectable, fleshy pork ribs are sticky and sweet with a rich plum sauce. Yielding pork siu mai has a succulent and gingery interior, juicy har gau come in perfectly pleated, green (spinach) wrappers, and green beans are fried with shrimp and Sichuan pepper. Excellent service caps it off.

What I will say, is that the best quality yum cha is in the suburbs, not in Little Bourke's Chinatown. Eating yum cha in Chinatown is like eating pasta in Lygon Street.

Reconciliation

As promised, I'd share my devotion insights at least once a month. So here goes:

¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2Cor 5:19-20

I was reading through 2Cor 5:19-20, it struck me quite hard. This is because just yesterday when I was leading the prayer meeting (I forgot I was supposed to lead), I was touched by the Holy Spirit to lead all of us to come back before God. We have gone astray for the past few months, probably even years.

So I asked everyone to come back to God before even planning or talking about any other things. Even though I don't sense the urgency among us then, I believe God has His time and His ways.

Through the short verses mentioned above, it reminds me again about God who is initiating the reconciliation process with us through His love by sacrificing His only begotten Son in order to clear us of our sins.

Paul also stated clearly on verse 20, "Be reconciled to God". What a strong message to remind me!

Now, brothers, as we all know that we are faced with a lot of difficulties ahead, we cannot ignore the simple basic fact of reconciliation with God as the foundation for our ministries.

We cannot be planning for the ministries ahead unless we have reconciled with God

We cannot be making decisions for the church unless we have reconciled with God

We cannot be church leaders unless we have reconciled with God

God's invitation for reconciliation has begun and is still active today. We need to repent and go back to God. Some people might said it's easier said than done. It sure is easier however, it ain't too hard too!

Some practical steps we can try:

1) Repent & deny yourself

2) Seek for forgiveness from God or others (if any)

3) Recommit yourself to God

4) Pray for Holy Spirit to give you strength

5) Join in fellowships with others of the ideas with you in the process of reconciliation

6) Be accountable to God and others

I pray that the Almighty God will bless you and keep you in His mighty arms! Let's reconcile and revive our works for Him!

Are you with me? :)

Simple Majority Rule Does Not Rule

Thanks to Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, we have all confirmed that a Simple Majority Rule simply does not rule. It only creates tension & division among us.So this practise should be avoided at all costs!

An obvious example which is still hovering in our minds was last year where our leaders decided to change the Sunday service time to 1.30pm from 7pm. It was determined that we would change it based on a simple majority rule.

One would have thought, a simple majority from the LCEC? No. Simple majority from the LC? No. However, it was decided a simple majority from the WHOLE congregation or whoever was present on that Sunday! Woooaahhhhh~!

Anyway, the result was a close one. I think those prefered 1.30pm only outnumbered the ones that prefer 7pm by 5 votes out of about 90 in total. Something like 42-47? Forgot the exact tally.

The results today, our Chinese congregations dropped to about 50-60? Clearly something is not right.

Just a classic example of why simple majority rule does not rule in churches.

Some then would argue that the Methodist Constitution that encourages voting is flawed, where most voting would just require a simple majority but major decisions requires 2/3 or sometimes in rare cases 3/4 majority.

I would beg to differ.......

The Constitution stands as a guideline for Methodists to practice. It all depends on the interpretations and applications by those who are using it.

Just like the bible is a good book, it can be misused by cults to deceive others.

As Christians, we must always go back to seek God's will and plans for us. Let us not depend on ourselves in making decisions for God.

Be a discerning Christian with wisdom.

What to do when our leaders are making the "wrong" decision? Pray for them, voice your concerns but if things don't go your way, just accept it.

Time will tell, just like in the case stated above. :)

Sorry, Such A Hard Word To Say

A lot of people think, "I love you" is such a hard sentence to cough out but it's nothing compare to a simple word called "Sorry".

I'm not talking about "Sorry lah", "Sorry loh", or "Sorry eh". I'm referring to the sincere "Sorry".

As our human self defence mechanism, normally the first thing we do is to shift the responsibilities away from ourselves and point the fingers at others, directly or indirectly, conciously or subconciously.

It takes courage and huge humility to express that you're sorry. Some rather die than say sorry.

For a leader to say sorry, it means a great deal for him/her and it's indeed a great achievement.

Though the journey is still a long way from the end point, a small step forward is definetely an encouragement to everyone.