as it draws to an end

As my trip to kl draws to an end, i have mixed feelings. Sad that i'll be leaving KL and all the nice shopping malls, and good roads, low yat, all the food, all the travel. But what i'm going to miss most is the family in which i have stayed for the most part of these two weeks.

I am really grateful to Alvin's family for having me all these time, for treating me like family. I got to go for a dinner with all the aunties and his granny and two cousins. And for alvin for driving us almost everywhere. My sincere thanks to you all. On thursday i'll be heading to Kuching for 10 days. I'm so looking forward to it. On another note, there is a certain rift between me and my mom. Somehow she has this idea that something is bothering me, and she's always right. Its partly i fault, i've not been calling as much as i used to. I just wish she can be calm and not worry too much.

I have this habit of buying books. I don't really read all the books i buy because i'm quite busy and also because i'm lazy to sit down and read. And its amazing that i can buy books and read because i remember some time ago when my mom would put me into this routine to read books and in the process i read one book that suggested I buy books even though i don't read them and i think thats why.

Remain blessed :)

~shalom~

Back in Subang

I'm wearing my nostalgia hat on this post so except the abstract.

Before anything i just want to thank the Penang people; edric, Jmee, and Angie for bring us out to the best spots. And for my companions of course. It wouldn't be as nice without you all. Food in Penang is really good. We were literally hopping from one food place to the other. I can eat, a lot but not like that. I eat bit by bit. That was a little too extreme for me but it was good.

On the trip back the heavens opened and it rained all the way from Penang to KL. That slowed us down but created a good reflection on life and in the midst of the talking, we recognised that in a few years time, we might not see each other again. Like amanda put it, this trip, the three of us here in the car will become a memory.

Thinking about it, i don't remember most of my primary school friends. Some of my secondary school friends i know but others i have no clue whats up with them, lost touch. Even some of my friends in Inti are long gone and maybe we'll never meet again. Life is so temporary, almost like we're living for the moment and after this season of our lives things will change again and we have to make new friends and have different crowds we're comfortable with. Its really quite depressing when you think of it. There are some friends i don't want to lose but like i was reading Readers' Digest this morning, don't hold on tightly to earthly possessions. There's another story in that line but maybe next time.

Somehow it makes you appreciate more the now, the friends you have now, the experiences you have now. The people in your life now, because in time, things will be different, things will change, they may no longer be there, there might be separation, there might be things that come in your life that you have absolutely no control over. It might cause you pain and sadness but in the end. For most of my friends, in the end, i know that one day by God's grace we will all meet again in the grand celestial reunion in heaven. Because we all call on the name of the Lord. We are separated by time and distance but always connected to the same God, who loves us and gave himself for us. We may lose each other but we still have Him.

~shalom~

still in penang

How are you doing? Just a brief one on whats been going on. On monday we drove from Subang to Penang with a brief stop at Ipoh to eat and try the famous Ipoh {I previously said Ipod coffee. Thanks anonymous for pointing it out to me :paiseh:} white coffee. The food was good, very good and the coffee was nice. So nice i bought some back.

We got to Penang quite late and checked into a fairly new hotel. The place was not bad, it had a tv, with a few astro channels and most importantly hot water. But it was weird the way they priced their rooms; based on internet connectivity. I was so shocked when i heard that, definitely a first for me.

Tuesday we met up with Roberto, Jmee, Edric, and later with Angie. Had a good time going from one eating place to another. Eating so much within a a short time frame is not one of my hobbies. I can eat a lot but not all at once. But i valued the time spent with friends.

Also met up with Eilyn, for a short while only. She looked good as usual :) We have one more night here. For the last two nights we stayed at two different places last night was at YMCA which is quite cheap 85 for a night.

Today? Not so sure, but I want to go to the movies tonight, not sure what the others want to do.

Remain blessed :D

~shalom~

the trip so far

I've not had time to blog because i've not really had the time to a computer. I think one of the good things about not having a computer at the moment is that my online time has greatly reduced. I hope it doesn't change when i get Delia.

KL is a mad house, the roads go everywhere, i would get lost if i were not with people who are from here. So far its been good. A typical day starts at about 9 or then, and when you go out of the house you can only get back at about 12 or 1. Its that crazy. I wonder how the young people here can take all the busyness.

Went to City Harvest today. It was quite nice la, only thing was that i went late and had to sit outside the hall. That in itself was the weirdest church experience for me. I literally spent the afternoon watching the televised version of the service going on beyond the glass doors. There simply was no room in the hall. But the service was good, i enjoyed myself. And guess what the pastor was talking about? {kenin was so pleased with himself that the pastor is from Tawau} The R word, ah relationships. It seems like its a hot topic these days, everywhere i go i can't seem to run away from it. But like i said it was good.

So after church, we had food fellowship with the church folks, and kenin's friends then went to meet up with cheryl, grace, erina at the curve for the rest of the afternoon. There we watched the bank job. Not bad though i didn't really enjoy the movie it was more of a history kind of thing for me but well i guess its the time spent with friends that count. After the movie we just hanged out, didn't do much shopping though someone spent over 300 today.

Tomorrow, i mean today we'll be driving to penang for a few days. I can't wait to go penang finally, after everything the penang people say the food one very nice one. The moment of truth is near.

Ok la nothing much to say oso. And no i didnt take much pictures. Carrying my camera around is becoming a burdensome undertaking so might not have a lot of pictures of the trip. Remain blessed and under His love ;)

~shalom~

the happening

Yesterday we had a night out, my housemates and I and decided to go see a movie after my late late meeting hehe.

Its always difficult for me to watch movies here because the cinema is terrible. But we got there and there was kung fu panda, indiana jones and the happening. The choice was between these three and after much persuasion we all agreed to watch the happening at cinema 4.

Please, if you want to watch a movie at star cineplex in miri, make sure its not in cinema 4. My goodness we had to wait so long for the technicians to fix the sound, it was more than crappy, and at the end when it started working it was not consistent and at best only the front row speakers were working. At one point it sounded like a jammed up cassette tape. Remember those?

Anyway, i didnt think the movie would be nice, and even though its not the kind of movie i would watch in the cinema, it certainly was interesting. I won't try to go through the movie but the part the i guess interested me the most is the way Russel was with children or at least this one child that was difficult to get through to but he found a way. I liked that. And the way he was so patient and kept his cool in the midst of the mayhem that was all around, how he can be calm and speak with so much patience. But above all his capacity to love and to forgive the one he loves, reminds me of the verse in 2 Corinthians. I want that too.

Good movie, besides the trauma we had in the cinema with they crappy equipment, a solid 3.5 / 5.

fuhree

Hi how are you doing? So exams are over. My last paper was yesterday and I had a good time in town with a few friends. Watched the sunset and then went for a rather nice dinner at a rather nice place.

Will be leaving for KL this friday for a shh... food trip, hehe actually its more than that. I just feel like doing something adventurous for a change. Miri can be quite, what's the word? Boring!

Don't really feel like blogging much these days. Maybe its because i still don't have a computer. Have a nice day :) 

~shalom~

red pink or yellow

I've not made my mind yet what color Delia will be. I wanted to get a pink on initially just for the fun of it but decided not to. Someone promised to steal it if it was pink. So i thought red is not a bad color, but jacqueline already has a red laptop. So what else is there? I don't want a blue one, white is not me, black is too generic so that leaves imho yellow. Yellow?

On the exams front, i have one more paper to go. Considered ok but i still need to study for it, especially mathematical induction and recursive relations, still don't get it. For the others i just need to do more practice and refresh my memory.

I don't know what happened this sem, there was no will, no direction, i felt really out of sync and it makes me sad that i could do as well as i hoped. But there is still hope, because i put my trust on the rock that never fails, because my steps are ordered by him, because he can turn disaster to blessings and i wonder what i did to deserve it all. Yet i feel he's teaching me to learn to work harder than i have been.

These few weeks without my computer have been quite good in a way, i've been deprived of the things i do on a regular basis; go online, read tech news, check facebook, see what's on flickr and stuff and i miss all that, and they're not in theirself bad things but now that routine has been broken i tend to think more about whats really important. Instead of staying up late watching anime on veoh, i could sleep early so that i can wake up early and prepare for the day. See sometimes deprivation is not such a bad thing. It gives you something to aim for to look forward to like now i'm deprived of getting a mac, so it gives me something to look forward to. I told myself one day for sure but for now Delia will do.

~shalom~

half way through

Exams are a pain. So far i'm two down and another two to go. The first two considered ok but the next two are diehard.

I'm not sure if anyone else does this but for my exams i usually have a dress theme. This sem i wanted to wear formal for all my papers but couldnt bring myself to do it. So i wore red for the first two and for the next two its going to be black shirts for me. Red for danger, black for death.

See you after monday, or sooner, who knows?

~shalom~

all the best

Wishing all the Curtin Students both in Miri and down under all the best on your exams. God bless.

~shalom~

chronicles of narnia: prince caspian

Just watched the movie and oh my was it better than the first one. Although the sound was surprise, surprise not good. I really don't like the cinema here so i didnt get to hear what they were saying. So i may actually buy this movie so i can follow it.

So we see the 4 royals come back to Narnia at a time of turmoil, war has broken out and narnia has changed a lot. Peter trying to live up to the name of King and makes some rash decisions. Edmund is so much different, grown up, more mature. Lucy is still the same, lovely and all and Su falls in love with a prince. Haha hope i didnt spoil too much for you ;)

For me, after watching the movie i feel like i want to read the book. Yeah i know, funny considering i hardly finish any book but i honestly feel like i want to read the book la. But something special about this movie is the way "everything" came together to fight for Narnia. The trees, the tikus, the centurs... everything even the sea came together to fight.

Aslan who was not very visible in this movie came at the right time to finish the work. I kind of felt thats the way we are, even though we don't see it. All of creation is created by God and is at our disposal, at his control, thats why the seas path ways when the people of Israel needed an escape from the Egyptians, thats why the ravens fed Elijah, thats why the donkey spoke to balaam. These "things" are under his control and they are all on our side.

I feel one day we will see all of creation coming together to fight the last battle against evil. I think it is going to be really cool and i thank God for this movie and for showing me that. Go watch it. I give prince caspian a 4.8/5.

~shalom~

only in july

No computerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :sob: :sob: I want to cry already. I thought it would make me more focused but the truth is, i cannot concentrate. I feel very restless, sometimes just pacing around the house. Good thing gawai is over and i can come to school and use the ME lab computers. I feel very paiseh asking people, can online for a while? And its never enough :( I need my daily internet fix.

Its weird, i feel trapped thats why sometimes i'll open the gate or just look outside. I didnt realise it but going online is my way of getting out. I'm not sure if that makes sense. Let me try again, going online is my way of getting to see the outside world and keeping in touch with whats happening.

Unfortunately i cannot get a new lappie until the end of next month. But since i'm getting a dell i think i'll call it Delia, I thought about Delwin for a name but delia sounds better. Any other suggestions? Since Ben is dead now all i can do is recover the hard disk along with all my songs and pictures and transfer them to Delia when she arrives sometime in July. Man thats long.

Somebody help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

~shalom~

June 1

First i want to congratulate Eilyn on her graduation, too bad i cannot be there but at least you have family with you.

Its the first of June, exams are in 8 days time and there is so much to do, just thinking about the amount of reading i'm suppose to do makes me scared. I'm really scared for this sem, its been very tiring, stressful and well you know.

Its really inconvenient not having a computer, i feel so bored at home, end up tempted to sleep. Cannot sleep also because then i feel guilty wasting time when i should be studying so at the end i'm down to spending a lot of time in the ME lab, doing most of my work here. At the moment there are just 5 of us here and its cold. Good thing i brought my jacket.

So this weekend we had the vcf committee retreat camp at Imperial Hotel, it was basically meetings and some fun, in between. For a few moments you actually forget that exams are coming soon and that made it worthwhile for me at least, i didnt have to worry about it, just enjoy the company of good friends and fellow committee members. Also another opportunity to take pictures. I would love to share them with you but Curtin blocks flickr so i cannot access them here but i have uploaded a few pictures to my flickr so you can check them out there. Will probably make a proper post about it when i have the time.

Church was good, as usual. There's one thing i noticed, sometimes the music is a mess and you cannot follow, its less than ideal like what i'm used to at bethany or in EYM but there's something pure, something right in the midst of the mess, if you really want to worship God it won't be a hinderance. And today i was reminded of the song, so you could come. The first time i heard the song was last year in the vcf lifecamp at niah. And its always special to me. The word was very timely as always :) i just thank God for putting me where i am, and for making me enjoy the things i am enjoying at the moment.

Father thank you for every moment, every day, every event, for everything. I feel really grateful for all you have done in my life, and continue to do. Help me in those times to lift my burdens and emotions to you and let you complete the work you have already started. I truely love you o-tou san.

~shalom~