September

September is quite a special month actually. Quite a number of songs being written on september (Greenday, Earth Wind Fire etc) and it's quite special to me too :D

coz der's 2 special person in my life whom i'll blog about in september especially towards the end. So here goes:

Dear Sis,

Thanks for the wonderful stay in Sydney, really enjoyed it. saw the reddish dust that you all are bathed in, and maybe this is indeed one of the most extraordinary birthday gift that you can ever have. HAHA! anyways, Happy Birthday and have more birthdays to come!!! can have more births also. HAHA!



From Your Ah Boy. *like the pic*

. . . . . .

The other person is none other than pretty girl herself :D went out to have a simple lunch together for our second year anni and the food was good!!

We ate some sashimi as you can see from below and the famous Black Pig Tonkatsu at the restaurant (unfortunately, it looked too good so we gobbled up before we remember to take any pictures). If we visit there again we'll take a good pic for it :)

Ayye :D

Feeling Blue

Nope. not because tomorrow is Monday. I think it's because of the impending doom that i'm going to graduate soon, and the nagging feeling of lousy FYP results coming up.

Since Friday i've been bugged by this feeling that the project is going to take a blardy long time to finish. rather agitated by it cos it's only 8 MC but i have to do the workload of a 10/16 MC. then there's the have-you-got-a-job nag.

It's really easy to say 'dont worry for tomorrow' but it's blardy hard to do it -.-

sometimes sighing is the only thing one can do. seriously.

User is Busy at the Moment

Term is nearly half gone, with term break coming up next week. have been really quite eventful and study has really been very hectic.

actually, i can't really say that it's HECTIC. it's sort of like a nagging feeling that you somehow know you're just delaying time for the really bad thing (exam) to happen. well, FYP is sort of like haunting my life now with my supervisor chasing my tail (it's actually a good thing). Studying has always been like this. sigh really miss my IA sem.. stressless siah...

But, still managed to steal some time for some social stuff... so here are some pics =)


Apparently, the Dead Sea Scrolls came to singapore. TBH, it's like 3 fragments and the exhibition really cost quite a bit. mainly it's cos of the venue larh. heard that it costs about 1.1 mil just to rent Arts House for a duration of 3 weeks. 1.1 MIL!!!! can get a house in bukit timah liao.


They don't really have that much scrolls (most are still left in Israel) and the rest are either Bible translations or really very old manuscripts like the one above. It's really very inspiring how people copied Bible texts last time. And for the particular example above, the fonts were sooooooo small they look like they're printed instead of copied.


Ok then move on to totally unrelated issues. TGIO was GREAT THIS YEAR!! i've never enjoyed it that much.. hahaha coz i did something really quite out of myself, as you can see from the pic. Did a tribute band to the King of Pop and the rest of the pics are all on FB.


That's me right there, grinding my sample to a mirror finish. in case you don't know, my FYP is on corrosion of stainless steel and this is one of the instance that i needed to grind and polish the surface of the steel to get a good SEM image. Actually this is one of the few times that i'm going to grind in NUS coz the rest of the time i'm attached to pulau NTU.

It's called Pulau NTU for a reason - no phone reception and takes a typical Singaporean about 1.5 hours to get there. But the equipments there are really much better (cos i'm attached to the research institute).

But well, i found out some motivation to go there since last week - nothing beats a good bowl of Sarawak Laksa at the end of a hectic day stuck up at NTU. this is one of the 2 branches which actually sells AUTHENTIC sarawak Laksa. miss it sooo much i've been having it like 3 times last week?? SHIOK!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTSSSSSSSSS~~~~!!!!!!!!@!#$!@#%!%~~~

Getting Old

Lately, i've found myself listening to old jazz and getting injured by doing minor exercises. That's surely a sign of getting old i'm sure, and i had to go for acupuncture and suction cups called Ba Guan. coz my back just sprained and it hurts quite a bit. HAHA

yes i'm getting old i think o.O

P/S i've decided not to post the video or photos here coz it might be a bit disturbing. but you can still watch it on FB haha.

Catching Up

Alrite, i never thought that year 4 will be soooo hectic. actually i did think of that before but i guess sometimes mentally prepared isn't enough. But anyhow, i've posted some interesting photos, above of which i digged from my library 3 years back, and below, of which i took it just recently.

it just reminds me of how time flies so quickly, spent in hall and NUS. in just a blink of an eye, 3 years passed just like that. It was good memories and i'll keep it well :)

Up

Since i havent been posting stuff, and i did watch some movies, so i shall post about my latest one which i caught in the cinema.

Initially this was a movie which sort of hooked my interest because the little boy was so cute. But then, some ppl watched it and commented about it being quite flimsy so i cast it aside (learning from the Harry Potter experience). However, some OTHER people watched it and say it really is the nicest animation to day. Which really piqued my curiosity how come there's 2 opposing camps.

So i decided to watch it for myself. Sort it out for myself. And hence watched it i did. So this is my verdict: watch it. It's really nice, especially the first 20 minutes. i dunno how come people call it flimsy i find it really, really touching especially from a guy's point of view. i won't be surprise if someone teared in just the first 20 minutes. Just imagine how you'd feel by playing your life through from childhood to old age in a flash.

Overall the story isn't really THAT fantastic but i really was quite touched, not by the little boy in the end, but by the old man. Hahaha how ironic. so its really nice and i'm looking forward to watching district 9 but i dont seem to see any cinema showing it. ZZZ

2012

Of course i dont believe that by 2012 the world is really going to end. Maybe it's tomorrow. Maybe it's year 3000. But i really like the trailer a lot... the hopelessness of the monk and how when it comes, no one will be able to escape.

Except of course, if you have the assurance to eternal life.

The Sensation of Gliding

When you grew up in a small kampung like 7 Mile in a small town call Kuching, it's not uncommon to never heard of what a roller blade is. For that matter, we only have bicycles and i can't remember how many stuns i pulled with it when i was young.

So when i first get to see this set of wheels, it really looks VERY cool. but that was when i had already gained a fair bit of age, and pulling stuns sort of compartmentalized into one corner of my life labelled 'Please-do-not-try-this-at-home'. that changed a few years ago, when i bought myself a pair as what you've seen above. and of course gotten some motivation to learn something new and exciting :P

And so it was. Roller blading has been always fun for me - glide on the road. sort of like skiing but slower i guess. skiing can send your heartbeat to explosion when u rush down the slope.

Looking forward to the next blading session =)

Public Enemies

I havent been to the cinema for quite some time now, the last time was when i watched transformers i reckon. So this is the first time i went to the cinema since i came back before the school term starts. Oh yes, i forgot to mention i watched Harry Potter's crappiest film. So that means this is the second film i watched since i came back. Btw, Harry Potter was so bad i just ignore reviewing it and refuse to acknowledge that it screened in the cinema.

Anyway, we're talking about Public Enemies here - a film with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale: what can go wrong right? well, actually it can. For a quick synopsis: it's another story about police and thief during the Great Depression where robbing banks seems like an easy way out to earn money. well just that it was based on a true story.

It's also a love story between Dillinger and Billie (Depp and the Marion), and how they eloped from the police. So, what went wrong? i would say that it is just personal preference but i find that the way they film the movie to be a tad too boring. No climax or tense music, just plain ol shooting like you're using a handycam.

The film depicted that the robbery was just this kind of legitimate way of earning (not a lot of) money, and that without morality you can't really tell the difference between a legal job and an illegal one. Sometimes without an absolute you just can't tell whether things are just plain black and white or are they grey.

Well, it's not bad a movie. though its not really mindblowing or whatsoever, it's still worth your money (which, i hope, you havent spent on watching Harry Potter).

Chopin in F Minor

It's just sublime.

Orientation

Alrite i havent posted in a while. Actually i'm just going into the 0th week of school (yar there's this thing call week 0) and that's it. i'm finally a lao lang year four who is now staying on 7th floor.

it's been 3 years in NUS and this is the final year that i'm here. sometimes it's just a bit fast i guess, but all is good. in fact, this year probably will be the slowest to pass (?) since it's the last year.

have quite a bit of mixed feelings coz i dont really want to graduate, but at the same time i want to graduate. HAHA. i'm sure some of you'd have felt that as well when you graduated no matter from where.

well, i'll just leave the post here now and come back when i've got more stuff to post. haha.

Back, Packed

Just a little update here and then. i've came back from Aussie to Malaysia and now to Singapore, in my little (new) room.

Also packed with quite a few stuff to do - transcribing, teaching, studying, do FYP selection etc etc. Quite a handful of stuff actually.

Oh well, it's gonna be the last year anyways.

The Wizardry of OZ

Let me start this post by really thanking God that i had the chance to visit my sister down under for about 2 weeks without any agenda (!) other than to visit her. Previously i've been there before, but both times were bogged down with agendas (marriage etc) so this is the first time that we actually go and have some fun in Sydney. Thank God that she was also on leave when we came so we have a free tour guide as well as food critic in town. =P

Well anyways, i believed i've taken a small break and posted some HDR previously, so i shall type more on this one and put some pictures here and there. We actually arrived in Melbourne for a few days before taking the journey up to Sydney. (No camera in Melbourne hence no pictures) After which my sis decided to bring us to do the tourist thing - i.e. to tour around town with a cheap day-pass. it's quite a good concept actually, to pay a fix amount and go to as many tourist spots as you can in ONE day around town. we managed about 5? But it was good - like the wildlife center and the aquarium.


Other than seeing some of the iconic animals in Australia (which i later found out, really are everywhere in Australia), we also managed to take a tour around Opera House which was quite cool. But of course, i could never miss out the OZ jet boat ride. It was really one wet experience as the jet boat took us around the harbor and riding waves of ferries and private boats.


However, the fun really starts on the second week (to me at least, haha) when we took a 4 hour trip up to Snowy Mountain. We ended up staying at a very scenic little town called Talbingo, which wasnt snow covered (i was half expecting that) but has frost every morning. Nonetheless, another 30 min drive up to Mount Selwyn will have my eyes sore blinded by snow. For some 山芭佬 like me who has never seen snow, its quite an excitement actually.


Talbingo is hidden somewhere but this is that sort of scenes you get at the little town. It is also here that i've found out that in the countryside of Australia, there's a loooot of wild animals everywhere. we spotted kangaroos like packs residing on the hills, dead wombat (shucks) as a victim to roadkill, emus striding beside the riverbanks and tons and tons of birds. The birds especially, are really very chio so took a lot of pics of them.



No this is not the house that we stayed in. it's just a random house on natural trail we found on the way and decided to slow down and have fun. build a snowman and took some pics!


Other than building snowman, we went to ski as well. really quite fun, a bit like roller blading but much, much faster. haha. crashed a few times before getting the hang of it and ski like a pro.


Overall it was really a very fun and enriching trip. Once again, i want to thank God for this opportunity and also my sis for letting us stay at her small little house and showing us her little darling Casper. I kinda miss his mischievousness. =)

Sydney

I have finally taken some time to post some pictures here online... that's coz it really takes some time to edit the pictures but at least there's something that i came up with =)





these pictures are taken on a sunny afternoon so i guess the lighting isnt that good ultimately. hope i can post some more when i have the time.

Across to the other Continent

After some time spent in Melbourne, i've finally arrived at Sydney and finally get my hands on a 450D to take some pics. I still have another week to go here, and will be going up to Snowy Mountain next week.

Meanwhile i've managed to tour around town and took some pictures, and few days ago i've managed to find my way to this place called Red Leaf Pool which is near the bay. So here are some pics

Some red flower outside my sister's house. It was so red i just had to take the pic.

So here it is, Red Leaf Pool. Those houses you see will cost you more than a few million for 'The View' i.e. Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Another view of the Red Leaf Pool which i find is just magnificent.

This pic was taken on a sort of perimeter bridge which they constructed for people to swim. So i was not walking on water. HAHA. 

And finally, my nephew Casper, who is quite simply a huge dog even though he's only 1.5 years old. 

PS yes i have indeed taken pictures of the famous Opera House and the Harbour Bridge but i havent had time to process it. Probably posting the HDR when i get back to Singapore.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Lately i havent had the time to catch up on blogging coz i was really quite busy going around places and visiting relatives. It has been quite a hectic week and i've decided here to post about the most recent movie that i've watched before i zoomed off to other activities which i will be doing. (actually, its mainly also coz of the slow com). 

Rite now on to the movie. I believe its the most anticipated movie of the year after the tremendous success it enjoyed in the first episode. I dunno about you, but i grew up in the era where Optimus Prime was my hero and Bumblebee was still a Volkswagen Beetle. So when the first movie came about i couldnt wait to watch it. Actually i couldnt wait to watch the second as well, so i watch it on the first day of release HAHA. 

It really doesnt have much of a meaning actually, (well other than some very curious questions like how come the robots spawned is always a decepticon and how a decepticon can be 'trained' to become a good boy lol) but nobody watches transformers to think about these kinda things. It's about the action. 

And the action is awesome. AWESOME. i think Michael Bay is ingenious in his ways to capture specific moments and slowing them down to dramatize the whole scene. The fight scenes are gracefully choreographed (my favourite scene being Bumblebee vs some dragon-like Decepticon) with superb fluidity. Not to mention Mr Optimus Prime donning the armor not unlike those of the GN arms. Even though the plot is a bit lame but with the action and some bits of humor here and there, this movie really made my day =) 

Alrite i shall not reveal anymore details about the movie just in case you havent watch it. And do yourself a favor, watch it in the cinema. 

PS i will try to upload some pictures that i took here, hopefully by the next post. 

Cold

I havent been to winter for so long i've forgotten the chill that rings in your ears when you step out of the airport.

ok peeps, arrived safely at the HINI (pronounced Hee-Nee) capital yesterday, with a temperature that chills to your bone. But i guess it's not that bad actually, since i managed to sleep soundly.

When morning came, the first person i saw is a construction dude working on my relative's kitchen and he told me that MJ is dead. Well, i wasnt much of an MJ fan but actually who involve in music at this age isnt? so the day finally came.

anyways, tomorrow we'll be taking another flight to Sydney (HINI second largest capital) and i'm so cold my feet is freezing when i'm typing this. lol!

The Opposite of A.I.

Everything seems rather fast when you don't pay much attention to them - especially time. It's been a whole six months since i first started working at a company called BD and yesterday, it all came to and end.

Many of my course mates also ended their industrial attachment (IA) yesterday, though i know of some whom they call themselves the 'unfortunate few', who has been forced, willingly or unwillingly to extend their IA over another period of time. IA, as it is, has traditionally been regarded by students from NUS (not NTU coz it is compulsory for them to take IA) as some sort of 'boost' to their resume when they come out to work. At least you have some working experience to show your future employer and if you are attached to a huge company or some prestigious company, you might get a chance to be offered a job with them.

Coupled with the economic crisis right now, it's even more important for undergraduates to show some initiatives or have some recommendations from their previous working place to perhaps, secure a job when we come out from our institutions. It is also ironical, due to the economic crisis that companies hires IA students - cheap, willing to be SK warrior, work OT without OT pay. I had a friend who worked in a construction company previously as an intern, and after he left, the construction workers REFUSED to do his job even though the pay is higher. It is THAT bad.

Which led me to a lot of thanksgiving to do. My company has been very nice to me - most evidently in my hospitalization of the chicken pox disease. Not to mention being a huge company, the fringe benefits were quite good - buses to all over the island once your work is over, buses to pick you up when u come to work, company outings and free food during meetings. And of course, there is the project assign - which leads me to lesser SK and more time spent on solving the problem given to me. And the people there, whom i find myself bonded to quite closely after 6 months of joking around and having fun together.


In many ways, i believe that only God will know what is best for you. this wasn't the first company that comes into my mind when i apply - salary is low, Tuas is so far away, medical company sounds boring and irrelevant etc etc. So it ended up being one of my lower choices of companies which I've prioritized to apply, but through His guidance, and more so His grace, i ended up there nonetheless. I can honestly say that throughout the 6 months, i enjoyed it more than i could imagine.


What i want to say at the end of the day is, it was a great 6 months spent - having fun, found myself again, learn new things, make new friends, have chicken pox etc. Now holidays are finally dawning on me and i'm looking forward to it!

Slumdog Millionaire

Much has been said about this film before i watch it. Not a typical Indian show which features loads of dances and songs almost equivalent to some sort of musical, this is one show that you really shouldn't miss. Initially I've heard it from a friend about this show which features some Indian dude winning 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' because he knew all the answers and because he experienced all the questions in it.

What a strange but interesting plot. So i've decided to give it a go and it really didnt disappoint - living up to my 'expectation factor' actually. Here's a brief summary - a boy named Jamal Malik went on to 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire', won 10 million rupees in one night, got arrested, and explained to a police officer how he got all his questions answered. What i find the movie attractive is that: initially i tend to want to know what kind of questions that were asked, but i gradually find myself gravitating towards the beautiful life of this honest, sincere chaiwalla's life. And my favourite scene came at the last part of the movie, where Jamal finally found the most important thing in his life, and never let go.

Though this 'love-honest-destiny-blessed' themed show carries a very Forrest Gumpish taste, it still appears to be slightly fictitious to me, whereas Forrest Gump actually can be imagined to be a real true story of a person. Btw, Forrest Gump is arguably my favourite movie of all time and space. Unlike Forrest Gump, which is largely Christian based, Slumdog exhibits religion in a more subtle manner, ascribing it mainly to desiny.

What struck me the most when i finished the film is that - he and his brother both chose a separate path, one leeching after the riches of this world, while the other clings on to what is true to him. And it only dawned on me after the show that even though both of them were always together, the brother was the guy who always resort to petty crimes and thefts to earn money whereas he always work his way up.

Which led me to ponder about what Paul has said, "when gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them." (Romans 2:14-15) The conscience which eventually made his brother realised the reality of desitny.

It really is a nice film, and i really think u'd miss out if u miss this =)

Monsters Vs Aliens

The movie was rated a 5 stars here in Singapore and there were some friends who said that this film was better than Terminator Salvation. Which piqued my curiosity and hence when the opportunity arises last weekend with the boys at church, we watched the film, in 3D.

Sad to say, it failed to meet my 'expectation factor'. This is by no means to say that it's not a nice film - just that it didnt meet my expectation factor. The plot is simple, almost familiar - meteor hit the earth, some mutation took place, locked up in area 51, some other alien lifeforms try to takeover universe, save the earth. if you take these parts out, and reshuffle them or substitute them with stuff like genetic mutation or experimentation failure, you can end up with 2141235 permutations and still come out with a reasonably sound movie plot.

However, the movie does a good job at bringing laughter to ppl (which really, is what a cartoon should do) with various scenes and exaggerations which really is something that it should be credited with. The video below is simply the best scene that i love the most because it is just pure lame. It's about when the President of the US trying to negotiate a peace treaty with the alien lifeform - without using a single word.

The 'moral' of the whole story is not an unfamiliar one either. Embrace diversity, learn to accept differences, learn to know who really loves and cares about you when your differences are exposed. It's not strange either, since we're now at the imminent arrival of globalisation, and diversity is one thing which globalisation brings along - working with people of different races and cultural backgrounds. and to a Christian - sharing our lives with people who are different from us, and not loving them for any ulterior motives but the one motive that inspires us to love - the Love of God.

Overall, it is a film with an expected plot and familiar storyline, but still worth a laugh or two and if you're really looking to be entertained, it's still quite a funny show =)

Humidity is the brother of North Korea

I really have to thank God that i'm in CEA these days during work. Btw, CEA stands for 'Controlled Environment Area', where i'm constantly exposed to a 22 - 23 degrees temperature and a relative humidity (RH) of about 40-50%. Initially that didnt seem very significant but lately, it really is.

With Singapore's temperature reaching a high of about 33.6 degrees (think is last month) and a RH of about 75%, you can imagine how glad i was to be in the CEA. It's not so much of the direct heat actually, but the humidity. Humidity is the reason why at night, even after bathing for half and hour, and lying down on the bed with the fan blasted up to high, you can still feel sticky.

The Chinese always says: 心静自然凉, but in a place where humidity rises up to 75% with a temperature of 30 and above, and if you try your very best to 心静 - which is to sit there and dont do anything, well melting is another option they didnt consider.

arh but enough of ranting. Grace has just taken off to australia which is struggling to keep up with a 14 degree temperature. i just have to wait for another 2 more weeks. But i'm not too sure if going off from a very hot place into a very cold place is actually a good idea. rapid expanding and contraction causes unnecessary stress which may cause ppl to.. you know.. crack.

North Korea.

Terminator Salvation

To be honest, i didnt want to watch this film that much. After a *very* disappointing terminator 3 (when Arnie wasnt the governor of california yet!), I've sort of came to a conclusion that the terminator series will just end at that and full stop. Well, i was pleasantly surprised when i watched this one last week though. I think most of the time, it's the 'expectation factor', which i guess, worries the director of the upcoming transformers film.  

Enough chatter - and to the film. I suppose the story really does a good job adhering to the terminator theme: what distinguishes us from a robot? At the end of the day, that is the message a terminator film always brings home - that we are different because we are human. i shall reveal no more spoiler about how the movie goes about doing that, but i do find some nitty gritty amusing details: like how Skynet has a lot of human interface panels - for what?! initially i thought they have humanoids to operate them but the only humanoids i see in the film are those who wields chain guns and have horrid skull faces, not to mention a familiar someone (just when you thought that this is the terminator film without Arnie!).

But to think deeper (which i've been trying to do lately), the whole idea of apocalyptic self aware AI computer robots takeover has been in our minds for numerous times already - Matrix, Terminator, iRobot etc. The question i would like you dear readers to ponder is - can the creature (like robots and computers) really overtake the creator (in this case, us)? or even just be on par with the creator? If it's no, then why no? If it's yes, then why yes? These fictions seem to suggests that with the technological advancement it's just a matter of time before we all will chant the 'what-distinguishes-us-from-a-robot' mantra and fight for our 'human rights'.

So what do you think?

H1N1 is a type of biscuit.

Lotsa things happened last weekend. so let's just start with certain bits which are still fresh in my mind. 

We had a bible quiz during our youth group last weekend. Quite a fun one actually, mostly because i'm the one organinsing it *oops*. Ok enough bhb but i thought it was quite interesting coz everyone can learn something from it, including me. i guess sometimes the organiser of the bible quiz will be the one learning the most out of it coz he has to know all the answers. lol.

but after that me and another church mate of mine who just came back from Taiwan impromptuly went to watch a film, which i will post about on another blog post soon. So that's about it for Saturday, spent thinking about the film that i watched. 

On sunday its a totally different matter. Woke up to church, and after church went off to do something i never thought i would do. Shopping for clothes. Yes, indeed, i havent intentionally go shopping for clothes in almost 2 years. Not even during CNY. Pathetic young man. So since most of my clothes are around 2 years old or older, it's getting really 'lak tak' liao. After some consideration i really think i need to update my wardrobe and give away some clothes which really, really is out of shape already. And just thankfully, GSS is around, so i buzz off to shop after church.

And that is also when the biscuit caught me. my nose was running marathon i have a hard time trying to catch it in the departmental store. I sneeze and sneeze and sneeze... and sneeze during the afternoon and later that at nite, which led me to an MC and a full day rest in my comfortable little bed. 

hopefully things will get better tomorrow and i can go back to work.

The God Delusion?

Ok. It all started when i bought another book. Ironically, it's titled "The Dawkins' Delusion?" by Alister McGrath, a theologian whom i've heard him speak over some seminar which i had the chance to attend.

Curious, i bought that book (since it was quite cheap) but afterwards realized that i got it all wrong. Well, let's just put it this way: how can i read the answer to a question that i don't even know? So, resisting the urge to read it, i went to Borders instead to buy myself the above book, and since it was such a bestseller i naturally have a certain respect for the author who would really go all out to prove that God doesn't exist.

After reading it, i think new atheism just dug their own grave. At least those who read Dawkins and agreed with him did. I have to trudge through certain parts painfully because he is being so condescending and at the same time, doesn't make any scientific sense, which he should really trying to be. In putting his (biased) reasoning above all else, he just blatantly discredited everything else in a demeaning manner, belittling them and demonising them in his warped mind.

To put it short, he is trying all he can to measure the weight of the ball (without spending any effort to understand what does 'weight' means) - with a ruler. When Dawkins says that the book of Hebrews in written by Paul, you know how bad things are.

My quest has ended, much to my disappointment. i had hoped to read something which might convince a laymen of scientific reasoning, so as to understand them better when i meet with them and share with them of what lies greater behind science. In fact, Dawkins just made a joke out of himself, to the point that even other atheists are rejecting him o.O

It is indeed true, that of making books, there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Hence to all who *still* reads the blog, please choose your books wisely. Your time is precious, your brain has limited capacity, read read read good books while you still can =)

Busyness is my Week

Alrite, i have been wanting to post on the blog for the past few days (honest). but i havent had the time to do that. i'm really serious about it, and this is one exception of posting cause i'm waiting to do something else at work.

For the past 4 days, i have been working 745 - 445, then on Tuesday and Wednesday went to Leadership Preparatory Camp (LPC) for Hall CF at Trinity Theological College straight after work, and returning only at like 11 plus 12? time to sleep so no time to blog.

Thursday have practice at nite for coming Blueblood on Saturday until 12 sth also. Tonite going off to have dinner and have practice after that. WOOHOO!

And i just got news from my supervisor that i have to do something very tedious today. its so tedious i felt tedious when i want to type out what to do. so i shall just take my leave.

Talking bout' Swine Flu

Talking about creativity. Actually for many times, Mrbrownshow has been one of the more hilarious entertaintment (i haven't watch TV regularly since like, 7 years ago?) that has made me laugh heartily when listening to them. There was the 'Tur Kua' issue, the 'Mai Hum' issue and many more which really tickles me especially when you live in the environment which they portray, sometimes very aptly through satirical parodies. 

Then now this. Yes swine flu was a major issue (btw, Singapore just got their first confirmed case) but the MOH decided that it wasnt as severe as the severe acute respiratory syndrome so we're still at yellow. 

Being a rather lame person, naturally i'd find this not just entertaining, but really rather creative. Seriously, to come out with a lame joke is not easy (unlike some friends of mine, who are naturally talented at this kinda thing) and that is why i enjoy some other satires such as South Park. And some other lame but rather entertaining 'documentary' - Top Gear. 

After all, a cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bone =)

Lau Kui Max

Imagine yourself in front of national television, and after that, 4 million views on youtube. and you did that. -.-

My first reaction when i watch it, like a lot of people, i presume, would be to gawk and say 'huh'? really so confident arh. and because i've already read the title about getting the first question wrong, i didnt pay much attention to the question but more to his expression, especially when he realised he got it wrong but lock it in liao. GG.

Really, sometimes pride leads to over-confidence and it kills. Its been commonly said that 'Assumption is the mother of all Failures' and i truly believe that when we don't humble ourselves before the Truth, we will know nothing. More often than not, we find ourselves stepping into that poor guy's shoes and realising that we something wrong half a second later.

i really pity that guy cos he just did something which all of us might have done. except he did it on national television. and after that on youtube.

Prawn with Wings

I have been a faithful (though not very willing) subscriber to caterer's food for the past 7 years of my life. starting from my very first hostel (which is still my favorite so far despite the initial complaints and all) at CJC, continuing to the very 'exciting & haps' RI Boarding and finally moving on to Kent Ridge Hall, i have been eating caterer's food for dinner, (most of the time) willing or unwilling.

Now working at BD, i still eat caterer's food from the canteen. So is there anything wrong with caterer's food?? No of course not. if not i wouldn't be here anymore. However, i believe that it's really not easy to maintain a clean, safe and healthy cooking environment (i believe that extends to restaurants as well), more so to caterers, because most of the time they are paid a fixed price and they dont care whether people eat their food or not.

so what is prawn with wings? i'll leave that to your imagination - just note that it's not something you'd find extremely tasteful in your lunch/dinner plate, and you'd most probably go to complain or change or sue or go to the toilet - depending on the severity of the issue. i've recently encountered 2 prawn-with-wings issue in the caterer's food. i wasn't the victim, but i would assure you of the priceless facial expressions of those who had got this rare chance to find them in their plate.

however, when i pondered again on the issue, it reminded me of "What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'" what can prawn with wings do to you? diarrhea? bad experience? it can even be jokes over conversations. But sometimes what comes out of our mouths on the other hand, can be so cruel, so haphazard, so brainless, that it leads to broken relationships, silent hatred, jealousy, slanders and countless unclean stuff.

May God grant us wisdom in using our tongues in our lives everyday.

One more one more month

Updates on stuff which is happening around me:

I still have one more month to go for my IA.

Everyone is shifting into my block (being the holiday block this year) and the corridor is packed to the maxxx.

I have decided to go on Operation: NO FACEBOOK for a while because it is sucking up too much of my time refreshing, clicking, refreshing, clicking, refreshing etc..

I have Stardust 09 finals tomorrow.

Looking forward to the Shabu Shabu weekend!

Growing is Painful

Too many times we like ourselves to be used as His tools; but we never really want to pay the price of equipping ourselves.

Too many times have we thought that we knew what He wanted; but we never really kneel down on our knees to pray.

Too many times have we given thanks for the things He had done; but we never ask for forgiveness for the things which we did not do.

Growing is painful. Are you still willing to do it?

Christian Classics Ethereal Library

I have found a place where the jewels of these world has been given out freely to all, begging for us to read.

when i first saw it, i really couldn't believe it. an e-book of 1000 over pages of theology given out for free?! and it only costs u a fraction of your pocket money (yes it is only a fraction) for you to download into a pdf.

i feel saddened and happy at the same time over such discovery. saddened because nowadays, any book u buy from COOP will cost you at least 2 digits, and yet these great classics lie there online anytime from your com for FREE. what has our value degenerate into?

Happy because God is so gracious to us, wanting us to pursue His will and His words in our lives.

Are you AWARE?

I am really appalled at what we can do sometimes. There's a lot of talk about this AWARE takeover in Singapore. just in case some of you might wonder, AWARE is a pro-woman NGO in singapore, which was somehow being taken as a refuge for lesbians to organise their activities and stuff...

sooo to cut the long story, a group of Christians who thinks that they are rightfully doing the right thing planted members into the NGO and within 3 months, voted out the AWARE old guards in the AGM without any indication that they had an agenda in mind. Hi-jack is the word here. imagine u're in an organisation for 25 years, and suddenly this bunch of people who are highly qualified (first class honors, most of them) decided to join you for your cause. they were so enthu, they even attended the AGM! and out there right in front of your eyes, they stab you and voted you out of your organisation.

huh?!

seriously, there's a lot of places to voice your concern over an organisation's agenda, be it your care about them being pro-homosexuals or whatever. How are these people going to justify the 'righteousness' that we Christians are suppose to embody? standing up for the Truth is an important thing, but standing up for the Truth in an unrighteous way = WRONG THING definitely.

so now they are going to hold another EOGM to decide whether the new exco can hold on to their position. sigh. Singapore sure is a melting pot for all these exciting stuff to happen.

Blog Blog Blog

I havent been blogging these days coz after i returned the cam, i've just slumped into the lethargic mood to blog. 

a lot of things has happened in between, and i can only give thanks because i find that God has been very merciful to me. sometimes when we're living in this world so full of distractions, we really lost sight of what we're suppose to do and what He wants us to do. through His wonderful grace He led me back so that i can have faith to be salt and light to the world =)

actually i really think working world is not soooooo bad (after you've studied in MLE for 3 years, you know that anything that comes along is better than what you were in). i've managed to do a lot of things during this intern: painted my gundams, took up photography, played in band competition, revived my blog, and even writing chinese calligraphy. yes 写毛笔字... i find myself behaving like an old ah pek from time to time. but most importantly, during this time i've managed to find myself all over again.. so i must say this sem has been the most meaningful sem that i've had since uni... 

give thanks to our Lord =) 

No Pictures

Because i have returned the camera.

...

well, just have to save enough for the time being.

The 7 Last Words

Definitely better than the 7 Swords. Drove in to Permasjaya to sing the 7 Last Words yesterday. Not exactly a very smooth trip i'd say... went through by 2nd link and as some of you might know, the Malaysian custom is about 5-10 min drive after the bridge.

Thing is, the jam started at the bridge -.- so end up stuck at the causeway for 3 hours plus. eventually, we managed to reach there and sang the song by God's grace and had a wonderful dinner nearby. 

Choir singing at the new mission chapel.

it was really a tiring day because the journey was sooo long for such a short distance. But it's not for fun that we go, it's for the mission and i believe it is a good friday well spent =)

Orewa Optimist Prime

The optimist and the pessimist sit in a row; one sees the doughnut, the other sees the hole. OOOOKAY that was lame... but after some thoughts and struggles and prayers over some issues, i've decided to be the one who sees the doughnut rather than the one who sees the hole. Enough emo-ing.

Question: Have you ever felt reluctant in serving Him? 'ehh, let someone else do it larh' 'but i tired leih..' 'wahlau, give opportunity to the younger ones lah...' Sometimes God really does work in mysterious ways - ways higher than ours and thoughts deeper than ours. There were countless times when you felt the move in your heart to serve and you just suppress them because, as you would give yourself a pathetic reason, 'i'm not there yet...' So when will you be there? When it's too late? When Jesus comes again? 

Jesus came 2 milleniums ago and died on the cross today for you and me. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? He walked up the path of the cross in history to fulfill the predestination set in the eternal will of God. Will you walk the same path? 

Ask yourself: If it's not now, then when? If it's not here, then where? If it's not this, then what? If it's not ME, then who?

"Do not put out the Spirit's fire." (2 Thes 5:19) The time is NOW. dont wait until He comes again. 

Tired

Precious Lord, take my hand,

Lead me on, let me stand,

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light,

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

Stardust 09!!!

Hi guys, please vote for our band competition titled stardust here!!!

Our band is B01 Con Men!! =D

清明节时雨纷纷

路上行人欲断魂. it's funny why during this period it always rains. just that perhaps it wasnt 雨纷纷 but pouring heavily during the sunday afternoon. in fact it was pouring so heavily Sam has to leave his lunch in the back alley and scurried up the pathway because the alley was flooding.

managed to take a few pics when the rain subsided a bit but i havent been able to bring the camera to East Coast Park for the 1241235th week. it's been raining on Sundays. so here's the few...

actually, i really cant tell this block from that one over there. yeap, that one right there...

Cloth pegs must be thinking 'How useless i am!'

We still managed a gai gai somehow =D

Alas! stay at home play piano better....

Well. Papa mama back to sarawak to 清明... wish i could have been there. i guess sometimes the rain really stirs up the emotion...

Flying Here and There

When Airasia came out quite a few years back i really thought that flying will be cheap. YEAH RIGHT.

1) They dont fly KL - Singapore - KL at that time.

2) Budget airlines always have this irritating concept of oooh "$0.00 DOLLAR FARE!" and end up you have to pay a few hundreds just to get from one place to another. Airport tax larh, fuel surcharge larh, insurance larh.. it's endless. Why dont we have restaurants that dont charge you for your bak chor mee, but charge you for using their spoon, their fork, their plate etc... what an idiotic idea.

3) Budget airlines have some very "interesting" airplanes. the kind that gives you free roller coaster rides. if you know what i mean.

BUT! lately i've decided to give it another try since fuel prices has dropped and flying seems to get hit quite hard in the recession. Furthermore Airasia seems to have established the route to Singapore quite firmly. SURPRISE SURPRISE! i actually managed to book a ticket which has a total cost (yes after adding all those irritating stuff) of < SGD35.00 when flying back from KL!

AND i've just bought another tix back to KL after my intern. it costs less than 50 bucks. cheaper than some bus tix. this time round it's Jetstar though. you just have to shift around Jetstar, Airasia or Tiger to get some good deals.. 

i guess sometimes recession might do some people really bad, but they also do some people good!

Today is April Fool's Day

Seriously, people have always joked about my birthday. it's kinda fun coz they dont believe you when you tell them 'eh today my birthday you know...' hahaha! 

jokes aside, another year has just whizzed past me like there's no yesterday... 2 years ago i remembered posting somewhere in the blog about getting kicked out from St James coz i'm still underage -.- OK dont get me wrong we were there for the purpose of watching good bands but who'd have thought that the only eligible place we can go is a huge dark room with nothing but bass beats.. =.= "we" here being me and yeekiat... 

now i'm 23 liao *so fast*. but yeekiat is not 23 yet... so its not so fast after all. what nonsense am i talking. Anyway, today is rather meaningful as well, because my beloved sister chose to have her wedding 3 years ago on this very date. very interesting indeed. i'd like to wish her a happy anniversary and hope that i'll become an uncle soon. 

so the whole point of this post is to thank all those who wished me a happy birthday on this very funny day and may God bless you all to have many birthdays to come! 

Gundam 00 Ends...

Finally after 2 long years, Gundam 00 comes to an end with 2 seasons of 25 episodes each... I've mentioned in my previous post before, i wasnt a Gundam fan until this series came along and well, it really is much better than a lot of anime/cartoons out there...

if you have the time, go and watch it.. HAHA.. and the video i posted is the 2nd end song of season 2 with the very tragic couple in the series..

Perfume: The story of a Murderer

As you can infer, i've downloaded some movies into my hard drive and watching them bit by bit like chinese drama when i'm free. So my latest indulgence is in this story about a gifted young man who turned into a murderer in order to capture his dream in a tiny bottle of perfume. initially i wasnt very keen to watch it (actually i have a lot of movies in my hard drive which i'm lazy/no interest to watch) but after the first few minutes, it proved to be not a bad choice. better than lame-bo. it is very interesting especially how they film the concept of a scent when you really dont smell anything in front of your screen. haha.

good show. 7/10

Lame-Bo

Alrite it's been a while since i updated on movies. i've watched quite a few but i was just lazy to write anything about them. stuff like Red Cliff 2, Bolt, and seriously, i just forgot about the rest of it... some of them are good, some are not too bad, but this is one of the films that i must write about.

It's the one show with the one man hero who had popularized the whole army movie thing, inspired games and commando-type films all over the world. i didnt catch it when it came out in 2008 and you know what? THANK GOD I DIDN'T! This is film is sooo sucky, it is right at the bottom of all hierarchy. seriously, it doesnt even score 1 out of 10. You can actually count how many WORDS Mr Rambo talked in the movie and the rest is just mindless crap killings. i can do it if i have the guns also. please save yourself the torture and never borrow such a low class film ever. BTW i heard that Legend of Chun Li is worse.

this movie has earned itself a grand score of 0/10. great.

Margaritaville

To be honest, South Park has got the best sense of humor out there. 

Margaritaville proves it all.

Go and watch ppl.. season 13 episode 3. i think is the best episode of south park ever. for those who dont know yet, south park is back on season 13~! 

Back From LalaLand

Hi all i've finally managed to clumber back to sunny Singapore. Though in my very humble and honest opinion, Sungai Besar is a much more sunny place. BUT, it was a good rest nonetheless and i've rejuvenated myself, albeit gaining a few spots on my body and well, starting to feel like a fish being scaled off daily. 

When i first thought of going back, there at the back of my mind i wanted to take nice pictures by the not-so-nice seaside (consists of mud and sand and... more mud and sand) i also wanted to take my mum's little piece of land called the garden, which in a few years time, has blossomed to become a tiny tropical rainforest. ALAS! i forgot to bring the charger for the camera's battery o.O 

Well, not to fret, since there are of course photo shops in Sungai Besar, to help the local develop photos of course. Upon checking, they have NEVER seen a canon DSLR battery before. well... o.O 

which ultimately leaves me with only a few pictures that i manage to salvage with about half the battery life. In fact there is a second battery, which i left here in sunny Singapore. THAT is how smart ppl can get when they are infected with chicken pox. enjoy the pics though =)

This is none other than one of my mum's multitude of plants. i dunno what is its name. just like we all dunno what's the names of those trees in the tropical rainforest. it just looks nice.

Another fruit and AH HA! it's called 'LIM KIM' in hakka i dunno wad it's called in other languages. someone enlighten me.

Being a fishing village, of course Sungai Besar will have a seaside. it's just how nice the seaside can be. Well, not very nice. i've taken this shot to purposely make the silhoutte stood out.

One of my favorite pics from salvaging the remaining juice of the battery. it's the stilts that some of the chalets are on.

Also one of my favorite pics. a crane was resting on top of the log. but too bad the lens is really not far enough even at 200mm it still appears to be so small.

P/S btw i really didnt expect Sungai Besar to turn up on wiki. wiki rawks =D

Holiday Ending Soon

Finally, after a tortuous 1-1/2 weeks i'm finally going back soon. to be honest, it was only tortuous at the beginning of the ordeal. 

CANNOT SCRATCH! ITCHY! FEVER! 

after that, they slowly dry up to be scales on your body and on top of that, you get to eat good food (fishes everyday), get to sleep for 12 hours daily, get to take photos at the beach, get to use the computer to read manga and watch gundam, and best of all, even get paid... and now i'm going back soon. God is good =)

well, even going back wont be so bad coz there appeared to be cheap air tix from KL to SING so decided to get it since it's once in a lifetime it can get so cheap.. so i'll be back soon peeps. !! 

MUAHAHAHAHA! 

Poxy Update!

i'm currently recovering well in a small town eating rice with steam fishes and vege everyday. yes i know it seems like i've retreated into a reclusive villa of some sort but please do not think that having chicken pox is having fun at my age T_T apparently a lot of ppl does not know that you will be hospitalised if you get chicken pox at the age of 30. and it is fatal. 

hopefully i will be back to my computer to update soon...  

GREAT NEWS!

i'm down with chicken pox (not confirm but i have small, watery red dots over my body, mild fever for about 2 days or so AND I HAVE NOT HAD CHICKEN POX IN MY LIFE). Confirming with doctor tomorrow... horrible nite tonite... i can so predict. 

now should i be happy or should i be anxious? -.-

I'm SICK!

Quote: "i'm surprised our body dont fall sick from it.." (2009, Moses on his previous post!)

zZz