Reflecting the past semester

I was reading my previous post on my plans for this semester break. Boy was I hopeful. I have 2.5 more days left to the start of another semester and nope, I have not gone anywhere further than 50 kilometers from my house.

However, I am not feeling that I have wasted my time or nothing resentful arose due to the absence of holiday trips. I wonder why.

This semester break made me realize that I have very much immersed myself into the ICSJ community that for once, I feel like it is my second home.

After all, this is where I found my long lost cousin, Soo Tot Lik Siang. Well, he started the cousin thing because of our identical surname and it's a really hard find for such our surname.

Other than my loud cousin, there were also these 2 whom I eat my lunches with.

Hau Han Sen

Jonathan Yam

I have learned the dedication and diligence it takes to be a student. And I know that I want to learn not only because I have exams at the end of the semester but so that I may be more knowledgeable.

Oh well, school will start soon. I need a back to school shopping session. New pens, new files, paper and so on.

Hooray to short semester!

p.s. I got my results! GPA: 3.42. I'm contented for now.

"Passion always wins"

I think I found my answer

Oh, go to Jamie Oliver's site and click the unsigned bands competition to listen to the top 5 bands chosen if you're interested in indie music. Treat it as a fresh change to the ears. I like John Carson =)

Taking on the World

I watched Flower in the Pocket by local director Liew Seng Tat yesterday with bro and sis. Although it is not at all like the polished movies with soundtracks we see in cinema, it was a refreshing insight into Malaysian produced and directed movies. It was beautifully thought provoking and emotionally stirring. I'd say this movie gave me a better impression on our local films.

Unlike Hollywood movies which dominates our local cinemas (come on, people hardly go for movies under the international screens), Flower in the Pocket reminded me of my childhood experiences in school and how I used to make friends with people of all skin color. It is a film produced by a Malaysian for Malaysians because of the little things that Liew Seng Tat personalized that only rakyat Malaysia gets it.

Call me innocent, but I like the young me. It was not long after that my mind became infused and corrupted with what I as a Chinese should not do and that I should dislike a certain race because of the constitution set by our forefathers. It also refreshed the memories of my primary school days. The "b a, ba - c a, ca - Baca" spelling days and the trouble-making kids who sits at the back of the class who were at constant scrutiny by other more brilliant students and by the educators themselves.The movie gave me an impression that it was challenging our country's public education system as teachers no longer desire to educate the leaders of tomorrow but wishes to only finish the chapters in a textbook.

The three child actors and actress were so good and at ease during the filming process that at one point I wondered if the cameras were hidden. And watching the poverty of the two brothers certainly brought gratefulness to the simple things I have.

The three of us proceeded after Flower in the Pocket to a very old movie by Stephen Chow. Because we laughed so hard at a particular scene, dad came into the room and scolded us to go to bed. It was almost 3 am after all and sis had school the next morning. There goes the premature end to our movie marathon.

Back to reality, I have more work piled up now, especially after receiving an email from the college student government body earlier today. And I finally got my booster jab for Hepatitis A or was it Hepatitis B? I am so clueless.

I'm sure everyone has somehow or rather got blamed for something they did not do. I had a taste of that minutes ago. I was called stupid right at my face for something, well, I wouldn't say my fault since I wasn't the one who didn't put the battery in the camera, but I was the asked to charge it. So that becomes my fault? I hate being blamed.

I am too lazy to take on the world. I am under inspired to take on the world. I want to just go for classes, come home and do homework. I want to have time to sit in front of the television but not watch it and let my mind wonder. I want to strum my guitar while drinking hot choco with cinnamon in my garden.

Truly, there are many excuses to think of when I am finding one. I know I need to do what needs to be done. I just need a reason to keep me going.

I realized today that when I am faced with a lot of work and pressure, I go to sleep.

This holiday is not turning out like how I wanted it to be. I have more work now than 2 weeks ago during the final exams.

I had a cosmetic surgery!

I have been complaining about the yellowness of my teeth for months now - it's due to that past few months (or has it been years?) where my lazyness kicked in and I did not take care of my dental hygiene as I should be.

So instead of getting obsessed over brushing my teeth every few hours, then floss and gargle. I opted for a surgery. Scaling.

I should have followed my instincts and googled what exactly scaling is. Instead, I went to the dentist hoping that every tooth will be whitened and renewed. Turns out scaling is nothing of that but is cleaning/scraping of plague in between my teeth and to remove tartar or calculus; not that I have any.

When the Indian lady dentist was checking the condition of my teeth, she noted that I have two holes at two of my back teeth. So I had to fill that hole with my money. Yes, you read it correctly, money, not some white stuff glued on and heated with this huge gun that went zzzzzzzzz for so long that my mouth went numb.

Outcome = rm140 gone in 30 minutes.

I repentantly mention here that sometimes, there just ain't shortcuts to greatness, which in this case are great looking teeth.

Looks like I'll need to stock up on dental floss and mouth gargle.

I know that I have a knack at saying the wrong things at the wrong time and that I say things I don't mean, or maybe expressing my thoughts using the wrong words. I was proven of that truth once again (multiple times) today.

And it hurts to know that I can never take back anything that I uttered whether intentionally or not. It hurts even more thinking back of the things I said that wounded someone else. Why would I even say those things? Those unintentional (or were they intentional?) gossips.

Visiting Sbux Store #60, CLM yesterday gave me this indescribable uplifting feeling. And being able to get behind the bar and in the Back of House (BOH) was an even greater feeling. Seeing Mabel and Ferdie again in action, blending Frappucinos and pulling shots; how fulfilling. That one year's experiences and friendships are what I'd like to keep for a long time. There was a new partner on his first day and he must be confused since I don't dress like a partner or was my name on the board.

He asked the question "Why did you quit?". I gave him my standard answer, "My dad".


I would like to think of myself as strong, courageous, and decisive. I would like to be portrayed as a dreamer and a visionary of great things. I would like to be someone who fights for a great cause, one who wages against the fierce ocean and emerge as a champion. As I watch the Olympics from the square box, I wondered if I can ever be one of those competing in any of the events.

I'm a big dreamer but never a big doer. I am affirmed by the chaos in my room, by the consequences of my past actions, and by what my parents say of me. Truth be told that nothing can affect me if I don't let it to, but as of now, I am letting it sink in.

Alhough feeling defeated, I long to sing a song of praise to my saviour. How can I not sing.

p.s. I like wearing jeans and t-shirt at home; feels like I'm all set to step out and feel the warm glow of sunlight on my face or the clear raindrops from the sky.

I have so much to talk about.

a) Public Speaking final exam

b) Adidas KOTR

c) Visitors in church from Hong Kong

d) My guitar 'test' by Jonathan Lim

e) DUMC's Dream Center and the people in it

f) Going to church today

And it can go on and on....

I came home this morning from Adidas KOTR at 9.30 and for the first time (in years?) I found my parents still soundly asleep. I know it might sound normal since it's a Sunday, but if you know my dad, you'll understand the rareness of this. My dad will usually be grocery shopping in the wet market on weekend mornings.

Apart from that, I actually survived the run! After going through 2 hours of sleep on Thursday (microecons exam), 4 hours of sleep on Friday (public speaking exam) and yesterday which was the worst of all! - 45 minutes (come on, my afternoon naps are longer than that); all the hours in the past 3 days put together are less than my usual daily 8 hours, and with that sleeping record, I miraculously survived the run! I was very close to giving up the run when I realized the 45 minutes left for sleep plus the stress and fatigue over the past few days. Fortunately, my running kawan-kawan will be there to run bersama-sama and so came the encouragement and semangat-ness to go on. The decision payed off well. I got a finisher medal and crossed the finish line in 1h 10 minutes, which is acceptable for me. (I really wanted to finish within 1h though)

Another medal added to the pile (not that it's a big pile =.=")

Still looking fabulous, nyehehe.


And Lai Tee found this on someone's site - NB 15k. What a pleasant surprise. But the hair ain't looking good =(

I shall continue talking about the other matters another time. I'll go sleep again...haha.

Beijing Olympics 2008

It's 8/08/2008! What an auspicious number, haha. I can't wait for the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics. Usually these kind of opening ceremonies are done spectacularly elaborate and none (except for the crew lah) will know the agenda until the final second. However, this time around, I guess everyone was so excited about it that they decided to sneak in to the massive Bird's Nest national stadium to film a video of the rehearsal. Way to go for the spoiler! Anyways, thankfully not all were caught on tape. And no point for me to repeat everything that's reported, read it here.

When I first heard about the 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium, I went, "Oh no, what an apek name for such an international event". But that was before. Now, I am fascinated and at awe by the mega structure; whatever it's called is totally negligible. Then, I wondered, "Bird's nest...means got hole lah. Rain how?" I know, it's a question only dummies ask. And I admit, I am a dummy when it comes to architecture.

Yes I did search for the answer of the whole hole issue.

"It comprises an outer skeleton of 42,000 tons of steel, making it three times as heavy as the proposed London 2012 stadium, and an inner 'skin' of double-layered plastic which keeps out wind and rain and filters out UVA light."

Wow, that must be some high-tech-expensive plastic.

Four years of blood(literally), sweat and tears of construction workers. It was reported that 6,000 homes were demolished to make way for the stadium and 10 people died in accidents during the construction. It's not all smiles and happy days it seems.

Stunning night view of the nest. I could only utter "Wow".

Me being a very cost conscious person, I can't help imagining how much this 'nest' costed the Chinese. Try 4 billion yuan/500 million USD/250 million pound sterling. Mega amount for a mega project. And that is not it. Quoting from telegraph.co.uk, the money spent on the stadium is just a small fraction of the 20 billion pound (127.2 billion Malaysian ringgit!) spent on infrastructures and venues in the preparation for the games - more than double the budget of London 2012. The British must be hiding their faces upon realizing how much the chung guo ren threw out to make it an unforgettable Olympic year. By the way, I realized how rich China is, not just land and labor, but cash too.

Can't wait for the games to start - though I have an exam tomorrow morning. Sigh! On a Saturday sumore =.="

And erm, my name was changed to Wan Ting for a second and apparently it is my birthday today! Wee! I guess someone sent the birthday message to the wrong number, though the name Wan Ting sounds terribly familiar.

What about Microeconomics? Not bad, not too shabby at all.

I'm in dire need of a massage. I'll go ber-Public Speaking now.

One more week...

I don't know if I should be sulking or leaping joyfully because the semester is coming to an end. Most of the classes are over and only is music class left (tomorrow). Took a couple of pictures with fellow Public Speaking classmates today and most were thrilled to pose for my camera.

Recalling the first class, we were required to give a speech on ourselves in relation to any object. I chose a book (sounds geeky doesn't it?) and talked about knowing a person takes time just as how reading a book takes time and we learn more about the characters and the author as we flip the pages.

My final exam will be from 8-13th Aug after which I will have my semester break. I was just questioning myself, will this be a well deserved one? I would like to believe so.

Oh, and Qi Yuan finally messaged me after so many days back from India. And Victor will be back soon as well. Oh well, I'll see how things go and where we should hang out.

Who am i?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am i?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.

Not because of who i am,
But because of what You've done.
Not because of what i've done,
But because of who You are.

i am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still You hear me when i'm calling,
Lord, You catch me when i'm falling,
And You've told me who i am.
i am Yours.
i am Yours.

*Whom shall i fear?
Whom shall i fear?
'Cause i am Yours.
i am Yours.

*this verse came particularly useful when for a second i thought the wild dog nearby is chasing after me

The complications of walking with God

Service after service and sermons after sermons every Sunday since 2005. What have I learnt about being a Christian; about God?

Frankly, all the sermons has made me feel that the more I know about how Christianity works, the more confused and complicated the process becomes.

But as I was jogging listening to my 'refurbished' ipod, God began to speak to me and the TD Jakes sermon: Seeking God - one that I have heard more than any other sermons played again. Then it came to me: Hey, it ain't that complicated, it's not easy but it has always been simple.

It is this one truth that Christians never seem to get:

When we were still unbelievers, God sought aggressively after us. After salvation, the responsibility shifts to us to seek after Him. Many assume that they know this, however, after salvation they sit back and relax, knowing they are saved and assume that the relationship will go autopilot and everything will work itself out. Guess what, the whole time when we were relaxing, God was waiting for us to knock on His door.

Seeking Him does not come without effort; when we are going about our business. It is not automatic; we will have to put ourselves out there and aggressively seek after the God who sought after us.

When we get prayer in altar calls from pastors, it does not get us there to know God. It takes our effort to know God. To study the bible, do the devotion and pray; if that is what it takes to know God, it has to be done. This is one area in my life that I lamentably have to admit: there is no shortcut.

There is no '10 quick ways to know God' or 'Know God today!' books to get you there.

It is wrong in this generation where we can’t even pray for 10 minutes to know God. When we go to church, everything has to be right, the singers must be right, the sound system must be right, everyone must smile at us.

When are we going to get bored of the rituals and just desire to know God? It is no longer our cars, our clothes, our house, I just want to know You.

One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord......
Psalms 27:4

*part of transcription of TD Jakes' sermon: Seeking God.

Passion World Tour, Kuala Lumpur

Isaiah 26:8 (NKJV)

Yes, in the way of Your judgements,
O Lord, we have waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.

4000 strong of fellow brothers and sisters, good friends, college/university friends and other people that I have somehow crossed path with in this course of life gathered in Sunway Convention Center on Sunday; some with high expectations to tap into the flow of the Spirit, and some just there because someone pulled them along.

Upon reaching, hundreds were already waiting enthusiastically outside the doors and when the doors opened, a rush of excitement filled me and again, I smiled idiotically and said to myself "Ooo, this is it!"

Some were puzzled as first as to why was Jakarta printed at the back of our wrist bands. I thought it's because they had some left overs at Jakarta hence they're recycling it. The reason was explained later that Jakarta is the Passion team's next stop and they want us to pray for the fellow Indonesians. It was awesome seeing Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio in person, well not exactly seeing them face to face since I still had to see them from a screen, but at least we were in the same room!

The last weekend was 2 days back to back of loud music and screaming. My ears had gone numb to loud music that today when I was listening to the ipod, I realized the volume was louder than usual. My oh my, poor eardrums.

While worshiping, the songs stirred my heart. Not of what I want to do for the Lord or how He is able, but of doubt, doubt of my abilities, doubt of if I can really do what He desires and I desire for my life.

Then Louie said this, "If you really want to live for His name, NOTHING can stop you, nothing can stop your God. Even death could not stop Him."

As I was taking pictures, I noticed the Moral Education textbook in the background. Moral. Someone asked me what is moral today. Instantly, Pastor Serena's words came flooding my mind.

The world does not know what moral is anymore, because there isn't a standard to which they can live by. Because they do not know what separates morality and immorality anymore. The grey area has grown wider and wider than it engulfed even what is moral. So how can anyone live in morality in this day? The media magnifies what is immoral and shrinks what is right, so much so that what is immoral has become acceptable, that what is deviant has become a norm. We hear of our very own politicians involved in sex scandals and corruption; then there's French President Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni who admitted to having 15 lovers before her marriage and thinks that it is alright to have that many men in her life. So many evident immoral acts announced and admittedly freely that the public has accepted the fact that the world has changed for the worse and they have ran out of excuses why should anyone live in morality. Who is to judge us when our supposed role models are behaving like this?

But what is immoral will remain as immoral in God's eyes. As Christians, we know what is right and what is wrong; there can never be darkness in light, as there can never be immorality in holiness. We have the standards of God as the benchmark of how we ought to carry ourselves. Often, many would misunderstand that God is judgmental. But again, we are told of His unfailing love and it is the immoral or the broken, inside or out, that He cries and longs for to come back to Him. "Come, just as you are".

God does not hate sinners. He does not hate homosexuals, those that are sexually immoral, thieves, liars, or any wrong doers. What He hates are the wrong doings; the sins.

So come just as you are.

p.s. it's the 100th post

Ok, the pictures from my 82-plates-worth-of-chap-fan meal.

The fancy restaurant


Entree: Shark's fin with scallops and morel

Entree: Shark's fin soup with abalone

Appetizer: Fish cake with salad

Amazingly flavorful and tender oyster

Appetizer: Wasabi prawns with deep fried curry chicken slices

Main course: Abalone with egg rice

Main course: Goose web with venison rib and sushi roll

Dessert: Almond pudding with longan

And the other dessert was snow jelly with red dates.

My butler for the evening

Was it worth it?

MTV Asia Awards 2008 post event update

People say what appears on tv is usually better than seeing it live since being there lets you see all the program transitions and flaws, or it is the other way round since being there means no commercial break?

I was just watching the MTV AA '08 on tv and the video was terribly put together. The shooting angles and the very constant change of viewpoint from different sides of the stage made it hard to be enjoyed. Maybe this rough patch of work was due to the short time given for editing but it is not a good enough reason for robbing a great experience from those sitting at home watching. Besides, the other MTV AA's in the past had been successful in pulling it off.

My one and only souvenir - the entrance wrist band

Chris actually thought that t-shirts or mugs or whatever possible souvenirs might be sold after the event but sadly none were spotted. The crew members had this really cool looking lanyard and I so want it. I know, just a lanyard, but it's nice mar.

First off, I am really glad that Stephanie Sun won the Favorite Artiste of Singapore award (sorry, I'm biased on this one. I like her!) Though there weren't many who showed support when she performed like how the audience did when Leona sang, or when she claimed her golden block (as if that matters right) I feel that she absolutely deserves it compared to other nominees like JJ Lin. It was so exciting seeing Stephanie Sun live! I was smiling idiotically actually.

For Fav Artiste Malaysia, it was Nicholas Teo. Hmph, I thought it was alright since Pop Shouvit is only moderately appealing and Dato' Siti Nurhaliza had won this category before. I was feeling sympathetic for Faizal though; the Mr. Superman who is a fine singer and performer.

One of the few good performances tonight has got to be Leona Lewis' besides Panic @ the Disco. The Click Five was pretty good as well, I like the lead singer's outfit and guitar; all white from top to toe =) I am disappointed that Avril, Justin, Linkin Park, and Fergie did not show up; though it is expected. Being a dummy of Korean artistes, I didn't quite get the craze of the group of Korean boys Super Junior; mostly because I have never heard of them before today, haha.

Another disappointment is that the Arena of Stars was not heavily packed with screaming and squealing fans and many (especially those above 40) decided that the show wasn't entertaining enough and the music was just unbearably awful; they left early before they start vomiting blood. Some must be mourning for this generation's music quality. My parents used and still do ask why do we ever listen to this kind of gibberish. But then again, music styles do change over time and just because the old people don't like it doesn't mean it is not good. Gibberish or not, it's a very subjective matter.

Oh, and I got a really close glimpse of VJ Taya! And I was 2 seconds late to getting a MTV goodie bag! Haiyo, sakit hatinyer!

And because I didn't get to take proper pictures of MAA(handphone camera doesn't count), I took pictures of my dinner/supper instead in this fancy restaurant next to the VIP Casino; Imperial something.

A meal that costed more than half of my monthly allowance. A meal that costed roughly 41 plates of my usual lunch of chap fan! Let's recap if it's really that worth the cash.

p.s. The pictures shown are meals for two person, so that's like 82 plates worth of chap fan!







***************************************************************

Sorry, I will have to hang on to that suspense. The WiFi up here is super slow and it's way over bedtime. Let's catch sheeps.

Tidur!

MTV Asia Awards 2008

Ok, so dad finally got 2 invites to the MTV Asia Awards 2008 and it is tomorrow, or more like today. I will be attending it with my sis BUT, something is missing. Where is the hype? I have no idea why I am not feeling excited and the can't-wait-till-its-Saturday mood just ain't hovering in the air. I feel a little unworthy of those free tickets when there are so many other MTV die-hard fans out there hoping with all their hearts they could catch a glimpse of how an awards show is like live. So Jared Leto is hosting and apparently based on my sister's reaction when I asked her "Who's that dude?", I am supposed to be embarrassed for not knowing.

"Neh, the lead singer from 30 seconds to Mars ah", quips my sis.
" 3o seconds to where? They're not famous that wan izzit? If they are, I should have heard of them", I defended.

I am going to an awards show which costs RM1,500 per ticket and I know peanuts about it. Sweet.

And when they mention MTV Asia Awards, it is pretty inclusive in a sense that it only features some Asian countries and not all. Can't blame them though, since countries like Cambodia and Vietnam's entertainment music industry isn't big. Their citizens cannot even afford the basic necessity of food, shelter and healthcare; what more a Justin Timberlake album. (And we think cell phones are a necessity - they are lah in a way.)

They are: (9 out of 37 countries in Asia)

Mainland China
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Korea (South Korea that is)
Malaysia
Singapore
Philippines
Taiwan
Thailand

Chris; my fellow Biz Comm classmate will be waiting at the gates from 4pm and I thought I should do the same. 3 hours of plain boring and most of the time stressful waiting. I never liked waiting though there is the familiar chant 'best things go to those who wait'. Maybe I'll just get my sis to wait by the gates while I sip my cup of Italian Roast in Starbucks. *evil laughter*

Tomorrow morning till evening happens to be the Malaysian Leader's Summit Conference as well. I signed up for it over a month ago but declined (courteously) the place designated for me due to my tight schedule and final exam next week. However, they are still sending in emails on the updates to me, and if they did not assign my seat to another aspiring participant, I will feel responsible for the other person's loss. Actually I am already feeling it; the irresponsibility side of me since I am sensing that they did not receive both of my emails. SIGH.

Today proved to be yet another bright sunny day; figuratively speaking. I am finally done with my presentation and marketing report! On top of that, I think we did quite well; based on a member's peek at the lecturer's score sheet, haha. That surreal feeling that the semester is only a week away from ending hits me again and I cannot be more relieved than I am now.

The Editorial Board had a photoshoot of its members today but sadly not all were present. And my solo picture will show me jumping with arms and legs lifted. All the jumping was seriously exhausting.

Amateur jumping taken with amateur camera at Movie World Gold Coast

And some flying. How can a Superwoman not fly.

Tidur time, again.