Personal Blather!

Extremely long weekend but thoroughly enjoyable.

The first highlight was obviously camp. It was excellant! Firstly, I woke up at 430 for morning prayer on Friday night (as usual). After the usual morning prayer, I came home and packed for camp. (Couple of minutes and I was done) I checked with Sky and he said he'd pick me around 1.

So at about 120, his mum came by and picked me to his place. He just got back from college. We headed to church from there. On arrival, there were quite a number of people already there waiting for the bus. It had yet to arrive though, so we occupied ourselves chatting aimlessly. Kevin was a little frustrated because the bus was late. But in the end we boarded pretty OK. I fell asleep in the bus because it rained cats and dogs; It was so cool.

On arrival, we came to Sufes Tapah, a damp little site with lots of grass, trees and little else. There were a couple of buildings littered here and there. Anyway, we unloaded and then I went to register for camp. The one thing that struck me the most about a campus youth camp (my first) was that things were a lot less rigid. I suppose with age, there should be maturity. At least that is expected.

We went to check out our tents. Unfortunately, they were soaked through due to the rain. Luckily it had already stopped and we all tried to dry it as best we could. Then we had ice breaker; Treasure Hunt so to speak. We won, so I'm not complaining. Dinner, which we had to clean up ourselves after (it was fun) and arrival of the next bunch of people. Nothing much for the first day. 2nd day was more interesting. Session 1 followed by lunch and then stream trotting. That was the highlight of the camp, I suppose. Went climbing upstream. It was in our groups, and in a row. The guys were supposed to help the girls, but woe to me, I was the only one who failed in that task. My 'helpee' almost sprained her ankle due to my inadequate guidance. She ended up hobbling all the way holding up the line. So to Annabelle Yeoh, my sincerest apologies, and to everyone else too, it was me who caused the crawl, not her. So we reached the waterfall which was amazing. We slid down it and stuff. Too bad the stay was a little short IMHO.

Heading back, we had a bathe, makan, and then session. Ps Palan squeezed 2 sessions into one. I was surprised at myself that I wasn't a least bit sleepy. Then at the end, we had an all nite session of Mafia, Story telling and Murderer. Thank goodness Joshua Ting was around to ease the boredom. That is one excellant dude to hang out with. We were up till sunrise, and the final session. Then we all packed etc and went home. Most wonderful camp!

Post camp, I was drained, but surprisingly the most I could manage was 11 hours of sleep. I couldn't sleep anymore after that. Monday was interesting. I talked to Ying Yi over dinner about an idea I had, and I certainly hope it comes to pass. I did what I could (which was why I was busy the past few days) and here's the result.

CLICKEY

So that's all I have to say. I'm going to Saisaki later. Wish me luck!

Just a quickie, might go swim in a bit!

Watched Around the World in 80 days. Pretty OK for a Jackie Chan movie... One of his better ones I think, but I was hoping it wouldn't be a movie where one would have to leave one's brains at home. Enjoyable though.

Past couple of days has been fun. Daily morning prayer is really helping me get my sleeping right. At least I don't pig till 12 + unlike some people I know.

Met up with Tho Wei and Cher Chin too. Went mamak. It was pretty cool meeting up again. I'm still appalled at how they managed to squeeze 5 people at the back of my car, AND Tho Wei was in the back. Luckily it was a VERY short distance from Eugene's house to Melur. Talked about our days in Singapore (like that was YEARS ago... )

Camp will be this coming Friday. Post more about it another time.

Uhoh, time to go for my swim. Later!

Long time since my last post. Weekend was pretty awesome. I had to wake up early on Friday morning for practice. I'm backup singing for the Wesley Methodist CF camp. (Which reminds me, I need to memorise lyrics) Practice was quite good. I learned a couple of new songs, so I guess I have to work on them. I also availed myself to help out in the workshop. But lo and behold, now i'm facilitating it (close to conducting it I think) Luckily I have the material for it so it shouldn't be too big a problem. I do have to edit/cut&paste around though. Cell on Friday was interesting. Having combined worship/ice breaker was good. Word was led by Soon Chen instead of Grace, but it was still good. The iron sharpens iron talk was pretty informative. Plus, we had Adrian (he's working...) who gave us an adult's view. Interesting to note that he's also a new christian, but he's more mature then some other long term christians i've seen. It's amazing how far God can take a person with a willing heart.


Yea anyway, after practice I went to IMU to meet up with Sook Meng, Hee Siong and some 'other' people. Only problem was that on arrival, there were no 'other' people. Furthermore, Hee Siong had to lunch with his mum. So I ended up lunching with Sook Meng at Sri Petaling. Chicken rice was pretty much it.

Saturday I had a basketball match. It was pretty intense and was fun too. I don't really know how well I played though, so I won't comment there. Went to church that night as usual, and Ps Daniel really preached his heart out. I guess he really had a burden for the church and it all came out that weekend.

Well, Sunday was occupying. I guess it was better than rotting at home. But going to One Utama and spending a day there with people you hardly know does have it's downsides. It was fun near the end where we played Cranium (even though we lost *humph*) Cranium IS a fun game. My only gripe I suppose is that they should have a Malaysian version or something. Too many USA type questions.

Monday morning marked the start of 14 day fast and prayer. Waking up at 420 every morning is no joke. But it's fulfilling. Unfortunately, unlike everyone else, I have nothing to do in the morning after prayer, so I hit the bed again. It kind of ruins the mood. Did some banking too on Monday. Transferred some money over to my uncle. I broke fast at night with Tat and Chew. Ate quite a bit actually. Thankfully I didn't stuff myself TOO much.

And this morning was pretty much the same as Monday except there was extra luggage in the boot and chocolates as well. Oh, I picked Annabelle to and from prayer too. Lydia went off to the airport at around 7 so it's bye bye Lydia and have fun in the US!

Now I'm home, bored out of my wits, and wondering what to do next. Maybe a book will take me through the rest of today. Cheers.

Had some banking to do yesterday. So went to Maybank and transferred some money to my uncle. It was pretty quick surprisingly.

Nothing really much happened. Most (if not all) important stuff have been done. I think this is gonna be a short note.

Just to give a few people greetings today.

Happy Birthday mum! I love you lots and here's my shout-out to you!

Happy Birthday Jaclynn! Enjoy your holidays!

Happy Birthday YingYi! If you ever read my blog anyway...

My sister is having exams now and is pretty stressed out. I pray and I pray and I pray she'll be fine. All the best in you exams sis!

To everyone else with exams, study hard but don't stress yourselves.

And to those who've finished exams and are in subang/kl area, pls pls pls call me if you have nothing to do. I'm getting bored!

Hah. No, I won't be writing a long script today. No mood and nothing particularly interesting in my mind right now. Maybe next time!

Sorry for long absence of posts. I haven't really encountered anything so far worth blogging about, yet anyway.

Yesterday was, I suppose, an exception. I went to KL, more specifically, Timesquare and Sungai Wang Plaza. Initially, the plan was to play, play and well, play. But somehow we decided against it and went shopping instead. (Can those who know me well imagine me, shopping?) Anyway, I went hunting for PS2 prices (roughly RM580) and Xbox prices (about RM720) I suppose I'm interested in getting a console, but none of them seem to have the same kind of pull to entice me into buying them. The DVD capabilities do have a certain attraction, but that's hardly substantial.

So, me, Sky, Yee Lyn, Lydia, Irene (pronounced IRONY, much to mine) and Kelly (1) were there. We skipped the roller coaster since it costs RM25 per entry per person and we didn't really want to pay that ammount just to ride it. Instead, we spent our time eating. The Teppanyaki restaurant was barely adequate IMHO. We stopped to get pretzels, famous amos cookies, maltose (solid maltose which only Yee Lyn ate I think) and drinks all while shopping in Sungai Wang. The place didn't hold the same kind of thrill I use to have the first time I went there. Probably 'cause I was younger then.

As for dinner was a simple noodles with dumpling combination which tasted pretty good actually.

The one eye opener was that some of us really think alike. I was just surprised to see that Sky would sometimes say the exact thing I was about to say. The most prominent issue was about La La Girls. I suppose I'll give a short comment on this 'phenomenon'.

To MY understanding, a La La Mui (henceforth referred to as LLM) is one who dresses and presents herself in public in such a way that she screams for attention, usually the not so righteous kind. Generally, they imitate fashion from Japan/Korea/HongKong. I suppose there really isn't anything wrong with the fashion, but many people question the need to dress in that manner. The public generally view girls who dress as such as 'loose' and in a manner of speaking, this 'degrades' them. Such views, while may not be entirely right, is what society sees and expects of people. It could be that such dressing is an outright sign of rebellion, but there's also evidence of it being peer pressure. I wouldn't be surprised if these people actually know that they are being frowned upon; they just couldn't care less.

I do also question the right to judge LLMs based on their dressing. It may be wrong to make conclusions about their character based on their dressing. However, first impressions DO count because society is not perfect. The general view of the public is not unimportant or useless. It forms the ideals and thinking of society, and although it may not be entirely right, rebelling against it will only make it difficult for society as a whole to accept an LLM.

Wow, I had a pretty interesting day yesterday...

Jamie came down and is staying with Ben, so they called me up at 1.30 am (i was already asleep... >.<) and we made plans for yesterday. I picked them up at 9.30, sent Ben to IMU (he had classes), Went to Tat's house to spend some time before lunch. It was rather interesting since both Tat and Jamie went MVPing... (RO terms... ignore if you do not know)

Then we went for a drink... but no lunch yet... so me and Jamie went to pick Eugene for lunch. We met Ben at the InC@fe and had lunch there... I took the Shepards pie... (wonder if the name has another meaning... ^_^)

Post lunch, went up for leadership class (well, we were sort of just sitting in while waiting for Ben... ^_^) We got wind of Yee Lyn catching Shrek 2 later, so we all went to join her, even though both me and Jamie have already seen it... it's THAT awesome... ^_^

Went to Pyramid, ate A&W for dinner, watched the super cool movie, came out and we didn't go home yet... ^_^ After Raymond left and we sent Yee Lyn back, we picked LOW Jia En up for supper... Again, I took them to SS15 to meet my other friends, Tat, Chew and Jermaine... ^_^ Post mamak I sent everyone home and myself too... time 11.30 pm. Wonderful day indeed... ^_^

OK... now that THAT's over... on to my long writings... ^_^ I'm tempted to write about my views on Dan Brown's Da Vinci's Code and it's prequel, Angels & Demons, but it's a bit theological and it IS fiction, though it might cause some 'learned' people to have serious reservations about the gospel... Why do I feel Dan Brown's an atheist?

On to my writings. Today's topic is 'Are we ready for a steady relationship?' (Gee, sounds like a sermon... ^_^) I'm guessing everyone between 14 and 20 will be shouting YES! Of couse we are. We can handle it. I love her and she loves me and that's ALL there is to it... isn't it? Maybe, but most 'mature' teens tend to overlook many other aspects of a steady relationship. How do I know? I've been there, many times... >.< Not that I've had a steady relationship, I see now that I probably DIDN'T ever have one because God chose not to give me one... yet... But even then, when I DID look for one, I realise I tended to think of how it would benefit me, how I'd feel so much more secure with her, how I could just be so happy etc. Thank goodness for me I had good teachers. ^_^

I'm being brutally honest. Now that I think about it, most of my past 'loves' were actually infatuations. I don't think that I'm the exception here. I believe most whithin the specified ages actually encounter the same thing, if they can be honest enough to admit it. Almost all (I said ALMOST) relationships in Secondary school don't last past college. Why? First obvious reason is distance. Once we hit college followed by Uni, one if not both parties will choose to study at some institution far from home. The result? Most of the time, both parties will be seperated for a span of say weeks at the least. The occasional few relationships actually survive this distance, but a surprising majority fail, no matter how close they were before the seperation. Those that fail I believe are due to the fact that since it's infatuation, it's not GIVING without expecting returns... thus, when the other party's absent, it gets difficult to obtain whatever it is that sustained the relationship be it security, sense of being needed or otherwise. As such, in all likelihood, long distance can easily destroy a relationship that is NOT based on TRUE LOVE.

Of course, not ALL relationships fail even if they were long distance. Although rare, some people are actually REALLY mature enough for a relationship. This obviously depends on the individual. One such person I can think of is my own sister. Seperated from her boyfriend for the past 3 years, they're still together. I look up to them because of that. Oh, did I mention that they're BOTH past 21 years of age? Not that age is the ultimate factor, but with age comes maturity although not necessarily enough to pursue a relationship. So when are we mature enough? The truth is, I myself don't know... (How's that for being cryptic? ^_^) I sincerely believe I can only trust in God that He will reveal the proper time to me and the right person at the same time. I can't say for sure WHEN someone is mature enough, but I do know that if one IS, one wouldn't be worried about whether or not one HAS a relationship. ^_^

To end, do write your comments on this... haha... Even if you wanna bang me I guess I can't stop you. ^_^ But try to be nice, ok? ^_~

Just a quickie note... I just read the Photoblogging service blogger has just put up and it sounds pretty good... I'm sure ppl like Lydia will enjoy it tremendously... but oh... I think she doesn't use blogger... <_<

LOL

I'm personally thinking of getting it.. Sounds cool to drag and drop pictures straight to my blog with captions. I'll look into it when I get back from cell 'lunch' -_-

Oh, the comments section were a bit buggy... I hope I've fixed it including allowing non-blogger users to post... It's based on posts though, so try to comment based on the particular post. It's not like some other blogs that have a huge list where people just spam... <_<

Ok, I gotta go. I'm gonna do a follow up on my aforementioned issue posts... but not when I'm rushing to meet my cell for erm... 'lunch'... ^_^

OK... got it working... >.<

Nothing much to add today... Lunch was good though... At least I thought so... ^_^

I've given up...

I've tried putting a comments tag for people to write their views... but I simply can't get it to work with my layout... >.<

I'll try again another day... >.<

Finally another post... ^_^

Frankly, I've been pretty preoccupied with RO... At least it occupies my time...

Of course, I do prioritise time for other more important activities... ^_^

Anyway, as this blog will constantly be boring unless I make it more interesting, I will try to pen my comments on an issue... any issue... ^_^ It's just my thoughts... so go easy on me ok?

I believe college students in Malaysia think themselves as very mature, but in truth most are found wanting when it's crunch time. ^_^ I do not exempt myself from this belief as I too have caught myself more than once being downright childish. In many cases, we consider ourselves better than everyone else.

I think one of the most prominent examples would be that the idea of 'fun' has been lost. 'Fun' things are considered beneath us unless there is the adult elemant involved. A fine illustration would be that parties for college students are rarely considered exciting for them. Most of the time, as long as there is a programme, it is rigid and therefore, restrictive. Hence most would find it boring. Fun parties are therefore merely a gathering where people meet and socialise, some music, possibly with alcoholic drinks involved, and little else. Certainly, childish parties involving clowns and dressups should be considered things of the past. However, I do not see the reason for having reservations about a programme. After all, planned activities need not boring. We seem to slip into a mindset where 'adult parties', which are all talk and little else, are considered suitable for us. I am not propogating that we all stay as 'teenagers' and fail to grow up. There is a time and place to 'enjoy' such adult parties, but we do not need to rush it. The truth is, I believe most of us wouldn't mind indulging in sometimes childish activities. It is only because of expectations; the believe that I am grown up and hence am expected not to enjoy certain activities, that we frown upon 'fun'. Ask any organiser of a party for youths and they will tell you that no matter how hard they crack their brains, they still largely fail to come up with something 'fun'. I do not perceive it as the fault of the organiser... rather the youths themselves already have a negative mindset that ANYTHING planned besides food and drink, will be boring. So, the conclusion? Keep an open mind and accept that it is alright to be childish when it comes to fun. After all, even adults relish childish behaviours when they have fun.

There. I'm too lazy to double check it for typos etc. (Yea, that's a childish trait... but hey, this isn't a thesis) I'll continue with this train of thought another time.

Long time no post

Basically, Internet was down for a couple of days...

BUT, had free lunch today... ^_^ Went makan at the INKafe... Whee
Though I do feel guilty for actually going... Lawrence had to pay for my lunch... >.<

This was followed by preaching class... haha... stuff like what to do and what not to do when you speak in public.

Church and cell over the weekend was great. I'm enjoying life now and hope the time I go back to classes won't come too soon... >.<

OK, nothing much to add... Bleh. Hope the net won't continue to be down... ^_^

Currently in MCCC... making use of wireless network setup in church ^_^

Tomorrow I wanna collect my IC... hope it's ok... ^_^

Noone online so since I have nothing much to do blog lar...

Helping out in MCCC is quite fun... but I feel a bit paiseh... they gimme free lunch... >.<

See, one sentence comments... *shrug*

Later... maybe...

Well, I managed to come online on my cousin's computer... not mine... so I can't exactly do much... >.<

Today went for a Mission Conference by Pr Jim Yost... REALLY REALLY GOOD!!!

Challenged us about missions... and not just any simple challenge... his sharing was really impactful... As Lydia accurately put it, gave us a paradigm shift. Radical really... evangelism is not just sharing... it's going out to people and letting them see Jesus' love in you... easier said then done? What he shared isn't though... quite practical actually... and jolted me from my oh so convenient procrastination and 'tidak apa' attitude about evangelism... Guess the great commission just got real... ^_^

Starting to help out in MCCC tomorrow... Gotta wake up early and stuff... hope the router get's fixed so I can use the internet after this long break while Keith's not around... >.<

Nothing much to add already... so tata!

Wonderful day...

Came back yesterday but lo and behold, I found that there's no internet connection and the bathroom light blew.

So I was internet deprived... -_-"

Anyway, Today was busy busy day... Settled all my Uni applications! So, yea, I'm happy... but I still have some errands to run... so... Visited DHL in PJ too (*sigh* POSLAJU really needs to improve service...) Hopefully no hiccups... ^_^

I might add more here later... tomorrow, I'll be having cell multiplication so... ^_^ Later!

OK... I'm heading back to Malaysia tomorrow... so much for my trip to Thailand... It was admittedly pretty fun...

Got lot's of things to take note of... CHEQUE! And UNI PAYMENT!

Bleh, trying to get my Uni stuff done online but not enough information to complete the process yet... basically online payment... >.<

Also looking forward to some time of doing nothing except wait for invitations to go out or initiate outings... ^_^ I'll be free... ^_^

Today was movie marathon day... literally...

Saw so many shows I dunno how to keep count...

I remember Spiderman, Love Actually and I can't remember one of the early Meg Ryan films... -_-

There were so many films that I don't remember them... -_- SERIOUS couch potato... I think I put on a few kilos just today alone... (although I seriously doubt it... I think I burn calories just sitting around... )

Even resorted to watching the Bold and the Beautiful... *sigh*

OK, nothing much to write about today... but I'll be heading back in a few days... well, as of now it's tomorrow... Hope my parents are OK with it... -_- That's all!

Last weekend in Pattaya... >.<

Pretty uneventful... though I'm still worried about things I have to do when I get back...

There's Uni stuff and then there's some errands and bills to pay... *shrug*

I seriously do not have much to write... I've eaten in a seafood restaurant, had Indian cuisine, and KFC (which was super hot... -_-) over the last weekend... not exactly superb, but quite nice... ^_^

I got nothing much to write... except there's a reminder for myself which I'll post here... Contact NUS ASAP! Send PAYMENT!

Oh, and the CHEQUE! ^_^

I am so PEEVED!

The University I applied to really did a great job I tell you...

I'll quote from the emails they sent me

Email 1 dated 21st April 2004:
"Congratulations on achieving outstanding academic excellence to be offered early admissions to ***.

We would like to confirm our offer of the XXX Scholarship to you for studies in one of the two *** undergraduate courses offered to you. We will send you the offer letter in 2 weeks time, after you have confirmed the course you wish to accept at *** by 22 April 2004.

We look forward to having you to be part of ***.

Regards, (Name ommited)"

Email 2 dated 22nd April 2004:
"kindly note that you are shortlisted for interview for the XXX Scholarship. The interview will probably be in May/June 2004.

I apologise for the wrongly worded email forwarded to you, and look forward to seeing you at ***."

Talk about good service... >.<

So basically, I HAVEN'T got the scholarship... yet anyway... >.<

But, by God's grace I can still get it after the interview... guess I just have to go by faith!

Still, it does dampen the mood...

Not in a mood to blog now... so...

Oh and on another note, blogger lost my post 2ce... meaning I had to rewrite this post 3 times! -___-"

Mebbe it was my connection... *shrug*

*PS: Edited the post to protect the UNI... suppose it's only right...

Booyah!

Got admitted into NUS... AND, I JUST GOT AN EMAIL SAYING I GOT THE ASEAN UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP!!!

o.O I can't believe it!!! WAAAH!!! (Took too much sugar I think... >.<)

Okok... calm... -_-
What I did yesterday? The day was pretty much boring... but the night was rather interesting... went to watch a Miss Tiffany show... and in case you dunno what that is, well, let's say it's a he/she show... Initially I was dubious... I mean, what's so great about them? After all, I'm sure it's much better seeing pure females... >.< But well, just go and see lar... got tickets anyway... >.< And I must say, I wasn't that far off the mark... -_- They were stunning... definitely... tall and with makeup, if they were REAL girls, ANY guy would fall for them... (I think even women lose out... -_-) But I must say they weren't really all that spectacular... the show itself was sub-standard... I've seen much better done by a ship crew... (OK it was a cruise ship, but still... ) The only attraction is that you KNOW their not girls... at least not totally... But admittedly, they are stunning... too bad their not real girls... >.<

Today? Read comics... (I have a few series on the computer... ) Love Hina to be exact... it's nice rereading... ^_^ And I went to play badminton... -_- haven't exercised in so long... luckily I stretched... so I hope I won't ache TOO much tomorrow... -_-
GTG... late... ^_^ Nite!

Today was an OK day....

Went visiting... Aunty Geeta is nice... played Playstation, had lunch, played UNO and Jenga... ^_^

And I'm posting this 'cos Lydia asked me to... >.< so much for updates... -_-"