affinity//

missing you since 2:45

2008-09-08T22:53:00.002+08:00

and your nagging, scolding, scowling, yelling,shouting,jumping,humour,laughter,smiles,care,kindness,advice,love;

and your faith.

you will always have a place in my heart,

to the best mother this life could bring,
your dearest son.

p.s i hope i will do you at least a bit of justice this Friday.

p.p.s see you in a few years time, say hi to God for me, and ask Jonah what "fish" it was too k?

i love you!

calm before the storm

2008-05-31T13:32:00.002+08:00

I love the rain, and i love how it pours.

Today was something quite different as the rain and wind absolutely thundered past our house (pardon the pun). There were flashes of lightning every few seconds and even hail for a short period of time. As the storm grew, a couple (literally 2) pidgeons came to rest under our veranda, seeking shelter from the rain. They sat under the table i think. (Mimi seemed to have no quarrel with them)

Then almost as quick and suddenly as it had started, it subsided to little more than a drizzle, the sun seemed to shine brighter and the water that was flooding the areas around our garden was slowly absorbed by the soil; the puddles that were so large only a few minutes back shrank to little more than wet patches.

I was trying to study, however apparently i was too fascinated by it all - and didn't get much done. Was alone with Mimi at home, at first she seemed quite scared by the thunder and all but after a while it was evident that she was just upset she couldn't go outside to eat >.>

Funny though, i swear halfway through the storm, i could almost hear chariots - and swords amongst the flashes of lightning, and roars of thunder.

Fin~

We fall down

2008-05-30T02:08:00.002+08:00

do you fall?

sometimes don't you wish that you didn't have to, in order to learn? Dont you wish that you could learn without a lesson. Do you wish that you could just identify and then take wisdom in as you observed it.

Or are you the type that wishes they could learn the point of every lesson on first attempt, and not have to undergo the pain of not having learnt the point in the first place.

Don't know?

neither do i.

But we do fall.

Fin~

it may be irrelevant....

2008-05-24T00:28:00.002+08:00

and she might not even read it..

but hey,

Happy Birthday to the best secretary i've ever had (and probably ever will have); Happy birthday m'dear Joan (:

i hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Godbless,
Fin & Readers (:

you've got it all.

2008-05-20T00:33:00.002+08:00

Has anybody ever told you,

"you've got everything. You've got all the friends that you'll ever need and enough people to care for you so that you'll never fall."

Funnily i've been told this many times, and yes; i know i do - i'm most thankful for my amazing friends, i really am. Over the past year or two, i've learnt how not to take them for granted, how they're so valuable to me.

To those who may wish like they had 10 best friends, all ready to catch you when you fall; do remember; friendship, is a two way thing.

What happens when those 10 whom you are so dear to, fall? What happens when they stumble and need somebody to pull them up again. Simple, you're there for them. Try all at once, and you'll soon find that being a friend is much more than just being.

It's about throwing your own feelings in the bin, and relying on nothing but God and the air He gives you to sustain not only you but all of your friends. It's about failing; for success. It's about lowering yourself to pick up. It's about crying to smile.

It's about dying, to live.

I really cant imagine how He felt.

Fin~

nedrub

2008-05-14T22:22:00.002+08:00

almost a physical weight,

feels heavy. problem it's heavy when they are, and it's not when they're not.

All aside, it's not really fun at all, be serious.

black spot, white page;
focus.

welcome to a world of problems.

The perfect groom.

2008-05-09T03:16:00.002+08:00

"The perfect groom loves children, and will raise them by your side.
he'll be a good father and husband to his bride.
the perfect groom is sweet, writing poetry with your name,
he's the best friend of your mother, and kisses away your pain.
He'll never make you cry, nor hurt you in any way,
And if this poem is damned to be true, then Shane;

You really are gay."

- 'Shane's best man's' speech '08

sheer brilliance.

Fin~

What will you be doing?

2008-05-05T01:32:00.003+08:00

She was walking the dog. It was a beautiful, sunny day in the park; she decided to spend it by herself, quietly praying and smiling as the shadows created by the afternoon sun, grazing softly against the trees, kept her cool, and comfortable. Thank You.

He was typing an email, his fingers moving ever-so-fast as they danced across the face of the keyboard, one word, then 10, then 100, then 2000. He needed to get his message across to her, typing ever so fast. Ever so fast. I love you.

She was sad, she hadn't had a very good day, and she was tired. Tired of it all, tired of work, tired of friends, tired of life. She was weary; as she slumped onto the couch, her bag flying across the room and landing somewhere under her bed. Why isn't life better. God, where are you?

He wasn't doing great, under alot of stress from his exams, and from all the work that he had to do. On top of that he had to manage many things, his family was falling apart, he risked losing his job, and he was slowly burning out. But he kept his head above it, prayed regularly for strength - and even though he couldn't feel Him near, he stayed true to his faith, always loyal - always wishing for the best, even if he didn't feel like he had it.

All of them heard it. You couldn't mistake it.

A clean, single note, above the afternoon noises of traffic on the freeway, and trains bringing people home from work. And another, this time different - a call. Time, as we know it; stood still.

Fall on your knees.

How would you have spent your life, up till that point?

What will you be doing, when you're called Home?

Fin~

what's your struggle?

2008-04-27T17:29:00.002+08:00

i was thinking about this today when posed the question during bible study.

What is your struggle?

Everybody, whether Christian or not has some form of struggle in their life. So what's yours? Are you a procrastinator? Plain lazy? I can recall Sharon saying that this was a 'good' struggle to have.

But that can't work can it? Because if it's your struggle, it's your weakness. Which means that theoretically there is no 'good' struggle to have. Because while one person may say,

"Oh i'm such a procrastinator and it's screwing up my life. Yet it's extremely easy to be honest."

Another person may very well say,

"Procrastination is such an easy thing to avoid! But lying? now THATS hard to avoid."

Some people are hard-working, whilst others are not. Some people are honest, while others struggle to be so. Some people are greedy while others aren't. Some people are self-centered, while others aren't.

But if God gives us each as many struggles as we can handle (and assuming no more); then that's all we need to know; isn't it?

Looking through photos of youth. Even the most gorgeous and prettyful people have shots where they look retarded. Thanks for the laughs guys XD

Quote of the week:

"you look like a comatose mushroom"

Fin~

what a busy weekend.

2008-04-21T00:49:00.002+08:00

Wow.

Friday, taking my cuz out to lunch; bumming with her and dad the whole day - doing a test at uni, eating lunch at Taka's; break at home, out to youth committee dinner, send girlfriend home - back at 12.

Saturday, rise and shine at 8! Youth outing at 930, wrong location - found i at 1030- leave at 1330, go home, out again to pick girlfriend at 5 from train station, singspiration practise till 7, send girlfriend home; ended up staying at her place, talking, helping ; home at 12.

Sunday, up at 9! Church till 1, Sharon shared very well. Masterlife bbq at Weitatt's until 4, home, bum with cuz, out at 6, dinner at nat's, committee meeting till 10, send girlfriend home, talk till late; home at 12.

Tomorrow, woah! rise and shine at 8!! Camp committee meeting at 9, will go until around 12!!! study for the rest of the FREAKING day!!!!

hahaha busy busy busy.

but you know what. Spending time with people you love? = priceless.

busy busy busy.

but so worth it.

Fin~

make me smile

2008-04-17T00:28:00.003+08:00

i was on the train today,

zoned-out; as most are on the 8:20 train to Perth.
Going at around 130kmph,...crossing mt Henry (is that thing tall enough to be classified a 'mount'??)

i see the beautiful river bathed in morning sunlight as the sun begins to creep over the blanket of clouds that drift peacefully over the glittering water. I see the water lapse at the shoreline, as if stroking the soft sand along the shore.

(no, i'm not that descriptive in the morning >.>)

I happened to see a young girl, no more than 6, in the backseat of a car. I wonder what she was doing up so early; she had a look of wonder on her face as the train passed their car.

By complete coincidence, she spotted me looking at their car. She waved at me; i smiled at her, and the last i saw of her was a smile beaming back at me - now trying to capture the attention of the other passengers aboard the train.

If only it were always so easy to make somebody smile.

Fin~

today

2008-04-10T22:02:00.002+08:00

bumping into friends is a trait that i seem to have.

Even when i try to find the most secluded, out of mind place to sit and ponder things (or do homework >.>) somebody manages to find me.

It's amazing usually who those people are, most of the time it will be a very close friend of mine; who usually knows where i go; but other times..it will be the most random of people.

Today i decided to leave a bit earlier, at a time where classes were still running so i didn't have to run into so many people - still took the main route to get out of uni but i didn't expect to run into anyone.

Damn you hartley -_-

(but it was good catching up with you dude ;p)

Fin~

spot

2008-04-02T23:19:00.000+08:00

black spot, white page;

focus.

lock and key.

2008-02-26T23:45:00.002+08:00

You know it's strange,

the word security.

The first thing that you think of when somebody mentions security is, a device that makes a precious item secure. You know? Like, say a security system for a house; or, a padlock for a locker perhaps?

Things like those.

But what is security in terms of people, there is no mechanism for it; it's a state of mind.

When in a close relationship with a friend, security could be on topic of your reputation, your status, your popularity, your well being. In a BGR, it could mean you dont want to lose each other, or dont want another person to touch them.

Can relationships hold without security? Without the assurance that, at the end of the day; they will hold your trust.

Sometimes i doubt.

mindless rambling;

lock and key mechanism-studying in the enzyme section of my huge saladin book. Grrr, uni these days -_-

Fin~

to 08

2008-01-30T23:16:00.000+08:00

it feels like forever since i've typed anything here;

apologies to those who have diligently visited this page looking for updates haha, many things have happened and i've been kept quite busy. But i guess; i do need to write down something on this page.

To '07:

many things came and passed, much pain and death but on the other hand much love and support. Relationships died away, others failed; yet others blossomed and grew to new strengths.

Many struggles and fights, many failures and losses. Yet many victories too, none of the fights were in vain.

much time wasted, and not much spent; yet spent where it was needed, and invested wherever i could.

a year of peril, but also a year of much learning. A year of sorry, and a year of thank you. and You.

and you.

and you.

a year of twisted fairytales where the princess' would guard the prince. and where many giants would be defeated.

my, what a year. And yet....somehow i miss it. although at the same time i'm very glad it's over.

to '08:

welcome to my life.

Fin~

a lovely surprise

2007-10-03T21:22:00.000+08:00

Monday was meant to be a normal day at uni, one of my more relaxed days, with only my 4 topical lectures to attend to.

That was set to change.

I had the privilege of being joined by my 3 good friends, coming under the alias of my two little sisters and little brother. Funny thing was, half my friends actually believed me. yea, you'd think they would be out of place at uni, but i was surprised at how much they actually fit in.

They attended my chemistry lecture; in which Jenny said she learnt more than in her average human bio class....Chem1106 Organic lol. Good fun, and they just played the computer through my Molecular biology of the cell class.

Haha, i wont forget how Casper Leow thought that they were going to be caught and then kicked out of the uni; So as i walk into the lecture theatre, he like ducks underneath a desk and starts moving slowly LOL; ah, funny, funny guy.

After lectures, we just went to broadway to eat the famous kebabs (much to Casper's delight), and then we talked and talked until we reached uni, sat on the field and talked even more, and talked all the way to the busport haha. Many, many good laughs.

I'm glad though; even though they were on holidays, they would actually bother coming to uni to keep me company. (actually i'm quite sure the reason was to study XDDD but you know, we'll assume for the better)

haha, thanks guys; you made my day.

Fin~

the worst feeling ever?

2007-09-16T21:52:00.000+08:00

Somebody wanted me to blog about the 'worst feeling ever'; so i guess i'm here to fulfil that person's request, out of respect. Because i know what that person's been through. I guess this will be more of an e-mail than a blog then.

But by no means does it mean that just because i blog about my opinion, it's correct. Coz everybody has a different stance on this i'm quite sure; pending on people's experiences. Yeah hartley, i'm pretty sure you're close to the worst feeling ever; being in that woop woop town..what's it called again? Adel-what? oh well. Come back soon damnit!

We digress.

Straight to the point, i think the worst feeling ever is suffering. Wait, i'm not done yet. Suffering is a general term. Suffering has many definitions. A few of them, "To undergo or feel pain and distress," "To sustain injury, disadvantage or loss," "To undergo a penalty; as of death."

As you can see, all of them are fairly negative; and the meaning of suffering varies widely upon context. I'm still going to use suffering as a collective term, because even the smallest suffering in the conditions i'm about to mention can inflict what i believe to be one of the worst feeling's in the world.

I guess this is saying alot because i also have a phobia for physical pain. I can stand alot of pain; but i just dont like it. I'm quite fearful of it actually; since i've never been shot, or stabbed in any severe places, nor even punched;though i have been kicked... i cant claim to know how painful these are, and if you'd like to find out you're probably going to have to ask somebody like a soldier. I'm assuming you mean emotional pain here, which is far more common. And on many levels? Just as painful, i'm sure - since both forms of pain can kill people.

I dont know who invented the saying, "Guns don't kill people , people kill people." but i do believe they were correct; and that saying also runs synonymous to what i'm about to tell you, of course; we're not talking about guns, we're talking about emotions. In that sense i guess the saying here will be, "emotions don't kill you, you kill you." Does that make sense? It occurs to me now that the meaning deviates a fair bit from the guns statement. But it runs parallel to my firm belief that any negative emotion can be overcome - given the correct solution.

Anyway, we digress again.

Suffering is ok. By itself, it's bearable, many forms of suffering are bearable. However, i do believe that one condition makes it alot worse. Suffering in silence. When you harbor a hurt, and you contain it, then sure; perhaps it's bearable depending on the extent of the hurt. But when you add to that, the fact that nobody knows that you're suffering; and that you can't tell people -or dont want to for any reason; it magnifies the hurt by a relatively significant amount.

There are times as a christian, i've seen people suffer in silence; and i know that they're suffering. And no matter how hard i've tried to reach out to them; no matter how hard their friends have tried to reach out to them; no matter how hard their parents have tried to help them - they still dont want to open up. You'd be mistaken if you called these people idiots - because while some, probably are; there are also some who do it out of consideration for others; because they dont want to trouble or distract or worry others.

And honestly; i feel most for those people. I can think of many of you who would say that rejection is one of the worst feelings. And to an extent, i would agree with you, rejection by a friend, a potential person you liked, to a much greater extent, society even? It must be horrible. But the fact remains that even if you're rejected, there will ALWAYS be somebody (excluding God) that will take you back. There will always be a loved one, there will always be a christian, maybe even a non-christian; that will be willing to forgive you. Perhaps i sound quite foolish when i say that, i don't claim to know. But i'd imagine it'd be correct to perhaps a certain extent.

When this picture was taken there was one person in it who was suffering. It's not me, by the way. And you'd be hard pressed to guess who it was.

Suffering with others; is something we all go through; it's a part of our growing and becoming a better person. The fellowship of suffering is referred to as the deepest level of fellowship you can show for a friend in Christ. This is true; and to be perfectly honest; i would almost be glad to suffer alongside a friend, if i knew that both of us would turn out better in the end.

The problem is that in the world today, friendships don't go so deep any more. There are more and more people suffering in silence. How many friends you know would stand up for you when things went horribly wrong? How many? By horribly wrong, i dont mean somebody close to you passing away. I mean something like if you completely lost your reputation with the people around you because of something you did. When everybody turns against you. How many would stand with you? Popularity; becomes irrelevant. And most of the friends you'd go and make in the world later will be the first to leave you if a situation as such arose.

As a christian; i'd expect the number of those type of friends you'd have to increase; although pardon me if i may say this; there are times where i'm surprised to find out that it doesn't. Well at least as a Christian; you're always One up on every non-believer. There's always Someone to stand for you when everybody else doesn't. You will always have at least One on your side.

When you suffer in silence; your mind WILL get the best of you. And you will begin to think thoughts, and assume conclusions that you shouldn't. You will cry out for help; only to find that something's preventing you from receiving it. You will feel as if the world is turning against you, as if your most beloved friends are leaving you. You will feel at times, that even God has abandoned you; you will find that you lose your home. Because wherever you go; so long as you're alone - you will suffer.

Does it sound bleak? Some may go, "bah, that's nothing." While the common response is to say,
"you say that now; but wait till you go through it yourself." I would not wish this on anybody i know, i really wouldn't. There are few people in my eyes that deserve to suffer in silence, if anybody. I honestly dont know how an unbeliever can go through suffering by themselves. In a way i quite respect that. In a way, it just shows me that God's love is amazing.

Somebody once told me life is a fight. I agree. Life is a fight; a struggle, a battle. On many levels; on the superficial level all the way down to the spiritual level. If you feel like you haven't struggled in life, then something is clearly wrong.

The reason why you fight? Now that is something that differs from person to person. Some people fight for money, some people fight for status, some people fight for the government, some people fight for their country, some people fight for God, some people fight for a god, some people fight for love. And so the list continues.

Me? You did, after all, ask me what i struggle for, why i fight.

I fight for my loved ones, the people i love; i fight for all my friends - especially my closest. I fight for God; which in a way, is also fighting to save a falling world isn't it. If i were to name people who i fought for most; i think there'd be 5 names on that list; including my parents, and my grandpa.

Why fight so hard, when you can live a happy, rich, and easy life? There is no such thing. Everybody will fight, as i said before; fighting for status - is also fighting for a reason.

And when do people fail? I believe people lose when they lose the reason they're fighting for. Because nobody wants to fight for no reason. A traitor is not somebody who fights for no reason; they are somebody who has changed the reason they are fighting. (and depending on your context, this could be quite a dangerous thing).

Bro, if you feel like you're fighting for no reason; look harder. Because there is always a reason you are fighting. Nobody can fight with no reason- it's pointless and it's impossible. If you didn't have a reason to fight, nobody would fight. If soldiers did not have a country to fight for, do you think they'd go risk their lives on a battlefield? If punks on the city streets did not have a reputation, or 'respect', to fight for, do you think they'd fight? If missionaries did not have a God to fight for, you think they'd risk their lives for no reason?

If anybody said yes, i'd love to hear your reason why. And i'm just as open to being proven wrong as anybody. I dont claim to be correct, anyway.

Your reason, and your motivation will determine the strength of your fight. Remember that, and keep searching until you find the reason you will fight your hardest for. Because fighting for yourself only will last so long.

and because fighting for your God, and those you love; and wish to protect is a much, much more eternally powerful reason.

Fin~

Of labs and sadness

2007-08-26T21:16:00.000+08:00

Well i guess i'd like to take you around my lab! (well at least my desk)

But first i'd like you to meet somebody,

This is 'becky' short for rebecca; or as i like to call her, "the murdering psychopath", lol, not discreet; dont be fooled by the pleasant smile and the innocent waving of 1.5ul microfuge tubes! This Croatian-Italian will take any opportunity she has to pour compounds such as -diphenylamine- and -concentrated sulphuric acid- down my shirt (it burns i tell you).

Aside from that she's a lovely girl who shares a lab desk with me! Thus making her my lab partner =D!

Lol, i'm joking (...no actually i'm quite serious) - she's good though. Quite a smarty, and she's from MLC; which means we share the same background of going to 'same sex' schools. Well we get along well when we need to, but at other times it's more of a battle for the flaming ethanol/bunsen burner. I digress!

We're using the G15 Lab at the QE2 complex just north of the UWA main campus. I guess all dent students know where i'm talking about because it's next to OHCWA or something like that, which is supposedly where dentists live (ask Collin, he'll tell you all about them).

It's an expensive complex in terms of materials and stuff, i recall one of the demonstrators telling the class that the object on my book (above pic) which is a P-20; (an automatic pipette that can pipette amounts as small as 1 microliter) can cost up to 400 bucks per instrument. Yes, and guess what? EVERY desk in the room has 3. A P1000 (can pipette up to 1ml), P200 (up to 0.2ml) and a P-20 (0.02ml). Since there are around 50 lab teams in both labs, you're looking at a fairly sizable amount already; and those are just pipettes.

This doesn't include those machines like the spectrophotometry machine, which costs something like 20k; and all the bunsen burners and fume cupboards etc. In short, it's a very expensive complex and if you screw up, you pay big time.

Becky tried to stab me through the neck with one of these once (she was joking - i hope).

Every week we do things like prepare agar plates with antibiotic agent; and then release a bacteria like E.Coli onto the plate to determine things like rate of spontaneous mutations; extract DNA from chicken liver homogenate...yes and all sorts of other wonderful and lovely things. This is my Molecular Biology of the Cell unit (SCIE1106) btw.

Sounds complicated doesn't it? Clearly you haven't been to the lectures yet. I think we spent something like a week studying the composition of a mitochondrion (an organelle in the cell). I was showing Collin (he's like a really smart MED student) my test questions and even HE was like woahh. which is saying something.

At the same time i guess it's nothing to be proud of since i couldn't answer any of them xDDD, but you know, the fact that the unit goes into so much detail is..quite annoying sometimes actually; especially when you have a weekly quiz to test how much you know.

Behind my hand you can see those agar plates on the desk containing ....well nothing yet, the E.Coli broth is in the P20 i'm holding.

One thing i've learnt from these lab classes is that you have to be amazingly accurate. If you're 1MICROLITER off in terms of your pipetting, or measurements, or calculations; you're screwed, and you generally would start all over again (yes, from the beginning); which means that many many students are usually in the lab for around 3 hours at a time. Praise be to God, i've only stuffed up once (when Becky stabbed me as i was pipetting) - and thus have only sat through a 3 hour molecular biol lab once.

Chem is a different story ._.

But yeah, i love my lab actually. It has a very homely feel, and (aside from Becky ._.) when you have collaboration experiments, you really feel the teamwork as everybody does their best to obtain the most accurate results (or to get out of there the fastest if you're a pessimist). The pain you all go through together....ALMOST makes you like family. almost =.='

Hm. I thought i was going to blog about something else, but no; i'll leave it there for today.

Have a great week all!

Fin~

why must you always?

when you mean it.

2007-08-18T23:30:00.000+08:00

Let me introduce you to somebody:

This relatively familiar figure goes by the alias of "captain awesome" lol, somehow fitting.

On my birthday (the 28th of July - hartley you slacker) he and another person that is very important to me, Sharon; and most if not all of my important friends gave me a somewhat large surprise party. It was planned, and although i know i didn't show it much; i was so surprised that i just didn't know what to say.

So i guess once i gathered myself, i figured it'd be a good start to say Thank you. It really made my week. I was more than surprised; and more than happy - and for everybody that turned up to make my day even better, thank you all; it was touching in so many ways.

On a few levels; i'm sorry for not blogging for so long, many reasons - and uni work is definitely one of them. But i'll talk about something that i've been thinking about over the past week.

So when somebody says, "I care about you" how often do they really mean it? Or when somebody tells you that they'll be there for you, how often will they keep that? Does it mean that they'll be there for you in the good times, and then when things get tough; they sorta just 'conveniently' have too much work for them to do? How many people that you know, actually, really mean what they say?

I for one, know fairly few; but i will say more than most. I say this time and time again, but i'm surrounded by people who are genuine and real in terms of the love and care that they offer. In the most troubling times, my best friends will tell me blatantly "we're not leaving you". Even those friends that i consider as good friends; seem to have the capacity to stick with me through some of the harder problems i face; and not just schoolwork that is.

i'm surrounded by people who are so, so amazing. I never doubt it; and if i ever did, i know that they'd just prove it to me time and time again.

Most of you reading this blog; i will be talking about you. This is sorta a big thank you letter; and at the same time, i want others who read this to see; whether you're a christian or not, what an impact you can make to the lives of people around you; what a difference you can be.

When you look around you and wonder just how many people there are who would stand up for you when things got tough - often many people get dissapointed. I guess there's always that saying; good friends are hard to find.

However, if you look hard enough - those people are out there; they exist.

There are many ways to put a smile on somebody's face. A good friend will put a real smile on your face;

some will make you smile because they're just so cheerful you can't not look at them and smile. Some shower so much care and concern on you that you have to smile because you know that somebody out there loves you so much. Some will see you sad; and not be able to do anything - but will try their best to make you smile, by tickling you or telling you jokes; and you cant help but smile because they put in so much effort to see you happy. Some give up their time for you; some put you above themselves. It's rare; but some even do all.

When you look around you hard enough; you'll find these people - just like i have. And it's funny how i keep finding more, every time i look. And to all those people who do make me smile; thank you so much.

I think one person asked me the other day, "why do you have so many posts on your blog thanking your friends?"

Honestly i dont ever think i could have enough; because my friends are just that amazing. My only response would be just that - i dont think i could ever post enough thank you's to actually do justice to the amount of times they have been there for me, not even close.

Leon and Sharon code-named the whole birthday thing: Operation awesome; and the whole thing was conducted via a series of e-mails completely behind my back. without me getting even a hint of it; which is.....fairly impressive if you ask me.

I enjoyed myself thoroughly; and it was so great to see people i hadn't seen in so long - just getting together and having fun. I know that that day holds so many memories that i will never forget, and for me memories are so so precious.

I guess i dont really know what i'm blogging about, as many of you would've guessed; this is just..i guess more of what i'm thinking - just some airy thoughts. Nothing more. I guessed i'm just surprised that everybody would do it for somebody like me. I really am blessed with the most amazing friends.

Most of whom i know cannot be repaid for what they've done for me.

Hahah it's so funny how i can recall exactly what happened on the day. From Sharon taking me out in the morning and buying me breakfast and lunch...until we met with my cuz, and the three of us walked laughing most of the way down to blue gum from garden city..

to everybody yelling surprise; and leon running at me (and almost knocking me out xD) to seeing faces that i hadn't seen in so long, and laughing and joking with people that i hadn't seen in too long.

to reading letters that people wrote to me; and feeling so special just from the things that people would write; Leon actually WROTE a letter (it's a first, trust me ._.) that really touched me. To people e-mailing me, still on the day; people MSNing me, just before 12 to say happy birthday one last time; and Sharon calling me at 11:59, though she was surviving a whole day on 4 hours sleep; to wish me goodnight, and to say the last happy 18th birthday i would hear.

Not forgetting the silent heroes like Ken, who single-handedly organised my birthday present (which mind you, was not cheap) and got around 20-25 people together to help pay for it. One thing he said that i wont forget was, "Since i can't afford it for myself, i figured i might as well get it for you."

People like Collin who drove to get all the food, and i'm sure he offered to do so, being collin. People like my cuz, who offered to come and meet us at Garden city, straight from work; just to spend that extra 15 minutes with us, just to make sure that i was happy.

I'm sure i haven't even mentioned everybody; but EVERYBODY that came. You made a difference.

People who MADE presents and wrote cards, that, i know firsthand, would've taken a shockingly long time to make. And i say this in terms of weeks; possibly months. You know who you are.

Thank you all;

You never fail to put a smile on my face, do you?

Thank you, and thank You.

Fin~

to be happy.

2007-07-03T12:15:00.000+08:00

This is probably going to be one of the hardest posts i will ever have to write; For all of you who are going to read this, sorry in advance for perhaps a somewhat saddening post. I just hope that by doing this i dont appear to be looking for pity or anything, i've enough of that from phonecalls coming in.

I was talking to a friend of mine last night; Kim chieng and she told me about what she wanted to leave behind in this world, despite somewhat a misunderstanding she managed to give me an answer; and she said it would be happiness. Because she wanted the people around her to remember her as somebody that brought joy; that when they thought of her - she'd bring a smile to their face, even after she departed.

Having asked many people this, and receiving relatively generic answers such as care, kindness, love etc (not that they're not significant) i was glad that somebody actually gave me a different answer. Happiness is not something i'd expect anybody to say; i mean...when you pass away, it's a bit weird if people are 'happy' you know what i mean? But i now know, and i apologise Kimmy, i misunderstood you completely.

I actually understand what you mean now, a lot better. See, around 6 hours after that convo at approx 3 am this morning a phone call came in. I thought it was a missed call or something, so i didn't pay any attention to it because dad picked it up, or must've because the phone stopped ringing. The phone call was from malaysia, to tell me that my grandpa had just passed away.

Dont think many of you readers here would know my grandpa well; or know the nature of our relationship. He was more of a brother than a grandpa at times. We'd laugh at the same things, do the same things, go out to eat at 3 am in the morning, scold the dog for the same reasons, eat the same food, buy the same clothes. It wasn't a rare comment when somebody told me that i took after my grandpa. I knew it well myself.

He was the most cheerful person i knew, in whatever circumstance; he was always smiling, when he was in ICU, 3 weeks back; all the pictures my family sent me of him were of him smiling, even with the tubes and electronic measuring devices everywhere; he could still smile.

He asked for me, a few weeks back. I couldn't come because of university; it's....unexpected, because he came out of ICU only weeks ago. The doctors said he was recovering, everybody was happy.

The last time i was in malaysia; i saw my grandpa well, and happy; thank God for that. To think that 5 months later, i wouldn't have him anymore. When i was there; one evening - we sat down in a shopping center to take a break from all the walking around. I saw a watch on his wrist; and seeing the familiar logo of Tag Heuer i asked him if it was a fake.

To which he pretended to take offense to, i knew he was pretending; he'd never get angry at me. He then told me that the watch he was wearing was a family heirloom. It was a priceless item that was passed through different generations; funnily enough, still maintaining its shine. He then told me that the most precious thing you could give a person was your time, and your attention. Because that naturally means that you love them. I can remember my Cuz telling me this before.

When my aunty called last night; she had a message for me that mum just told me.

"tell jon that grandpa left his watch for him."

I just sent dad to the airport; i was meant to go back as well. But the flight was too hard to find; and to be honest, i just cant bear the thought of seeing him...well..anything but alive. Some people would call me an idiot for not going back, but i guess that's their reason. I have my own.

As his only grandson in a family with a fair few grandchildren, he never used that as an excuse to favor me. He was so fair and loving to all of his grandchildren; something that i respected and admired very much about him. He used to tell me that i played the piano beautifully; and that one day he wanted me to sit down for a whole day and just play his favorite songs over and over.

Now i understand what Kim meant when she told me that; and i know precisely what her idea was. I finally fully get what my cuz tells me over and over, that time is the most precious thing you can give a person; even though right now i may be upset over his passing, i know that when i think of him a few months down the track - it will bring a smile to my face.

I dont think there are many people out there that could make me smile after they pass away, but i know grandpa could. He'd want me to be happy too; so for my grandpa, i'm going to smile and be happy; because now i know that God's looking after him, alot better than i could too.

Thank you kimmy, you shared that with me for a reason. And thanks Cuz; your advice is correct- as per usual.

To somebody i will never forget,
i miss you grandpa.

God, please look after him while i'm not there.

Fin~

New layout!!

2007-06-27T03:20:00.000+08:00

Hey guys; it's a bit late but i stayed up just to get this layout up; haha hope you like it!

Read the note i left at the very bottom of the blog- just for you =)

Be sure to check out the fold down menu by clicking on the 'pull' string up on the right there! ->

one more thing...

NOT LONG TILL CAMP!!

Fin.//

when the past catches up..

2007-06-24T17:57:00.000+08:00

I had the privilege of being visited by two very old friends and their mum today.

I'm talking about Abbey and Tristan (with Aunty Pauline.) Even though i was 'sleeping' i heard them come in. I didn't think it would be them because, well frankly it would've been really random lol; but random it was and i found myself having a chat with the two kids for around half an hour.

They've both grown; into different things - Abbey has grown up alot. I can tell from the way she carries herself and the way she dresses that she has fast matured. The girl i once knew and looked after like....somewhat of a little sister - now tells me not to worry about her, she's grown up now. I can see it, i really can.

The boy has also grown. He's grown into somewhat a video game professional. He's quietened down alot, and i notice his capacity for manners has increased. So has his relationship with his brother and sister, i'm guessing by the way things looked.

One thing i did keep notice of though; was that we carried out the conversation like i was still in ROL, like i never left them; like i wasn't a stranger. If you ever read this abbey, or tristan: thank you. Somehow that meant alot to me. I prayed before i walked out that i wouldn't be seen as a stranger, as somebody who hurt them; as a unforgiven person.

Abbey talked to me like she always did; smiled at me like she always had. I cant see inside of her obviously but i felt....i felt nothing against me. For that i'm very grateful, to her. We talked about things that we always did when we used to see each other 3 days a week. How many boys asked her out lately, how Dae was etc etc.

Tristan maintained the closeness he had for me, which was shown through him always trying to show off to me hahaha; i can remember he was telling me how he could jump to reach the top of the doorpost; and i told him that soon he'd be able to reach it without jumping lol, which he was quite pleased to hear. He attempted to pat my head with his jumper sleeve but aunty pauline told him off haha.

mmm, i miss them. I remember when i used to go back to ROL and saw them sometimes up to 4 days a week. Haha, life moves on; and so must we; but sometimes, we have the joy of making the past a present.

lol, in more ways than one.

Fin~

How much?

2007-06-17T18:02:00.000+08:00

Hey guys; thought i'd blog just before i completely got owned by chemistry.

Yea i only have one exam left- scheduled for Tuesday at 9 Am. Please pray for me! Its chemistry...which i found horrendous in school but funnily enough turned out to be one of my highest scoring subjects in university. Could be because i tried - but then again i haven't touched any chemistry books in like a few weeks lol so i'm gonna have to see how that goes =\.

Oh right; erm i've had another two exams, which were the human biology theory and the calculus exam. Human biology theory was .....probably the best exam yet, although like alot of people said it was so bad they were going to fail the world was gonna end yadadada and all. I mean those are the people who say they'll fail and then end up HDing everything ._.

hmm..my fingers are sore. They usually dont get sore after playing the piano...ho well..

calc was hell. It was held in a church too (harhar). After 40 minutes around half the room just got up and left. Not because they could finish the paper; but more because the paper finished them. Thankfully i wasn't one of them; i stayed to the very endd and completed (my version of completed) every question. Although i know that if i pass..it'll be a damn miracle lol. But then again, miracles can happen! So we'll see how i go hopefully ><

Could you ever answer somebody if they asked you this, "how much do i mean to you?" I've been asked it by a few people; not many mind you; but a few. Then again it's always been by people whom i know at least decently well; and therefore my answer can always be elaborate. I guess a stranger wouldn't ask you that question...would they? It's quite intimate. You wouldn't just grab somebody and go "oi how much do i mean to you".

And that's not even considering the question is usually asked in times where one of the you is in trouble. why would you ask it at any other time? Unless you were feeling somewhat insecure, or perhaps lonely, or even upset and wanting comfort. So naturally, you'd ask somebody who you mean alot to, right? Because you know you'd get a good answer. And whenever somebody close asks me that i know that i wont just go

"oh yea alot"

Because the question begs for more. The person asking the question probably needs more, and an answer as simplistic as that will often make them feel worse. For me? I usually take my time and try to weave an answer that they'd understand and that i'd understand. I dont think i can give an example haha purely because there are many of you reading. But im sure alot of you know what i mean.

But have you ever wondered, how much you mean to others? Not how much others mean to you. How much you mean to others. Have you ever asked yourself that question? I mean, if you were to ask the above question to somebody else - perhaps you'd say yes. Or maybe not?

I dont think many people think about how much they mean to others. The new age thinking is just to be who you are and whoever accepts you for it well; that's good. Whoever doesn't; too bad. Personally, i've actually never really thought about this. Never hey, well, not in terms of a group of people anyway. I've never actually sat down and asked myself, how much do i mean to others? Hahaha there are probably some of you sitting there going "not much" but hey, that's an answer too.

however i was somewhat forced to think of this question over the past week. Cumulating at yesterday i'm guessing. Around there anyway; Wasn't the best of weeks or anything. But alot of people i found; were watching out for me. They were always watching, just that i never noticed.

To those people who read this; and you know who you are- i want to say thank you. Not a "yea rite, thanks" sort of issue. Far deeper than that, thank you for looking out for me, looking after me and for making me smile. I know that sounds really dramatic, and perhaps that's not exactly what i mean. But in many ways....yea, it is. I know there will be people reading this that will think i'm just trying to make myself feel better - but i promise you that this post isn't for me.

Because when i actually sat down and thought about how i hurt people when i'm hurt, how when i dont smile; all those that care about me dont smile so brightly; how when i'm not myself, people wonder where i am; how when my "hi" is slurred and a bit off tone - they all wonder what might've happened during the week to upset me.

I'm blessed by people who protect me, in many of my relationships; these guys (and girls) are kind enough to turn around and protect me. Not just literally; it could be from anything, something that they know might hurt me, some people (thanks Leon xD) that they know might hurt me. Some words even, that they know might hurt me. You know what's really amazing though?

Protection is a human instinct. You'll learn it in psych1101 ._. It's given for a few reasons. Two of the main being a parent protecting a child because it is in their best interests to see the child grow up and prosper. Another is an older person protecting a younger person because they have more experience, and therefore can deal with the situation better. In that case- i have many parents; and i have many older friends.

What's amazing though is that some of them aren't older than me. They could be two years younger, sometimes even more. They dont have as much experience as me when it comes to life -or life's problems for that matter. They dont have as real a definition of what going through a hard time is (generalisation). but yet they still just jump in; they dont know what they're getting themselves into - but they couldn't care less.

You know that you mean alot to somebody when they talk to you and their hands are shaking, not because they're cold or anything; but because they're glad to see you ok. When you go for a walk with somebody and they suddenly dig into their bag and fish you out a present they had taken the time to make over the past week. When they call you up at 2 am in the morning just to say that they were thinking about you and were hoping and praying (despite being an unbeliever) that you were ok. (it was a guy too.) When they nag you every time you get on MSN just to say " 'lo how's Jon today?" (thanks hartley, i really appreciate it.) When you mention something a bit off to them and after the youth meeting they send you an SMS so full of care and concern and comfort that it almost makes you cry.

When you tell somebody you almost got hit by a car and laugh about it - only to realise the person on the other end is crying because they were so, so scared for you. When you're busy trying to lead a group that refuses to follow you; and you shoot a glance at one person who nods and smiles as if to say "you're doing great.", When you trip and graze your knee a slight bit - and three of your friends act as if you've just broken your leg; When you see somebody for the first time in....5 days...and are greeted with a hug; When somebody takes the time (during lessons *photography*) to think of you and make you something thoughtful, and to write you an encouraging letter; When somebody's rushing around like crazy but stops when they see you, puts down what they're doing and goes to ask about how you're coping. When somebody sees you in university; even though they're 8 minutes late for a class; they run over to give you the cookies they baked for you last night before running off again.

When you part from a person - and an hour later as soon as they get on MSN they tell you that they miss you.

That is when you know that not only do you mean alot to your friends; but that you have extremely, awesomely amazing friends.

This is a thank you letter; to all of you.

Just asking you to keep in mind that you have somebody who you mean alot to as well.

i love you all =)

and thank you! I shine because of you today.

Fin~

be my penguin?

2007-06-13T12:13:00.000+08:00

Hey guys.

Exams and stuff have been haha....well i'lll tell you in a bit; finally found some time to blog. Hopefully after exams and when i'm liberated from this hellish reality; i'll get around to changing the blog layout and everything to something perhaps a bit newer haha. Alls good!

Yea exams hey hahaha; well i've done two so far and i have one tomorrow - so i'll give you a run down on how things are going.

The human bio prac wasn't easy; but it wasn't hard. The only reason it wasn't easy was because i picked the hardest paper...yeah (sorry cuz, i knew i should've picked lime green><><) but the guy behind me was being pushy and he would've been like err...why did you stop at the first paper? (we're meant to shuffle down to the last). So yellow was the last and lime green was in the middle T.T

Well i was doing this exam next to this dude who was really quite rude; It was a prac exam and so you have to shuffle around tables to get to the next question because there are different models and diagrams on each table. And when you get up; you get up as a group of three and move when the timer goes off. (the colours are so you cant cheat...)

So every time we'd get up; this dude would like go quickqucikqcukqcuik like a freaking duck, while the chick on his left was just like man give it a rest; and i'm like dude stop touching me. I mean, seriously, you cant start until the timer goes off anyway! So effectively we rush just to sit down and wait for 8 minutes. He was this nerdy skinny glasses-wearing asian dude so i naturally assumed he was like acing everything..

NA-UH

this guy was like infected by the dumb god; seriously; since we 'couldnt' cheat, i looked over on his paper to see how he was going with everything. The first thing i saw:

Identify and label structure x (which was clearly a chromosome.).

answer: Chrozomer.

WHAT THE HELL IS A CHROZOMER?? thinking that i was either really really tired, or the lack of sleep effect was starting to kick in, i read his next question. It was the hardest thing in the exam....trying not to laugh at his answer.

When an individual has two of the same alleles located at a loci; they are known as?: (the answer is homologous. i.e the same..duh)

answer: holomologous

.......holomologous?!!!?!?! 1111 I swear i'll eat my shoe or something if he's actually right but i looked ALL over the internet (yes i was that bored) and i swear, there is no such word as 'holomologous'. Serious! the balls on that one! if he spent as much time checking his work as he did pushing me around he might at least have realised many numerous things; such as the first stage of a cell mitotic division is PROPHASE and not METAPHASE. PRO = beginning, META = middle.

When i thought back about it the first thing that came to mind was this poor kid:

who clearly deserves every professional gamer's respect.

ok, so i shouldn't be laughing at somebody else's work; nor should i be criticizing him for his best efforts....but he was pushing me around. I seriously felt like turning around and as my grandpa would say "give him wannn tight slap". hmpf.

Oh well holomogo (as he is now known as) walked out of the exam hall smiling. And i.....walked out behind him laughing xD (i'm evil, i know. but what was i meant to do?? point out his mistakes?)

The Psych exam....woah dont ask hey. Bet he would've laughed at me if he saw that. Then again i guess everybody who walked out of the exam hall said they had a fairly tough time (well most of the people i know anyway - save michelle sin who gave me a very blatant ' i dont know'). Hnnn, essays were fine; really easy actually but..the multiple choice...ok, lets put it this way.

There were 100 multiple choice. ONE-HUNDRED.

Serious man it's psychology too, after 30 you cant tell the difference between E and B. imagine doing the next SEVENTY questions with your brain sort of floating a few centimeters above you.

Credit goes to the psychology department for asking this question:

"when walking down a street and staring at a house; the trees closest to you move:"
a)opposite
b)same

It was question 82, so after reading the question a few times i came to the conclusion that, of course, trees cant move.

So what do you do then!? Chao turtle. so i just circled opposite la ._.

Walked out of the exam feeling like a complete failure lol; then again, so did around 90% of the exam hall. the other 10%...yea the examiners.

Outside the hall most people were circling round the question "so howd you go with the multiple guess?" which i found absolutely hilarious for no apparent reason; think it finally got to me hey. pwoa, long papers like that really do take it out of you.

This post was originally meant to be about something long winded and sad haha; but i guess laughing at my incompetence in exams is alot better. I shall leave it there for now. Read this little comic my friend Val sent me; it made me smile haha.

have a great week guys;

Fin~

Broken hearts; broken lives- He will take them all.

So..what do i do when i study?

2007-06-06T21:55:00.000+08:00

Found this on my friend Nic's blog; sorry nic, cant help but put it here; almost fell out of my chair laughing. Sorry for the lack of updates - my exams are killing me -_-.
Enjoy!!!

5 corporate lessons

Corporate Lesson 1

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.” After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 dollars and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?” “It was Bob the next door neighbour,” she replies. “Great!” the husband says, “Did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”

Moral of the story: - If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Corporate Lesson 2

A priest offered a lift to a Nun. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?” The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?”

The priest apologized “Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.”

Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129.

It said, “Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.”

Moral of the story: - If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Corporate Lesson 3

A sales rep and an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish.”

“Me first! Me first!” says the admin clerk. “I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.” Poof! She’s gone.

“Me next! Me next!” says the sales rep. “I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.” Poof! He’s gone!

“OK, you’re up,” the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, “I want those two back in the office after lunch.”

Moral of the story: - Always let your boss have the first say.

Corporate Lesson 4

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A rabbit asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?”

The crow answered: - “Sure, why not.”

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested!

A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: - To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up.

Corporate Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, but I haven’t got the energy.”

“Well, why don’t you nibble on my droppings?” replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.”

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Moral of the story: - Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

Fin~

Relationships

2007-05-21T20:40:00.000+08:00

hey guys,

i'm sorry i haven't blogged in a while hey, but i've been quite busy with everything else ><>.> unfortunately; i guess that means that i'm like completely bogged down by work (as most of you who read this blog would also be). but not to fear, i guess i've found a little bit of time (in between psychology and calculus) to write a bit about something interesting.

Relationships. Hahaha, those who know me well will know that i'm more than just interested in this topic; if i had to name one of my themes in life, it would be relationships. i know that alot of people differ in where they place their emphasis on life, for some people it is more self focused, for others it is more focused on others, for others yet it may be focused on i dont know, objects around them? =\

I guess the question that comes first into mind is why do people differ so much? and honestly i cant answer you. "The heart has its reasons that reason itself does not know" - pascal 1678. (blame psychology).

This is a photo taken on my cuz's very cool camera. To others it may seem like just a happy shot; but look a bit closer and let's identify some things in this photo that underly. For example, the amount of relationships here. a few off the top of my head, we have boyfriend/girlfriend, we have cousins, we have siblings, we have friends, and we have best friends.

Imagine if one more person were added in there. Say aunty Ina (ken's mum). We would then have a few extra relationship links established wouldn't we? Aunty/nephew. Aunty/Niece . Mum/daughter. Mum/son. Interesting isn't it?(haha i can see you rolling your eyes xD)

But what significance do relationships have? i mean, what's the difference between somebody who has multiple relationships and is therefore defined as 'popular' (although i have no belief in that term) and somebody who has no relationships and is defined as 'loner' (again..no belief in ther term). I guess many could arguably say that the difference is not much.

A friend once told me that life is what you make it, as a function of who you are. (to be honest i still dont exactly understand it xD) but i guess that it means you determine how you'll live your life; as you should live it- because you are you, and nobody else. Did that make sense?

Relationships mean alot to me. I guess as a function of who i am, it makes sense doesn't it? I'm a very dependant person; emotionally especially. I like to rely on alot of my friends to share my good times, and to share my bad times (sorry guys XD). As a result, i naturally draw people close to me through experiences that we go through. It's not special, if you're that type of person, it just happens. Good? bad?

It does have it's bad sides. When you find yourself with nobody to turn to, or nobody to talk to? Yeah you're left stranded and you sometimes feel very lonely. But thank God i have amazingly awesome friends (and i know it very well) that wouldnt turn me down even if i asked them to.

To be honest, i love it. I love having people there, i love sharing things with people, i love depending on people, i love helping people. It doesn't make me an extrovert, but rather makes me less of an introvert. (which i hope makes sense, but somebody smart will probably disprove me XD keep reading Ken... xP)

It's just the way God made me. Just like God created ~~loners~~ i mean independant people (i'm joking xD). In all seriousness though; there are people who i envy for the amount of personal strength they have. They can manage a problem i would consider relatively significant without even telling a single soul; save perhaps God. Sometimes i acknowledge this isn't good.....but at the same time, i guess i generally notice that these people can control the extent to which their problems get to them. Which is a 'trait' i could only wish i had.

Of course to an extent i'm stereotyping. There are people who are dependant and yet also extremely independant. Dont ask me how it works, because i dont know.

But i do know something, and that's no matter who you are; what type of person you are; you're important. It doesn't matter if only 5 people, or 50 people can say you're important; if one person can say you're imporant to them. Then you are, important.

So the next time you look at a picture; think about what it means, not just what it shows.

Fin~

p.s all the wonderful pictures were taken by my cuz. (ok, the camera was positioned by her)

You are beautiful.

2007-05-02T20:17:00.000+08:00

Recently i seem to be questioning alot of things going on around me, not just university related and everything; but i guess alot of the time personal relationships and stuff; that have just changed state i guess. I dont really know if it's a good thing but yeah. I guess it's because alot of the people around me, the people i love alot; well i dont know how to say it directly, but they seem to be leaving.

I dont mean this in a very obscure manner as in like they're abandoning me or whatever- the people i know wouldn't do that. But i guess alot of you know about my grandpa, who's not doing too great; suffered from a stroke just recently and is still in ICU (please pray for him).

I guess i dont really know what i'm feeling alot of the time, it's really easy to just plaster a smile on your face and walk around university with friends laughing and having fun; but the friends that know you, they just see straight through you.

I guess i'm being pretty emo hey? haha, sorry, that wasn't my intention.

I wanted to share something that happened, that's related to my grandpa. Something i sorta just realised but i earnestly and seriously thank God for.

This happened exactly 2 weeks before my grandpa had a stroke. I was in Garden City (for the Perth people) and i was with 2 of my friends, Valerie and her boyfriend Jeff; and another friend Ian popped by later. We were having a really good time shopping and whatnot making fun of each other (as per usual XD) when a group of wesley kids i knew recognised me and headed in my direction. We (myself and the WC boys) were catching up on the good times, talking and having fun, and obviously my friends didn't stick around; they decided to move on ahead; i told them i'd catch up later.

So i talked and talked for a good half an hour, before i decided to move on and meet val and the rest. So i kept walking...but i just couldn't find them; just didn't know where they went (turns out they went into the pet shop >.>). Yeah, so i decided to call Ian, i mean he was driving me home haha, didn't want to lose him ><.

So i called and waited...the dialtone went a bit funny and i was greeted by a massive "HELLO" that positively did not sound like Ian at all. So i was like, Hi...ian? and the voice yet again yelled out "HELLO!" so i was like, ok this is weird and i decided to look at who i must've called.

Turns out i connected an international call, yeah you guessed it- straight to my grandpa's handphone. (note: Ian begins with I, i have no H contacts, grandpa begins with G, easy mistake to make...i'm not retarded XD) so naturally i was a bit like ah shit...there goes like 10 bucks. But for those that do know my grandpa, it's impossible to turn him down in conversation...especially me, i'm his only grandson man- i couldn't just tell him, "err..yeah sorry gramps, wrong number"
and it's not like we're not close or anything, so i decided why not? just talk to him for a bit.

So we talked for around 10 minutes, on just the trivial things. University, Life in general, how things were in malaysia, mum's condition and everything. And at the end of it, i was quite happy; so i asked for his e-mail so i could email him. So we exchanged emails and then hung up. I got that feeling you know, that...somehow well not only he brightened my day, but i also brightened his; and that made me really happy.

so throughout the next 2 weeks, i emailed him almost every day asking how he was, how was the family. I didnt care if i said things twice in emails or repeated myself, i knew he didn't care either. I just knew that i was really glad to get to 'talk' to him so regularly. The day before his stroke, i sent him a birthday email; wishing him all the best and many many more years to come- i also promised him i'd visit next year.

yeah, i've still been e-mailing him as often as i can..unfortunately with mid semesters it hasn't been that much. Also because he's really weak now, and cant exactly read himself in ICU. Just yesterday my aunty told me although he couldn't talk, he asked about me. Just spelt out my name, j-o-n.

and i dont know why, even as i type this; i miss him more and more, or why whenever i walk through the shopping centers and see a grandpa and his grandson/daughter, i think of all the times that we spent together, all the memories just come flooding back. I love my grandpa alot, i guess that's why most of my relatives keep in touch with Perth through me.

But i do know something, and that's God planned everything from start to end. I have no doubt that the phone call to malaysia wasn't an accident at all; neither do i all the e-mails, and all the laughs that we had with each other even uptil this point. No doubt, i want my grandpa to get better, and i'm still earnestly hoping and praying that he does; but uptil this point? God was watching over both of us; and He still is.

So for those who read this..managed to read the whole thing haha; i want to tell you something, share with you a little something. Time spent with your loved ones is valuable beyond belief. You have no idea of what you have until you lose it. And trust me, that losing may come any day, any time; you have no idea when it may come.

Dont waste time, every second counts. Every single word you say to them counts- and every single thought you have of them also counts. I wish somehow, i learnt that earlier. Like what my Cuz told me- live a life of no regrets.

I was walking through university today and i was observing somehow, a lot of couples that seemed to be in the area. And as i was walking past a particular couple; i heard the guy say something to the girl; something i haven't heard in a while (lol i wonder why >.>)

"You're beautiful"

How often do you hear that nowadays? To be fair, only people in relationships would hear it wouldn't they? because well..it's a bit weird saying it to a friend, although i guess you could, couldn't you? I dont know why it affected me so much but i felt quite..touched by it. Lol i know that the guy didn't by any means direct the statement at me (hell no xD) but it was something i was glad that, i guess was still circulating.

When was the last time you ever told somebody that they were beatiful, be it your mum or your grandpa..or your girlfriend/boyfriend, or your friend.

beautiful://having beauty; having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc. delighting the senses or mind. wonderful, very pleasing or satisfying. Excellent of its kind.

See, when most people hear "beautiful" they almost immediately think of somebody like jessica alba or Kiera knightley (have your pick) but what most people dont realise is that the term beautiful isn't just relevant to looks. It's also relevant to personality, current state of relationship and even personal feelings towards that person.

I mean, sure it'd be a bit weird going up to a friend and suddenly blurting out "oh have i told you lately that you're beautiful?" or anything along those lines. But you know something?

i think everybody in their life, deserves to hear it at least once from somebody they love. Dont worry, lol, i'm not goin to go around the streets of Perth telling every second bum that they're beautiful, nor will i make you feel awkward by telling you in front of a crowd hahaha; but you know; especially to all the readers of this blog- whom most of you i know as close friends; i just want you to know that yea,

you're beautiful.

Fin~

Stay Bright!

2007-04-17T00:30:00.000+08:00

2 people.

2 people is all it took. To do what?

Turn a day around.

I wonder what would happen if everybody did what these two did, and went and made somebody else's day so much brighter. I wonder. But i know it wont happen haha; apparently i just have extremely amazing friends.

Thanks hey, you know who you are. Guess what?

you just made somebody's day.

Stay Bright for Him, wont you? It's a testimony that shines alot brighter than most others.

Fin~=)

Promises//

2007-04-10T20:44:00.000+08:00

Singin' all your promises wont let go of me
Singin' all your promises wont let go of me
Singin' all your promises wont let go of me
Singin' ll your promises wont let go of me

I surrendered my life to your ways
I have learned what it means to obey
Jesus my heart has been changed by you

I am walking the path you have made
I am seeking the truth every day
Jesus my heart has been changed by you

I couldnt walk away if i tried
'Cause your love is better than life

Now the suns shining bright
And it just wont set
'Cause your love is a light and it lights my step
My heart is amazed every day to the next
Your joy overtakes and i cant Forget about it!

Promises by Desperation Band.

download now ;p

Oh and i'll tell you all about camp later, all you need to know is that it was FREAKINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
pics uploaded later ;p

Fin~

Go out and Live your Life//

2007-04-04T21:32:00.000+08:00

Heyyyy guysss,

Ali B this post is for you, so GO TO SMA ON FRIDAYS TOOOOOOOL!

Haiz, the things i do for you.

Anyway! This week's been fairly interesting hey, and very....relaxed haha; all our lecturers decided to break and talk crap during lectures instead of actually giving us our normal load of work. The only crap thing is that on Monday we had 2 calc tests that (i swear) came straight out of hell; and if nobody passes them? .....well i wont be surprised at all XD

It feels so.....relaxing, i dont know why hey; for some reason i'm just so....relaxed. Guess it's because the easter break and stuff is around the corner; and i'm fully soooooo not 'studying' on the break. (i say that but i probably will...) It's funny how lecturers decide to load you up with enough readings to last you a year....just before a (one week) study break!

I think that there's so much more to the band Relient K (if you haven't heard of them, go listen, now.) than meets the eye (in terms of lyrics). One song in particular catches my attention; apathetic way to be, and also overthinking. Haha, it's really weird if you listen to all the metaphors they give (keeping in mind they're pretty much a christian band).

"Learn how to Live Your Life" Is a sentence that they give at the end of one of their songs. I like it; for some reason that sentence, that mere phrase really appeals to me. I'm not gonna do a literature analysis of that sentence on the spot; but like just the small things; it's so carnal, yet so....true? at the same time. And it's quite an encouraging phrase too (pending on how you see it).

Live Your Life. i like it, somehow it just hits home; could be experiences talking there.

Wahhh camp this week! Incidentally the theme being "living the life" or something close to that. I'm actually really looking forward to it hey. Been a while since i've gotten out there and like yea let loose sorta thing; and i'm looking forward to meeting lots of new people tooo!! and spending good time with those i knew from a long time ago but haven't seen in ......well just too long.

Yea..it's funny how it works hey. I like it how i know that Somebody's always watching over me. Somehow over the past few days that's been growing on me, and i really like the feeling. Security? yea, something along those lines.

A picture we took when i went out with my friends to eat (fancily) at fremantle! Ok check this, no, we do not take pictures with random bums we find around the harbour. That dude (the ang mo) standing next to the bronze statue......get this......

IS the bronze statue!!! HEs the actual guy it's modelled after! His family is a famous fishing family from WA somewhere, i dont know but like yea; next time you eat sashimi i quote from sophia,

"thank the bronze statue man."

Figures doesn't it. lol just before that guy came we were all making fun of the statue, only after we sorta figured that if the guy saw us he'd be a bit......lol anyway!

Lol we were into the whole habit of cam-whoring. Allow me to introduce some of my friends (yes i chose this picture with purposeful intent XD) From left to right, Sophia (SHES KOREAN AND FLUENT!!!), valerie (she's missing half her face), James (no comment - no he's not doing anything to my head..), Ian (he can unlock a car with a coat hanger. enough said.)

Needless to say you've probably figured i have some interesting friends! haha xD but then again, everybody's interesting. Just a matter of finding that person inside of them.

But yea, you know; the bible always talks about not worrying and stuff like that. And sometimes it makes me wonder if it's wrong- to worry about somebody? I mean after all it makes sense, how does worrying make anything better for you? weird though; can you actually stop? I know for some people i just cant help but worry, (in a healthy way...if that makes sense..)

Yea but you know, the thing that always helps me is that you know they're being looked after. Make that Looked After. I guess sometimes you have to release- it takes a while but i guess theres a bit to realising that worrying is different from concern, and care. Even though you dont worry about somebody, you can still really be concerned, and really really care for them.

Lol, i'm such a slow learner.

But to be honest, i guess i know myself; and i'll always be worried about at least one person, but that's ok, i can cope with that. But i guess the one thing i've learnt, and the thing i find myself telling my friends over the past week especially is not to tunnel your vision onto your problem, but to expand and see that not everything is focused around your problem.

For christians? friend once very aptly put it, magnify your God, not your problems.

Hahah i should type about friends.

But God knows how many more pages that would add.

Fin~

Do what will make you happy
Do what you feel is right
Only but one thing matters
Learn how to live your life.

at the end of the day

2007-03-21T22:38:00.000+08:00

heyyy guysssss

woah, i'm so tired hey. Like i've had a full on day today >< allow me to elaborate.

Uni was seriousllyyy ...well actually today was pretty good hey. I got to uni just in time for my mathematics lecture; which was ...kinda difficult; but still understandable XD. Then Psych lecture and human bio lab etc etc....

but that wasn't what my day today was about. Today i spent time with my friends (and i fail to bring photos >< but i will soon) and it was significant because they're like my new group of friends. And i was shocked because i'm still sorta getting over the ..i've left wesley sorta thing. And every lunch time instead of looking out for like Leon and Rob and Pas; i actually have to you know...see who i can hook up with sort of thing.

Usually people hang around different crowds everyday; like whatever day it is depending on what course they just had; they sorta...mingle with that group. But thank God, i found a more stable group? Even though they dont reli share many of the same classes as me or anything like that; i still manage to meet up with them. And i think they're my more..'stable' group.

To be fair, one of them is an old wesley friend; but you know, since we meet each other again in university, i count the connection as that of a new one. And it's surprising really because like... i didn't think that i'd be able to get over the whole school thing so fast. Because in school you know where to go, who to look out for, who to hang out with and everything, but in university life seems so freeflow, come and go sorta thing. That sometimes i'm afraid that i might lose myself in all the people and events going on haha.

But i'm really glad that i found these guys. And they're people that i can click with too, they can make me laugh, we can laugh together but also i can see that when they need to get serious; they can. And i'm really glad- because...well sometimes you just feel alone in uni with all the people around you that you dont know. But, im just happy that..well i can at least (hopefully hahaha!!!) stick with these guys for the year, if not uni life.

Then again, only God knows what will happen; but it's nice forming relationships like these; it feels somewhat fulfilling. Like one of them said to me, not just like about knowing everybody in the university campus and buying popularity; it's important to form relationships on a deeper level as well. And i completely agree with that- because in uni things can get quiet hectic, and it's really hard to find somebody to talk to when you need to.

I'm hoping this group will grow!! but so far im just glad. Because i think they're really reasonable people.

i mean, at the end of the day, you just thank God for such a smooth transition into a life that's seemingly so hectic and all over the place.

Fin~

Tired...

2007-03-14T23:27:00.000+08:00

Heyy once again;

those that manage to look at the time, please dont scold me haha; i assure you i'm going to go to sleep straight after this. I just felt like blogging about something to straighten out my thoughts; which is usually all the time; so you people that liked to read all messed up thoughts haha, be my guest; but please dont come yelling at me if they dont make sense XD

uni's kept me pretty busy these days, i mean; i'm quite surprised that the workload i'm getting is actually a workload, and even though i work; sometimes i fall quite far behind and have to work even harder just to catch up. Most people assure me that i dont need to work so hard, but i cant see how it's possible to even get half of the assignments done on time, let alone most of them if i dont manage to work...like i am now?

I figure that the reason why i can be so tired is because i'm pushing myself too hard. i haven't really had much time for a break or anything, it's just been fully on the go go go sort of ....and with some different circumstances i guess i find myself in even more difficult situations in terms of time management and sacrificing some things for other things.

But you know, as long as my Source of strength is with me, then i guess i really cant go wrong can i? I guess i just have to keep pushing; hahaha, see what happens i guess.

Giving...that's something i've been thinking alot about lately. Especially in relationships, what does it mean to give? Like...i'm pretty sure we all know the common definition that is handing out something without necessarily receiving anything in return. But to give..why can it be so hard to give?

I think sometimes why i'm reluctant to give is because; well...sometimes i dont get anything back? and i know that sounds awfully self centered. But isn't it true? Can one just keep giving without receiving anything in return? CAN you actually keep complimenting a person when all you receive back is just a grunt and a "get lost"?

I think you can. In fact, i know you can. Especially if that person is a stranger.

But what if that person is closer to you, somebody you know, a good friend, a best friend, a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Can you continually give without expecting anything back in return? I, for one, think that it's alot harder to give without receiving in return from a closer relationship because of exactly that, the fact that it is an established relationship. but then i also understand that it depends on the reason for building that relationship in the first place.

I hate thinking about what i'm going to receive, but ...sometimes you just get tired of just giving. It's human nature. If there is one person on this planet that can claim to be able to give everything they have without receiving or expecting to receive anything back, they are either lying or going to die before the age of 30.

Or am i wrong? Maybe deeper down inside us there really is an almost Christ-like potential to be able to give all...one's life? For another. I've certainly seen it happen before. But is that extreme dedication or stupidity? Guess only the person who's given will ever know, and by then it's a bit late isn't it.

what if you give so much that it becomes detrimental to you..yet you still keep giving.

Is that Honorable or Stupid.

Then again, God...gave us His all didn't He? I'm sure He didn't have any reservations either, when He sent His son down. Considering that all He got at the time was a load of insults and the eventual death of His Son;...

but then again, dont we, as christians, in return praise Him now? doesn't He receive our praise?

But i guess....God doesn't need that. I'm sure He likes it, but He doesn't need it. He gave us eternal life at the expense of His son.

Now, in complete debt to Him, we give Him our all. We shouldn't be receiving anything back, because theoretically the equation is already balanced. But He still continues giving to us. After all that time..

Thank You, and you. and you.

i now know my answer.

But God; i am so tired.

Fin~

No matter where you go, oh; you will always know:
you have been made free in Christ
You are a child of Mine.

What do you think?

2007-03-09T19:03:00.000+08:00

"i would do anything for her."

That's something that's said an awful lot these days, isn't it? For girls, change the her 2 him (or not xD) i was thinking about it today as i talked to a friend i hadn't actually...well, properly talked to in a few years (6-7?) and she brought up some interesting topics about relationships (in particular boy/girl) but also other relationships; that really started to make me think hahaha (as always.)

What does that actually mean? i think that basically it's a way of saying, or rather committing yourself to that person. Smart choice? I dont know, especially since it depends on the person we're talking about here. But i do know that around 99% of the people who say this would not jump off a cliff for the person in topic, and the 1% who would are just stupid.

I think literally, the statement is generally false. Symbolically though, even i use it. As a way of saying that the person means alot to me, that i care, and that they have my attention and dedication. each opinion to his own =)

Would you say that to somebody else? Apart from your girlfriend/boyfriend? Hahaha, hard isn't it. I know that i wouldn't walk up to a stranger on the street and just go, "hey, i would do anything for you" because things would probably get violent from there xD

On that note...i would be able to use it on friends. Some friends relatively easily. I know that when i mean that, it's more the aspect of me doing anything to be able to make them smile. If that includes walking to their house in the dead of the night and saying a brief hi before trying to beat the sunrise on the way back(which i have done before XD) or even small things, so small till perhaps it just includes a smile and a wave as you pass them.

My dad says that this particular phrase,

"it's the thought that counts"

is really cheap XD (sorry lads). To be honest i think it's cheap, only when it's used cheaply. When somebody cant be bothered to pull out the extra money to buy something special, or cant be bothered to pull out the money at all; i think that yea, it's cheap. But if somebody really tried their best to make that person happy, and gave it alot of attention and dedication? I think that it's a very usable phrase; because ultimately, it's not the object that you GIVE, that matters, it's the person's REACTION to the object you give, and how their FEELINGS change, when you give that object.

For example, on valentines day, i could give my girlfriend a dead quokka, telling her that it took me all night to catch the bloody thing and beat it up so she wouldn't have to feed it. Or i could take the time to make her a card, buy a rose for her, or even make the extra effort just to see her on that particular day.

Perhaps my analogy isn't that good hahaha xD But i'm sure that even if you dont agree, you can see what i'm getting at.

One person did that to strangers, one person told strangers that they mean everything to him, and that he'd die for them. Yeap, not just one stranger, a whole world full of them.

Doesn't take a proverbial genius to see where i'm going with this. It overly and overly amazes me at how the God of the universe could send His son down to die for us. And even though we were, sure all His children, but at the same time relative strangers; He just...went ahead with it. Bridged the gap between here and heaven.

Now if you dont call that amazing Love; i honestly cant say that you're a human.

Haiz wouldn't you just love it if somebody off the street came up to you and promised to be there everytime you were sad, to help you everytime you needed it, to comfort you in times of trouble...to stick with you regardless?

Hahaha, actually you'd probably freak out first hey xD

But i guess it's good to get that...attention? I think that it's something in humans, that everybody wants to be wanted. Not selfish ambition (well, it is in a way); but at the same time just human nature to be wanted, to be cared for, to be loved.

Thank you for all the people who have been with me through all my troubling times, times of doubt, hurt, pain and sorrow. I can't express that enough; you all mean an awful lot to me.

Hahah duh, nobody would want a friend who'd abandon you when you needed them most.

so then, ....

what do you think?

Fin~

in contemplation......

2007-02-24T22:55:00.000+08:00

heyy guys!!

haha feels weird to be blogging again after so long, but i think i'm gonna have to get used to it again xD haha well;.....there's just so much to type i'm not sure if i'm gonna fit it in this blog post! hahaha; but you know, lets start where most people want to start. Malaysia anyone? Hahaha!

Well, malaysia was good. And you know what? I cant say much more. Most of you would know that my mum caught dengue fever while she was there; which was horrifying to say the least. I always thought dengue fever (pronounced dengie) was something that was just like a fever albeit only available in the tropics (lol available XD) but it's actually.....deadly o.O and i dont think many people realise how deadly it is. I think that....well to say i got reli worried is a pure understatement, there were stages where i was just.....shocked to say the least, how ferocious the fever could be.

But that aside, mum's reli good now. She's recovering really well; and although there are a few symptoms like she's still tired and stuff, i guess it's a good sign that she is recovering. Thank God for that. I mean, i could make a real testimony out of that; if we didn't have prayer of like thousands of people (literally) - honestly i know that mum wouldn't have recovered so fast. maybe not even at all? but thats besides the point, thank God she did. And she's well on her way to full recovery =) Thank you all that prayed for her, it's really appreciated.

Apart from that it was really great to catch up with family and friends again, especially to see my grandpa; whom i love seeing whenever i go back. It was really just a joy to see him again, so happy and everything. Come to think of it, i really do miss him. But i know that i'll see him again! Maybe if i go back at the end of this year; i'll go visit him again =)

But yea, in general? Malaysia was good. i'll get some pictures up later so some of you guys can see =) I'll leave malaysia till a later post.

Now? hahah, returned to church and starting uni! Have attained possibly the worst timetable ever XD (5 eight AM starts ><) although it's good that i end relatively early i guess. but at the same time, it means i have to wake up at freaking 5 45 when people are still in their cozy bedsssssss, in winter it's gonna be the hardest thing to do, i swear XD. But you know, hopefully i'll be able to survive this year- where apparently they bully the first year students T.T!

Joined 8 clubs too, not sure how im gonna survive that hahah! But we'll see shant we? I'll give you another post on that when i've actually started xP

I guess this post was going to be about thoughts, as i remind myself by looking at the title. I'm feeling alot of things right now, and to be honest i hope not alot of people read this blog entry, because i'm not exactly...ready to share these thoughts or anything.

How do you act, when i guess....you want somebody to do something, but they dont..since you never actually told them, but then you sorta get tired of them not doing/doing it? Does that make sense? In my situation i think it does alot. It's weird too, because i dont know what to feel; and that's the sort of feeling that i hate exactly. Hahaha i think too much, it's something i've known for a long time.

Have you ever wished for things to be back to a certain stage? I guess i have, and do, sometimes. But at the same time i'm quite glad that i got to this place...but then again i always trust God to move me where i am best. No matter where that is ; so all i have to do is keep belieeving and having faith, but sometimes.....it's just unbelievably hard, and without support, it just sorta gets even harder.

Crosby did an item today for the session, and Cros bro, if you're reading this, it was bloody awesome i thought. We should put that up for singspiration- i reli liked your song. =)

Anyway, i should be off to bedddd, haha i wont be able to do this for many nights more ><

take care guysss =)!

Fin~

Back into perspective~

2006-12-08T13:16:00.000+08:00

HEYYYYYYYYYYY XDDDDDDDD

oh man i finally found the time to blog, this is partially due to my own self motivation and largely due to others forcefully motivating me =.= i think up to 11 people have already been bugging me non stop, so i'll give in, yea? (happy mx? =.=) lol, but first i'd just like to say something,

a very very big THANK YOU, to alllllllllllllll those who were praying for me, who were with me, comforting me, assisting me in any way during this year; because you know who you are; and i just want you to know that you DID make a difference. Some more than others, obviously, but all of you did help; and for that? I'm soooo soooo grateful. Thank you so much! I have the most awesome friends xD

Well, where do we start? you know the saying, "time flies when you're having fun" - yea i think that definitely applied to this year.

I had sooooo many good memories of year 12, which is weird isnt it? My final year in school the big 'stressful' TEE examinations. For all those that aren't in year 12 yet, let me tell you, overstressing is not worth it; Sure a little stress is good for you know self motivation, to get you to the study table, but overstressing is seriously not worth it. The TEE, now i look back, only changes my life in the short term- it doesn't in any way have a bearing on my long term future. So.....TEE? Dont worry too much, just enjoy your year; and study consistently, you'll do great.

Annnnnyway, yea i'm sure most of you remember (From previous blog posts etc) the memories that i've managed to create and collect this year. Camp....the ball.....TEE....hanging out with friends, everything is just so....vivid? still, or relatively vivid anyway. There were, of course moments within the year that i wished never had happened. God bless Uncle Liao who passed away late in the year, regrettably i've grown further from some people, had a few arguments with some, and many other things.

But whilst those are indeed quite tragic, i still have to say that my positives far outweighed the negatives. People who are close to me will know what i'm talking about. God blessed me in so many ways this year, and it's.....ye weird; i still sometimes try to figure out what i did to deserve them you know? And i often think, maybe i dont =\ But that's not up to me to decide, i guess if God wills, then it's fine by me XD.

I guess if people ask me what the highlight of my year was, i'd have to say that it was relationships. Not as in personal relationships, but relationships in general. Suffice to say, it's quite obvious that i cant grow close to EVERYBODY i know, but i've grown close to many people whom i'dve liked to grow close to. Admittedly, i've also grown further from some people, which is regrettable......but i guess....God wills doesn't He?

New relationships have also come into my life, friendships grown into something more. Thank you to ALL my friends, i really love all of you; no matter how much you think you mean to me, it's alot in my eyes =). Thank you especially to my wonderful sisters, my awesomest bestfriend, my ever-understanding cousin, and my simply amazing girlfriend, for always being there for me, even when i was in the crap.

Lessons learnt? I guess......yea, there was one standout lesson. To ALWAYS put your trust in God, coz He absolutely knows best. Sure, there were difficult times, and im sure many people could tel when i was going through them. But God has a way of doing everything, and He knows how to get you out of difficult circumstances. He put you in them for a reason! If you're a non-christian and reading this? And you ever wonder why sometimes you feel lonely, or down, and feel like you go through trouble to trouble needlessly, i pray, turn to God; because that's where all your answers lie.

I often find myself singing the hymn "my heavenly father watches over me" because it's just so true. Listen to it, if you get the time =). But yea, it's just so nice.....knowing that although things might be a bit fragile with you at the moment, everything is happening for a reason. and the God who lives up there is watching everything you do, every move you make, and looking after you all the way. Sure, things might get painful, but no pain, no gain rite?

In everything you do, be thankful. Also, do note that God uses people to cheer you up! Sure, dont lean on people so heavily that you forget to depend on God, but at the same time, God sends His help through people, friends, family, sometimes even strangers.

1 John 4:7 (Whole Chapter)
[ God's Love and Ours ] Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:11 (Whole Chapter)
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

I cant tell you how many times i've been feeling down, or saddened for one reason or another, and a friend, a sister, a cousin, a girlfriend has come up to me and just completely brightened my day, and given me a new outlook on things. I recall even once when i was feeling not so great, and a friend just came and sat by me for a few hours...many times in fact lol, and that just.....almost magically managed to turn my day for the better. Specific examples?

Well, note these are specific and i'm OBVIOUSLY gonna leave some people out, but you ALL know that you have strengths, even though i may not state here (these are also targeted at people i KNOW read my blog, i.e that tag XD). Although Kimberly Chieng i haven't talked to much this year, thank you, i know you've prayed for me at least once (right =.=?) XD And even though i may not be so close to you, i wanna thank you for looking after my cousin; and i can tell you're a joy to be around! You let off some weird air of funness and joy lol xD hey! i'm serious XD

Well i've always been comforted by Marxha's attention and light hearted attitude in our conversations, even though we're countries apart i can sometimes feel her jumpiness on MSN, (or in some certain 5 oclock AM phone calls xD), my sister Annietan is always there to lighten things up, with her either very funny or stupid (or both) remarks xP, my other sister jenwen can alwaaaaaays brighten up my day with her gorgeous smile and laugh- she's so lighthearted it makes me feel better just being around her. My big sista evy often finds herself my shoulder to cry on, or as an ear for me to scream/shout/talk to - and has helped me get through more than one difficult time- i really appreciated your time and effort evy =)

My best friend Leon, although may not express his emotions that openly, at least i know that he's always got my back, and most of the time his quiet and calm reassurance is MORE than appreciated- i guess in many ways, he's also a big brother to me. We may not talk that often, but very often words dont need to be said to gather understanding; amazing he manages to find time to talk to me despite his many (girl)relationships xDDDD. My cousin Sarah(ann) has definitely been there for me when i've been in the bowels of life; she's heard me swear, curse, yell and throw fits at possibly every frustration that's crossed my path. Yet she always manages to come back and quietly reassure me that everything's in God's hands; it's something that i appreciate alot cuz, you have a tolerance for me that i'm sure not many others do. And the amount you understand me.....i aliken to the eigth wonder of the world.

To Sharon, who i guess only really entered my life as a force that could change me in June-July (4th or 5th? XD) thank you for being everything i wish you could be. Although i guess sometimes we dont see eye to eye on certain things, i know that you care; and i know that you'd be willing to give up your time for me. I've only known you personally for 8 months, but make no mistake, in this case quality far exceeds quantity. You've been soo soo good to me, i just cant communicate it here =) but i trust that you know. So thank you =) You've been my ear to talk to , my shoulder to cry on, my hand to get me up and soooo much more.

To others who i haven't written about? I guess we can learn a lesson from this. TAG SO I KNOW YOU'RE READING XDDDDD. But to all my friends? Thank you! You do mean just....so so much to me! And i know i definitely wouldn't be where i am without you....so thank you all =) from the very bottom recess of my heart.

As school draws to a close, i guess.......i mean that in every way possible, a close for the year and a close for life; i was asked by a certain friend, " do i have any regrets about my schooling life?" and i have to say yes. Because i dont think i went all out, and perhaps i didn't give it my best shot; most of you know i have a ......tendency to get quite lazy ><. but you know what? i'm glad, i'm still very glad that i went through this school, met the friends that i did, made the relationships that i had. And i thank God i did, because i know that i've personally learnt alot from going through the 'wesley' experience. 13 years pwoa xD you'd be hoping i learnt something wouldn't you xD (if even it's that money doesn't come easy =.=)

Lol, i'll always remember hanging around outside the canteen at recess talking about what happened the day before, and sitting outside the DTC building at lunch for the first half of the year, until it started to rain, so we moved to the staircase in the science block; which ironically had even less cover XDD I'll always remember pride swelling up in me as our school badminton team (that incidentally craps all over willetton's XDD) won the PSA competition, as our FPS team came first in Australia, as Leon and Goocha won the 100m in their final year here...and so many other good memories.

I guess once a wesleyan, always a wesleyan at heart. haha, turns our i was more patriotic than i gave credit for xP

But you know, all this....and yea. I hope that all my years are as good as this but hey! That's only for God to decide right? But you know, as i think about all the good times, and all the stuff i have to thank God for.....i think of one thing in particular, lol.

Thank God, that some things, just cant be forgotten.

Fin~

LOL CRESBALL

2006-10-15T14:12:00.000+08:00

LOL guys, watch this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwyUJLWc7mU

for famous Casper action!!

enjoy :P
(watch casper in the left corner closely XD)

Blogger's block

2006-09-29T20:33:00.000+08:00

hey guys! oh man lol, this comes after a month xD

i'm really sorry i haven't been blogging but most should know by now that, it's because i've had so much to do in the past few weeks with exams and all, despite all the desperate pleas of ...some people lol, i really must say i can't....i just dont have time!! Obviously i will resume after TEE finishes, but for now, im really sorry!!! I just have to give it a pause ><.

As far as weeks go? Yea, the past four weeks have been filled with activity, both social and personal. I find no use in trying to explain it all in one go, if you really must know, talk to me on the phone or on MSN or something xD ; i'm really sorry! and it's been kinda interesting too, although many of the readers here were probably directly involved in some way or another.

I guess, yea, i'm just sorry i haven't been able to keep you guys up to date, but here's just for notice, in case you feel like praying for me :P

Friday 13th Oct: Economics
Monday 16th Oct: English Literature
Tuesday 17th Oct: History
Wednesday 18th Oct: Discrete and Biology

That's my mocks :P i'll brief you on how they went after i finish them. But as for now? lol my study plan is tedious. 10 hours of study every weekday. Certain individual helped me to work that out, and i guess that i do have to sorta slow down and start grinding those work hours hey. Painful, but i guess that i have to, after all, TEE only comes around once in your life, unless you fail year 12, and i have no intention of doing that lol.

Anyway, i'll leave it there, better rest early, today we went out and bought my sis a present! (sista annie's birthday tomorrow!) and yea, haha hope she likes it XD was kinda random, but it was really...well it made us happy lol. Yea, and i kinda want her to be happy all the time! i'll put up a picture of it, after she gets it :p

Otherwise take care guys, and for all year 12's? best of luck, God bless!

Fin

Wesley College Ball 2006

2006-08-27T14:26:00.000+08:00

Heyyy guys! And greetings to those who are viewing this SPECIAL post, about the Wesley College ball (a.k.a Dub-C ball) 2006! Few notes before we get into the good stuff:

1) most of the pictures were resized on paint. therefore they're not as clear as the original. If you want the originals,lemme know and i'll send em over.
2)some pictures have caption (in yellow) and to read it, you might have to enlarge the pic
3)this is going to be a very long post.
4)you damn well better appreciate that i gave up 2 hours to write it -_-||

Now all the formalities are out of the way.. lets go!

It was a beautiful day! (the 25th of August) Not a cloud in sight, school finished early, and everybody was in high spirits because of the ball. Went to Rob's house early to get dressed and stuff before we set off. Unfortunately one of the first things happened when we arrived was.....an argument. about the colour of my shirt XD

Rob and his Dad seemed to think that white was the way to go, Sharon thought that black was better; and my dad thought the same too. They were locked in argument (with me in the middle) until Mr Ashley gave in and called it a 'winwin' situation. So....Sharon forced me to wear black XD Actually....didn't regret it, i thought, after, that it was probably the better choice.

After introducing and meeting everybody and their partners we set off in the limo! Not without taking a shot of the guys first:

From Left to right: Alistair, Leon, Pasteur, Rob, Me, James.

Looking smart eh? haha. Nice jacket Pasteur xD

and since Sharon insisted that we make the limo driver feel comfortable, we took a picture with him too.

Meet barry; Barry was our limo driver. According to Pasteur, a very sexy man. indeed. Oh and for those that dont know, or are reading this randomly? The lady in the middle is my partner, Sharon. On the right? myself and on the left? barry the (sexy) limo driver.

After thanking Mr and Mrs Ashley for VERY generously opening their house to us; we set off in the limo!! A bit cramped at first, but you know; good fun nonetheless xD.

Allow me; Rob and his partner Mia. ermm, Pasteur in red, and his partner Mary, who you can't really see from here. And Leon's partner Huiting, the Leon himself... and you have Bonnie's hand, who was Alistair's date.

There was some disagreement on the music that we should play in the limo (yea thanks guys =_=) so i gave up my spot to let Alistair decide the music. Apparently Alistair had his own problems with the system:

And after a while of fiddling with it, he decided to argue with it:

Interesting guy, that Alistair. XD And we can see the dashing rogue Leon, giving us a smile there! Hi Leon!!

After many arguments that contained , the radio, toilets in the limo, drinks, who would yell at randoms, whether Barry could actually hear us (yes, he actually could XD); the limo stopped at Kings park! Where we met many other Wesley guys who got dropped off there to take photos. Not even to mention that we forgot we had to take our own photos until i spotted the camera in my pocket. So out it came! And we snapped off a few of these:

That's everybody with their partner. Most of the guys decided to just match black with black hey =\ Didn't even realise. Pasteur and I decided to be adventurous! Go us! =D! Not to mention the fact that my Dad made Sharon's and my corsage; most people were quite amazed at it. It's a skill the Leon refers to as, "poof." XD

Rob and his awesome date Mia. (oh, for sure, Rob's awesome too-) Awwww dont they look sweet? at church today i think alot of people were asking him who his girlfriend was XD Oopss...may have shown a few too many people >.> but it's ok!! you look good together xD very handsome no, ladies?

And me and Sharon. Tried to get Perth in the background, butttt it didn't work XD; ho well, i thought it was a nice shot =) She made the picture, not me XD I also had one of Leon and Huiting, but erm......i dont think Leon would want me to put it up; he had a pretty twisted smile on his face o.O but if you want it? erm i'll give it to you xD

After loading up the limo again, we headed off to Governor's house! Or to be more specific; Governor's ballroom. Upon getting there, we said byebye to Barry the (sexy) limo driver; and walked into the courtyard; where everybody was having drinks, and just mingling. So we met a few friends, said hi, heard a few glasses break, but before long; we moved into the main hall!

It was really nice; the decor and everything was very.....stylish. Bugger, i cant even say that right. Stylish. Stylish. But we digress;

We found our table, which was closer to the back than the front, but still a really good table i thought. Next to all our friends anyway, so we were quite content. Of course this meant people like Blair and Twigstick would show up and Michael Sherry and all the other ~~losers~~ cool people that were in the house.

Think Pasteur was a bit annoyed that i didn't tell people when i was gonna snap shots off at them xD. But you know it's all part of the fun Pas!! See? how pro you look in this shot! Got Rob a bit of guard there, think he was in the middle of chewing something.

Early on into the night, after Aidan's magnificent speech; Rob decided to drop a fork. Then something like this happened.

*Rob drops fork*
Hartley: GOD ROB! YOURE RUINING IT FOR EVERYBODY!

*few minutes later*

*Pasteur drops fork*
Hartley: GOD ROB! YOURE RUINING IT FOR EVERYBODY!

*few minutes later*

*i drop my knife*
Sharon: hehehe well that was sil-
Everybody: GOD ROB! YOURE RUINING IT FOR EVERYBODY!

And poor ol' Rob was just sitting there, wondering what the hell he did. There there man; i sympathise with y- anyway! soon after, i got into the mood of taking photos again!! And decided to start snapping shots of James, and his....asian..ness =\.

AWwww isn't that shweet! That's James and his date Amy. But i can just picture wat James was thinking- specially with Leon giving him that sort of look xD:

Lol. Good one james xD The food there was actually REALLY GOOD! OMg the CHEESE was killer, it was like the BEST cheese ever. Since alistair's like Lactose intolerant or something ; i took all his cheese....and i took all my cheese....and i wanted to take Leon's cheese....but i never got the chance to =( Ow well, i gotta find out what cheese that is!

There it is!! The glorious cheese! Man, my mouth waters just looking at it. Mmmmm....

While eating, i was snapping random shots off at people; when something went wrong over at Leon's end, and i got this shot:

LOL gotta love that face: priceless. XD You know you want that shot leon!! I'll send it to you =)!
Obviously there were nice shots too:

Aww. Look at all that stuff on our table =\ come to think of it, we WERE pretty cramped for space eh, even though the tables were like MASSIVE and could fit abundant ....stuffs. Yea. omg, they put me down as "John Quay" WHICH RETARD PUT MY NAME AS JOHN QUAY?!?!?....yes Hartley, i'm looking at you -_-. Not asian enough am i? Have to put my name down as John? Well to that, i say this!:

And your continued efforts to be asian. tsk tsk. Leon's still giving you the look i see. hm =.....we digress;

It wasn't long before all the weirdos started turning up at our table; most of them attracted by our Coke; the amount of leftovers we had;Rob, and all form of other stuff! (lol, sorry buddy xD was gonna type alistair; but the truth hurts)

The night passed quickly, and most of our table spent their time on the dancefloor, Pasteur and his C-walk; Rob was doing really good as well (yea man, we saw you) and Leon and Trev and all the asian dancing. OH OH I GOT MATT QUO TO DANCE *HURRAH!* And he was pretty good at it too! Awesome to see that. Pity i couldn't get a CERTAIN INDIVIDUAListair to dance -_-. Come on mannnn you should learn! It's good fun! =)

But then the main course arrived and we had to sit down, or our food would get stolen/eaten.

And the main course was like....beef sitting on top of mashed potatoes and asparagus. Asparagos? asparagus =\ somethin like that, you know those long green things? yeah. those.

Sharon figured that it was cool, so we gave it the thumbs up! And it wasn't bad actually; the meat was nice and tender, and the mashed potato oh man, mash potato and cheese for the win. The asparagus was .....pretty ~~gross~~ average but that's because i'm not a real veggie person and it was like....thick. So you had to sort of chop it up before you ate it, and that requires energy.

Pasteur enjoyed the limelight; and was lookin pretty hardcore in his red suit with bracelet and everything; swear he wanted to stab me when i took this photo of him xD:

*shudders* the eyes. Sorry pas XD

Oh oh! but then it was time to take nice couple shots!! awww so here we go!! *erhmm* ladies and gentleman!! Leon and ~~moni~~ ~~rache~~ ~~hyori~~ huiting!!!!

Lookin pro there guys =) I thought that was a really nice shot. Dont you? And then *drumroll* Rob and Mia! Who were looking very pro:

Rob was dressed very nicely, with Bowtie and Waistcoat. Lookin very sharp. I dont know what happened to the shot that i got of Pastuer and Mary......but it sorta....dissapeared =\ I'll find it and put it on the flickr slideshow player later on. And of course, us:

That was taken by Sharon, out of the 9 self-shots, that was the only one that turned out ok XD Well done =). After camwhoring for around an hour, we went off to find Mel- Sharon's friend- and drag her back to our table, so she didn't feel too alone. Not sure where Scotty (her date) was, but i think he was hanging with the 'cool' people up front.

Mel's awesome; she was the victim of a very sly trick by this rubber face dude up front; who like asked for a kiss on the cheek, but then turned his head just as she was about to kiss himso he got one on the lips. Devious, devious xD Sounds like something **** would do. Lol ;p

Desert ....dessert. Yea Dessert came soon!! And it was like a round cakey thing with mango sauce!! I know that sounds gross, but it was actually REEALLY nice, and was the only thing i was looking forward to on the menu hey!

Mmmmmm we got so into it, we only remembered to take a picture of it, after we were halfway through it =\. But then Alistair next door, didn't want to eat his *coulactoseintolerantough* so i think we went through his as well! Actually most people didn't eat theirs coz they were doing some funky stuff on the dance floor (wow that didn't sound sus ><), like Pas and Terry showin off the C-walk; and apparently somebody air-guitared. Prolly seb =\ So i went around using my camera to photograph people that were at the tables; and i got these guys:
Shakes, Frankthetank, Gazman and....Frankthetank's date. Who i forget the name of. But yea pretty cool crew there! Lol Gaz actually pulled off the 'macho' look reli well XD And frank's suit was pinstriped, but he also did it up good.

That's pete and his date; yea, needless to say, Pete's one of the more h-interesting characters at our school. But really nice guy; and if anybody could wear a pink suit? it'd be him. ..it was him =\. Lol got Pasteur giving me another stare there *please dont hurt me ><* The ball actually ended sooner than we thought (although it seemed like an eternity; to ali B XD) and people started to pack up and head back to their limo's to get to the afters party. So we all came out (rather reluctantly) and headed off to the asian afters party (that's what leon called it); and true to our name (as asians) we hired a taxi (i HAVE to pay you back Pasteur) and headed off. Managing to make friends with the taxi driver...Curtis; Who was like...indian or pakistanese...pakistanise? pakistany. yea friendly guy! Really soft spoken though. Pasteur did the whole "i'm a rich asian from a first world country" and gave him a pretty large tip *amount not disclosed*. So i guess he left us pretty happy. The afters were.....lol, interesting. There were games of Mahjong going on:
Which Sharon decidedly won twice in a row; much to Pasteur's displeasure XDD While i decided to have a go at playing cheat; and simply called out cheat whenever Tyler put a card down XD It worked for the first few go's but then he caught on (smart man) and i ended up picking up like a pile =( Oh well. It was around 1 when Sharon and i left; coz she had school/test the next day.

But apparently lots of interesting stuff happened xD Like....hm no, i better not say xD but you know, i'm sure Leon or Pasteur could tell you all about it ;p

So, we got back. After one of the biggest nights of the year. Yea it was fun; really tiring and everything, obviously this was quite a neutral account; because i have alot of guys who were there reading this; and it obviously meant something personal to different people there. To me? yea it meant alot aha, for a few different reasons. Those that know me better, perhaps can tell what they are.

But that's that! A night that i've been looking forward (however anxiously) to has come and gone....and i find myself with less than 6 weeks left of school. Reality never fails you, does it. But at the end of the day?

It's always good to create memories, with people that you treasure, especially friends. And i guess, i did learn something from the ball:

Time with people you hold close to you is short, you always have to make the most of it.

How'd i learn that? lol, that has to come in another blog entry i guess. But it was really nice to see everybody all dressed up and primed for the occasion. Lots of fun haha! Guess things come and go; and that was one of them.

Anyway, to all those who attended and enjoyed themselves; good work guys! You all rock. Thanks, for making that a night (for me and others) to remember! =)

lol. we gotta do that again sometime.

Fin~

Open day - closed week

2006-08-21T11:15:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! How've you all been?

Most of you looking at the time stamp on this will be wondering, what are you doing at home? Answer, i'm not feeling too great....so i decided to spend the day at home - working mostly >.> (....as we can see xD) it's nothing serious, i just NEED to get better before the ball on thursday lol....but that's a different story, and will come in later.

UWA open day! Where to begin, found out alot about not only UWA but myself too, in terms of what course i want to do, why i want to do it, my motivation, how far i was willing to go to do a certain course etc etc. Most of the photos in this post will be sorta crappy because i was moving alot and didn't reli have time to stay still; so please forgive me haha!

African Tulips, one of my favorite flowers. They bloom around the time of my birthday (lol that's not why i like them XD) they're a beautiful shade of red, that goes from a bright bright red from time of birth, to a more dark maroon toward the end of their season. Beautifully crafted flowers too. They're all over UWA; and contrast nicely with some of the architecture.

We left the church at around 12 to get to UWA at around 1. We arrived at like 12 30, having nowhere to go. Oh 'we' is Debra and Joan haha, i followed them coz uncle Ken was going so he figured i could use a lift too. Upon arriving, we randomly walked around until we met Leon, Pasteur and friend michael. Lol, then we noticed these orange bands that they were wearing and we were like,

"...where did you get those?"
"huh? oh med expo"
".....nat likes orange..and we like bands, so lets go!"

So off we went to the med expo, where we all collected these awesome orange bands that read

CHANGE THE WORLD

on them, so i figured that made them even more awesome! Nat if you read this (unlikely XD) then Deb collected one of those orange bands for you lol, think she planned on giving it to you through Sarah? Not sure, but yeah haha! Dunnnnn worry, it was free XP

The med expo reeked of little chunks of flesh that people were trying to stitch up...as in like, volunteers..we steered clear of that, and Joan decided to have a go at being a dentist!

wahhh so pro....

"ahahah that's piss! gimme a shot!"

"ooooooh yeah, i am l337"

Lol. Obviously Joan didn't say that, but that was how i interpreted the pictures XDD. She did a great job! And moulded some....teeth imprints.....actually i'm not sure what she did; but the putty smelt like clinic xD Had a bit of a problem trying to rip it off the mould....but in the end we fixed it! And brought home a nice piece of pink clinic putty, or whatever dentists call it. (nat? XD)

We then decided to head off to where i wanted to go; biomedical sciences. So we walked to the new biomedical building which was lookin pretty fancy. There was a free popcorn machine outside; so Leon, Pasteur and Michael lined up for this so called 'free' popcorn; whilst the rest of us moved on inside. Later we were to find out that the popcorn was not 'free' it was LOADED with salt so that you had to buy a drink,- for 3 bucks- later on in the day XDDD slyyyy -_-.

Biomedical science is one of the largest schools of science; rivaling the size of some of the faculties in the university, in fact i can recall the lecturer calling it the largest school in the university. It's one of the most in-demand fields in Australia and worldwide - hence the low TER of 82. Anticlimatic huh? XD However the range of majors is incredible, from cell physiology to molecular biology to genetics.

Those pamphlets (although you cant see the titles) are of all the major units in the school of biomedical science. Basically this is a way of getting involved in medicine, without having to deal with patients. The background work - behind the scenes, if you will.

I got quite interested in this field ever since i talked to a biomedical geneticist at this meeting in school... and ever since i guess; i've been looking to this field as a sort of...weird interest. I wasn't really sure why i wanted to do it; but i'll come back to that later. Biomedical science has this new building that i was talking about before; cost them around 65 million dollars.....not including equipment.

My camera couldn't catch the entire building, so i just snapped off a random chunk of it XD There were all manner of exhibits there, from sexually transmitted diseases, where you could actually view the bacteria, to extracting the energy from plants.

Which sorta caught my attention. So fine, borrrring you may say.. well, think about what could happen if we had the ability to extract energy from plants? Technically that means that we'd have an infinite source of energy, doesn't it? Combined with Genetics, God knows what that could lead to.

Unfortunately i couldn't hang around there for too long, because i had a biomedical 1 lecture at 2 PM, and the others wanted to go to the med lecture at 2, so we split up and went our seperate ways; after they left to go to med, i had around 2 minutes to find the lecture theatre. Find it i did! It was just in front of the biomedical building, in this sorta shabby place. Why didn't they have it in the new building XD. But nevertheless, i plonked myself down the back; tried to take a photo without looking too stupid in front of everybody there and i got this :

Some random black dude moonwalking down the stairs. No, i'm joking. He was doing it up the stairs.

Anyway the lecture was interesting, the lecturer was very in the know, and covered pretty much everything that a year 12 student could possibly want to know about the biomedical course, and more. Turns out that i have to do one extra unit of calculus, physics, human bio and chem. Since i didn't do anyyy of them in year 12 - he continued on to say that alot of students do that; and these are the students that pass. Because apparently those that do it in year 12, take different electives, and forget all their high school material, so when the next unit comes.....uhoh.

But that's what he said. All i gathered from that is i have a crapload of work to do in my first semester XDDD (assuming i get in) - and i really thought to myself :

would i be willing to work my ass off that hard, just to do this course?

I found myself thinking, yeah. i would. Why? That didn't occur to me straight away. But the lecturer was talking about how everybody should have a motivation to do a course. If it's law, medicine, biomedical sciences, architecture whatever - everybody should have a purpose; a goal to reach.

What WAS my goal? I thought about it hard and i believe i found it.

To make a difference.

Simple isn't it? Does it sound too shabby? But i guess that deep down- that was my motivating material. To make a difference, to help in the immunisation of a disease, to possibly help find a cure for a disease, to discover a new antibiotic, to unlock secrets of the human genome that might one day benefit society......all these that might one day save ONE person's life. One life. Seems small compared to the somewhat 6 billion that are out there; but- what if it was your life?

Yeah. Suddenly not so insignificant huh. To save a life - i guess it came down to that. To stop that person from contracting that disease, to cure that person of that disease, to discover a way to halt the progress of that disease.

Somebody asked the question, "how many biomedical scientists end up contracting diseases that they were trying to study?"

Either he thought it was a stupid question; or that question hit a chord. Coz the lecturer didn't answer, and just moved on. But with all the modern technology and safety conditions in the new labs- i doubt the chances of that are high at all. Still though; take it into consideration? yes. Let it stand in my way? lol, not a chance.

I thanked the lecturer after for the speech, and i found out he was a really nice bloke; who was really encouraging, telling me that if i really wanted to do this course- i should. And that anybody was capable of it, providing they put in the hours. (then i thought to myself, how many hours =_=) But he ended on a positive note, reminding me that i should always strive to achieve my goal and my potential, to do the best in the field. He then pointed to a poster of a Nobel Laurette of 2005- who was in the medical department in UWA, smiled at me, and then walked off.

I came out of the theatre knowing where i was going. At least, for now. God will obviously have the final word in my choice - and i guess i really have to sit down and think it out with myself too; but at least i have something to aspire to, someting to achieve? And that means alot to me, somehow, it does.

The rest of the day passed quickly and as i waited under this tree to get picked up, i can remember distinctly smiling to myself and thinking,

"this is going to be fun."

What!!?Studying?? Fun???

What has gotten into me =_=||

Fin~

It's a long, long journey...

2006-08-14T23:27:00.000+08:00

Quite the contrary to the title..... i have a relatively short journey left in my schooling career, and i sorta just realised it >
School has been....tiring to say the least, i'm sure that most of the readers here that attend Wesley will concur with that. Can really feel the tension going up one notch when teachers decide to pound you with tests and assignments....that are all due in the same week XD (least to say some on the same day =_=)

yeah, so i've been working relatively hard, but i still dont think i've been working hard enough XD gotta push myself alot more, getting into that 'slack' attitude. And it's really funny to see the same people up at 1 am every morning trying to finish off that lit essay that was due.....sometime last term (yea hartley pay attention XD)

How have you all been? (write it in the chatbox XD) although chances are i'll see you in the next week....

Oop before i forget, big congrats to the grease team who pulled off an awesome performance on Friday night in front of the FGA crowd! So proud of you guys =)!

Saturday night we went to the 'tell the world' concert hosted by Nedlands church. Although most of us arrived during the intermission at half time (thanks to some poor communication) - (and some people driving all the way up to subiaco when it was in South Perth) It was really enjoyable!!

The items were awesome, the prayer was the best rite rite!?!?!?! yes, you know it's true. Vivien Ling on the piano was enough to win it XD But + Jason and Carolyn = unbeatable. Although i loved the whole sister-act thing that they had going with their choir, even WITHOUT mics, Sharon/Seh and myself could hear all their voices perfectly without amplification (apart from the 2 lead singers) but still!! Fantastic. Aweeeeeeesome performance.

Oh and WELL DONE RACH! (if you read this) for performing haha!! you rocked! =) DId you see us wave from the back?? we were like *WAVE* and you were sorta staring in our general direction but ow well XD

Had alot of fun afterwards taking pictures! Specially since Caroline's friend Misato (WHAT AN AWESOME NAME) came around. and she taught us how to pose Japanese style =D! She's the one between Carol and Em. erm...bottom row, third from left. Waaaah that night i had a random obsession with two words that i dont even know the true meaning of.

"arigato" and "kawaii"

erm, thank you and cute? or something rite rite??

Then of course the obligatory argument (it had to happen) that started off with Sharon saying the peace sign should be place in front of your eyes (loser), instead of next to your head (the winning way). Observe, all those in doubt (*COUGHSHARONCOUGH*)

NEXT to face. The girl's from Japan! You can't go wrong when you follow a national! Geez, some people =_=

Then of course, Vivien Ling came down from stage to thank us all for coming, and yea you can guess what happened. Not really cool when she's your teacher at the same time. Lol, convo went something like:

"Jon, you ALWAYS TALK during private study!"
"ehhhh! where got! Bullcrap la, the two people next to me!"
"yea sure."
"TRUE! Leon do i talk alot?"
*Leon looks at Vivien, then at me*

"yea of course you do" XD

I TRIED to explain that it was Francombe and Shaky next to me (that's what i call them anyway XD) but nooo teachers these days. Stubborn as asses! Can't believe she was eavesdropping on our conversation...we were actually talking about work!!....hey. dont look at me like that -_-||

Then Viv's husband came along (Christchurch old boy) and i ACCIDENTALLY decided to talk about how wesley beat christchurch 9-0 in badminton the other day. Then he started big talking Hale college, and i decided to mention how Wesley beat hale 9-2 in soccer the other day as well XD. (WELL DONE 1st squad =)!)

Yea, that was a good concert XD Jenny had some fanciful obsession that we wont mention here, but it was good fun XD

Ow man!!!!!! Aths on Wednesday. Bet you i'm gonna come back with like a broken leg or something (choi choi choi) final chance to win the relay. We'll do it boys! *hi5!*

Have you ever gotten a really strong bout of nostalgia before? Like, you decide to plonk yourself down in a chair one day, and just think. And one thought leads to another...and then another...and you find yourself recalling memories that are both sweet and precious to you? Yea, i did that yesterday. And it lasted for around 3 hours XD By the time i shook myself out of that state i was like PWOA 3 hours >.>

Yeaaaaaa i bet you all are going, "youuuu thought about camp rite?"

well, ....duh? XD

I'm so glad to hear that the church thinks (THINKS) That we're gonna go back to Orchard Glory one more time for camp. Next year, can you imagine what we'd do? Like walk around the campsite going, "you know, last year....we stood here and watched the sunrise" or "we all sat around here and sang sunday school songs."

or for others, "we cooked an awesome lunch in this chalet." or "we tried to chop up chicken here but were too scared to pick it up."

or still for others, "we (well...i) tried to grab a rope and ripped off half of my hand!" or "i landed on my ankle awkwardly and gave myself a minor fracture!"

better yet, "we prayed for a keyboard here" or, "you tried to throw a mandarin at me here but i ducked and it hit Annie in the face"

XD And of course, accompanied by all form of personal memories that you may have cultivated with friends. But wouldn't it be great? just having a memory session? haha

I know my Cuz doesn't like nostalgia, she thinks it's bad, because you wish that you did this and that, and then all the what ifs come out and all. It's true, they do. But i think if you look back with the view of , "i'm glad this happened" rather than, "i wish i did this.." it's sometimes nice, to just remember things. How does it help? Well, you can always pick up things from the past cant you?

I know that i wanted to spend time more with certain people, and i never got the chance to. People that mean alot to me as well, funny people that are closest to me save a few, i really didn't spend that much time with. My cousins Ken and Sarah were definitely 2 of the few, but you know, the fact that i see them every week and since we're related (haha Ken, suck XD) sometimes more; i guess it was somehow reasonable that i try to spend time with people not related to me...that i dont see or talk to much?

yea but you just get that feeling, "i wish" lol. Get it out of your head- it's happened.

Wow, did i just talk to myself? feel like deleting that line, but i'll keep it there as a timely reminder.

Well!! That's that. Life's like that! Plenty of experiences to learn from, plenty of memories to create, and to recall. 17 years of my life has passed; i'm not sure what the next God-willing 10 years or so will even show! Relationships wise, churchwise, Godwise,academically/careerwise.

Sooo much to worry about isn't there?

But life's a long, long Journey. Just be glad that there are friends/cousins/sisters/family/bestfriends/girlfriends/goodfriends/GOD to help you through it all.

Coz it's a long long journey; till i know that i'm worth the price....You payed for me on Calvary; beneath the stormy skies.

Fin~

Thank you.....and thank You.

2006-07-31T22:59:00.000+08:00

Hey Guys!!

There are a few things i wanna talk about first, but, obviously....i gotta start by saying:

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

To everybody that helped make my birthday so.freaking.awesome. (i know i said it on the church blog, but you deserve another round of thanks XD). For those that weren't there, i'll give you a brief recap on what happened.

Basically, it was a normal saturday, angel night (go read the post on the church blog) and the date was....29/07/06. The 29th; day after my birthday. (thanks for all the people who wished me too!thank you thank you thank you [it's ok Hartley, at least you remembered xD]) The service went normally, ended a bit early because of some long announcements. But then Leon came up to give an announcement. This was weird for 3 reasons:

1) Leon hasn't ever given an announcement before
2) Leon was holding a guitar
3) Leon gave me the "HAHAH I'M ABOUT TO EMBARRASS YOU!" smile.

So, quickly sizing up the situation, i decided to make a run for the door! Lol, nice try Jon, didn't get very far before they (being Ken and Rob - having started early and in the wrong key) started singing the happy birthday song. And i thought that was it? Noooooo not so.

Turns out my dearrr sis (i hope you're reading this!) Annie Tan bought a cake.....and sorta half made it by putting skittles and nerds and stuff on it (super! XD). So we celebrated with cake! (who doesn't?) and since Caroline's birthday was on the 21st (go wish her if you haven't already) - we celebrated 2 birthdays! woot!

Sif that wasn't enough? Kind, generous angels (lol xD) gave me presents! =D! wahhh, i dont need to tell you i was feeling pretty damn special at that point in time. Like, i mean, pretty.damn.special. And after Crosby said the closing prayer; we all moved out and ate cake! and lived happily ever after! =)!

THANK YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL once again. It meant so so so much. And i'm sure Caroline would say the same. You guys? pft, best peoples in the world. (i knew it before you surprised me XD). Oh, what gifts did i get? hahah :p i have to keep some secrets to myself! ;p

Still getting over the shock of that. Blegh, awesome people you guys are.

Well, today in school wasn't much. Above there is a picture of an Orphan Lamb that Leon decided to become obsessed over in discreet, every 2 minutes he'd yell out:

"LOOK AT IT GO! LOOK AT IT GO!"

whilst bouncing the book along the desk to make it look as if the lamb was 'moving'. Yeah - go figure.

Actually, we were both working kinda hard to start of with.....(yes, believe it or not). No serious! Take a look!

There's Leon absolutely trying his best to solve that problem on the orphan lambs (oh- he wanted to save them so much. You should've seen.)

And there's a very out of focus me that is working equally as hard. (although people that know me well, will spot something wrong with that picture....and thus prove the former sentence false xD)

Yea, we were really going at it, you know, churning those brain cells!! And you know, showing the book what we were made out of, 1 problem, 2 problem, 3 problems down, and we were still flying...yeaaaa that's rite. My page looked something like this ;

Look at all that working out!! i was so proud. Buuuuuut i guess i stopped after a while, .....got distracted by a few things. Camp being one of them.

Mehhhh!!! It was last period, just had PE, it was raining, and it's Discreet. What else could you expect!! Although, i looked over on Leon's side and it turns out he was still working!! SO i was like NO WAY!!!! I mean, the fella never works! (and still gets very good scores xD) - but to see him work!! wow! Just look at the photo of him above, typing away on that calculator!!

I had to see what he was doing. So i looked over his shoulder and lo and behold:

Yea, working so so hard -_-||. Oh here's a picture of Terry for Jenny and Evy:

Lol, Terry was .....somwhat distracted in our activities, so he decided to peek over. Pity i caught him turning =
Lol, between us three, we always manage to find SOMETHING to do in discreet. We need to, since we finish the exercise days ahead of the teacher XD. Sitting in class and doing nothing is very unproductive know?!! So it's usually throwing paper at each other, hitting each other with pencil cases.....saving orphan sheep, laughing at stupid things each other does....

and it's good fun!! xD Just warning to people who might follow suit: Only do it if you've finished your work XDD - else your grades might suffer ><

Haiz~ it's like a free study period. Just we do study!!

The art of being stupid XDDD I'm guessing you can deduce what leon's makeshift poster says -_-''!

Lol. Yea, welcome back to school.

Fin~

All around this wonderful world....

2006-07-25T19:59:00.000+08:00

Just time for one last post! haha xD

I should name this reflections. Somehow, i feel in an awkwardly reflective state. (lol as ever xD) I dunno, perhaps it's just because it's the day before i take the plunge into the final offical term of school......of my life? Maybe, or maybe it's one of those things, that i always feel before the holidays end haha. Yeah, i dunno, pick one XD

Things happen so fast, it seems like yesterday that i was waiting (not eagerly) for school to finally begin again. Now....it's the beginning of third term. Back then i was still waiting for events to happen, friends night, talent night, Faith's wedding, camp......and now? they're all events that have come and gone.

I realise that i haven't been spending that much time with people this year, maybe because it's due to the stress of school? Or maybe i just haven't been making the personal effort. Somehow i begin to regret it......because i know that time with people is something that i need to use wisely, especially in this stage of my life. So, i guess i begin with an apology to those people whom i would love to know better...but just haven't had the time to, no, change that, just haven't dedicated the time to. And i'm pretty sure you all know who you are.

To younger readers (i think there are only 5 XD) advice from an elder (woaaaa i feel pro *erhmm*) always take whatever time you can to spend with friends and family, because in latter stages of your life, you begin to really depend on those people. Friends especially, although family is obviously extremely important. Spend good time with God, and by yourself too....not too much though, might become emo xD

Memories.....they're so nice. hahaha! I have this weird thing about me, when i picture a memory, i can really see it come back to life. It's a great thing, but it has the tendency to make one rather nostalgic xD, especially when you try to recall memories that mean alot to you. I'm very sure that everybody knows what i'm talking about.

The first part of this year passed with little more than a flutter of wings (and ripping of hair XD). Fond memories? Lets see.....

The observatory, Ciao Italia, Harbour Town bargain, Dimsum before that, Talent night, Friends night, Faith's Wedding, Rottnest, THAT night, lyingdownfaceuponanemptyfieldgazingupatthestarrysky night, Camp....

To name a few that i believe most of you would be familiar with. (One of you is in all apart from one xD - go figure ><).

Memories are useful for getting people through tough times in life. I know that on more than one occasion, when i haven't been on top of the world, and i've used a past memory to lift my head up. They're also great to treasure, without memories....wouldn't the past be relatively meaningless?

Hm, just a thought.

But besides that. Obviously i have a new term ahead of me, and i have to shift my focus, once again, to my books. For this final leg of the race. I've said that before, but now it takes on a whole new meaning. I've got things coming up.....my ball, Ken's birthday party....xP and many other things that are associated with the end of the year. (almost forgot the TEE XD)

So i guess, we keep pushing on, i say we, because i'm hoping; dear reader, that you'll join me =) and make this term/year a good one!

Lol. Oh well, guess it's time to pack my bags and get ready for school once again, but you know. Might stay awake a bit longer tonight....

Just to give myself some time to say,

"i remember when..."

and all around this wonderful world.....we will sing Your song.

Fin~

CAMP!

2006-07-20T23:16:00.000+08:00

WARNING: LONG POST! (HARTLEY I BETTER GET SOMETHING FOR THIS! >=O!!!!!jokes :P)

Funny thing? it wont be the first time i've typed this -_________-, power surge just came and completely owned the house (evy knows how i feel XD) and with it? the initial blog post. 3/4 of the way!! *shakes fist* obviously God wasn't too happy with it. I shall try my best to make amends!

CAMP!!! IN summary, an awesome experience, Crosby wrote about it on the church blog and his blog too! So different perspectives, different blogs. I obviously will write one now, but with a bias to the more ....funny incidents, that happened on camp XD. Of course, adding as much detail as possible!! And...i'm saving this as soon as i write the 6th paragraph.

Wednesday the 12th of July. Time to head for camp!! I can remember heading off to blue gum first, where everybody was waiting as a group, we said a massive group prayer (to the wonder of the people playing tennis) and then headed off, as 3 seperate convoys to Orchard Glory!! We were in the last convoy, with Cham's car, Emily's, Tak's , Simon's and our own. I just listened to music the whole way. what? you think i could sleep? XD

Upon arriving, we scurried into the main hall, set everything up...or tried to, got everybody fixed into their chalets, and did singspiration practise. Multi-tasking? no, since it happened at different time intervals XD but i made it sound pro, didn't i? =D (ahahaahaha - no)

Singspiration first session was done by who else? Kenneth Lee. Awesome first session, i think everybody was a bit stoned, but that was to be expected, after all the scurrying around. Personally, that was an awesome worship session, and served to lighten everybody up, smoottth in to the mood of camp. Good work Kenno. Later that night, nothing much happened, although word has it that many people stayed up quite late XD Me? no sleep at all >.>

apparently i wasn't the only one XD

The next day, alot of us woke up at 6!! Cham, Sharon and I took a morning jog, while Nat, Sarah and David took in the view from the lake. The others were probably trying to cook, or still sleeping. It was freezing, Cham and Sharon can testify to that, by the time we finished, i couldn't feel my hands, nor my nose (THE most annoying feeling). But good to get moving again haha! Josh had to wake up at 5 to pick Rachael up!! Go Josh!! We needed Rach at camp anyway XP

The morning devotion/singspiration and message was good, always a good way to start the day. It was Emily, i'm pretty sure, and she did a fantastic job!! First time as well, so round of applause for Em! *applauds* i can remember this was the part of the message on the 'pain' of sharing. That was good, i really learnt alot from that. After the morning service, we went back to our chalets, and there was gonna be a big party at Em's!! (Chalet 20)

So i went back to the girl's chalet just to see what they were cooking (and to err...help Evy make lunch. Rite rite evy??! =D) She made like, some pasta, and i poured in the milk and water! =O!and i think it tasted good, but i never tasted it. Anyway, Caroline and i were having enough trouble as it were trying to rip two chicken breast pieces apart, that was until somebody, (i think it was Rach) told us that it was actually one piece, and all our efforts were in vain. hm anyway XD

The lunch was spectacular, with every chalet bringing a dish, i warn you, if you are hungry, skip the next paragraph. You will not appreciate what you are about to see. Ready?:

Ow man!!!! ow man!!!!! look at all the food!! Cooked by us youth as well!! which makes it even better. LOL i'm so sorry evy, it was the only picture of the food...err guys ignore the bemused stare that Evy's got on XD (which probably just made everyone look up again, ho well XD)

Oh!! Everybody left in a hurry to go play footy and stuff, so poor few of us were left to clean up and everything. It was okai though, there were enough of us to finish off fast!!

Here you have me giving a lecture to people on the heat-retaining properties of glass. A subject, might i add, that i know nothing about, but was just bullshitting. Just realised Nat was there too, she must've been like, "wow. what a loser XD" good to see Leonie was paying attention though! XD Oh, notice, how my right hand is normal. Lol, it's a paramount observation XD

Next, Crosby and Wei K had some Games planned for us!!! Little did we know what was about to happen ><. Everybody went out to the playing field (near the al paca and horsie) and we got into our different groups. People just relaxed there for a bit, playing soccer and footy, waiting for the ever-busy Crosby to arrive.

Upon his arrival, the first game was tug of war. Now our mighty group leader (who else but Natalie?) was awesome. But we had a team full of girls. Not saying, girls are bad, or anything, you know? Coz i think Sharon disproved that theory in the second stage XD Not ONLY did we have a team full of girls, we had a team full of kids. Which was fun you know? Good to psych each other up for nothing XD. But, obviously, i am biased :P

Ok, so we didn't win any of our tugs, you know? but that's ok. Unfortunately to add insult to injury, while blue team was battling green, and losing; i jumped at the rope, (just to give blue team the extra edge XP) andddddd, as a result, cut up my hand. Lol, at first i didn't know, until somebody pointed and screamed XDDD, then i was like ....oh look! alot of blood. Thennn came the worry squad (my equivalent of the cheer squad XD) and busied about my handd, trying to wash off the blood, wipe off blood that was in fact; a bruise (lol nice Cuz XD) but you know, i was so touched by the amount of concern that others showed me. It was just a cut!! Yet there were people everywhere willing to help out (often against my wishes too ><). Thanks guys, you really made me feel cared for. (i'm being as sincere as i can as well)

There's my dear cuz trying to force me to give up my hand, while Emily searches through her med-kit for bandages. And justin stones. But you know what really hit me? Even though i thought i was fine, and i wrapped my hand up in a tissue (that soon went red ><) and i tried to play another round, basically everybody yelled at me not to (rightfully so XD) but not like< "errr cheater, get off" more like, "NO! idiot! your hand!! dont you dare!!" in a really concerned way. Nat and Cuz in particular, showed some real concern that made me just drop the rope and walk away, somewhat humbled.

The next game was captain ball!! Wow, this was funny. First round, and i think it was green team that was absolutely killing everybody when SUDDENLY, Cham jumped to get the ball or something and Josh elbowed him in ....the wrist? And Cham was pretty badly shaken, and so were we!! We thought it was broken, so while the worry squad gathered around him, i drove back with uncle Dave to get the med-kit and to try and fix him up....for those who want to know, Cham's fine now, it was nothing, just a muscle injury.

Lol, then they did the girls section. Two words :Sharon dominated. Ken, Eddie and i were sitting on the sideline watching, everytime the ball went in the air, Sharon would catch it, she'd score a goal. like 98% possession. XDDDDD it was so bad XDD Her team absolutely killed that section like 5-1.

Then the guys section. This was interesting.....until Wei kee jumped up for the ball, and landed awkwardly on one ankle ><><.

After games, we all settled down, prepared for the evening service. Worship was done by my Cuz!! And it was done great, awesome job cuzzzzzzz!!! =). Before the message. That night alot of stuff happened, alot of people took walks LATE at night around the lake and everything, it was really nice. I actually slept that night >< Ho well!!

Friday morning woke up early at 6, and Cuz, Sharon and myself went walking around the place (Jenny was meant to come too, but she didn't wake up....so was Nat, but she didn't wake up XDDD) REALLY nice to get some fresh air nice and early in the morning. We payed a visit to Nat, who was dreamily staring out of her window until we disturbed her XD. Her excuse, apparently it was warmer inside XD.

The morning session was good fun, Nat did an extremely good job as worship leader, with her song, "seven times a day" getting the whole crowd up and about. My most sincere apologies again, as i couldn't play because of my hand ><. That day was relatively tiresome, and everybody was positively dead because of a lack of sleep, but we soldiered on!! After the morning session came Lunch, which was an assortment of curries and everything that were left over from dinner.

Before games Nat got our group together and we did a run through of our skit!! At first it was meant to be the parting of the red sea with Vincent as Moses LOL! It was funny coz he always looked stoned XDD Buut then we were like, hey wait! WE'll do the parable of the talents!! (which i hope most of you are familiar with....) and that turned out GREAT!! We had the whole counter-personality thing going (basically you act as somebody you aren't) apart from me, i did the evil father, which...lol fitted in perfectly XDD!

The games session was interesting XDDD. Another set of injuries, again, yours truly was involved. This time, i managed, not only to trip over a bucket and get david wet (looked like he did a big pee pee HEHEHE .. sorry Davo ><) buttt i also managed to get my leg stuck in the bucket, broke the bucket, and sprained my ankle. (well done Jon.) And,Terry did in his ankle too. AND Vincent was screwed after the run. = byebye Red team XD (notice how all the injuries are focused to our team?XD)

After returning to the main hall, guess what!!! This sheep dude came in , think he was meant to teach us how to sheer....shear? sheep! And it was ...well i didn't watch, but it looked funny, poor sheep though ><

"baaaa he's chopping off my......."

Back for dinner!! and as our group was practising guess what!!! The aunty in charge of dinner asked me to barbeque the meat!!!!! =D!!!!!! SO i grabbed Jenny and we started up the barbeques and barbequed stuff together!!!!! it was SOOO FUNNY!!! Specially since Jen and I didn't know how to tell if it were cooked. So we'd be standing there having a nice convo when suddenly I'd go:

"i dont think the sausages are meant to be bubbling Jenwen...."
"yeaaa they are...see this one isnt even cooked!"
"....but...it's bubbling.."
"Meh"

LOL! In the end i think we ended up chopping them all up and carefully checking (using Ken) to see if they were rite XD Turns out they were. poor us! burnt ourselves so many times too XDDD. BUT!!!!! In the end we were proud of ourselves, rite Jen? =D!

There's us going "we're so pro" xD.

After dinner....it was crunch time. All the groups were getting ready for the Final skit presentations. At intervals, we'd have "mega praise" which was Crosby's awesome idea of just praise songs to get the youth moving. My my, what a success. We basically had, even for the first section, the whole youth jumping up and down, and dancing and what have you to the music. Well done all!!

The first two skits were by Ken's team and Leon's team. Leon's team advertising.......a shoe, very effectively, especially as *tada* an anti-boyfriend weapon XD (that's the part when Janet effectively threw the shoe at Josh xD) And Janet had the whole, girl-walk thing...you know how they sway their butt as they move (forgive the bluntness, i'm a guy XD) which made it look pro XDDD!! Had the entire audience captivated (especially Annie :P) OH AND THE INFLATTABLE WEI WEI HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

The next add was Ken's team, who advertised a pen-light LOL!!!!! To do this Ken had to pretend he was uncool (not too hard xP jokes XD) and roll up his jeans and everything, and then talk to Jade, who was selling the pen. They did the whole Russel Peters "tirty for fifty" thing XDDD with Ken even producing a 34.50 note XD. After he purchased the pen and became 'cool', Sharon led the giggling team (i've never seen my Cuz giggle before LOL) and they all googled and giggled and did their girly thing, while Ken was Macho-ing himself in the limelight XD. Judges were obviously amused:

....sortof.

THen another megapraise session....where the crowd started to move a LITTLE more, started to jump and dance a LITTLE more than usual....but we were still trying to reach them.

After that it was Ken's team doing their bible skit and Rob's team doing their skit. Now a few funny things happened here XD. Ken's team was up first, and they did their story on the prostitute and two spies (dont worry, nothing spicy XD..spicy, wth?) but Jade dressed up in full pink LOL and they acted the story out very well, featuring

1) a voice-over screw up from my Cuz, who did a male voice for a female character
2) Sharon's 'giggles' at the end of Jade's sentences
3) Ken's 'elevator' exit, which got the whole crowd laughing XD

I think just from the photos you can begin to imagine how funny it was XDDD.

Rob's team was hillarious. They did Daniel in the Lion's den, with Wei hua as Daniel. Now, at the beginning, Wei had to say the Lord's prayer, problem? he forgot XXXXXDDDDDD I can remember people in the audience whispering to him, "Lead us not into temptation.....LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION" and he would go, "er um....do not lead us into temptation!!" XXD!! but great effort from him. They had an awesome interval where they had to advertise a scarf!! and....my , did they get creative. I'm gonna show you one picture, and you can judge that statement for yourselves.

Yea those are scarves wrapped around their pelvis.

anyway!

nah lol, but Roy and Tak especially at the end got EVERYBODY roaring with laughter. Soooo good, them trying to act as sumo's XD. Brilliance.

The rest of the play was good too, and their group did very well haha!! Well done Blue XD

The next mega praise session was SO CLOSE to breakthrough, everybody was like, starting to move and get into the whole thing, and you could see it in the way people were moving and singing and clapping and a few people even dancing XDD. It was encouraging to see.

Rob was particularly in the mood. LOL (sorry buddy XD)

Then came our group, (might i add WINNER of the skits!! XP) It was the parable of the talents, and we had the counter-personality thing going, so Nat and i were evil, Anice was a genius (not saying she's stupid XD) , Vincent was an enthusiastic (harhar XD) advertiser, and Wei K was ....a hobo XD. The features? Our automated chair (which vincent sold, with ....colourful dialogue XD) which poor Jenny had to sit in!!!

Now this chair could put lipstick on, could brush your teeth for you, and even make you drink water.....problem? people 'operating the chair' from behind couldn't see Jenny's face. The end result?? XD

A wet, dirty, and lipstick ridden Jenwen XDDDDD Sorry Jenny!!! But GOOD on ya for taking one for the team XD.

We had Wei K (in crutches) playing the part of a hobo (really well XDDD) as the son with the '1 talent' and...he got into a bit of trouble when he decided to go partying with his friends (lillian and the rest XDDD)

Then basically after being a very naughty son, he came back home and.....:

Got owned by me; his dad... ..with a microphone stand/golf club. Lol love the evil look in Nat's eye XDDDD. Yes, it's true, in the end (although we came last in the groups ...COugh... we came first in the skits!! =D!) ANYBODY WHO HAS THE VIDEO, I WANT!!!!!

FINALLY it was Leon's team, doing the story of ....lol i was about to type Moses XDDDD, i meant Joseph!! And they did it well, highlights? Josh as Pharoah LOL!!!!! ANd Collin's drawing of the dreams LOL! FUNNIEST PART was when Josh, keeping a serious face and everything during the entire skit, turns around to explain his dream to Leon (Joseph) and upon turning around and seeing Collin's drawin on the whiteboard, absolutely bursts out laughing XDDDD!! THAT was funny stuff XDD UNfortunately, i dont have any photographic material of that skit ><><

The final mega praise. What.A.Breakthrough. IT OWNED!! Youth jumping left right and center, people with stitches, holding it in and still jumping, dancing, clapping, yelling, singing haha!! It was SOO MUCH FUN. CONGRATS to the entire audience and singspiration team, you guys rocked!! Amazing how much fun that was.....God was seriously right there when we did that. Like .right.there. And at the end, King of Majesty. What can i say? Woot? XD

After that, we took some AWESOME pictures, with Ken's artwork!!

And the youth haha!! and that's Collin's masterpiece to the left of it. Everybody was screwing around and just taking photos, so why not join the fun? XDDD

Three dear sisters, Jenny, Annie, Evy making me look like a loser/idiot lol XD!! but good fun still xDD. One of the biggest highlights of the camp for me though? The campfire. Right after.

As all of us joined in one voice with 2 guitars and sang sunday school choruses that i ...to be honest, had completely forgotten, ronan keating songs XDDD (when you say nothing at all XD) and even some chinese songs that i didn't understand....but weirdly, i did? They chinese folk songs sounded extremely good, and i found myself yelling along even though i didn't understand XDD. But that was seriously good fun. As people joined hands and swayed together, highlighted by the glow of the firelight.

After that we moved off to Ken's chalet to party!!! But Dad caught us at around 12 and everybody split XDDD. There were a few chalets that stayed up though...not sure which ones =\. (Cough7COUGH) So you can expect that nobody (apart from me) got up for a morning walk. I got up at 5 30 and just stared off into the distance....like a complete loner XD

No, i'm joking. I got quality time by myself, believe it or not, for the first time in those days on camp. It's really nice how you look out over the campsite, and you see the enless mountains, with their lush green and dots of livestock milling around. You hear the sound of birds chirping in the crisp morning air, feel the gentle breeze across your cheek, the sound of running water purveying yet only adding to the silence. And you think. My God, what a wonderful world. Then as you see the sun come up over the horizon and cast a lovely yellow blanket over the blue morning sky, the stars dotting out one-by-one, you go, ...

"bugger it, devotion starts in 10 minutes =_="

lol, but the point was, it's good to spend time with yourself, every now and then. It helps you to clear your thoughts, and you know, even though i was freezing my butt off, it sets you on the right track. (not just to catching a cold XD)

After the morning service and food, Group positionings were given out, Blue first, Green second, Yellow third, Red fourth, but all teams played in good spirit and there were no sore losers amongst the crowd. Yay!! first in the skits =D! ladidada!! (xD)

The pictures and everything were taken on the last day!!! (i'll put the whole group one in the flickr slideshow player) but yea we just screwed around, took pictures with friends and our groups, and it was all good. I especially like this one :

Typical, 2 asians about to completely mug a white tourist LOL. Pity i had to make the stupid face -_-

But you know? there are alot of things i learnt from camp. Sure, the love and the care that people showed not just towards me (with my stupid injury XD) and others throughout the camp...not just the concern that everybody had when somebody wasn't feeling great, not just the fact that almost everybody there could cook something apart from me XDDD.

It was the whole spirit of unity. (forgive me for going nostalgic) I loved it how in the evening, i'd get back from a walk, after a shower, start walking down to the main hall, See Ken and Collin laughing at each other in their chalet, see Leon with his team trying to work out their skit, see Rob milling around with people, look to chalet 7 and have my cuz wave at me from the balcony, feel a nudge and have my 3 sisters join me in my walk, Upon arriving, open the door, have the singspiration team grab me and have a group prayer..... and it was like, this is normal. This is the way life should be.

It wasn't some dysfunctional family sort of thing, only say hi to half the people, you'd say hi to EVERYBODY that was walking around, you'd take care of EVERYBODY that was hurt, you'd love EVERYBODY that was there. and it really really touches you. Now in the real world? Not so much of that...but you know the fact that it does exist, and in our church too?

God, you gotta be proud of that.

Besides, i'm not sure if we'll be going back there for camp next year. I would really like to, just to see all the places and get nostalgic again haha! But i guess memories will always live on, specially some that are created there.

So then....until next time!! It'll be interesting to see how much things have changed...in a years time haha.....

....or even not ;)

Fin~

FUNNY SOCCER STUFF

2006-07-02T23:17:00.000+08:00

sorry, you HAVE TO WATCH THIS!!!!!!! SOOOOO GOOOOOOD LOL i was on the floor laughing for a good few minutes after this XDDD couldn't even watch the whole thing in one go LOL!!!!!!

TALENT NIGHT REVIEW

2006-06-30T14:20:00.000+08:00

Heyyy guys, so sorry, i've been delayed somewhat by a few things, but fear not! finally i will be able to give you a post about Talent night. I'll link this to the church blog (at gmcyf.blogspot.com) just in case they wanted to read another review.

Ariteeee, so where were we. On the day everything seemed good, every group was prepared, some excellent groups even going BEFORE hand to prepare their items, meeting up for dress rehearsals and everything, most others were just trying to relax and do some last minute practise. To be fair, we knew it was gonna be big, ......but not THAT big.

Turnout of over 60 people on the night, which was amazing, i didn't even count all! Thank God we got such a crowd (lol, good for some groups, bad for others) but it was reali....funfun! it added so much to the atmosphere and when your group got up there, you felt as if you were....well, performing! haha. This didn't do ME any good because i had to MC the event, and i think i did a horrible job, but i tried my best XD, introductions and all out of the way, the show began!

First up i intro-ed the committee item! Which we practised a grand total of what. 2 times? amazing. so, up we got:

There they are, notice how i say they. Because Josh's guitar stopped working half-way and i was down at the back trying to figure out what went wrong. (turns out somebody plugged it into the wrong port >.>) but it was still good! Strumming pretty hard, so we could still hear him. Well, how did we sound? awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeeee of course! xP, to be fair it was a bit weird having got up there with a song we hadnt sung in around 3 weeks XD but Crosby did a great job composing it, and i guess the crowd recognised that when we got an absolutely thunderous round of applause!!! *claps* well done committee! Final score (averaged) : 21/30 Great effort =)

Pwoa, then came Crosby and his CRAZZZZZY performance on the bass guitar, slapping and hitting and popping and whatever to some awesomely funky....tunes? yea after when asked, if he made any mistakes, he wittingly replied,

"lol (....well "hahah"), even if i did couldn't tell rite?"

XD. brilliance. final score : 22/30 , great item!

Then, one of the funnier items that night, Crosby's bible study group (Crosby didn't even get a break xD) they played a song that he composed, which was reaaaally funny, as you can try to observe from the following picture:

BAHAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH Pay particular attention to the hat that Rob's wearing, which was Joan's but you know, they wanted some comical element. LOL! and how Jade would hold up the sign and sorta wiggle across the floor hahaha! That was awesomeeee. As usual, great composition by Crosby, served as a very relaxing item, people all around me were having a good time watching those guys just get up there and sing. It was great! go Jade LOL! final score : 20/30 haha couldn't stop laughing xD

ooooh then came two very very pro-esque (is that even a word?) people, Nat and Sarah! Who did a rendition of.......well, who sang 10? ...5? yea i think it was 5 songs in 10 minutes... nonono! 5 songs in 3 minutes! that was it! Now, both of them have amazing voices, so it was a reaaaaaaal treat to the ears to hear them singing for a full 3 minutes, FULL OF ACTIONS TOO! Hey they weren't easy! Josh and i tried to follow the actions. . . after a while we just deemed ourselves unco xD Final score of 21.5/30! awesome job!

Then came our bible study group, well, we didn't get a chance to practise it before but i still think that the whole group did a FANTASTIC job! i thought you guys absolutely rocked. Well done especially to CASPER (WHO ACTUALLY SANG! =D!!!!) proud of ya son! And also all the members who sang greatttttt. you guys rocked! =) Sorry i dont have picssss, Sharon had the camera and she took dodgy shots XD. Final score of 21/30! awesome =)

Then came a veeeery special item, 3 of our awesome choir girls, Sarah, Emily and Jenny, singing "power of your love" with Rachael Ow playing the piano!! (and me playing guitar) they did an absolutely fantastic Job, Rachael played VERY well! She kept her composure and everything, of course the three girls did the song complete justice. It was really really pretty.

I just wanna take the time now to apologise for screwing up at the end, i didnt know you hadn't finished! XD >< ~_~ sorrrrrrryyyyy! but apparently the judges were still very nice with their marking haha =) You guys were great. Final score: 23/30! greaaaat job guys!

LOL Then came Nat's team, now i have a few special pictures of these guys xD They decided to go against the flow and do an item that was so original, i think most (if not all) of the judges scored you above 8 for originality. (i gave you 10 xP) Basically, their group lined up, like so :

With each one of them holding a piece of...well, a random item. Take for instance, drumsticks and a chair, a shaker, tambourine, and FUNNIEST OF ALL:

Evy holding out a pot lid which wei wei hit with a wooden spoon HAHAHAHHAAH Sooooooooo pro!!! And Nat read out the creation story to the beat of the hitting/smacking/bouncing etc. It was really really creative and wellll executed! Also bigbig thankyou for making me laugh oh-so hard XD. Final score of 24/30, excellent haha, excellent XD

Next was Crosby and Tak, who played guitar and sang a song (at the same time), since Tak is just starting to learn the guitar, i think that he did extreeeeeeemely well. To sing and play guitar at the same time, is noooo easy feat but those guys did it fine!! it was really really good. Well sung too! it was a nice song =)

Lookin pro there too haha! Final score: 20/30, you guys were great! keep it up =)

At this point, people were waiting for the show stopper. Didn't have to wait anymore. Josh's bible study group, now everybody knew that they were gonna pull off something big, but nobody knew WHAT exactly. Until most of the guys came out looking like this:

btw i LOVED Ken's hairdo (Courtesy of Sharon xD)

but "Hey wait!" you say, "they look like people from grease!"

well, they ARE (meant to be) people from grease! And my my did they have a show to put up. Basically it was a dance to the music of grease, with a video playing at the same time. The songs were, 'you're the one that i want', 'summer night' and '...the changchang song xD' but i donno, i'm not that old school, but it was GREAT! they did SUCH A GOOD JOB!

Ranged from things like Roy dishing out money to the crowd:

(pro Roy, pro) To the whole, greasy (pardon the pun) girl-seducing guy thing, which (may i add) Emily and Sharon did EXTREMELY convincingly, all the more pleasant because Josh was the unfortunate victim XD

Wellllllll done hahah! it was really pro. At one stage they got some audience to go up there and dance *shakes fist @ Josh* Made me look like a complete idiot XD but it was such good fun, and the crowd loved it too. They were cheering all the way xD Whenever Josh fell on the floor, apparently 'in love' or Tak popped out on stage and showed off his moves, or Keno getting close to Jenwen (LOL!!!!!!) or whether it was the whole group who just stole the show with their extremely co-ordinated dance movements. In the end? i dont think there was a doubt in anybodys mind, we all knew the winner XD. Final score: 28/30 (and a 35/30 from me) Excellent job, sooo soooo sooooo proud of you =)

The friends item after that was also pretty impressive, with all us (well, most) getting up there and just singing our lungs out XD That wasn't really an item to impress, just to wind down haha! but it was really good fun =) final score 20/30. good fun xD

That was it!!! After that we mingleddddd and and anddddd TOOK PICTURES!!!!! Which we fully exploited. My hair was all boofy from the jumping up and down in the dance haha!! I think the range of pictures is quite well spread, but i'll put up some full size ones on my flickr and the GMC flickr account. I think everybody enjoyed that night, performers and audience alike. Again, hats off to the Grease team

...Plus Wei2 and Catherine XD who did a great job. but then again, didn't ALL the groups? i think the night belonged to every single performer and audience member. Without the audience to support, nor the groups to act, it wouldn't have been the same (duhXD) So give yourselves a biiiiig pat on the back! Well, well, welllllllllll done. I think Collin has a video of the grease dance, so might wanna contact him? (sorry Collin ><)

But you know, when somebody like me sees events like this, it just makes me so....proud! is that the word? well, yea so proud that i'm in such a youth group, that i know such people, that i can call all of them my friends! It is amazing the sheer amount of talent that our youth has, and i believe anybody would've noticed it just from that night. ahaha, i'm sure everybody had a great time, and honestly? i'm not surprised. With such a great bunch of people, *haiz* who wouldn't ;)

lol. We really gotta do that again sometime.

lol, good work Leon for blocking the word "forever" xD

Fin~

pre-talent post

2006-06-23T17:16:00.000+08:00

A few weeks post-poning, a few practises, extra practises, and it comes down to this.

one more day to go.

I hope nobody is nervous about tomorrow. Talking to Jenwen now, and she seems to be nervous. People should go out there, have fun, make a complete idiot of themselves and not care about what others think. That's that. Nobody should be afraid of making a complete fool of themselves, given the environment and everything, it's just not a factor.

I made the marking key and everything yesterday, sent it to all the judges and everything, and i hope that all of you guys got it *stares* , i didn't post it on the church blog because a few people said that it would be biased to the people who DID read the blog and could then adjust their item to however. Well, whatever you think, i really dont mind at all =\ BUT if you happen to read this, and you're a group leader, then i will give you the marking key and everything, you know, just so entertainment value increases xD

Blehg, but i WILL post some pictures and an indepth post of the proceedings tomorrow, when the culmination of a few weeks of work for every group will have, 'payed off'. SHould group leaders read this post, i do urge you to COME TO ME AND CLARIFY YOUR ITEM before i leave anything out, /anybody out. Danke!

Hokay! With that all out of the way...do pray that it all goes according to plan because ALOT of work has been put into it.

2 more weeks to go! (un-slackers with school XD) and then we're FREEEEEEEE and it's CAMP and we'll have lots of FUN! and games!!!! and chips!!! (apparently there's going to be chips =D) and and we have to take lots of PHOTOS, so bring those extra ROLLS OF FILM if you're old school, or those extra MEMORY CARDS if you're new school! and and make sure that you bring a camera (duh) to use them in! Pwoaaaaa this will be so good it's really getting to me now.

Unnnnnnnfortunately i'm 4 tests away from camp, was 6 but knocked two of them out today. Which was fun, Biology was just ....fun, and Discreet was even fun-ner.

LoL , the cross country today was stupid. I decided to beat all my pasat records and NOT walk the entire course. So i jogged the first half of the course, and walked the second XD. Hey! It wouldn't have mattered anyway, because at the end, when all the guys were queuing (..that look rite?) up , the tape broke between lanes, and everybody intermingled and as a result i lost like 40 positions, and Leon gained like 40 positions. So i think it balances out roughly! Meh, still a boring waste of time. Precious time i could have spent sleeping or something!!! grrrr.

AUSTRALIA IS THROUGH TO THE KNOCKOUT ROUNDS FOR THE FIRST TIME LIKE EVER! HOW GOOD IS THAT?! i mean, Croatia played well, but we played betta! =D pft, stoopid ref give out three yellow cards! *grumbles at ref*

Hannnyyywaaayy i'm quite high over nothing and dinner beckons, so STAY TUNED for a more, in-depth post on talent night tomorrow.

Later guys!

Fin~

PES (post-exam syndrome)

2006-06-16T22:39:00.000+08:00

Everybody is PESsed off now! (haha get it? ....no? ><) yeah. that's about all the usefulness the title had. hm, moving on...

This is the first week (non-inclusive of monday) where i haven't been studying my butt off. Pwoa, and i tell you, it is a good feeling XD. Many things have happened this week, ....lol my Dad just went crazy because Argentina scored against Serbia, making it like 5-0 XD Bah, but nothing could beat the AUSTRALIA MATCH, i wont elaborate because of two of my awesome readers are Japan supporters. Possibly 3. ..or 4. Ok, so maybe it's not the best time to talk about this, moving on...
Right after my exams were over, most of my family came (plus a second-cousin) for a light sorta...meal thing, and that was good to get in touch with all my cousins, specially my two youngest Audrey and Jaron, who immediately, upon arrival, walk into my room and yell:

"ITS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE SEEN YOUR FACE EVER SINCE YOU STARTED EXAMS!"

"er..but you guys came in like..last week right.."

"YEA BUT YOUR HEAD WAS COVERED WITH THAT STUPID BLANKET THING!"

It's true, i study with a blanket over my head. Somehow it helps me to concentrate (plus it's winter and i dont like my head getting cold.) i'm damn weird eh XD, but to each his own studyin style (back off Kim -__-)

This week was results week, been getting alot of results back haha! And as most of you who read this blog would know, much controversy surrounds my English Lit mark =_= but i think i generally did pretty good in the rest. I wont tell you my marks here lol! for obvious reasons (that i'll leave to you to make up xD)

This is Arik's Kebab store, with most of my friends crowded into it. We usually go there for lunch after school on Fridays a)because it's across the road and b) because the chips and kebabs there are AWESOME (kim you seriously have got to try it there). Anyway we were having a good talk about.....well, Alistair was talking about video games but we had a good talk about Michael Jackson and Rob cracked a joke that got me laughing later. Ask him to tell you (mindful: not for the faint hearted XD)

YEa....then later tonight my parents randomly came into my room and were like, "yeah Jon we're going out for dinner and taking your cousin with us" so i was like .....ok then, so i got ready and stuff....damn ...well let me tell it from the beginning.

I was dead tired from the night before, having talked to a friend from Hong Kong about memories from over 3 years ago and trying to accurately recall as many as we could (she could even remember what i was wearing, what we sang at church that day.....stuff like that) which is amazing coz....it's 3 years ago XD

So we went out and i was originally half asleep and semi-hungry. We picked up my cuz, who was obviously in quite the same situation, i think the place was called Arirang, a Korean barbeque place. One of the ones where the stove is on your table and you cook all this stuff yourself? WARNING: IF YOU ARE HUNGRY, COVER YOUR EYES

And yea, looks alot like that, just with flaming coals underneath the metal platter. and, no, Leon there were no hot Korean waitresses there. There were alot of waitresses though o.O and the only thing that was steaming hot around the place was the tomato that i decided to shove inside the mix LOL! (and the lemon....and pumpkin...and onion...but we digress)

When our food originally arrived, looked something like this

Oooooooh those were just the side dishes too, you know you want some! I tried to take a picture that would show you the entire resteraunt, but unfortunately when i stuck the camera over my shoulder and pressed 'capture', all i got was some weird guy looking at the camera as if i were like some ....dunno pervert or something.....

but anyway.

You dont know how full we were after we walked out of there. My cuz and i, that is. My parents seemed to be fine. Despite my dad going

"i have eaten my share"

and cuz rebutting,

"well, so have i!"

my dad and mum walked around 4 times faster than us, not coz we were slow, but because we LITERALLY COULDNT WALK ANY FASTER! And there we were, trying not to make each other laugh for fear of spewing all over the street, but it was kinda hard when you see two people in a street of many clinging on to each other for dear life and waddling like penguins. Trust me, you'd have laughed too.

Believe it or not, AFTER THAT we even went for a COFFEE at Gloria Jenes. ...Gloria Jeans. Crap how do you spell Gloria gene. Cuz, i need that sugar packet you took back from ~~Glorious Jeans~~ i mean, ~~gloria Jene~~ Bah whatever, GJ's =_=

and after THAT fulfilling drink, we waddled (literally) back to the car...arrived a good few minutes after my parents who seemed to have no problem with walking and digesting >.> and drove my cuz home.

Pwoa, what a busy week. In a relaxed sense, it's PES. i know it >< Haiz....

On another note, OUR YOUTH GROUP HAS ITS OWN BLOG!!!!!! For those that received the e-mail (all GMCYF members) check your junk mail/wherever for an invitation by blogger, TAKE NOTICE THAT BEFORE YOU PRESS I ACCEPT, YOU MUST HAVE A BLOGGER ACCOUNT.

If there are any problems accepting, contact myself, Crosby or Ken. Here's the website!

http://gmcyf.blogspot.com/

Enjoy it!! Tell us any problems you have about design and stuff, and queries, questions, comments or concerns are dealt with accordingly! just tell one of the admins (listed above.)

SO yeah haha, hope you guys enjoy your week, for those still on exams, keep it up, i know you guys'll do great! For those that have finished, i hope your results were as good as you expected them to be! and for those that dont have exams, ....enjoy your life now XD

Haiz...it's a good feeling, when you're really full. My Cuz would disagree, she likes being hungry, but i dunno, after that meal, seriously.....very satisfying meal too.... i felt....lighter (....in a highly contradictory sense XD) light headed? hm. Maybe the meat wasn't cooked too well....

Or it could have been the steamed tomato.

Lol. i just love how people say:

"you are what you eat"

Fin the tomato~

COME ON AUSSIE COME ON!

2006-06-12T23:27:00.000+08:00

sorry this post is just to say one thing.

*clears throat*

COME ON AUSSIE COME ON, COME ON! COME ON AUSSIE COME ON!!

*erhmm*

justice has been served.

p.s to those who dont know australia just beat Japan, from a 1-0 down for the first 80 minutes (a foul goal as well) to 3-1 , which means 3 GOALS IN FREAKING 10 MINUTES! WOOT GO AUSSIE!

p.s.s will blog more soon XD

Point Walter//

2006-06-04T23:31:00.000+08:00

Over the course of this week, so many things have changed eh, not just due to exams and stress, mind you. But you know, i guess life's like that isn't it lol!

Been studying heaps lately, and i really hope to God that this pays off, because if it doesn't.....then somebody (me) is going to be very very pissed off. My exams are in 2 days....English Lit first, then Discreet and Bio the next day, frankly.... i'm really ...nervous isn't the word. Expectant is more to the point, i just hope that i'll do well. I guess if i pray and leave it to God, i'll be fine yea, nobody can complain when they've got God!! (=D!)

Well today was a very good break, if i may say. (i know you all say WHAT! YOU WENT OUT?) well, duh, have to go to church riteeee? not only that though, we went and had a picnic at point Walter after that!! It was really good, beauuuuutiful day, like, really couldn't have asked for better weather. The company was also great, Young adults and some of the youth turned up. I think a break like that is really good, specially during the study period.

You know? it just serves as a really, settle down sorta thing. And it works to an extent. I was dead tired after, but at least when i woke up, i was feeling more relaxed and studying wasn't a 'chore' per sé.

Interesting day, Wei wei trying to catch seagulls (i'll see if i can put that video up later ROFLMAO) to eat for dinner. People crossing the sandbar, with jeans rolled up to their knees (i wanted to...but i couldn't roll my pants up ><)

Notice Jenny and Sarah running toward the end there XD. So they were the first to come there and back. Upon their arrival back to the first section of the sandbar, (around 4-5 minutes XD) Jenny decided that she wanted to find some shells. Which she did, they're really nice too! And we even found some live crabs inside the shells lol! After Sharon buried the first one under around a foot of sand, she started to name them things like, "sharon is crap, sharon's a loser" and stuff like that XD

poor crabs ><.

This shot reminds me of that christian poem, footprints. Nice isn't it ahah. I dunno, the trip for me was not really a ....playful sorta trip, although we had a good round of frisbee later XD , it was more like....relax and take in the environment. I mean, it's beautiful there, it really is, not just because of the company either. And it's relaxing you know? under a big tree, sheltered from the sun, walking along a shore with clear water to the sound of friends laughing and water rushing. It's really nice! ahah.

Pictures turned out pretty good too (TAKEN ON A 2 MEGA-PIXEL PHONE CAMERA LOL!)

And yea lol.

Work hard, play hard!

...

(i've always wanted to say that XD)

Fin~

School anybody?

2006-05-30T23:16:00.000+08:00

Warning: the following post (and probably pictures) may scare certain individuals. Please refrain from viewing if you have any form of epileptic disease. Thank You.

I feel as if it's like time to introduce my other friends at school, apart from Rob and Leon. Umm....they can be scary at first, but they're really nice people. Lets start with probably the two most interesting other individuals.

This is Michael Sherry. He's an idiot, he's also responsible for the hole in my file the size of a golf ball. but it's funny, we never really get into too many arguments. He's in my bio class, which is probably when we interact the most, coz we sit next to each other. Annoying as hell sometimes, but his comments are certainly most interesting and funny XD Good bloke, specially when you need a laugh. Although he has a certain thing for blaming me whenever practicals go wrong....(always Jon isn't it >.>), but put him together with :

This other idiot (THAT PHOTO IS SO FUNNY HAHAHAHAHAHAH) who is Alex Francombe and you have a winning combination. This guy is actually pretty damn smart, dux in Geography, which is no small feat. He is good competition in tests, and generally a funny bloke, that jokingly (i assume) makes fun of the fact that i'm asian. Our conversations usually go:

Me: So Francombe, hows life?
Him: pretty good ai, hows the rice paddock out in your backyard?

-______-
funny guy though XD

Francombe and Sherry together create all sort of interesting issues. Here they are fanning a plant (yes, fanning a plant with their files) upon my order to do so HAHAHA. Actually it was for a practical...but that's another story.

Andrew Shakespeare. Known to me as 'hate crimes', he has a funny habit of trying to tackle me everytime he sees me. Another person who jokingly makes fun of my asian ness. I really dont know what to say about him. He's clueless? Here he is trying to put a staple in with his bare hands. Notice the stapler approximately 30 cm to his right.

This is Terry, after a bird shat on his head LOL!!!!! Good guy, sits in front of me in discreet, usually yells random stuff at leon to which i just laugh at. Funny and nice bloke, pretty damn random though, he's part of the lunchtime crew!:

Which consists of more familiar people, i'm assuming. Talking to Rob is Alistair, the computer games fanatic. Who is like, pretty damn smart too, but give him a computer game, and a week to practise, i bet you he'll beat you in anything. Weird guy though, his famous comeback (that always seems to work): "your mum."

In correct Order, Aido, Giant and Pasteur. Pasteur should be more familiar to most of you as the 'northbridge' connection for our group. Contrast his height with Daniel, who even i look up to, and yea. Variety no?

There's leon taking a shot at the bin with my other friend, James hartley (got comp problems, yell at him) about to block the shot and have leon throw something bigger at him.

I'm actually quite happy with my friends, although the majority of them go partying, get pissed everynight and....probably some other stuff too >.> they're actually really nice people, like, when you're sad, they know what to say, when you're happy, they know how to annoy you (in a healthy way) and yeah....actually they are really nice people. I thank God for my friends all the time.

If only they were christian, that's my only regret. With the exception of Rob and Leon, of course.

Anyway. Now you know sorta...well like a third of the people that i hang around with in school! There are others, but i was afraid they'd get to your head,.....then you'd think i was retarded XD but anyway. Oh all those photos were taken on my phone btw haha, 2 megapixel camera! cmon xD!

It's weird how this is the first time i'm stressing out....i've done more than i usually would, yet i find myself worrying abit. Probably because this all counts towards my final mark....my future career and all. Didn't really realise that until just then. ho well >.> I've been studying hard, forced by certain individuals, i guess (plus some self-motivation). But yea, i think it's having it's toll, i wake up alot more exhausted than i usually would, occasionally i blank out at school, (slept in history today =\) and it's really weird i guess. Dont know, but i hope time flies past.

My cuz was saying that it's good to have somebody to talk to....i actually completely agree, during this time the thing that i lack most is time to myself and with friends etc. I mean, i think i've spent more time with my biol book than with any of my other friends. But MSN doesn't seem to cut it anymore...it's just like a 10 minute convo before i have to race off and complete another study block....but i guess God has perfect timing. Over the past few days i've been calling up friends (for the first time in goodness knows how long), having a good long chat about stuff we like and everything, and i find that it actually helps alot. You can spur each other on and have a good laugh, which does relax you alot. Even though it's over the phone, the joy of hearing that person's voice is....alot better than your own fingers tapping on the keyboard.

Blegh anyway, about time i go to my next bloc. (took me 3 breaks to blog this >.>)

Hope to see you all soon, and best of luck for all those with exams!
quote of the day goes to Leon, who, when trying to evaluate my lovelife stated,

"When God closes a door...He...opens ...a window!" - and much to my relief, linked it to his next statement. "and when God closes the window on you....He...opens the door again!"

God bless you man XD

Fin~

stormy seas...

2006-05-28T18:58:00.000+08:00

I seem to always get myself into trouble.
It comes out of the blue as well, i mean...to be fair, i know why it's a problem...but, nobody can seem to see that it's just me. Actually, no, i change that. Alot of people can see that it's me. But two in particular, can never seem to. They love to jump to conclusions, accuse me of things i've never intended and...they just dont understand.

This isnt the first time either. Before it was the same, it just screwed up my entire year. I thought they were over it. Apparently i was wrong.

The two that should understand me the most, never do. It's sad that i have to look out to get help that should be right next to me. I know they do it out of concern sometimes, ....but to be fair, they take it too far.

My exams are next week. I thank God that one of them remembered that. I'm in year 12 too haha. I'm so confused about what to do..i really need something, somebody to straighten me out. Deadline's tonight too haha, this keeps getting better and better.

Today was meant to be a good day, turns out the weather took a change for the worse. Guess i'll just have to hang in there for now, after all, no matter what i do, it doesn't seem to change anything.

I wish i could just tell you. I wish you would just know. Apparently that wont happen soon. This wasn't meant to be a burden. I pray in earnest those two dont drag you into this. i'm tired of ruining people's lives.

I feel like Beatrice from The View from a Bridge.

I'm waiting for those Three Little Birds to sit on my window and tell me i dont need to worry.

Fin~
p.s i'm sorry you had to hear that.

i hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean//

2006-05-21T21:54:00.000+08:00

Busy, busy, busy week. unbelievably busy. Did i mention it was busy? tests all, exams coming, studying and everything Pwoa. Apparently they say this is one of the busiest times in your life.

I wouldn't argue.

There's so much going on this week bleh....guess i just have to keep working at it.
God bless all year 11/12s. and 1st year uni students.

Well, what's going on, i was singing to myself recently (if you can call it singing) and that song came to me, the one that the choir sang. "My heavenly Father watches over me"

You know, every single time i sing that song to myself, i recall the trip that we took to Rottnest. EVERYTIME I SING IT! And it's not a bad thing, no! not at all. I actually really like it. The lyrics,

"On mountain bleak, or on the stormy sea"

When that part comes along, i can almost hear the waves lapping against the shore, or crashing against the rocks, and you know it surprises me. I always thought that i liked the sunny, beautiful clear cloudless blue-sky weather. But, somehow when we went to Rottnest, ok, to be fair, it had its sunshine. But when we reached the summit, the weather was a bit overcast, and clouds spanned into the distance. Yet somehow i liked it, alot. It just suited the atmosphere, and seemed so...tranquil?

Is that the word i'm looking for.... i believe it is. It made the ocean look so much greater, much more powerful, expansive, yet also more destructive and forceful. Without the stereotypical clear skies and birds chirping in the air, i could think much more about different things.

Like how small we are, when compared to the ocean. You wouldn't think of it normally but, on that day, the weather, i think God purposely put us in that position, just to show us...you know, He's in charge.

Even in the picture, the focus really isn't on us is it? It's more on the surrounding environment. or the ocean, if you will. As opposed to happy shots, such as :

where you can focus more on the people, and it's a nice-ish shot, if i weren't in it XD.

But you get my drift dont you? It's true. Maybe i shouldn't start swearing when i walk outta my house and find a cloud-cover. Then again, i guess i only really feel that massive impact when i'm surrounded by ocean. Closest thing to that is the pond in my house. Oh well......

at any rate,

I hope you still feel small, when you stand beside the ocean...

Fin~

People who mean alot to me...

2006-05-15T22:41:00.000+08:00

This post was influenced by none other but my favorite Mx! The title kinda says alot, and i feel like saying thanks to alot of people. NOTE: I WILL NOT HAVE ROOM FOR EVERYBODY, since it is late and i just finished economics. but i will try to cover everybody (especially those who read this blog). p.s Sorry, i stole your pics guys XD

Marxha. Marxha is a weird one to me, although she lives some 5000 km away, and we haven't seen each other in about a year....we're really unusually close. I find i can talk to her (if she's not busy talking to her other friends XD) without much trouble at all, we have no communication barriers and rarely ever (maybe even never) have been pissed at each other. Mx, if you read this, i'll always remember the time in the last holidays where we used to stay up to 5 AM just talking about the most random things and playing SHEEP WARS!!!!!!! LOL! Thanks for being that close to me, and for listening to me rant whenever i've been in a bit of a stuck-up situation =) you rock Mx!! Please take care of yourself yea! n_n

I think these two guys need no introduction, my two best friends, Rob and Leon, i'll give each of them a special paragraph i think.

Robert Ashley. I've known him for...what...well, since he came back to perth, it's been 2 years. Yet he never fails to amaze me. It's no secret that, yes, Rob is a white guy...no, he's not asian, yet he always hangs out around asians. It's something (and i'm sure he knows) that i've always admired him for, standing up for himself even in a community of foreign (ok, now maybe not so) people. No secret, he can be annoying as hell sometimes, but the thing is that he always knows when he's gone over the barrier. A very respectable person in almost all regards, and somebody that i'm very very proud to call my best friend. (that's the only time you're gonna hear it buddy XP)

Leon Koh. Now, this one is different. I've known him almost all my life, an awesome 12 years, 13 at the end of this year. This is a guy who the song "when you say nothing at all" applies to. He's somebody i can sit beside in complete silence for around an hour and not feel any discomfort whatsoever. Definitely a friend in deed, as he's stood up for me, (i'm sure) on more than one occasion. We get along extremely well in most cases, and he has (i admit) one of the most infectious laughs that i've ever come across. Sitting next to me in maths, we never have one lesson where we dont burst out laughing and shock the whole class. Very decent guy, mean to others, but nice to people close to him. Again, i'm proud to have him as my best friend. definitely. p.s also an awesome electric guitarist.

My extended family! Two of my three sisters, Jenny and Evywevy! Again, paragraph each, read on:

Evywevy. Evelyn Mang. (mango XD) is one of the most random people i have ever met in my life. Affectionately known by me as Evywevy, she was the one responsible for giving me the nicname "Slothy" by which Leon now more oft than not refers to me as. The original owner of princess Gorgeous (refer to earlier blog entry) she is one of the funniest girls i have met, she never fails to make me laugh (even at the most random things) even if it's online! Extremely friendly and caring (although she wont admit it) she's always there to (metaphorically) give you a hug when you need one. Lovely girl, and i dont regret meeting her one bit (despite what i may say XD) :3 evy!! =) P.s i may put the name Slothy on my leavers jumper LOL, depending on how much Leon pays me....

Jennywenny. Although somebody SOMEBODY took that name that i proudly gave her last week, she's the youngest of my extended family. One of the most gentle and sweet girls i have ever and probably will ever meet in my entire life. A smile from Jenny will light up your day, mark my words. (get back boys -_-) She's funny in her own way, and will never fail to laugh at a joke that you attempt (albeit however poor it is). She is one of the most caring people i know, and the most generous. After Sunday service, she's always there, waiting for me to finish eating so she can take my plate, waiting for me to be off guard, so she can steal the piano stand and take it to the car for me. She's somebody, who i understand more in silence than perhaps i will ever in conversation. Did i mention she's also very pretty? (HA! its on my blog now Jenwen! =)!) On Rotto, i had alot of fun cycling up and down with her, talking about spiders, wedgies, life, the tree that died on the side of the road, everything. Best part? i never get sick of her. pft., who would?!

Another weird one. (girl on the left)

Kimberley Chieng, a.k.a Kimber/Kimmykimkim. Is a person i've seen....around 3 times in my entire life. yeah, that's right. However, she holds the record for the longest conversation in MSN i have had. ever. and that is saying something pretty damn big. She is UBER funny, and whenever i talk with her, i feel so...liberal? like i can talk to her about almost anything and she wouldn't care. I can crack semi-crude jokes and all she'll do is laugh (fart people dont smart) She's a genius in her own right, just wont admit it, and holds a position as my 'adopted cousin.' Which she is obviously proud to hold :P, What can i say? she's just......Kim? and i really really wish i could get to know you better in real life, because even in MSN, your personality just radiates. You are awesome =)

Sarah-Ann Lee. a.k.a Cuz. Now, i'm going to have to refrain myself from typing until the cows come home on this lovely individual. She's my cousin, (my blood cousin), but more than ever like a little sister to me. If i had a female personality, she'd be it. She knows what i think, she knows how i feel and vice versa. Often i refer to her as my sunshine because whenever i see/talk to her, she never fails to light up my day (even whacking my head on her shoulder seems to cure a headache!!) I can talk to her in silence (which is saying something, pardon the pun) and i can talk to her about whatever i like. I know she will listen, why? because she's just my Cuz. On more account than i can think of, she's been there to listen to me whine and go on about random facts of life, been my shoulder to sleep or cry on (metaphorically, apart from the former ><). She is the most self-less person i know, ALWAYS (you listen to this Cuz -_-) concerned more about others than she is for herself, never afraid to put others first. She is friendly, loving, caring, and every other positive attribute i could ever think up, put into one. We've shared some awesome times together, that range from talking until sunrise, to laughing at each other, to singing to each other, to attempting to cycle up a hill on a tandem bike. This is one person i know is irreplacable to me, and (not Mcdermott style) i love her beyond any words could ever, EVER express. A penguin always loves its master. =)

There we go, theres just to name a few important, ok, essential people in my life. I may consider doing part two, because i just thought of like another 10 XD but we'll see. but i'll have you all know, if you read my blog or not, that you are all important to me, whether at the moment i feel like punching you or patting you on the head. You are important to me.

Damn, i should try writing an entry to God. See how long i go for =
Fin~

Standout~

2006-05-07T15:57:00.000+08:00

Well, i'm here to talk to you today about a very special....er....character. But it bears a relatively important message that sorta just came to me, so i thought i'd share it with you guys. Since Cuz's gone off to get some food, i guess i can start now.

But first, about my week. My FIRST week back at school. It was actually pretty boring, perhaps the most interesting part of the week was that we have exams in week 6 instead of week 9, which sorta comes as a surprise but hey, at least we can get it over and done with as early as possible yea? ><, other people beg to differ but did you ever think that it would also cut down content? .....actually, maybe it wont for most subjects, ho well ><.

School is a change, after my really active holidays, i think.....perhaps it wasn't so "aww damn back to school again." i mean, i'm kinda used to going back to school after holidays (12 years of it, you think?) so now instead of whinging about it, i'm just sorta like...."meh". Maybe it's just me, but you know.

Anyway, for those that were wondering (for the many that know) I played in the firsts on Saturday (badminton)!! Against Scotch College, and holy crap, we worked them good XD In the end i think the score was somewhat 8-1 to us, the only person losing a match was Sam (incidentally our A1 player and captain xD) but he lost to a err.....very very good player so i guess we cant reli be too critical about that >< My guy was nice....but he sorta gave up after a bit, so it was a walkover at 15-3, 15-7? He tried to fight back in the second set but....yea no buts XD.

Annnyway that was my week, pretty weirdly boring actually.

But now, i'll intro you to erm....the main character of this blog, the theme of which is summarised in the blog title. Standing Out, or being a Standout. In other terms, being different to others, going against the flow. Let me show you something:

For sake of personification, (so that you can identify with my message more), this is Summer. As you can see, Summer is a beautiful white flower (i wont go into detail, just for Kim XD), she's probably not the most interesting flower you'll see in your life, she's actually pretty plain. She's not too smart, she's not too beautiful, just lives with contentment yet also strives to do her best. However, there's another very important thing about Summer that makes her different to the rest of her kind....very different, in fact.

i err, really dont think i need to explain what it is to you, but i will anyway. Summer chose to stand out from the rest, to do things a bit differently. To be a different colour, to have a different way of living, a different attitude at heart....nobody will ever know. The point is, she's different, in more ways that one perhaps. That makes her all the more special.

She doesn't exactly fit in, and for that, the others might make fun of her. It's always harder to survive on your own. But she's got a strong will to live how she chooses, and live on she will. Others may be prettier:

more elegant, graceful, stylish, taller, anything more, but if they dont choose to stand out like her, they just go along with the flow.....then...

Well, they just become another 'one', another figure. Another portion of the current flowing down the same stream. The morale of the story? dont be afraid to stand out! You may not be as strong, pretty, fit or intelligent as others, but if you are willing to be different, then you'll find that the strengths that you have will shine out. And you WILL be something special. Stand for God in a hostile environment. Dont be afraid.

And in the end, who knows? It becomes obvious to others, and they, too, might choose to change.

Dare to be a Daniel?

Fin~

Retrospect : first term holidays

2006-05-01T19:19:00.000+08:00

Looking back on the first term holidays, i just gotta say.

ROCK ON!

They absolutely rocked, no like, seriously, i had the time of my life XD it was probably the busiest holidays, or one of the busiest that i've had in ages. but seriously also one of the best! I dont even know where to start....haha, at the beginning duh XD

I trust in God, i know He cares for me....

Whilst the start of the holidays was hell busy, i think the first highlight has got to be the AWESOME outing on Easter Monday. Everybody was there (well, almost) and the stuff we did was really awesome, the games, the whole wander around the dam and get lost sorta thing, was just rocking xD. Remembering Cuz and Jenny score that goal was the funniest thing, and flicking kangaroo crap at Dave with my shoe was even better XD (hail captain crap! xD)

Tuesday, out at the movies, watching (clearly the better film) March of the Penguins with Cuz, Nat and Ken. While Ken and i were laughing at how stupid penguins look when they stack it, Cuz and Nat were adoring how cute they were (and they were) . Also ate the best dinner at Kenny's place. *mouth drools*

On mountain bleak...Or on the stormy sea

Friday rocked, went out with the cousins, and experienced some of the funniest moments ever, such as my mum speaking into a handphone...or rather speaking into the back of a handphone and wondering what was wrong when the entire table absolutely burst out laughing. When questioned about it later she responds,

"how was i meant to know the buttons were meant to be on the inside?!"

good times. xDDD Went to Harbour town, got a pair of shoes effectively 85% off, (from 200 bucks) and was hell happy, thanks Cuz for helping me shop xP At night went to the Perth Observatory for the tour, saved aunty Ina from a spider the size of my fist (exaggerated a bit) and had so much fun looking at the stars (and Saturn! how cute xD) and even more fun grabbing cuz and trying to probe through the dark together XD (coz, i mean it was dark ><)

Though billows roll, He keeps my soul...

The climax of my holidays was perhaps on Monday of the second week, (and highlighted in detail in my last blog), the trip to Rotto with the youth/young adults which was massively awesome. Trips on the tandem with Cuz and Jenny, pretending to boot people off with Leon... re-encounter of Weeble, and the serene and lovely environment that was around us. I'll remember that trip for a good many years of my life, i just know it.

Haiz. Once you have a good holiday you really dont wanna go back to school eh? But this time i decided to try and take a different approach, instead of getting all lazy during the holidays, i made the most of my time (...sorta) and am more than ready to kickstart this term! Cuz made a good point that i barely spent time with myself and God this holiday....and i guess she had a very good point, so haiz, have to quieten down this school term and keep focused on work and God.

But it's all good!!! CHURCH CAMP AFTER THE TERM! and that, my friends, is my driving motivation (Jen, you better be coming) for this term. (all those going, take that on board XD) So for all of you taking this term,

GOOD LUCK! GOD BLESS and ENJOY IT!

The latter may be marginally harder but try yea? =) We can make it through! (specially school students in year 12 xP)

My heavenly Father watches over me.

Just gotta keep marching on down the road of life.

Fin~

p.s THANKS TO ALL who made my holidays what they were, you guys are A.W.E.S.O.M.E =)=)!
p.s.s thank you (you know who you are) from the bottom of my heart. You make my life so much easier. Penguin always loves its master =)

The road goes ever on and on......

2006-04-26T14:18:00.000+08:00

Alrightey guys, i promised i'd blog on the Rotto trip, and here, i'll keep to my word. BUT i must forewarn you that if you are running on a 56k connection,.....it might take a while to load the photos so go eat lunch or something first eh, there are 25 photos in total, meant to be 30 but i decided to load those onto the flickr slideshow. OK here we go!

To be honest, i woke up thinking it would be horrible. I looked outside and there were clouds everywhere, even the occasional sign of rain. I was dissapointed, because today was my 'big day out' and i seriously mean it. (as you will no doubt see later >.>) BUT! Thank God, things took a change for the better (if not best) with regards to the weather at least, it turned out to be THE perfect day (and like, i mean it) for going to Rotto, not too hot, not too cold, not too sunny, not too wet. Perfect. Thank You God =)

So i woke up at around 7AM all ready for this big day. Cuz came round at 7 30, she incidentally woke up earlier ....ok that's a massive understatement, she woke up pretty much before the sun came up. I shant say any more, i was horrified when she told me what time she woke up =_=' . So with around 1 hour on our hands, we began milling around pointlessly outside, making the most of the dew that was still on the flowers.

Shots spotted by cuz (the hard part) and taken by me (the easy part). Emily came at around 840 to pick the both of us up and scoot us off to Rotto!

After a few wrong turns we finally arrived at the C shed, and a few calls from some of our group already ON the ferry told us that if we didn't hurry, there wouldn't BE a ferry left. So mindlessly i scooted around the corner, saw all of them just as Leon told me they were about to leave and shouted,

"TELL THE FERRY PILOT NOT TO BE SUCH A NAZI!"

little did i know, the ferry pilot was standing a few meters in front of me. *erhmm*, anyway! We all made it on time, which was a great relief. Turns out nazis died decades ago.

The ferry trip was more pleasant than most of us thought, even Tak, who is very prone to seasickness was absolutely fine the whole trip, he even made it to the outdoor balcony where we captured the boat's wake:

As we left Perth behind suddenly everybody started to become hyperactive, and before we knew it cameras were flashing everywhere! I , however, decided to save my memory for the actual island. Poor Jenny wasn't feeling too good though, on the boat Cuz, Leon and I were quite worried about her. But it's ok, she came out fine, and smiling like the little angel she is =). Dave, on the other hand.....

just kidding.

Upon landing we ventured to the town center, the general convenience store, where we ....well ok, we found my roll, albeit it was $6 not $2, a slight exaggeration. 300% the price but hey, what's an extra 4 bucks yea? (geez, dont be such a stinge Dave! XP) Emily and Theresa purchased some REALLY POTENT erm....what do you call em... POP ROCKS! THaTS IT! and Leon had a few. Seriously, he was in pain. They were that strong, so he had to assume the open-mouth superman position in order to stop the POP rocks from killing him :

One of the girls was holding a bunch in her hand, and her hand must've been moist or something, coz they exploded in her hand...which was quite funny. But it must've been painful XD cant imagine them in your mouth man....yecks.

In order to get around Rotto, we needed bikes, so off we went! in search for bikes. I almost led them in the wrong direction....my memory is obviously a problem. Thank goodness for Dave and Cham who, i'm guessing, have been here many times. They knew the way. Bio camp obviously taught me nothing.

In our different array of clothing and backpacks, we actually looked like quite a proffesional group. well....i thought so at least. Until it came to negotiating skills....

when finding the appropriate number and type of bike for our group proved to be more of a challenge than anything else. In the end, everybody got a single, and Cuz and i took a 'tandem' (i'm the only one allowed to say that =_=) a tandem is basically a double bike, the front person steers and brakes and the back person pedals. Well, both pedal..but you get the picture.

May i suggest, unless you know each other relatively well, and have a positively flawless sense of balance...dont ride the tandem. Fortunately, Cuz had the balance, and i had the power. Both of us generally knew what the other was thinking, so we were fine on the bike. Took us a while to get started though.....but once we got the hang of it we were cool =)! I'm not sure i have a pic of that bike eh....i'll try and grab a photo off somebody else.

FIRST STOP! this lighthouse near the settlement, where we took a break for some photos, and they were quite nice, as you can see :

the ladies, and the gents:

what a group we were XD

Pro-ish if i may say so myself. Oh man....you want to know who's who? ~_~. In the girls shot, left to right:

Cuz, Jenny, Sharon, Theresa, Hailey, ...Lam?, Emily

in the guys shot:

(back row) Eddy, Cham, Tak, Me, Tao, Wei Kee, Leon (front row) David, William.

Now that you know all of us, never ask me again XD.

We then cycled to the closest beach, dont ask me the name, for i know it not. And went BRITTLE STAR HUNTING. Which turned out to be in vain...for those of you who haven't seen a brittle star, it's quite something. Google it. Harder to find than you think though. We also went camwhoring. And spotted a Lizard David promptly named 'godzilla' Although it could fit quite comfortably on my arm. Since most of the girls are shy about the shots, i'll just put up one of the guy shots:

Yer Rock on! i love the "i'm hell buff" look Dave's got XD

Whilst riding we saw some very very nice shots. I took alot of them, but i dont want to resize them coz it would kill the shot. I'll put the full version on the slideshow, with all the full people shots too. but if you do want all the shots (i mean ALL) , i've zipped them into an archive, i'll send it to you over MSN or something. So here we were looking at the view:

when GUESS WHAT!!!!!! (yes Kim, this is it) WE FOUND WEEBLE!!!! MY CHRISTMAS QUOKKA! *HYPERVENTILATES*

THERE HE IS!!!!!:

awwwwwww he's cute as ever. Eating an apple the Emily so kindly gave to him. UNTIL!!!!!!!!

He stole some of Leon's shapes (you know, the biscuits), that's when Leon tried to pwn him:

You can just imagine him making his bruce lee "HWOAAAAAPAAAAAAAA!!!!!" sound.

BUT TO OUR SURPRISE!!!!!:

Weeble decided to open up a can of whoop-ass. And pwned leon, and stole the rest of his shapes.

R.I.P my friend.

.....we're joking, it was something that we staged (quite obviously XD) whilst we were on the boat XDD. moving on.....

We reached the climax of our journey, the south part of the island, where most of the photos i'll put in the slideshow were taken. NO doubt the most breathtaking part of our journey. Obviously we had to cam-whore for a bit.

My ever thoughtful cuz, trying to listen to the beautiful sound of the waves lapping against the rocks. . . until Leon, Dave, Cham and i burst in yelling out who could throw a rock the furthest XD. i'm sorry cuz >< next time i'll pick up and leave you alone XD

As you can tell, Jenny was a bit tired. Poor girl >< but she made an awesome effort in the last cycle, and ended up pushing ME up the slope o.O Camwhoring is contagious. Starts off small:

Before we knew it everybody wanted a shot. Here's my trying to use the timer function on two cameras:

and:

Dont blame me, >< i didn't see the red light T_T and yes, yes, everybody is laughing at me, i like to think they're laughing with me though XP All in all, great, great fun. We even found a spot so close to the breaking waves, where a little rock pool with colourful crabs was XD. Cham almost got hit by a wave thanks to Sharon. Sharon almost fell in thanks to herself, and I took the best shot with a ripple thanks to Eddy XD (flickr account) so there! how's that for interdependance. All the while watching the floor for dugites XD

That pretty much summed up our massive journey, we were fast running out of time and had to return the bikes within the next hour. SO we sprinted off, Jenny and i on the Tandem, Cuz and Leon sticking in one group with Leon taking the lead. He led us well, over the undulating hills and through the winding passes. After around 30 minutes we turned around......

and realised the group wasn't following us ROFL. Turns out we took the faster route (by my reckoning) and were very far ahead of them, who decided to go along the outskirts, while we took the middle route. Jen had to stop once to undo a wedgie that got serious HAHAHAHHA (sorry XD) but apart from that , we were fine. Made it back to town ahead of the others, who had to stop a few times for different people. It was there i met Amy. Amy the peacock again. (dont say. it's a contradiction. shut up)

She was hungry, decidedly.

and when i wasn't looking, she GRABBED A CHIP FROM MY HAND! felt like slapping her man, but i had to settle for some wise-cracking insults:

After we returned our bikes, and came back to town to grab a quick meal, we were ready to set off.....or at least most of us were:

We got back to the jetty, and all hopped on the boat. Admiring the view, and thanking God for the awesome weather. Would you be shocked if i told you that was only half of our day? yeah. thought so.

The boat left on time, and before we knew it (well for me anyway, i spent the whole trip sleeping. Thanks for the shoulder cuz XD), we were back in Freo! Since Leon's mum came a bit late to pick him up (45 minutes XD) we went for a final round of camwhoring. Again, it started small, with Tak, Cham and David's special pose:

and spread like wildfire XD

and in the end, it proved that the day took its toll on us when we all went 'super-saiyan' and assumed our dragon-ball poses (thanks alot for making me and the rest look like absolute idiots Tak...i swear those cops were about to charge XD)

Gotta love the agro expression Sharon tried to put on. And Cham's pose was positively real XD
haha but dont take it seriously! it was the most fun i've had in quite a while and we were all reduced to a clump of laughing bodies on the floor. I reckon Leon's mum must've been like ...."what have you done with my son!?" after she came, but no, we cleared up our mess before then XD

After that, Emily raced us back to her house. My poor cuz was so tired she slept on my shoulder the whole way. It was 6 15 by the time we arrived. 4 of us (Cuz, Theresa, Em and Myself) showered in the space of half an hour (considering there were 3 girls, an amazing feat) .... (-yes Kim, i know you shower fast, but they're not you =) ) got to choir by 7 10, found ourselves the only ones there (apart from Wei wei and family) and started late, at 7 30. We have an awesome item prepared for the Sunday though, get ready! =)

Although everybody was falling asleep in bible study, most of us held fast XD and we ended at around 9 30. Upon which Wei wei raced us home to Cuz's house.

All in all, a really really fantastic day. I'm sure that i speak on behalf of the group when i say that we really enjoyed ourselves. Although, i'm sure that you could see it took it's toll....

Specially on the way back, when my poor Cuz had to tolerate a sleeping Jenny and I on both her shoulders XD

Fin~

A wonderful day =)

2006-04-19T11:29:00.000+08:00

Hey guys! i'm gonna blog about 3 things, but only 1 in detail. That's gonna be the church BBQ that was on Monday, (awesome day XD) and the easter sunday before, and the ....tuesday after XD.

Where to start...ah Easter Sunday, i'll just say it was pretty ordinary for me, i mean sure the occassion was awesome and couldn't be any better acknowledged but.....well, i got sick that day =_=" and was in like 3 items so needless to say i wasn't too happy about that....still though, it was great, and the special mention goes to the choir, and all members of the choir who performed admirably. Well done all =) and of course the Young Adults, who put on a stunning show. Go you guys!

Now the BBQ.

It was at a place called Churchman's brooke dam, on the most perfect of days. The weather was nice and cool, sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in sight. How i would pay if everyday were like that. But anyway,

Alot, and wait, i mean, alot of people turned up. Just in the youth i think there were at least 20, add another 20-30 parents or so and you end up with a grand total of approximately 50 people. Luckily the picnic area was nice and spacious, so we had lots of room to move around and mingle. The first thing that everybody did though, was go on a walk to explore the surrounding region and the actual dam itself.

After walking around the general picnic area and coming across errr..

i'll err....leave it to your imagination as to deciding what that is. David couldn't help commenting that it was a bucketful of turd though >.> (he might well be right though =\). Camwhoring was inevitable, and we grabbed some random groups of people to just take nice shots by the nice little brooke that was running through our area.

aww what a beautiful shot. Lovely group of girls they are, and then there was....

erm yes *cough cough*, moving on....

We walked up the narrow (slippery) steps to get a view of the dam from high up...my my we weren't dissapointed. Take a look for yourself, i dont think my pictures do proper justice to the actual scene (put in a fresh breeze and the gentle warming heat of the sun sitting in a cloudless aquamarine sky and voila!)

i actually purposely took the ugly banks to show what our government means by 'low-level' and let me tell you, for once, the government aint pulling your leg. The leves are (well, at least in this dam) extremely low. So people, people, as honest citizens interested in the welfare of our state (and perhaps our future) i urge you to think about this picture.....and how much nicer it would have been if the water levels were up. CONSERVE water please!!!!! ok, that's my government propaganda issue for the day.

There we go, sorry i was taking it with one hand, that's why the tilt is a bit off XD but that's a better (still bad though) shot of the pristine waters that comprise churchman's brooke dam. Love how there are trees and everything in the shot....sky looks lovely as well, but we digress.

Whilst we were up there, we made full use of the view to take some senseless shots, this particular one influenced by Tak:

and i'm not sure what we were meant to do but it was good nonetheless....yeah thanks a heap Ken =_='

Oh well, whilst walking along there, i look just in time to see David kick my soccer ball down the side of the dam XXXXXXXXXDDDDDDDDDDDD good work there XD. FORTUNATELY, it was the side where there was no water, just like a rocky slope, and we had to talk him into climbing UP it, not rolling DOWN it, justified by the fact that if he tried the latter, he probably wouldn't have been in the shots we took later XD.

So as we were walking down, we noticed that they labeled the toilets "Adam" for male, and "Eve" for female. Implying in a sense that the Garden of Eden could be compared to Churchman's Brooke. Could i just blatantly say now...err Churchman's brooke is lovely, but um, no. just ..... no. Anyway i noticed that Adam had some....extra anatomical features added on to him. if you take my meaning. I wont go there though ~_~

So there we are walking down and when we reach the bottom, we hear somebody yelling out from the top, upwards we lift our eyes and lo and behold:

We remember we left David up there, since he went up to collect the ball XD. There he is (on the right) with Leonie. sorry dude XD

After coming down, our whole group ate lunch, and ran to the field to play a game of 'captain ball'. Obviously i'm not going to elaborate on how to play the game here, but it was good fun. We won the first half 9-6. Then the second half, Cham came and we got owned 20-16. Which Sharon is STILL taking the piss outta me for XD, it's ok though, all in good fun. The other team certainly showed us how to play properly ><. Next time yea Eddy? =) Special mention would probably go to Cham, for absolutely owning the game, and Jenny and Sarah, for scoring the funniest goal in the world XD

Upon arriving all sweaty and exhausted back to the picnic area, we decided to take a massive group shot. This being my favorite:

probably because most of us were smiling and looking at the camera. However...if you go download the full version of the OTHER shot that i put on my flickr slideshow player (just below) you'll find the funnier shot. Try and see why, (Eddy and Ken XD)

as a sidenote, you CAN download the full version of any photos on my flickr slideshow (the black thing down the bottom). Just click on the photo, view in new window, and when the photo appears, click on the 'all sizes' button to the top left of the photo. Voila!

Well, just as we thought our day was drawing to a close, nope, all of us decided to head off to Sharon and Eddy's parents' farm. PERSSIMON....PERSIMMON? farm! and it rocked. I love the soft perssimons (that's how we'll spell it for now XD). Here take a look!:

Look at all those fruits! Man that was awesome. We bought a tray, Collin bought a tray, i think every family bought a tray! XD they were SO nice. Fresh picked as well! i mean, just look:

So nice and ripe. mmmm, most of us couldn't wait to eat them

as you can no doubt tell.

After the farm, all of us decided to meet up the next day as well (because we obviously love each other so much n_n) SO that led to the carousel expedition...where two groups of us went, one to watch March of the Penguins and the other to watch Ice Age .... which started a whole argument about which was better (which, many of the ice-age guys are still arguing with me about) - (i, of course, was one of the more refined, watching the REAL thing ....March of the Penguins, and i'll just say, i didn't regret it. ALL of you go watch it at some point, YES YOU JENNY!! *prods*)

before i forget, Leon, you never replied to my SMS man =\ what happened there? didja forget to turn your phone on? You shoulda gone. Although you would have been one of the ice-age people, indefinitely >.> and Rob....well, your phone wasn't working so i depended on Leon to give you the message, but since he didnt reply.....i think you would have watched March of the Penguins as well. damnit. Next time.

And Tak man!! what happened, never reply to your MSN XD. Bugger it, next time we'll definitely get the WHOLE group going....that includes Josh too, i should really smash that guy for not going on Monday.

Oh well, at the end of the day i guess everybody was exhausted (yes, that was Sunday, Monday AND Tuesday) pwoa. Even i can feel the strain on me now. My legs are killing me, i'm still sorta sick (thank God i'm recovering) and yeah. but seriously. i dont think i'll be doing that for a while again, 3 days in a row just kills the immune system XD

As my dearest Cuz will no doubt tell you.

Fin~

p.s prayers extended to Leon, who's down with the flu, Eddy, Sharon for the same reason, and myself, ...for the same reason XD
p.s.s March of the Penguins RULES!! (sorry Jenny, cant hear you XP)

Packing up//

2006-04-14T14:16:00.000+08:00

Pwoa, what can i say? the holidays have come at last and not a moment too soon. I'd like to thank my Mum, Dad, Friends, Cuz, Cousins, Randoms, and most of all, God for helping me through this term XD. Ok, now that's out of the way, i feel like sharing some of my last week with you.

Did you picture me, slacking off, having a very peaceful time...you know.....finishing on Wednesday, and just enjoying myself to the max?

you'd be terribly mistaken.

My last week was the manifestation of perhaps the week from hell. i had so much work. just look at my diary.

Now, that right there is all the work that i had to hand in/collect last week. Half of it i forgot to collect, so you can imagine what it really would have been like.

Now, in order to shock you, i've decided to compare this amount of work with say, with another massive volume.

This is one of my favorite textbooks ( i can see Kim hiding - not from Gooch ) this book weighs a total of 4.214 kilograms. (calculated in Biology) And at a total of 600 pages, it is my heaviest book. It is actually the heaviest book in the entire syllabus, you think you're Applic book is heavy? try carrying this around classes =_=. Now. a 4.214 kg book with 600 pages and my diary side by side, lets see.....

Well. I think i've made my point. What is inside that God-forsaken mess? Stuff like this:

and:

er...oops, how did that get there... >< anyway...

Yeah, most of my last week was spent studying biology. (come to think of it....i dont know why, considering it was the only subject i DIDNT have a test for =__=) But you know, it's good fun. Oh come on Kim =_=.

So needless to say, i was kinda looking forward to the holidays if you know what i mean....in more than one way. It would mean the end of tests, work and it would also mean that i could catch up with alot of work, and hang out and chill etc etc. the stuff that you usually do on the holidays.

Ignore the err.....piece of male anatomy sombody kindly drew on my diary. (stop laughing -_-) Yes, that's proof that i was looking forward to the holidays. In fact, that was highlighted in week one. More recent proof includes...

There we go. Doesn't take a vivid imagination to picture exactly what that word was. Well, you know, can you really blame me for looking forward to it? Oh, and yes. The entry above that, well, that was the homework i got for the holidays. FREAKING JOY MAN!!!! LOOK AT HOW LITTLE IT IS!!!!!!!!

PFTT man, i was so happy that the teachers decided to be nice to us (damn Zeeb!! *shakes fist*) freaking %@)(@! but it's ok i mean....LOOK, it's a history assignment, NOT EVEN DUE AT THE END OF THE HOLIDAYS! This is like, great man, i expected an assignment from every subject!! Pwoaaaa, i was so happy.

Until she handed out the assignment sheet.

It's a freaking Oral investigation. We have to act it out. That's not even it. Well, i'm partnered with Rob, which should make my workload slightly less. But the problem? Neither of us can act for [fill in blank] it's true. We cant act, in fact Rob may be able to slightly, but i....just cant. i absolutely suck at acting, specially as an American President.

You heard me, we have to act as Richard Nixon and an interviewer, i think i'll go with the interviewer... less to say, i'll just look and nod. Rob can answer in elaborate detail. In exchange, i'll do the paperwork........

Ok, so maybe i'll say a bit more than i should. Just to save my holidays x).

The last day was a complete waste of time. First we had 4 hours, yes, four.freaking.hours of english literature. However we had to do our oral presentations/watch others do theirs. I'll mention the background,

I started a 7pm (the previous day) and worked up till 2 am (the next day XD) just finishing off my oral presentation . I'd like to use this blog just to thank a VERY SPECIAL person, who else but my lovely Cuz, who stayed up with me UNTIL 2 am, reminding me to practise every 10 minute interval and encouraging me throughout my moments of particular distress (i.e trying not to fall asleep). THANK YOU SO MUCH CUZZZZZ. And you say i owe you no obligation? you are too nice for your own good dear.

Anyway, i did my oral. Was very happy with my result (i wont tell you here =) ) and we moved on to maths!!!!!. OK ,maths was a very different story.

The first thing the teacher does, plonk a like 12 page booklet of questions on our desk.

"do them all"

we're like =____________=. But it turns out it was like grade 1 maths. Seriously, i'll show you.

and i've like put the only equation you need to know on the sheet.

I think the hardest question was this one (mind you , it wasn't hard at all)

So after finishing them after around 30 minutes, when were given an hour and 30 minutes to do so. We were just sitting there. So we started to play hangman XD and tell lame jokes (which i shant repeat here- for fear that people would close down this blog) - thanks Aido and Fez for lightening up the spirits XD

Oh well. Then we went home (anti-climatic) and .....now ......i just woke up (this is the day after the last day xD) and i'm bored. and i'm not gonna start history yet (so dont look at me like that)
Well, my next week i'm pretty much fully scheduled....mixture of outings and studying...which sorta works well for me, i've already burnt the previous holiday timetable so dont worry guys, im gonna survive.

And yeah. pft. Before i do anything, i better pack up eh......

er....yeah. pack up.

Fin~

Aurora Borealis~

2006-04-10T18:51:00.000+08:00

Sorry, i feel inclined to blog about this, thanks goes to my cuz who put the thought into my mind =).

BUT FIRST, to satisfy some people (couHARTLEYgghcough) i would like to post a little article that i find...interesting to say the least. It'- well, lets see how you react.

City officials in Aliso Viejo, California,
were so concerned about the dangers of dihydrogen
monoxide that they scheduled a vote last month on
whether to ban foam cups from city-sponsored events
after they learned the chemical was used in foam-cup
production.

Officials called off the vote after learning that
dihydrogen monoxide is the scientific term for water.

"It's embarrassing," city manager David J. Norman told
the Associated Press. "We had a paralegal who did bad
research."

Indeed, the paralegal had fallen victim to an
official-looking Web site touting the dangers of
dihydrogen monoxide. An e-mail originally authored in
1990 by Eric Lechner, then a graduate student at the
University of California, Santa Cruz, claimed that
dihydrogen monoxide "is used as an industrial solvent
and coolant, and is used in the production of
Styrofoam."

Other dangers pranksters associated with the chemical
included accelerated corrosion and rusting, severe
burns, and death from inhalation.

Ok, well if you were wondering what my reaction was like, first it was like...

wait wait....

BAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

and then after around 10 seconds it was like...Holy crap it's serious? o.O

I'm probably never going to get the blog prize that Leon thought i would for saying this, (thanks for the thought though, Leon) but, seriously....i'm not surprised XD (*hints to location*)

Ok, now that that's outta my system, (Hartley, you can go now), i'd like to blog about something that i found, at first just unbelievable. I refused to believe it, i thought it was some photoshopped effect, done by some random pros who decided to post their work on the net. I really did, ask my Cuz. But, when she told me about it i was like,

i know i've heard that term before somewhere....

Then it hit me, and even moreso because it came from Seamus Heaney's selected poems. I ACTUALLY LEARNT FROM SEAMUS HEANEY! WOW! i was so surprised, then my mind tuned back to the present and i was almost left speechless as i realised...hey....at the time Heaney wrote that poem, photoshop didn't exist....therefore, they're real o.O?

I still find it hard to believe. See why for yourself.

Aurora Borealis, northern lights

Aurora Borealis is the latin term for the spectacle we know as the 'northern lights'. A visual and conceptual beautification of the sky although temporary, that leaves a lasting image in our minds. Well, mine at least. And it's a photo o.O, can you even imagine what the real thing would be like? I mean, i'm thinking that special photographic material is needed to capture these shots, partially because the picture quality is so crap (albeit the pictures are good) and also because you're shooting charged gas particles o.O

Aurora borealis in Alaska

The scientist in me feels the need to explain how these wonderful things came about. I'll give it simple dont worry, you can uncover your eyes Kim. (Gooch, you may wanna close yours XD) ok, here we go (it's actually alot more complicated than this, but it'll suffice for a short explanation): The short answer to how an Aurora happens is that energetic electrically charged particles (mostly electrons) accelerate along the magnetic field lines into the upper atmosphere, where they collide with gas atoms, causing those atoms to emit light.

There we go, short and sweet =). But i must say, it's a phenomenon that you'd at least want to see once in your lifetime isn't it? It kind of goes back into this natural painting and all....but i wonder something, why i haven't seen any artists attempt to paint these. I mean, forgetting the fact that i dont even know how to hold a paintbrush, if i were an artist, i'd give it a shot. Maybe, they decided that no matter how they painted, their paintings would never do justice to the real thing. good theory huh?

But then again, highly unlikely. Anyway, you wanna see these? sorry, tough luck, they cant be seen in Australia (i dont think anyway) I notice that most are seen in the northern hemisphere, something to do with the magnetic lines of the earth that draw to the poles (northern in particular) So as a result, you have to go to hol- places such as Alaska, Iceland, Greenland and such to actually experience the real thing. but it's ok, i guess the photographers have done a good enough job to satisfy me....until after uni. Then i'm buying my way there just to see (and i'll drag alot of you with me XD)

*haiz* but it really makes you wonder eh. I guess, no matter how good you are at art,

can't beat God can you? (rhetorical question, of course you cant)- (but cuz could come close with some of your pictures ;p )

Ho well, i think i'll just wait for Leon to get his fighter pilot license. Then i could go there, see the lights, and be back...

just in time for dinner =)

Fin~

Friend's night~

2006-04-03T23:18:00.000+08:00

Warning: Before i continue, this post contains alot of incidents that you will have to have been there to understand....so if you weren't there, you can read it if you like, just some things may elude you.

Prepost: sorry Hartley, i'll leave the politics out of this one, but i promise you next post, i'll give you something you'll laugh about for a good time.

Well. Friends night. Let's see....the overall aim was to..well, invite friends XDDD, quite obviously. And i must say, i was overly impressed with the turnout o.O, in the end i think the count was 64? people? something like that, we didn't get the actual figure. Suffice to say the committee was more than pleased with even the numerical turnout.

Well, how did we start. Skipping the introductions of EVERYBODY, i'll name a few characters who seemed rather interesting/funny. Firstly, Ken's entire bunch of friends. I forget their names, but i'll refer to them as the 'genius crew'. All achieving a TER of over 98 pretty much. (Ken also included). Later we had to seperate them into different groups or the quiz would just be plain unfair =.='

Then there was Caleb, i dont know what to make of him. He's awesome, really nice guy and all. The only thing is that he looks so damn familiar.....i know i've seen him somewhere before. Just cant name when or where. Oh well, good bloke, i think Josh's friend? yeah.

AH! of course, there was the infa- famous Kimberley Chieng. Whom i've seen a total of 3 times in my entire life? God bless her (your) soul Kim. You kept me laughing for a good few days (i'll tell you why later)

Worship prac was awesome, Kim said it herself, everybody was just alive. Although it was the same as the previous weeks, this week there was the....erm how to say...motivation? to do extremely well due to the increased crowd! And we did, it rocked. Special mention to Leon for doing a massively pro solo in One way which earnt the compliments of quite a few people. *applauds* and of course the entire worship team (yes, you too Kenny) for performing admirably.

(the photos are coming up, hold on -.-)

look at Wei Kee and Kev, HAHAHAHAHAHA XD

Well, the first game we played (naturally, it was friend's night XD) was a very interesting one that Wei Wei and i came up with ...the night before XD. (thank you though, Sharon, for the idea last year =\) basically, each group has a plate, with food on it. (Food = Chocolate, Skittles, Kool Fruits, MNM mini's) Good eh? one condition.

You had to eat it with chopsticks.

Oh and did i mention there was also an orange on the plate? HAHAHAHHAHAH!
i'll let the pictures speak for themselves, sorry if they're a bit unclear, i was shaking with laughter xD

Collin attempting to break open an orange with his chopsticks. Did an awesome job. Got juice everywhere though (go Collin XD)

Eddy was champ in that game, ate everything on the damn plate XD

For the people with weak stomachs, please refrain from looking at the next shot. It's......not too nice. (i warned you) This is the end product.

Orange juice mixed with chocolate,artificial flavrouring, and God knows what else?

Haiz. I loved that game. pity i suck at taking photos. damnit >< We should do that another time. Moving on.....

The next game was the quiz!! Brains all active for this game (which they damn certainly were ><) I was surprised that not one of my questions went unanswered. I thought the cellular organelles would get you, or the transpiration stream...but no, apparently people here are too smart. pft fine =.=

Special mention goes to Amy, who almost killed me. But she's cool, all enthusiasm that night, i guess, pity her group didn't win XD (you run pretty fast though =\). How did she kill me? Well, Wei Kee, William and Collin were running up to deliver the answers to the front. They all arrive, sorta just teetering over my stand, which was quite close mind you.....then Amy comes from behind and....

*BANG SMASH PWNED*

She pushes everybody onto me >.>(thanks guys, for laughing XD) .

Ho well, it was close. Damn close, and i hope you all enjoyed the questions. Collin and Ken...haiz~ maybe next time Collin XD. Special answers. HAHA there were plenty of these.

Me: OK. Which position in soccer, is closest to the goalkeeper?
*groups 1,2,3 hand in the correct answer, 'sweeper'*
*Amy comes with group 4's paper last*
Me: ok nice tr- wait a second. what does that say?
*reads answer*
Me: GOAL POST BAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

(whoever wrote down that answer, God bless your soul XD)

What else, there was group 4....saying the mother of nursing reform was Mother Teresa...and the branch of mathematics that uses algebra instead of constants was Trigonometry....haiz i love you guys XD.

Then before we knew it, friends night was over.AWWWWW =( it was good though. But wait, good times still to come XD. Everybody moved outside to go eat. (oh man, i'm trying not to laugh now, KIM XDDD) You see there was free cake, and other chips and stuff outside. First thing i see is Kim, happily standing there munching on her cake. She spots me.

Kim: ...What? It's free cake man!

XDD oh man, i almost died that instant. Good work Kim, you absolutely rock. My cuz and i had a good laugh about that later XD and i'm still laughing about it now XDDD Lots of people were there, and the place was a bit crowded, so naturally you get Josh doing his usual thing *coughHITTINGONMENcoughcough* - i'm joki- no, actually i'm not XD (i am ><)

Haiz. Then i made a big mistake. I handed the camera over to Sharon and Evy. damn and i thought Evy was bad. Needless to say....well, see for yourself =.='

Smile.....me!

another one of the 32 useless shots on my camera. (thanks girls =.=)

But all in all, i actually enjoyed myself alot. I hope that everybody else did too, i generally got positive feedback, and it's something that we'll definitely do again in future!! So watch out for the next friends night ;) Thanks to all for attending!!

Erk. i gotta delete all these useless shots.

Fin~

p.s not ALL the shots were useless, i posted a nicer one of the three girls up on the slide show below, so check it out =) (good because of the subjects, not because of me ><)

The story of Princess Gorgeous....

2006-03-30T00:00:00.000+08:00

Ok, let me clarify something. It's 12 AM, i'm bored, dumb and Seamus Heaney just isn't working for me. So i've decided (thanks Marxha) to post on a special friend that should be an inspiration to you all =). Here she is!!!

*drumrolls*

TADA!:

No, not me you gaylords! I said She!! There!! cant you see? On my shoulder!! (Just as i take the shot as my Dad walks in XDDDD)

Her name is Princess Gorgeous!! and thanks to Evywevy she found her way to my house. Let me tell you her full life story.

Princess Gorgeous, was made in singapore. By Torto. Yes, just torto. When she was placed in a shop. You see, princess Gorgeous had dreams. She wanted to be a FREE turtle (torto, whatever) not free as in, cheap free, free as in, free like a bird free!! (did that make any sense?)

Well, anyway, Princess gorgeous had many dreams, some of which were:

Learning the finer arts of life, such as Poetry by Seamus Heaney, she wanted very much do go into university and do law (yes, you watch out Kenny), BUT THAT WASNT IT! Princess Gorgeous also :

Wanted to be a respected scientist!! She was eager to learn what makes up the world, the very essence of life, biology. (no Leon, she's not humping the microscope). Princess Gorgeous also wanted to:

CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE GLOBE! She wanted to see everything everywhere, she was very interested in different cultures, different languages. Indeed, although these may seem daunting, her one most daunting yet zealous ambition was :

Eating chocolate on top of the Keynesian Economic Model of Aggregate Expenditure *star wars music*.

Ok, so maybe not, but at least the first few were realistic.
*erhmm, anyway*

Princess Gorgeous was sitting in the shop one day, talking to her friends, Princess Kim,, Princess Sarah (PK and PS) and Princess Marxha (Mx). Princess Gorgeous was good looking, but she wasn't as talented as Princess Kim, nor was she as lovely and sweet as Princess Sarah, nor was she as cool and loved as Mx, who all incidentally happen to be the three most modest turtles alive, but we digress.

One day, princess Gorgeous was talking to PK and PS.
PG: *sighs* i wish i was as lovely, and talented as both of you
PK&PS happen to also be very nice.
PK: but you are!!
PS: yeah! dont you dare say you're not

Princess Gorgeous loved her two friends

PG: Haiz. <-(she's asian you see)
PG: if only i were more talented, sweet and cool.
PK: but you're lovely as you are
PS: yeah, you shouldn't change!
Mx: we all love you =)
PG: ah...i love you too bu-

*customer decides to buy PS&PK*

PG: NOOOO!!!!!!!
Mx: it's ok, let them go, they have a future somewhere else.
PG: but, they were my friends..
Mx: sometimes, in order to get far in life, you have to drop all you have and go wherever life takes you.

*customer decides to buy Mx*

Mx: Take care Princess Gorgeous!! I'm sure you'll get bought by somebody lovely!!weeeeee!

Princess Gorgeous wasn't feeling very happy. Her three best friends just left her. She spent the next two days missing her friends, and crying to herself, wondering why she wasn't being bought. Was it her green shell? Her big brown eyes? Her short stumpy legs? She couldn't tell. But what she DID do, was she kept hoping, kept dreaming, and kept being her wonderful self. Yet still nobody came to pick her up.

PG: Aiya, cham lo...how can? <- (the asian-ness emerges with frustration)

Until one day, she woke up, and somebody was staring at her!! WOW! She was so surprised, it was a pretty young lady, with long brownish hair, big nice brown eyes, she was a little short, but that didn't detract from her loveliness.

???: I like this one, it's cute.

Princess Gorgeous was Stunned!!! She was so shocked, she couldn't believe that somebody ACTUALLY wanted her!! She jumped for joy until -

???: Aiyerrr..not enough money. Have to go get some more

OH NO!! Princess Gorgeous cried out to the young lady

PG: Please dont leave me here!! I've been here so long, and i really want to fulfil so-

But the young lady interrupted her

???: YOU CAN TALK? ......nono, scratch that. *erhmm*

The young lady interrupted her:

???: dont worry! I promise you i'll be back!!

The young lady then ran off down the street. Princess Gorgeous watched until she was out of sight before letting off a sigh. But something told her to keep hoping, keep believing that the young lady would come back for her. So she did, she kept on believing.

One very stormy day, when rain was pouring everywhere and cars were piled up on the streets, business seemed bad. There weren't any customers, and generally the manager was in a foul mood. Princess Gorgeous waited out the whole day, for that young lady to return, but she didn't come back. Then, as the manager started to lock up, a figure in a rain coat BURST through the door, ran to princess Gorgeous, picked her up, plonked her on the counter, and asked the manager

???: How much? (Oblivious to the tag on PG which read $1sg)
Manager: erm....fifty-

But the mysterious figure pulled out a $100 bill, put it on the table, and walked out of the shop, Princess Gorgeous in hand. Princess Gorgeous was shocked. Needless to say it was unexpected, but the price that the young lady paid for her was utterly astounding. She just didn't deserve that type of price. As the rain-coated figure took PG into a room, PG couldn't help but ask

PG: Why did you pay that price for me? I didnt deserve it, i'm not cool, sweet, or talented enough for that type of price.
???: Really?
PG: yeah.
???: Well i think you are.

Princess Gorgeous was moved, the sincerity in the mysterious figure's voice made PG just believe that she had been purchased with a firm purpose.

PG: Wh-who are you? (PG stammered through tears.....added dramatism) The figure removed its raincoat to reveal.......

EVY!!!! The lovely girl on the left. =)

Princess Gorgeous was amazed at how beautiful Evy was, in fact, she recognised her as the girl that came before!! She kept her word!!

Evy: Cmon Princess! i'm taking you back to Perth! Where i'll put you in the care of another person!

Now princess Gorgeous didn't know where the hell Perth was, but she was willing to follow Evy anywhere now, and to meet this 'other person'

So Evy and Princess Gorgeous ventured back to Perth, where Evy handed princess Gorgeous over to *Drumroll*:

Me!!!!! Muahahah! Yes, Princess Gorgeous is with me now! There, you can see her sitting on top of my head =)

Princess Gorgeous, whist with me has fulfilled many of her dreams, AND MORE! Such as:

Learning how to play the guitar for starters, Princess Gorgeous has taken up a love for music!! And also:

Princess Gorgeous met Casper the Turtle!!!!! Who happens to be hell lazy but he's brilliant and funny. Isnt that right princess Gorgeous? *nods*

You see, the moral of the story of Princess Gorgeous is this:

No matter who you are, what you look like, where you live, what you do, there is always a somebody out there who will value you for what you are. As long as you keep dreaming, keep hanging on to those dreams, anything is possible for you. You never know, might even get some divine help when you need it =)

nb: those who are interested, read again and try to observe Christian context of story.

Well, now for the end of the story. Byebye!

--oh wait, what's that? Evy? what? How is princess Gorgeous?

Oh haha!! Yeah, she's fine. She's hanging around with me. (Literally, she hangs off my mobile phone) We've been playing music together, eating chocolate together. Trust me, she's happy here.

-plus, we've even been studying together.

Fin~

March of the Penguins~

2006-03-24T20:50:00.000+08:00

I've decided to blog about this movie that's coming out. It's interesting and different in some ways, no doubt there have been documentaries like it before but this just took it to a whole new level.

The movie's title is March of the Penguins, produced by Warner brothers i believe. The first thing that struck me is, well, why dont you formulate your own opinion? take a look:

Honestly, what other word can you use to describe that picture apart from cute. I think those guys are ADORABLE (assuming they're guys). I actually thought that they looked a bit like the mafia, you know? XD But i love the expression of the penguin on the right, he's covered in ice but seems somehow oblivious to it all Lol, damn i love that pic.

But then it occured to me, why in the world would you create a movie on penguins? a documentary-style movie at that. I mean, ok, lets be honest, not too many people are going to go to a documentary on penguins over a super action thriller sorta movie, and this is Warner brothers we're talking about, not some gay i-max filming company.

Yet i read a few reviews, and what they have to say was ....... how should i put this..it was moving. There are so many things that they say that just sorta...hit the spot you know? I'm (well, this is assuming that Warner Bros filmed for these reasons) very surprised AND impressed at the depth of the....well, not documentary anymore. The story.

You see, Penguins are cute and fluffy, yes. It's true, but that doesn't mean life is easy for them. Hello peoples? they live in the coldest regions of the earth? Life is exactly the opposite of easy for them, i wont go into extravagant biological detail about how they have a low surface to volume ratio, which helps them to retain heat.....(hence the chubbiness) nor the ingenius circulatory pattern that is carried out in the blood coming up from their feet (come on, they're freaking standing on ice) but i will tell you if you ask XD (everybody sighs - but Rob wants to hear. Ok i'll tell you at school >.>)

The film, whilst focusing on penguin anatomy, tends to move away from the amazing structural adaptations that penguins possess. However it does focus on the other thing that helps them to survive, most of us dont even realise it. See if you can pick it up from the next picture:

i can see about ..... 3 people understanding what i'm talking about and the rest just look at me blankly (no, Kim relax, i'm assuming you're in the three XD *coughNcoughEcouchRcoughD*)

You see, the amazing thing about penguins. We all go "OMG!!!!! ITS A PENGUIN!!!!HOW CUTEEEE OMG! ITS ANOTHER PENGUIN!!!! KAWAIIII" and then do something like faint for girls or....something random for boys (like try to catch it XD) but HAVE you ever noticed that you will rarely ever see a penguin on its own?

Ahh....enlightened.

It's what we biologists call a 'behavioural adaptation' and it's what others would see as a simple word : teamwork. Penguins group together, not just because they like it, it's because they have to. It helps to maintain a constant body temperature in the frigid temperatures of antarctica/arctic. Of course, this just happens to suit Warner Bros because they all look so awesome huddled up like that. I think this is cute :

Lol, look at the little guy!! How awesome is that? It's amazing how penguins are almost alike humans in the way they look after their young. But dont you find it just amazing? i know that everytime i spot penguins in a group, i'm like...that is really smart.

Of course, the advantage of Warner Bros making this film is that you will encounter (in the film) some extra-ordinary shots of penguins in their natural habitat. Some of these shots may be damn cute, as such:

This incidentally reminds me of myself and my two best friends. (i know that Kim and Sarah can guess who's who) The one on the right randomly jumping for joy...that would be me. Then looking at me as if i were some idiot, would be Leon, and trying to figure out what this greyish fluffly substance is on his body would be Rob XD Damn that is awesome. but we digress.

Then there is the purely artistic side, and the shot i'm about to show you really...although obviously there is some artistic bias...it shows how gentle and caring these creatures really are:

I love that shot. Such artistry, such proffesionalism. which reminds me, i gotta send Cuz over to antarctica to get her to take me some shots like that.

But the thing that really stunned me was the anthropological way (that is - the human-like way) the film views the penguins. Really, it's true. From reading the reviews, and going to the website (just google, "march of the penguins") It tries to aliken humans to penguins or rather vice versa. I think that's not only creative but also the way things should be done. It proves that whilst we humans think we're smart, beautiful, positively radiating perfection, - which, for some of you, is quite true ;)

- God made other animals (although humans above them) just as beautiful, cute, yet smart in their own way. When we realise this, perhaps the on-going environmental destruction we partake of in the guise of 'obtaining raw materials' will come to a halt. Sounds naively simple doesn't it, but i'll keep it there, although i know things aren't that simple.

It (the film) also points out that life is a March, a march to our objective, a goal in life that we set, that we are willing to achieve. Life is a struggle, it's not easy, but whatever happens we just gotta keep marching right on.

But in short (or long rather =\) Warner Brothers is speaking out strongly through this movie. I commend them on an obviously excellent job done, and i encourage all of you to go watch the movie, watching out for the finer points that the film attempts to extrapolate =)

I'll watch it too, for sure. But until it's released (April sometime?) i guess i'm gonna have to settle for walking like a penguin - or waddling, if you will.

Fin~

Randomness~

2006-03-22T23:19:00.000+08:00

You know, i'm gonna blog about randomness. Why? because around.....60% of my friends are complete randoms. Not as in, i-dont-know you randoms, but like .....they do random random RANDOM things.

I mean, today Leon, Pas and I were eating lunch, when they suddenly start talking about a family guy episode, for those of you who watch, the one with the cookie monster in it. The conversation revolved around Pasteur randomly getting up and acting out scenes from the movie. One of such was when the cookie monster was banned from eating cookies, so he's caught in the toilet trying to light up some cookie dough with a pilot flame as such :

i thought it was funny, until Pasteur then gets up for the second act. I didn't catch it all, but you have to hear it to really appreciate how funny it was. Pasteur gets up:

*starts pretending to shove cookies in mouth*
*Leon and Jon burst out laughing*
*people staring*
Pasteur: *Munch munch what are you l-*munchmuncH* looking at??"
*laughing escalates*
Pasteur(in a very funny voice): YOu guys are nazis man!

now, tell me if that's not random XD. Apparently he was trying to mimick the cookie monster from a certain episode, but that's another story altogether.

Then there's Evy, who is definitely one of the most random beings on earth. No, seriously. She's damn funny, but freaking random as well. I let her run off with my camera one youth session last year. here are some photos she took :

Yeap....that's a random sign, and a female toilet bowl. Randomness manifest. Come to think of it....almost everybody i know is random to a relatively high degree. I say relatively because most of the people i observe that aren't that close to me, dont seem too random. Rob? now he's pure random. I can remember in English Lit today :

*Mr Sunderland is feeling proud of the class...we seem to be catching onto the answers very well*

Mr S: So when Heaney says, the vital Hoarde is reducing..what is he talking about?

Rob: ...egg.

Mr S: What? what did you say?

Rob: ...err the egg.
Me: The EGGS!
Rob*enthusiastically*: EGGS! THE EGGS!
Me: THE EGGS!

Mr S: -_-'

Which in context isn't too bad...because believe it or not, we weren't too far off...but it was good fun XD. but how about this, may i be so bold to suggest that girls, in general (yes Kim, general) are more capable of being random than guys. It's true!! Next time you're in a group of girls and guys, try to observe.

Speaking of random, how about shows like south park? where i recently read an article that said:

Chef arrives after travelling the world with the Super Adventure Club and repeatedly tells the children he wants to "make sweet love" to them.

The children take him to a psychiatrist and then a strip club, where he remembers his love for women and is cured.

But he is brainwashed by the Super Adventure Club again - before falling off a bridge and being burned, stabbed and mauled by a lion and a grizzly bear.

Uh huh. what the crap.

Well personally, i dont believe that i'm too random. I guess my cuz knows that on the odd occasion i get high on coffee, water whatever's available and tend to do stupid things, such as smack moths out of the air and other stuff. Or my ability at 5 am in the morning to start talking about topics so off tangent that nobody can understand me.

But, be honest. Compared to some people, that's not random at all. I mean, my friends came back from a party, where one of my friends apparently got owned by a cactus. Yes, a cactus. This was his (Gooch's) story.

*Gooch and Dude walking around barefoot*

Gooch: *steps on a cactus* AH @!%()!
Dude: Woah man, what's wrong?
Gooch: @%()@! cactus!
Dude: Woah man, hold up, i got your back

*Dude rips cactus out of the ground and throws it onto the roof*

Gooch: nice =)

-_-" Maybe i just hang around random people, that's all. Bleh, but before i leave you, guess what i just found. Very interesting article on the net, take a look:

Nine athletes have gone missing from the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australian police say.

Seven are from Sierra Leone and have not been seen for two days. The others are from Tanzania and Bangladesh.

Team officials have said they have no idea if the athletes are hoping to apply for asylum in Australia.

Good work there >.>

Fin~

Comfort zone~

2006-03-16T21:43:00.000+08:00

I feel inspired to blog about this. I hear many people talk about it, and the school captain 2 years ago seemed to love this theme. It's the 'comfort zone' thingo. I'm sure that all of you have heard it in at least one point of your life, seriously. It's inevitable.

But then again, it's perfectly true. And THAT is why i'm gonna try to explain it to you, using illustrations! (everybody likes pictures) =) So, if you're in a picture, and you dont like it...too bad ! Step OUT of your comfort zone XD

Well, lets put it this way, everybody has different comfort zones. But they basically illustrate the same purpose. The Comfort Zone (CZ) is a place where you feel at home, comfortable, 'in the zone', if you will. It's the 'home' in chasey, it's the bomb shelter in Germany. For some people, lets see, it may be.....music? take a look at good ol' Kenny here.

He's in his comfort zone, right there, with his guitar. No people, just him. What's he achieving? peace and quiet? comfort maybe? yeah. There we go. Comfort. He's in his comfort zone. What else does Kenny like doing? oh yeah, he happens to be a very adept tennis player. Here we go:

Alongside with Rob, they're in their comfort zone. Not pushing the limits, barely even breaking a sweat. They're just enjoying a leisurely game of tennis. (in fact they're picking on Ken's dad, who's all alone on the other side....but that's besides the point) Whilst they may be in the zone right now. Are they achieving optimum results? Are they pushing themselves to a point that they reach this whole new level of standard?

Hell no! They're barely even moving! It's American doubles damnit!

How about a new example. Who likes music? yeah that would be most of you. Now, take a look at Collin, Leon and my cousin Elena.

All of them. Extra-pro musicians. All of them have mastered their instruments, Leon and his electric guitar, Collin and his keyboard/marimba/piano, Elena and her guitar.

Now. Do YOU really think that they got to that level from just sitting there, like in the photo?
Who said yes? Ok that's it, get out!

Who said no? yeaa, there we go. Of course they didn't! Leon for one, i know used to practise his guitar around 5 hours a day. That's the only way he got to that level in under a year. (damn good if you ask me.) Collin and Elena have been practising diligently (i assume) for years now! Which is the reason why they're so pro, obviously. I freely admit, there is some genius to their playing, but we'll leave that out for now. Main point being they didnt just hang around their instruments. Can you learn piano from sitting on the piano seat? rite.

Ever heard the motto : Work hard play hard? It's true., Believe it. Look at this guy:

Ken again. He's having a ball playing on his PSP! This is the same guy who used to study 6 hours a day. Ok ok ok, i know, not a very good illustration. but i thought the pic was cute. How about this, just for Kim.

There was one time we used to pretty much go out to dinner every Friday. It would be just a normal family dinner. But during my exam period, my parents told me if i worked my ass off, they'd take me out to a special dinner (it was my mother's birthday anyway >.> but oh well...)
Guess what i had waiting for me at the dinner table? ...in a resteraunt the night of my final test:

I loved that dinner. I really did. Do you know WHY? Because i WORKED WORKED WORKED for it!!!!!! *calms down*. It's true, it tastes so much better if you work for it. Tastes EVEN better if you've cooked it yourself (i'm the exception there though ><). (yea Kim?).

SO what am i getting at! Executive summary. point number one:
1) If you DONT get out of your comfort zone, you'll never achieve anything!!! This culminates itself in the next picture:

Where a hungry quokka decided, "Screw it, i'm hungry, that guy is scary but i'll bear it to get MY CHIP!" CLEARLY, the quokka (it's name is now Weeble) CLEARLY, Weeble has stepped out of his comfort zone, to obtain his goal. his prize. His chip. We can all learn something from Weeble.

My second point: if you work hard, then you can play hard. or rather, if you WORK HARD then you can PLAY HARD(ER). Up to you if u want to implement the brackets ><, but if you dont work at it, you'll never be good at it. All the TEE 99.95 students reported in their interviews that the only way to achieve such a good score was through, "continuous, diligent hard work." Amen to that.

Now, i know that i'm not the model student to say this. I'm lazier than C****r, and i know most of you are far more hardworking than i. If that is the case (which it most certainly will be), Keep up the good work!! Hard work PAYS OFF. it REALLY DOES, if you dont believe me then try it for yourself!! The evidence is everywhere!

Ah ok, now that i've stressed my point. Comfort zones. Where is my comfort zone? actually this was my original reason to blog about this =\ but i guess i got a little carried away. Hmm, i tried searching for my 'comfort zone'. I guess i found it in a few places, here's one:

Yeah. i love sport. Even if i'm not good at it (99% of the time) i still enjoy playing all forms of sport, even to an extent, golf XD Sports is good, healthy and fun! I believe it is one of my comfort zones. Then we have

Yeaaaah, that illustrates 3 of my comfort zones. The first is obvious, music. I love my music, my piano and everything else that involves music. The second are my friends/youth group, who i am convinced are the most awesome people in the world. And the third, is well, who i'm singing to/playing for. My God, who is THE comfort zone. or rather the COMFORT zone. When everything is all turbid and topsy turvy, i guess God's always the one who straightens things out, back to equilibrium.

But i bet you all knew that didn't you? You needn't look too far to see His creations in their comfort zone. (as one of His creations, we are rightfully always in our comfort zone near to Him) but in (and i feel like i'm becoming Seamus Heaney- natural poet) nature, things just seem to work. You notice? Flowers, i quote from the bible, "Look at the lillies of the field, they do not spin or weave, yet not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these" Even if you aren't a christian, i'm sure you'll agree with me.

If you dont, then go run around naked in a shopping center, and tell me what happens.

Fin~

I can only imagine//

2006-03-12T20:51:00.000+08:00

I got a little something for you guys. Provided you have a faster internet connection. I pray this doesn't kill your bandwidth ><. This is a pure photo blog, i decided to go for a walk, and take a camera with me. I live in a beautiful estate, why not make the most of it?

Although my photog skills aren't...er.....good, i hope that nature compensates for that ><, if only i had a pro photographer with me...*eyes two individuals*. I'll also give u the lyrics for a song by Mercy Me "i can only imagine". It's a beautiful song, go download it.(and play it while u read this XD) But with the photos, i hope it....well, hits something home.

Well, here we go. I decided to plonk off down, it was quite late....6 o clock. Mimi was jumping around, wanted to follow me apparently, so, yeah why not, i took her along too. Off we go then!

Decided to take these, notice how they're all pointing towards the sun? Well, just picture that the sun's up there. All pretty as a bunch..

I can only imagine....what it will be like...

And absolutely beautiful as individuals.

When i walk...by Your side..i can only imagine, what my eyes will see...when your face, is before me. I can only imagine.

Mimi always takes the lead, (literally, har har XD)

I can only imagine.

There are a few small lakes, ponds, if you will, running through Glen Iris, some are nice. But two in particular are my favorites.

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel?

Obviously the golf course is there. The sun was beginning to set about now, had to snap some of these shots off fast..

will i dance for you Jesus?

These are so nice. I forget the name of them. I should ask my Dad, but there's only a bunch of them growing in this remote park that i like to walk to.

Or in awe of You be still?

This tree is alot bigger than i make it look. The camera didn't catch it so much, but there was a bright ray of sun shining on the top of the tree that isn't so visible in this photo, but still. Nice tree huh?

will i stand in Your presence? or to my knees would i fall...

This was a nice sort of sunset in the distance type photo, and i almost felt inclined to take it.

Would i sing hallelujah? would i be able to speak at all?

It's so green...and alive i guess. Green's a nice colour (isn't it Evy?).

I can only imagine......yeah.....

Need i say why i took this shot?

I can only imagine.

Hope you guys liked that. It took me quite a while to set it up XD. I'm obviously not too pro at it, so gimme a while. That wont be the first time i do that XD i think it was quite fun! But onto more serious matters....When you do go for a walk, it's easy to do it for the sake of fitness. It really is.

But i challenge you , next time you take a walk, go look around. Look at nature, simple nature, God's creations. Or even if you're an athiest or a person of a different religion. Go look at how exquisite and delicate nature is. It makes you wonder, could all of this happened by chance? is this all the product of some scientific theory?

Or is there something more behind it. Is there something that flows through all these trees, flowers, birds, waters...that connects us all? Something more powerful perhaps?

Yeah. I know i think there is.

Can you imagine...

Fin~

p.s posted quite recent after the last blog, see if you've read that one yet.
p.s.s Happy birthday Jen!

So how's life?

2006-03-11T22:45:00.000+08:00

Soo.....how's life? (this is the 'trademark' question/greeting, if you will, of my cousin Kenneth Lee.) apparently he asks it so often that his mum gets quite annoyed whenever he does ask it. But you know, it's important, i think, to ask people what's going on in life. I mean, you dont ask, you dont know rite? Unless they're nice enough to tell you...but we digress.

Anyway, i just came back from youth, woaaa mum talked for a long time about ...almost everything XD but it was good. About time we got some solid teaching. For those youth that read my blog, i need your help in the talent night listings, please contact me soon! if you're the leader of an item especially. =) thankyouu

My Dad's taken up painting. I'm not sure if i've mentioned this before, but yes, he has. Painting, of all things. Not only now, does the smell of pungent turpentine run through the house, but the gamesroom is filled with assorted paints and basically radiates the smell of ....well...paint =\. I went in there to watch TV, 5 minutes later i come out with a massive headache. But you know, i'll hand it to my Dad. I never knew he could paint.

Nonono, dont get me wrong. He's not retarded or anything. But he actually paints....decent-good paintings. Really, i try to hide my shock when he uncovers... 'unveils' (so he terms it) his new paintings. They're actually...well, they resemble something =\. Which makes it sound kinda crap, but they're like, accurate, they're good. He's obviously got quite an artistic vision. Which brings me to my point.

How the hell did i end up like this?

Geez, i struggle when drawing stick figures. Just ask Rob or Lawrence, one day in History our teacher asked us to promote capitalism with a cartoon. Sure i did, with stick figures. Apparently lawrence thought it was a few female protesters getting shot by Government officials outside the Kremlin. (dont ask me where that came from.) But back to my point, i have absolutely no artistic talent. I really dont, anybody who knows me well enough will agree wholeheartedly. So....right there, i've proved Lamarckism (another evolution theory) wrong. Abilities aren't passed down to generations to come. Thank goodness in a sense, dont want my kids to be retarded...

Well, i'll put up a photograph that i took in Guilin, China. One of the most beautiful places on earth (in my opinion). Have a look. My Dad wants to draw it.

Beautiful isn't it? I love how the fog sorta just covers the tops of the mountain. Gives it the whole, misty - traditional look. It's exactly like how you see in the PROPER photos/paintings. I mean, maybe you cant see the beauty because of my horrible photography skills. But, you know, even with my crap skills, there is still an element of beauty inside that shot, and inside my head. Nothing beats the real thing. Damn, i should pack Cuz and Kim inside my bag, just to take nice shots next time. Oh well.

So i left my Dad too it, i think he's trying it now. He's obsessed with painting. He did it till like 1 yesterday, which was psycho/crazy (or both). But in a sense, it's good to see that he's found something that he loves doing, everybody should have something that they love doing. I know for a fact that whilst he was doing that, i was sitting right here listening to my music. (i didnt sleep too late cuz ><)

Hobbies are important. It gives you a sense of...belonging? proffesionalism? purpose? yeah. i like the last term the best. I can name a few people who have different hobbies, Leon and his electric guitar, Cuz with Photog, and i think Kim's the same too....Dad's painting, David's drawing....Wei Wei's cooking...Crosby and his bass...lots more too.

A hobby reflects your personal style i think. For example. I love photography. Cant do it for crap, but i love seeing a GOOD photo. Which is probably why i'm related to my cousin, who happens to be one of the most pro photographers i know. And she knows Kim (who i adopted as a cousin against her will XD) who is also uber pro at photography. We love to see an awesome photo, whether it be a photo that captures all the wrath of a fiery volcano, or one that portrays the simplicity of nature in the clouds. People can tell that we like that stuff, we're more into the beautiful side of the world. Leon on the other hand, he loves his electric guitar. He's bloody good at it as well. But if i got him to look at a photo of a beautiful sunset.....i honestly dont think my best friend would feel any more emotion than if he just stepped on an ant.

It's just the difference. Am i making sense? it's really hard to explain, i'm sorry. But maybe some of you get it. Most of you will know that i'm obsessed with music. And that's my hobbie. What does it say about me? i have no idea actually. I really dont know if it says anything about me at all. But all i can say is that when i play music...i feel that i've got a purpose, that i'm doing something that i'm decent at. It's the sense of belonging.

And then of course, there's God. Who gives me and every other christian in the world a sense of purpose, but He's in His own massive league....

Meh, it's quite late. I think this week has taught me alot. I know now what is important to me, and what is not. yeah....i learnt alot this week. I hope that it stays in my head...

OH OH before i go, everybody......WISH JENNY A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! (Type it in the chat box....now -.-) Happy birthday to our most loved Jenny!!! Tomorrow, i'm sure you'll be so surprised!!! Awww go my little sis!!!!!! =) She's so cool. Haiz, all these popular people, tsk tsk, makes you wonder doesn't it?

I can only imagine...what it will be like, when i walk by Your side.....

Fin~