Thoughts Lingers In My Head

I had just finish two of papers and am awaiting my final one. While many of the people around had already started and finished, well before I even started, it was horrible to be sitting in your room and studying while others around me enjoy the breath of freedom. I can't wait to have my own share of my freedom well after tomorrow, after the most trying paper that I had been busily preparing for, Java. Anyway, I can't to finish my third last paper of my uni life here.

Third last paper? Yeh, its drawing closer by the minute. Studying for the exams have allowed me on many occasion to think of my uni life, what have I done, what have I accomplish. I can say at least I don't think I have accomplish much. Five years have gone so very quickly. I have been active and spend most of my time serving in CF. I have manage to be able to do some things that I never dreamt that I could do before like be a leader, organise Cyber Christmas, getting people together for MMCG, dance, write a script. I realise that all of this are just a fragment of life and nothing more. At times I wonder that it is all just work.

Despite my active involvement, I feel lonely and isolated at times. I feel I have just accomplish dreams and plans yet failed to bridge relationship with my fellow brothers and sisters. I can see many of them enjoying time together, going places together and having good laugh. In my heart, I do want to join and be apart of the fun. I realise too that I haven't been good in connecting with people very well. I feel theres this gap between me and the people around me that I can't seem to understand why. It just dawn upon that I have always been like this since I was in school. I hid behind the crowd maintaining a relatively low profile. My friends are mainly not the most happening and obvious bunch of people. At times, its just figuring out where you actually fit in into community. Just been thinking about it.....social boundaries

A Week Of Absence

Its been almost a week away from this desert land, back in the comfort of home where food is applenty and sleep is in abundance. It has been a very much relaxing week for me as I stayed home alone while my two sisters were preparing for their examinations. Mine doens't start till the end of next week. I guess the young shall becoming first and the old shall become last.

One of the reason I decided to stayed back home was because of food. I describe Cyber a food wasteland. Alot of the stalls in campus have closed for no apparent reasons. However, many illegal stalls have sprang up long the road near Cyberia giving an impression of a night market in progress. Many people can be seen getting the nightly fix of supper. I can still remember the first stall that set camp along Jalan Multimedia. It was a van selling nasi lemak that was operated by one of MMU security personel. I have not seen the van any longer. What I have seen is a myriad of new stalls selling things from food to shisha to VCD. However, I just heard recently that the local council paid a visit due to a tip-off, supposedly from the mamak shop in Cyberia and summoned them all.

Back at home, I spend an enormous amount of time sleeping. Bed has seem to the best place to study and doze off as well. One of the motivation is due to the countless interesting and weird dreams I had. No wonder they call me Joseph, the dreamer.

Despite the comfort, I had manage to study a relative good amount to prepare myself for the exams. Though its quite normal to procrastinate knowing that your exams is still along way to go. We normally get all geared up when nearing the exam dates. Guess, its a natural driving for us to get serious with work.

Its been an interesting week, a week of comfort, a week of mugging behinds the book and a week of maturity. Maturity in how I view life is. I realise how innocent I am to what goes around me. There been many times I ask myself whether I up to it in facing the world out there. Up to making decisions on my own without my parents concent. Able to support myself without my parents supervision. Have I really matured and grown up? I doubt myself at times because decisions that I try to make for myself at times seem to not have my parents blessing. Coming from a protective parents, I questioned that a lot. I know that every decision they have for me is for my own good and for my benefit. At times, I disagree with their suggestion yet choose to obey because I know they want the best for me. How long would I need to wait to receive their blessings? What would I need to do to earn their blessing?

So Much For So Little

Mom came down from Seremban via the KTM Komuter to KL. Her visit was to get the tickets for our trip to Kuching at the end of this month. The trip was an impromptu thing as my parents just told us that they wanted to go for a family vacation as it was the holidays and they wanted to make it before I start my training in early September. Its a pity that I would not be able to make it for CF Camp which start on the 29th. However, I am planning to make a short trip to PD just to get the feel of it before I leave on the following day.

I can't seem to wait for the holidays to begin. My trip to Kuching has been much more earlier than expected. I was planning to make a trip down there after I graduate next year in time for the Gawai Festival and also the Rainforest Festival. Besides that, I would want to pay a visit to my dearest "big sister" Purdey. Now, my visit to Big sister is so much earlier and to be able to have a preview before my official trip to Sarawak next year.

The big Mega Sale that is happening all over the country had started in the late months of July and would be ongoing till end of this month. I didn't think that I would be able to go for any of them. However, things change and I manage to pay a visit to Isetan Lot 10 after visiting the MAS office in central KL. I had initially decided to pay a visit to Bently to get some drum sticks and since I was around the area, mind as well kill two birds with one stone. I was shock at the things that I got after the two hours visit to Isetan. Knowing that I am a person who is very thrifty in my spending when it comes to shopping, I couldn't believe that I manage to get quite a lot of stuff. The reason behind my spending spree was it was an offer not to be miss.

I got my a pair of Adidas running shoes that was retailed at RM300 but had its price slashed into half, a cool T-shirt from Plastic with a logo that reads "Chairman of the Board" and two drum sticks (a Japanese Oak Ka Shi TAMA 7A & a signatured Mike Portnoy (Dream Theatre) Millenium II Pro-Mark 420). There were some items that I didn't get to buy one being guitar strings (didn't know the number for the strings) and a Nike fisherman cap that was only RM34 (retail at RM69). It wasn't an easy task getting myself to get all this things as I needed to go on more than two or three rounds to decide on whether to get it all of this things or not. I don't why but I was have tough decision when it comes to buying things. Sometimes I wonder whether I am merely choosing to save money and sacrifice my earthly desires or am I just being to fussy about things not being perfect enough to purchase. I always search for the cheapest, the best and the most useful product in the market, which is hard to come by. However, at the end of the day, I am happy with what I had bought.

Plastic Shirt, Adidas shoe and 2 Drum Sticks

Besides the shopping, I managed to catch a glimpse of what was happening outside the shopping mall when I was walking over the road from Bently to Lot 10. There seem to be a street carnival going on. Stages were being set up for some kind of display and I was fortunate to catch a group of musicians in actions outside Lot 10. There were playing familiar tunes with various kitchen utensils besides being accompanied by a guitarist and bassist. People were starting to stop by to witness this interesting group.

The English Premier League fixtures has begun and it was a sensational opening to the season when I witness my favourite team, Arsenal thrashed Everton 4-1. The Arsenal spirit is still in the hearts of the players even with a few new faces on the pitch. May Arsenal continue to maintain their unbeaten record and capture the League title once again.

GOAL! The feeling to finally score a goal after 4 sessions of futsal was undenialbly amazing. I realised that I am more calm and compose compared to previous outings. My footwork is getting better although I believe there is more to learn. There have been many chances in front of goal and many times I miss those oppurtunities to score. Guess, it takes time to get comfortable to a certain game. I am beginning to enjoy football a lot more. Besides, the weekly futsal meetings keeps be in shape in one way or another.

Weekend is here and I have decided to spend a week back home. It was a spur of moment kind of thing as I initially wanted to be back in campus to prepare for my exams the following week. This was because I would have thought that studying at home would be a major struggle looking at the comfort and distractions that are at home. However, I realised that the difficulty to study is not influence by a place alone but by the desire of my heart to do so. I decided to give it a try to study and make myself believe that I am not studying for myself but for someone far greater than me. I guess this is the only driving force I have right now to study at home. Its going to be tough but I believe that I needed to change my mindset in terms of studies. There has been some progress today and I hope my engine starts churning and get fired up till the day I start my exams.

3 Guys, A Girl and A Year Older

I had manage to have lunch with Leona, Beatrice and Kae Ee after posting a status online asking anyone in the cyber nation that would like to eat. It was a rare occasion to meet up with people from Cyberia for lunch or dinner except maybe the weekly meetup at CF or birthday celebration. At times, I feel that there seem to be a missing link between people from Cyberia and Hostel. Its hard at times to meet up because of the distance and due to convenience, it is much easier for us to mix around with people near to us. Even for myself, going to Cyberia would be a hassle. However, if there is an oppurtunity to mix around I would not mind joining or even organising things for such fellowship.

We went out to Dengkil to have lunch at one of the shops. It was already nearing 2pm and most of the food were almost sold out. We couldn't be choosy but chose the shops that had some pork to savour.

I went back and did some Java Programming. Speaking of which, Beatrice thought that I had programed one of my slides with the Friendsters background in Java. It did fool her but I didn't want to take the credit to myself but told her honestly that it was just a simple print screen technique. Anyway, attempted my assignment that I had to hand up the following day. I did had some reference for it but decided to type it all out again and modify to make it works. It was a hassle to go through the program, compile it and finding errors popping up everywhere. The challenge and the interesting part was identifying and eliminating those errors. A lot could be learned if we write it our own by refering to books or other materials. I didn't want to just take someone else work and copy it. Its a culture for many in MMU to do such but I asked myself one day, what would I learned in the end? Just the basic cut and paste technique that we have grown so accustom to that we do not even feel any wrong fo doing such.

Later in the night, I attended an MMCG (Makan Minum CG) gathering at HB3. We were there to celebrate the foursome birthday kids namely Desmond, Wee Liem, Jia Wern and Alicia. Many people gathered to celebrate their big day. It was a normal and simple affair. We ordered our food, sat and ate, fellowship, wish them all, cut cake, sing song and departed our own respective ways. Many of us couldn't stay for long as most of us have exams in the coming weeks. Mine is oretty far off as I still ahve two more weeks to go. The more time we have the more we take time for granted.

Wee Liem, Desmond, Jia Wern and Alicia (clockwise)

Studies have been rather slow. Manage only to finish what I started yesterday though I went through some codes that might help me cover other chapters. I am concentrating on my Java as I didn't really do that well for mid terms. Hearing Mr. Lam mentioning that its going to be a programming based exams, I quickly harkened to his advice to start practicing.

I ended the day by watching a very interesting documentary on TV3 that depict the life in Iraq and what it is like to be under Saddam Hussein governance. It was an interesting thing to learn who he is and where he is coming from. What was even more compelling was this journalist who went to the war torn country to interview the people to get a first hand account of what Iraq is like.

Lord & Me

Wacky Wednesday

Nescafe & 8TV Carnival At MMU

Mice in the Skeletons

Wall Climbing

Sumo Wrestling

Free New Chewing Gum by Cadbury

Industrial Training Briefing

Almost the whole of Epsilon gathered at XR1002 to be brief on our industrial training which we would be going for in the following. I had taken my log book (engineer's version of a diary) and the uni offer letter the day before. Dr. Teo came to brief us instead of the dean, Dr. Chuah who was away on official business. The whole lecture hall was packed and everyone apparently pass by HB3 or Central Plaza as almost everyone was chewing on the free chewing gum that was given away, even Dr. Teo himself. He brief us on the log book and what to do when working in the assigned companies. The entired briefing took about 15 minutes with an additional 15 minutes of questionaires from the floor. It seems everytime Dr. Teo speaks it would be a full house. I couldn't help but find him pretty funny as he resembles a typical ah pek who could crack a joke or two.

I came across a site that my churchmate, Jocelyn had recommended to me. She has been glued to it ever since she got her broadband. For those who have the same interest as me in lifestyle, home deco or interior and have a sufficient enought of bandwidth to view it, do check out MSN Video for some cool short clips.

I had initially planned to watch I Robot with Terry and Khang Yee but I decided to pull out as I was feeling tired and wanted to do some studying. Furthermore, I was kind of lazy to travel out and at the same time had little fuel in my car. I ended up downloading the movie and watching it in the comfort of my lil hostel room while indulging on Chicken Chop and a packet of fries from HB1.

Movie Title : I.Robot
Cast : Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Alan Tudyk, James Cromwell
Plot Outline: In the year 2035 a techno-phobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
My Rating : 4.5/5

I would have to say that eventhough I watched it in my comp the VCD version of this show, I would have to say that this is simply a very very good show. Imagine what it be like if I were to be in a cinema watching the special effects and hearing the cool sound effects on big screen. I truly enjoy the storyline and how it interconnects with an old storybook tale, Hanzel and Gratel. Leaving breadcumbs that would lead them back. Will Smith simply exuberate a very cool yet sarcastic demenour and I would also say that Bridget Moynahan was interesting to look at. The intensity and action in the drama especially the depiction of the humans versus robots was well displayed. Sunny, the modified NS-5 was the icon of the whole movie. Imagine a robot that had feelings. He also had the choice of not obeying the 3 laws set aside for the robots. There were many similarities to other movies which had been made before namely A.I, Minority Report and Matrix. I was pretty much captivated by the Audi and also the other elements of tech gadget on display. In the whole movie, the tagline that caught my attention was the hologram of Dr. Lanning which said, "My intelligence are limited. You must ask the right question." How true it is in life that at times we ask the wrong questions and not get the right answers.

Pictures courtesy of IMDB

It was time that I started on my studies after an exciting show. Manage to read up a little on my Java, Exception Handling though at times I was kind of distracted by my roomie watching Van Welder : National Lampoon. A fun but crappy show.

Ludo

Tonight was going to be the last CF meeting for the semester. I was given the task of planning out the evaluation of the entire sem. The task was given to me quite a while ago but I never did ponder upon until the last 2 weeks ago. I wanted to do something different besides the normal kind of evaluation session. Mainly, I wanted to be creative and at the same time drive a strong message through. Hours of thinking and imagining seem fruitless. My initial idea was to have a monopoly session that includes topics of what we had done so far this semester. However, I couldn't seem to drive a clear message through. I said a simple prayer and ask God to give me some ideas on how to organise this evaluation.

On the next day, I woke up for prayer as it was the last one for the sem. We officially announce World Student Week and have decided to pray for Sunway College for this sem. Besides that, my fellow room mate, Chris shared about his time in MMU since it was going to be his final sem. After breakfast, I came back and set down and tried to think of how to prepare for tonights CF. Suddenly, the though of an old game I used to play before when I was young came into the picture. It was a game called "Ludo" (I only found out after making some research on Google.) I decided to download the rules and some software to try it out. After half an hour, I suddenly felt the urge to answer to a very Big Business. Of I went to clear some workload, and ALAS, a message to connect to the game struck my mind. I thank God for His revelation. It seems to me that the best places to come up with an idea or though is when I'm discharging. Output allows input.

Off I set out preparing the slides for it. I asked Leona to do a wrapup of the whole sem. Besides that, I decided not to go about printing forms for people to evaluate what had happened but do it in a more personal way by conducting a forum or a discussion.

I started out the game and there were alot of confusion and it took a lot of time. I was changing the rules and regulation of the game ever so often just to get more people involve in it after seeing many sitting down aimlessly without much need of participation. It was beginning to get a bit boring and decided to end the game as soon as possible although no one did manage to go back to home base. Then, I began to explain the implication of the game and why I did it. Here is a brief roundout of it.

The game is divided into two areas;

1. The inside of the board = Christians
2. The outside of the board = non-Christians

The inside of the board is further divided into two areas;

1. Inside the track = fellow CF members
2. At home = fellow core CF members

The main objective of the game was to get everyone back to home. The dize signifies the different obstacles and chances in life. When we roll a six, it means we are able to obtain a pass or invitation to join into the track (CF). We are able to move nearer to the home everytime we roll the dize. A higher number, a further distance. I added another rule that is if we roll a two, we need to go back two paces. Sometimes, we get discouraged in CF we move away from the home. As we are in the track, we would have competition. Some will rise, others will fall. We would be kicked out at times or blocked by others. Those who are kicked out would be those we do not see in CF any longer. For some, we are blocked by circumstances or even people from moving on in CF. During the game, I noticed a lot of commotion between people in the track and out of the track. People out the track doens't seem to be getting into the track even after much persuasion. It shows that at times we find it difficult to ask our non-Christian friends to come for CF. All in all, the game ended with no one getting back to home. Are most of us currently just staying in the track and not reaching home? Are we at home yet?

This academic year we are focusing in building one another and caring for one another with God love. Building the CF once again. In like of the CF, I did mention before that there arent many new members and the current attendance are dwindling. How are we to build the CF once again? Is each one of us taking hold of the CF and proclaiming it as theirs. I really do want to see the CF back and alive again, just like the good old times, especially when I was still a junior. Someone mention in my group during the discussion that there must be more interaction between juniors and seniors. I guess its time for more action and less talk that we are able to bring CF back together. My training next sem would prove useful and would allow me to fellowship more with the juniors.

Love Actually

I sat down with my sis to indulge in yet another movie that had taken so long just to see it. I would pressume that this was going to be the last movie that we ever going to watch together espeically when our finals would be coming soon in a weeks time. For those who do not know, the reason why I mention "our finals" is because all three of us are studying in MMU. It seems the Wongs have already left their mark in MMU and this is going to be the first time all of us will be sitting for our exams at the same time.

We sat down after lunch to watch "Love Actually". It was a Christmas love story that had many famous actors in it such as Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson and Kiera Knightley, to name a few. It was a different beginning for a movie. A picture of people arriving back at the arrival hall as family and friends awaits their love ones and a kiss or hug greets them. All in all, it was love actually. The movie depicts various life of different people and it may seem confusing in the beginning for those who do not see the relations to each of them. There seem to a indirect relations such as music, events and speech that seem to relate to each of them. A clearer picture to this relationship would soon be uncovered later in the movie as you see the connection with each other through a friend, peers, workmate and family. The ending of the movie was simply remarkable as it brought all the different people back to a similar place which was the airport arrival hall. The beginning seem to make even more sense to the beginning. Overall, I would agree to many that this show is nice to watch. However like any British movie, there would be an occasional scene of nudity in it especially the scene that depicts two porn movie stars engaging in a fake sexual scene.

At night, I had to attend my occasional music meeting at Bro. Thomson residence at Seremban 2. It was always nice to visit his house which I find very cosy with its ornamental display that can be seen all over the house and a relatively big garden with a pateo that allow guest who come to just hang out while sipping coffee. Here are some of the pics I took last Christmas of his cosy lil house.

A Mantle Steel Deco

The Front Porch With My Sis In the Foreground

The Dining Hall

Tonights meeting was mainly to gather together as fellow music department members and to worship God together as a group. I look forward to times like this as only arm with a guitar, a piano and a harmony of voices, the experience of worshiping God is an awesome one. I have always love to sing praises to Him. It always refreshes my heart and encourages me to always look to Him for strength in times when I am weak. Singing and playing the drums has always been a tool I used to worship Him. Praying through singing have always been the best way I used to worship Him. There have been thoughts and plans to start a psalmist group where I could get a few people just to gather and sing praises and maybe, be inspired to write songs of praise. As I began to worship Him, words of a song seem to flow out from my mind. It was like singing a new song to Him.

We then proceeded with fellowship thereafter with Thomson, Sharon and Jenny providing most of the food. It is always nice to have food as part of fellowship. I stayed a bit more longer than usual mainly to fellowship with the young adults as I seldom get to have a conversation with them. I joined Sharon, Thomson, Jocelyn, Jeremy and Auntie Chris, all of which are much older than me. However, it was a nice fellowship as things like houses, properties, interiors, plants, business and the working are some of the topic that seem to interest me alot. Made my way back home in time to catch the last few minutes of "Queer Eye for a Straight Guy".

FORM

Patiently I had awaited for this moment. So much enthusiasm and expectation. It would be a first for me to attend an excruciating Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Rally. Previously in my secondary school, such events were rare. That was because my school CF was not as active as it should be. Poor turnout was the main reason for its inactiveness. Learning that there would be such an event organise by FGA, I couldn't miss such opportunity.

Everyone began to gather at HB3 at 5pm. However, the wait was excruciating. We were there for almost 6.30pm before we left for FGA. The bus was seemingly going from one campus to another fetching them to the venue. We apparently had to share the bus with UKM students. I was glad that a number of CCF friends manage to join us in this event. Besides that, I was glad too that Fui and Khang Yee decided to check it out as well after they were invited by Terry. It was good to see two of my non-christian friends opening up themselves to such an event.

We reached and was ushered to an open space where food was served. I didnt eat that much as I was not hungry. Khang Yee appearance was a surprised to one of his ex-classmates from BM. There were not as much people as I had expected it to be. It was a similar number to what FGA Sunday evening service normally is.

The rally was opened by the Heartbeat band who sang a couple of songs from their current album and a new song. It was a shrunk down version of the Heartbeat band. Their opening act was a bit disappointing as they didn't manage to bring out the best of Heartbeat. However, I do agree with Terry that there was a particular girl that stood in the band. I would say that there were two. I couldn't agree to him that I like her voice. However, her pesona on stage did make me picture a Taiwanese pop star. Cute, sweet and pretty.

Next, it was time for the much awaited band from NZ, Form to come on stage. It was a 5 piece band. The music was tight. However, they didn't seem to appeal to me much as compared to Desperation Band who perform at FGA a few months ago. They apparently looked like a bunch of enthusiastic band. I could single out the bassist as being the most high member of the band, jumping side to side, running up and down the stage. The lead singer, Pastor Brian gave a message thereafter. It was more of a testimony and I would say, less inspiring if I was a non-Christian in that hall. There was hardly anyone who responded to the altercall. I felt pretty awkward when Pastor Daniel came on stage to encourage the crowd to come in front. For me, coming out for altercall should be something natural and need not to be coaxed or forced in doing so. It should be something that is genuine and you really feel that the message has spoken into your heart and you come before God to ask Him to help you in a particular that He has highlighted. If not, coming to the alter would just be an action we do so frequently that at times the impact of coming out to the alter becomes less impactful.

It ended pretty early around 9.45pm and we made our way back to campus. The journey to and from FGA was amazingly long and tiring. We had to travel to UKM to drop the students there. For me, the journey wasn't that bad as I manage to come up with my mischief and made both Michelle and Celine my victims. It was an interesting conversation that brought about laughters, although Michelle tried her very to make us laugh and congratulate her for her effort. I then decided to go out for supper with some of the people in Dengkil and it was a certainly a nice fellowship to end the night with. All in all, it was a good idea that needed to be planned out well so as to gather more people and to make it a successful gathering between local universities and colleges. A first time for FGA and I can't deny that they have learn much from it in terms of organising. I truly thank FGA for their effort though in my mind, I was pondering the effectiveness.

Hearbeat Band

Form

A group picture

House Of Flying Dagger

We made our way to the tutorials hoping to attend the last tutorial for the subject that must of us dread to attend lectures, Computer Security and Disaster Relieve. To our dismay, no one seems to be around but just an empty room. A few of us of similar fate were beginning to gather at FOE foyer. I met Khang Yee, Terry, Fui, Vincent and Lance there. Since there was no class, we decided to head out campus to have a decent lunch, considering the limited variety in campus. Besides that, Terry had suggested earlier that he was planning to catch "House of Flying Daggers" which opens today. One thing lead to another. The six of us decided to head for lunch and to preview the movie at Mines. Its been some time since I had an outing with this people whom I have known so long. We used this quite often last time. So, it was quite an interesting gathering.

It was my first visit to Mines TGV even after almost 4 years in this area. My usual movie hangout would normally be GSC USJ Summit. This was because of its THX cineplex which was the nearest to travel to compared to Mid Valley or KLCC. The layout of the cinema was pretty interesting considering the interesting trail that lead to the toilet. It was a like a going through a secret tunnel that turns from side to side before actually reaching the toilet that had a view of the traffice outside.


Being a typical banana who had no understanding of Mandarin, I had to depend on the Malay subtitle at the bottom that was hard to read. Fortunately, I was not alone as Vincent accompanied me. The show was spectacular in the beginning; nice props, beautifully designed costumes with intricate designs, very well done kung fu choreography and well taken cinematography. It was a sight to behold when the luxious Zhang Zi Yi came into the scene. She was simply gorgeous especially in the beautiful costumes that seem to give her a very feminine yet strong personalilty. On the other hand, Takeshi Kaneshiro would simply give chills to the girls instead. The story and plot was well done until the middle part. Then, catastrophy happened before my very eyes. The entire climax of the movie seem to drop instantaneously thereafter. It was a bad ending or should I say, a lame one. If the ending would have been better, I would say the movie would have been excellant. Whats the points of having a good beginning and end it badly because a general audience would normally remember that latter. I was expecting a meetoff between the government and secret society that would see either side loosing the battle and maybe bidding farewell to another. A nice show to watch in the beginning. Shall wait patiently to see how our local produced biggest budgetted movie, "Puteri Gunung Ledang" will fare.



Before leaving Mines, I made my way together with Khang Yee to shop for a pair of sports shoes. I had meant to get one but never saw suitable one. It would be too nice to be expensive, too cheap to be ugly. A hard choice to make especially when you are one who like to get the best of things at the cheapest price. I could agree that I am "kiam siap" or stingy pocker. Spending on clothes or things has never been my preference. However, spending on time and food seem to be an option that I would take. I got myself a cheap RM80 white Bata Power shoe for jogging. It isnt the best looking shoe in the shop as compared to Nike or Adidas but it was the best option or choice that I could afford. It would be heart wrecking to buy an expensive and have it stolen or torn.

I left Mines thereafter and headed to the famous "Chi Pau Kai" or "Paper Wrapped Chicken" near Mines to buy some for my aunt whom I would be visiting later on. Lance and Vincent made a stop as well to get some out campus food. Fetched them back to campus and picked up my sis as we travelled down to Kota Kemuning to visit my aunt. We went there intentionally to return her camcorder which she loan to my sis to used for her project. My Aunt needed it back as she was goin overseas for holiday at the end of the month. We had dinner there and also chatted a while with her and at the same time played around with my cute and naughty cousins who were running around and asking me to play with them.

It was simply an interesting Thurday. Imagine what I would be up for the following day.

A Presentable Day

I woke up late this morning although I intended it to be earlier. It was a tiring night and rest was needed t get back the strength after spending long hours changing my tyre. My early morning intention was to attend my fellow peers who were going to present their FYP Part 2. I wanted to see what was going on so as to prepare myself for it when my time arises and also to view other people project which I deem interesting. The presentation that I wanted to see was the one by Li Kai and Kok Hui on "Wireless Modem". I was late and didn't manage to see them present. However, I manage to get some details from Su Chen who mention that their presentation was impressive. They were able to transmit a call to the receiver through their self-built modem and had an software interface that was able to capture the information send my one to another. She even said that the moderator, Dr. Fabian Kung (a very strict lecturer who you wouldn't want to have as a moderator due to his indepth questioning) was impressed by their work.

As I was already late and couldn't find other presentation to attend, I decided to travel to Dengkil to fix my tyre. The place was empty and I didn't need to wait that long to get my deflated cracked tyre to be replaced with a brand new Goodyear tyre. Besides the tyre, I had to replace the air tube and also one of the tyre screw (out of proportion after a night of trying to get a grip on it when loosening it). All in all, I spend around RM165. Got a discount of RM1 after the guy took pity of me from my night ordeal.

I went back to FOE to attend Kuong Lim's presentation. Their title was "GSM/PSM Phone Detector". It was an interesting title and they had their hardware on the table to be seen. However, due to some problems they were unable to finish their project and present it to the best. A demonstration would be good to show that the idea works. It was a pity that he was questioned continously by both his supervisor and moderator. I didn't feel it was right for the supervisor to question on his slides right in front of his moderator although his mention was honest, abit too honest. It was good for me to see this type of scenario so as to prepare myself for Part 2. I learned that it would be better if a demonstration was presented, a slide presentation that only highlighted what was done and achieved and confidence in presentation. The order of the presentation was also important and making sure you answer what you know. Never try to crap your way through. The moderator and supervisors defintely knows more than you. Just be honest.

Came back to my room feeling tired and didn't manage to really do my programming until about an hour before I decided to leave for CG makan. Tonight, BLUR and CHUP would be coming together for a special reunion dinner. The thought of saving money and going to a more cheaper place came to my mind. Some were pretty worried that it would be too expensive and we didn't want to discourage them from going. The initial plan to go for buffet steamboat BBQ at Talipon was changed to a Chinese Dinner at one of the restaurants in Serdang, the same place we had out Cyber Christmas Reunion Dinner two years ago. There were about 17 of us and we had 6 dishes in 2 separate tables. The menu for the night was Yam Basket, Tilapia Fish with Sauce, Kangkung Belacan, Lemon Chicken, Pineapple Stir Fried Pork and Mango Taufu. The portion was enormous, the food was excellant and the price, abit pricey. The bill came out to about RM281 and we had to split it to about RM17.50. Guess, the initial idea would be better and more cheaper in a way considering it was buffet. Well, the fellowship was great and we came out with alot of witty topics to talk about that includes Ragnorak Online to human delicacy. Abit sick right. EeeWww!!!

CHUG CG

BLUR CG

The Return of DUH CG

Besides that, I realised something today about myself that I was pretty ashamed of but am asking God for strength to go through a time of reconcilation. It was good to talk to one of my accountable friend about it.

Shit Happens...Life Goes On

The day started in the early hours of the morning. I arose after 5 hours to sleep and prepared myself as I made my way to a little place up on a small little hill with a small little with a big crowd. It was great to see many people waking up early to come for prayer. Gone are the days where there are handful of people. Now, we have a crowd that can barely fill the space within that small little hut. The effort to build the core members of the CF have seem to bear fruits. However, it is too early to say that we have built the core. Much prayer and encouragement is still needed among us. May God grant us humility as we proceed in this effort.

We took time this morning to pray for the CF in general as the people were separated in smaller groups where a committee was there to share the struggle we face as comms and also to share with our fellow members the condition we see the CF is facing currently. We as committees have seem much changes in the CF. This changes have also been seen by others. CF hasn't been as exciting as compared to previous years. We seem to heading to a declining stage. I was sharing with Ken and Leo about it. It was clear that they too realised this change but commented that there will always be a time of ups and downs. We shouldn't worry much about this as we can never maintain a constant level all the time. There needs to be a time of up where we celebrate, and a time of down where we learn, humble ourselves and see where does God want to lead us to.

Besides that, I was pretty surprise when Esther turned in a bible she found at one of the FOE classes. It seem familiar and I was shock that it was in her hand and not in my shelf. I apparently left my bible at FOE room for almost a week and it was still there. Guess, it was good that the bible was there. Who knows a curious onlooker might have turned the pages of the bible and read a few paragraph. Other than that, a bible seems unlikely to be something people want to carry it back. I wish someone did.

Not much was done today. Wrote my blog, surf for source codes, took a look at my downloaded source code and tried to make some alteration to it, went for an hour class and went to bed for an afternoon nap that I was reluctantly wanting to wake up. An hour seems like a minute to me as my days pass by so very quickly and it was time for CF. I packed my stuff, grab my bible, got the amp and headed down to CR2046.

My CG, BLUR CG was in charge of ushers today. We handed out bumble gums to everyone that came into CF. It was a childhood reminder as many of us used to buy this particular gum that had a tattoo behind the label that could be inprinted on the hand or any part of ur body. It was kind of an impromptu idea that came out during CG the week before. The bubble gum didn't taste as nice as before. It was much harder to bring about a bubble on one gum. I needed at least 2 gums to produce a bubble. Guess, the bubble gum kept some of us awake during the message. Or as Mr Dexter puts it, a distraction for some of us.

I was really much blessed by what Mr. Dexter had to say on "Moving Out From Your Comfort Zone". Initially, I found abit hard to grasp or to accept because for someone who was new to the CF, he was really blunt and frank on his points and opinion. As time passed by, I became to feel comfortable as I found his preaching rather fatherly in nature. Evangelism seem to be the main point that he wanted to address to us all. To step out from where we are and go into the life of others around us and tell them the good news that we have. He iterated that by not telling them it was indirectly telling them to "Go To Hell". Boy, was it strong. As I began to think about, his words were true and real.

Its hard at times to go up to one person to speak about Christ. Even I sometimes find it difficult to talk about it although I had manage to speak about Christ and Christianity when the oppurtunity arises. I remember speaking to my ex-roomie, Ah Fui about Christ indirectly before. He was asking something pertaining to relationship and we discuss abit about the reason behind Christians having to find a Christian to be together. A very popular topic between Christians and non-Christians alike. Besides that, I also had manage to share my faith with Khang Yee as we discuss about our religions and the good works that he is involve in Tzu Chi. This are some of the times I do remember speaking about my faith.

I find it rather true that we need a sense of closeness to be able to talk to them about our faith less it a scenario where you try to convert them all the more. I strongly agree that we are instrument used by God to spread His work. To be sowers of His word. It is God who convict their hearts and caused them to see who He really is and give them a choice to accept Him as their personal Lord and Saviour. The harvest will come and we should be ready to reap it.

I felt really convicted and at the same time guilty for failing to go all out to witness and evangelise to my non-Christian. Besides the CF, I do have a group of friends who are non-Christian whom I can rely on. At times, I find them even more real compared to Christians. I try my very best to spend time with my fellow brothers and sisters and my other friends. That is why I seldom mix or have a core group in CF that I mix with. I am more of an all rounder and at times being like this, its hard to be close to anyone for that matter though I still have some friends I can call close.

Later after CF, some of us made our way to Puchong for supper cum dinner. On my way there, my tyre suffered a flat near Street Mall. Thank God it was nearby and not in Puchong. I decided to drive it back to campus and park near the mosque. However, the tyre couldn't be saved as it was cracked and riped apart in the centre. I left my car there and my sis, Ming Chu and myself jumped into Terry's car to Puchong. Came back an hour later and it was time to fix the flat. Thank God Terry was there or else I didn't really know how to solve the changing of the tyre and almost gave up. All in all, I didn't feel angry within me for what had happened. Thank God for His peace and direction. Shit Happens...Life Still Goes On.

A Blogged Day

I'm well into my 13th week of the semester and I have about 3 weeks to go before my finals, that includes this week as well. I have 3 weeks because my exams only starts on the 2nd week of the exam week with a continuous run of papers from 25-27, one for each day. Besides that, I have a java assignment due by this Friday. I downloaded a source code from the net on a Date Selector. Yesterday, I went through it but have yet to determined which part of the program to modify or alter. I am planning to change it into an organiser but have yet to figure out the way in doing so. Hope in the next few days I would find the answers that would allow me to finish it as soon as possible.

Recently, I had started reading "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. I know many have read it already and my church had just finish the 40 days Purpose Campaign. However, I have yet completed my reading but occasionally reading it. Reading hasn't been my cup of tea ever since late primary school. I do not have the passion enough to pick up a book or a novel and finish reading it in a few days. My readings normally comprises of short stories or article, newspaper being my top preference followed by magazines. That truly explains why I have not actually read the bible in entirely in one sitting. I have been trying to start reading and starting on books like "Not Even A Hint" and "The Purpose Driven Life", I hope to induce enough passion to read again.

Yesterday, I decided to do a search on the web about blog skins. I have been contemplating of changing the looks of my blog for quite some time but have yet to find a way of doing so. Time would be a major factor in doing as it would take me a few hours to even update my blog yet alone try to change it. I would have to put the thought aside momentarily and would indulge in this once I start my training in September, where I would have more time to learn up Adobe and try to create my own blog template. I made a search on the web and check out some skins but not a single one has caught my attention. Maybe, I am just too fussy and probably the best option is to create my own designs. It sure reminds me about my shopping nature. I don't seem to buy anything because most of the time, the designs aren't too my liking and if they were, the price who be exhorbitant. So if you notice, my wardrobes have not change a bit for the couple of years. Spending in clothes have never been something I look forward to although I want to. Guess, a change in style and clothes is needed when I start working and earning money that would allow me to spend. Both my sisters would be delighted of such a time as this.

Anyway, I came across a pretty interesting blog during my search. The interesting part is its horizontal layout and retro designs. I have a liking for retro; bright fancy colours, interesting creative designs. Check it out and let me know if I have a good sense of designs or not.

Other than that, I came across this article that was forwared thru Yahoo and it got me thinking.

Malaysia Makes its Case on Conversion by Ioannis Gatsiounis

My Weekend

Its been almost 2 weeks since I actually went home. I did make a stopby last week after the trip down to Malacca for the convo, but it didn't feel that I was really at home though I came back and slept for 3 hours after a tiring nightout the day before.

I didn't do that much when I was home. To me, it was the joy of not doing anything much but just staying at home, enjoying the time lazying around and hearing the constant nagging from my mum. However, I didn't actually do nothing. I attended a church members 21st birthday party and Aspirers, the youth service in my church after a time of absence.

Besides that, I had a surprise on Saturday night when my parents came back from KL with some stuff after visiting my uncle. The first word that came out of my mouth was, "Oh my goodness" I kept repeating it over and over again that mom had to ask me keep quiet. Its funny how blessed I really felt at that point of time. Many things I have I do not deserve to have yet God has been gracious to me and my family. Thank God and my uncle for all the good things that I have receive thus far.

Today, I decided to send two sms in my support for the ever talk about Malaysian Idol. I got a chance to witness the third workshop and I must say I was pretty impressed by a number of the contestant. Missed the first workshop and wasn't that impress with the second one. Two contestant caught my attention, Jac and Fahmy. The seem to be probably candidate that I would vie for to continue on the next round and be the final 10. I didn't manage to catch tonites results but hope my predictions were right. Though it was rm0.70/vote, seeing them as the final 10 would be worthwhile. Overall, I would think that Malaysian Idol as a scaled down project as compared to American Idol. (Found out they are in when I edited my post on 3/8/04)

Another session of futsal with fellow church mates was indeed worthwhile. Its been my second time since it was initiated by Selwyn about 3 weeks ago. A good mixture of adults and the young ones. Seremban has not been left out by the futsal craze and the opening of Sports Barn seem to be the best thing that has happened in this little sleepy town where life seems to be at a standstill most of the time. Its also a great place to workout those fats and fellowship with one another. Guys seems to dominate the scene as girls have yet to join in. I had a little improvements this time around . Manage to squeeze in a goal due to mildhandling of the ball my the goalie which ended in the net. A fluck shot I might say. Despite numerous attempts on goal, most of my shots couldn't really find the target. Bad coordination and lack of experience seem to sum up my inability to score. However, it was all for the sake of fun and I manage to maintain through a continuous run of 3 games. Can't wait for next week.