LIVING LIFE...and LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY...

Revival of a blog.

2009-11-19T13:50:00.002+11:00

I'm home.

Time to revive this dreary and lacklustre blog.

Major reno under way.

Watch this space.

Tasmania brought out the Malaysia in me.

2009-09-02T12:17:00.006+10:00

It's sure been awhile...Not sure if anyone still visits this dusty, cobweb-ridden blog. But, whatever, it's my blog and my rules! :)

Anyway, this will just be a short update about the recent Merdeka celebrations we, the mob of Malaysian students here, had in Hobart, Tasmania.

I don't know what is it about the 31st of August that ignites the patriotic flames in Malaysians, however fickle and small it is. I mean, Australia Day (26th of January), which is the equivalent of the national day here, is celebrated very differently. The only pomp and ceremony they have here is the march past of all the former soldiers and army men who fought for Australia and some Awards and recognitions panned out to outstanding citizens. And, that's it! To most Aussies here however, Australia Day is just another public holiday when everyone just puts on their bathers, have a day out at the beach, play some cricket in their backyards, chuck some meat on the barbie while downing some goon. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But, coming from a country which celebrates her National Day with colourful parades with tens and thousands of people participating in them, presentations from people of different races and culture, dazzling fireworks displays, jet fighters performing stunts in mid air and what not, you kind of expect something more from Australia Day.

But, then again, one might argue that maybe all that pomp and ceremony with Merdeka celebrations is just a huge waste of resources to put on a good show to distract its citizens from underlying problems which plague the country such as racial polarisation and inequality, corruption in government and what not. Or maybe Aussies are more comfortable in their own skin and don't need all that hype to reassure them of their national identity and pride.

Whatever your views, they are perfectly valid and justified.

But, for me, and as a Malaysian, Merdeka is about peace and the sense of camaraderie and mateship between people. One should look past all the ceremonial pomp and try to appreciate the true meaning of Merdeka. To me, Merdeka, or Freedom in English, is about being free from oppression and threat, and being unfettered to chart out our own course and future. Oppression is not just limited to colonial authority and prowess. There is one form of oppression that is far more detrimental - that is the oppression of the mind. If we live everyday, constantly moaning and complaining about how unfairly we are being treated, or how corrupted we think the government is, how "free" do you think we really are? We are constantly bogged down by all these issues. And, the problem is, we continue to let them bog us down.

'Change' cannot be associated with passivity. Change is what we MAKE it to be. And, instead of talking and thinking ABOUT change, start LIVING change and living FREE. Merdeka is not all about the desire to "change", it's about living free - and that includes being free from our own negative perceptions and bias.

I read a quote somewhere which reads: "We are not born winners. We are not born losers. We are born CHOOSERS."

So, choose to be free, and to love one another for who they are - human beings - and not because of their race or creed. That's Merdeka to me.

Group picture

Economics students unite! How awesome is that supply and demand curve? *Because we're such nerds. *

Law students unite! Woot! I get to be in both pics!

Our attempt at re-enacting the Petronas Twin Towers. Can't you tell?

A Malay acapella medley we did for Multicultural Night some time back...

Opportunity Costs

2009-07-23T16:11:00.003+10:00

Below is an excerpt of what 'Opportunity Cost' means:

Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative forgone as the result of making a decision.

The next best thing that a person can engage in is referred to as the opportunity cost of doing the best thing and ignoring the next best thing to be done.

Opportunity cost is a key concept in economics because it implies the choice between desirable, yet mutually exclusive results. It has been described as expressing "the basic relationship between scarcity and choice." The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently.Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, swag, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs.

{sourced from Wikipedia}

There's a saying that goes something like "The more you learn about something, the less you know about it".

The concept of 'opportunity cost' is not something totally unintelligible to the layperson. Although, I must admit, it may not be a common term that you may be accustomed to, you definitely would have lived it out in practice.

Here's my take on 'opportunity cost':

Opportunity cost is...

Leaving Penang for hopes of a better education and environment but also leaving the comfort of the warm weather, friends and family back home.

Living off-campus and forgoing a "wholesome" college life but being able to pay cheaper rental rates and learning how to be my own chef.

Taking up the position of Chairman at the OCF here and stretching myself for His Kingdom's sake but that also means that I'll have less leisure and study time.

Coming to the Uni of Tasmania, having to pay cheaper tuition fees and being able to own a car here but that also means that I don't get the prestige and sense of achievement of studying at a huge, renowned University with a vibrant student life. But then again, my own academic and financial ability have sort of boxed me in, haven't they?

Having to go through 5 years of Law and Economics at uni with the hopes of securing a brighter future for my family and myself but at the same time having to put up with all the, at times, sickeningly torturous study and assignments at Uni.

To a lot of people here, I look like a Japanese, Korean or a certain Hongkie movie star (I'm not making this up) but am always asked stereotypical questions by the Whites like: "Which part of China are you from?" and "Wow..you can speak English???" ~ ok...I know this has nothing to do with 'opportunity cost'... but it just peeves me off when I get asked those questions.

Leading on from that point, opportunity cost to me is when I have a good command of the English language but at the same time not being as proficient in my own Chinese language, history and culture.

So, does learning about concepts like 'Opportunity cost' or 'the law of diminishing returns' really do help you in real life? Well, some may argue that learning about opportunity costs help you make better, and more informed decisions when faced with 2 mutually exclusive alternatives.

My view is that, given the circumstances in which I made a lot of my decisions in life, I did not have a fair go at deciding between the alternatives at hand. More than half of the examples I gave above are proof of that. Then again, one can easily say that there is always a choice. Life is all about making choices. You're where you are today, doing what you're doing because of a choice you made at some point of your life, whether or not you were aware of the fact that you were already making that life-altering choice.

I am where I am today - at some obscure uni, short and stubby, not knowing how to play the guitar - all because I decided not to study hard enough when I was in High School, not to do more jumping(does it really make you grow taller?) and exercise as much or put in the extra hours into learning how to play the guitar when I was 14. And, many a times, what's done is done and we cannot make right the wrongs that we've done.

So, is 'Opportunity Cost' really that useful a tool in my decision-making process? I will answer that question in the negative. My view is that instead of helping you make better decisions, it just makes you realise the costliness and the gravity of you actions or inactions, for that matter. Instead of guiding you in your decision-making, it leaves you with the greatest sense of rue and regret for not choosing the other alternative. Maybe that's why they call it opportunity "COST", and not "BENEFIT".

The story thus far.

2009-06-23T10:27:00.002+10:00

2009 thus far in 29 pictures.

First up, the OCF (Overseas Christian Fellowship) Easter Camp 2009. Awesome people. Beautiful location. Good food. All in all, a flippin' great camp. One of the best camps I've been to in a very long time. Who knew a trampoline could be so much fun?

And then came the season of browning and shedding of leaves. The days got shorter as it gave way to longer and colder nights.

Tutoring first year Economics students at Uni. Enjoyed every moment of it.

In the OCF worship team leading worship at a local church.

Benjamin Leigh Atkinson & Dyan Lai Yu Fern's Big Day.

Shaun's 22nd birthday bash.

Too much wisdom to handle...

2009-06-09T17:19:00.002+10:00

Ten or so years ago, when I was still a wee little boy in primary school, I submitted an essay into a Chinese children's magazine, called 'da hong hua' or something, entitled 'ba ya ji' - which literally means "A visit to the dentist". That essay eventually got published in the magazine and I got a few prizes. But, the thing was...it was neither REAL nor ORIGINAL. But, what I'm about to share with you below is the real deal. Warning: Graphic and amusing illustrations ahead.

9'30am: Me: "Hello...Sandy Bay Dental Centre? I would like to make an appointment to have my wisdom tooth checked up." Receptionist: "Yup, I can put you in at 2pm." Me: "Yup! That'd be good." R: "So, who would you like? Dr Gordon Henry or Dr Sherina Parmar?" Me: (Thinks to myself...maybe a lady doctor would be more gentle with it..) Uhm..Dr Parmar?" R:"Yup, sure. See you later then." Me: "See ya."

1'45pm: Happily nibbling away at some cut apples... Trying to calm the qualm in me. Tells housemate to inform my parents that 'I love them' if I don't make it.

2pm: Arrives at clinic. Fills in registration form and waits for name to be called out. And soon enough, "Daniel? We'll see you now."

I walk into the room seeing 3 ladies all dressed in uniform. Nice, I thought. I proceed to tell the doctor what is it that's bothering me and that I thought it could be an infection around my wisdom tooth at my top right corner of my upper jaw. She proceeds to check all of my teeth..."no. 23, 24..18...19's got amalgamation.." Apparently, that's how they refer to teeth. They have a specific number to everyone of them. Then, she proceeds to tell me that the particular area is infected pretty badly and advices that I have it extracted. I was like "Wha??? Extraction? Can't you just clean that area and make the infection go away?" D:" I can...but it's pretty bad.. and it will be recurring if you don't get it out, because the area is quite deep inside and it'd be hard to keep that area clean." Me: " Ok.... if you think it fit..." She then proceeds to do what every fast food retailer does, upSIZE! "So, would you like us to clean your teeth as well or just the extraction?" I'm already shitting in my pants from the thought of having my tooth extracted and you think I'm that concerned about having my teeth look all sparkly and white? "Uhm..no thanks. I'll just have the "burger", no "fries or drinks", thank you very much."

She brings out a cool-looking machine... I thought she was gonna get it out by just zapping it..Nope. That was just the x-ray. Darn.

"I'm gonna inject some anesthetic into that area to numb it. Just take deep breathes in and out and relax." Here we go, I thought to myself.

There was alot of pushing, pulling, bleeding, rinsing, spitting... pushing, pulling, rinsing and spitting. After what felt like 15 minutes of all that, I suddenly heard a "crack!" "Phew...it's over! That was painless and easy!" or so I thought to myself. As I was just about to get up, I heard her say to one of her nurses, "Can you please get the "......" (I forgot what she called it, but it sounded something like a PLIER or something..) The nurse replies, "Should I get the BIG one or the normal one?" Doc says "Nah..just the normal one will do."

Oh...that's comforting. Not. It's like saying "Shall I bring out the bazooka to deal with that big arse teeth of his?"

So, for the next 20 minutes or so, the doctor continued to pull, push and, with her new gadget, TWIST! Being the He-man that I am, I closed my eyes through most of the whole thing. But, I could feel like the doctor, who was initially sitting down, was in a half standing, half sitting position now as she continued to go through what almost felt like an Olympic tug-of-war event. In my mind, I kept praying "Oh God, either make my tooth just slide out now..or PLEASE grant this doctor superhuman strength right this moment!" Seriously, it felt like she took forever to get it out. Half way through, she looked up to one of the nurses, who was sucking all the saliva and blood out of my mouth, and SMIRKED...no no..it was more like a small GIGGLE! I'm pretty sure one other nurse was filming all this hilarity with the intention of posting it up on Facebook or Youtube. Because she was taking so long, I started feeling pain again. So, the doctor had to inject another dose of anesthetic into the affected area.

Finally, after another 5 minutes or so, I heard a sigh of relief from the doctor. The teeth was out! *the Hallelujah chorus sounding behind me* I went to the toilet after that to wipe the blood and saliva stains off my face after which I bit on a piece of cotton. While I was waiting to pay the bill, I saw a small notice with namecards of my doctor on the desk. And, just to add to the hilarity of it all, it wrote "Dr Parmar will see new patients now." Now, what on earth does that mean!?!? No wonder I thought she looked quite young to be a doctor.

And, the bill? $300! That's just $40 shy of how much I earn from giving Economics tuition for a month! Anyhow, someone told me that I should expect that sort of price tag as extracting a wisdom tooth in Malaysia would cost about RM1000?

Anyway, to cut the long story short, I had to go through head-throbbing and body-shaking pain for the next 2 hours or so as I lie on the beanbag on the floor. I also took 2 panadols to help ease the pain. I guess for the next few days, I'll have to survive on porridge and liquids. Yumm.. Now, to prepare for the two exams that's coming up. God, I need You.

Psalm 23 (Students' version)

2009-06-07T16:21:00.002+10:00

The Lord is my Teacher, I shall not worry
He makes me settle down in strange libraries
He leads me to books and reference materials
He restores my concentration in class
Though I walk though classrooms and boring lecturers
I will fear no failure, for You are with me
Notes and formulae before me in the preparation of my examinations
You anoint my mind with oil, my preparation overflow
Surely goodness and merciful results shall follow me
All the days of my examinations
And I will serve in fellowship
Of the Lord in school and forevermore.

Exam fever strikes (again)...

Of Black Mambas and Banking tests.

2009-05-05T17:04:00.006+10:00

*Warning: This post is and will be a total waste of the reader's time. Further reading is at the reader's own risk. All liability on the writer's part for the waste of the reader's time is hereinafter excluded.*

I was taking a power nap this arvo. What started out as a 45-min long nap became a 2-hour sleeping extravaganza. Does anyone else notice that afternoon naps are LETHAL!? And, I will almost definitely dream strange dreams in the afternoon naps I take. Anyone else share this predicament?

Anyway, this nap wasn't much different. Towards the end of my TWO HOUR nap, I dreamt about walking home from somewhere, and suddenly I got attacked by snakes. Not, just any snake, but BLACK MAMBAS - one of the most poisonous snakes on earth! Well, it's not like I really know how a black mamba looks like. But, my brain told my dreaming self that they were black mambas. So, black mamba it is then!

But, why black mambas, you may ask? Well, just a few days ago, a bunch of us happily decided that we would buy some cheap wine, have a drink and just hang out at someone's house. 5 minutes into the drinking and talking, we decided to turn on the TV. And, there it was, a documentary about black mambas on Animal Planet. So, that's what we did for the most part of the night - drinking wine and munching on some chips while watching a documentary on black mambas. I guess that's how we were planning on getting drunk - the INFORMATIONAL way. (Just joking. We weren't really planing on getting anywhere near drunk.)

Again, I digress.

Back to my dream. my dreaming self was running all over and screaming like a little girl in its dreams (cause that's what the people were doing in that documentary). But, there were too many! There were black mambas EVERYWHERE! My dreaming self got bitten, got up, and started running and screaming again. I must have got bitten like 10 or so times before my dreaming self started to think "Ok....I should be long dead by now if all this were real. This is probably a dream and I should probably wake up from it as I've probably went over my 45-min napping time limit." But, my dreaming self also remembered that it has a Banking class test coming up real soon.

So, it was faced with a huge dilemma. Should it continue to sleep and dream about getting killed by black mambas, or should it wake up to study all about the wonderful world of banking, government bonds and securities for this test?

Yup, you've guessed it! For, the next one hour or so, my dreaming self continued to run, scream and get bitten by those black mambas.

I know this is crap, but it's 100% true! Thanks for squandering time with me. :-)

Birthday Bliss.

2009-04-05T17:19:00.002+10:00

I'm finally TWENTY ONE, and loving it. I'm officially not underaged for almost anything and everything under the sky. Now, time to unveil my evil plan of world domination......right after I finish drinking my cup of hot Milo. :)

Anyway, do you know how some people will throw huge parties to celebrate their birthdays and all? Well, I wish I had that too. I mean, this is the one, the biggie, the birthday of all birthdays!!! Besides, you only get one whole day in a year to yourself, one day devoted to you, one day which is all about Y-O-U - so people say.

But, as nice as birthdays are, I can't help thinking that it's not all about me. Yes, I do enjoy and appreciate all the birthday wishes, the blowing of the candles, the nice meals that you get treated you etc. But, life still goes on as usual everywhere else. The world keeps on revolving - just not around you. It never has and it never will.

This birthday, I got news that a good friend of mine lost her dearest mother. It was sudden and heartbreaking.

This birthday, my best friend got his car knocked into by his girlfriend (I know, right?! ).

This birthday, there was a handover of power to a new Prime Minister in Malaysia.

This birthday, I have tons assignments to do and tests to study for.

All around the world, things are happening. Wars and conflicts are raging on. People are losing jobs in the worsening economic crisis. There are the passing away of loved ones and the births of some.

So, this birthday, I would just like to say that it's not really about the huge parties, the presents or whatever. But rather, it's about the people around you. Go ahead, spend quality time with friends and family around you. Cherish the love and friendships that you have. Make them feel appreciated all day, everyday.

Besides, what's a birthday if you don't have people around you to celebrate it with?

Simple-minded gobbledygook.

2009-03-23T15:38:00.003+11:00

Many people think, just because you're an Economics and Law student, that you are always filled with deep and profound thoughts.

"What is the rule of law? What is law? Does the presumption of mens rea apply? What's 'truth'? How do you define 'truth'? What do you think of the political situation in this place and that? What do you think of the credit crunch? What is a credit crunch? What are we to do to avert this crisis???...."

Well, at this very moment, I'm just thinking whether or not I should take a quick nap and what I should cook for dinner later tonight. Mmmm...... Seafood marinara pasta sounds good...

Oh! Anyway, as I was saying... I don't think we should be so uptight and proper all the time - using archaic English jargon and superfluity to express one's ideas, pondering on what Socrates or some philosopher said back when Dinosaurs roamed the Earth(yes, that's how old I think those people really are...Dinosaurs probably went extinct just listening to them talk...Sorry, but I digress).

And, why are we so worried about which political party is going to win, how much the stock market has crumbled and whether interest rates will go up again?

What happened to the simple pleasures of life?

For example, buying a RM10.95 bottle of Kaya in England at the spur of the moment and laughing at yourself afterwards (see http://debbiemuses.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/420/#comments); or squabbling over what you should eat while sending off someone to National Service (see http://sarahkhoo-memorylane.blogspot.com/); or just having a good warm chat with your closest buddies over a nice meal.

Wow, I just realised that there is 'food' in all of my examples. I guess you can take the boy out of Malaysia, but not the Malaysia out of the boy.

What I'm trying to say is... Yes, life will get you down sometimes and we're all expected to take on more responsibilities as we grow older. It's about finding your calm in all the madness. Whatever it is, life was meant to be simple - like a long piece of string laid out nicely. Just be careful that it does not get tangled up.

"I've got the world on a string"

I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on a rainbow
Got that string around my finger
What a world, what a life - I'm in love

I've got a song that I sing
And I can make the rain go
Any time I move my finger
Lucky me, can't you see - I'm in love

Life's a wonderful thing
As long as I've got that string
I'd be a silly so-and-so
If I should ever let you go

I've got the world on a string
I'm sitting on the rainbow
I've got that string around my finger
Oh, What a world, what a life - I'm in love

Here's a video of that song:-

Home is where the heart is.

2009-02-21T00:28:00.008+11:00

Where is home?

It's now 3 weeks since I said goodbye to that little turtle-shaped island, called Penang. The first night I spent in my room here in Hobart after the two and a half months back in Penang was one filled with an overwhelming sense of loneliness and despondency.

Imagine two months of not having to worry about cooking your own food, to deal with the hassle of paying your bills, or not having to clean up after yourself, and just spending all that time with your close family and friends. I will forever miss all the times I walk around shopping malls with my hands tightly clenched to my mum's arms. I will miss playing tennis with my dad, although sometimes I don't feel like it. I will miss spending time with my bestest bud just talking over a cuppa teh tarik and some roti. I will miss just hanging out with all my other friends. Surely, I miss being able to do all that. But, as good as the two months back in Penang was, time just thrusts you forward into the foray of life's uncertainties. As good as it was, it's just different now. Penang is now only something I associate with the word 'holiday', and not 'home', per se.

And, who can blame me for feeling this way? Seeing that I spend more than 75% of a year not being in Penang. I now see my apartment unit and my room here in Hobart as my physical home. I actually miss my room here than the one in Penang (what can I say? I'm a sucker for spacious rooms). So, the word 'home' has taken on a much more deeper meaning than the physical structure or space of a building.

Some people say that 'Home is where the heart is'.

But, where does my heart lie anyway? Can you actually separate your heart from what you do and from who you are? I, for one, cannot. I can't be like Tony Bennet, who so famously sang about leaving his heart in San Francisco.

And then, there are couples who are always dreading each moment spent away from each other. So, these people will almost always say that home and comfort is where their significant other is. So, the above mentioned phrase stands strong with these people.

But, what if you're like me? I always try to put my heart into what I do, here and now. I always try to extend my heart to people I meet in my everyday life. So, in order for me to do all that I do, I'll need my heart with me 24/7, no?

So, again, if home really is where the heart is, I guess my home is where I am, right here and right now.

Where is your home?

Life's a bore.

2009-01-12T03:10:00.003+11:00

As evident from my obvious lack of enthusiasm to update my blog, I've been taking a hiatus. And, it's not so much from updating my blog, per se, but rather from the platitudes of life.

At first, I thought that my holiday back home could be exactly what the doctor ordered to save me from my routine-ish life in Hobart. I mean, isn't this what all overseas uni students in Hobart would wish for? Two months away from the cold weather and almost-lifeless city to spending quality time with family and friends under the warmth of the tropical sun and sipping on your favourite drink underneath swaying palm trees. Who could ask for more, right?

WRONG.

Allow me to put forward the postulate that life is one big bore, dotted with morsels of excitement.

Some say that life's a rollercoaster ride. But, what comes to mind when you mention 'rollercoasters'? I think of fast-moving coaches, racing against the wind and adrenaline-pumped people screaming their heads off in excitement. So, would you say that life's a constant stream of excitement? No, I don't think so.

I am of the opinion that familiarity leads to boredom. Anything which is familiar, no matter how exciting, can be a bore. Think about it. Try to recall the most exciting thing that happened to you. Take that, and imagine that it happens to you again, and again and again... Not as exciting anymore, is it?

But then again, who's complaining anyway? Who am I, a 20 year old guy who has an entire lifetime ahead of him, to complain? There are those people who have been working the same job, in the same company, in the same place for the past 40 years and you don't see them blogging about their discontent. Just ask the old Char Koay Teow or Mee Goreng hawker at the corner of a busy intersection in George Town.

I'm not suggesting that every moment of life SHOULD be exciting to keep us at the edge of our seats. Staying on a rollercoaster ride for too long can sure make one vomit. My point is this. We should cherish every moment of our lives to the best that we can - not so much latching on to that ONE moment in life, but, instead enjoying it to the fullest and then moving on from there before you get so engrossed in it that you can't let go because that's when routine, familiarity and boredom kicks in.

Besides, having ONE exciting event happen in life is better than not having any at all. Life's like Love, in a way. It's better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.

Can you "race" with a blindfold on?

2008-11-27T03:32:00.002+11:00

As some of you may know, I've taken up a part-time job at Nando's restaurant in Queensbay Mall, Penang. And, like all formal job application processes in Malaysia, you will not be spared from the "famed" Malaysian bureaucracy of having to plod through the inundant formalities and what not. I reckon I must have filled up 5 or 6 forms (each about 2 or 3 pages long) in total in applying for this one job. I had to get a bank account with Maybank, an immunisation jab from the City Council, an account with the Employees' Provident Fund organisation(EPF) and, of course, fill up a job application form with Nando's.

And, it was through that cumbersome process which I realised how important a factor "race" can be here in Malaysia. In Australia, whenever and if ever I had to fill up a form, the only thing that came closest to the "race" column was that I had to declare my citizenship (whether I am an Australian citizen or not). And, that was it!

So, for someone who never filled in a form like that before, I felt heaps weird when I had to write what "race" I belong to.

I always knew that race, albeit deemed by society as a sensitive issue, has always been and still is the factor in the Malaysian societal and political fabric. I just did not know that it was THAT explicit. I'm not saying that racism is totally non-existent in other countries, like Australia or Singapore. It's just that in those countries, racial polarisation or discrimination, if there is any, is really subtle and implicit. Some may argue that it's even more damaging if it's in a subtle form. But, I, for one think that requiring someone to declare what race he/she belongs to when applying for a job, or anything for that matter, is going one step further than what is necessary to enquire about someone's personal details and particulars. My dad tried expounding this whole conundrum to me, citing historical reasons as an answer. He said that in the past, during the British colonial days in Malaya, it was pertinent for the British officers to know what race a particular person belonged to, just so they could better facilitate their "divide and conquer" regime. But, then again, how can one justify that rationale now - now that we're 51 years independent of colonial British rule.

With that said, can Malaysians truly ever be "race-blind"? Can anyone, for that matter, be completely race-blind? I'm inclined to answer that question in the negative. Now, some people may argue that with the recent win of American President elect Barack Obama, we're beginning to see the dawn of a racially-blind and equitable political and societal revolution. However, in the US, blacks take different medication for heart disease than whites. There is evidence that Chinese and whites do not have the same ideal body mass indexes. How about the fact that in competitive sports such as tennis and weightlifting, you will almost never see an Asian win it. So, this could suggest that being racist is something entrenched in us, as nature intended it to be.

Besides that, race could be an important factor in policy formulation and implementation. When one community lags dramatically behind another in some measurable manner, this information can be incredibly helpful. This, of course, is best exemplified in the copious (almost predictable) news articles, concerning the NEP and other affirmative policies, which flood Malaysian news scene every once in awhile.

So, the question is, can we truly call ourselves "Malaysian", without having to add the suffix 'Chinese', 'Malay' or 'Indian' to it? Then again, does it really matter? Knowing whether you're Chinese or Indian does nothing more than to tell you where your ancestors came from. It is to enable you to trace back your roots, heritage and culture. Besides, being able to trace back your roots is the very thing that defines Malaysia. This should be the thing that makes Malaysia as a whole special, not just any one particular race. If America is the 'melting pot of cultures', then Malaysia would be the 'centuries-old broth of cultures'.

Being Malaysian simply means that you have chosen, or had it chosen for you, to call Malaysia home.

To quote an article I read online, "There are differences between a Malaysian of Malay descent and a Malaysian of Indian descent, and to deny these differences is foolishness. But rather than dwelling on these differences, as the label of "race" might have us do, let's celebrate how regardless of who our ancestors were, we all have one homeland, one tanah tumpahnya darahku."

Full Circle

2008-11-09T05:41:00.003+11:00

I went to bed at 2am.

After tossing and turning in my bed for a while, I turned to look at the clock. "Shit, it's 5'45 am already?!" And, you know what they say about the early bird getting the worm and all? Well, I hope they never find those worms and die of starvation! Those birds kept chirping outside my window and would not let me sleep. They were mocking me, I tell you. I don't know about you, but whenever I'm tossing and turning around in my bed, every sound is just magnified by 10 times and you can hear everything - the leaking faucet outside, the rustling trees, the beeping sound of the traffic lights 30 meters away...

I tried coercing myself to sleep. I tried counting sheeps, dogs, cats - you name it - but I just couldn't drift off into dreamland. My mind is phasing out right now, but my body just refuses to go to sleep. Arghh.. WHY!!!???

Was it the can of Pepsi I had at 11pm?

Was it the Macroeconomics I stuffed my brain with today and also for the past few days? Who agrees with me that when you have too much information in your head, you'll find it hard to sleep.

Or, is it just my mind and body coming to a full circle - a circle of sleepless nights for the past few weeks and months. Maybe my body and mind's thinking, "Hey...Monday's your final exam! So, just before you pull through the past month and a half of relentless studying and preparations(and second year of uni), you're gonna have one final sleepless night this year just to mark the occasion."

Seriously, is there such a thing?

But, it does make one think.

As I look back, in hindsight and in contemplation, I feel like I've indeed come to a full circle. *I know, I know...It's not even New Year's eve yet and I'm already doing the whole "in hindsight and contemplation thing" *

I wanted to do a "5 facts that you may not know about Daniel" post somewhere. But, I think I'll do a "5 facts I dislike about myself" and "5 facts I like about myself" post instead and that will sort of tie in with everything else.

5 facts I like about myself:

1) I can sing in tune.
Yes, I do enjoy the fact that I can carry a tune without having to worry that the person standing next to me secretly wishes to kill me for singing out of tune.

2) I can speak and write good English (when I want to).
That pretty much speaketh for itself.

3) I love the outdoors.
I'll prefer running and playing outside over staying in the house anyday! I am totally not the video/computer game kind of person. Some people can and will enjoy handling a joystick(wait, do people even use joysticks anymore?) and playing some animated game for the whole day. I respect those people who can kill a hundred people on Counterstrike or win a racing game. But, I'd much rather put on a pair of exercise wear, get my heart pumping and sweat my arse off on a tennis/badminton court or just by jogging.

4) I can speak and write Mandarin (although maybe not as good as I want to).
I thank my parents for sending me to a school where I could learn Mandarin. I think, at this day and age, it's pertinent to know Mandarin. Not merely because of the whole "China is gonna be the next world superpower" thing. But, plainly because I cherish my roots and culture. 10 or 20 years down the road, I want to be able raise my children without having to worry that they will know nothing of the Chinese culture. That being said, I do not advocate occultic fervency for that one culture. Coming from a country like Malaysia and having the opportunity to study in Australia makes me a strong proponent of multiculturalism. I relish in the opportunity to expose my mind to new cultures.

5) I can lead.
Again, this is something I thank my parents for. My growing-up years spent in church and in the Youth group have been nothing but a blessing to me. To quote what many "pastors" and "aunties" say, "The church and the youth group is a great breeding ground of leaders" (Or something to that effect). I totally agree. I believe that, if not for the opportunity to lead worship sessions, cell groups and working in the Youth Committee for all those years, I would not have been as good a leader as I am today. I'm not saying that I will be the next Obama or anything. But, yes, I am proud of the fact that I can speak up in group when others would just cringe at the thought of it.

5 facts I dislike about myself:

1) I am short, prone to acne breakouts, have to wear spectacles, and have really straight hair (like "moptop" straight).
Other than that, I'm like a Greek God statue. No, not really. :P

2) I am competitive.
I know this is supposed to be a desirable quality. But, somehow I have a love-hate (more towards 'hate') relationship with this. As I mentioned earlier, I am thankful that my parents sent me to a Chinese school. But, notice that I did not specifically mention "Chung Ling High School". I mean, I liked the good facilities, teachers(uhm.. some of them), and the reputation that came with the school. But, I do not necessarily enjoy the culture entrenched in that school. I think that 5 years in that school has made me OVERLY competitive. It has come to a point where I constantly have to beat everyone at everything I do, all the time. I can get depressed just thinking of all the people who did or are doing better than me. It's as if I cannot rest until I am at the top of my game. I just can't make due with getting a mere 'pass' in my exams when that's what most students at uni are trying to do. That is why I get really disappointed and depressed when I do not achieve what I want to.

I don't think it's just the school that made me this way. My parents have contributed to this in some way too. Ever since I could remember, my mum would always push(more like 'force') me to participate in all sorts of competitions. Other than a beauty contest(because of the physical qualities I complained of above), I think I have participated in every competition imaginable(drawing and colouring, story-telling, singing, writing, mathematics, ping pong and etc). I mean, c'mon, I don't even play ping pong! And, my dad would enter me into every tennis tournament possible just to see me slog it out under the searing Malaysian noon sun and losing (that explains my dark skin colour).

3) I am sensitive.
Everything is desirable as long as it's not in excess. When someone says something to/about me, even when it's not a huge deal, my mind will just extrapolate from the things they said, and come to a negative implication about myself.

Also, I'm a wimp when it comes to conflicts and confrontations. Whenever and if ever I get into a little squabble with someone, I will almost always concede "defeat" and allow the other person to take the high road. Living off my parents and having to deal with people (classmates, housemates, and mates in general) has exemplified this.

4) I am selfish.
If being selfless is totally abandoning your own interests and placing everyone else above you, then I reckon everyone is selfish, to some extent.

5) I am totally random.

You do not play bloody pranks on a bloody law student.

2008-10-09T18:41:00.007+11:00

Definition of a prank:

prank - a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement.
And, a few words which are related to the word 'prank' are:
foolery, tomfoolery, lunacy, craziness, folly, indulgence

From: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/prank

Guess what??? I've been bloody pranked on today.

I woke up this morning and was about to drive my car to uni. But, lo and behold, I found that my car was MOVED. You know how in apartments and all, you're allocated a lot of your own to park your car. Well, I parked my car at my spot last night and I was shocked to find that my car was parked one lot beside my lot.

Now, before you go off thinking that I might have been sleep walking and thought "hmm...maybe I'll just go down and shift my car to the lot next to me just for kicks", well, I wasn't. And yes, I did lock my car doors. And, no, I didn't put up a HUGE sign which said "HEY THERE! FEELING BORED? WHY NOT TRY STEALING MY CAR?".

So, anyway, as I approached the car, I was shocked even more to find out that my car doors were locked. So, obviously, this guy has somehow got hold of some sorta key to open my car door. And, he left an Adidas cap in my car.

So, at that moment I thought, "Hmm..how thoughtful of the car thief to have broken into my car, used it for some joyride or whatever, and returned it with a nice little souvenir for my safekeeping."

Uhm......Yeh..that'd work in a comedy show or whatever. But,not here, not now.

I was freaking out. I checked if all the stuff in my car were still intact. I checked if the car thief tried to jack my door open or scratched my car in the process. I was relieved that find out that everything was still there. I was also planning on going around and asking my neighbours whether or not they've seen anyone suspicious. I decided that I was going to make a police report about this since I had the "souvenir" to prove it. But first, I thought, I should probably go get a state-of-the-art steering wheel lock, just in case he strikes again tonight. I even got all CSI-ish and checked out the cap for possible strands of hair to determine if it was an Aussie or an Asian bloke because that would narrow down some prospective suspects living around me (not that I'm being racist in anyway!). But, right before I was about to go out and buy that lock, I got a phone call from the friend of mine in Singapore from whom I bought the car. I had told her earlier about how scared I was. She was just as worried as I was but she suspected that it was a prank that some people were trying to pull on me. And, so she decided to contact a few people and sure enough there were a couple of my "close" friends who was trying to pull this prank on me.

You must be wondering how they did it. Well, the thing is Adeline, the seller of the car was supposed to pass me her second pair of keys before she left Hobart for Adelaide en route to Singapore, couldn't find it in time to give it to me. Later, she realised that it was with her all that time and so she passed it to this girl in Adelaide who was supposed to bring it to me when she came down to Hobart. But, this person forgot about it. So, she agreed to post the keys back to me ASAP. So, I gave my address to this other person to have him pass it her through a text message or something because I did not have her number. So, yep, you've guessed it. They must have plotted some sorta plan to pull this prank on me by having her send the keys to their place and so on.

I eventually got a hold of the Adelaide girl and asked her whether or not she has sent the key to me. She then tells me that she sent it in the post 3 weeks ago. So, I thought, "oh no...maybe the post got delivered to the wrong address. Or, maybe the postman was drunk or something and was negligent in delivering the letter. Oh well.. I guess all that doesn't matter anymore.

I have no idea why they did it. Maybe, they were trying to teach me a lesson on giving out such private information or whatever. Or maybe they were trying to teach me a biblical lesson on forgiving and forgetting. Well, tough luck.

Whatever it is, it was clearly a wrong thing to do, both by law and by any friendship standards. Any second year law student can tell you that that act has very clearly amounted to a tort of trespass, in which they have PHYSICALLY TOUCHED and MOVED my property without any express or implied consent. In doing so, they have caused me a lot of distress and anxiety. And they did nothing to mitigate their actions. Instead, they prolonged my distress and pain by trying to keep it a secret. And, in their defence, they can't just say that it was a practical joke and that they didn't mean it (Wilkinson v Downton). Am I just overly sensitive? But, even if I am, they should have and ought to have known that about me. And, that would've worked against them in a court of law.

Forget about the law. What about simple "unwritten" rules about friendships. The last thing you would want to do is to cause your close friends distress and anxiety over a stupid joke. They should've thought about whether it was worth it to shake up someone over something so serious before they decided to do something like that. These are the people from the OCF...uhm..more like LEADERS of the OCF...leaders who I associate with and in whom I place my trust and have faith in.

I'll tell you what pranks are. Pranks are for e.g. Bursting a water balloon over somebody, giving them a rubber toy which looks like a cockroach, or putting a whoopie cushion on someone's seat. Those are pranks. Pranks do not include cars which you paid over $11,000 in purchase price and insurance.

I was disgusted to see that they reacted by laughing it off as another joke when I later approached them to get my keys. Was it too much of me to expect a simple apology from them?

Arghh...stuff it. I've got my keys. That's all that matters.

Here's the "souvenir" for your viewing pleasure.

More.

2008-09-20T00:01:00.007+10:00

Do You see me as anything more than just a servant in Your house?
Do You hear me only through the praises I lavish You with?
Do You touch me only when my emotions are running wild and high?
And, do You feel me when I'm not feeling You?

I see myself in a desert, when all that's within me feels dry.
I hear myself screaming in silence, as I play along with life's charade.
I reach out my hands to grasp hold of something which so easily slips away.
And, I want to have faith and not just the feeling of it.

Where are You when the music and hype is stripped away?
Are You more than what those celebrity pastors preach about?
Where are You when no one's there looking out for me?
Are You more
than the sights I see,
the noises I hear,
the feelings I feel,
the songs I sing,
the sermons on Sundays,
and the friends around me?

Help me to believe again,
with child-like faith,
not with a childish one.

An inside joke.

2008-08-26T23:59:00.003+10:00

Don't we all just love inside jokes? Provided you're "inside" of it, that is. ;-)

I stumbled across this picture when I was going through one of my many old posts. It just brought back so many memories. The picture below is just an example of "an inside joke". That's right. JOKE, NOT prophecy. :)

To all those who have no idea what that picture is about, ask me about it. :)

Memoirs of a Chung Ling boy...

2008-08-23T12:47:00.004+10:00

I just read this piece of news online...

"THREE debaters from SMJK(C) Chung Ling, Penang, made their school proud when they outwitted their opponents from SMK Penang Free School, another premier school, in the final of the Parliamentary Style English Language debate to emerge the Penang champion.

They were Daniel Law, Koay Keat Yang and Hobart Lim. "

Hold up...hold up...DANIEL Law...HOBART Lim??? Haha...Now, I'm not one who's all supersticious or anything. But, what a coincidence, right? "Hi, I'm Daniel and I'm doing Law and Hobart." :P

And, imagine naming your children after names of places... Melbourne Mah? Penang Pang? Bangkok Beng? LOL... Sorry sorry... the name Hobart is funny to me simply because I'm in a place called Hobart. Haha...Maybe the parents were studying in Hobart or something. Who knows, really?

Ok, continuing with the news...

"The competition, organised by the Ministry of Education, was held at the Methodist Boys School recently. It was open to all students from Form One to Form Five in government- aided secondary schools in Malaysia.

As Penang champion, Chung Ling will represent Penang in the national competition, details of which have yet to be announced."

First off, you know that I am an avid fan of debating myself. I was in the debating team that represented Chung Ling in that very same competition in 2005. Ahh...It feels like just yesterday that I was in the dark marine blue blazer, sweating like a pig as I was debating against St George's Girl School in the State finals. It was definitely an experience worth all the weeks of hard work. I can still vividly remember the team staying back after classes just to bounce ideas off each other and starving ourselves at the same time. Ahh..good times, good times. But, at the end of it all, we LOST to St George's. Now, I'm not a sore loser or anything. But, there were 3 Malay judges, one Chinese judge and one Indian judge. And, the final decision was split 3-2 in favour of St George's. Even the 2 NON-MALAY judges came up to us after the competition to congratulate us for a job well done. Apparently, we were MADE to lose because they couldn't allow a team with no BUMIPUTRAS in it to represent the State to go on to the Nationals. *Don't get me started on this whole issue of Bumiputra thingy...grr..*

Anyway, it's been almost 3 years since then. So, I'm just gonna be the bigger man and let by-gones be by-gones. In my heart, I know that we were the real winners and we deserved to go all the way. But yeah, I'm personally elated that my school did well in that competition. And, I'm happy that there's no such RESTRAINT (notice I chose not to use the word RULING) anymore and they can represent the State of Penang. Make Penang proud. More importantly, make Chung Ling and every debating team that went before you (and got struck down because of some stupid restraint) flippin' proud!

This post just shows how much a "school boy" I still am. I guess what they say is correct..."Once a Chung Ling boy, always a Chung Ling boy."

Performance at the UTas Singapore Night.

2008-08-23T12:09:00.002+10:00

A few weeks ago, I went for my uni's Singapore Students Society's Singapore Night (Whoa..that was a mouthful). And, yes, as you guessed it, I performed. I somehow come across to people as the walking jukebox. At least jukeboxes get money! *hint hint* ;P But nah, I was performing as part of the OCF (Overseas Christian Fellowship) band. Anyway, here are the videos.

The first song was Howie Day's 'Collide' sung by Darren Liew. Can you spot me? *hint: I'm the only one WITHOUT a guitar in hand and only singing the 'doo doo' parts. It was funny as! :) *

The second song was Graham Colton's 'Best Days' sung by yours truly. You might have heard this song played on American Idol earlier this year. Anyway, I hope you like it. :)

Of Wisdom, Home and Wheels...

2008-08-18T18:41:00.014+10:00

I am officially wise...painfully wise. :-/

Two days ago, the gums around my bottom right jaw started to ache. At first, I thought it was because there was something stuck there and the area got infected (which happens a lot to me). So, I just cleaned that area and made sure that there was nothing stuck there. But, the very next day, my jaw started to hurt. And, the next day(today), I could barely open my mouth because my jaw hurt everytime I tried to. I was practically SUCKING in my oats this morning. It didn't just stop at the jaw pains and toothache. It gave me really annoying headaches(apparently they can cause you fever too). And, to make matters worse, I had my Tort Law presentation today! I've been preparing for this day for the past week! Crappity-crap-crap!

Have you ever wondered why we have wisdom teeth? They're 2 pairs of teeth that grow at the very end of your set of teeth (2 at the bottom jaw and 2 at the top). They serve no purpose at all. It's not like you need them to chew stuff. Instead, they cause you all sorts of problems. Arghh.. I wanted to have it checked up here. But, according to my friends. just the consultation alone can cost me up to $100! That's right... 100 Australian dollars! And, to extract one wisdom tooth might cost me up to 1000 buckaroos! Whoohooooooo... :-S So, for now, I guess it's just gonna be pain killers and porridge till I get home and have it checked up.

But, it's now that I thank God for the Aussie accent. Because, Aussies tend to use the back of their mouths to pronounce their words(because they're just too lazy to shape their mouths properly). So, I think I managed to pull off a pseudo-toothache-aussie-accent while I was presenting. Don't you just love the Aussie accent. :P

Speaking of home, I'm not ashamed to say it... "I FLIPPIN' MISS HOME!!!" I'm not like those people who constantly whine about home. I just get these spurts of homesickness. And, when I do, it can get really bad. Now that I'm on my own, I can't just run to my mum and dad whenever something goes wrong anymore. Gone were the days when I could just leave my cares and burdens at the door when I get home. I can be sure that my parents will be there and I'll know that everything will be alright. There's just this overwhelming sense of security when you're with your parents. Besides that, it gets harder when your best friend, who you can always confide in or when you just need somebody to talk to, is not with you.

I'm such a wimp.

Anyway, here's the big news! *and, no...I don't have a girlfriend yet... -_- So, stop asking me! :P *

I got a new pair wheels! Yay me! A friend of mine recently left Hobart for Singapore and she wanted to sell off her car. It's a 1.3L Toyota Echo. My Malaysia friends will go, "Oh...that looks like a Myvi!" I think it should be better than a Myvi.She bought it in mid 2005. So, the car is about 3 years old and has 2 more years of warranty left. And, I bought it for $10500. I think it's a pretty good deal. My other friends seem to think so too. But, still, it's a pretty big sum of money to spend. I'm just so so grateful that my big brother in Singapore was able and willing to buy the car for me. Now, I'm forever indebted to him. :-/ But, anyway, here's some pics of the car. It's a great drive and my best car to date (considering my past 2 cars were a Tiara and a 15 year old Saga)! Thanks again, BIG KEKE (that's what I call him)! Maybe you could send Titus to Australia for his studies next time and I can look after him for you. :)

Ok, back to work...

I know this is not exactly the most interesting post I've done. Oh wellz... Blame the homesickness... :(

The Winter that was not bitter - Part 2

2008-07-15T15:51:00.010+10:00

And just when you think that my holidays could not have gone any better, I'm here to disappoint you. :P

Ok, enough bollocks about all the countryside and natural stuff that is Tassie. On to the big city!

I went to Sydney for the Hillsong Conference from the 7th-11th of July. The conference? Ugh-ma-zing! Imagine 20000 people crammed into a stadium all singing in one voice with awesome worship leaders like Darlene Czech, Michael Grungor and Israel Houghton. It was hair-raising! Imagine the best speakers in the world coming together and sharing the Word. You'd be crazy not to catch a new revelation after listening to people like Joyce Meyer, Mike Pilavachi, Judah Smith, Joseph Prince and etc. It is everything you could have imagined about Hillsong, and more!

As full on as the conference was, we managed to escape the hectic schedule and get some sight-seeing and A WHOLE LOT of eating done. :P

Hmm...How would I describe Sydney (oh, and it's my first time there. I have a feeling it won't be my last. :D )? Sydney is...uhm...crowded enough to make you realise that it's a big city and yet organised enough to not come across as being too congested. It's old majestic sandstone buildings and gleaming new skyscrapers. It's polluted air, dirty and grafitti-filled and yet lovely enough to make people forget about all that(You'd have to admit, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge is just stunning pieces of architecture). I find that people aren't as friendly or courteous in Sydney. I guess that's the common trend in all big cities. I guess people in big cities are just too busy to be nice and I highly am opposed against this idea. This deserves a whole blog entry on its own but that's for another day. Oh, just in case you don't know the people in those pics, there was Kah Wei, Ian Chee, Aaron Tan, Alice Tee and myself. Anyway, here's Sydney(well, at least according to my pictures)!

The new Apple centre in Sydney - the 2nd biggest in the world.

I've heard about Jesus and 'doughnuts'...but this is new...

Ian and Kah Wei, thanks heaps for letting us stay at your place. :) So, yea, that's my winter break summed up in pictures for you. One week of Tassie and one week of Sydney("Ouch!", screams my wallet). I couldn't have asked for a better break. :) Now, onward mighty man of valor to your second semester of your second year of Uni!

The Winter that was not bitter - Part 1

2008-07-15T01:24:00.018+10:00

Chuck away your short pants and put on a pair of thermals instead. Throw away those thongs (called slippers in Malaysia) and put on a pair of warm shoes. Put away your hairstyling wax and put on a beanie instead. Mate, it's winter! And, whoever said winter is no fun cannot be more wrong!

Just a brief "F.Y.I." moment before I inundate this blog with pictures (which is what most of you guys are here for anyway). So, yeah, Sarah Khor and Jia Ren came down to Tassie for a short holiday from the 1st-5th July. I did not think I would enjoy going around Tassie in winter. But, boy, was I wrong. It just goes to show that in be-a-u-ti-fuuul Tassie, anytime is a good time. Yeah, it is a little cold and chilly during this time of the year. But, heck, who really gives a stuff when you are continually awestruck by nature's beauty. Besides, Sarah and Jia Ren were fun to hang around with. :)

Port Arthur convict site - This place is pretty cool! Imagine a whole town which was built hundreds of years ago by the British to cater to the containment of convicts from Britain. The history there is just mind blowing. After the jails were shut down, the early government were thinking of just letting the whole township fade into oblivion because most Australians at that time were embarrassed to recognise their convict history. This place is a must-see if you love history.

The fare-free alternative to take a picture with a Tasmanian Devil. The admission fee was a friggin AUD24, just to see them Devils and some other wildlife. Bugger!

Knowing me, you know I couldn't resist doing this. It was right there! :P

Tessellated pavement.

Tasman blowhole.

Devil's Kitchen.

Tasman Arch.

Out and about around Hobart city.

Snow angel-ling on top of Mt Wellington! Always wanted to do this. Oh, despite the oh-so-happy pics you see here, there's a memorable(almost traumatising) story about the trip up there. The winds were soooooo strong when we were up there. Couple that with the cold weather, and you get Arctic-like conditions. Anyway, after we went out to trod in the thick snow, touch the snow and also EAT the snow, we decided to head back down. But, lo and behold, we couldn't get our car started. I tried to phone for roadside assistance but the signal up there was really bad. So, imagine being trapped up a 1200 something mountain with wintery wind blasts and with no way to get your car started while the sun is setting fast. It can get a LITTLE daunting. But, God bless this Aussie bloke who happened to have hiked up there(how on earth he managed in those conditions I still can't fully understand) and was soooo helpful. To cut the long story short, we managed to get our car started after pushing the car a little. Apparently, it had something to do with something called an immobiliser and a giant radio tower on top of the mountain. >.< But, in all seriousness, you do NOT want to get stuck up on a mountain with no way to get down.

Somewhere on Bruny Island.

Jia Ren, Sarah and I on the ferry en route to Bruny Island.

The Neck - a narrow strip of land separating North Bruny and South Bruny.

An artsy fartsy shot dedicated to Judson Lim.

The St John Catholic Cathedral - Australia's oldest existing Catholic church.

Richmond Bridge - built in 1823, it is the oldest bridge in Australia which is still in use.

Watch this space for Part 2 to this entry. :)

p.s.: If you're wondering, my second semester has just started. So, I'm trying to get all this mucking around (viz blogging) out of the way a.s.a.p before Uni starts to get insane - again.

p.s.s: If you're really that interested in my life, I got Credit for all three units I took last semester - Intro to Econometrics, Intermediate Microeconomics and Tort Law. Contract Law results to be made known SOON. :S

p.s.s.s: I've gotta stop saying 'p.s.'.

G'day, mate!

2008-06-21T00:07:00.003+10:00

LeRoy: "I hear a bit of an accent going on there..."
Dan: "What accent!!!??? I'm not speaking with an Aussie accent or whatever. I'm just neutralising my accent..."
LeRoy: "Well, it sounds accent-ish to me..."

That was an excerpt from a telephone conversation I had with me best mate, LeRoy.

But, seriously, I can't do accents for nuts!

I respect those who can. But, try as I might, I can't put on a convincing accent even if someone strapped me to a chair and made it a life or death situation for me! Ask any Aussie friend of mine, they will clear things up! ;) Furthermore, the Aussie accent is not exactly the easiest one in the world to pick up. Sure, if you were born here, or if you went to school here for several years, or if you happen to have an Aussie housemate or whatever, you would be speaking with that accent. But, other than that, there is no way you can just go "G'day, mate! How's it goin'?" in the typical lazy Aussie way of saying things. Sometimes, they can get so overly lazy that you won't be able to catch what they just said (maybe it is just me... :P ). Again, if you ask me to demonstrate what it is that I'm talking about, I can't. :P

I, for one am really interested in languages and accents. If it were an elective(say Accents 101 or something) that I could do in Uni, I would take it up in no time at all. You want to know which accent I absolutely adore? Yup, that's right! The mother of all English accents - the English accent itself(in particular the accent spoken in and around the London area).

Which accent do you like the most? :)

Anyway, yes, if you haven't already figured it out yourself, I'm done with my first semester exams. That's the only reason why I can blog about something as senseless as that. But, yea, semester one has been CRAZY. It was worlds apart from my first year. First off, Contract Law and Tort Law was not exactly easy to stomach. I mean, it was not that difficult to understand. But, it was just that there was so much to do in so little time. On one hand, I was inundated with cases to read and summarise and on the other I had to keep up with the principles and etc that was being taught. All these things required time, and a lot of it if I might add. And, my other two Economics subjects (Microeconomics and Econometrics) did not make it any easier. Such is the life of a Uni student who's doing a Law/Economics degree. I keep telling myself that it'll pay off some day and all this heavy-duty slogging is not for nothing! *breathes in and out* Arghh..stuff it. I'm just glad it's over (for now). Carpe Diem, no? :)

So, that's for the retrospective part of my entry. Lets see what's to come in the life of Dan in the next few weeks?

1) I'm gonna cook, bake and cook some more! Watch out, you curious tastebuds out there!

2) Sarah Khor and Jia Ren will be giving up the relative warmth of Perth and Melbourne to spend 5 days down in wintery Tassie. So, that should be picturetastic opportunity to go around Tassie.

3) I'll be going to Sydney for a week for the Hillsong Conference that's happening from the 7th-11th of July. Sydney baby, here I come!

4) And, of course, no short holiday is complete without the little movie night-outs, catching up with friends over sips of coffee and reading a good book.

Till then, cheers guys!

Sick of eating chicken, fish or beef everyday? Why not try HUMAN?

2008-06-02T00:18:00.003+10:00

I came across this really interesting case in my course of studying Torts Law and I was just so irked out when I read it. I should have recorded my expression when I read it. I'm sure you would feel the same. So, here goes...

*Warning: this is not for the faint-hearted.*

This is the case of 'R v Dudley and Stephens', which is a leading English criminal case that established a precedent, throughout the common law world, that necessity is no defence against a charge of murder.

Basically, what had happened was an English yacht which set sail for Sydney from Southampton on May 19, 1884 with a crew of four: Tom Dudley, the captain; Edwin Stephens; Edmund Brooks; and Richard Parker, the cabin boy. Parker was aged 17 and an inexperienced seaman. The yacht was struck by a wave around the Cape of Good Hope and sank almost instantly. They 4 of them managed to get on to a lifeboat. They managed to salvage a few instruments and 2 tins of turnips and no fresh water. The turnips were quickly eaten up and they later ate other things like sea turtles(they even ate its bones). They refrained from drinking its blood because it had been contaminated with seawater. The crew consistently failed to catch any rainwater. And, with no external source of fluid, they had begun to drink their own urine. Parker soon became ill through drinking seawater.

Drawing lots in order to nominate a sacrificial victim who would die to feed the others was discussed among them but to no resolution. Parker soon fell into a coma, Dudley told the others that it was better that one of them die so that the others could survive. This happened to be instituted in the Custom of the Seas. That night, Dudley again raised the matter with Stephens pointing out that Parker was probably dying and that he and Stephens had wives and families.

The following day, with no prospect of rescue in sight, Dudley and Stephens silently signalled to each other that Parker would be killed. Killing Parker before his natural death would better preserve his blood to drink. Brooks, who had not been party to the earlier discussion claimed to have signalled neither assent nor protest. Dudley always insisted that Brooks had assented. Dudley said a prayer and, with Stephens standing by to hold the youth's legs if he struggled, pushed his penknife into Parker's jugular vein, killing him.

In some of the varying and confused later accounts of the killing, Parker murmured "what me?" as he was slain.

The three fed on Parker's body, with Dudley and Brooks consuming most and Stephens very little. The crew even finally managed to catch some rainwater and were rescued about a week later.

When the case went to the courts, the judge found the 3 men to be guilty of murder. The judges, keeping in mind of the dire circumstance and all the precedents that said it was necessary for that to happen, instead had Dudley and Stephens sentenced to the statutory death penalty.

[Excerpt above referenced from Wikipedia]

Were they guilty or not? What say you?

Real men of law school :P

2008-05-30T01:30:00.001+10:00

I'm in Law school ! Bow down to me! hehe...

A spurt of patriotism.

2008-05-27T11:22:00.002+10:00

Here's a video of a song called 'Here In My Home' by the Malaysian Artistes For Unity. I kinda like it. :P

Random post.

2008-05-17T11:24:00.006+10:00

You know you're living with a female housemate when...
The toilet paper gets used up really quickly!

You know you're in Australia when...
Your Law lecturer actually uses the word 'CRICKEY' and 'MATE' when he's teaching you.

You know you're in Tasmania when...
The locals' idea of fun is bushwalking (for my Malaysian friends out there, it's just another word for jungle-trekking).

You know you're a law student when...
Petty things like joking about someone makes you think about defamation.

You know you're a law student when...
You start using big words in your conversations...unintentionally.

One last quip of randomness.

You know you're a Uni student who's stressing out when...
Your exams in about 3 weeks time and you're still blogging away senselessly.

Cheerio!

I shall leave you with a video of a song I'll be doing at church this Sunday as part of the International Students Services. Please ignore the pitchy parts and frizzy hair and the nerdy glasses and everything else!!! I was still in my pyjamas, ok? :P Hope you'll like it. It's an old hymn called Sweet Hour of Prayer. If you can't understand the middle part of the song, that's because it's in Mandarin. ;-)

How are ya?

2008-04-25T01:15:00.004+10:00

What's one of the most cliched lines you use to comfort or to encourage others in their difficult times? Is it something like "Oh...cheer up! We all go through seasons in our lives. Just hang in there till a better time comes" or "Everyone goes through difficult times too..." and etc...

Is it just me? Or does anyone else feel like those lines are so overused that it has become some sort of a platitude.

Aren't you tired of replying "Oh, I'm doing just fine, thank you" or "Nothing much" to the numerous "HOW ARE YOU"s or "HOW'S IT GOIN'"s? Those greetings have just become so plain and meaningless, don't they? And, we in turn become like telephone answering machines, regurgitating those same "I'm fine, thank you" lines in reply.

Have you for a second, even stopped to think that maybe, just maybe you're NOT always 'fine' or 'alright'? Have we become so afraid to let people know how we really feel?

And, the people who ask those questions, for the most part, really just want you to reply 'Yea, I'm alright' and hastily move on with their agenda.

How many of our "How are ya"s really do mean something?

How many of us can truly claim that we're 'just fine, thank you' ALL THE TIME?

I'm not trying to advocate poverty eradication or world peace. But, I am a firm believer that the biggest outcomes start from the smallest beginnings. A heartfelt whisper is more meaningful than an elaborate speech void of sincerity. If we could all just be a tad bit more genuine with something as simple as a greeting, who knows the extent of lives we are able to impact.

So, seriously, "How are ya"?

The Second Decade.

2008-04-11T01:03:00.008+10:00

I know this may sound silly, but I never thought I'd reach the big 2-0.

I recall being a 13/14 year old teenage boy looking at the date 5th of Apr 2008 on the calendar and thinking to myself:"Whoa...I wonder how it would be like when I reach 20. Everything will be so different then. I will be so much taller, more good-looking, growing a goatee and probably be studying in London or something."

Well, I'm here.

And, I am a living testament against my own wistful thinking. So, to anyone who may have had that same thought cross their mind or is contemplating on that thought, let me enlighten you.

Stop looking too far into the future. Let time take its own course. What fun is a roller coaster ride when we know exactly where the steep turns and tumbles are? What fun is there opening a present on Boxing Day when you already know what the present is? Let time and age unfold itself. Don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Sometimes, not knowing where you're going is actually more fun than going somewhere you already know.

And so I say to Life, bring on the long and winding path!

Not having rock hard abs is a good thing afterall... :-)

2008-03-28T00:21:00.009+11:00

That's right.

For those of you who have been in Australia or any Western country long enough, you would have heard about all those horrifying stories of Asians being discriminated against. The discrimination may come in various ways: racial slurs, social segregation and etc. But, here's another one to add to that list... EGGING(if there's such a term).

I was dropping someone home at the residential college in Uni the other day and I have just gotten out of the car for a few seconds when a car drove past me and someone from within shouted out, "HI". I thought it was someone I knew, so I said 'HI' back spontaneously! Haha... Aren't I friendly? Anyway, next thing you know, I felt a hard hit on my chest(ouch!) and I heard and saw an egg break at my feet.

That's right! Not an inch of yolk got to me! The egg must have just bounced off my springy tummy and fell to the floor (note to everyone with some flab around their tummy, thank God you don't have rock hard abs! haha...).

So, back at ya, you irresponsible and racist little pricks! Look who's laughing now!?

You know you're a uni student who's studying away from home when...

2008-02-21T17:00:00.052+11:00

#1 When spending just 2 months at home feels like absolute bliss...

#2 When you feel like #1 is all that matters...

Oh well...It's back to books, classes and Year 2 of uni for me. God, please grant me the persistence and grit to do this. Amen!

Tried taking a break but it doesn't seem to work?

2007-12-27T03:55:00.000+11:00

Why not try taking a break from people?

Sometimes, it's best if we just had some "alone time", free from the layers of fake smiles we put on(even when we're hurting inside) and the fuss of trying to create events to entertain everyone(but yourself).

When was the last time you didn't have to worry about appeasing other people with activities you so pain-stakingly planned but did not work out anyway? When was the last time you needn't be concerned whether your best mate doesn't spend as much time with you anymore?

When was the last time you took yourself out for a good meal, a movie or just laze off time with a good book and a cup of your favourite drink in hand?

Life without people is a bore. But a life lived out for people is no life at all.

Bumming about...

2007-11-25T10:21:00.000+11:00

It's been awhile since my exams finished. The results are coming out on this Friday! I can't believe how time flies... I've been trying to arrange for an earlier flight back to Penang, but to no avail... :-( Oh well... So, what has Daniel been up to from the time he finished his exams until now?

First, I went FISHING for the very first time at this place called Margate, about 30 minutes drive from Hobart. It was exciting at first, when I first learned to cast my fishing rod and when I caught my first fish(a Flathead). But after awhile, the feeling of excitement slowly turned to a feeling of calmness and serenity as you just sit there and enjoy the scenery and warm summer breeze(in other words, I didn't get any fish after that... -_- ). It was good fun just hanging out with some friends while fishing.

There was an OCF End of Year Celebration. We just had a buffet dinner and some performances(which you guessed it, I performed). Nothing much to elaborate there. So, I'll just skip right to the pictures.

A few of us decided to go have dinner at this place called the Cascade brewery/hotel. I ordered this thing called the SUPER SCHNITZEL(however you spell that). They weren't kidding when they said SUPER, the meal was HUGE(this is an understatement)!!! The beef schnitzel alone was about the size of my two palms together...STRETCHED! The thickness of the schnitzel was about 3 fingers put together. On top of that, there was a serving of fries and salad. HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU MANAGE ALL THAT!? Everyone at the table who ordered that could not finish it. I couldn't even manage HALF of that thing and I was stuffed and so I had it packed and taken home.

Oh...besides spending time outside, I also tried my hands at baking...that's right...BAKING! To date, I've baked 4 times. My first 2 attempts were at baking apple crumbles. My second try was at baking something called crisp apple tart. My first apple crumble turned out like cookies on baked apples while my crisp apple tart turned out like baked apples on roti canai. So, you can imagine my utmost disappointment. Lesson learnt: never trust recipes posted on Wiki-How. I got so tired of baking apple-related stuff that I tried baking cookies instead-chocolate almond cookies to be exact. This was a great success! Everyone loved it! So, in conclusion, I should stick to baking cookies???

A few friends and I decided to make a road trip up north of Tassie to the town of Burnie and the city of Launceston. It's always trips like these that make me appreciate Tassie SOOO MUCH MORE!!! I am reminded again that I am so lucky to be studying at one of the most natural and beautiful locations in the world! So yea, the trip was heaps of fun. Has anyone tried deep fried MARS BARS before? On one of the towns on the way to Burnie, they have this place which sells deep fried Mars Bars. Apparently, this is the only place in Tassie that sells this. Interesting eh? On the way to our destinations, we stopped over for things like cheese and chocolate tasting...yumm... However, the 'getting-there part' was not much fun. I think we spent like 8 hours in total driving from Hobart-Burnie-Launceston-Hobart. Sickening, I know. But, with breath-taking countryside sceneries like these, how can one's grouses be justified?

How can summer holidays be complete without a trip to the beach? One fine day, a couple of friends and I went to Kingston Beach, which is about 20 minutes away from Hobart. GOshh..I now have the opinion that every beach in Tasmania is clean and beautiful with baby blue, if not crystal clear waters(correct me if I'm wrong). But yea, it was really nice just playing frisbee and wading about in the waters(not forgetting being sun-baked all the way). And of course...eating all the fatty foods that come with beach outings like fries, burgers, Coke, ice cream. Goshh...thinking about it makes me feel really guilty. :P

Ok...that's all for now.

Oh, and the Australian Labour Party led by Kevin Rudd has just won the general elections here in Australia. Bye John Howard. Well, I hope Mr Kevin Rudd does good for this country. ;-)

100 years

2007-11-13T23:51:00.000+11:00

I'm 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
I'm 22 for a moment
She feels better than ever
And we're on fire
Making our way back from Mars
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
I'm 33 for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm a they
A kid on the way
A family on my mind
I'm 45 for a moment
The sea is high
And I'm heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy, Time to lose yourself
Within a morning star
15 I'm all right with you
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
Half time goes by
Suddenly you’re wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on...
I'm 99 for a moment
Dying for just another moment
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
15 there's still time for you
22 I feel her too
33 you’re on your way
Every day's a new day...
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live

By Five For Fighting

Looking on...

2007-11-09T11:19:00.000+11:00

Yes, I'm done with my exams. Yes, that means I'm done with my first year of uni. Yes, I'm pretty relieved.

No, I'm not coming back so soon. No, I don't have any specific plans for the holidays. No, I'm not super duper excited.

Exam review: I started really studying only about two weeks before my exam. I would ride a bicycle to the library with a bag full of books and food behind my back. I would go there at about 1pm and come home at 11'30pm or 12 midnight. I think I'll eventually overdose on apples one day because most of the times I would have just an apple and some biscuits for dinner. It was so darn sickening and tiring to have to do that for almost every single day. And that's not considering the kind of subjects that you're doing (thank God my subjects this semester were not all very 'blah'). Oh well, at least it's over...for now.

My last paper was Introduction to Management, and with that ended my first year of my double degree of Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Business(Economics) at the University of Tasmania. Fast, no?

Life is like that, isn't it? When we are in the thick of things, we tend to dread it and and wonder if we ever will see the end of the long and winding tunnel. And after going through it, with hindsight, we think to ourselves "wow, that was fast!" or "I wish I could turn back the hands of time".

When will this charade ever end? Only when we die and leave this rigidly defined routine we call 'life'?

Will it end after finishing uni? I don't think so. All these things that uni is synonymous with: assignments, staying up late to research for materials, studying for a test etc. is all very much a part of working life as it is with school and uni life. So, if that part will not change, what will? The only thing I can think of is that by then we will probably have a family of our own to raise and support. And, we all know that there is a whole set of challenges that comes with it. So, maybe that is why all these working adults tend to go on and on about school days being easier than working life.

OR........it could be that my impatience about everything is acting out and that is what is causing me to ramble (besides, I know that most people don't seriously read blog entries).

There are two options to go about this. One, I can go on and mull about this and remain depressed. Two, I can be ignorant about everything, no matter how stuffed up, and just live life for the 'now' and play along with this charade.

*note to self: it's time to do some soul-searching*

Oh, on a positive note, I tried my hands on baking for the first time! I tried making apple crumble because according to everyone it is supposed to be the easiest thing out there that you can make. I failed...partially... I got the apple part correct, but not the crumble part. :-( *Only Euodia knows why... ;-) * Oh well, I've gotta start somewhere...

Here's a picture of my apple crumble BEFORE it was made...

And here is a picture of how the apple crumble was SUPPOSED to look like (I was to embarrassed to take a picture of my end product).

The jazz side of me...

2007-10-28T13:27:00.000+11:00

For many of you, you may have heard about a capella singing, but you may have never heard jazz a capella before... So, here are some videos to open up your eyes to a whole new world of singing... :-)

This is called "It don't mean a thing" by The Real Group.

This is called "Run, Run, Run" by the same group.

Jazz singing, like the music, is a whole different genre of music. It has its own jazz chords and style of singing. With that said, it is not an easy thing to do scatting let alone find the right jazz chords to sing. But these guys are just sooooo GOOD!!! Anyone interested in buying me their CD for this Christmas or my birthday next year? ;-) But really, they are the gold standard of jazz a capella.

If I had the chance and opportunity, I would just drop everything I am doing now and form/join a group like that and start making a living out of it. And I'll live happily ever after. :-)

Another burst of choral craze...

2007-10-17T11:23:00.000+11:00

I still hold on to the belief that Indonesians and Filipinos are the most talented in South East Asia when it comes to singing. I didn't mention Singaporean choirs because I think most of the time they are performing just for the sake of performance and competition. At least they are really disciplined at what they do. And, I definitely do not include Malaysian choirs in the 'good choir' category. They lack the ear for music and discipline to sing well in a choir. Hehe..sorry...but it's true.

This is a song called 'Cantik', sung by an Indonesian choir. Just look at the fun this choir is having while performing this. ENJOY! :-)

Sheep in the big city ?

2007-10-16T12:07:00.000+11:00

This morning I was startled by those alienic creatures-again.

But, I finally saw those little rascals and lo and behold, they were LAMBS. As in Gwen Stefani's music album name, as in LAMB shanks, as in LAMB chops... Well, at least they're slightly easier on the eyes. But, to-may-to or to-mah-to, they are still the same. Lambs sound just as annoying and they make the same, if not LOUDER "BEHHhh-Ehhh-EHHHH" noises. But, this time I am quite certain they are here to stay as pets. The joy...... -_- Again I say this(hoping that those lamb owners will hear it)... this is not a FARM!!!!!

Haih...I guess I just have to get used to it... Well, at least now I can make jokes like "Can you please remove the LAMB from my table?" or "Can you LAMB me a hand?" and still get away with it. ;-)

This cartoon says :"Mary had a little lamb. And some mashed potatoes." ;-)

Are you bloody SeRiOuS!!!???

2007-10-15T23:42:00.000+11:00

What's the thing you hate most when you first wake up in the mornings?

The loud sharp ring of your alarm clock that screams in your ear, pulling you out of the nice dream that you were having?

Or, is it the piercing sunlight that escaped the opaque curtain of your room window and forces you to open your eyes without your permission?

Well, if all that does not annoy you in the mornings, try adding the "maa-ing" (I had to look up Wikipedia to find that word) of goats to that list! That's right...GOATS...as in G-O-A-T-S!!!

Yesterday night, I was doing my revisions and my housemate and his friend were watching a movie in his room, when I suddenly heard "MAA...". I shrugged it off as some noise my sometimes drunken downstair neighbours made. But moments after, I heard it again! I went to my housemate's room to make sure I was not hallucinating. It so happened that he was watching the show 'Barnyard'(ironically). And the moment I opened his door, he asked me "Was that the sound of goats I heard? Don't look at me, it's not coming from this room! I think our nearby neighbours are rearing GOATS!" And I thought I was hearing animal noises from doing my math revision!*phew* So, that night I had to suffer the intermittent and intolerable sound of "maa-ing". I thought to myself:"maybe the owners are just keeping it for the night before they butcher it tomorrow morning." So, I decided to dig deep to find the sanity to bear with the insane. Boy, was I wrong!

This morning, instead of the steady ring of my alarm or the glaring sunlight, I had those dear, DEAR GOATS to wake me up! *grinds teeth* And, that was not just it...oh no... they had to wake me up at 6 something in the morning! I thought I was dreaming. One of those twilight hours kind of dream, you know? So, I went back to sleep...to be awoken up by those bloody goats a few minutes later! How do I know there was more than one goat, you may ask? That's because I heard two registers of "maa-ing". They were making some freakin' music! By that time, I was certain I was not dreaming about the movie BABE...It was like they came back with a vengeance. They kept on going "maa...maaa...MAA-AAAAA-AAAAAAAA!!!" You get the picture. I kid you not, I was so prepared to take the biggest knife in my kitchen, and strut down there in my pyjamas and slaughter them for some Hari Raya rendang or something!

I would totally understand if I was living in some farm in the countryside and milking cows for a living. But for goodness sake! We're in a suburb! Where NORMAL people rear pets like dogs, cats or at most, pythons! But, to rear something that people in the Swiss alps yoddle about is bit too absurd, don't you reckon?

Forget about the culture shock people tell you about. THIS is by far, the craziest thing I have come across. Period.

What's been poppin' ?

2007-09-26T21:22:00.000+10:00

Not Mary Poppins of course... *everyone goes "gosh...lame..."*

Anyway, I figured I better give an update on things here. So many interesting things happened in the past one/two weeks. So, here's a gist of everything that's worth a shout.

My CF here had a musical production, titled 'Jack' which happened on the 21st and 22nd of September in conjunction with E-Night(evangelism night). We have been practising for this for the past 2 months or so. And as musical goes, we had lots of acting, singing and dancing. Being the choir/singing enthusiast I am, I VOLUNTEERED to lead the choir and be in charge of all the singing performances. I took a step further by joining the dance team (I am not as spastic as you may think I am ;-) ). Anyway, I won't elaborate on the details. For the first night, we only had about 50 or so who came to watch the presentation. On the second night though, we had 3 times that number who came! Besides the presentation, we had a speaker to come give the Word for about 20 minutes. At the end of everything, 3 people gave/recommitted their lives to God! :-) So, all in all, it was great fun albeit tiring. It reminded me a little of Star of Persia. ;-)

Have you ever wondered why Tasmania is world renowned for its natural beauty? Have you ever wanted to lie on white sandy beaches with crystal clear waters with the blue sky as a backdrop? I did just that when Ian Chee Yi En, a.k.a pitch perfect guy came down from Sydney to Tasmania for a 6 day visit. Being the good and gracious host that I am ;-) , I showed him around (not to mention letting him sleep in my bed while I bunk in with my other friend). We went around Hobart and the East Coast of Tassie, visiting everything from Australia's best open air market, Salamanca Market to one of the top ten beaches in the world, Wineglass Bay. I borrowed a friend's car to drive. And, I kid you not the scenery along the East Coast is sooooooo beautiful that it is almost a crime not to stop and admire the beauty and splendour! It's so hard to keep your eyes on the road with all that beautiful scenery. From the picturesque countryside to the long stretches of breath-taking coastline, I saw it all...Here are some of pictures I took. I can't possibly upload all the pictures and elaborate on everything. So, ask to see more of them when you see me! ;-)

There were quite alot interesting things that happened as well during the trip, including many "firsts". It was the first time I drove since I left Penang, the first time we became the culprits of roadkill(a rabbit ran into the side of the tyre of my car) and...the first time I committed a speeding offence big time! I was driving on the Tasman Bridge on the way home. I was almost off the bridge when I realised that everyone else was driving slower than me(which does not happen very often), then it hit me! The speed limit on the bridge was 70km/h while I was driving at about 90km/h!!! There are speed cameras fixed all over the bridge!!! I MUCKED UP REAL BAD THIS TIME!!! Someone PLEASE tell me that the speed cams could have been unoperational at that time. But, I don't reckon that will happen. So, right now I'm just waiting for the speed ticket. Of all places, why must it happen here in Australia where I have to pay 3 times more because of the exchange rate. HAIHHHH.. So, yea...A sad ending to an otherwise perfect day.

Road to fame and fortune???

2007-09-14T11:33:00.000+10:00

Hehe...Nah...Judson asked if I could shoot a video for promoting the SXI graduation prom that's coming up end of this year. So, being the good friend I am, I did. So here's my 2 minutes and 56 seconds of fame on Youtube!

Going to the "barber"...

2007-09-05T17:35:00.000+10:00

Have you heard of barbershop harmonies/quartets? It's a style of music that is normally sung by 4 guys acapella. I came across these videos on Youtube. And oh mannn...they are so TIGHT! And you know that my taste of acapella music is exquisite. So, when I say this acapella is good, they ARE good! Have a watch if you're free... ;-)

These two videos are from a group called Max Q in the States. The 2nd part of the first video is about how this guy's best friend stole his "gal"... it's so funny...

This video is about how this group, Max Q which has been winning 2nd place in this competition for the past 3 years and that this year they FINALLY won first place. This is even more hilarious!

Of bloody steaks, smokey apartments and a nice night out.

2007-08-21T11:08:00.000+10:00

I had what my OCF calls a 'Connect Night' last weekend. It's just basically different cell groups meeting up for a night of just pure fun. :-) So, my connect group decided to meet up at a restaurant(which has a Friday Night offer of $10 rump steak) to have a meal together and watch a movie after that. The movie idea didn't come to pass because the movie was not showing anymore. So, anyway, we had one heck of a meal. At least I did... ;-)

My meal of a medium rare rump steak with black pepper sauce. Sidedishes of fries and garden salad with a ten ounce of pale ale to wash it all down. If you think the picture looks like one humongous serving, I kid you not...IT REALLY IS!!! Lesson learnt, if you don't like your meat bloody, never order a steak rare or medium rare done... :( hehe...

Here's what another 2 connect groups did- A COOK-OFF!!! It was great fun!

Master chef's at work!

I had the honour of being a "guest judge" at the cook-out since I was not from their connect group. And believe me, it was SUCH a pleasure to be tasting the food! Who knew uni students could cook so well! ;-) And being the usual me, I acted like the Simon Cowell of food-tasting and provided all the nasty comments(it's not like I can cook as well as some of them). ;-) Besides being really tasty, the dishes were all very creatively named as well...hehe...but I can only remember two of them...

I forgot what this dish was called, but here's a suggestion to everyone: Try baking thinly sliced sweet potatoes with honey! It is SWEETNESS DOUBLED and simply DIVINE!!! ;)

This dish was called "Apple Isle". Apple Isle is a nomenclature for Tassie. The salty potato chips was to resemble the salty Bass Strait that separates Tassie from the Mainland and the funky looking round thing is supposed to be Tassie island. ;-)

And the dish I found which had the funniest name was this, aptly named "Waiter, there's a fly in my soup!"... haha...It's actually just normal sweet potato soup with one bit of ginger in it. Hehe...

One of the best skits I've ever seen... nearly brought me to tears...

2007-08-10T00:36:00.000+10:00

If you want a picture of Salvation, here it is! Hope it touches you as much as it has me.

Uncle Daniel...

2007-08-05T17:58:00.000+10:00

On the 1st of August 2007 at precisely 11:15pm, I became an uncle to the newest addition to my family - TITUS TEOH CHENG JIN! He was born in Thomson Medical Centre, Singapore to the very proud parents, Teoh Soon Hup (my brother)and Chia Mei Ling (my sis-in-law).

This makes my brother a dad, my parents, grandparents and of course, I, an uncle!

Titus means "honorouble", while "Cheng" means "sincere or truthful" and "Jin" means "respectful" in Mandarin. So, this baby has got to be the most honourable man when he grows up if not his uncle will smack his butt! ;-)

My parents jumped on an express bus down to Singapore once my brother told them of the news. How I wish I could be back there to share the joy too.

It is really really exciting to become an uncle, but at the same time weird too. It's weird to have like a junior version of my brother. But oh well, I guess 31 is a ripe old age to become a dad.

Now there is one more reason for me to be excited to go home at the end of this year! Too bad my little nephew won't be able to call me "uncle" yet... :( But nonetheless, I can't wait to see you baby Titus!

Chef Dan!

2007-07-27T02:13:00.000+10:00

I was in a mood for cooking a nice meal...so I decided to go Western today...

Menu for dinner: Chicken, marinated with basil, salt, and pepper, fried in batter, topped with creamy Morroccon sauce. Another piece of chicken, also fried in batter, but topped with a slice of cheese and also some creamy Moroccon sauce. Side dishes include home-made mashed potatoes and coleslaw. Dessert was rasberry ice cream with Cheerios...haha... funky eh? But it's nice!!!

Here are some pics!!!

Stretching the dollar.

2007-07-24T23:47:00.000+10:00

Anyone that's from a country who's exchange rate is relatively lower than many other countries will always complain and muck around about their national currency's depreciating value.

Damn the high demand for the Aussie Dollar on the FOREX or Malaysia's dwindling Ringgit? Which one is it? Whatever it is, if you're not earning the former, you'll be hating it.

So yea, I'm feeling the pinch, more like the SLAP of the strengthening AUD. Mainly because I've been spending way off budget lately. It's not that I've been being an irresponsible bloke with my finances. Things have been pretty tight lately.

My printer which I bought from someone for $25 broke down right after I've bought 2 new ink cartridges. And now, I have to service the printer with an initial deposit of $48 with $24 extra for every subsequent half an hour. I'm really REALLY hoping that my printer doesn't take more than half an hour for the technician to fix. If not, I will hate myself so bad for not buying a new printer which costs $69 instead!

My electricity bill for the past 3 months came to a whopping $400 something, that means I have to pay half of that (blame the cold winter and the extra heating required). The normal bill was about $200 something for 3 months.

And on top of that, I( I mean my parents) just payed half of my 2nd semester tuition fees which amounts to $2000 something. Another $2000 something is to be paid in August.

It's times like these when you either wish you came from somewhere with a higher currency exchange rate or you should have just stayed back home and did your studies there instead. BUT, I have faith that God will pull me through this tough time.

But then again, it's also times like these that make me REALLY REALLY value each dollar and cent. NOte the word 'value', and not 'craze over'. I'm still living off my parents' money which they send over each month. And for now, there's nothing I can do about it. *NOTE TO SELF: GET OFF YOUR ARSE AND FIND A JOB!*

There's always the alternative of robbing the bank nearby. But for now, I'll settle for being more thrifty in my spending and truly living out the old and wise adage 'little bit little bit, slowly become bukit'.

Acapella madness!!! :-D

2007-07-09T23:04:00.000+10:00

An ode to narcissism???

2007-07-05T14:51:00.000+10:00

Nah...of course NOT! I just wanted to see how much I've changed (appearance wise) since I left school...So here are some pics of yours truly since leaving high school in 2005 till now (starting from the most recent pics to the oldest ones)... :-) And you be the judge. Have I changed much?...

Marvellous Melbourne

2007-06-27T13:10:00.000+10:00

I was in Melbourne last week, and all I can say is that it really lives up to the catch phrase 'Marvellous Melbourne' which was coined together sometime during the colonial era. I think Melbourne is one city I can't get tired of. Unlike other cities which are all concrete and stone, there's just this sense of history and culture to Melbourne. The old Victorian-era architecture (which I absolutely love) just gives Melbourne some kind of "soul". I didn't visit places like the 12 Apostles along the Great Ocean Road, watch the Penguin Parade or do skiing on the mountains because I was constrained by a tight budget. But all in all, I still enjoyed my trip there.

I shan't bore you with a 1000 word essay about my trip there, but rather I'll let a fraction of my pictures do all the talking...

How do you want people to remember you?

2007-06-27T00:04:00.000+10:00

I first heard this song years ago... when Sandra introduced me to Nicole Nordeman's songs. This is one of my favourites from her, called "Legacy". Listen to the lyrics... :)

Shining as Stars

2007-06-19T11:09:00.000+10:00

Nature has it that I'm a very "kiasu" or competitive person... It's that bad that sometimes I get depressed about every little instance that I lost... I would beat myself up for losing everytime. It came to a point where I asked myself why am I THIS competitive and afraid of losing. So when I'm this desperate about something, you can be sure that I'll pray about it... I asked God for him to speak to me on this, and this morning when I did my devotions, I got an inkling about what God is trying to say to me.

Philippians 2 ~ v3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. v4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others....v14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, v15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe...

I'm not against competition... but if the competition and fear of losing makes you feel depressed and even to be envious or hold resentment towards another (which is exactly how I feel sometimes), you need professional help...no, I'm not talking about Oprah, but it's time to talk to God about it and have a good look at yourself...

The Bible is very clear that in whatever we do, we should build others up, not break them down. Why does the Bible say "in humility consider others better than yourselves.."? Humility, can mean two things - 1) That we might be better at something than others, but we should not be boastful of it; 2) That we are not skillful in that particular thing and just simply not as good as the other person and so we should look up to these people. This just goes to show that there are things that we are good at and not so much in other things... it's a fact of life! My dad always told me this, that no matter how good you think you are at something, there is always somebody else who's better.

But that's not the main reason why we should not be overly "kiasu"...

The bible actually describes someone who's overly competitive as SELFISH. We are all selfish beings, at some point. This is the major point of contention: Are we selfish of selfless?

We are called to be holy because Christ is holy, and that our attitude should be the same as that of Christ. I believe that God is not against competition. Competition is about endurance, putting in that little extra and staying focused on the prize. The Bible talks a lot about that through Paul. However, we are called to be SELFLESS beings for many reasons, but one of them is simply because Jesus Christ is selfless in everything that He does and we are supposed to emulate Him.

Paul is a very good example of someone who has given his ALL, just so everyday, at least one more person woould come to know God. He was jailed for his work, and persecuted for his faith. Even so, he says in Philippians 2:17~ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

I know my strengths and weaknesses. But I also know that it's sometimes very difficult to divorce that selfish nature from ourselves, and be selfless. And I also know that I won't be able to change my mindset overnight. But let's strive towards "doing everything without complaining or arguing, so that we may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which we shine like stars".

Exam BE GONE! At least for now...

2007-06-14T16:37:00.000+10:00

YESH! My exam just finished... and with it went my first semester at the Uni of Tasmania!!! whoohoo...another 9 more semesters to go...ish... potong stim... but who cares!!! For now, all the world's fine...

I'm telling you, Uni is no walk in the park! Exams aside, it is really the constant assignments and assessments that take their toll on you. Let me give you an overview of my very first semester at Uni. Hang on to your seats folks!...

The 3 'F's...
My first few weeks of Uni was really tough. It wasn't so much of the studies though... Fresh out of Penang, I was like a brand new clock where I needed to reset myself...literally...because of the time difference...hehe... ;-) My lame side is still with me eh? But yea..I had to readjust myself to so many things... the weather, the people, the way things are taught in uni, to not being able to drive my purple tiara(barely half a year, and the rubber on my shoe soles are disappearing soon because of all the walking) ;-) and not forgetting all their 'g'day mate!', 'no worries, mate!' and 'coffee mate'...hehe... I threw the last one in for fun... :-) But most of all, I had to get used to not being able to be around the ones I love... My family, friends and Penang Laksa...oops..I mean Food..(how can you NOT miss this heavenly dish!)...

The books, "buku", "shu" and such...

What would Uni be without the books and stress of exams?... So this semester, I took Economics for Business, Accounting for Financial Decision Making, Business Information Systems and Introduction to Law. Each one has its own story to tell... Let's start by asking Mr. Economics how he fared with Daniel...

Mr. Economics: I and Daniel started out a little rough... He had trouble getting along with my children at first like 'Marginal Costs' and 'Economic Surplus'... But after awhile, he and my other children became good friends... mainly because he met my children before while they were in Disted College, Penang. Right now, he has grown really fond of me and my family and has made up his mind to come live with me for the next two years (majoring in Econs).

Miss Accounting: I and Daniel have never been on the best of terms... I first met him in Disted College. Many people thought I was a "fun" but complicated girl... You see, I was and still is a bit of a playgirl...I love Numbers, Debit and Credit. You might say that I'm a bit "clingy"... Daniel tried to like me at first... but as time passed, he just couldn't tolerate my love for Numbers and this other guy surnamed Concepts, first name Accounting.. I still remember one night while he was preparing for his SAM exam, I had a bit of a quarel with him and that got him extremely frustrated...and he vowed never to want to see me again after his SAM exam! But oh well, fate has it that I'll meet him again here in UTAS. We tried to work things out and thought maybe, just maybe, we could get back together again... But I guess old habits die hard...I soon became promiscuous and went out with some other hunky guys like Number's Aussie cousin, More Numbers and his younger brother, More Concepts. This pissed Daniel off so much that he broke off with me right away after his exam.

Mr. Information Systems: Dang that Miss Accounting!!! I will never date you in a million years either...cuz I'm gay you see... I met Daniel for the first time in UTAS, and it was love at first sight...but only for my part... I thought from the way that Daniel looked at me, he was interested in me... but later I realised that he was straight and that he was just using me... He didn't really cared about me. He told me one night that the onky reason he got to know me was because he wanted to get to know my sister, Microsoft Excel. He trampled all over me and just moved on. I was so mad at him that just before his exam, I made sure I confronted him and gave him what I call my Great Assignment slap. And sure enough, he felt that hard and the slap marks were visible right up to the week before his exam! The sad thing is, I still can't get over him... I'm sure I'll come back and haunt him again someday...

Uncle Law: I am Daniel's favourite uncle who lives here in Tassie. Ever since secondary school days, Daniel has always wanted to meet me. So when he finally got to meet me, I had some language problems with him... You see, he was from a Chinese school in Malaysia. He thought his English was good as he always got high marks for English tests and essays. And when he got to meet me, he finally realises it's not enough to be able to speak good English to get along with my family. He needs to brush up on his thinking skills and the way he expresses himself. I also give tuition classes for Daniel and some other Aussie students. Whenever I ask them to write an essay for me to assess, I just can't seem to give Daniel good marks because I can't see anything about his essay that stands out. He's been disappointed with this but he has taken it up as a challenge, and being the kiasu person he is, he wants to show the Aussies that he can do as well, if not better than them. I just hope Daniel doesn't give up on his dreams to become a lawyer after 5 years living with me.

The new people...
*phew*..That little interview was a tiring one. Ok, about my social life here... I've made new friends...some good ones... from my housemate, Daniel... this is so funny... I have a little note on my door which says 'Daniel', and he also has a plaque of his room door saying 'Daniel'... So imagine how funny it would be if you asked someone to go to 'DANIEL'S ROOM' in my apartment...
In uni, I have made some really good friends... Just to mention a few, there's Yue Jin(pronounced as Eu-gene) from KL, Jennifer from Sibu and Serene from somewhere in Sarawak too... ;-) They are all really nice people. How about Aussie friends you ask? Well...it's not as easy to get close Aussie friends...I'm trying... :-) But I do know a Chinese-SriLankan guy who's parents are Malaysian and who's very much Aussie... I hope that counts... hehe...
Church wise...I'm attending church every Sunday, except for the past 2 weeks... I need my own car!!! I really dislike relying on people for transport...it's so troublesome... for the driver and also for me...

So yea... I guess that's all that I can update about at the moment...It's been a long 4 months...well...at least it seems long because I'm away from home... I now know what they mean when they say it's hard being out of your "comfort zone". But it is these times that I will grow the most, character and maturity wise.

Plans for my semester break??? Oh, I'll be going to Melbourne for a week from the 19th-25th of June. For what purpose? For fun of course! Besides that, I plan to go cherry-picking to earn some money... And before winter ends, I'll want to make a trip up to Mt. Wellington to see, touch and feel SNOW!!! Hehe...I can't wait... So watch this space for more stupendous, seditious, sagacious and just the downright silly updates that's coming your way!

BLISS GONE, BLISTER HERE!

2007-05-14T23:00:00.000+10:00

Yes, I'm officially stressed and going to remain stressed for the next 2 weeks. I have 4 assignments and 2 tests due really soon, and on top of that, my semester 1 exam is barking up my door real soon! So yes, HERE I COME abyss of stress! I'm taking you head on! To everyone who visits my blog, do keep me in your prayers! :)

If God is for me, who can be against me! God, please grant me the strength and willpower to do this! Amen!

Momentary bliss...

2007-05-11T00:35:00.000+10:00

I had a busy busy week, assignment after assignment, test after test... next few weeks will be the same, if not busier... but right now...I putting all that behind me and having a breather... some "me" time, listening to some smooth suave Michael Buble songs with a book(not the ones that will be tested on) in my hand... mmm... Life is good...

I actually wanted to make a long update this time...but well...chatting with old friends is more important, no? ;-) so this will be a really short and "nothing special" kind of update..(potong stim right?! ;-) )

Anyways, a short update about my life here... it's well into Autumn now...and YES, some trees DO turn reddish brown and shed their leaves. It's really really beautiful!!!(this is coming from someone who's been in green and mean Malaysia all his life). I'm adapting to the cold weather better now... but only Old Man Winter can tell. :-) I can't wait to see Mount Wellington(which is like one of the icons of Hobart) covered in snow in Winter!

Ok...small talk aside, I'm doing fine... I have met more people, made new friends and have a small "gang" now... :-)and today for example, I talked to more Aussies than I ever did, not that I'm racist or anything...;-) That was because it was part of a tutorial exercise our law tutor made us do. It was supposed to teach us skills of active listening... also part of the Dispute Resolution topic we had this week...
Besides that, nothing much has happened or worth a highlight... Uni life is, in a word...toughteresting( tough + interesting??) hehe...

Alrighty, I'll leave it there for now... I have a busy busy busy week ahead... yea..you guessed it, assignments and tests again... thhhhhhaaaaaaAAAAAT'S UNI FOR YA!

LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, LOVE LIFE!

The sweetest memories...

2007-04-14T23:59:00.000+10:00

It's one of those instances when you say "I would give anything to relive those times"... :)

As some of you may know, I went to Xiamen, China last year for the World Choir Games. Being a "sucka" for choral singing...I enjoyed myself so sooooo much there...Just being able to sing at the world stage, being able to listen to truly world-class choirs... although my choir didn't win anything... It was like a "I died and went to heaven" kinda experience when for I indulged in those beautiful harmonies and crazy choral singing...It's then you realise that choral singing is soooo not the stereotyped singing in a church kinda thing...

I was talking to a fellow friend who went on the trip with me... the nostalgia alone can leave you on bended knees...begging to give anything...ANYTHING...just to experience it all over again... truly one of the highlights of my entire life(up to now of course)...

Let me leave you with some of the video I found of the choirs... ENJOY!.. I sure did...

This is the Victoria Junior College from Singapore...they are all just students around the age of 17/18...They were the champions in their categoty(Mixed Choir Category)...puts every Malaysian choir to shame...

And this is the Uni of Philippines MedChoir..they got the 2nd/3rd placing in the Mixed Chamber Choir category...

One year older... nothing's changed...

2007-04-11T13:52:00.000+10:00

O joy...I'm 19...

I had a 19th birthday on the last 5th April... and it was one that wasn't celebrated with much vigour if compared to the previous years... :) sorry for wanting to feel a lil' special on my birthday... but I guess that's the trade-off of having to live your life off at some foreign place and making new friends... but I'm sure I'll grow into it...

But yea...I was away at Easter Camp from the 5th-7th of April with the CF here... it was just ok for me...it's not like I haven't been to camps like these before...*fireBRANDS AYC is still the best man!!!* At dinner time, they asked me to come up and perform 19 times of push-ups, asked me to sing a song... and then they sang 'Happy Birthday' to me... so yea... that's about it... there goes my big day that I've been waiting for the whole past year... hip hip hooray... -_- but the main highlight of it all wasn't my birthday...it was when I puked in someone's car(a sports car mind you) on the way to camp... darn those bumpy Australian country roads...Malaysia's highways are way better... ;)

Anyways, the good news is that one person got saved during camp and that many enjoyed it and thought it was the best 3 days and 2 nights of their lives... :-)

BUT seriously...does growing older mean that you have less fun? Or it's just that things that used to get your adrenaline pumping just don't have the same effect anymore... now I can understand why "older" people are so dull and lifeless... :P Don't worry...we'll all get there one day...

Anyways, Easter break's almost over... and I haven't done any studying throughout the whole one week... by right I SHOULD beat myself up for it... but I'd rather spare myself the trouble and start work now... ONWARD WITH UNI and life! -cheers and God bless!

Can you speak "LAW"???

2007-03-20T22:29:00.000+11:00

I came across this parody on how lawyers and judges are often unneccesarily verbose and excessively complex in their language... and I found it to be quite interesting... :-)

Do you know the all-too-famous nursery rhyme "JACK & JILL"? something about Jack going up the hill and fetching a pail of water and both Jack and Jill fell down or something.. Well...this is the accident report that could have been written by their lawyer if they had one...

ACCIDENT REPORT
The party of the first part hereinafter known as Jack and... The party of the second part known hereinafter known as Jill...Ascended or caused to be ascended an elevation of undetermined height and degree of slope, hereinafter referred to as "hill".

Whose purpose it was to obtain, attain, procure, secure, or otherwise, gain acquisition to, by any and/or all means available to them a receptable or container, hereinafter known as "pail", suitable for the transport of a liquid whose chemical properties shall be limited to hydrogen and oxygen, the proportions of which shall not be less than or exceed two parts of the first mentioned element and one part for the latter. Such combination will hereinafter be called "water". On the occasion stated above, it has been established beyond reasonable doubt that Jack did plunge, tumble, topple, or otherwise was caused to lose his footing in a manner that caused his body to be thrust into a downward direction. As a result of these combined circumstances, Jack suffered fractures and contusions of his cranial regions. Jill, whether due to Jack's misfortunes or not, was known to also tumble in similar fashion after Jack. (Whether the term, "after", shall be interpreted in a spatial or time passage sense, has not been determined).

5 yrs later, I'll be writing like that! :P Hehe...take care and god bless!

I'm so BLESSED...

2007-03-18T12:38:00.000+11:00

I'm one ungrateful fella...

The other night after CF, I was at a friend, Dyan's place for a quick supper. We started chatting...and I found out the craziest thing. I knew she was from Penang, but I didn't know that she was staying right opposite me at GOLD COAST!!! And my current housemate Daniel stays at BJ court...The world is freakishly small !!!

Anyway, that is not the main reason why I'm updating... While at Dyan's place, she was telling me how lucky I was to have found the place that I'm staying at right now (which is directly opposite her's)... she was telling me how much trouble she had when she first came...running all around searching for a place to stay and buying furniture and living one year without Internet access at home etc...

Let me tell you how I got my place... Before coming here, I applied to the University for on-campus accomodation... I applied in late December(which is considered quite late)... and until DAYS before I left Penang, I still had no word from the Uni concerning my accomodation... I was obviously worried ! And I think it was 3 days before I left Penang, a friend, Shaun, who's my mum's colleague's son and a childhood friend called up from Tasmania, telling me a place right opposite his place just vacated as the person who was staying there is leaving for Melbourne to do his phD on Saturday(I was to arrive on Monday). The rent for the place is also relatively MUCH cheaper than other places and it's fully furnished, has Internet access etc etc... and that it's just 10 min away from my Uni by foot! And having a housemate, who has the same name and from the same place is an added BONUS! I actually have a LITTLE PENANG around me as there are nearly five people from Penang staying around the neighbourhood...hehe... I was ELATED!!! If this isn't God's perfect timing and planning for me, I don't know what is... :-)

It just goes to show that wherever life takes you to, you can always...no CERTAINLY count on Him see you through. I think circumstances in our lives are like window panes. Once you've gone through that initial ordeal and see beyond your circumstances, you'll begin to see the big picture and realise that all your initial worries and circumstances are just a minute part of the whole plan that God has elaborately planned out for you. Aren't we of more worth to God than birds and flowers??? (Matt 6:25-34)

So I guess we should NEVER EVER take things forgranted... It's about trusting, not doubting. Being grateful, not spiteful.

I shall leave you with a few pics I took in beautiful Tassie... ;-)

At the bbq held by the Law Society of UTAS for new international students... the 3 ang mos around me are exchange students from Austria.

This is where I stay!!! 3/39 Regent St.

And this is my cosy little room... seriously...it's the warmest place in the whole house...brr....

This was my very first attempt at making Baked Curry Pasta!!! and I did it all on my own without any recipe list or whatsoever!!! After God created the Earth and all...he created the pasta that you see in the pic and God and I agreed that "IT WAS GOOD"!!! ;-)

5 fingers...

2007-03-11T22:25:00.000+11:00

I got this email from John Ow, which I found to be note-worthy... :-)

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night.

5. And lastly comes our little finger - the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

On the similar note, I heard of this really interesting analogy... some of you may be familiar with it...

The Bible represents God's Word to us, and our faith... now let's assume we hold our Bible with 5 fingers on one hand...The pointing finger may represent evangelism; the middle finger: ministry; the fourth finger: worship etc....

But most importantly our thumb represents our daily devotions, and if we don't have THAT, we'll drop our Bible...... just goes to show how important our daily devotions can be... Our devotions are essential as it's the opportune time to talk to Him and get into a deeper and more personal relationship with Him... and it's where we can draw strength to do all that we do (ministry, worship, evangelism...)

If you don't remember anything else, remember this... To read or not to read the Bible???... That's not a question to begin with...

Take care you guys! oh and quote of the day: Let your 'do', come out from your 'who' !

saltiness lost, nothing gained...

2007-03-05T23:36:00.000+11:00

I was doing my devotions last night at 2'50am...after studying some Law... which is kind of ironic, seeing Law (to my view) is a very secular discipline. But...I guess it's how life's supposed to be, you have to know that you're not meant to be OF THIS WORLD but at the same time you can't isolate yourself from something so secular yet pervasive (e.g. the Law)... don't worry, my blog won't turn into some Law Journal.. ;)

But yea, back to my devotions, I was reading up on the Beatitudes in Matt 5 and V13 struck me like how that apple loved Newton's head so much....

Matt 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?*like DUH!!!!* It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

I can't imagine salt divorcing itself from its saltiness. Imagine all the food gone tasteless just because SALT arbitrarily decided to say:" Oh, wait a minute...I wanna try out something new, like say becoming sugar or pepper!"

Do you know of people (especially Christians) who've gone to all lengths to change who they are and their believes so that they may "fit in" or not appear as "the weird ones"? I do, and honestly, I have been tempted to do just that many a times... WHY??? Because I know how it feels like to feel "alien" or "being pushed aside", and you'll do just about anything to change all that, to be the popular one, or simply being accepted... Being overseas and at Uni has been an eye-opener for me so far... clubbing and drinking(becoming drunk) is a norm for students here and to come here and not joining them in their "BARRELS"( some sort of bbq/social event where alcohol is free-flowing) may sometimes feel like a crime!

Assuming you finally break into their social circle, endulge in whatever they fling at you and untimately becoming "one of them", what next?

According to V13:...... It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men....

So...after all the alcohol, all the drugs, all the partying, all the promiscuity... what next? The Bible describes it as being trampled over, I see it as being exploited and raped of your self-worth and identity... the very things that you tried so hard to acquire in the first place...

Anyway, it's just a thought from what God spoke to me about... LIVE A SALTY LIFESTYLE!!! *not recommended for high blood pressure patients* ;-)

Contrary to the 'trilogy' trend, here's my fourth and final entry on my closest peeps...

2007-02-07T19:13:00.000+11:00

BESTEST BUD ROY...haih...HAIH... :-) I still remember that lil kid who (then shorter than me) I met at South Zone, always out there alone sitting at the sofa after service... then some aunty would ask me to talk to you and ask you to come for Cell Group and Youth etc... Well... since then, it's been about 5 years that I've known you??? And I thank God that He's introduced the most accountable and trustworthy person to me... I could always talk to you about everything and anything...and I still can... but I admit, there were tough, very tough times that made things a lil' bumpy along the way, and even made me want to just forget about our friendship... but it was those things that I'm grateful for... cuz it has strengthened our friendship even further... I have many friends, good friends, close-to-my-heart kind of friends, but the ultimately BESTEST friend place has already been taken... :-)

I just want you to know that it's very tough for me to leave behind my bro as I go to Australia to study... I mean who am I going to turn to when I need that extra support and encouragement that you so freely give? :'(

Anyways, I just want to wish you all the very best in life... Thank you for everything, from being a blessing to just simply being my bro! Childish I know, but I hope that we'll remain as best buds forever. :-)

SARAH KHOO... hmm.... what can I say???.... I seriously thought I had lost your friendship at some point of time...cuz both of us were so busy and going different ways... but, I guess that's how life is....it takes us down different paths, different circle of friends... but I just hope you'll miss those KRAZZY times we had as much as I do...you know how people always say that teenage life is the best time ever??? for me, it was when I was working together with you and Jud in Youth...if it weren't for that I don't think you and I would even be talking to each other.. and of course all the small talks we had once...called "networking" remember??anyways, I wish you all the very best in life and whatever it holds for you!!!...

AARON LIEW!!! hahahahhahahaha.... whenever I think of you, I think of all the crazy things we've been through together... You are one of the few people that has impressed me so much while I was @ college and CF...your heart, your humilty and just your plain simplicity in doing things is just a blessing to know of... you are a true friend to me... THANK YOU for being such a good friend to me!!!

JENNA!!! haha...the freakishly smart girl I met at the Debating competition and Physics tuition... but it was during college and CF that I got to know you better... It's been a blessing to see you so passionate for God and everything else... I've learned so much from you by just looking at how you live your life, from excelling in your studies to just loving others... I thank God for you and your friendship...

hehe...sorry EUODIA..I couldn't find a pic with just the 2 of us in it...so I had to improvise... ;-)
Anyways, you have always been and still is a person I look up to... you're like nescafe... ALL IN ONE...haha... friendliness + godliness + helpfulness + "humilitiness" + "good-cookness"= Euodia-ness ... oh my goodness... :-) Ian's a really lucky guy... ;-) but seriously, you've been a good friend to me, always there to lend a listening ear and also give sound advice. You've truly been one of the few people I grew up in Youth that has helped me grow so much! We've been through so much since the 1st time I worked with you as a co-leader in AYC...And I'll miss and thank God for all those times! *hugs*

EU-NICE?? more like EU-BAD...hehe..jk... It's been like what..4/5 years since you were my cell group leader... and I still remember all the times I would come to cell to here you share and lead the cell... I've learned a lot from you! And although you are so mean to me, I shall be the bigger man and forgive you... ;-) it's also been a joy to serve in church with you around... :)

Pt-3

2007-01-27T18:36:00.000+11:00

LAINE... you are... to me... the FRIENDLIEST person on earth! You were one of the few people who saw me and actually did not mind befriending me in my early days in Youth. It's always, ALWAYS a joy to be around you...LITERALLY(there are countless moments when I laughed my brains silly whenever you're around)!!!It's that sense of warmth that you so freely give that demands both my respect and friendship. I'm positively sure that many others can testify to that. You have been such a blessing to me!

JEN!!!... You have been a major help to me, ESPECIALLY in college... I'm always so blessed by the fact that you are always so willing to stoop down and help out those younger than you(including me). Thank you for all the times you've prayed for me and ministered to me in youth camps and all. I know you go through tough times, who doesn't? But the thing with you is that you know that God is your pillar of strength and help. I've learnt that important thing from you.. and thank for being a big brother to me!

SARAH KHOR @ KAUR ;-) ...you've been one of my bestest girl buddies! I actually started to get to know you better after PMR I think... haha... you scored straight A's!!!! I DID NOT CALL YOU DUMB!!!! SERIOUS!!!! ;-) It's always a fun time chatting with you..with your quirky and spontaneous ways...We've gone through many times together..both good and bad.. Thanks for lending that listening ear whenever I needed it..you've been a BUHLESSSSINNG.... we meet up in Melbourne when we're in Aus k???... don't be racist ya!!! hehe... :)

- Pt 2 -

2007-01-19T02:13:00.000+11:00

THE TRIOS... haha..miss being called that..anyways, what can I say about you guys... I've learned so much from working with you guys, things that I would have never learnt should I not work with you all... People used to comment that we 3 would make an effective trio, I honestly still believe that.. haha.. there's just this synergy that we have when we work together...anyways, whatever "big ideas" we each have, I believe that by God's blessing, we will one day meet up and work together again??.. hehe...the 3 of us working together will be one of the things I'll miss the most from our Youth days..

WEI JIAN... one of my all time favourite people to talk to, to me you're like the ultimate friend to talk to..you never candy-coat things and you'll tell it straight to my face if I've done wrong or right... I always look to you for an honest opinion and simply just to talk about things that are troubling me...the advice you've given me always helps me think more clearly and helped me decide on what to do..thank you for that!

from left: Di Qin, Sew Xian(Miss X..haha..), Wei Jian and Ling Wei.. my closest sch friends from CLHS...I never have to worry about being myself when I'm with them..school was so much more MEANINGFUL with them around..:-) we've been through so much together.. good times when we laughed our guts out and bad times when we were going the toughest of exams and stress and etc...haha..will miss you guys soooo much!

The diary of my pre-Tasmanian days...-Pt 1

2007-01-16T01:41:00.000+11:00

I just got word that I'll be leaving on the 18th of February for Tasmania, Australia... in simpler terms.. NO CHINESE NEW YEAR FOR ME!!!...No good food... no meeting up with relatives...I know this may sound corny, but NO ANGPOWS!!!..

haha.. all these are opprotunity costs... giving up celebrating CNY at home to go Aus?.. a lil' sad I know, but worth it no??... :-)

anyways, starting from now right up to my departure, I'll be posting up some pics to remind myself that God has indeed blessed me with good, if not great friends to walk this life with me... and that I'm what I am today because of these friends... and since I can't post all the pics up..I'll only post 19 pics (guess why???...hehe...)

NiCOLE & YAN... my two lil' sisters in Christ.. it's a blessing to see you all grow close and also grow in God too... be persistent, don't ever stop growing spiritually and of course physically..haha..the next time I come back, you guys will be all grown up d.. :-)

JUDSON LIM CHONG TZIN!!!...hehe.. what can I say about you?... ever since we worked together in the Youth committee and all, we've become like the best of friends man.. I can always talk to you about ANYTHING..and you've been a great encouragement to me!..bring on the LAME jokes! ;-)

My 18th birthday spent with the huge bunch of collegemates at Pizza Hut... it was CRAZZYYY...almost the whole SAM class went... easily my best birthday celebration EVER!!!...

Fingerprints choir at Penang Airport before leaving for Xiamen... I enjoyed singing with them, going to Xiamen was DA BOMB!!!..seriously a chance of a lifetime to see the best choirs from around the world perform...

SAM Accounting Class pic...My SWEET SWEET days at Disted... my classmates, my lecturers.. they were all so nice... one year at Disted is really too short... people I'll miss from my Disted class: Tien Lui, Prasana, Yin-Fei, Shaun, Jen Shaun, Wing Hong, Zi Xiang, Kah Heng, Ruen Huey, Yi ling, Weng lau, Khong, Selly Lim, Melvin and etc. etc...too many lar...

My Chung Ling friends... I always enjoy spending time with them... It reminds me that I'm Chinese educated..haha...

Disted CF at Disted Prom Night... I LOVE THEM ALL!!!...

Langkawi trip with Saturday Nite Service Worship Team... I'll definitely miss worshipping with you guys...

that's 8 pics... 11 more to go...*to be cont'd...*

Say hello to the place I'll call home for the next 5 years...

2007-01-13T03:28:00.000+11:00

University of Tasmania

Motto: Ingeniis Patuit Campus ("The Field is Open to Talent")

Established: 1890

Type: Public

Chancellor: Dr Mike Vertigan

Vice-Chancellor: Prof Daryl Le Grew

Faculty: 1,800 (includes general staff)

Undergraduates: 15,900

Postgraduates: (included in above)

Location: Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, Tas, Australia

Campus: Urban

Website: www.utas.edu.au

Location of Tasmania

Tasmania

So yea...that's where I'll be leaving for and SOON... in about 1 months time... I'll be going to UTAS to study a double degree, BUSINESS/LAW. It's a 5 year course...yea.. FIVE YEARS!!!!!...which is a freakin' long time! I'll officially finish my studies on the 31st of Dec 2011,by then I'll be 23 years old.

People ask... WHY TASMANIA!!!!??? It's so "ulu" and "not happening"... That's true... If you compare to the nearest big city-Melbourne, which is like one of the largest cities in Australia. Well...
(1) I got a partial scholarship to go there, a 25% scholarship to be exact;
(2) It's the cheapest and most affordable uni in Aus;
(3) Tasmania's living cost is so much lower than all the major Australian cities; and
(4) I think Tasmania would be a condusive place to study as it does not offer the "big city" kind of life, which can be of a distraction (espeacially to students).. plus I heard Tasmania is a very natural and beautiful place... :-)

Goodness...how time just 'swooshes' by. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that things will definitely be EXTREMELY different by the time I finish my studies... It's scary AND exciting!!! Scary? Because I'll practically be living on my own and taking care of myself, being independant and all... Exciting? It'll be like starting a whole new life there...meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, tasting new FOOD!!! haha...

Being the nostalgic person I am, I'll definitely miss my family and friends back here in Penang. Actually...that would be an understatement... How I wish I can just go and give every close friend of mine a big hug and tell them how much I appreciate each and every one of them... you'll never know how much your friends mean to you when a time comes when you have to leave them for some time...not seeing them, not hearing their voices, not knowing how they're really doing, and not being able to be there for them when they need it the most... *sigh*... you get what I mean...

So anyways, I'll have to use this one month's time to the fullest, to settle all I need to do: getting my visa etc., shop for stuff, get packing... and most of all.. spending the little time that I have with my family and friends. :-)

God bless...

some pics on the highlights of my past month... ;-)

2007-01-07T23:47:00.000+11:00

deja vu!!!... :-)

2006-12-21T01:07:00.000+11:00

After a few nights of bad dreams, nail-bitting suspense, hair-pulling frustration, anxiety and anticipation all put together, I FINALLY received my S.A.M results this afternoon...

i had an adrenaline rush while i drove from my workplace in Church St. to Disted. That's because before this, the few who already took their results were getting something between the range of 70-80.. I mean, OBVIOUSLY anyone would feel panicky!!! When i was finally in front of the Exams Section in college, with Aaron Liew(who's always there when it comes to exams and results..hehe..kiasu.. ;-) thank God for you man) i almost had a panic attack...i mean, we're talking about the exam results that i toiled for for the whole of year 2006 and which will determine whether i get to study in a good university and not some kampung university...

When the envolope enclosing my results was in my hands, i sat down at a corner and SLOOOOOOOWLYYYYYY opened the envelope... I first looked at my individual subjest scores(over 20); Accounting:16B, Econs:16B, Legal Studies: 17A, English:19A, Maths:15B....then the more important part came..the Tertiary Entrance Rank(TER)... I got 92.2/100!!!!!!!!.... I was ELATED!!!! i started going berserk and shouting my lungs out!!!...I only expected a TER of between 85-90...

Anyways, I told my dad about it...he wasn't as happy as i was...maybe because it's still not good enough for some Unis(particularly NUS in Singapore )... but I'll be applying anyway, plus some other Australian unis...

So yea...the next step for me would be to apply to the universities of my choice... and hopefully with the same divine intervention, I get to go to a good university.. :-)

I sure miss my days in Disted studying SAM...the great friends there... the fun i had... but time inexplicably pushes you forward... University, HERE I COME!!! :-D

12 aspects you get to know about me...

2006-12-11T03:50:00.001+11:00

Part 1:On the Outside
Name : Daniel Teoh
Date of Birth : 5th of April 1988
Current Status : Single and proud of it babe!!!
Eye Colour : dark brown
Hair Colour : Black
Righty or Lefty : Righty!!!
Zodiac Sign : Aries, i think.... who cares!!!???

Part 2:On the Inside
Your Heritage : Being chinese, Mandarin language, Hokkien, Asian
Your Fear : Insects that can sting!!!
Your Weakness : Talking without thinking... :-(
Your Perfect Pizza : i dunno... not choosy...

Part 3:Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Your thoughts first waking up : what's my plan today...
Your bedtime : around 1am....
Your most missed memory : ALOT!!!!...i get nostalgic very easily... *sobs*...

Part 4:Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke : Pepsi
McDees or Burger King : McD...
Single or Group Dates : a mix of both... :-)
Adidas or Nike : Nike!!!
Lipton Tea or Nestea : Lipton
Chocolate or Vanilla : Vanilla
Cappucino or Coffee : Cappucino

Part 5:Do You...
Smoke : NO!!!
Curse : ditto...

Part 6:In the Past Month
Drank alcohol : no...
Gone to the mall : yea...
Been on stage : duh!
Eaten sushi : no wor...don't really see what all the craze of sushi is all about..
Dyed your hair : Nope...

Part 7:Have You Ever?
Played a stripping game : uhm...NO!!!..
Changed who you were to fit in : yea......

Part 8
Age you're hoping to be married : uhm...yea!.. of course...i believe in the sanctity of marriage..

Part 9:In A Guy/Girl
BestEye colour : blue...so dreamy... haha..but impossible to find asian girls with that kind of natural eye colour huh??..hehe..
Hair colour : black or brown..
Short or long hair : uhm...doesn't matter...

Part 10:What Were You Doing?
1 minute ago : talking to my bestest bud on the phone
1 hour ago : just came back from bbq with sch friends..
1/2 hours ago : checking my mail
1 month ago : Exams!!!
1 year ago : just finished SPM!!!...wow...how time flies...

Part 11:Finish The Sentence
I love : GOD
I feel : very sleepy now...
I hate : losing people close to my heart.. letting people down.. people who ramble on about nonsence...
I hide : Big fat tummy... ;D
I miss : my childhood friends and previous youth camps...
I need : to get rid of the big fat tummy i try so hard to hide... ;-) and also to consistently read God's Word..

Part 12:Tag 5 People
Who ever that reads this, you are tagged..!

pics from my trip to watch united live @ KL

2006-11-30T01:43:00.000+11:00

two days after my SAM exams, i went down to KL to catch Hillsongs United Live... i met with Hui Jen, Soo Peng and Mandy down at KL and we bunked in at Ben's apartment mear Mid Valley(thanks Ben!!!)..so one day before the concert, we went around KL to do some.......SHOOOOOPPPPINGGG!!!!..hehe... it was fun.. the next day we went to Sunway Lagoon to main-main... hehe... we(hui jen, mandy, Soo Peng and I) all agreed that we're seriously getting too old for the rides there.... and i found out that i'm extremely prone to motion sickness... hehe... anyways..the highlight of the whole trip was the concert itself lar... it was GGGGGGRRRRREEEAAAATTTTT!!!!... they really live up to their name... sorry couldn't take any pics during the concert.. but it's still better to experience it first hand lar... :-) anayways... here are some pics... enjoy... ;-)

the girl of my dreams...

2006-11-29T04:23:00.000+11:00

yes jud...i'm tagged...
been wanting to update about something of this nature too...so here goes...
to be honest, i have felt pressured about relationships and what not.. that's because a lot of people(not all) around me are either looking for or already in a relationship...it's not that i do not want a relationship, i do... but just not right now...and not at my current level of maturity... i know myself... i do not want to add on another responsibility when i'm not responsible enough for my own emotions and actions.. besides like what jud said..i still have at least 10 yrs before i intend to marry... but anyways..these are some of the aspects i'd consider in a girl..

Concerning Personality:
I look for someone bubbly, never stingy with smiles and laughter(someone who can still make me smile or laugh after 30 years of marriage) but at the same time can be serious when it's demanded.. she has to be mature and rational in her thinking and know what she wants in life... she has to be able to present herself well(not shy), but definitely not blabber on about nonsense...something that attracts me is a girl who's smart and somewhat "motivated"(but not to the extent of crying when she doesn't do well in her exams)...she has to be the greatest encourager in the world to me...she also has to be an optimist and passionate about what she does, she must also be a simple(not the Starbucks, posh shopping at five star boutiques and fine dining)kind of girl...i mean a treat once in awhile is ok, but nothing more..in other words, someone that's not the high maintainence kind...

Concerning Dating Views:
While on dates, the girl must not mind eating out at a kopitiam with me while clad in a simple T-shirt and shorts...haha... i don't really mind if the girl has an ex-boyfriend or two... she will have to get along well with my closest friends and does not get all worked up if one of my closest friends is a girl... oh and she has to understand that dates are not all about having the most romantic candle-lit dinners, but MOST important is to get to know and understand the other person better...

Concerning Looks:
Haha...the most contraversial part... hmm... first of all, she has to LOOK like a girl...haha... uhm... she must not be too crazy about make-up, as in everytime she goes out she must have make-up on...i mean if you already have a naturally pretty and nice-to-look-at face, why would you need make-up so much??..
Long or short hair??? doesn't matter at all...not looking for a SUNSILK girl...
She must know when and how to dress well...
Height wise.. around my height would be good...
I look at the face of a person, not some other parts of the person's body when i'm talking to him/her... so big "fronts" or "behinds" don't really interest me...hehe...
Besides being friendly, she must look the part too, the kind that will not make people say "your gf/wife looks unfriendly"...
Shape wise...moderate... because i'm no mahatma gandhi myself... ;-)

BUT... all in all, the girl of my dreams must be a girl of God too... and at least not be tone deaf??? hehe... yea..anyways, to all those who are pressured about having a relationship, if you're willing to wait for that special someone, that special someone will be waiting for you too... imagine telling your loved one, i've been waiting for you all my life!!!... :-)

i WAS tagged...

2006-11-27T02:53:00.000+11:00

Four things not many people know about me
-i have 2 older brothers, one aged 30 and the other aged 26...
-my dad actually named me "certificate" in hokkien(BOON PENG)!!!!...but luckily my mum "edited" it...
-i'm Chinese educated through and through...
-i dance along to music in my room after dinner for about 15 minutes before i sit down to study...

Four movies I could watch over and over
-Parent Trap( you've gotta luv lindsay lohan & lindsay lohan as twins..)
-Finding Nemo(Dory is the funniest fish EVER)
-Armageddon(makes me cry when the dad says he has to break his promise to his daughter in order to save the world!!! SOBBZZZ...)
-I not stupid

Four places i've lived
-My brother's house in Singapore
-Student's hostel in Xiamen, China
-My old house in Taman Lip Sin
-My mother's womb???

Four tv shows I love(d) to watch
-America's Next Top Model
-That's so Raven
-My Wife and Kids
-Grey's Anatomy

Four places I've been on vacation
-Langkawi
-Singapore(countless....)
-Perth
-Medan, Indonesia

Four of my favorite foods
-My grandma's 'bak chang'
-Breek's beef lasagna
-Laksa
-Spaghetti

Four places I would rather be
-Australia(education purposes)
-Singapore(not that i don't love malaysia..)
-In my air-con room when i'm out in the scorching heat...
-On the tennis courts playing my butt off... ;-)

Four of my favourite songs
-If i ain't got u by Alicia Keys
-Only Hope by Mandy Moore
-anything acapella...
-anything that is simple(songs with piano and vocals)

Four people I tag
-Bro Roy (come back blogging lar...)
-Sarah Khor(ditto...)
-Judson Lim
-anyone that reads this lar...

am i missing too much???...

2006-09-11T03:14:00.000+10:00

for those who faithfully visit my blog... and for myself too...

i'm doin fine... still healthy and all... just been really busy for the past few MONTHS, hence the "terabai" punya blog...

just a thought though... does anyone around my age/was my age ever felt that life is moves really fast??..too fast in fact...

i feel that since i entered college, time is just "fast-forwarding" before my eyes(reminds me of my old faulty vcr player..;-) ) ..one year of college is way too fast... can't imagine leaving for uni next year... i feel like i'm missing the essential things in life right now, like spending quality time with ur family and friends.. instead all that i've time to do now is studying and attending to my assignments... cuz my future depends heavily on that... is this a point of no return for me??.. like once i miss this point of life where i'm at right now, will i ever get to re-live some of the best moments and memories??? i guess not....

i'm compelled to grow up at a faster-than-usual pace... some may see it as a good thing as u get more freedom and all, but i see it as a platform of more perpetuating responsibilities... and besides that, things around me are just evolving and becoming more and more complicated these days...

i miss being able to talk and laugh with my close friends and not have to think about whether or not i'm intruding their space...

i miss just being around my closest frens and not worrying about whether i'm being a "lampost" or not cuz my closest frens have became "closer" themselves...

i miss being friendly and not making people think that i'm fake...

i miss people showing sincere concern on me and spurring me one with simple words of encouragement..

i miss being able to come home and ask "mum, what's for lunch or dinner???"...

i miss being driven around by my dad and having those lil father and son talks we had in the car...

i miss going for youth camps and thinking that they were the best 5 days and 4 nights i ever had...

i know i'll never get to re-live those days again... that's why i missed them so... but the fact remains is that life pushes you forward without ur consent... and as inevitable as it is, i still wished that i'd had the opportunity to appreciate those significant lil moments that put a smile on my face.

but no. the cliche is that...LIFE MOVES ON... so must i...nevermind the nostalgia... it's the heavy heart i leave behind...

singing my way to china!!!

2006-07-21T19:22:00.000+10:00

as some of u may already know, i'm off to china for the World Choir Game!... i'll be leaving from the penang i'national airport on 22/7(sat) @ 4'45am. leroy will be fetching me there..hehe... i'll be transitting planes at KLIA soon after and then taking a direct flight from KLIA to Xiamen,China. My choir will be participating in the qualifying round(chamber choir category) on sunday. We must strive to get a gold medal in the qualifying round to advance to the REAL COMPETITION...hehe...songs we're singing?"Stabat Mater(sorrowful Mary), Rytmus, Shall i Compare(Sonnet 18), Bal-ay-gi".

i'm so psyched up!!!!!!...thank god for the opportunity... i'm feeling both anxiety and excitement...so i guess it must be "anxitement"... ;-) can i ask u guys to keep me n my choir in prayer?..pray for our safe journey to n fro...

so finally i hope that we can do our best...hopefully our best is enough for at least a silver... :) i'll update when i get back k??..take care!..peace out!

learning to be secure...

2006-07-17T02:32:00.000+10:00

the title says it all...

update of my singapore trip- DAY TWO(cont'd)

2006-07-04T03:13:00.000+10:00

i woke up at around lunch time, got ready and went down to have my brunch... today i was going to check out NUS and do a lil sight seeing ON MY OWN!!!..i'm so proud of myself for being able to move around singapore without any help...*gloating*..;-)

i took a cab to NUS. and wow...NUS didn't fail my expectations...it's very beautiful in there... and it's very convenient to get around within the uni.. 1st i went to the office of admissions to enquire about getting into NUS, then i took a shuttle bus to the law faculty to enquire about the law program there.. it seems that the law faculty is moving to a new campus somewhere in Bkt Timah...hehe.. so after enquiring about everything i wanted to know, i took a bus and the mrt to Chinatown to do some shopping there...at least the things there were closer to what my budget allowed..hehe..

so after the lil chinatown experience, i acted all tourist-like and went down to the clarke quay@singapore river and the city hall area... pics speak a thousand words right??...so here they are..a thousand words!!!...

this is the parliament of singapore.
this is the old supreme court of singapore.. nice hor!!!
this is St.Andrews Church.
memorial for fallen soldiers
world cup in singapore???
the new & improved komtar??
the old and new of singapore...

the founder of s'pore..sir stamford raffles

the award winning postcard pic taken by daniel teoh...;-)

the following pics depicts the "ang mo-ness" of singapore...

at night my big brother took me out to this place called Pastamania in Cineleisure to eat dinner..hehe..

these are some of the pics i took on my way back from singapore...the port of singapore...one of the busiest in the world...
sunset in penang is like no other...

home sweet home...

i had a gr8 time at singapore... indulging in the fast-paced and modern lifestyle that this little island nation offered... as much as all of that wow-ed me, i can never sever my roots and love for my home... nothing can ever replace the laid-back lifestyle and the simplicity of life here... it IS true that people here are warmer...hehe..
anyway, i've took home more than nice memories on this trip, but so much more... so after having a short break, it's time to get back to reality..hehe... :)

update of my singapore trip- DAY ONE(cont'd)

2006-07-04T02:00:00.000+10:00

so yea... the next morning i met up with my friend, han hsien who went there to after spm to do JC there in singapore. We had our breakfast, then started our shopping craze around singapore... i did more of the window type of course..hehe..
at the end of the day my feet were pleading for my sympathy...because the whole day was just MRT here MRT there and then walk walk n walk somemore... why do singapore malls have to be sooo BIG??!!! hehe.. at night my fren took me to sup at this plc called Chutney's Place, an indian food plc.. the food? superb! and sooooo filling!!!... after that we jz spent some time at the "fountain of wealth" at Suntec City before we went our separate ways.. it's gr8 to catch up with an old fren after sometime... here are some pics of my 1st day there.

pin lee!!! u're a brand name!!!.. ;-)

updating from the land of the lion...

2006-06-29T02:41:00.000+10:00

ROARRRRRR!!!!!.... i'm reluctant to say this(since i'm a malaysian)..but i think malaysia has much to learn from their tiny lil island neighbour...hehe..;-)

anyways..yea..i departed from the lil island i call home on 28/7 at 9'30am and reached THIS slightly larger island at bout 8pm... wah...backside pain from sitting in that bus...all because we had to make a lil detour to kl city to drop some ppl.. so much for an EXPRESS bus...i was really surprised tht there were only about 8ppl in the 27 seater bus... guess it's not the peak season... so on the way i read a book tht sandra lent me (THE RAINMAKER) to kill off the time..
i must say, after passing through and visiting a few malaysian towns and cities, each state and town is very different from one another..kl for example is THE perfect example of how good jam can turn bad...(traffic jam tht is..)but it has commendable infrastructure( gr8 highways and roads!!!) hehe..

okok..enough of my blabbering..don't want to be verbous...here are some pics of me enjoying my 1st durian of the season in my big brother's new plc..he has a flat screen tv man!!!..hehe.. the girl u see in the pic is his wife.. :-)

more pics coming up!!!..nicer ones i promise!!!..cuz i might be getting a new digi cam here in s'pore...one tht doesnt take 10 seconds to take a pic...hehe..;-) and maybe an mp3 player too..muahaha..maybe lar.. take care n god bless!!!