On a Wednesday

Okay, so I'd be the first to admit that I don't really have any real blogging material to serve you guys. Nothing remotely intellectual or reflective enough that would make you adjust yourselves in your seats and put your fingers to your chin pondering about the wisdom that you've gleaned from what I've written (not like that's what really happens anyway but ;D). Still, I just thought I ought to make use of the free time I have on my hands to blabber about something, in the spirit of 'making my views as a youth count' kind of thing...

Some of the 'you knows' that I came up with a little while back :

YOU KNOW you have too much time on your hands when you have to visit a friend who lives nearby whom you had not even thought about disturbing before this for the lack of time. Thanks Simon for entertaining me the other day xD

That's Simon in his house looking at a photo of..well, not Ann Sue definitely. Nah-ah xD

YOU KNOW you have too much time on your hands when you decide to return the favor of the friend who had visited you earlier by dropping by at his/her home a few days later. Thanks for entertaining me again today Simon, and this time in the comfort of my house :D

And here's Simon at MY house. He came with a mission in mind. Well, he HAD one. Until I decided that we should be playing a horror game instead xD

YOU KNOW you had been squandering your Sundays (or any other day for that matter) when you suddenly realise that your Sunday (or any other day for that matter) had been spent doing something that's actually quite useful and practical, like learning how to wrap those Chinese dumplings that usually crop up around this time of the year.

Not quite Hell's Kitchen, but it was loads of fun trying to make dumplings that actually look the part. My workmanship was poor to say the least, what with all the anorexic dumplings that needed emergency reconstructive surgery to make sure that they didn't turn out to be square or something. Thank you Crissy for the educational and wonderfully spent Sunday (^.^)

YOU KNOW you are actually wasting your time trying to study and get a good education and hopefully get a good job with a good income when the 'secret' or in this case 'rahsia' to financial independence is really just a flyer away :D

No comments necessary.

YOU KNOW someone is really committed to buying something when it involves long and hefty discussions bordering on the level of doing thesis papers on engineering breakthroughs.

That, up there, is the face of commitment and dedication to perfection. Not just doing homework mind you, but writing down notebook specifications to compare and to converse in elaborate jargons. Trust me when I say that's hard work ;D

YOU KNOW your Form Five days are more or less long gone when you have not really seen or kept in touch with 90% of the people in your Form Five class in the last year or two. Where are you guys??

The ones who 'glow' are the ones whom I had at least seen or talked to last year. Not many, I know.

YOU KNOW that the whole fuss about youths 'always having something to say about everything under the sun and that they're not being taken seriously' thing is overplayed and exaggerated at times when some people would put themselves as being more.... 'correct', so to speak in their views than the 'adults' who are often labeled as crooked or old-fashioned or having narrow perspectives. I'm one of these people, and I think it's about time that I put more thought into my.. thoughts before trying to pass off my mere opinions as bold and revolutionary statements that demand the utmost attention and compliance of the immediate world around me.

Okay, 'nuff said.

Stupid Tabblo x (

See my Tabblo>

Took me a whole entire HOUR just to get the photo placings right. Or maybe it was just me, but the interface for Tabblo was just absolutely horrible. Oh yea, if you do decide to pay the Flickr -clone Tabblo site a visit, you can sign in to the username rbs08 with our principal's name (name+surname) as the password ;D I uploaded some photos because I was too bored but the weird photo-management interface drove me nuts, so feel free to sign in and have a go at it. The only great thing is unlimited photo upload (for the moment lah at least).

Kampung Putat Again Part 2

Now where was I...

Talking about serving in such a ministry in church, it really required me to give a 110% commitment, as I could see how dedicated they were, the 4 uncles and 2 aunties who went. It takes a lot of time (a whole entire weekend) to be engaged in the OA work, and I really wonder if I'd have the time to continue on in the following months..

Again, this is one area that RBS has helped me to really grow in. I've never dreamt of actually going to these 'ulu' places, let alone leading a mission team there; always thinking that they're a bunch of people left out of society and the modern times. In fact, I have to admit that my impressions of these 'ulu' people were totally different from what they actually turned out to be: ordinary everyday people just like us. They eat, sleep, laugh and cry too. Sometimes I wonder how they can make do without the things which we have come to consider as necessities like constant water supply and a nice decent toilet/bathroom, and yet they get by just fine. We're all just too spoiled I guess..

I went through some of the videos that we took during our mission trips in Tapah and Temerloh and I really miss the friendship and fellowship that we shared with one another. I could see now that at that time we only had one focus in mind and that was to serve the OA people, and that made all the difference in what we did and how we did it. God blessed our time there, and I'm sure we all felt it at one point or another.

The best of times in our OA trip

Stubborn Love

After a good day tinkering around the web and with my PC, I finally got my hands on the original song sung by Kathy Troccoli. Kinda different from what I had in mind but it's still the same song basically. Hope you guys like it :D


I am an ex-RBS member and I'm only going to get this song for my own personal use :D

Kampung Putat Again Part 1

If you didn't already know, for RBS one of the things we did was to visit an OA (orang asli) village to teach Sunday School. We visited 3 of them in fact, and one of them was Kampung Putat. Yesterday, I had the chance to join the church's OA team to visit this kampung again, and after some consideration I agreed to tag along with two aunties (pardon the term) and my cousin :D

We followed the people from Sungei Way church, and fortunately the four people (Uncles Haw, Chris, Chandran and one more whose name I'm not sure how to spell) who drove us there were such a nice bunch.

I didn't realize it during the mission trip, but the journey from USJ all the way to Kampung Putat is actually one heck of a long ride! I estimate it to be around 4 and a half hours, driving at breakneck speed along the Karak highway. Luckily we went there in a cozy MPV, so I can't complain or anything, haha.

The minor details aside, going there this time as a church team was different from going as a mission team, just as I thought it would be. It could be that I was only there to help this time around instead of leading the a team, or that you guys were not there with me (haih~), either way I couldn't really tell. That's not to say the OA trip was horrible (just very quiet), on the contrary I actually picked up a lot of stuff both from the OA people and the adults (I don't think I can call them that for long, since I'm no more a teen myself :D) who went.

Speaking of which, one incident really got me pondering and thinking a lot about myself. It happened the night we arrived at the kampung. While waiting for the Bible Study class to start, we were suddenly called to a house nearby to pray for a baby. I didn't know what was going on, so I just followed along to see what was happening. We came to this couple, and the wife was holding in her arms what seemed to be a sick baby, with a feeding tube attached to the nose. The mother told us about how the baby is sick but the exact sickness is unknown, and had visited several hospitals to no avail. She requested for prayers, and we talked a bit about her baby, asking a few questions before praying together.

Looking at the baby, I couldn't help but to think that...all this while, it's so easy to forget that the very fact I'm alive and well is reason enough to thank the LORD from the bottom of my heart. My heart wrenched, as I saw the baby gasping for air, seemingly struggling to hold on to dear life itself, and looked just about to give up at any moment. She (the baby) is only 8 months old, and cannot even so much as to mutter a word, and yet there she laid in her mother's arms, suffering for reasons unknown even to us. I really wished, at that moment, that I could know what it must have felt like to be in her shoes. What could possibly had run through her mind? It's wishful thinking on my part, but still, what I would give to just glimpse a little into her soul and mind..

I have so much to be thankful for each and every day that I breathe through, but unfortunately I find that my actions often betray my deeper intentions, one of ignorance and indifference to the world and the people around me. How am I thankful for the blessings in my life when I always hunger for material things? How am I grateful for what God has given me, when I seem to crave wasting away my time chasing after silly errands? RBS had popped open the shell of my own comfort zone, but I find myself now unwilling to step out of that very same shell...

Stand Aside, St Valentine : D

Without realizing, it's Valentine's Day again. The time of the year when school clubs go out in full force trying to pry the the cold hard pocket money out of the hands of pitiful students (like me) by coming up with 101 ways to either send a message, send a flower or send a box of something. They earn a lot, I'm sure, in this age of unabashed self-expression that tells you to always 'go for it'.

But that's not the case this time. I've left school for good (well, high school la at least) and I didn't have to worry about sending flowers or anything to anyone of any sort (now now, don't get the wrong idea here), but something way better was planned for today, and that is Shirtliff's maiden get-together! Muahaha, I'm pretty sure that we're the first team to have done it (it helped that all the members stayed in the same state) and yea, it was really fun.

No pics here, since I didn't take along my Powershot A10, just check out Ann Sue's blog for that. It was at Sunway Pyramid, and though all we did was eat, eat, talk, eat, talk, walk around and talk, I think we really enjoyed each other's company. I was thinking of either bowling or skating, but Jill was wise enough to have come in nice-looking dress. Nuts. Oh well, no biggie.

Although two people came down with sickness and couldn't make it, I really appreciated the lengths that all them (Shirtliff members) went to just so that they could make it for the reunion. Ann Sue braved 20+ LRT stations ALONE early in the morning, while Kelvin had to skip a class at noon. Kit Meng too came from the ends of the earth and Aunty (oops) Yoke Kheng took time off from her busy schedule just to be with us for that 3-4 hours. Thank you so much ya all!

And we missed you, Maggie and Jon! You guys better make it for the next one, heheh.

The interesting thing that me and Simon decided to do was to escort our Miss Taman Melawati back to her home place, seeing that it was still early when we left Pyramid. This is roughly our travel route. We left Pyramid at around 4.30+ on a Rapid KL bus to Kelana Jaya LRT Station. From there, it was:

We first went to followed Ann Sue all the way to Wangsa Maju


Then it was back to Sentral for us.


From Sentral, it was the usual KTM ride back to Subang KTM Station.

.......

All together, we actually sat through a total of 40 train stations! Could hardly believe it myself. Reached Subang at about 7.30. It was almost like going all the way to Thailand...but we had fun, and now we know how to get to Wangsa Maju from Pyramid, haha.

Reunions come and go, but I do hope that we'd still be able to keep touch with one another later on throughout the year. There'll be work, exams, results and everything else to get in the way of doing that, but hopefully in midst of our busy lives we'd find the time to remember each other, both in meeting together and in prayer..

So back off, St. Valentine. Feb 14 2008 wasn't Valentine's Day, it was proudly Shirtliff Reunion Day : D

The Little Things That Count

Come every festive season, there's bound to be an influx of text messages that arrive at my phone. I'm sure you know what I mean, with all the funny 'bear bear' (no no, don't get me wrong Ann Sue) semi-pictures, the 3-page greetings, and all sorts and manners of text messages that are sent out en masse all the time. Sure enough, our penchant for sending out cutesy messages have funded many a BMWs for those big shareholders in Digi Maxis and Celcom without us realizing.

Not that I despise these messages (I mean, it's nice to get them every now and then) of course. They're a friendly gesture, and a means of saying something to all 365 millions of the contacts in your phone book in just a few clicks on the button pad. But what you end up getting is kinda like an impersonal message that doesn't really convey much. When I think that there are 700 people out there who had received the very same message, it starts to look and feel like just...spam. I know I'm treading on thin ice here (and risk being stoned by you guys xD) but I would really wish that we take the time to send more personal messages to the people closer to us, instead of just forwarding the teddy bear/shooting star/christmas tree/what-have-you messages around.

At the end of the day though, I hope I did not come across as too critical or harsh. If I had, then you're entitled to a packet of complimentary Ken Kee salted nuts, heheh.

I was much surprised actually, that I received real greeting cards for Chinese New Year. You know who you are la. It really means a lot, to be able to read the few lines that you people penned on the cards. It's not much, but it's the little things that count :D




And I also just want to commend Ann Sue for sacrificing her money and time (especially time, since she could've been studying) to make sure that all of us gets at least one piece of developed photo from her. I was impressed, to say the least that she willingly developed so many pictures for Shirtliff members (puts the mission team leader here to shame, haha). In fact, for the mission team members alone she must've developed close to 100 pictures. Bravo! A nice big of box of Ken Kee Cashew Nuts is now on its way to your house (^.^) Thanks again!



Oh yea, one last thing. Hope you have fun in Claypot, Justin Lee Ju Wei! I know you're gonna do a lot of great things there, so make sure to keep us updated on your blog :D We'll all miss you (I think) and make sure you bring us back nice expensive souvenirs ya. Kay la, just kidding. Nice can already, no need expensive xD

Kuantan :D

If there was one thing that I regretted not bringing to RBS, it would be a digital camera. Yup. That rectangular piece of megapixel-cruncher that people tote around in their fancy pouches *ahem* and dish out for those trigger-itchy "hey let's take a picture together" shots. I've missed out on a great deal of Kodak moments up in HCC and had to make do with leeching other people's cameras, stealing a shot here and another there. "Oooh, taking picture there leh?!" *sprints to the back and poses* The end result is me ending up with no real pictures to call my own...

So imagine the surprise I got when I went back home that day after graduation. My aunt actually gave me a digicam! But my enthusiasm was doused upon learning that it was a pretty old unit. I mean, it's in brand-new condition, but it's old. For those of you familiar with the Canon Powershot series, the one that I have with me now is a Powershot A10. The latest one is Powershot A710 I think, so that leaves me like 700 Powershots away xD



Yes, you got that right. 1.3 megapixels it is. My brother roared in laughter when he saw that...understandable la, since most handphones today have more megapixels than that. However, they say that megapixels only count for so much and once you hit 5 and above, you don't see any real improvements anymore. So I decided to pack this antique back with me to Kuantan. It uses 4 AA batteries, and I first bought a pack of Eveready from a Petronas station along the highway. Silly me couldn't even milk 10 shots from the camera before the batteries died-ed. I was super-annoyed to say the least...here's one the shots that managed to take.

Back in Kuantan, I spent a bit more and got myself a bunch of Energizer e2 (boo sama Eveready!) Managed to take a good number of shots (way more than 10 lah) and here are the photos on my trip back to Kuantan:

Here's where my grandmother's house is :D

My sis and my cousin (the blue Nintendo DS is hers!!)

My macho grandpa

Cousins from my father's side of family

The great food!

Err..no caption needed for this ler xD

Notice the bunch of people there engaged in a friendly game of mathematics.
"Okay okay, 12 multiplied by 7 divided by 4 is the square root of?"

Visited some old high-school friends too.

And of course, got a stack of ang pows to settle my growing debt with Justina :D

Kuantan had been my home for 15 years and everytime I come back the place still feels practically the same. Every year when we drive past the same ol' roads the familiarity is just there, Kuantan will always be my Kuantan I guess. I'll save the thought-provoking err..thoughts for some other time la I guess. And oh, did I tell you I have my own line of snack food now?

Back to Home

I'm back!!

It's been a good 37 days spent at Cameron Highlands, and I must say that I loved every single moment spent there during RBS.

From the first day onwards, I felt right at home up there at HCC (Highlands Christian Centre). Sure, the weather was quite unnerving for the first few days but it turned out that the highlands' dry and cool air suited me the most. No more sweaty palms and oily faces, haha. And the fresh air did wonders to my sinus problems, I hardly remember having sneezed at all while up in HCC. And the bed. Queen-sized. Sweet.. (I won the bed from a game of Cho Tai Ti, heheh). Best of all was the food. Aunty Kam Yoke (hope I spelled it correctly) and Kak Tutik are absolutely the bomb when it comes to serving our hungry stomachs. I'm sure she must've cooked like 70+ different dishes throughout our one-month stay there. "Kah-fan" became the most spoken phrase during meal times and trust me when I say that I've eaten more than my fair share of her scrumptious dishes :D

Like any other camp (or in this case 'school') the daily routines flew by very quickly and while we were never short of things to do (book reports, classes, assignments and those kind of things) I still found that entire weeks just zipped by me and before I realised it we were already preparing to leave HCC for our mission trips. The passage of time in the highlands seemed somewhat linear, and everyday I felt like I had only just arrived there at HCC.

That aside, I can't possibly elaborate on everything we did during RBS because a blog post simply can't do justice to relating the RBS experience (I'm sure all RBS-ers would agree) and I don't have any pictures with me yet save for the one below. I'll update when I get the pictures but in the meantime, this picture aptly speaks of our Orang Asli mission trip experience in Pahang:

Back: Maggie, Me, Jon, Kit Meng
Front: Jill, OA girl, Nurul, Jessica, Ann Sue, OA girl, Desiree
Shining Face in the middle: Simon Sim