Catching Up

Note: Long post about a reunion I managed to organize in the following paragraphs, you may skip this if you're looking for photos instead, because I didn't have any to put up.....yet :D

I'll be the first to say that it's never an easy task to try to organize anything among a bunch of college kids who have totally different timetables and schedules...you can never seem to find that one golden slot in the calendar when everyone is free and can make it for the event that you're planning.

In the last two weeks I took it upon myself that there was gonna be a reunion of sorts for Shirtliff (no, not the cheerleading team) RBS mission team and it was supposed to take place at Aunty Yoke Kheng's place. Aunty Yoke Kheng was the chirpy supervisor for our mission trip and she offered her apartment as the venue. In the process of organizing, after what must've seemed like countless dead-ends and impossibilities, I finally managed to narrow it down to one date, the 26th of April (which was yesterday). And it was going to be a dinner. And after even more negotiation, it was turned into a sleepover. Now there were originally 9 members altogether in the team, and here's the breakdown:

Supervisor: Aunty Yoke Kheng
Asst. Supervisor: Kelvin Tay
Team Leader: Me!
Asst. Team Leader: Ann Sue
Members: Simon Sim, Maggie, Jon Lee and Kit Meng and Jill

Initially it all seemed pretty well and there was hope that we could make it a full-blown gathering with everyone around. At the end of it though, it became like this:

Kelvin Tay: Exam and stayed too far away
Maggie: Cousin leaving for overseas for 5 years, had to attend farewell dinner
Kit Meng: Understandable lah, since he's in NS
Jon Lee: Lazy bum too lazy to make his way to the apartment, and had LAN class on Saturday
Jill: Can come but cannot stay-over at the apartment

Some simple mathematics would suffice to tell you that less than half of the team was actually able to make it for the sleepover event in the end. Haih~

BUT, but but but, it wasn't all doom and gloom because we did manage to catch up on a lot of things, amongst the five of us who were there for the dinner and later the four of us who stayed till the wee hours of the morning chatting away....

What really amazed me though was how the whole thing turned out so so well. SO WELL!! Let me explain what I mean:

On Saturday evening, the plan was for Jill to fetch me and Simon at Lick Hung (hope it's the correct spelling) at about 6. I joined Simon for TRU and when TRU finished, Jill's message came, saying she's on her way. I had thought of walking from the church to the school, but I felt we were gonna be late so I tried to see if we could tumpang somebody's car and we SO HAPPEN managed to hitch a ride with Uncle Chooi Meng and arrived there early. Jill reached about three minutes after we did. *Phew!*

Now, me and Simon are in the car. The plan was to pick Ann Sue up at the Kelana Jaya LRT station at 7. We reached there and got her at 6.50. "Early some more, great!" I thought to myself. Next we were supposed to meet up with Aunty Yoke Kheng at One U because her apartment is nearby, but it turned out that Jill knew how to get there and we reached her apartment earlier than she did, because she went out to buy our dinner. Woohoo, first-part of the journey accomplished successfully!

We ate like crazy and we talked like crazy. Jill left early because she had another place to go to, and we were left to our own devices; me, Aunty Yoke Kheng , Simon and Ann Sue. We went out to Old Town at about 12+ and came back around 2, then slept about two hours later xD

Next morning we woke up later than expected and couldn't have breakfast together, so the three of us (me Simon Ann Sue) were dropped off at Taman Bahagia LRT station and we made our way to Sentral to have our breakfast. Again, we still had time to chit-chat and slowly chow down our Sausage Mc Muffins. Then came the time to leave, and we were kinda late because Simon had to get back to church in time for the Youth Committee meeting (since he's the President and all). The time to beat was 11.30, and we went into the Sentral KTM station at 10.44. Simon walked down the stairs and almost beyond our mortal imagination we saw the train coming BEFORE the time shown on the LED board. Unbelievable, I know ;D And as if that wasn't enough, the train pulled to a stop with one of the doors right smack in front of Simon. Awesome!!! Now that's something that I always look forward to whenever I board the KTM, to have it stop with the doors sliding open in front of you xD

The train didn't make any 'recharging battery' stops and chugged all the way to Subang. We alighted and the time was 11.10. My dad wasn't there yet, so we waited and it did feel like very long, because with every ticking second Simon's chance of being in time for the minute grew slimmer. Finally I called my dad again to check if he's arrived, and he said he had! We rushed to the car and I told Simon that he would make it back just in the nick of time. "You'll be back at 11.30 sharp, Sim". And so it was, 11.30 on his watch and we were outside the church. Like, whoa! It doesn't get much better than this, really.

Truly the LORD was with us all the way, from the time we took off from the church to the very moment we stepped foot into it again the next day. No hiccups, no "oh no" moments, nothing at all. I prayed, and God answered. What more could I have asked for ;D

Super Quick Update

Like the name implies, here's a super quick update on my work, or rather workplace :D

Taken with my webcam - one of those rare moments when everyone's out in classrooms.

Doeo!

It has been ages upon ages since I last posted a flash game, because it's hard to find something that everyone can play together and at the same time compete over some high score or something..

The last time we squabbled over the monkey ball game it was certainly hilarious to check the scores every 5 minutes to see who's at the top, and equally agonizing to see that your scores are not even in the top 5 xD Below's a really weird and funky Flash game that isn't so much about scores and how to get more of them, but about having fun playing it ;D Enjoy!

Sidetrack

If you're expecting a post about my current job as a teacher, then you have my apologies, I'm keeping that for another day xD I just thought that I should blog about what took place just now.

Yes, just now. Like, '2 hours' just now. Tanjonny and Simon_vindicated and yours truly here went out to the nearby mamak to chit-chat and gulp down some heavily-sugared drinks, and of course we engaged in our usual round of talk and discussions about this and that and everything else.

We talked about teachers, and teaching as a job; about marketing people and 'management recovery'; about Vision 2020 and flying cars and Archie comics; about smoking and coming out with health cigarettes; about Goo Goo Dolls and Randy Jackson playing bass; about Jon's new SonyE phone and how much it costs and how he can't spin it on tabletops anymore like he did with his old trusty Samsung; and even about our fellow blogger who's in Aussie now, Currynoodles :D

But the more interesting part of the night was definitely in how we branched into discussions on.. non-material subjects (not sure how to put this). We brainstormed on so many different thoughts and ideas that are not...material, so to speak. We talked about dreams, supernatural events and then delved very far into the topics related to the mind and the subconscious part of our existence. In no way can I possibly describe the discussion in detail, but it was seemingly...eerie, in the way that we were grasping at unknowns and debating without any real plausible proof or substantial evidence. All we had were arguments and we kept throwing them into the melting pot of ideas which soon bubbled and simmered under the fire of our engrossing speeches. I had really wished that we had the discussion recorded down, it certainly would've been really really interesting to recollect what we went over together in our own limited wisdom and experience, because this kind of deep intellectual and philosophical conversations tend to have a very fleeting hold in our memory, and surely enough by the time we finished we could hardly remember the meat of most of what we blabbered about.

I just wish we had it recorded down one way or another...

Preview

There are quite a few things that I could rant/rave about my current job at the 'the place near my house' but I'll save it for tonight I guess. But just for teasers, here's a picture :D

Frisbee

What's a public field, if you don't put it to good use and what's putting it to good use, if you don't use it to host a sports tournament of some sort, and what's a sports tournament if it doesn't involve throwing the round piece of plastic that we love to call...the frisbee!

I'm not particularly into this sport in any way, and didn't even remotely take part in the competition save for helping to tabulate some scores in the beginning but it's nice to know that there are so many people out there actually who are into this whole 'I throw you catch' phenomenon.

As in any tournament or competition, it takes a whole lot of effort and coordination to get things going smoothly and perfectly, as demonstrated by the hilarious moments that ensued when the stubborn PC microphone just refused to pipe in a live connection to the speakers. But then again, it was actually quite cool to have announcements pre-recorded and played later ;D Kudos to everyone who was involved in the tournament, all the hard work and effort would eventually pay themselves off someday, I'm sure :D

I managed to snap quite a few pics here and there with my fresh set of rechargeable AAs, but the best ones were taken by someone else who ran around with my camera, whom I have no idea who it was. Thanks anyway for the shots, Jud! (I think).

Our very own line of first-aid members on standby, how's that for being professional? :D
Okay, maybe not ours but still...

The competition under way.

But the more interesting part of the day was definitely having some Temerloh youths over for a short visit here. And of course we got the chance to meet up again with Jason and Khai Jye :)

Who doesn't miss Khai Jye's smile around here, heh xD

We managed to squeeze in some time for a short session of getting to know each other over the outdoor games and also the lunch that followed. Wielding my trusty ol' camera, I got off the hook of 'everyone must play' and stood around trying to capture the funnier moments of the charades that they played (it's always a blast to play charades).

And to top it off..
Try to guess the character they were trying to portray, hahaha xD

Khai Jye notices the camera even when everyone else couldn't and whips up his trademark smile just in time for the shutter :D

It was a great day for the most part, though it was a shame that we couldn't accompany the Temerloh people to Pyramid for their shopping trip. Oh well, it'll be our turn next to visit them in Mentakab and Temerloh. But by then, I had better get my 'half-bucket-of-water' Mandarin brushed up to an acceptable level...

Sunny? Sweaty? No problem at all ;D

One anorexic-looking kid and a temporary teacher bored out of his skull after the Temerloh group got on their way to Sunway for their shopping quest.



And the clincher...taken from the recent Beijing Olympics adverts, here's our brilliant Jonathan Tan doing his bit for the biggest sporting event of the year!

Quote: As a coach for the upcoming Olympics, I always tell my athletes that "You are what you eat". Eat garbage, and you're more likely than not heading for an early exit. Eat right however, and you would be able to bring out the very best in yourselves. Whether it is in running or jumping or any form of sport that we're competing in, I insist that my boys get only what they deserve. Real athletes need real food, and real food needs real quality. That's why I believe in McDonald's. Great nutrition, greater taste.


Oh yea, happy birthday Mr.Tan!!!

International Month Of Tagging

Ya know, the tag doesn't work half as well lah since I've already read it but I'd do it anyway xD

rules:
1. name 5 people you can think of right off the top of your head.
2. don't read the questions underneath until you write the names of all 5 people.
3. randomly list the names. no cheating!

the 5 people:

1.Justina Lee
2.Ann Sue
3.Lee Zhen Ee
4.Simon Sim
5.Christina How

The names were not exactly 'right off the top of my head' but close enough lah. And the randomizer I used was a pencil and a piece of paper (*closes eye* poke! oh, simon's number 4...)


questions:

1. how did you meet 1?
Back when Justin used to come back to Kuantan every now and then for our annual gaming sessions, I had always seen her around but only really knew her better in the last two years or so :D

2. on a scale of 1 -10 how would you rate your friendship with 1?
Unrate-able, since we're cousins ;D

3. how long have you known 4?
It's been....pretty long. Back when I was Form 4. So that makes it about 5 years now.

4. how do you know number 3?
Sat beside him on my first week in the new school after shifting here from Kuantan

5. wheres 5?
Probably online now or watching some Korean music video, at home of course.

6. a fact about number 1?
She's chun in her own special ways xD

7. who is 4 going out with?
Sim Simon Sim...I'll skip this, heheh.

8. what does 1 do for a living?
Going to college lor.

9. would you live with number 3?
We would be fighting pretty often, haha. And playing a lot of PS2 too xD

10. what do you like about number 2?
Never short on smiles..and 'smart' remarks about bears.

11. do you miss number 5?
I miss the going-outs and all lah of course, back when Justin was still around (you see Ju, you're a very important part of the friendship-chain here)

12. would you make out with number 4?
Eating out would be more preferable..

13. what's your opinion of number 2?
Not too bad lah.

14. what's your favorite memory with number 5?
Walking in the rain!! To date I've not found another person who likes that sort of thing, haha.

15. what would you do if number 1 and 2 were going out?
That would be...another blog post altogether.

16. ever had a long conversation with 5?
Yeap..

17. have you ever slept at 2's house?
I'd have to be pretty bold to do that xD

18. do you hang out with 3 a lot?
Okay-lah~

19. who have you known the longest?
It feels like I've known Simon forever, but on technical grounds it's Justina

20. how often do you talk to 1?
Normally on Sundays when I see her.

21. what about 2?
SMS more lah, calling is expensive. Besides, you're not a phone person, right Ann Sue? Or maybe I just don't know you enough..

22. have you ever thought 3 more than a friend?
Yes, a crappy friend!!

23. would you go out for a date with 5?
Huh...it would be pretty stressful to have to measure up to the likes of those Korean heartthrobs, what with the romantic songs and romantics one-liners and romantic hairdos and romantic what-have-yous....

24. do you dream about 2?
Nah, fortunately I can escape the 'brother bear' chants while in slumberland..

25. what did no 4 did to you that you can never forget?
The way he rolled on the floor laughing about the Tasek Bera incident..

26. what have you done for 1 that the person never forget?
How would I know? xD

27.what's 3 hobby?
Doing crappy stuff lah!

28. tag 5 people
I follow Christina's trend. All the above mentioned...

And It Was

And so he sat there, staring blankly into the computer screen trying to come up with something to write about. "Something, anything!", he shrugged to himself. Not that he had nothing to write about, no no no. Clouds of memories were called upon in his mind, but he simply could not figure out what to put in print. Should he post about his driving today? Or maybe the working experience of the past week. Or perhaps delve into the spiritual side of things. Post a song? Copy some lyrics? He couldn't decide. He just couldn't decide..

And so he let his mind wander. It's been a while since he found himself in such a contemplative manner. Listening to a line from Juwita Suwito, "Is this all that life is meant to be, surely there's more" rang ever more familiar and heartfelt than before. In his own space of mind, he finds security in the little things that make up his perception of reality. Family, home, friends, church, studies. He is seemingly calm on both sides of the soul, spiritually at ease and physically in good health. A little up here and a small down there of course, but otherwise he has little to boast or complain about.

And that's how he is now, contented. Going about in his life like any other normal person. But in the deep recesses of his mental sanctuary, he kept tucked away piles and piles of ideas, images, speeches and thought bubbles that he had gathered over time. Some he wished he hadn't acquired, others he thought made no relevance to him, and still left over are what he considered to be 'serious issues' that he bring out onto the whiteboard to ponder upon every now and then. Ah yes, the 'serious issues'. The kind that made Kee Ken feel small. Very small, in the face of what happens in the world. Life, is...so precarious, he concludes. Oh but to look at life through the eyes of another.....that would be his one and only wish if he had a choice.

And he sat there, sifting through the slow and steady influx of thoughts as he allowed his mind to be immersed in a silent swim down the torrents of 'reality'. His reality. The questions burst into the front, and he ran them along the 'how' part of his electrical gray matter. How we all sit idly while so many people in the world have to live in desperation. How nations are putting money into killing machines, and not feeding the poor. How we can look at matters so shortsightedly and blatantly ignore the real problems gnawing away at the world, our planet.

And he thought of the answers he that he himself would give as a member of what he considered as the 'lost sheep' of the earth that we live in. "It's a dog-eat-dog world, the poor are simply the ones who are eaten; it's more important to protect national interests with military might than looking after some petty social welfare issues; there would be no incentive for excellence if everyone is equally taken care of; the planet would still be around for at least another million years; who cares if somebody dies every 3 seconds since the planet is overcrowded anyway; this is the way 'reality' operates you buffoon, you just gotta go along and LIVE WITH IT!!!"

And so he lost again, to the side of him that is.... more in tune with the 'real world'. Who was he to stop the world in its tracks and tell everyone off? Till death do the people part with this sinful broken world, he declared and his split-persona then faded into its watchful slumber once again..

Tag 3

I've taken the liberty to cut out questions that I've answered before, just so I don't have to fill in so many of them :) And some of Jon's answers remain simply because I agree (and am lazy), hehe.

4. Height: 165

5. Hair: Jet Black

6. Siblings: One bro, one sis

7. Do u like to sing in the shower? Sure.

8. Do u like to sing in the toilet? My shower is my toilet, so "Sure".

9. Sign: Virgo

11. Addresses: Private, heh.

ABOUT GUYS FOR GIRLS TO FILL OUT (for girls only)

*I'll fil it anyway!!! mauahahahah!!!

14. Boxers or briefs: briefs!

15. Long or short hair: Short

16. Tall or short: Abt 170 - 175 just nice..LOL

17. Six pack or muscular arms: A little bit of both :P

18. Good or bad guy: Good

19. Hat or No Hat: HAT???!!!

20. Ears pierced or not: No

21. Tan or fair: Fairly tanned

22. Stubble or neatly shaved: Neatly shaved.

23. Rugged or sporty: Er...

24. Hottie or cutie: Both

25. Accent or not: Irish....definitely irish.

ABOUT GIRLS FOR GUYS TO FILL OUT (for guys only)

26. Regular underwear or thong: I'll have a regular, thank you xD

27. Painted nails or not: No need colour colour wan

28. Bra or sports bra: If go sports wear lar sports bra...takan you wear that fer prom!!! DOH!

29. Cute n' mysterious or wild n' sexy : cute n'sexy!

30. Dressy or casual : Dressy when needed, casual when suitable

31. Dark or blonde hair: Black/SLIGHT Highlights

32. Long or short hair: Long, but short also can.

33. Dark or light eyes: -

34. Tall or short: Shorter or same height, but taller also...can kua xD

35. Hat or no hat: I think gurls who wear caps and let their ponytails stick out are cute...HAHAHAH!!

36. Good or bad girl: Girl of God

38. Hair up or down: Both

39. Jewelry or none: None.

41. Curly or straight hair: Straight

42. Pants or dress: Both

43. Tan or fair: Fairly tanned

44. Freckles or none: none

45. Accent or Not: Preferably no.

46. Shy or outgoing: In between.

THIS IS 4 EVERYONE 2 FILL IN!

47. Chocolate (dark, white, milk): All!

48. Root beer or Dr. Pepper: Root Beer

50. Sun shine or rain: Both!

52. Skiing or boarding: Never tried either

53. Day or night: Night coz its peace and quiet.

55. Love or lust: Love!

56. Silver or gold: Silver, cause gold looks tacky

57. Diamond or pearl: Diamonds, pearls too aunty for me :D

58. Sunset or sunrise: Sunrise (absolutely the best)

59. Have you ever gone skinny-dipping: Skinny...huh?

60. Do you sleep with stuffed animals: Nope.

61. Have you ever broke/sprained/fractured a bone: Nope.

62. Do you have any piercings: Never.

63. What's your favourite color: Yellow

64. What's your favourite bands?: No favs at the moment.

65. What colour pants/skirt are you wearing right now?: Grey Blue Toms pants

66. What song are u listening to right now?: Hmm..just only listened to Finally by Fergie

67. What are the last four digits of your phone number?: Private!

68. What was the last thing u ate?: Chicken Wing Rice with Siu Yok

69. If u were a crayon, what colour would u want to be?: I'd be a Sky Blue

70. Where would you want to go on your honeymoon?: She'd pick :D

71. Who do u want to spend the rest of your life with?: God Almighty.

72. Do u like snow, sun or rain?: I like them all, save for snow which I don't know for sure yet.

73. How is the weather right now: It just rained, very airy and breezy now.

74. What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?: The way they dress (I mean, you look at that first right? Don't tell me you won't notice somebody until she talks or something..)

76. Do u like the person that sent u this?: If not I won't be answering this :D

77. How are u today?: Not too bad, just tired from the driving class today :)

78. Your fave drink?: Teh-C Ping!

79. How do u eat an Oreo?: Normally I start with opening the packaging it's in..

80. Favourite sport you play: Badminton

81. What makes you happy and whats your favourite subject?: To know I didn't waste my day... my fav. subject is Form 4&5 Physics

82. What's da next cd u (gonna buy)? "Heard", a Christian Mandarin album. OR a Nicole Nordeman album.

86. Do u wear contacts or glasses?: Glasses

87. What's the best advice given to you? : You're still young, don't be afraid to venture out.

88. Have u ever won any special awards?: Highest in MUET!! (only award I ever won)

89. What are your future goals?: To serve the Lord.

90. Fave music?: English, Malay, Chinese, Jap

91. Fave day of the year?: Every day that I wake up to :)

92. Are u shy to ask someone out?: Yeah, which explains why I'm always the 'callee' rather than caller for yam-cha sessions :D

93. Worst sickness u ever had?: High fever, 41 Celcius (you die at 42)

94. What's the stupidest thing u have ever done?: Stupidest huh...like not having picked up something useful in my childhood days (sports/musical instrument/art)

95. Do you like Funny or Scary movies better?: Funny

96. On the phone or in person?: I talk 100x more on the phone (or indirectly) most of the time

97. Do you like summer or winter?: Irrelevant here.

97. Do u want your friends to write back?: I don't send out letters, heh.

98. Who is least likely to reply to this?: Simon Sim

99. Do you get jealous if your friend that used to like you end up liking some other person?: Yea, I suppose so.

100. Any girlfriend/boyfriend: In God's time...In God's time...

101. Any message 4 ur enemies?: Can we be friends instead?

Writing It Right

The problem with having too many friends who blog is that it eventually gets too difficult or time-consuming to keep up with every single one of them and you're forced to either rotate your choice of blogs (Monday read Crissy's blog, Tuesday read Jon's blog, etc etc) or you stick to a group of your favourite friends.

I would say that I'm too lazy to change my selection of blogs and usually check out only the same group of people (well the group changes a bit occasionally), thus leaving a lot of other blogs sitting quietly in my bookmarks folder. But every now and then I do take a good look at the blogs that I've not been to in a long while and if there was time to spare I would just pay some quick visits. That 'every now and then' happened to be 15 minutes ago and I made a quick trip to Crissy's blog to get some updates. And of course, I got more than I bargained for :D

Coming from my hometown in Kuantan, I always had it in me that my England was very powderful. I mean, I had good vocab, sharp grammar, easy flow in sentences and just about everything else that is needed to write up a 'good' piece of essay. But is only when I read, and glean upon writings such as Crissy's (sorry Crissy, but I needed a good reference point xD) that I know the real difference between what you call 'good' writing and 'excellent' writing. I believe English, like any other language, is like...the Cube in Transformers (didn't see that coming, did ya :D). When placed in the hands of ordinary folks, the Cube's power is limited. Give it to any one of the Transformers however, and you can see the endless potential that it holds.

English. Artistic Sense. I like. I have not.

Okay, so we're all made differently and wired with our own unique abilities, skills and traits. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish I had a little bit more.....more ooomph.

Words that can come alive as you read them, sentences that speak more to your mind and imagination than to your cerebral cortex, ideas that pop out and leap around dancing and swirling with your own thoughts, messages that can come across as bright as day without even needing to show itself...

No, you don't have to be perfect to write out a simple blog post, but imbuing even minor nonsensical rantings with natural artistic creativity can make all the difference in the world :)

Tag 2

First name: -

Last name: Fong Kee Ken (is this how the first/last name thing works??)

Birthdate: 21st September 1988

Gender: Male

Favourite colour: I realize I wear a lot of red shirts. And blue jeans. I think I like yellow – especially when it says "Wonderful Writer" in front xD

Favourite animal: Penguins kua.

Favourite subject: Rehat, the only period that's available every single day.

Favourite country: Malaysia! (Because I've not stepped foot in others just yet..)

Favourite place of vacation: When I was in Kuantan - Subang. Now that I'm in Subang - Kuantan :D

Favourite ice cream flavour: Vanilla

Favourite TV series: Used to really love Crystal Maze (super old show), now is probably...nothing in particular.

Favourite sport: Badminton, since I can't play at all most of the other known sports, heh.

What...

…were you doing at this time last week?: Bumming at home.

…are you planning to do next: Get ready for work.

…is it that you wished you had: a godly close female friend :)

…is your ambition: Travel the world

…animal are you most afraid of: Centipedes, by far.

…are you most afraid of in your life: Hurting other people's feelings

…is the most embarrassing thing so far in life: Owh...definitely when I was chatting with this Mandarin-speaking Chinese girl (in my super-broken Mandarin). I was trying to ask 'what's your ambition' but managed to totally screw up my pronounciations...when she covered her mouth and laughed away I thought I was a total goner....

…is it that you've always wanted to do but didn’t have the chance: Live alone in a place far away from home, in poor countries like around the African regions or the Middle East..

If you were given the chance to do anything right now what would you do (regardless how long it takes and how expensive it is): Invent a handheld teleportation device (Here I come all you aussie people!)

I tag: You who have read until here :D