Warning!

This post is long! But it sort of makes up for the long silence, so... here we go!
My new term here at BCM has just begun. I wasn't even done with the previous one.
I found out that I'm the new dorm monitor. *groan* A glorified adult babysitter?

(Okay, attempt to rhyme fails BIG time!) I hadn't even planned to rhyme ler. Stop stop!

Our term break was 3 weeks long this time. An improvement from the last one where I only got 1 week! It wasn't everybody though, it was just me... long story. Short post. Maybe another time?

Anyway, so I'm entering into the new term with a different course programme. What it means is basically this: while other students are doing a research paper of 10 - 12 pages, I'll have to do 20 -25. While they read 1 text book, I'll be reading 4! AND THAT'S NOT THE END OF IT!!! *cries shamelessly* Oh what on earth have I gotten myself into??!!! Goodbye social life! Goodbye games! Goodbye... blog? No chance. Would you believe that one of my subject's requirements is that I start and maintain a blog? Pretty cool, right?! Okla, at least so far I'm enjoying my classes. Here's a fact: I enjoy studying, but dislike proving that I have (ie. assignments). Haha! By the way, here's the link to my other blog! I haven't posted anything up yet, but I'm supposed to fill it with theological issues. *OOOoooOoOoo...* My Mega-concern though, is posting up something really dumb that proves to be almost heretical! Haha! Not funny.

Speaking of things heretical, I suppose everyone would have heard by now about Pastor Mike Guglielmucci who admitted to not having cancer, after faking it for 2 years! ok fine, so it's not related to anything heretical. In the latest update on his case, it was even revealed in the Australian papers that he's a porn addict! Now, although I don't condone his addiction, I'm like thinking, "wHAT oN eARtH?!! What's that gotta do with his Medical report?" Suddenly everything about him is being dug out. *Sigh* The wolves are merciless. How sad it is for the wandering sheep who loses his way.

I think this serves as a terrible reminder, a warning that we must hold to a good testimony. As a minister in training, I am saddened, but more than that, I am terrified. Here was a hugely popular minister who has written inspired songs and ministered to countless lives. Yet his fame only contributed to the impact of his fall. So many people tell of their hurt and anger. I'm no where as famous, but what's to stop me from falling and causing tremendous hurt? What's to stop me from disgracing the name of God? I guess there can only be one solution: God. More specifically, a healthy relationship with God, one that is honest and faithful, consistently coming to Him in worship and reading His word. "Read your bible, Pray everyday" may sound clichéd, but the fact is that it is the TRUTH, by golly, and I will say it again, "READ YOUR BIBLE AND PRAY EVERYDAY!"

Secondly, I'm also terrified for the young people. I'm scared for the youths in my church, more so for those who have left (for obvious reasons). What's to keep them from falling? What's to keep them from hurting?

You know when some things are really important and you want to just keep repeating them?

Read.Your.Bible.AND.Pray.Everyday.

See what 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Don't think that if you're not some bigshot Christian, you're nobody and so the devil will leave you alone. That's a lie! God loves you and hurts very much if you hurt. That's enough motivation for the devil to want to get you!

Be safe. God loves you. Read your Bible. Pray everyday.

Wadayaknow!!! I DO have loads of assignments!!! *help!*

-____-'''

So it's kinda like that with me now la...

Either that or I'm too lazy to blog... *blech!*

I prefer option #1. Hee.

Not bothered to think of a title...

I'm kinda all out of sorts at the moment.
It's the end of college term time (which translates as assignments season) so been pretty busy with that. Ooh, plus quite a number of things happening in and out of church recently, as well as more things to come... so... yeah.

And it doesn't help that I'm down with this bug that makes me wanna blow my nose every ten minutes... resulting in me panting for breath every 50 steps or so... light-headed... dizzy... (that's D-I-Z-Z-Y not D-I-T-S-Y!)... so my thoughts are kinda messed up and non-flowy at the mo. (Ok, fine... so it does make me ditsy. BUT, I blame the bug! Or Cerlyn. Whicever works! Hahahahah! Only kidding la! Jangan marah ye.)

Last weekend, I had a great time in Ipoh! I was part of Bible College's Evangelistic Team (E-Team for short) that went there to minister at Emmanuel Assembly. Thoroughly enjoyed it! The ministry, the food, the team members, everything! AND, we took hundreds of photos! Haha! Like 500+ to be exact... and most of them were of food! Wahahaha! That was L.M.C.'s doing tho. Ipoh food... mmmmmmm... I like.

This weekend was really good too! (Except for the buggy bug) This weekend was Missions Convention Weekend at church. So we had a fun little carnival with information about neighbouring nations: the people, the clothes, the games, the food, etc. Mmmm... food. (Notice how good times seem to revolve around food!) *Hyuk!* Oh, we even had a clowning seminar!!!
"How to be a Clown!" Can you imagine that? I can already think of a few people who need to go for an UN-CLOWNING seminar! Wahahahaha! *rofl*

I didn't attend tho. My pastor says I should have. It would've suited me well, apparently. *WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN??!!!* Ah well, at least I didn't miss the Durian fest!!! *Wheee... see? There's the food again!* Thanks to the generosity of Uncle Albert and Auntie Angela who sponsored two truck loads!!! DIDJA READ THAT RIGHT??!!! TWO TRUCK LOADS OF YUMMY, CREAMY... err... yellow? Ok, I can't think straight anymore... *snort!* I need to blow my nose.

AND, you don't need to know about that. ~END~

brummies!!!

Please meet Keith and Ruth Holt.

I blogged about them sometime back about smiling, and seeing their picture just makes me want to smile again! They're a really sweet couple and hope one day to be able to meet with them again.

And I actually got their pic from here: (Thanks Joyce!)

This is the brummy gang at Joyce and Mr. Ma's wedding! Joh, they all look soh happy... wish I coulda been there la really. Congrats again to the happy couple!

I miss Birmingham... the uni, the friends, the church, the housemates... the weather too! hee... I really really wanna go back one day, but I'm a bit apprehensive. The last time I tried (that was about 4 years ago) I had some trouble with the immigration. They wouldn't let me in... (maybe it was the hair)(I knew I shoulda had a haircut!!!)

They took me into a room where they took my photo and even gave me a card with some seriel number to hold up too! CRIMINAL! And then they made me wait... alone... for what felt like forever... an endless forever. But then, someone did come to get me (no, it wasn't the second coming of Christ... *phew* I wasn't sure if I had done anything that needed repenting yet. Haha!) Okok, bad joke. It was an immigration officer. Two of them, in fact. And they had come to tell me that my entry had been refused and that I am being "REMOVED" from the UK.

Shocker! What on earth did I do wrong?!! I felt like some criminal. And yet, they let me through the gates to enter the city freely. However, they did hang on to my passport. Now I felt like a convict. No identification, no documents, no nothing. I tell you, that was a serious moment of vulnerability! They told me I had to return to the airport the following day to catch the first flight home. *speechless* Birmingham had been my home for the past four years. I was being kicked out of home. T_T

So that's why I'm back in Malaysia. *shrug*. This is the short version. Haha! The long version is way way way longer. Too much details. But I have to really thank my housemates (thnx JM!) and also Ps Maldwyn who helped and supported me then. Heh...

I haven't been back since. I met up with some brummies who have come to visit, but still... I miss Brimingham. *sigh*

Brimingham University campus. Kind of a distorted pic.

Ferret

/ferrit/
• noun a domesticated albino or brown polecat, used for catching rabbits. (www.askoxford.com)

*Nuts!* Why didn't I think of this earlier?!! Now Jared's already left us... :(
(Jared the ferret! Get it? Get it? It rhymes!)

(Ferrets) have been perceived to have caused damage to native fauna, perhaps most notably in New Zealand. As a result, some parts of the world have imposed restrictions on the keeping of ferrets (as pets). (en.wikipedia.org)

Hmm, well at least he's in Australia. Don't worry Jared, if Australia won't have you, Malaysia is waiting with open arms! (cue: "Awwws...")

On Wednesday, July 2nd 2008, Malaysia lost another one of its young talents.

But our lost is Australia's gain.

Take care, Jared! We'll miss you loads!

Falling down and out

I'm feeling emo...

On a Monday morning.

But I have Mondays off...

*???*

Maybe it's all those assigments.

Or maybe it's because... *deep breath*
...I'm almost 30 and people remind me I'm not getting any younger and I'm still single and still living on the ground floor of my parent's home and still living off them because I don't have a job where I'm earning my own living and therefore can't contribute to expenses because I'm back at college studying and am struggling to cope with assignments because it's been so long ago since I was a student and then most of the people I spend most of my time with are at least 5 years younger, AT LEAST, whereas my former schoolmates who are my age have got nice high position jobs that take them flying to foreign countries or they are working overseas or who are alreay happily married and having a place of their own while I'm still single and have nothing!!!

Well, not really nothing. I got my family. And I got my friends. Young or not, in a way, they're also like my family. And I've got Jesus. Precious Jesus.

Oh bother. I'm not gonna finish this post coz my little niece keeps bugging me to play. Heh.

*Ouch!* she was bouncing on my bed and just fell off with a loud "THUD!" Yikes, that's gonna leave a mark! She's crying but I managed to get her smiling again. No, she's giggling! And now, she's scampering onto my bed and bouncing again! *smile*

Wow, to be young again and not have any worries.

I learnt something. 'Bouncing' around in life, we're gonna face some tough twists and turns. And when we lose our balance, we're gonna fall. Some falls are not so bad, but some hurt and leave a mark. But we always have to get back up again.

We can all nod and agree with that, but the getting back up part is not so easy. It's much easier though, when we get lots of encouragement and support from people around us... Dear God, I know it's You, and it's been You all along. Everytime I fell, you were there. And you were there to pick me up again. Forgive me when I took my eyes off you and focused on the storms instead. No wonder I had the sinking feeling... but once again you reached out and held me by the hand.

Now that's gonna leave a mark.

"Heal the wounds but leave the scars... as a reminder of how merciful You are."

Midnite Mayhem

I've got so much to do! Help!

Assignments to do: overdue assignments, upcoming assignments, re-doing assingments (none of that yet, thankfully! *phew*) I'm drowning in a sea of (electronic)(as well as non-electronic) books!!! *gurgle*. Paul's not very friendly. It's so hard to understand him. But I don't think it's his fault la... I blame Martin Luther. Oh wait, it's actually the contemporary writers who... oh, I give up! nono, cannot cannot. I MUST finish assinments!!! GAH!!!

And yet, I found time to have fun... *hyuk!* slightly guilty chuckle

Recognise anyone? We were all from the same youth group once upon a time.

This is the best shot we could get. *nostalgia*

Last Sunday after frisbee, a bunch of us gathered to celebrate Jared and Alex's birthdays.

Birthday boys cutting cake. Aww, they're holding hands.

It was actually quite a big bunch. Heh.

And then as if that wasn't enough, I got a call from Ai Vee at 11pm asking if I wanted to go to Jared's house to give him another surprise! At 11pm!!!

Of course I said yes.

So off we went, a car load of people, to Bukit Jelutong to give Mr. Yeoh a surprise visit. We were soh excited we nearly pee-ed in our pants! Well, not really. Gwynne was though. We stopped at the Shell station so that she could go relieve herself while we bought a little birthday egg-tart. Haha! *evil!*

Anyway, we hurried on our way and was about to turn into his road, when lo and behold, who should appear at the junction but Jared himself driving his gold Myvi! We all yelped while half of us ducked, the other half could only try, and all I could do was to keep looking ahead hoping he hadn't noticed.

He hadn't! So we quickly turned the car around and tailed him! (CAN YOU JUST FEEL THE EXCITEMENT GOING ON!!! SOH EXCITING CAN PEE AH!)(good thing we made that stop). Hee.

After many failed attempts to contact Jared's mom (who was in co-horts with us), Eugene Tong resorted to faking a call to wish him a Happy Birthday and find out where he was going. Conversation went something like this:

Eugene: Hey, braaadder! Happy burfday, wei!

Jared: Ah, kk... thanks thanks.

E: Hee... I saw u on msn, but I thot it more appropriate to call u la! Haha!

J: Oh, haha! Yeah... *tahu pun*

E: Sohhh, what you doing now ah? Hehee.

J: Oh, haha! Actually I'm driving now la.

E: Ohhh, yes ah? Haha! *Obviously, since we're tailing you*. Where you going ah, so late?

J: Ohh, heh. I'm going to pick up my father now la.

E: Ha?!! Yes ah??!!! heh. heh. *Gulp! Aiyo, KLIA like 45 minutes away la* Okla, then I better not disturb you, wei.

J: Okok. Bye!

E: Ok, so I'll see u later... oo, err, I mean I'll see u when...

J: *click* (hung up)

*Disclaimer: The accuracy of the conversation may have been compromised for the sake of telling a story. Hee.

Aiyo... we were so disappointed. We got the surprise instead! So we resorted to going to the nearby mamak for drinks. But before we arrived, Christine finally got thru to Aunty Annie (Jared's mom) and THEN we found out that he wasn't going to the airport, but picking his dad up from the Giant hypermarket which was only 5 MINUTES AWAY!!! AAAAAHHHHHH!!!

So we raced back to his house, parked the car a little farther along the road, and ran into the house giggling ourselves silly! FUIYO! SUCH EXCITINGNESS CAN P... you get the idea. =_='

We rushed to hide in his room not two minutes, when Jared got home. We were all shush-ing each other and reminding everyone to yell surprise and basically making a whole lot of noise that I am surprise he didn't hear us. Finally, we suppressed our giggles as A.Annie lured him upstairs, and as he walked into his room, we gave him the fright of his life! Wahahaha!

You should have seen the look on his face! Hahahahaha!

Oh, I wish I had a camera then! Wahahahahahahaha... *wipes away tears*

Anyway, to cut an already very long story short, we gave him his birthday egg-tart, sang him a birthday song, went back out to another nearby mamak, and spent the late night taking group shots that Japheth made us pose for. Haha! The products of which are these:

Jared: I can't believe I let myself get scared by these clowns.

These clowns: *so satisfied*

The end.

Happy Birthday Jared-y boy! Don't forget us when you go to the land Down Under!

...Or Maybe I Will!

...post about my favourite Pop Group! Haha!
(To get what I'm haha-ing about, you'll need to see my last comment on the 'Ana' post... or you just don't get me at all.)( I don't blame you!)

Everybody, if you haven't already, please meet Point of Grace!


This is their latest hit song that won them a Dove Award (Christian equivalent to the Grammys, with all the glam and hype too!). Listen to it! It's really good!



I first heard them more than 10 years ago while I was still a teenager (and we all know how LONG ago that was) and I immediately fell in love!!! ...with their voices la! Altho I must say, they still look pretty good, huh? Hehee...

Anyway, it was POG who first inspired me to sing in parts! Yup, that's right! Their vocal harmonies are so tight and melodious... soh beautiful! And their songs are very encouraging and inspiring too! *sigh* Hearts.

But sadly, one of the members of the quartet has recently announced her retirement. *sob*. She is the second member to go. The original founders of the group were these four:

clockwise from top: Terry Jones, Shelley Breen, Denise Jones and Heather Payne

But towards the end of 2003, Terry announced her retirement to better care for her 3 young kids. At that time, I truly truly missed her voice because it is one that is very unique! Hers is one that is 'girlish, shrilly' and I can't think of anyone today who sounds like her. She was replaced by Leigh (pronounced Lee) Capillino Top picture, farthest left , and together, the group went on to produce more beautiful music.

And now, Heather Payne mother of four young kids, has also announced her retirement! *bawl* Broken heart. I'm so so sad, because Heather has a big big voice and I like to copy her singing style too! Now, the remaining members will carry on as a trio.

So there you go. Now you know my inspiration for singing parts. They really are very good! This album was even recommended by Leon! And those of you who know him knows he has high taste in music! Go go listen to them la. And if you wanna learn to sing in parts, I dunno, go be inspired by them.

Tribute to Point of Grace, you have blessed me and inspired me! God bless you loads!