Farm Day

Last Saturday , we went to check out the new rabbit farm plot which Jun's dad rented in Broga , about 15 minutes away from the current farm. The farm is near the current Nottingham University campus in Broga and also the Broga village. It's a large plot enough for a petting area , a cafe and also a place to rear rabbits. The land was a fruit orchard - it has got pineapple plants, a nangka tree , durian trees and also petai tree though I don't see any petai. The land owner is an old uncle who's probably too tired taking care of this land now. The fruit trees are matured so it creates a great canopy of shade.

Now it's time to plan for beautification of the farm! The plot has a slope which has great potential for some outdoor activities although it's all in the planning stage. I'm going there again this coming Sunday to take some pictures of the farm to document the growth of it. Would be fun :)

Got it changed!

OK, I can't stand pink much longer ~ Got it changed. The above was how it looked like before the change.

Once upon a Love Story~

It is Christmas time, and FGA always holds a Christmas presentation as a way to reach out and to spread the Gospel since it's the only time when non-believers are more receptive when invited to come to church. This year , the Youth Church is performing a story about Joseph and Mary , rather than the birth of Jesus per se. Nope, you don't get to see the Baby in the crib. It's the Prequel to the birth of Jesus Christ.

Anyway, after that a pastor delivered a message of Christmas in my church yesterday about Jesus Christ who was born to save us while we are yet sinners. He spoke about how he sent his wife an SMS to wish her on their wedding anniversary , and how he waited and waited but no message came back from his wife. When he got home and asked his wife why she did not reply him with a message, she simply said this "Words no use, I want to see the heart." Reminds me of this verse :

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
(1 John 3:18)

I'm thankful for this particular verse which he shared :

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8)

Notice the verse ; the word is "demonstrates" , rather than "demonstrated" which means it's still happening today! God demonstrates His Love to us 2000 years ago by crucifying His own Son, and He is still doing that today because Jesus also died for my sins which I commit 2000 years after his sacrifice. Isn't that beautiful love?

I'm a Pinky!

Too bored with the frosty white and blue ; I've decided to change my blog's color to PINK. Wonder if you would see the pink color. Oh well, it's time to change after a year right? Ok, maybe it's just a little too pinkish??

The worst thing about changing the template must be the fact that it has deleted all my best links and also my links to all my friends' blogs! Now that sucks. How do I find them again??

Daniel Lee - Mimpi (Malaysian Idol single)

Mimpi

Composed and written: Pot Amir

Inginku lukiskan nota-nota
Laguku mengikut rentak gitar
Dengarkan suara mimpiku bertemakan
Namamu senantiasa selalu selalu

Sedalam tinggi, seluas jauh
Begitulah cita-citaku
Sekiranya kau ingin tahu
Selama ini, hingga ke akhirnya
Suka duka senyum selalu
Kita bersama punya satu
Mimpi

Dengarkan suara mimpiku bertemakan
Namamu selalu namamu selalu

Sedalam tinggi, seluas jauh
Begitulah cita-citaku
Sekiranya kau ingin tahu
Selama ini, hingga ke akhirnya
Suka duka senyum selalu
Kita bersama punya satu
Mimpi

Kita bersama punya satu mimpi

李吉汉 - 飞: Daniel Lee - Fei (Fly) romanized lyrics and translation

Can't help it , I love the song so much I've decided to learn how to sing it. Sing along people!

我知道 世界忽然已改变 Wo zhi dao Shi jie hu ran yi gai bian
(I know the world has changed suddenly)

我知道 泪水以后是荣耀 Wo zhi dao Lei shui yi hou shi rong yao
(I know there’s glory behind the tears)

流过泪 无所谓 Liu guo lei Wu suo wei
(Having shed tears, It doesn’t matter)
有遗憾 也是美 You yi han Ye shi mei
(Having regret is also a kind of beauty)
算吧 遗憾 无所谓 Suan ba Yi han Wu suo wei
(Let it be, Regret, nevermind)
我的梦 呜~ 没有结尾 Wo de meng hmm… Mei you jie wei
(My dream hmm… Never ends)

勇敢往前飞 梦不枯萎 Yong gan wang qian fei Meng bu ku wei
(Fly ahead bravely, Dream never dies)
梦的巨人 无形的包围 Meng de ju ren Wu xing de bao wei
(The giant of dream is surrounding me invisibly)
不管多累 我要全力追 Bu guan duo lei wo yao quan li zhui
(No matter how tired, I’ll try my best going after my dream)
勇敢往前飞 偶尔苦偶尔也累 Yong gan wang qian fei Ou er ku ou er ye lei
(Fly ahead bravely, Sometimes it’s bitter sometimes it’s tiring)
梦的巨人 无形的渴望 Meng de ju ren Wu xing de ke wang
(The giant of dream, The desire)
给我梦想 给我了力量 飞翔 Gei wo meng xiang Gei le wo li liang fei xiang
(It gives me dream, Gives me strength to fly)

流过泪 无所谓 Liu guo lei Wu suo wei
(Having shed tears, It doesn’t matter)
有遗憾 也是美 You yi han Ye shi mei
(Having regret is also a kind of beauty)
算吧 遗憾 无所谓 Suan ba Yi han Wu suo wei
(Let it be, Regret, nevermind)
我的梦 呜~ 没有结尾 Wo de meng hmm… Mei you jie wei
(My dream hmm… Never ends)

勇敢往前飞 勇敢的追 Yong gan wang qian fei Yong gan de zhui
(Fly ahead bravely, Pursue bravely)
梦的巨人 无形的包围 Meng de ju ren Wu xing de bao wei
(The giant of dream is surrounding me invisibly)
给我力量给了我希望 Gei wo li liang Gei le wo xi wang
(It gives me strength, It gives me hope)
勇敢往前飞 偶尔苦偶尔也累 Yong gan wang qian fei Ou er ku ou er ye lei
(Fly ahead bravely, Sometimes it’s bitter sometimes it’s tiring)
梦的巨人 无形的渴望 Meng de ju ren Wu xing de ke wang
(The giant of dream, The desire)
力量带领我到这地方 Li liang dai ling wo dao zhe ge di fang
(The strength brings me to this place)
梦的天堂 Meng de tian tang
(The heaven of dreams)

给我力量 给了我希望 飞翔 Gei wo li liang Gei le wo xi wang fei xiang
(Giving me strength, Giving me hope to fly)

Daniel Lee , the champion of Malaysian Idol II is out with his latest album of ten songs! I still prefer him singing 'live' but it's OK, the CD doesn't sound too bad. His MIMPI song is in both the Malay and the Mandarin version ; I must say I like the Mandarin version more ever since I haerd it over 988 radio station ! Maybe it's the accent , maybe he just sounded better there even though some people may disagree with me. If you like the Malay version, it would be a joy to listen to because this is a perfect version, unlike the 'live' version where there's some out-of-tune parts during his performance in the Finals.

Dad has been wanting to listen to his songs, and now that I have a copy of it , he'd be delighted to listen to it . Not a bad one, check it out! Oh yeah... they even have an official website. One 11-year old boy actually wrote an email to complain about the rampant piracy of his idol's CD. Poor boy doesn't understand that piracy is one problem which is very difficult to tackle.

Interesting webbie - Person of the Year

Was listening to the radio this morning and heard something very cute indeed : You know it's the end of the year, and you know that around this time, there will be many publications nominating the events of the year and stuffs like that ; and TIME Magazine is no different; they are famous for the "Person of the Year" vote. You know how it is - each year they'd be voting for famous people like Bush(why does he ALWAYS get to be voted in- cos of the destructions he's done??) , Blair, famous heroes and heroines like Mother Teresa or the Pope .. ra ra ra... boring ? Ever wonder why you're never the "Person of the Year" despite endless toils you've made to the world? *Ok, maybe they need someone who impacts the world instead, but thats beside the point right?* Wonder no more....

This year there's a T W I S T because you can put yourself (yes , your beautiful face!) as the front cover of the TIME mag and vote for yourself!!! Want to know more? Check this out : http://impoy.com. Just too bad that I can't add captions to the magazine cover... hehehe...

The draft

I wrote this on the 12th November....which I saved as a draft and now the person which I spoke about is already gone:

***
I just came back from the hospital after visiting my uncle who is now bedridden due to the
cancer of the lung.His condition is deteriorating ; very obvious since the last time I visited him last Sunday. Looking at him , I felt a great sense of lost and sadness - he isn't the Papak I knew before. My uncle was never a man of many words , but he is a man of great sense of responsibility.He has been the Big Brother to all his siblings as Grandpa passed away 16 years ago. He cares for everyone in the family - from my widowed aunt to my unmarried uncles - none escaped his attention.

Looking at him this noon on the bed really made my heart ache. When we approached the bed , his eyes were rolled up, the pupils looking above while the sclera were very obvious. I could see the His left hand was tied to the bed to stop him from pulling the drip plugs off his right hand.

*Did he want to end his life? Is his pain unbearable now? He must be....*

His BP yesterday shot up to 210/140 but thankfully it came to 170/? just now.His body now has become very frail and weak; he can hardly walk now.

I fear losing him.I could only pray for him, and God to take his pain away....

****

My uncle passed away peacefully on the 14th of November 2005. It's been more than a week now , and life soon settled down again. Thanks to those who has kept my uncle in their prayers.

Challenge

What is a love relationship?

A connection between two persons based on trust and understanding - of honesty and of high integrity ; not of unpure thoughts and of lies. Keeping this close to the heart until the end of the life is very challenging because we need to remind ourselves daily what true relationships and commitment really mean. It is always easy to say "I am committed to you" or "I am willing to wait" but what those golden words really mean is the ACTION that we show. In this, I believe it will all be proven in time to come.

We are accountable to our own actions because each action has a repercussion towards the people around us - therefore, these days I become more watchful over my own thoughts and actions. Never mind the distractions....

Update : Lightning Striking Twice

The robber(s) went in through the front gate - a gate door made from stainless steel. Dad said they snapped it open and later pried open the wooden door as well. The whole house is in a mess again now after being searched. It happened while my cousin was in my aunt's house , so it must have happened between dinner time and 11pm. The neighbours must have heard some sounds, but decided not to help. A spirit of neighbourliness or selfishness here?

My cousin decided not to report to the police since they didn't do anything during the last time of report anyway. But at least if they report, that would add onto the statistics and HOPEFULLY ( with caps on) someone would notice the rising numbers of neighbourhood crimes. Unless someone makes an action, this case remains another number which adds on to the statistics. But my best guess would be that they would just add the number of police beats around the area ; to catch the thief would be like searching for a needle in the sea - these guys are faceless and too smooth.

Poor security everywhere nowadays. Sighhh...

Happy Birthday Jun!

Happy 23rd Birthday , my dear Jun! Have a blessed year ahead. Hope that this year's birthday is a memorable one for you. Wishing you a year showered with lots of love, happiness and blessings from our dear Lord. :D

Yuen Yee's 21st Birthday celebration

A bit too late to update this - I should have done it long long time ago. Everything went well - we had more than 50 guests coming... it rained in the evening and at night, but stopped later.

Coincidentally, one granduncle passed away on Friday night , causing a few aunts and uncles to abstain from the party because of some superstition that "red and white events cant mix". Birthday parties are red events while funerals are white events. I thought they could attend YY's birthday party first and then attend the funeral at night ; but since granduncle's rank in the family is higher, he gets the priority in any family event. Attendees of the funeral normally do not attend both events together in case it brings bad luck/ bad omen to the one who is hosting the red event.

YY seemed disappointed that night as we expected a big turnout , especially when we're such a close-knitted family - but we couldn't change the fact that Chinese are still superstitious lot when it comes to things like this. Lots of leftovers that night , but nevertheless we had a real good time celebrating her birthday and also her "present-opening" ceremony. Hehehhe..........

p/s : So you're 21 now huh! Now you has the license to kill.... err, I mean - thrill!

Lighting can strike the same place twice

Mum and Dad just got out of the house minutes ago, very unlikely at this hour as it is already nearing midnight - Cousin's house got robbed again. The last time it got robbed was one or two months back - can't really recall the exact date. The robber came in through the roof after climbing the phone pole just right behind cousin's house . I remember Big Aunt asking Dad to get help to remove the metal bars which are attached to the phone pole. These metal bars were actually easy stairways to allow anyone to climb up to the rooftop. Removing them would help not onlyto safeguard my cousin's house , but the surrounding houses as well.

I wonder how the robber got in this time. This incident really would put Big Aunt into uneasiness... :( Just wait for Mum and Dad to come home to find out how.

Tomorrow

It's Yuen Yee's 21st birthday celebration tomorrow! Her birthday isn't tomorrow, but since her actual birthday falls on a weekday and knowing that everyone would be too busy to attend a weekday birthday party, Mum decided to have it tomorrow - the 8th of October. So all the preparations were made weeks before - the list of guests , the food , the present, the cakes . The guest list is shorter this time as YY will not be inviting any of her friends , save her "special friend" ; not because she doesn't have any friends, but because they are all non-locals and do not have a place to bunk during the weekend after the party.

I'm going back tonight to help her to make the jellies for tomorrow's party. Gotta remind her to put some coloring into the mixture so that it doesn't look so pale. It's also much easier to clean the mould containers after removing the jellies since you can actually see the jelly leftovers stuck in them. This comes from experience!

Bought her a gift , hope she likes it. I know I like what I bought very much... hehhehe... If she doesn't like it, I'm glad to take it back :) *Buruk siku!*

Forwarding emails

This morning I received an email about a girl who lost her parents in the recent tsunami which hit South Asia in the beginning of the year; she has no recollection of her name nor her own family , she has lost her parents and now still remains at the Phuket Hospital. The email pleads that its recipients would forward it to all their contacts :

Please don’t just delete this - your contribution could be the one that solves this little girl’s problem. Even if you are one of the people who believes that it is always someone else’s obligation to help the misfortunate, please know that forwarding this will cost you nothing. Let’s help!! Forward this to everyone you can.

I wonder if all these emails are genuine, or would it actually achieve the objective in finding her parents... Perhaps they do, I've no idea... but I just don't forward emails like this.

Would you forward emails which asks for blood donations ? Perhaps I would , if it sounds genuine enough. What about those which promise monetary rewards - something like Microsoft would reimburse you with a fat paycheck when you forward the email to everyone you know --indirectly becoming a spammer for someone smarter? Perhaps it really sounds silly - but let me ask this : Has anyone really become richer by just forwarding emails everyday?

Just some observations to the strategies they use :-
(a)Threaten(punishment)==> You'll have bad luck for the next 7 years if you don't forward them. Unlucky for them, they go straight into the trash bin.

(b) Soft stance(reward) ==> Some goes by softer stance of saying that you would be blessed by God if you forward those emails. I wonder if God would.

*Ok, time to check my next forwarded email.*

The Ignatius Trail

Well, apart from the little misfortunate incident which happened today, I was glad that I met up with Jennifer for a play at The Actors Studio, Bangsar. She was kind enough to invite me to The Ignatius Trail, a play from Scotland which won the Edinburgh Festival 2004 award.

This was my first visit to the Actors Studio since 7 years ago when I attended my first ever play in Dataran Putra which was right beneath Dataran Merdeka. I still remembered watching Edwin Sumun and Jo Kukathas but don't ask me the name of the play, cause I can't remember! Edwin Sumun wore this pair of jeans which got a big hole at the butt ; GOSH! That's why I can remember so well :) Hahahhaha~

Anyway, the play was a light one about peace-loving pirates (I'd call them wimpy) of a ship called the Yellow Flower ( since when pirates have ships which sounded so feminine?!) who met a pirate inspector called Celia Salt(do not call her "c-salt") . She had a plan to turn them into bloodthirsty, ferocious evil pirates .... and the laughter began...

The crowd - full of kids who are probably International School kids who are having their summer holiday right now. They just laugh their hearts out and scream when they want to durnig the play - happy kids:) Ohh, we even saw Ahmad Izham, the 8tv CEO who brought us Malaysian Idol into our idiot boxes!

Interested about this play: Go here--> http://www.gardnerandwife.com/

When the going gets tough...

I hate making this site sound like a complaint site - but nothing is worst than this:
I was attending the e-security seminar today in MINES Convention center . My boss and I were walking up to the elevator towards the small seminar room which had a talk about WIMAX when suddenly my white sandals decided to give way and SNAP!!! To my horror, the white piece of PVC where I slip my toes in between was torn into two pieces! Really, THAT was the one and only link which makes the sandals wearable!

OK, there I was - stuck- because I can't walk any further, not that I didn't try , but really I can't, plus I wasn't driving this morning, so I had no extra pair of shoes which I can change into. My boss is with me, but he isn't a female, so he won't be able to help me buy a new pair of shoes in Mines shopping mall. The mall is at least 5 minutes of walk away...

So what did I do? I took off my sandals, and walked BAREFOOTED all the way from the convention center to the mall which was 5 minutes away, saw a shoe shop and walked straight into it and bought the first pair of shoes I saw! Didn't care about the comfort - just needed a pair of shoes!

Thank God I was wearing a pair of long black pants and there was Mines to the rescue. I'd be in deep trouble had the expo been held in some unknown convention centers without any shops! His grace is sufficient! Hehehehe... :)

Umm.. the whole episode was kinda comical - I think my boss was about to laugh at me :'( ; not mentioning all those macho guys who probably must be thinking that I'm some siau girl- "What on earth is this girl doing walking around barefooted in public? We only see this in Thaipusam right?!"

Talk about when the going gets tough!

Future?

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? What are your plans? Where do you plan to go from here?

Any answers?

No. At least not today. Hopefully I know it in the not-so-distant-future. I need that direction.

A string of events

This month doesn't seem to bode well for my dear one. Firstly an accident involving three cars while we were down in Melaka on the first week of August , then another minor crack at the windscreen last week on his way to JB due to a blind little stone and now the side window was broken by some thugs. This is the best part : why would someone want to steal your road tax?

Beats me. :(

A world of criminals.

====

The world is really unsafe nowadays. Just a few weeks ago, 4 cars in my neighbourhood were broken into - as you'd already guessed, they targeted cars with CD players. One pretty Toyota Camry which belonged to the neighboor a few doors away had its side mirror removed pretty perfectly and not smashed. Wonder how these guys had the time to actually do that?! Another absurd thing : A Kancil got robbed as well , for coins which probably didnt make more than RM10. What's in the mind of these criminals?! Plenty of fish in the sea and they chose an anchovy?