profile Firmly believes in life after death. Secretly addicted to Gossip Girl & ATNM (oh, the shame). Finds painting own nails therapeutic. Takes an eternity to make a decision. Likes to swim. Fancies self as seasoned chef in manner of Masaharu Morimoto. Hates driving during rush hour. Feels happiest waking up to bright sunny mornings. Is afraid of cockroaches and balloons. Dislikes awkward silence. Buys too many dresses and not enough comfortable shoes. Is convinced that people only appreciate what they have to work hard for. tagboard archives February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 August 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 skin by: Jane |
Tuesday, January 31, 2006 @ 9:09 AM
CNY Blues Mom told us to give her a call when we got toToronto. So I did. "Hi Ma~!" "Ouui... reach Toronto adi?" "Ya, juz reached." "Ohh.." Fumbling noises in the background. "Cold or not?" "Quite le... but still ok." "Oh... Mommy's busy cooking le.. eh ah gugu is here! You talk to her first k..." Mom calls for my aunt. "Arlo, Cindy! Gor Nen lo... how you celebrate there?" "Not much celebrations here also, very cham one." People talking in the background. "A lot of people there ar? So noisy one." "Yalor, Ah Kiu Gong they all also here, Popo, Man Yi Po.. Chinese New Year ma." "Orrhh..." "....Soooo, you nothing to do isit? Very late d no meh?? Should sleep lor right??" ..... "It's only 8.30pm here, Gu." "Orh yes ar... mmm.. Eh GO OPEN THE DOOR JOANNE SOMEONE'S RINGING THE DOORBELL... aiya a lot of people coming adi.. mmm.. soo... I should probably go outside to welcome them lor-" "Ooh..ok..." "EH JASON!! COME HERE YOUR SISTER IS ON THE PHONE, TALK TO HER!! Ok la har Cindy, you talk to your brother la, I hafta go first... you know la, Chinese New Year ma..." "Uh huh." "CINDY!" "Kor? What you doing." "Eating." "Oh. Where's mom and dad?" "Busy with stuff." "Oh. Um. Well-" "GU!! TALK TO CINDY ON THE PHONE!" The phone clunks heavily on the table. "Ouuii... Cindy. Where's che che?" "She's eating." "Oohh... you not eating meh? Go eat also la, Chinese New Year ma." ".... Mommy leh?" "Oh you wanna talk to mommy? Think she still busy... but I can call her I can call her-" "Mm nvm le gu, I'll juz call... later. Or something." "OOOHHH ok ok ok. You take care la har, bye bye." She hung up. Family reunions. What's not to like. Happy Chinese New Year. Friday, January 27, 2006 @ 11:25 AM
Arise II More typing practices. =) Btw, our router is like, acting up or whatever, so I can't go online. And I'm going to Toronto for CNY weekend, to visit the few relatives we have on this side of the world. SET ME FREE (this was the first tear-jerker for me, hEe) Verse Your love covers my sin And washes over me Your grace it draws me in So I can live for You Jesus who died for me So I will lift for You my God Chorus And I will lay down my life For the cause of the Cross And I won't try to ignore (--->Keong figured this one out! =D) That Your heart's cry is the lost (And this part! Hehee~) And I will go if You say go I will never give it up I will lay down my life Because You laid down Your life To set me free Your love washes over Over Over and over... ARISE Verse Now is the time to make a stand To rise up and take the Promised Land To walk in the favor of our God Lift up your eyes to see the King Upon you His glory will be seen Coz His light is rising up on you Chorus Arise Shine For the glory of the Lord is upon you Arise Shine Shine His light I can feel something in the air A spirit of God is surely here As the church rises up to Him The nations they come to sing His praise The lost are found running to His grace Coz His light is shining up on you Arise Church arise YOU ARE MY GOD Verse Holy One Breath of life breathe into me Come and saturate my heart I stand in awe Take me deeper into You Come and wash me with Your love Draw me closer to You And You draw me closer to You Oh to You Chorus Holy I will sing forever Give you my heart You are only(?) God of all the earth And I live for You Mighty King of Heaven Glory and Honor to You Shine Your light for all the world to see That You live in me Bridge Jesus, Jesus, Jesus... You are my God You are my God REDEEMER My Savior is living in me Redeemer Verse 1 My Jesus is better Than anything in this world He loves me I love Him So I give Him everything He gave His life for me Chorus My Savior is living in me Redeemer Jesus He set me free Verse 2 He’s living in my heart He gave me a brand new start I asked him He came in And washed away all my sins He gave His life for me He died to set me free Bridge If You can use anything Won’t You use me Take me and break me and mould me and make me You died for me So I’m living for You I’m living for You I’m living for You YOUR GLORY Verse Break of day Your light it shines on us And Your glory fills this place Like the sun It rises up on us It’s the glory of Your face And I lift my eyes to heaven And I lift my eyes to heaven Chorus Your glory Oh Lord it’s filled with Your glory Nations cry out They sing holy Holy is the Lord Your glory Jesus one touch of Your glory I lift up my hands and sing holy Holy is the Lord Is the Lord Bridge Show me Your glory Wednesday, January 25, 2006 @ 5:21 AM
Blessings Whenever We Dare To Hope Being back home during the winter break was awesome. Only thing was that it was the school holidays as well. Which means (1) a whole lot more cars on the streets than usual (2) a whole lot more cars in parking lots than usual (3) a whole lot more people hanging out in shopping malls (4) a whole lot more people buying movie tickets in the only good cinema in Ipoh (5) a whole lot more difficult to just 'head out and catch a movie.' I have a point. Read on. *bEam* Blessings are everywhere, everyday. More so when we dare to hope. _______________________________________________________________________________________ "Hey wanna watch King Kong?" I rolled my chair toward him lying on the couch. "Okie. Now?" "There's one at 8.05." It was 7.36pm. "Think we can make it?" He shrugged. "We can try." I grabbed the car keys and we were off. Half-blinded by the headlights behind me, I mentally calculated our chances. It takes about 20 minutes to get to Jusco from my house, and that's if traffic wasn't too crazy. Possibly 10-13 minutes to get a parking space, if there weren't too many bored people in Ipoh. It was a school holiday night. I took a quick glance at the odometer. Ok. Maybe I should slow down. After all we weren't that desperate to watch the movie. Never mind the fact that we had tried to catch King Kong for 3 failed times now. *shrug* Jusco. I held my breath as I got to the parking level closest to the cinema. I was gonna run down to check the tickets while he waited in the car (his injured knee immobilized him quite a bit). A car was backing out of a space right in front of us. I gawked. "Is... is that car coming out??" "Ya! Faster put signal!" He grinned. "Sweeeet! Now all we need is a couple of tix," I hoped aloud as I parked the car in place. I ran to the cinema to check the status. KING KONG 1.25 4.15 6.00 8.05 9... OK. Red means... sold out. I ran back to the car. "It's all sold out." "You asked the person?" "No wor." "Oh... wanna ask and see? Sometimes they sell off reserved tix in the end." "Really ah?" "Ya huh!" "Oh okie." I made a mad dash back to the counter and lined up. The queue was surprisingly empty. "Umm... you still have tix for King Kong, 8.05?" It was 8.00pm. "Nope, all sold out," the Chinese guy said. "Oh... ok... mmm," I dawdled a little, playing with my fingers. He lowered his glasses and peered at me. "What time you want again?" "8.05... got ah?" "How many you want?" "Just two." "Hmmm... RM18 la please." "Oh!" I forked over the money. Wait... "Is it nice seats?" He pushed the monitor screen toward me and pointed it out. "Ya. Right in the middle, to the back." Those words are always like music to my ears. "Cool. Thanks!" I went back to the car, wanting to put on a poker face and pretend to leave but gave it up quickly coz I couldn't stop grinning. "We gotz it!" "Schweeet~!!" @ 5:14 AM
Arise! The new Planet Shakers album is so good it makes me wanna cry. And it's not just the fantamarvebudeligheatiup melodies (normal words can't describe em - no really), the lyrics are just as straightforward as ever. Coz when you think about it, that's all there is to it. Lift His name up. Follow Him now and forever. Praise His majesty always. He died for us. We live for Him. Worship Him all the days of our lives. Serve Him. Save the nations. As Avril Lavigne kept yelling at one point, "'Why you hafta go and make things so complicated?" Hehee. So I was trying to look for the lyrics coz I got tired of mumbling through the parts I didn't know the words to, but I couldn't find any. Too new? Nevertheless! I decided to write em down meself! Hehehee~ My sis and I used to do this all the time, kinda like a (unspoken) challenge. We'd try to type out the lyrics to a new song we like without pausing the track at any point of time. (I could do spanish and japanese songs at one point.) We actually did a lot of (unspoken) typing competitions with each other; that's how I got so good at SMS-ing. Nothing like some serious sister rivalry to get the fingers cracking. Back when we were in Malaysia we'd try to reply each other's SMSes so fast that it was only a matter of seconds after one sent a SMS that she'd get a reply. It was ridiculous. But funny hehee. Alas, I sidetracked. It's fun - you guys should try it sometime. If you haven't already. No, I'm not very free. I have two long magazine articles due soon and two quizzes tomorrow. But I need t- aih, don't be such a bummer can! So anyways. Chekitout~! And sing your hearts out! *gRin* MY HERO Verse 1 Lord I give my all to You Everyday I'm living for Your name I don't care what comes my way Gonna lay my life down everyday My life is not my own Lord Jesus take control I'll give You everything You are the reason i say Chorus Take my life God every part Reaching out to give You my heart One thing I wanna let You know You're my hero! Verse 2 Jesus there is none like You No one else can make me feel this way There is power in Your name To live a life of freedom everyday Bridge You are everything to me More than the air I breathe You're everything i need You're my hero! LIFT YOUR NAME UP Verse 1 I'm gonna lift You up Higher than all things Above every name Coz You are my God n King You made everything So I gave you all my praise I'm gonna lift Your name up So all the world can see You live in me Chorus Shine Your light in me So all the world will see The power of Your majesty (Jesus I will lift Your name up) Let Your spirit fall on me now So that all the world will know That You're my God (Jesus I will lift Your name up) Verse 2 I'm so in love with You Everything You do Everything You say Coz You never let me go You're always in control And I give You all my praise I'm gonna lift Your name up So all the world can see You live in me Bridge (I LOVE THIS PART) Jesus I will lift Your name up Higher than all other names You are my God You are my King MAJESTY Verse Rising I feel my heart sing His praises Our Lord and King The Wonder The Majesty Welcome The King of Glory in Every tribe n tongue Every land will sing Your praise Till the end of time We'll sing Majesty Chorus Oh Majesty To the God of creation Oh Majesty God of all generation This anthem we sing To the God of formations O Majesty we sing! Tuesday, January 24, 2006 @ 11:54 AM
Red Doggie [Contains extreme levels of dramatization - consume in moderation] I carried you through busy throngs of people, past sweaty traffic and bustling MRTs. I held onto you as I struggled to bring you to a better place. I did my best to protect you, and never let you out of my sight the whole time. You were right beside me during the nine sweet hours home. I hugged you close to my bosom as we hailed for a cab, protected you from the leering stares of suspicious strangers, till I could lay you down gently on my clean, soft bed. I would've carried you all 22 hours of the journey back to this place. People told me to forget about it. You're not worth the trouble. Imagine the stigma! The strange looks in the airports. The doubtful eyes of the authorities. But I was adamant. You are a gift to me (literally). You are a symbol of something precious. A sign of better times. A token of love. But I was told I couldn't carry on any extra 'hand-carry'. Hand carry. The audacity. Pay no heed to them. You are a part of me, an extension of myself. I took you out of that wretched luggage bag the moment I got back here. I caressed every part of you, made sure you were perfectly well, and then gingerly placed you on my bed. I stood back and gazed at you. So peaceful and innocent. Just remembering the way you came to me makes me smile. 
Red Doggie has been a very comfy sleepmate since I got back.
And he's just too adorable to ignore, especially with that irresistable tattoo on his stummy...
Awww... Hug hug. @ 2:26 AM
Looking Back "Remember in the darkness what you have learned in the light." Pastor Brad was talking about memorials, how we always have visible memorials for huge calamities like the Vietnam War, the Holocaust, all that sort. But it's also good to have memorials for the individual things that God has done for us, the personal blessings and miracles throughout our lives. It could be as big as car crashes and robberies, and it could be as small as a final exam gone right, against all odds. We could write it down in our journals, have a piece of something in our treasure box to remind us of God's works in our lives, something, so we won't forget. Coz we tend to. We could experience a great deal of God's blessings one day, and few weeks or months later when something trips us up, we throw our hands up and ask GOd WHERE ARE YOU? It's so important to remember. I'm not bragging, but I always knew that. I keep journal after journal, everytime something happens I just wanna jot it down and leave the exact details onto the pages, so I'll never forget how it felt when God's hands are obviously at work. I keep lil tokens of memory and paste em in my journals, so I'll always remember. At times I do think like, naw how can I possibly forget bout this? I don't hafta write down everything... but then when I read back on my older stuff, and I'm sometimes surprised at why I don't quite remember some of the stuff I wrote down, only a vague memory left. Memories, experiences are all part of God's plan. We learn from the past, we appreciate God's plans for us by reflecting on the past. Things are usually hard to grasp when you're smack in the middle of it, but if you choose to reflect positively, God's fingerprints are all over it. We probably will never completely understand why God does the things He does, but we can get a better grasp of His masterplan by learning from hindsight. Just because things are over, it doesn't mean we have to forget. I don't believe in dwelling in the past though. That's not what I'm saying at all. I just think that we shouldn't just sweep our past under the carpet and not deal with it till the huge lump on the carpet trip you up sometime in the future. Dust collect. Hurts double. It's all about balance. As long as we have our sights and hearts focused on God and His plans for us, and find comfort and strength in His faithfulness and unfailing character (which we can find examples of from our past experiences, naturally *bEam*), we can be better-equipped and more effective servants for His kingdom. Saturday, January 21, 2006 @ 4:20 PM
DIY Cinnification I did this a while ago (when watching Friends reruns, hehee), but I didn't have the camera with me... It's the Planet Shakers t-shirt Keon gave me for me birthday. =)   
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When we were in Singapore during winter break, we saw some really cute gadgets that has a wire connecting two cute fixtures such as a black cat, piggy or whatever, and on the wire is a few clips where you can clip and hang anything you like! Cards, photos, anything! I thought it was so adorable, but it was like $6.90, so I opted for two cute rings instead.
Lol. Coz I figured I could steal their idea and make my own, but you can't make you own rings! So yeah. Here goes~
  
This is supposed to be a giraffe, aka duck hybrid (lol~!), coz it has no real legs. But it has hooves! =P
  
This, of coz, is a seahorse one.
Nice or not nice or not~? 0=DThursday, January 19, 2006 @ 4:56 PM
"Frankenstein" Way overdue... went to Frankenmuth last weekend. It's a quaint lil German town filled with Americans exploiting the traditional German heritage that started there. 0=) Then we went to Bronner's, and last but SO not the least, Prime Outlet~!!! Where I bought three pants for $26~!! I thought it was gonna total up to about $50 but they slashed it at the cashier~!! Two schweet gaucho pants and a uber comfy embroidered pair of ... pants lar. Dunno what it's called hehee. It's true - you get the best stuff when you're not consciously looking for 'em. Bubbz' nugget of wisdom for the day. Jk. =) the reAL nugget of wisdom is... EXPECT GREAT THINGS! But that's for another post. Onto the pics~! 
Bavarian Inn, where we had our German breakfast and... yeah that's about it. =P The food was all right, my 
All the servers had to wear the stereotypical old German... costumes. The ladies look much better in their barmaid stuff, but I don't think we got a clear photo on that.
Umm... saying grace? Hehee dunno what I was doing. But it's cool ya; looks like I'm a insightful, lone poet in the midst of mindless activity... lol.
Good hair day.
The Diamond of Light... apparently a long time ago, this inn was a German castle, and this stairway was a secret passageway to the Queen's underground lair, where she meets her Schnitzel boy in private. The only light that she allowed to come thru this sinful place was that diamond glass window, where the sun shone thru only exactly at noon everyday...
Ok I just made that whole thing up. That door's just a normal exit out of the inn. And it wasn't a German castle - it's just made to look like one.
Heee~
My sis took my nice jacket so all I was left was this hideous jacket that makes me look like I'm wearing shoulderpads.
And the zipper was faulty.
But yeah it keeps me warm. *thumbs up*
"CINDY! You look so much like those dolls! Stand in front of them, I HAFTA take a picture!"
"..."
"MIRIPNYA! You juz blend right in!! HAhahahahahahaa..."
"......."
Stocking up on some colored coke.
The guys.
Why am I holding the leftover chicken?
See what I mean about the shoulderpads?
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And here are pics from Bronner's - The largest Christmas store in the whole world~!
Hee.
I actually thought it was gonna be a whole bunch of commercialized stuff, but if you look everywhere in the store, there're constant reminders that Jesus Christ is the reason we celebrate Christmas, not Santa Clause.
One banner I really dig- Jesus is the reason for the season.
KapeeSh~!!
      Tuesday, January 17, 2006 @ 10:18 AM
Ripping off expensive posters 
Lord,
Please grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I can't change,
the COURAGE to change what I can,
and the WISDOM to know the difference.
Amen.Sunday, January 15, 2006 @ 1:34 PM
Rainbows There's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Something about silver lining. All those stuff; it seeps into your mind. Rainbow = hope, promise, happiness. Then I was reading the bible earlier and it was right there. One of God's covenants with us. Was right after the huge flood that wiped out everything but Noah and his ark. And God was promising Noah that He'd never destroy the earth again, never cut off life that way again. And the rainbow is a remembrance of that everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures. So yeah, we still have natural disasters, man-made massacres, morality decadence, Wednesday, January 11, 2006 @ 10:31 AM
So It Begins Classes have started. First class of the semester - Media and the Law. Basically a law class; it's even held in one of the snazzy School of Law classrooms. Professor wears clean cut Burberry blazers with shoulder pads and straight-legged workpants - all immaculately ironed. She's a journalist with a law degree. She's funny, quick-witted and more lawyer than journalist, from her choice of words. First half hour of the class was actually cool; law was the other major I'd seriously considered before choosing journalism, and I thought she was showing a good path for me to follow - first journalism, then law. *shRug* An hour and half later, I was dozing off, all the while thinking - who in the world would go through this for four whole years?? Taking Publication Design 2 this semester too. Sounds like a lot of fun, projects include recreating a magazine, a poster, a logo (of any kind), and a CD package~! But professor seems a bit stricter than the last, so we'll see how things go. Magazing Article Writing. Was two minutes late for the class coz I didn't know it was held in the basement. The door was shut, and the light on top that said "in use" was on. Shyte. Prof is a boisterous old man with tons of theatrics. He'd slam the table (no chance of dozing off there) with his fist, rant on about everything that came to his mind... It's also the first time I hear a professor say the f-word in class. But then he'd quieten down and tell us gently that all he wants to do with us this semester is to make us the best writer we can be. That we're in this together, so 'let's be foolish together, let's start this adventure, let's make it worthwhile together... and let something magical happen in here!' Um.. ok. Waaaay different from the Malaysian professor. He even lets us determine our own projects, our own deadlines and such. Was too mind-boggling for me to understand till now, but I suppose I'll find out soon enough. The class is also called 'The Class We Don't Talk About', coz it's such a rule-breaking class. And the classroom itself, hidden in the bowels of the building, is called 'The Hole'. It's all very Harry Potterish, no? But I was inspired. Strange. I came out of it wanting to be the best darn writer out there. I guess that has always been my unspoken resolution every year. I wanna be able to give others a place to escape from the world, but also a place to relate to the world out there. I wanna milk this writing tool I have for what it's worth and use it as a lighthouse that people will be drawn to, a lighthouse that leads people to the true source of my whole being - me Abba Father. =) It doesn't have to be a spritual helpbook, or a christian storybook, etc; but it has to leave traces of the One who owns my very thought and my everything, of coz. Muz be unmistakeable ma. Hee. It reminded me of last Sunday, when we had an hour to kill in the mall before our movie started, and I found this book. I sat down on one of the benches and juz fell headfirst into the story. It was nothing spectacular or romantic or funny, but it was engaging, to say the least. Normally, I can't read for too long in a crowded bookstore, but this time, man I was so drawn into it I didn't even realize Firman standing next to me, telling me we should go. I wanna be that kinda writer oh. But this blog, on contrary to most beliefs, is not 'training'' for me to hone my skill, nor is it a 'testing ground' for my 'works and articles'. If all the writing courses and work requirements in the world has killed my joy for writing (which they did, at certain points of my academic life), I want this blog to be free of all that killjoy, coz I don't ever wanna lose my love for writing. Sunday, January 08, 2006 @ 12:58 PM
"Promise me that we'll have many more meals like this," I turned to see him looking at me, bowl of rice in his hands, stopped in motion. I couldn't speak; not coz of what he said, but coz I was trying too hard not to bawl my eyes out in public. I had to turn away; my eyes were brimming dangerously. "Of coz. Of coz we will," I managed a small smile. I wanted to hug you and never let go. Hold your hand and wipe your tears till you feel better. Make you laugh with my silly antics. Laugh with you. Cry with you. Get inside the wardrobe with you, and never step out of it. But I can't. We can't. Thursday, January 05, 2006 @ 10:24 AM
Unmistakeable I don't quite recall specific things before 2000, but I know for sure that starting the new millenium, there were just so many things in my life that reaffirms my belief that God is uber present in our lives. Just the way things happen, the blessings, the trials... and I just want my life to be blatantly obvious to everyone that I am His, and if I simply must state a new year's resolution, it'd be so that my life be an unmistakeable testimony for Christ. ______________________________________________________________ First cell group of the year last night at Mun Yip's house. I realize how old I was when almost half of the peeps there had never been to Mun Yip's house before; we used to have cell group meetings in his house a lot, till he left for Sunway College. It was also there Keong and I had our first cell group meeting together. =) Technically, we met each other for the first time in Jusco during cell night, but it was a cell outing. Then the next week was Mun Yip's house. Completely irrelevant information for everyone else but me and him. =p But me blog, me rules. Hee. It was a bittersweet feeling. But I'm really glad it turned out this way, and it was sorta Mun Yip's belated birthday dinner also so there were tons of really good food, made by his mom. Amazing. There was a short time of word, and the question was how we could apply God's word into our lives more in 2006. Sorta like, what's your resolution and all, only relate it to God's Word. I had to come up with some kinda resolution real quick just in case Sarah called my name. =P Coz frankly, I didn't have any; I don't really believe in having yearly resolutions. So I gabbled on about something I never really thought of till that very moment when I was picked. Bleh. I should've just went Jap like Keon did. =P At least I wouldn't bore people to slumber. Hehee. But much much later on, it got me thinking... and what I gabbled on were actually quite spot-on for what I want to do. I guess it's been on my mind a lot; I just never really sat down and written it on one of those cheesy My New Year Resolution Is... kinda customized papers. No ending to this post. Ciaoz. Monday, January 02, 2006 @ 6:41 PM
We were heading back to our own cars, in a hurry coz blocking his sis's car. I was almost at my car, 5-6 houses away from his when I heard I LOVE YOU! I turned around to see him hanging out of his car seat, waving at me. A huge grin burst outta me face, and... I LOVE YOU TOO! Heart melted adi, can? ;) |