Wednesday, December 31, 2008

31-12-2008 (Wednesday) "A Photo Entry"

Pics from my trip back to Sibu and Sarikei for Kee San(cousin)'s wedding. These are more for those city boys and girls who never been to towns or kampungs. If you haven't seen many of these stuff... Well, you know what I'm talking about. :P

This old
ding bian hu(Foochow: tiam piang hoo) shop that my mom used to eat at when she was young. Still around though not as nice as it was(so my mom says...) as the sifu has let the apprentice take over.


Yes, it wasn't as nice as the last time I came but nevertheless, STILL NICE!

The stuff that grinds rice grains into the stuff that we eat. Super antique la.. So cool... The person there was adding grain in then it just keeps spinning and spinning, grinding and grinding... spinning... Dizzy...

I bet many haven't seent THIS before. A DURIAN TREE! A normal person's height is about the bottom of the roof of that small structure behind the tree. So you can see the size...


Pomelo tree!...

...And they're bearing fruits!! They're basically overgrown oranges that have nothing coloured orange la. Gotta taste it to love it!

Wall of my grandpa(mom's side)'s dining room. The whole place is wooden and on stilts. As kampung as one can get!

The view from beside the toilet, which is outside the kitchen. Those used to be hen coops and uh... A rabbit coop if i'm not mistaken.

Grandpa's dog...

... And cats. The spotted one's the mom. The meow-ing one just reminds me of a real life, slim Garfield. Heheh...

Slicing open the pomelo. This is a mini type of pomelo. The normal pomelo we see more often are like at least double this size. You can see that its no easy task. Heheh.. I love my grandpa's hair. So funky la, white colour... My dad's very close too. Just that his looks more highlighted-ish!

Kid selling fruits along the road on a hot, sunny day. They come really cheap as there're no middle man to reap profits. The kids just some secondary school kid, though.

Jambu air. The green ones taste better in my opinion... Forgot what they're called in English suddenly...

mi gan. mik gang. limau madu. honey tangarine. Never been back to sarawak WITHOUT eating these stuff. Rather different from sunkists cos they can be peeled a lot easier.

Heheh... Reminds me of someone back in Singapore. Heheh... Or should I say... Yekyekyekyekyek... Anyway... These clan stuff quite rampant across Sarawak la.

My cute son-of-my-cousin or in short, nephew. Doesn't like his pics taken but he didn't manage to get me to delete this so... YAY!

Kee San, his lovely wife and Kee San's family.

Panoramic view of Sibu from RH Hotel. I like this feature in the camera, though the camera sucks IMHO.

Heheh. What a proper sign to use for the toilets... "For xxtra smoothness, xxtra taste, make your way to the ladies' or the men's"...

This reminds me of sth earlier this month...

... For Real...

My son-of-my-cousin or nephew... The OLDER one. See what I mean when they don't want their pictures taken?

Glad to be home now thought. Rather tired. And the New Year awaits! 3 more hours! Set your priorities right by then, count your blessings... And remember what you've learnt! God bless and happy new year, ppl!!!

31-12-2008 (Wednesday) "I've A Story to Tell"

So I just got back from Sibu from this wedding for my cousin and I got one incident I wanna talk about.

There I was... Sitting down at the table in this restaurant for dinner(this was in Sarikei, by my grandma). Then, this stomachache suddenly came. Didn't seem a big thing so I just endured it for the whole meal.

Got back to grandma's place and it still didn't leave, dad got me to lie down on this bed in this room for a while. I insisted it wasn't that serious to be worthy of going to see the doctor at 9pm at his home. Thought that I'd sleep through it.

Got back to uncle's place(where we were overnighting) and I went straight to bed. This was after like two different types of traditional chinese medication I had taken to 'get rid of the "wind" in my belly' and the pain didn't subside. Tried to fall asleep.

By midnight, I concluded it wouldn't go away. The pulsating pain had become absolutely unbearable. Woke my parents up, they woke my aunt up, we went to the doctors. So this was what was running through my mind all that while...

A) All the shaking in the Avanza on the way from Miri had stirred up and mixed up all the food in my belly, causing a major upset after 'accidentally' spilling into my appendix. (Hypothesis rejected. Pain was on the left of belly as parents and aunt said.)

B) All the food in the car had led to a major alteration to the acidity of my stomach juice, rendering it OVER-acid, maybe like... pH -2.0 or sth? Then, the acid ate through my left belly as I lie on my left side on the bed, and all the pain I was experiencing was the acid eating through my big intestines.

C) I had eaten some nasty insect in the
kampua(another version of local 'kolok mee') at Tatau and this insect sacrificed itself in my belly, being digested while protecting its larvae, which was nurtured by all the food in my belly after it 'germinated'(sorry, I dunno what term to use...) and now it was eating through my belly after it has finished all the food in my belly. In the process, it made friends with the tapeworm in my intestines, having taught him how to chew, and they were both simultaneously chewing through my intestines AND my belly with great joy.

D) An undetected tumour in my belly had turned malignant due to the shaking in the Avanza and suddenly took an unforeseen turn from benign growth to fourth-stage cancerous tumour and an operation to remove half my belly would be necessary if I were to survive another year. I would have to feed myself nutritious liquid from a tube that would be grotesquely be inserted into my stomach from my mouth.


I bore the pain without shedding a tear, with each jerk in the car sending up an impulse of pain to my cerebrum. Lo and behold, we finally reached the doorstep of the doctor after a painstaking, torturous FIVE-MINUTE journey!

The doctor felt here and there *stares down blushing* and asked me some questions and he gave me the diagnosis. Sadly, I have managed to get myself in that one day...

... INTESTINAL CRAMPS!

What the heck, man? What happened to all those monster bugs in my belly and the crazy acidic stomach juice? I was half-expecting him to tell my parents and aunt that I'd have to be driven all the way to Sibu hospital for an emergency operation and even so, my fatality was still highly likely.

Anyway... I've had many instances where having these small symptoms have made me imagine several possibilities of me facing death. And I dunno why I actually half-hope to be diagnosed with some uncurable disease. What about you? I feel like hearing some stories from others. Tell them to me in person or through a comment please. I think I'm gonna be free this coming month and the first good thing I feel like doing is giving someone some beady stuff. I think I'll just make you your initials with your choice of colours. I'm even willing to send it by mail if you're not in Miri!

Come on, I feel in the mood to be entertained!

p.s. The cramps have left. Now, I dare say I understand females EVEN MORE in that one night!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

27-12-2008 (Saturday) "On the Topic of Birthdays Again"

The invasion of technology has made birthdays less meaningful and sincere in the sense that now we don't even do the remembering of others' birthdays but just count on Facebook or Birthday Alarm or your handphone to send that reminder to you that its so-and-so's birthday tomorrow.(Don't deny it now...) Okay, yeah, maybe there are those few REALLY gd friends (or partner... or someone you really look up to {worse still, someone you're sucking up to}) that you actually remember their birthdays but for the rest of those 'other ppl', we just send them greetings because Facebook says it on the right column. DOES take away the fun and that 'special feeling' you get knowing that others actually remember your birthday, right?

... Nevertheless, just receiving those nice, nice greetings just makes you all warm and fuzzy inside, rights? Even if its done out of courtesy. :)

p.s. I don't think I can EVER get sick of sunsets...

Friday, December 26, 2008

26-12-2008 (Thursday) "So I've Been Thinking..."

... Is it fair to treat someone extra nice on their birthday, showering them with gifts, smiles and nice, warm wishes... But treat them like our whacking pillow on other days? Where's the justice in that? Isn't it even MORE meaningful if you could make someone feel special every day instead of just tat one day in the year?

This is NOT directed at you, Jin Jin. Heheh... Just tat your birthday was kinda d closest...
Then again... There IS a word for that kinda treatment. Its called... Courtship.

Btw... Miri has some freakin' NICE sunsets... Check 'em out!






Wednesday, December 24, 2008

24-12-2008 (Wednesday) "So..."

... there was food and fun. But... That defeats the purpose. Its never JUST about all that. Sigh... If only time management was better. Hope that it managed to reach further than I think.........

There it goes for this year. May any seeds sown be nurtured and watered and germinate in this coming year...

... Merry Christmas, you...



Tis' so sweet to trust in Jesus

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

23-12-2008 (Tuesday) "2 Days"

Can you believe it...? We're TWO DAYS AWAY!!! I dunno why but I've NEVER been so excited about Christmas! Somehow, this year Christmas seems set to be one of the MOST meaningful ones ever! I dunno why but I just HAVE THAT feeling right now!

CHRISTMAS!!!! CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Have you figured out what its all about yet?

Sigh... So much love in the air... =P The only thing we lack now is snow... Hmmm... Hail wouldn't be too bad 2. The closest we WOULD ever get to snow, anyway. Sweet...

Build the excitement, people! Let the love flow and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tis' the season to be jolly
falalalalaaaaalalalalaa

Friday, December 19, 2008

19-12-2008 (Friday) " 'P.S. I Love You' This Christmas!!"


"AAAWWWWWW.....!!!"

The whole story was like that all the way! Like how Kimberley said, it made me all perky tonight while I finished it. The whole story was just so full of love and... It ended with a Christmas setting, making it ALL THE MORE APPROPRIATE a read this Christmas season. So, for those of you book-lovers and non-bookworms alike... Read "P.S. I Love You" right now! Like the very moment you're reading this!(I'm assuming you're not reading this like on January the 5th or sth, of course...

Such a heartwarmer... Brilliant, Cecelia Ahern. Merry Christmas, all!

... P.S. Feel so full of love right now... AAAwWWWwWWw....

P.P.S. Enjoying a bowl of hot, spicy Maggi noodles with egg right now. Miss it, actually...

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

17-12-08 (Wednesday) "Washing"

Was washing the car just now when I learnt an interesting lesson.

For those of you who've washed a car or anyth in general, even dishes, the floor and shoes... You know how, when you wash sth and you miss a spot, that one small spot stands out so conspicuously amidst the cleanliness...?

I thought this was rather true in our spiritual walk as well. :) When we try to become more like Jesus, we try to wash ourselves clean from committing more sins. But ineveitably(we being the sinful humans that we are...), we end up having some sins left behind that are conspicuous in our otherwise clean lifestyle. Its those spots (sins) that others see super-clearly and not the whole, rather-clean body. So... I guess we should REALLY aim to wash away EVERYTH and not MISS any spots in us, yeah?

Accidentally read the passage for Jan 17 this morning during QT and I found it quite inspiring...
"In Christ there is no East or West,
In Him no South or North,
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth."
~ Oxenham
This is why we should all NEVER EVER form cliques among our body in Christ and to love EVERYONE equally.

p.s Just started reading P.S. I Love You that I found lying in the bookshelf in my room. Gotta say, its a very heart-warming story...


"What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus."


~"Nothing But The Blood",
Robert Lowry and Howard Doane

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

16-12-08 (Tuesday) "Mark 5"

I think this is quite an interesting chapter.

In the same chapter, Jesus asked one person to spread the good news of what He had done for him(The man possessed by Legion) and another group of people (Jairus and witnesses to his daughter's resurrection) to be quiet about what He had done. Maybe it was due to their society? One being Gentile and the other Jewish?

Anyway, themanpossessedbyLegion(henceforth called Legionised) wanted to follow Jesus and be like one of His twelve disciples but Jesus asked him to stay in his city to spread the good news. This relates to our modern world in the sense that we all have a part to play in wherever we're put to be doing sth for the sake of God's kingdom. Jesus doesn't call EVERYONE to follow Him by going all over the world to spread the gospel but many a times He calls us to just preach the Good News to the people in our place! Everywhere you are is a mission field, right?


"Only when the last tree
has died and the
last river polluted
and the last fish caught
will we realise
we can't eat money"
~ Found on a mug Ms Cheng Lian Hiok bought me

Sunday, December 14, 2008

14-12-08 (Sunday) "Gen-Y"

Sometimes I think that we, Generation Y, actually have it worse off than those ppl in the past despite all that's been said about us being being born in the most fortunate era.

We have so much goods around us that we get spoilt for choice, sucking us into the greedy, selfish world of consumerism.

We have so many forms of entertainment that we over-indulge ourselves in them and end up having to find some OTHER sources of entertainment from OVER-entertainment.

We are so connected through internet, IMs, emails and totally abandon snail mail as well as sacrificing REAL interaction with friends for chatting sessions online, leading to our need for human touch to be starved, leading to poor EQ.

We are exposed to so much lousy content on the media that bad things become common and good things go rare.

We need as much love as our parents need but we have to endure so many broken relationships in families and between friends, once again, no thanks to the media.

But on the bright side, I come to realize that maybe all these are actually blessings in disguise!

The lure of materialism makes us realize easier (if we bother to actually think about it) how greed can NEVER be satisfied, that once we get sucked into that world, we'll CONSTANTLY be looking out for the next best thing. Notice the word 'NEXT' in the previous phrase. That just means there will always, ALWAYS be sth that's better coming up.
"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." ~ 1 John 2:17

The distractions around us act as 'tests' to measure our ability to withstand temptation. That just means that we're actually capable of resisting even more than our predecessors...?
"... He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." ~ 1 Cor 10:13

Our limited human contact becomes all the more valuable and memorable because we have so few of it and therefore we do NOT take it for granted then, right?

In the midst of all the bad stuff happening and being promoted, it just accentuates the presence of good. When someone actually does sth good, it gives a shocking jolt to see goodness in humanity, which gives good even MORE power, right?

All those broken relationships around us just go to prove how imperfect our human love is and consequently points us to the perfect love of God above. God's love becomes even more real in the midst of all the unkempt relationships we observe/experience.

*sigh...* Love love... Love is such a nice feeling.

When God's love abounds within us, everyone just seems so much more lovable. *sigh...*

Youth convention is over. No more camps for this year.(I think.)

People are just so nice to get to know!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

10-12-08 (Wednesday) "Please, God... Your kingdom come here as well...!"

Went to explore Kuching together with the youth today, led by my cute n sweet aunt (Mom's sis). I couldn't help but think of how much God has changed the youth of CMC and wondered whether its possible with the youth of GMC. Can You please, God?

Anyway... First thing I noticed was how 'Cina-fied' they all are now. Basically all of them speak Mandarin between them now. Kinda weird how we're this English-speaking congregation, everyth's done in Eng yet they're speaking Mandarin.

Asked Larry whether he IS a Christian and why he is. Don't think he could answer it. Came a bit too suddenly and considering he's only 13, maybe he has YET to properly think about it yet but... I really look forward to a day when they all can firmly explain why they believe in God and that they really truly love God with all they have. Please, God. Please... If its possible in CMC, it is possible here by Your hand as well, Lord!

I also pray that they do NOT get too caught up in this world, to get the most up-to-date handphone, to buy the best brands of clothings... Won't be easy with all the peer pressure they face but... God, You can do it. I wish I could let them learn what I had to learn the hard way WITHOUT them going through it all. But... God, You have Your way in them.

Tomorrow's the big day! Youth Convention '08 is starting! I sure hope God moves mightily in the lives of the youths this time round, ESPECIALLY in the young ones. I hope another blackout happens like last time again so that they really experience what true worship DOES not necessitate. I hope God speaks so strongly that lives are changed through this camp. And most of all... I hope God starts using the youth of Sarawak for the expansion of HIS kingdom!

You are my world
You are my God
And I lay down my life for You
You are my Lord
The One I love
No one could ever take Your place
~ "You Are My World"
Hillsong

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

09-12-08 (Tuesday) "Mark 12"

Got inspired from an entry from Sam Koh's blog. One on 1 Peter 1:8.

Anyway... I suddenly got curious about the Youth Camp theme verse again and looked into the whole chapter of Mark 12 to see whether I got anyth more out of it. Mark 12 was all about the 'religious leaders' trying to trap Jesus with their questions. It suddenly struck me how in the midst of all this trapping and testing that Jesus managed to keep His calm and 'give them a good answer' all the time.

What would YOU do when a person, B, comes along asking you sth like... "Hey, I just saw X crying over there? You know what happened?" And you both know that you were the one who made X cry and that you and B never really got along well and that B always pounces at any opportunity to make you feel bad. Our first thought would be that of contempt and 'pissed-off'ness, isn't it?

But Jesus... NO... Not Jesus... He answers them firmly and politely... AND... He can still be asking them to LOVE...!! I mean... How easy is it to ask others to love when they're all out to provoke you and make you err in what you say? How much love is there, you tell me?

Then... I realized how nice God is as a Father who teaches and instructs us. He simplifies all the laws and sums them up in 2 simple lines. We no longer to run through all the "you shall nor murder", "you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God" to know whether we're obeying God. We just hafta think, "Does this action of mine show love for God and for others?" and as long as your logical mind is working well, then you're on the right track! God's so nice to us, isn't He?

Then came the part where the teacher said in verse 33 "To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbours as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."... It struck me that services and our words really DO mean NOTHING if all of it comes out WITHOUT love for God and ppl. I say this is NOT easy cos' we can get so absorbed into doing stuff that we forget the LOVE part of it.

Love is... Really MORE than just a feeling. It involves action. To love is to act it out. That is why we know someone loves us even when they don't say it (especially fathers/parents) and we wonder why someone says they love us when they don't ACT that way.


Freely You gave it for us
Surrendered Your life upon that cross
Great is the love
Poured out for all
This is our God
~
"This Is Our God"
Hillsong

Monday, December 08, 2008

08-12-08 (Monday) "Farewell Singapore"

This being my 200th post, I wanted to like do that thing I did last time... Give out awards thing... Then I realized that it wouldn't be that significant after a while. So I thought... 'Hmmm... If I HAVE shown it before this, then I need not use those few words here to make them feel good and loved!' So... I think I'll share some stuff that I learnt today.

You reap what you sow. Love and let multiply. Only when you're willing to sacrifice for someone/someth will you see them/it grow. I've managed to really pour my love out on CMC Youth Ministry and I'm glad to have seen some change in certain people.

Never ever have the 'someone-else-will-do-it' attitude. If you have the ability to do it, DO it! God put you there at THAT time at THAT place to DO exactly it! If everyone were to have that attitude, then... 9/11 and the Bali bombings wouldn't have happened. Wait... Wrong example... I meant... then all the small rubbish by the road would end up becoming rubbish piles instead!

Treasure ppl ard. "You never know what you have until you lose it". Learn as much as you can from those who deserve to be respected. Many times our sadness over someone's departure is due to the fact that we "didn't get to know the person better" or "didn't spend more time with the person". Well, Maybe its abt time we can smile when a person leaves and say that "I'm glad I got to know him/her and spent so much time with him/her".

Dare to hug. A hug can pour out more love than anyth else at times. A hug does what words cannot do many a times. Therefore, go forth and hug-ify!

Anyway... Sleepy now... Loves, ppl! In everyth, LOVE!!!