Returning back to studies

The one week had been a relaxing and cooling one but all good things have to come to an end. At least until I get my 4 months break later..haha. I think I had accomplished on what I wanted to do on all aspects except for my academic part. One thing for sure is that I maximised the Internet speed at the southern island to the max, making sure that my lappie and the programs in there are updated fully. I slept early on Saturday, for fear that I may not wake up early on Sunday. Anyways, I managed to wake up early at 5am and proceeded on in packing up all the neccessary stuff.

I met up with Justin and Ang Mo Kio MRT around 8.30am or so. I just had lunch with him on Friday at Botak Jones because he stays a few km away from my house..lol. We went across the causeway without much jam and met up with Reuben. We then proceeded to King's house to fetch him. By then, we had difficulty trying to figure out how we can fit 5 people in plus all the heavy luggage. It wasn't easy but in the end we manage to carry the whole bunch of load and of course, I try not to move beyond 110km/h to ensure that the car doesn't fall apart with the extremely heavy load. It was quite filled with 4 of us by the time we entered Kluang to get Emily. Since we had time, we went on a short detour of Kluang town and yea, this is my first time there at the town itself because my high school, SJI had a camp there when I was in Secondary 2 at its outskirts. We went to Kluang Mall first to have a look around and to search for food to eat. However, we couldn't find anything satisfactory to makan, so we waited for Daniel to come and then we went to this Western restaurant by the name of Barney's. The only strange thing about the restaurant is that its signboard should have been purple..lol.

After having our makan there, we returned back to Kluang Mall to get our car. Lol, everytime we go and out of the car, we needed 5 minutes to arrange ourselves and the load. We continued our way up north and surprisingly, there ain't any jam along the way. We stopped by at the overhead bridge restaurant at Ayer Keroh to rest our butts and check out the Al-Ikhsan store there. Dinner was at Pork Burger place and since it's festive season, they jack up the price to RM18.80. However, they include extra stuff in the set like sparkling wine, soup and ice cream on the pudding dessert. The sparkling wine has alcohol inside..haha, it is to be differentiated from sparkling 'juice'.

We reached back at campus at around 9pm plus and then we had a bath and pack our stuffs before coming down to Blk N to eat Emily's pamelo and other snacks..lol. We spent the rest of the night playing tai di and poker, just to end off our CNY holidays in one big bang of entertainment..haha. Oh well, time to get back to mundane studying. Exam countdown shows a timing of less than two months left :(

Footie Jerseys

It hasn't rain on the southern island for about a week already. Pretty strange I would say, because apart from a few drops of drizzles, the weather remains rainless despite the grey clouds gathering. I met up with TG yesterday for lunch and we went to this restaurant at Cathay Mall called Aston and they sell good Western food at a rather good price. According to him, people queue up to get inside because of the good pricing. A sirloin steak there is abt S$11.90 and it comes with 2 side dishes which fills up the stomach well. Top it up with a drink at S$1.50, it's a good western meal at just S$13.80 counting service charge. Well, that's one place I would consider coming again..haha.

It was also just in time for me to go hunt for football jerseys following my newly acquired loot from my ang paos. The jerseys in Malaysia are costly, they are selling at Rm229 or so for it. Of all places, it is strange that the southern island has places that sell jersey at a cheaper price even after the hefty conversion rate. My usual hunting place is Weston at Queensway but apparently they do have a branch at Peninsula Plaza, so i guess I need not go so far. I have 2 jerseys in mind to get, 1 being the current United jersey and the other being the World Cup 2010 German jersey. Haha..u usually choose to buy United jerseys at the second half of the season since they are usually sold at a cheaper rate at that time. It was advertised as S$89 on the Weston website but I got a pleasant surprise when I was told by the shopkeeper that it is going at S$80. This is also the same for the German jersey. Woahhh, that would translate to about Rm184 per shirt, a far cry from the Rm229 that is sold at al-Ikhsan or the official Malaysian Adidas/Nike stall. TG got a better deal I think, he bought his Liverpool jersey for S$60..lol.

The next thing to do was to check out on the number printing. This time round I decided to get a Rooney printing. Weston's website listed it as S$48, but I found out from the forums that La Vanita in Peninsula Plaza may do it at a cheaper rate. I inquired at the shop an indeed, it is cheaper but still costly at S$40. The sleeve badges printing remain the same at S$20 per pair. Since I didn't want to blow too much at a go, I decided to do my sleeve badges first. Perhaps when I head over to the UK later this year, I may get it a cheaper price in British pounds, right at the doorstep of Old Trafford..lol. I wanna get a Podolski printing for the German jersey and found out that it's the same at S$40 at both shops. Hmmmm..I did not go for it too because I need to be doubly sure that he's ain't going to be injured, gonna be selected for the final squad and that he will wear that same no. 10 as advertised. To be safe, I'll get it done perhaps at around May or so. Hmmm..the hols are ending soon. I gotta speed up on my productivity to get my things completed and done.

JB and Danga Bay

I woke up early today to prepare myself to head off to Reuben's turf at JB. Unfortunately, I got stuck at the causeway as a result of the massive influx of Singaporeans heading out of the country for their precious 2 day holiday period. I got stuck for quite a while in the bus before meeting Reuben and Kylie at City Square. We wanted to eat Korean BBQ Steamboat buffet at Seoul Garden at first, but when we heard that they jacked up the price to RM47, we went to look for alternatives. It's not that easy to find alternatives considering a majority of the shops are all closed too with the exception of several Japanese stalls or Western shops. Finally, we settled with the choice of McD coz it's the cheapest lot of them to get our stomachs really filled especially with the free refills. That's really an unglam, but filling stomachs at the cheapest price wins!

After eating, we went to the cinema to watch Percy Jackson. It's quite a cliched teen flick but it still keeps me entertained for almost 2hrs. We went round after the movie to check out some Adidas apparels at a sports shop before taking a car ride to Danga Bay to have a look on the stuff that they have there. It's my first time there and I find the place rather interesting. Apparently Singapore island is just some swimming distance away. That's one way to enter provided you don't get caught by the coastal guards..haha. There's a marina dock there, with a funfair park and a single storey mall. We spent some time attempting "rock climbing" at some rock decorations in the park and observing kids playing at the funfair..haha. We spent about an hour perusing through the whole area before heading back to the car. I went back to City Square to have dinner with mama at Sushi King before entering the southern island. The journey back was less congested and in fact, it was way faster than my morning trip. I guess the Singaporeans are still outside partying and will only be back tomorrow since even the MRT itself is deserted. Oh well, time to take a good rest after a good day out!

Gong Xi V Day

Everything went on plan last Friday and the journey was rather smooth sailing with little jams on the way except on the part when we leaving Seremban after pork burger..haha. I'm more used to driving long distances now, so it wasn't that excruciating as the first time when I drove down. I'm quite surprise on how fast I reached JB, considering that I take due care to control my speed not to exceed 110km/h due to the presence of our beloved Malaysian police during Ops Sikap. Lol, apparently, they now have cameras that can detect cars even from 1km away!

It felt good to be sleeping at my old bed instead of the one in the campus hostel which pokes my spine every night..haha. My trusty old desktop seems to be working fine despite being the last time being switched on during August last year. Everything is intact as it was since the last time I left. Mama went to the supermarket to do some last minute CNY groceries shopping and it' set to open till 2am. I was half asleep while navigating through the supermarket racks. Anyways, reunion dinner this time is at one of my uncle's place in Sembawang, a change from going along with the crowd back to the north. Of course, I manage to get my fair share of ang paos from the visitors too :)

This time's CNY is a lil interesting coz it falls on Valentine's Day too, so all the shops are taking advantage to sell both type of stuffs at the same time. Sounds like double celebration for the couples! Mousehunt at Facebook also have a special combined event at the Heart of the Tiger. Other than Sunday service, today was spent mostly lazing around in the house. Mhmmm...looking forward for tomorrow to hang out with Reuben and Kylie at JB! xD

Red holiday soon

The Chinese New Year holidays are coming soon and it'll be a whole good long week of holidays. It seems that I'm able to go across the southern island afterall with the new passport in my hands..haha. Oh man, I've never expected myself feeling glad to go back there but it's being quite some time from August last year since I stepped into there. I guess it's a good time to make full use of the Internet speed there during my one week there and to catch up old times again with TG and Sandeep. Quite a number of my JC mates and SJI mates have ORD from their national service, as I have observed from my Facebook. Oh yea, not to forget, I also need to get myself cooking some superb pasta for my lunch hours during that week..haha. That's really something I miss doing =p

My university application is progressing slowly. I had a rough idea on where to apply for, with probably Leeds as first choice and Liverpool (ironically) as a second choice. Liverpool looks attractive though with the full scholarship award there and I would certainly be thrown into a dilemma if I did manage to get it since it's awarded only to one student from all three semesters intake going in this year. That scholarship will definitely relief some financial burdens. Well, I'm to leave it to the wait and see approach.

The time wheel currently spins at close to half of my last semester at Inti. I guess so far so good. There has been some challenges here and there which require me to get out of my usual comfort zone and I think I'm handling it well so far. There's always a learning point in everything that I'm placed in. It was a relief especially to see the magazine finally being sent for printing. Now it's just the waiting process. Hmmm..out of a sudden for this morning, I felt rather 'jobless' eventhough I had a few stuff lined up to do. It's like feeling restless out of nowhere..haha. Anyways, I had a mini drama watching marathon from the evening till now in finishing up Lost Season 5 coz the developments in there were just too exciting for me to miss it. I think the time travel concept in there was nicely placed and I think Season 5 basically provides quite a number of answers that are being asked in hte past 4 seasons. I'm definitely looking forward for the finale season 6!

Ahhhhhh..I'm waiting anticipatingly for Friday to come too! Hopefully it won't be too jam packed for a drive back down south. :)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

I can't stay silent. I've had enough. I'm sick and tired of seeing people who call themselves Christians but they do not give the proper reverence or respect to God at all. They come as they like and they find God only when they are in trouble. They are indecisive when they come their beliefs and refuse to stampmark the cross in their life. How many of them are genuinely convicted in their hearts to shamelessly proclaim that they are Christians? How many of them have the courage to take up the banner of servanthood, to serve others selflessly and not to keep going back about thinking to make their own flesh comfortable? How many of them can put down the great pride that is found in "I"?

They call themselves Christians but they do not live up to their title. Some of them are still spiritual babies, refusing to grow up and expect themselves to be spoonfed and nannied all the time. They rather keep their hands clean, refusing to get down dirty when it matters most and they remain passive and unmoved when the Lord calls them to step up. They remain shy away, preferring to keep the candle and the light that God has provided under the bed, away from the eyes of the others. They prefer to be Sunday church goers but any other day is regarded to be too cumbersome to think about God. They love to stay stagnant in one area, refusing to move out of their comfort zones.

It boils down to attitude check. It's commitment and discipline. These two words seem to be mountains for some people who can say that they are Christians. It's not that you have to throw away everything and forget about them once you embark on the road with Christ. Instead, Christ asks us to seek Him first, and everything else, be it studies, finance or relationships will be provided by Him. They come automatically - Getting your life right with God ensures everything else falls into place. Seriously, the university/college time is the time when you make it or break it with your Christian life. The sad thing is that most Christians usually backslide during their university life. If you can't find time for God during your university life, you'll never find time for God when you're working. Stress, exams, tests and assignments are all part and parcel of university life and you can never take them out of the equation. It's not a good excuse. Everyone of us face the same equation eventhough they come in different forms. It's up to each individual of us to make time and find time for God. How persistent are you in searching time for God? I can't understand how some people can find time to play, lepak, shopping and do other things but they can't dedicate and invest their time for God. It's not about being religious. It's honouring the relationship that you have with God. If you say that you love the Lord, show it like you mean it. This honouring of relationship will also be reflected on how you honour your relationship with your spouses and family members in the future too.

Then there are the worst kinds. Those that take a dagger to stab the back of their fellow brothers/sisters or slit their throats with the most insidious of all character assassinations. Whatever bitterness that they have, they pile onto the others, as if everyone else is responsible for the misery that they are feeling. Come on! Everyone else has problems too, do not use your fellow brothers/sisters as the scapegoat or pillow to justify your misery or the problems that you have in your life. Instead, get yourself in line and set your hearts right before the Lord. Have an attitude check. Get that malicious spirit of spitefulness out of the way so that you can be a blessing to your fellow brothers/sisters instead of being a bane to them. The problem with some is that they are so preoccupied in finding faults with their fellow brothers/sisters that they are burning the bridges instead of building them. So preoccupied are they in complaining that they lost focus in their relationship with Christ.

Wake up! Wake up from your slumber of laziness, indecisiveness and spitefulness! Wake up! As Proverbs 1:7 sums it nicely "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" Fear in this verse is not the negative sense of being terrified but knowing your place and have a firm respect for who God is. There must be a realisation of humbleness before learning can take place. Disrespecting the leadership, institutions and authorities that God has placed over in our lives is similar to disrespecting Him. Never ever take God's grace for granted. Your priorities in life and how you respond to God's call shows how much of reverence you have for Him. You cannot say you respect God when you don't give two hoots about the commitments that you have promised Him. Having that "tidak apa" attitude makes you no difference from the average guy on the street who has no knowledge of the Lord. Again, for those that call themselves Christians, how central is God in the foundation of your life? Please don't pick up the cross if you're not ready to commit yourself into a relationship with God and have the discipline to maintain your commitments to Him.

I anticipate plenty of flames coming along my way after this post but I can no longer keep quiet about it. Please wake up and have a backbone for what you believe in. For me, I choose to stand my ground right now on this very rock of Christ.

Gooners Blown Away

Rooney is delighted to put one into the Gooner's net

It was a good week for Wayne at the last week of January where he blew Hull into bits with his four goals. The Manchester derby turns out to be victorious in the end and Wayne was at the center of it again to round up his excellent form. Now, all eyes are on last weekend's match where the Gooners took on United at the Emirates. The Gooners are in for a hell ride in their fixture list as they are facing United, Chelsea and Liverpool consecutively. They may be flying high for the past few matches but these 3 matches could ultimately determine whether they make or break the season. It would definitely test the young guns in the team and exhaust them to the max.

The Gooners started off with some good attempts where Arshavin nearly put the home side up. It turns out that United were the ones who drew first blood when Nani dashed down the right, skipped past a few defenders and chip the ball into the net. It looked to be going wide but Almunia's itchy hands were there to divert the ball into goal, to the dismay of the Emirates crowd. 4 minutes later, Rooney went into the box and following a pass to him, he smashed the ball in without stopping it using his first touch. 2-0 up and the Gooners looked like they are going down the drain. United made sure that they kill the game beyond doubt when Park was at the receiving end of a brilliant counter-attacking move to go one on one with Almunia. It was a cool finishing by him and what a way to dominate the game than to use the Gooner's very own counter-attacking tactics. The Gooners had a consolation goal later on but by the end of the final whistle, they knew that they had lost the 1st of the 3 daunting task. It ain't getting easier with the trip to Stamford Bridge next week. United fans would hope for a draw between both of them to ensure that they drop some points.

It's great to see Rooney at probably his best form in his career. He's stepping up to the big shoes that he's supposed to fill and he's doing quite well. The only danger that United may slip is that they may overdepend on that one person just like how Liverpool would have depended on Torres. The transfer window has closed and looks like it's another quiet window for Man Utd, probably due to the fact that the club's debt by the Glazer family ain't looking too good. In any case, the squad looks equipped to deal with the Gooner's greenhorn legs and Fergie looks satisfied at the moment.

Sunday Driver

Yesterday was one of those days where there is nonstop driving. As I was involved in the worship team, I gotta wake up win the wee hours in the morning to get to church early. We didn't get to practice much on Saturday since we don't have the electric guitarist. There was some electricity blackout issues early in the morning at church too and we only had 15 minutes to run through the songs. Thank God that everything went well because the whole worship team really knew our parts well eventhough we didn't practice that much..haha. It was also annointing Sunday and when the visiting pastor was praying for me, he said that he saw a vision of a camp with pegs entrenched inside the soil. The pegs represented the convictions that I have in my belief and he urged me to hold steadfast to my beliefs and never to compromise them for anything. Personally, I felt that the imagery of the camp is kinda significant in that it reminds me of the nomadic lifestyle that I'm leading - neither hear nor there with no permanent place to stay put. I truly long for the day when I can call a piece of a land my own, to be te king of a castle.

After church, I didn't have time to breath and had to head straight to the publisher in Seremban for the final amendment and printing confirmation. Then I rushed back to pick up a bunch of juniors for Mr. Aru's party in his house at Rantau. The road leading to his house is rather interesting because it's quite ulu. But in any case, I was looking forward to go to his house since it has been a tradition every year for his law students to visit his house for a makan gathering. No student can from the Inti school of law can graduate without knowing who K. Arumugam is..haha. His name resounds through both seniors and juniors like a thunderous wave. Seriously, your life as a law student won't be complete without him teaching you for at least one subject.

Mr. Aru's house is huge and he has his own orchard, carpark and a garden. We had BBQ and had a short tour around the house. He's quite musically inclined too with all the musical instruments in his house. Lol..I tried the drums while Patrick tried the guitar. We stayed until about 10.15pm and then we departed. Woah, his housing area is really pitch dark outside and yea, we had to navigate through carefully using the high lights to the main road. Hmm..I wanted to take the highway back to Nilai, thinking that it was faster. In the end, we ended up going through a huge jam but we managed to reach back in the time for the big match at the Emirates..haha.