ER09

Tonight's the big night! The Easter Rally 2009 officially starts tonight and goes on for 3 days with conferences and a concert tomorrow night. This year for the first time, they're holding a catholic kids conference as well. Saw the kids rehearse some dance moves last night, totally adorable.

Feels a little out of place initially serving in the hospitality ministry with a group of secondary school kids. However, it's nice to see them filled with enthusiasm. Teenagers are so carefree and hyped up. While looking at the girls skip yesterday, I couldn't help but reminisce my teenage years and think how much I've changed/grown in the past few years. Suddenly I long for that zest to really go all the way for God.

This may sound weird, but being back in ER is like falling in love with Jesus all over again - the joy that fills the place, the focus on Him, the praising, the sharing, the recommitment one makes... it may be something I've forgotten in the past years.

Phuket

Our trip to Phuket was indeed an enjoyable one (though not quite as relaxing as the one we had at Redang). Sort of a graduation trip we planned months ago before everyone goes their separate ways.



The first night on the island was pretty much a cultural shock to me as we walked along Bangla street where pubs and clubs filled the entire street - local ladies (and some who looked like them) and foreigners were everywhere. Some local ladies wrapped up in the arms of men while others were advertising themselves for business. Uneasy.

We managed to get a few rooms for the 15 of us in Erawan Guesthouse which cost us less than RM80 for 4 nights. Cheap huh. Nothing fancy but the place was really clean. Oh yeah, Phuket has really clean public toilets!




We kinda got conned into a RM150 per pax island hopping package on the way out of the airport and probably wasted RM20 each. Lesson learnt- don't get anything from the airport except for rides to the hotel. Nevertheless, we had a great view of the islands (5 I think) and some snorkelling (and severe sunburnt, of course). Oh, not forgetting the seasick some of us had during the very bumpy 1 hour plus ride on the speed boat. As for myself, I didn't feel nausea at all but I learnt another lesson: NEVER to go to the toilet in a speedboat!

The food was great. Loved the duck noodle and tom yam soups. We bought this pancake filled with cheese and egg at one of the beaches.




Looks just like Malaysia's roti canai, doesn't it?

One of the other thing I really enjoyed was that there were lots of dogs on the streets and most of them had collars around their necks. The cutest dogs are seen in shops where they keep their shopkeeper owner company.



This cute fella was begging by the road! (See the container on the left?)

That Backstroke

I still can't believe it.

This is my last week in the university!! Well, officially, at least. After this week it's gonna be presentations and finalizing my thesis.

Sigh,
5 years sounded like a really looong time before I came into uni,
then years passed by one by one,
now I feel like 5 years just happened in a blink of an eye!

Anyway, enough of emo-ing. Je ne veux pas travailler (I don't want to work), but I have to. Life goes on. Time to support myself and my family now.

What am I feeling now?

I feel like I'm doing the backstroke (I never had confidence in this, still don't).

Everytime I tilt my chin downwards to peek which direction I've steered myself towards, I see myself moving to the left or right, seldom on the straight path. Then as I feel myself nearing the other end, I have that fear of knocking my head on the wall.

That scares me a little- just make how leaving uni feels like. Though I know my goal, where I'm heading - that's to the end of the pool/ to get a good job, the journey is still so unsure. I'm swimming in unfamiliar ground, not knowing which direction I am or I should be steering towards.

But nevertheless I know that to get to the other end, I just have to keep my gaze up, focus on Him and have faith.

Earth Hour 2009

Supported Earth Hour 2009 last saturday (8.30 - 9.30pm) by switching off all the electrical appliances in the apartment. My university even participated in this event by switching off the non-essesntial lights e.g. the corridor lights in the apartments. Cool.

We lighted candles and decided to play cards to pass time. We had so much fun that we decided to extend another 15 minutes. Hehe... It ain't so bad/torturing after all without the lights and fan.

Anyway, I believe this campaign is able to create awareness. My housemates and I now make the extra effort to switch of the unused lights (which we never quite bothered cause the electricity/water bills are covered in our accomodation fees.. *whoops* :P ).

Marley & Me

Here's one FANTASTIC doggy movie that will bring laughter and tears to you!

In the movie, John (Owen Wilson) surprises Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston) by adopting a adorable young yellow Labrador, which later was named after Bob Marley.

Even though Marley was known as 'the world's worst dog', or rather I should say because he was known as the worst dog, each stunts that he pulled were seriously crazy man... Everything that he came across was either ripped, chewed, swallowed or destroyed. I laughed a lot in the first 3 quarter of the movie.

The story goes on as the family moves, the couple has children blah blah... I thought it was also a good movie in the sense that the couple as popular as they were, their role did not outshine Marley's, who undoubtedly was the main star of the movie.

The movie reminds us how much our dogs are able to love us so unconditionally and no matter how naughty they are, we can't bring ourselves to stay mad with them for too long. And it is no secret that dogs can read our emotion. Like in a scene in the movie when Jennifer was sad, Marley just lies on her lap quietly (contradicting to his usual behavior).

My ratings: 9/10

Sigh, after watching this I miss my Fiffy even more!

Graduation Retreat

The long planned retreat for students graduating this semester finally arrived after much postponing on the14th & 15th March. But hey! We're all so glad it happened. This has been my most relaxing retreat/camp ever, since Joshua Johnson (JJ) planned almost everything plus the schedule was flexible.

Upon arriving at the PD Methodist Center, we had an ice-breaker session. But we already know each other you say! That's what we all thought. But as each person threw those fluffy dice on the plank and answered questions like 'What was your most xxx moments in uni?' we learnt so much more about our friends. Prem got the question 'What have you done in uni that you've never done before you came uni?' and when he replied 'Programming!' we burst into laughter at the IT soon-to-be-graduate.

What was the retreat all about? One of the session was called Closure of our uni life where JJ had us write down how we feel and things we want to do before we leaving - having the end in mind for a good beginning. We had JD over to share his work experience later that afternoon.

In the next session, he had us list down things/people to let go and to say goodbye to and things to look forward to in the life after campus. Also, he had us reminisce our experience for the past 5 years and drew a happy/sad moments versus time graph etc.

On the same day, we walked up to Teluk Kemang to see raptures (it was the rapture migration season) but unfortunately saw no sign of any. Nevertheless, we had a good walk up there while eating pisang goreng and leko-leko. Hehe.. Some people attempted to walk backwards downhill (above: bottom left photo). Ooo... then after our session at night, after playing taboo the old style, Adelynn introduced us to playing charade with the taboo cards. And we ended laughing like mad into the wee hours of the morning! (Check out the bottom right photo above) I think that's Aggy trying to act out 'caterpillar'.

Here we were jumping for joy for our university experience that has partly molded into who we are, yet it feels sad to close this chapter of my life...

The Kite Runner

For a few days I curled up with this book by Khaled Hosseini till the early hours of the morning. A book definitely worth reading- vivid, engaging and touching, leaving a lasting impression.

The novel explores many themes: family loyalty, the inhumanity of a rigid class system, the horrific realities of war, and the power of love and redemption.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy, Amir, and the son of his father's servant, Hassan, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in Afghanistan. Both children grew up like brothers roaming the streets of Kabul even though they couldn't be more different.

Twice in his lifetime Amir is morally tested in his relationship with Hassan. Even as Amir chooses the path of least resistance, the scar of betrayal cuts through his soul and never heals. This novel spans Afghani history from the peaceful 70's to the repressive rule of the Taliban in the late '90s.

The Kite Runner has been banned by the Afghan government because the ethnic tensions that the story highlights. It has faced challenges and bans in the United States as well.

A movie was made based on this book in 2007.