Gary Leon Robert

Just returned from his house, tomorrow is the wake service and I really don't know how most of us are going to go through it.

Gary Leon Robert was missing since yesterday. He was last seen on the stretcher due to over exhaustion in the stadium being stretched to the medic camp . He fainted shortly after he ran the whole course 22km in the Adidas King of The Road 2009 at Stadium Shah Alam on Sunday,2nd August.

They found his body next to the dumpster at the stadium today.

Everyone remembers him as a nice and really friendly guy. I remember he was in my CG (cell group) in Techflow during his foundation year. Then there was the telematch where he hurt his knee badly, 2005. The gangster in 'I'll be home for Christmas', musical play 2005. Shinoda in '1941', musical play 2006. Techflow committee 2008/2009.

Looking at his smiling face I still can't believe he has left this world. He will always be in our hearts. May his soul rest in peace with our Lord.

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 ).