Closure

The general atmosphere for the last two days of presentation for our class was of a relaxed, resigned, rejuvenated, and to some extend, rejoice. The long toil for 2nd semester has finally come to an end. 


Well, kind off. History test on the following Tuesday and it will be nearly 4 long months of summer break.


Going out with the Malaysian students in my class for dinner last night made me realised that I will be abandoned by them when they all fly home for the end of the year. Which means should something happen, they can easily narrow down to the only Asian in town.*


Right, like that ever happens.*


Four months. What can happen in 4 long, hot summer months? The subgroup of the dinner group (huge group of 10+ pax) agreed that the whole year past too fast, and the shock of going into 3rd year next year. Even the recent (Malaysian student) arrivals thought that this semester just blinked by. Two hundred and fifty three blinks roughly to be exact.


Hmm...


By the way, my dear Ben Luffy,  I am a closet geek, speaking only to suit the occasion.

*Cultural Joke: Even Asians will suspect Asians first should 'something' happen. Later proven to be an untrue stereotype as one Australian mentioned that they too, can be randomly accused by bozo(s) after a few drinks... 

Hole

Whenever I try to explain myself,
And it does not sound right,

My secondary school friends will laugh,
My sister will roll her eyes and frown,
Walt will hand me a shovel,
Pat will animate and subtly go,


Chug,



Chug



Chug


Lately I have been given an upgrade.
A 16 year old girl offered a better solution,
The services of an excavator,

Should help me dig my own grave. Faster.

Pwnd?

Hazardous Combination

Father's Day, Pastor, Pride and Prejudice, Bicycle Seat. That is.

A few weeks ago in one of the Uni's Christian Group meeting, we had a fervent discussion about watching classic movies. The Pastor's wife (of this Christian Group) gladly recommended that we watch Pride and Prejudice (not the 5-hour 6 episodes version, although she has it) to the silent protest of the Pastor. He prefers a more 'manly' movie.

Poster above: Taken somewhere from the Internet.

And thus, to celebrate Father's day last Sunday, we gathered at the Pastor's house for dinner and classic movie on top of the hill.

Not a bad idea.

However, a combination of bad planning and being a cheapskate, it was indeed a challenging journey from my house at the bottom of the valley. The alternative to walking at that time was my friend's bicycle.

Pic above: Father Killer

A bad bicycle seat can make one relive the journey even after two days it has ended. The sensation still lingers at the back of your mind and at the crotch. My friend told me upon returning his bike, was to get used to it.

The movie was indeed interesting. Sure, Keira Knightly was in the movie, which is a huge plus, but the beautiful Georgian and Victorian architecture. Makes one wish and desire the opportunity to reside in one of those babies.

Perhaps I should watch the movie again. This time I would pay more attention to the story. And Keira Knightly.

If you don't know Keira Knightly, click here.

If you don't know where I stay, click here.

Age vs Maturity

Age does not denote maturity level.

My house mate came home last night rather displease with a classmate who took his joke very seriously and made a scene in the middle of class. House mate claims the issue has been settled but noted that although the other guy was slightly older but did not behave like one.

It hit me today that in a different manner that, despite me being a follower of Christ for some 7 odd years now and I still behave like a weed that sways easily. I had a Bible study with a new Christian the other day and we discussed about what it is like to follow God's will: having faith.

Long story short, the past few months I have been struggling in several areas: being obedient and being a God's lover. And I realised that I am still far from being mature in many ways, despite being a 7 year old Christian.

Oh, God. Have mercy on me. Remove all my selfish desires. May my heart follow You forever!

Sigh..

Shower

Do you (yes, you tropical fishes) always wonder why people do not shower/bathe very often when they live in cold countries (e.g. Australia and England)? Is that a reason why Europeans especially French perfumes are so popular? Is that why deodorants are very popular products here in Australia?

I am not sure.

But one thing I know is that I have managed to stay in the same clothes for 4 days without smelling THAT bad. At least I can't really smell myself that well. All thanks to the wonderful winter in Tasmania. Here, you do not sweat as badly as in the tropics. And when there are no such thing as a proper toilet with shower within 15 km of the camping site, cleaning yourselves is a great challenge. Keeping warm is a challenge. Not smelling bad is a walk in the park.

Keeping dry in a camp site is a big challenge especially when the tent you borrow is not simple to set up. Wind, within the Tasmanian forest next to the beach is still very strong. We were camping nearly 450m away from the beach with shrubs and some trees around did not stop the wind from blowing rain water in to my tent.

Trees are not that helpful.

And when you get all moist and sticky from the cold weather and dew condensation, it is nearly impossible to clean up. So, one has no choice but to wipe yourself dry, or die trying. Otherwise it is very not cool to have cold feet.

Right. Time to shower. A hot one. After 4 days at least.

Food for Thought..

Girl housemate (GH): You guys eat a lot!

Boy housemate (BH): No lah, we eat like usual!

Me: ...

GH: You guys eat like cows like that, the portion I eat is less than yours. Mostly vegetable like deer.

BH: But both eat grass.

GH: Where got? Cows eat grass and worms. Deer eat leaves only.

Me: Cow eat worms? Aren't they parasites?

GH: Yeah, in the end they are still eaten by the cows, right?

BH: Doesn't the deer eat grass too? Then the "worms" will enter its stomach mah.

GH: Deer where got eat grass? They eat leaves only. And don't have worms one.

BH: ...

Me: ...

- - - - - - - - Q & A - - - - - - - - 

1. Do cows eat "worms"?

2. What constitutes as eating?

3. Can one intentionally eat something so small? Does that mean we eat bacteria and viruses too?

4. Do we eat "worms"?

Lovely day for thought provoking, mind boggling, mentally challenging questions. Cheers!

Love-hate

Don't you hate it, when you win some; you loose some. Cases in points

Social Networks:
I have decided to let all my dormant Friendster, Multiply, Subtract etc. to remain, dormant. But I have just succumb into peer pressure (3 people) to join a new one.

Friends:
Some close ones are leaving, some not so close ones are coming, some lost ones found.

Room spaces:
I cleaned my room by throwing away a stack of not-so-potentially-useful old secondary tests and notes. OK, I exaggerated. I just threw newspapers dating back to February and bus tickets which needs some carbon dating to identify the date of issue. I gained 0.36 sq m of room space.

Constant Text-ing:
Remember the 12 smses in one day record? How about at least 5 text messages daily to a peak of what I presume is 10. Six days a week. And sometimes very silly questions being asked like what to do if there is no printer. Hmmm. Why can't it be the chick from that certain housing area?

Time:
I spent here, producing a blog. Not spent of my final project. Die...

Finals

Woah... third week of final semester! So fast.

Not good. I feel too relaxed for it to be my final semester. With only classes three times a week and Saturday and Sunday also somewhat busy, I have quite a lot of time on my hand. This entry is a proof of it.

I can go on ranting about I should be a good boy and save Malaysia from incompetent people, or the world is being unfair, or we as Christians have been so selfish or mean to each other, or how some people are so nice to me when I don't deserve it, or wonder what should the next step be for being a Church of a living God.

But my heart goes out to this Aussie dame from Ipoh. I knew her from my previous college, separated since graduation, stumbled upon her blog and have been following ever since (like checking in once every quarterly). Always known her as someone friendly and a little bit cool. Loneliness and waiting patiently seems like a horrible combination. Hmmm...

*sigh

Press on, girl. DON'T GIVE UP!

Yeah, sounds like it is for me too..

Sunday Free

Bizarre news: Having Sunday free from anything.

Yeah, that means no Church, no rushing to somewhere for some event or dinner.

Not entirely true either. I had agreed to a morning breakfast which I suggested the evening before to a group of church people after service. It was rather random on my side because:

1. I would not have agreed to joining anyone for anything expensive at any given time unless it is paid for or I am going to meet someone special.
2. I suggested dim sum.
3. I hardly join their company of hangouts 98% of the time.
   

So, today at 0830hours, I drove down to Klang to meet them for dim sum breakfast buffet. It turned out to be the place where "un-know" was gathering too. This would provide an opportunity for us to see a fiery youth of un-know taking. Fortunately he and his went to a conference hall while we had our halal dim sum.

I tried to play it cool in front of my church friends but within I felt rather excited and jackoon at the same time. How rare is it that I could take anything I want without fearing the consequences of adding the numbers on the bill. The dish above is made personally just for me right in front of my eyes using my own hands.

The next picture shows how the table looked like after the dim sum has been cleaned by some male members of church for the 70th time. And the waiters, God bless them, came to the our tables like flies to, er... waste, after each round to make way for vicious cycle of gluttony.



The whole session ended after what seemed like an eternity later (1100hours). We rolled ourselves out with our bulging slightly belly. We went on our ways after a brief typical post-CBC-event/gathering-culture.

The drive home seemed to be the highlight of today's outing. It somehow did not matter that I took the wrong turning or longer route, nor was it how the warmth of the late morning sun was beating onto my skin. Neither was it how quiet the car felt when driving alone, along the empty highway.

It was about being able to drive in the day time to a destination without needing to worry what is going to happen next. It was about being able to sing a tune of a song which keeps playing over and over in my mind with the help of the broken car radio. It was about singing about how great God on a Sunday morning without anyone prompting. It was about keeping cool with help of the breeze coming in through the car through the open window.

It felt great. Yes, currently my life's greatest irony: The idea of being able to be enjoy and be free.

Cheers!