And the winner is.... KRIS!

The last American Idol that I followed closely was Carrie Underwood's season (I guessed correctly that she would become American Idol the moment she entered Top 12 and she did!) and stopped watching after the season when Taylor Hicks became Idol. Sort of put off with the result, really.

However, I watched a little of this season. Kris is awesome!!

It's between Adam and Kris and the result was quite surprising judging from the number of fans Adam had.



Kris, in one of his performances.


You deserved it. =)

HERE'S ALSO A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO DERIC:

Happy 17th Birthday!! It's sad to have to sit for Add Maths during your birthday.

P/S: Joey, obligation accomplished. =)

Lover of my soul

The sermon today sent me into a state of contemplation. Indeed, I walked away inspired. I want to repent for my lackadaisical attitude towards the most important person of my life. He is the core of my whole being yet why do I hurt Him over and over again? I hear Him speaking to me, "Come, spend time with me. Talk to me in prayer." I realized now that they are not my thoughts. They are Your words to direct me to have a deeper relationship with You. I still remember one morning while I was in the shower and You showed me Proverbs 3:5-6,

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)

You are all-knowing and the verse really gave me comfort especially in this period of my life when I am all stressed out about college assignments.

What is this pain that I am feeling right now? Tears flow when I think about You, when I think of how much You love me. Even right now as I am typing this, I can't stop these tears from streaming down. Now I come into Your presence and I can see all my brokenness and shortcomings revealed clearly. I never realized that deep down, I was not whole. There's always a hole in me which no other happiness in the world could fill in. The answer to the hole is You. You always work wonders in ways I could not comprehend.

Realization on May 17th:

Lord, I am Your oracle and I believe that nothing could separate us. Not Satan, not the world. NOTHING! Yes, Pastor Angelina, I will not let the devil hold me back from Christ and thanks for your prayer today. You might not be reading this, but today, I have found myself falling in love with Him all over again in a way so different than before.

Dear mommy,

It's not easy to express what I feel now but I just want you to know that I love you every day of my life. You are the greatest gift that God has ever given to me. Have a great Mother's Day!!

P/S: Looking forward to June 13th!=)

Assignment period

The hardest part of college life, if you ask me, is the period before the assignment due date. I know most people will agree with me because assignments cannot be done at the eleventh hour like finals.

Just to update to tell you that I am still surviving. I can't wait to finish all of them.

Free from the clutches of EXAM!

Finally, the exam is over! Hip hip hooray! The papers were... I am speechless. I came home dizzy so you can imagine how bad it was. No hope for scoring well now. =(

I shall keep my promise in posting this delayed post on what we had for lunch on the 20th April. We only paid RM15 for everything! The ala carte voucher is better than the dinner vouchers.


Lamb Shank (RM29,90) with free flow of Coke


Chicken Lasagna (RM17.90)


Baby back beef (RM48.90)


Seafood Lasagna (RM19.90)

I am not addicted to Facebook! It's just Restaurant City. Whoever invented this, you RUIN my life! I think I am going to get RC-titis.


Still in the process to turn everyone I know into my chefs and waiters and cleaners. I want more workers!!

Cramming season

One paper down and there's another three more to go. I don't know what to expect but I just hope all will go well. Halfway through cramming Principles of Front Office now. Brain hurts. Ouch! But it's the only way I could manage to remember.

CRAMMING ROCKS! *oops*

I am giving false teaching here. I shall rectify that.

DEAR ALL,

YOU SHOULD REVISE CONSISTENTLY TO SCORE WELL IN YOUR EXAM. DO NOT EVER REVISE AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO FAIL. I AM THE WORST EXAMPLE YOU CAN FOLLOW. THANK YOU.

-THE ULTIMATE PROCRASTINATOR-

A note to Joanna: Procrastination made me busy! Hahaha!!!

Next post: Lunch pictures from the hotel!

Beachside dinner

I am currently having a short break in Penang. The trip was so far, so good. The dinner by the beach was great. I ate like a queen (lamb, chicken, cheeses, potatoes, carbs, prawns, cakes and more). Really loved the environment there and fortunately it wasn't that warm. However, the singers for the night were not as good as the last time I came. What happened to Mr. Oompa Loompa (he was the guy who sang beautifully each time we went for dinner who also has a striking resemblance to the Oompa Loompa in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)? Tonight, another man replaced him on stage. Or has he signed contracts with some recording company?

The keypad on the Mini 9 is so narrow that I have to be careful especially typing with numb fingers (the air-cond in the living room is icy cold!!)

The memory space on the phone is almost full so did not snap any pictures of the beautiful twilight by the beach. What a waste.

Short sentences

Finals in one week's time. Assignments' piled up.

Yet I have touched either one. I can't wait for May to come.

These days I am at a lost for words. Probably I am saving them up for finals.

A must-watch video

Watch this video and you will never take food for granted again. The next time you order your food, think about the people who do not have a choice in their food consumption.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

I learnt my lesson. I shall not waste food anymore. What about you?

Post KL trip

4 April 2009

As planned previously, we took the 9 a.m. train to KL Sentral from Ipoh station. There were very few of us but we did enjoyed ourselves.

Here are some pictures from the KL trip. The train took 3.25 hours to reach KL Sentral from Ipoh. I kind of like the journey in the train.


Snapped somewhere near Batu Gajah (I am sure it's around there because I didn't notice there is a Batu Gajah stop until Rooney told me)


Take two

We finally reached the busy city and took another train to Midvalley.


Look at the hamster running madly round and round, round and round...

Being a law breaker is kind of fun! This picture is illegally snapped from Pets Wonderland where no photographing is allowed.


Another shot of the cutey pies!

I shall not bore you with the details of the trip because we spent most of our time window shopping. Only once, Ju Dee pleaded for me to push her out of a shop because she fell in love with a top, which I gladly did. =)

Something scandalous happened in Subway Sandwiches.


Can you guess who she is?

As we waited for the train to come from KL Sentral to Midvalley station, I got so bored waiting that I snapped the picture of the human galore across the rail.


These people were the ones taking the Seremban train.


And they were sandwiched like the Subway Sandwiches.

We went back by the 9.45 p.m. train and it felt like the morning train that we took was just a moment ago. How the day had gone by so fast, I had no idea.

Today:

I actually enjoyed my first classes today. Totally interesting. =)

Dinner at ICCC

The dinner just now was really a surprise. Initially, I was thinking of getting something from the night market just like most Fridays when my dad suddenly called me to tell me to get ready for dinner at Ipoh City & Country Club (ICCC).

So what was the occasion?

I first thought it was a wedding. When we reached ICCC, my dad's friend, Mr. Baskaran (the one who invited us for dinner since he had some extra tickets) took us to the karaoke floor (known as I-box) and showed us around since the dinner is not served yet. We even went into one of the rooms and he sang a couple of songs; one which I could not recall the title by Alleycats and Black Magic Woman by Santana.

So, the dinner started and it was then that I realized what occasion it was. It's the Vasaikhi celebration by the Sikhs. Throughout the dinner, we were entertained by various perfomances. The most outstanding performance was no doubt the belly dance - performed by two adorable girls of 8 or 9 years old. Two gentlemen gave them some tokens of appreciation (I think I saw some red notes) during their routine. Not to forget that there's also a drag queen performance; lip-synching and dancing on stage. I feel embarrassed watching him or her not because I was irked by a guy performing like a girl up stage but because I knew that I could never be that graceful. I cannot dance at all.

We had soup first.


The ingredients consisted of mushrooms, shredded prawns, squids and fish and some other unidentified ingredients. My opinion? It was so delicious that I had two bowls of it.

The following courses:



I was too shy to snap the dishes individually so here's a picture that I snapped discretely from where I sat. As you can see, there's a plate of fried chicken with lemon sauce, fried fish with some soya sauce (I think) and mixed vegetables cooked with sambal belacan.

They even have some games organized for the guests to participate in. Sis took part in the blow-the-balloon-till-it-burst game and she was the champ! Her prize was a mug from ICCC. Not bad, really.

In about 7 hours' time, I willl be experiencing my first train ride (not taking LRTs and monorail into account) to KL. I am so excited! I hope I won't be spending any money aside from food.

P/S: I was just reading about the demise of the 12-year-old terrapin and I was thinking if I had been too heartless not to post an obituary about it like I did to a few other terapins in the past. Somehow, I didn't have the heart to do obituaries anymore. They are too sad to be written.

March marched off and here comes April

The semester is almost coming to an end. It's April already! The last three months had passed me by so swiftly that I had trouble remembering whether I have made full use of them or not.

I hope I had.

The night class tonight (or rather last night) was tiring. We actually spent most of the time writing notes. I guess it's his way to compensate for the lost lesson last week. One thing good about it was, my handwriting got better as I wrote (Practice makes perfect?). The bad thing was, I had sore fingers by the end of class.

Another new chapter is about to unfold. I am anticipating it.

A rainbow after the rain

Today was one of the rare Thursdays when I came home early from college. The lecturer was on MC so we escaped the evening and night class! I managed to pull a prank on Cecilia when she called to ask about the class. It wasn't that successful because I was too kind to Mother Nature. I didn't want her to waste her fuel and contaminate the air further by making a pointless trip to college when the class was cancelled (I initially bluffed her by saying that I was skipping class so I asked her to skip too!).

Being the kind person I am, I told her the truth (Not being conceited here, just feel like giving myself a praise once in a while=D).

Now let me introduce the infamous Cecilia a.k.a. NKP (inside joke).

[Photo grabbed from her Facebook profile]


Oh really??? *Pim pom!!*

I wonder whether her expression was like this when I told her about the night class

The bad news was, I still ate the same dinner albeit at a different location. I'm not complaining though. I love roti pisang and a glass of air suam for dinner every Thursday. I guess I got used to having this set so I didn't think the need to complain since I am getting what I wanted. =)

There was a full rainbow spread across the sky after the rain. It's been quite a while since a rainbow has made its appearance anywhere near my place.


This was snapped before we went out to heed the cries of our poor stomachs.

I was momentarily awe-struck and could not take my eyes off the rainbow. I have always loved the colours of the rainbow and how they lined up to become something so mesmerizing. Then, I thought about God. He's the best artist and nothing He had made was ever flawless.

-We are perfect in the sight of God despite all our imperfections because we are His masterpiece.-

Off the leash

Today we actually decided to have our lesson out of the classroom. Our main purpose was to go and have a look at some showhouses to learn more about wall coverings and finishes used in the interior of houses. However, we only managed to see some white-painted walls and a stretch of wood panelling through the windows of one of them. I guess we just came at the wrong time. Everyone had gone out for lunch, I presumed.

***

Just now while I was taking Crystle out for her daily stroll to relieve herself, I saw a predator. It was her predator. He stood a few feet away from me, staring. Then he made a move. I stomped my foot but he did not budge. I took a step back slowly.

I crossed the street the moment I had the chance too. He was still staring, prompting to follow. I tugged at the leash and quickly ran as fast as I could when I reached the corner of another street - heading straight back home. In the process of running, Crystle's collar came off her but I was too afraid that the mad dog would be catching up to us in no time so I just called out to her to follow me. She obeyed and ran alongside me while I was holding the now extremely light leash with the collar trailing behind. Speed was not my aptitude so she reached the gate sooner than me.

Here were three pictures of her taken some time back. Sis inspired them.

Trying really hard to avoid the camera

Okay la... I shall smile for a second

When will it end???

***

I am almost fully recovered now. All glory to God! =)

Pills for ills

Just a short update about my current condition. I can now go up and down the stairs with ease. I give all the thanks to God for His healing hands upon me. It's always a joyful thing to praise God!

I forgot to post the picture of the medicines I am consuming. So here it is.


Even their colour looks like bak kut teh.

I am now filling my spare time reading Twilight. It is a beautiful story.

Stomach's growling as it's time for lunch. I am waiting at home for my roast pork rice. Yum yum!!

Stiffness

I had never felt like this before. The pain grew more intense as the minutes ticked by after lunch and I thought that it was really strange to be suddenly feeling such a strain on the right side of my lower back which disabled me to bend or bow even at a slight degree. It was so sudden that I thought that I was going to be paralysed. I hate myself for being such a paranoid.

Maybe it would get better, I thought. I tried to be a little optimistic but as the day went by, it actually got worse. My back felt stiffer and my Patricia told me I walked like a pregnant lady. I had trouble going up and down the stairs (going up especially), each step took an enormous amount of energy. I had to clutch onto the railing all the time to shift some of my body weight off my right leg to it so that the task of ascending the stairs would be less daunting.

Today, I finally realized that standing or walking could be better than sitting down. Whenever I attempted to sit down, I had to do it in slow motion to reduce the pain while bending my back. When I have to get up, I had to use the table as a clutch to get myself up.

During night class, I tried not to get up too often since I did not want anyone else to notice the awkwardness on the way I brought myself off the chair.

It was after night class that I felt that I could not wait till morning to figure out what exactly was wrong with me. So, following my mom's advice, I went to see the doctor.

The verdict: It seemed that I have hurt a nerve somewhere and it's nothing serious. Thank God! I was scared to death. For five days, I have some pills that taste like bak kut teh to swallow and do some muscle-stretching cum breathing exercise to get well.

And now I am getting hungry but I shall wait till morning to get my stomach filled. I better take a rest earlier tonight.

Marley & Me - A journey that takes you through laughter and tears

I have never held Kleenex in my hand while reading books but this one broke my record.

Marley & Me, a memoir of John Grogan and his wife, Jenny; whose lives changed drastically after taking home with them a four-legged friend, Marley - having the qualities of being the worst dog in the world yet at the same time, bringing the best out of the family with his perks and antics even till the time he had to bid the inevitable farewell to the ones dearest to him.

There's one phrase in the book which made me teared more:

...sometimes, a dog comes along that really touches your life, and you can never forget her.

How true it is. I've come to realized that it's hard to erase all the memories that humans share with their pets. It's impossible simply because humans have the tendency to hold onto them so tightly that they will never let go no matter how many years or centuries (if only we have such long life) come to pass. I am one of them. Holding onto the past while at the same time moving forward, still in the process of learning to cherish everything that I am blessed with to compensate for the loss I have experienced.

Dogs are not merely dogs when their lives intertwine with people. They become the puzzle that completes the lives of the people.

The eve of Friday the 13th

It's Friday the 13th! My phone is turning 3 in one day! Oh, you are a toddler now, but you look old physically.

Doesn't that just reminds you of Benjamin Button?

Today, Miss Nurainie introduced us a new type of crossword puzzle during Hospitality English 2 class which did not give any hints about the words that are to be filled into the boxes. Instead, all 26 alphabets are represented by numbers and we got clues such as 'A is number 5' so all the 5s in the crossword puzzle is filled in with the letter A. Here is the tricky part. We are not given further letters until we give up and try hard solving the whole puzzle using the trial and error method with other letters and numbers. It's truly a pencil-friendly puzzle. We managed to complete the puzzle in an hour's time with 2 clues. Not a very flattering result but we only had two clues! So it's quite an achievement.

Had a gruelling 1.5 hours fighting in the warzone a.k.a. THE AUDITORIUM using the ever faithful black ballpoint pen and I guessed I did okay. However, I cannot tell what grade I would be getting. I am just satisfied with a pass, anyway. What a relief it was when I handed in the answer script.

P/S: I am pretty excited about the coming day trip to KL by train. This is our first trip of the year (exclude the Kellie's Castle one). I hope it works out.

Movies and Books

Watched Love Matters (幸福万岁) just now and it is hilarious. I cannot agree more with Patricia. She was so right. All the female counterparts (referring to the guys) should go watch it to humour themselves as well as to learn something from the movie. Jack Neo has never made a failed movie. Loved all his works!

Mid-term for Moral will be starting approximately 18 hours from now and I haven't opened my textbook yet. I should stop being so complacent typing here when I have to study. It's a good thing we have some tips to spare us from reading too many unnecessary words from the notes though. Count my blessings, I shall. =)

I have got all of my assignments in hard copy and they are ready to be passed up to be scrutinised and evaluated.

Currently reading Marley & Me and it is a book you should not miss. It gets better as the story progressed. At the same time, I am also reading Written in Bone by Simon Beckett which is a story about an anthropologist who went out to Runa, a secluded island; which now becomes a crime scene of a murder and he must, at all cost, find out the truth before getting himself killed (I invented the last part but I honestly do think that he would almost die in certain part of the book since he is prying deeper and deeper into the case with the murderer running loose on the tiny island).

I hope they make a movie out of Written in Bone somewhere in the near future. I always love forensic movies. =)

Brain's lacking in oxygen as I have been yawning since the beginning of this entry so I shall go get my beauty sleep.

Personality Quiz

Stumbled upon this quiz and the result is quite stunning.

Your view on yourself:
You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:
You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on education
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:
You have plenty of dream jobs but have little chance of doing any of them if you don't focus on something in particular. You need to choose something and go for it to be happy and achieve success.

How do you view success:
You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:
You are afraid of things that you cannot control. Sometimes you show your anger to cover up how you feel.

Who is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Accurate or not, you be the judge.