Happy Merdeka 2008!!

In conjunction with Malaysia's 51st birthday (technically East Malaysians do not really agree with the date of Malaysia's actual 'birthday'; shouldn't it be 16 September? 31 August is merely the day of Independence right... but I digress)


51 random facts about me that you might not know


1. I use a Motorola L6
2. I don't like it.
3. I speak a tiny bit of Iban, Hokkien and Tamil, besides the more fluent English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin. Talk about multilingual!
4. I have white hair. Quite a lot of them.
5. I've had more crushes than one hand can count, but rejected about as many times - in the time span of about 5 years from Primary 4 until Form 3. That's so pathetic right.
6. I can play badminton, tennis and table tennis quite well.
7. I wish I can play the violin. I adore the rich sound, the expressive range, the vibratos... ahhh.
8. I have never played CS or DoTA before. That's so sad right, I've never had the chance to, you see. My parents hardly approve of computer games.
9. My parents think I'm smart so they expect me to do uber-well in exams. It sometimes doesn't pay to study too hard for school exams...
10. I get the flu almost all the time. I quote Ryner Lai: "perpetually sick".
11. I like making ambigrams of people's names, and enjoy seeing the smile and amazement on their faces when they see it. Example: Jeremy. It's not the best, though, I've seen much cooler ones like in Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons", but mine still works anyhow.
12. My favourite colour used to be blue, because it is calm, deep and less invasive then other colours.
13. My favourite colour last year was orange, because it reminds me of orange juice.
14. My favourite domesticated animals are hamsters and dogs. (especially beagles) I find cats repulsive.
15. My favourite wild animals are falcons, swans and dolphins. I love their graceful movements and beauty. Amazing creatures, aren't they?
16. The songs that I have listened over and over to until I get sick of them:
Jesus Take the Wheel, Assuredly Yours, All For Love, Everything (Lifehouse), You and Me (Lifehouse), Only Time (Enya), Who Am I (Casting Crowns), Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Jason Castro and Katharine McPhee).
17. My favourite band at the moment is Casting Crowns.
18. The movies that I re-watched: I Not Stupid 2, Ratatouille, Click, 50 First Dates and Facing The Giants.
19. I don't cook. I eat.
20. I don't have any specific fear, except a slight intimidation reserved for big people and also white foreigners. I don't know why.
21. Nevertheless I love how British people speak, so rich and expressive! I would like to go to England one day, to watch Wimbledon, which is also my favourite tennis Gland Slam.
22. I have never dyed my greying hair but I intend to after SPM.
23. I dream of becoming a best-selling author. If I ever do, please buy my books!
24. I love Roald Dahl's book and short stories. My favourite is "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar".
25. I have read all Harry Potter series except "The Half-Blood Prince". I couldn't get my hands on a copy, but it seems I didn't miss much, so there.
26. I am slightly allergic to milk and crabs.
27. I love metahon, the one in Hui Sing, Kuching. I miss it so much... I miss Kuching...
28. I fractured my right little finger in Form 2.
29. I lost my right ear hearing in Form 2, but eventually recovered about 80-90%.
30. As a result, I cannot really hear high pitch sounds, which might explain why I keep singing in my shrieking falsetto because I do not realize how terrible it sounds... Xo
[Did you know XO is not a smiley, but a genetic code for people with Turner's Syndrome? XO XO XO]
31. My favourite subject is English, followed by Add Maths and possibly Chemistry.
32. My favourite teachers of all time are:
Pn. Anita (English Form 4), Pn. Luk (Chinese and Choir Form 3), Pn. Lim (Chemistry Form 4), Pn. Jennie (Science Form 3), Pn. Lucy (English Form 1 and 2) and Cik Susie (KH and Sejarah and badminton Form 1).
33. I used to hate Physics because of Form 4 chapter 2, but now I started to like it this year because I have finally grasped the gist of Forces and Motion.
34. I have a bump on my right middle finger. Some say it was because I touched a hot kettle when I was young, others say it is because I write too much, too hard and wrong position of writing.
35. Most of my bestest best friends are left-handed.
36. I loved Neopets and kept quitting-and-start-again from Primary 6 until Form 3. I did a brief Neopets stint again in Form 4, but around the end of last year I resolved to quit it forever.
37. I write diaries. I am currently finishing my sixth book. Who knows, one day I'll publish them and you get to read about my deepest darkest secrets... as if. But this year I have somewhat neglected it because of blogging to fulfill my writing needs.
38. I still have no idea what I want to study after SPM. My sister has added another option into my already-too-long list of options, that is Actuarial science.
39. My fingers are shorter than most pianists'. I think that's why I have trouble playing advanced classical and Baroque pieces.
40. Speaking of piano, I didn't like playing piano for the first few years of learning until Form 1 or Form 2 when I started playing in church, then I got serious in playing both impromptu as well as playing piano pieces.
41. I sometimes find it hard to sleep, especially the night(s) before a big event, because I keep thinking and thinking and cannot stop thinking. I usually have to listen to music to calm my mind down.
42. I have lived in many, many, many places. I was born in Sri Aman, Sarawak. We (my family) moved to Penang. Six years later I lived in KL for two years. Then we moved to Kuching. Then in Primary 4 we moved to Brisbane, Australia for a 6-month stint at the school there. It was awesome. Then, after moving back to Kuching and staying for about 6 years, we moved to Banting. That brings the total to 6 places I have lived in.
43. I am a staunch fan of Federer and Ivanovic. I am sad that Federer is no longer number 1. Hoping he does fantastically well in US Open which I cannot watch because of the nearing trial exam... *sigh* [so why in the WORLD am I blogging?]
44. I weigh 5 kilograms more than I did before coming to Banting. That's 5 kg of pure fat, I tell you!! Must. Exercise. ... But. No. Time...
45. I have been to 10/14 states in Malaysia: Sarawak, Sabah, Selangor, Ipoh, Pahang, Penang, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and KL. That's 71.43% of Malaysia I've set foot on!
46. My shoe size is a 9 or 10.
47. I sometimes sleep talk about nonsensical things.
48. I have a file full of unfinished lyrics and songs, another file full of ideas for novels or short stories, and another file full of ambigrams I have done and waiting to be drawn on the computer. These are the things I plan to do after SPM...
49. If I ever get a million dollars, the first thing I'll do is raid MPH and buy all the novels I have always wanted to read and own. Maybe I'll make a library or something.
50. If there's any money left, I'll probably want to visit America and England.
51. Three things I will never leave home without (besides clothes): Tissue, wallet, phone.
52. Will wait for next year's Merdeka??

Happy Independence Day!! Independence is a good thing. But sometimes we have to put our lives into other people's hands, like your family's, your spouse's ... and God's.
Other than that, be yourself and don't let other people define who you are!!

The Winner

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't;
If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world you find
Success begins with a person's will,
It's all in the state of the mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are;
You've got to think high to rise;
You've got to be sure of yourself,
before you can ever win the prize.

Many a race is lost before a step is run;
And many a coward fails before ever his work's begun.
Think big and your deeds will grow;
Think small and you'll fall behind;
Think that you can and you will,
It's all in the state of the mind.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster person:
But sooner or later the person who wins
Is the person who thinks he can.

~ Walter D. Wintle

Haiyo Banyak-Banyak Sejarah

My family and I went for a two-night trip to the newly-crowned 'World Heritage Site' by the UNESCO - Melaka - from Saturday to Monday. It was a LOT of History, mind you, I should have come in Form 1 because it was like revisiting the Form 1 textbook!






My father says this is THE Melaka tree. I mean, not as in THE ONE Parameswara rested on but it is THE tree that caused all the brouhaha...



There was this amazing woman at Jonker Walk who was writing beautiful Chinese calligraphy with just a stump for a hand! It goes to show how much you can achieve even with handicap, if you work hard!

















For some reason, all of us except my dad were wearing black on Saturday. Hmm... XD
Anyway that's it for Melaka; the rest of the holidays will be pretty hard work for me. See ya around!

A Great Man Fading

I cannot believe it. Roger Federer lost in the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics 2008 to James Blake. I was so shocked, crest-fallen, almost disgusted. Could his reign and supremacy be over after almost 5 years at the top? No one can be the best forever. Someday you get old, you lose your strength and youth, and others will overshadow you, and your success and glory will be forgotten.

I realised that all this success, is really just temporary, is it not? A great man like Federer is starting to fade and look like a dim shadow of the past. When it is all said and done, what will we be?

This reminds me of a motivational program organised by my school yesterday. A lecturer by name of Dr. Sia from Inti came to give a talk. She asked a question that bothered me. "Why do we work hard for success? Why be successful?" At that point I was bursting to rattle off all the five purposes in Rick Warren's "A Purpose-Driven Life", but the answer she gave was simple, yet so bizarrely worldly.

"To lead a comfortable life, get a good job, and not have to think twice when going shopping." [paraphrase]

Is that all to life? After work and grit and fame, is comfort all that success can bring? Money to feed your family and the occasional beggar; clothes to wear and show off to friends and colleagues. If that is how the world wants to live, that is fine with me; go ahead and live your meaningless life where every breath you take is just a random chance in the Big Bang, and every heartbeat a drop of time in evolution.

I, on the other hand, have a greater purpose than that. I want to succeed for God. I know that sounds cheesy, cliche, or even hypocritical. Yet I mean it with all my heart and soul. Why work hard when at the end of the day, you just... die? I want to glorify my God in all I do, like in "Facing the Giants": every success and glorious achievement in the world will someday be forgotten, but glorifying God goes into eternity - a life far more glorious than anything in this world. If one day I become a doctor, it will be to reach out to the sick in body and sick in soul; if I become a teacher I want to be a light and guide to the young souls who desperately need Jesus. Nothing else.

...I wonder how Federer will fare in the US Open.

Fuwa

Awww so cute!!

Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini.... Beijing huan ying ni!! (Beijing welcomes you...)

Unfortunately I can only catch a few minutes of action of the Beijing Olympics as trial is like, so damn near...!!! *sigh*

Meanwhile, I'm so happy, I didn't kena NS!! hehehehe... if you kena, try not to die of constipation ya? Xo

More S.I.P

*ouch ouch ouch*
My knee hurts... hereby classified Self-Inflicted Pain.



Yesterday morning (10th August) my family went, along with many families from GFS Banting to the Wet World at Pedas. I have no idea where Pedas is, so don't bother asking. Xo



The trip was to baptise some people from English and Tamil congregation, 11 people altogether. Some of them had really cool testimonies, one of them was a young woman born in a [senstivie issue] family but managed to pull through, and another a [sensitive issue]-hater but changed to be a loving young lady.

They were baptised in a lovely pool at the center, with patrons of other races and religions like [sensitive issue; must menjaga keharmonian antara kaum you know!! (first cabaran in Wawasan 2020...)] looking on. After that, it was fun-time!! My friend Daniel Choon and I went on a ride (he did most of the swimming) on a float around the area in the swim-able man-made river and tried the slides. It was so scary yet so fun! The float seemed to be on the verge of flying off the slide every time it turned a sharp corner! I did the slides so many times I can hardly count! Oh and the hot spring, which is what Pedas is supposedly famous for, is so darn hot that I wouln't go back any time soon. Seriously "pedas"!! (pun intended)






Unfortunately I scratched both my knees and feet because the floor of the pools were really rough. And I slept through most of yesterday evening. But I had fun, I got to know many of the BM and Tamil church people (as in, I know they exist but I have no idea what their names are...) and I got lots of much-needed exercise and stress-release.

[by the way I don't really know how to put the pictures in Facebook, so only here ya? Not that many pics also anyway...]

Questions!

A moment of brief solace for my over-stressedness these days because of nearing trial exams...
Yesterday and today, my English teacher Mr. Chay lightened things with a task of creating a questionnaire of "most extraordinary/unsual/whatever thing you have ever done". We were to make 10 questions asking your friend(s) about specific things starting with "Have you ever....?" But of course, my friends and I made more than 10!!

I think all of us had lots of fun making the questionnaire to dig up some juicy secrets.. haha! I made sure mine pricked my friends' conscience. Here's a picture of it.

(Click to enlarge - it should be quite clear)

My questions included:
- Have you ever cheated in an exam?
- Have you ever gossipped about a friend to another?
- Have you ever broken something and hid it from your parents/teacher?
- Have you ever done something bad and blamed someone else?
and more.

Have fun reading!!

S.I.P

Today I played what must be the most painful game ever invented, all in the name of, what, fun?

I played volleyball this morning in a competition organised by the school club. I teamed up with Lik Pin, Wee Onn and Vishnu. I had actually only played volleyball about twice in my whole life, once in Primary 4 and once in Form 3 when playing with the Batu Lintang choir team during the Damai retreat after the China trip... so you can expect me to suck really bad, right?

But not really, our team managed to defeat our first two opponents to reach the final. In the final, we were leading by 12-5 thanks to my lucky serves that got in and didn't come back six consecutive times! But unfortunately I couldn't deliver at 18-all, and we lost by 21-19 as first runner-ups. Oh well, I had lots of fun, as well as S.I.P.!!! (Self-inflicted pain)

I wonder if I can still write or play piano ever again... Xo