Killer Tsunami Man, small and vulnerable indeed. We are at the mercy of the forces of nature. I was in Malaysia when the Tsunami occured. In fact, in the morning at about 10am, I was at the beach in a small town called Mersing. Desaru beach to be exact. Just the night before, I was watching the movie "Blue Crush" and was probably half-dreaming about surfing on blue glassy waves. That morning, I was staring at shallow choppy waves washing up the vast bay at great speed. Salty, humid air was blowing strongly. At that moment, I recalled the time when I was at East Coast Park. The moon was at its nearest to the earth. It looked way bigger than its normal size of a fifty-cent coin. It was more like a hoola hoop. That day, the waves were huge. The waves crashed on the shore and washed right up to the bicycle path. All the bbq pits and benches were drenched and washed and swept. My friends and I were so excited about this that we started to play around in the waters. We were all laughing and playing when we saw our slippers floating away with the waves. Ironically, the same morning brought the awakening of the horrors of horrors. Yesterday, the death toll reported on the news was 22,000. Today, numbers more than doubled to 55,000. It's climbing fast fast fast. Who would expect oneself who's healthy and wealthy enough to enjoy a holiday by the beach to meet the end of their journey in life there and then? None. None of them. Life is unpredictable. Somehow, man never remembers that. We plan so hard to have a good life, graduate with a good degree, find a good job, build a warm family, eat a good healthy diet, make our retirement plans... and we forget that we are not in control of everything. Who controls the forces of nature? Who determines the end of your life? Do you control your own with a good diet, a healthy lifestyle, doing your best and by living in a natural-disaster-safe place? NO. We are at the forces of nature. Killer Tsunami tells you. But, we know who is in charge of the killer Tsunami. God. God is the very One who is in charge of everything. Every time. Every place. And I thank God that I know God. I'd tell my parents that if I'd found the courage to be less squirmish about my conviction in God and in Christ at home. Sometimes, I really cannot stand my lack of courage and my passiveness when I've had a chance to confront misaligned and misconceptions about God at home. If I had dared, I would have told them that God is the One who determines the time and place of our birth and what we would do and our whole lives. I would have told them if my time is up, I'd thank God coz I know that I have finished what He has set out for me to do. I know I can leave everything behind because I have finished my work. My responsiblities are done. There's nothing to fear and no undone businesses to leave behind. Man refuse to have his life end because he may think that this life is all there is. Many, though they don't admit it, fear death or refuse to have it come because there are many things in life which they haven't fulfilled or haven't completed. There are so many things to be done. When will it ever be finished? But if you know that the eternal God holds all these in His hands, you know that when He calls you home, He has all the rest in His Mighty, Loving hand too. I antagonize what many would think. But it is true. God is real. I pray that my courage to tell the world that God is real doesn't stop at blogging. May it be an outflow of my conviction. I would have written way more because I know some of you may ask why God is so cruel as to send the Tsunami and 911 and all the disasters in life. But I shall stop here for now. This is a long read and what I previously wanted to blog about seemed so trivial compared to the wake-up call to the truth that God is the One who rules over all.

A note from JT to JT causeway axn n 4D, roti prata man's stunt, the kampong spirit and e kampong area, the kampong cat and bird, blue crush, Pillow n Blanket overdose, free water (oldwater, seawater, newater) PS: It'll all make sense in due time :) ... When I finally get down to blogging :p

The typical tortoise crawling over the volcano-- Always trying to hide from the problem which eventually will blow.

I got my C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity book!!! :D :D :D

Wish list as of today

1) A bag big enough to go camping for 3D2N. (but not too big)

2)Two in one English/Chinese Bible.

3) loop ear-rings that big enough so that wearing it doesn't require ear lobe & finger gynastics and small enough so that it doesn't create any hair entaglement hassle.

4) a new swim suit

5) new sandals (cant run properly in slippers... esp when i'm late)

6) glittery pen (colourless one. but got glitter... saw the aqua colourless pen... really colourless, transparent shiny ink! But I want it to glitter leh haha)



7) meiji chocolate coated gummy sweet (those in a tube) (ate too much during exam period)
8) water bottle (cracked my water bottle cap... so sorry mel, it's a bad accident...) (Thanks Ronica for my new tupperware bottle! :D )
9) mechanical pencil (lost 2 of my fav pencils! sigh.) (bought replacements)
10) watch (my watches...spoilt n missing) (found the missing but need to change strap) (Mum bought me a cute ladybug watch thingie and hp will suffice)
11) alarm clock (mine spoilt :( ) (found an old clock which sort of started working a little)
12) Mere Christianity (I got it as a present! Thanks ZL!)

Three-in-One Stars Velvet black sky studded with glittering diamonds. Beautiful. I seldom noticed the sky in Singapore. But it is really pretty. Those stars are gaspingly beautiful and grand. They hang in space and decorate the sky in scatters and sprays. Big ones and small ones, bright ones and red ones. Of coz, there're the shooting ones. I was star gazing with my sisters till my neck ached. No shooting stars appeared leh. But, the moment I turned my head (yeah, I'm a little impatient) exclamations from my 2 sisters immediately revealed that Murphy's law was at work. The shooting stars had to appear when I turn my head away. Ah well, I'll see them some day. But the stars are simply beautiful, if you will only take time to appreciate the handiwork of God. Apple Sensation Gelato (from Genki sushi) Supposedly a French dessert with a milk (white) chocolate covering encasing real apple gelato with a chocolate core soaked in non alcoholic liquer, this expensive ($5.90) apple tastes a little queer at first. I first saw it in the dessert fridge at Genki and it's really pretty. Complete with handpainted shades of apple-red and a fake apple leaf and leaf stalk, the milk choco outer covering really looked like a real fuji apple. With a hard jab, the milk choco 'apple' skin cracked to show its pastel green gelato within. I really have no idea what gelato is, but the pastel green stuff was really just ice-cream. And I mean ice-cream made from real apple pulp with a uniquely queer taste. My friend thought the ice-cream smelt like... toilet air freshener. I guess fine french desserts like this have to be enjoyed slowly and mulled over. So, we decided to try and get our $5.90 worth of satisfaction from this dessert. First, we tried the milk choco skin. Not too bad. Normal milk chocolate but beatifully handpainted. The gelato started tasting more like apple when we savoured dainty spoonfuls of ice-cream... in face, it's quite light and it's not too sweet. It's just right and I think it's really made from real apple pulp. The apple core tasted bitter at first, but if you take time to taste and enjoy it, you will find that hint of alcohol in the chocolate. What a fine dessert indeed! It's worth the money I guess. All the effort the chef/ dessert maker has put in is definitely admirable. However, I think... I'd rather stick to safer choices like brownies and mud pies :) Friends For a moment, I was thinking about how busy we all get as we grow older, and how little time we have for our friends. For one, I don't think I have made time for my friends and I wasn't there for them. That's very sad eh? And I think it's so much harder to make closer new friends as we grow older coz we tend to close up a little and get jaded more more... In primary school, we sing: "Make new friends and keep the old, One is silver and the other is gold." It's not as easy as I used to thin it is. Friends are precious and I wish I could spend more time with them...

To the Edge Part I

Why I enjoy being camp emcee

1) I get to flout all the camp rules. I don't have to sleep during lights out and I can enter all the rooms as and when I like and I can talk to anybody anytime. (Read: I have to stay up late and run all over the place looking for people.)

2) I don't have to play funny games and follow strange instructions. I watch them. (Read: I have headache with crowd control during funny games.)

3) I get people's full attention when I'm talking. (Read: I'm stressed with everybody staring at me.)

4) I don't have to make extra effort to take care of group members. (Read: I don't exactly get to know any new group members. Except those in the committee perhaps.)

5) I don't have to sit through all the sessions and follow them strictly. (Read: I don't exactly learn much from sessions when running in and out.)

Generally, I don't mind emceeing around... and there's always the pros and the cons. Over the past three days, the stress and the last minute-ness was pushing me to the edge. (pun, pun, the name of the camp was D'edge. haha)



To the edge part II

The things that people do to get extra water bombs:

1) Beg on their knees

2) Call you beautiful

3) Do all that you say and offer to do more.


Things the emcee does when people will do anything to get water bombs:

1) Feel like giving everyone water bombs (Imagine have a whole loadful of guys and girls kneeling at your feet and begging and calling you beautiful. Even if it's a lie, I melted. hahaha)

2) Pretend not to be moved and demand more.

3) End up with a headache coz everybody seems to deserve the water bombs and don't know who to give them to.

4) Just try to get rid of the water bombs anyway and hope that I won't be stoned for being seemingly unfair.


It was stressfully fun and I've really made a lot of new friends with... the committee members and the log team. But but... lousy as I am, I can't remember their names :x sheesh. Just wished I learnt more from all those good camp sessions...

liquify experimentae with photoshopilus:
A little playing around with photoshop



The first original image I've ever posted! Tada!

Newer Updated wish list

1) C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity

2) loop ear-rings that big enough so that wearing it doesn't require ear lobe & finger gynastics and small enough so that it doesn't create any hair entaglement hassle.

3) a new swim suit

4) meiji chocolate coated gummy sweet (those in a tube) (ate too much during exam period)

5) glittery pen (colourless one. but got glitter... saw the aqua colourless pen... really colourless, transparent shiny ink! But I want it to glitter leh haha)

6) new sandals (cant run properly in slippers... esp when i'm late)

7) water bottle (cracked my water bottle cap... so sorry mel, it's a bad accident...)

8) mechanical pencil (lost 2 of my fav pencils! sigh.) (bought replacements)

9) A bag big enough to go camping for 3D2N. (but not too big)

10)Two in one English/Chinese Bible.

11) watch (my watches...spoilt n missing) (found the missing but need to change strap)

12) alarm clock (mine spoilt :( ) (found an old clock which sort of started working a little)

Out of the bottle

Some people believe that I'm the kind of person who bottles things up. Hmmm. yes and no. Anyway, recently, some stuff has been shaking my can of thoughts too much. And when you shake a can of soft drink too hard.... it buRsTs and OVerFLOwsssss.....

What the. I was so looking forwards to the holidays. Theoretically speaking, here I'm am, in the midst of the holidays. But excuse me, what holidays?

According to http://dictionary.reference.com/,
Holiday is defined as a day free from work that one may spend at leisure, especially a day on which custom or the law dictates a halting of general business activity to commemorate or celebrate a particular event.

So let's see, theoretically, I've halted all the school activities, am over the exam blues and have jumped into a time of fun-filled enjoyment and relaxation. A period where I may spend at leisure. So am I? I don't think so. I've plunged myself into a sea of frustration, with my days filled to the brim. I'm not even seeing my friends and family. Much less see them enough.

No, I'm not stuck somewhere in an office. I'm a traveller. Moving from place to place, meeting all sorts of people. The thing is, I'm not doing them at will. I could though. And I might have enjoyed it if it was at will. But. But. But. Things get so urgently overwhelmingly floodful that the urgency of the matter drowns out all enjoyment. The "I must do this" is pushing me to do and do and do. Unwillingly at that. I'd have enjoyed it and put more effort and have done it more willingly, if things were SoOOOooo pushy.

So, I start thinking about next year and whether I sitll want to try to get my act together to enjoy what I'm doing. But but but. I don't like to be pushed. Some pushing is good. But not like this. It's a little suffocating. And I get frustrated with myself for not coping. But but but. I still have to do it. Grudgingly. Everyone knows things are not supposed to work this way. Not so grudgingly and unwillingly. For there's a way! Oh yes there is. But still. I don't take stress that well eh?

All or nothing? Some say that I'm a perfectionist. Sometimes I go all out to do something. But but but, if I cannot manage to do something to perfection, I'd start thinking I've lost it all. And start doing nothing. Inkling of truth there. Maybe that's why I'm frustratedly stressing myself out.

Bubble bubble fizzle Fizz Fizzssssss....