Euro 2004 part 2

It was just the other night when the Czech Republic was going to play Denmark. So thus, my crazy housemates went to ask me for my opinions
'Czech or Denmark?'
'Czechla..Sure win wan'
'Oh..ok, Big or small?'
'What's big or small?'
'Well, Big means 3 goals or more. Small means zero to two goals'
'Erm, Big, should be more than 2 goals considering everything'

But then, before the match, they had some doubts on the big/small thingy. So then, being a 'good' Christian, I advised them not to bet as it's gambling.

The next morning, headlines on Soccernet. Czech won 3-0! So then I asked one of them
'How's it?'
'Okla, win rm 30'
'Oh..how about your big/small winnings?'
'Din betla, coz u said Christian shouldn't bet mah'


Hmm..the irony of it all
p/s:Conversation has been shortened here to cut out crap

Klang Valley Food Part 1

Ah, one of my latest interest I developed this holidays is to find for food. Good food I mean. It was all due to Loopymeals. I stumbled upon the site one day, and while intrigued by his writings and rantings, my curiosity was aroused when he wrote about this place, Soo Kee in Taman Sea.

You see, all my life, I've been going to the same Chicken rice stall in ss3, the same Wantan mee stall in ss4 and the same mamak in ss5. And while they served ok food with ok prices (erm, the Chicken rice stall in SS3 is a killer, don't ever go there), it was time for a change~ I mean, what for spend lunch eating the same average food I've eaten all my life, when you can get something better? And where would I bring my friends if they asked me where to get a good meal in Klang Valley?

So, off I was in search of Soo Kee. And indeed it was worth every single sen spent. The taste of the Ipoh Kueh Teow Soup and steam chicken was something you wouldn't want to miss. And even more, the shop was packed at 2:20 pm! That's a testimony to it's business, (though I missed out on it's prawn dumplings, hmm)


The famous prawn dumpling, steamed chicken and Ipoh Kueh Teow Soup - taken from Loopymeals


And now? Well, my list of great places to eat has expanded! Looking for good food? Chicken Rice? Nasi Lemak? Bak Kut Teh? Indo mee? Wan Tan mee? Just come over for a visit. You won't go home empty handed, money back gurantee *Grin*

Now, didn't God create men to eat, sleep and be merry?

Euro 2004 part 1

Football makes people go crazy, don't you agree? I was back home one day when my crazy housemates (Yes! They are really crazy people!) were watching the Portugal-Greece match. And there I was casually mentioning that by the way Portugal was playing, it was definite they would lose by a goal.

And lo and behold! Portugal lost the match 1-2 and the gals in the house were asking for my head~! (FYI, one of them had bet rm 200 for that game. Crazy indeed..hmmm) Apparently it was my big mouth and my so call-ed gift of prophecy (!)

Ha, it was a couple of days before I actually did start to comment on anymore soccer results. Now, how about tonight's match? England and Portugal looks interesting enough too~ *Grin*

Oops! I think I see my housemate! Gotta go! Till next time! England's gonna win~~!! Trust me on this!

Chili's part 2

Saturday was the last day I worked in Chili's. It was a hard decision to make, considering it was kinda fun to work there. But then, there were a lot of factors involved, including Dad who wasn't too happy with me working in Chili's and the fact there was hardly time for me to study for TCA's classes plus the fact I had to miss out of some outings.

Anyhows, I've learnt a lot from the 5 weeks tenure at Chili's. Among them are:

1) There are all sorts of people out there when you go out to work. There are those who are nice (yay!), those unfriendly ones, those who'll take advantage of you and finally those who will take short cuts and not do work when the manager's not around.

2) People do notice if you're hardworking. This was evident when I told the manager I was thinking of quitting last week. He mentioned it would be a pity, considering I was one of the hardworking staff and all.

3) I've the gift of gab! Haha, never knew I could be so talkative (though I was talkative throughout my pre-secondary school days..Must be the circumstances...) until I worked in Chili's. And if you do have the gift of gab, customers would tend to give you more tips *hint hint to all those waiters wannabes*

4) The best way about exercising this gift of gab is just by being yourself. Don;t worry about trying to make an impression. After all, if you try too hard, you'll end up not being yourself, but someone else. Comprende?

And now, being jobless (haha, like it's gonna kill me), I've set myself some modest goals. Among them are:
1) Learning to cook! Always wanted to cook something more than just maggi mee, indomee, eggs and vegetables. So my 1st cooking targets are
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a) Cooking the Famous Curry Fishhead! Just thinking of curry fishead could make me salivate! (haha!) Especially if you guys had tried the famous curry yee tau in PJ! Haven't tried? Come..I'll bring you there one day

b) Cooking Pork! Yes! We lack pork meat in Cyberjaya! And there's so much nice food we could make out of pork meat, not considering the fact the amount of money we could save! Just wanna 1st start with braised pork and also those fatty pork stuff. Now, where can I find a pig? *grin*

c) Cooking the most important thing of all...rice! Never ever did make good rice in the family. Mine's always more towards the porridge side (you can imaginela) Without good rice, what's the point of having good food?

I'll have Mel and Mich as my cooking assistants as well as my guinea pigs *Muahahaha* wonder if they would survive the ordeal and torture. I also will have Jayson as my advisor.
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2) Learning to play some songs I like on the guitar. Among them are Beatle's 'Yesterday', Corrs, The Carpenters 'Why do stars' and also Eric Clapton's Cream era days songs. And perhaps..Hotel California! As well as some Youth Alive songs too

Guess that's all. Would most probably work in church as a Church Administrator as they really need someone to handle that aspect of church. Somore, the church is expanding! So, we gotta warn our neighbours to expect a takeover soon *grin*

Thanks once again to my Chili's colleagues, if you ever stumble upon my site

In no particular order:
Mimi, Rosalind, Phang Kah Fatt, Kishven, Vijaya, Hanour, Syful, Luke and Rahmah. Thanks!

p/s: As a church worker, I can get 20% off stuff in those Christian bookstores! Yea~~!

The Hairdo

Recently I took the liberty to realise a 7 year old dream *grin*, which is to dye my hair. Anyhows, the range of reactions I get is kinda interesting

Mom went--'You look older than before! Don't abuse your hair anymore ok?' (Abuse? Hmm...)
My (ex)colleagues @ Chili's went--'Woahhh~ Cool hair!'
My Pastor, amazingly went--'Wah Leo!! You look so handsome in this hair of yours!' (Ahem, like I wasn't handsome before this...*grins again*)
And finally, my classmates in TCA unexpectedly went--'Nice hair! Looks really good on you! How much is it? Maybe I should do it too...'

And the funny thing? They're all around my parents age. Especially Ps Ron Ooi, a really funny and interesting lecturer~ (Yeah, he's the one who contemplated dye-ing his hair too, to golden brown)

The ultimate expression

I never intended to write the following, until reading a dear friend's blog, I was inspired. So, step back and hope you do enjoy what you read. God Bless~

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived. " - meetjoeblack - taken from Mich's Blog

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It was back in secondary school when I had this something for these 2 people. The first was a babe. But she wasn't just a babe, she really nice, friendly and it wasn't hard to like her. I could still remember Valentine's day. She had so many admirers until she had to take a taxi to go home, because she could not carry all of the presents home by herself.

But the second was different. She wasn't your everyday babe. But she was someone I grew close to. I guess it was really fun to be with her. I do remember the days we made appointments to go to the library together (by calling lar, what else), the days we studied together, makan together and then go back home on the public bus together in the evening. It was her personality, her wit, her sarcasm and the fact that we could just enjoy sitting in the library together for hours talking and teasing each other instead of studying that made me have the something for her.

But this writing isn't about how nice they are, but it's about growing up, letting go and letting them move on.

I made some mistakes back then. And in a way, everything came crashing down. It was hard back then to accept the fact that we were no longer friends. I sometimes break down and regret whatever I've done, whatever I said and whatever I did not do. If only I could have turned back time and redid everything over again.

Sometimes I would just visit their house, sitting far away, just seeing the outline of the house, pondering if there was a chance that a friendship could be rebuilt again. Pondering whether I had given them such a bad impression of me that they would rather avoid me and all. It was a hard time.

But I guess as I grew up I learnt, that it's so easy to love when you're being loved back in return, in the same measure you give. But it's even harder to love, when you know there's no chance, no hope and no gain. And finally, the the ultimate expression of love, is to let them go their own ways, to live their lives, to let them love and be loved by others in return.

It's hard I know. But could we cultivate this? To love and let go, is the type of love that hurts the most. But I guess it's the most self-sacrificial love you can give to another.

And finally, about them? They're all doing well now. Attached. Do not know if they're getting married soon though. But God Bless them~

Amen

Every kindness done to others
Is a kindness done to Thee;
Christlike love for all my brothers
May the world observe in me. --Brandt

Tips

Last Friday and Sunday were phenomenal. I had just been confirmed as a solo-ist waiter a few days before, meaning whatever tips I earn, I get to keep. Friday was the day they put me outside, after doing all the running from the kitchen.

Anyhows, my colleagues looked at me in disbelief as I pocketed a cool rm 17 on Friday and an even cooler rm 31 on Sunday. As most of them were full time staffs and wages for a full time worker was only rm 900/month, getting anything more than rm 15 is considered an excellent collection. Even then, not many could attain that figure.

Now, unleashed to you, are... The Secret to getting good tips(!)

1) Smile
2) Be prompt and courteous
3) Converse to your customers in the language they're comfortable in
4) Always look out for the needs of the customers
5) Go with the attitude of wanting to serve the customers (and not putting the amount of tips you get as a priority)
6) Finally, take a look at the tips given at the end of the day after they leave the table! You'll be amazed!!

p/s: Also might be due to the fact that customers tend to give more to a cute guy serving them...Nah!

Magnificent

I just borrowed GivingMyBest(GMB)'s latest album from a friend. And playing it, hearing the sweet sounds of worship is just so magnificent. As the CD progressed to the songs 'Ajarku Berdiam' and then 'Mengejar HadirMu', it's just such a pleasant atmosphere of feeling God's presence.

And just before I played the CD, somebody forwarded a message about a Public Lecture by Nobel Laureate Professor Carl E. Wieman, who would be speaking about Bose-Einstein Condensation: Quantum Weirdness at the Lowest Temperature in the Universe.

And at that moment, I felt God asking me, 'What would you give your life for? For fame? For recognition? Or for something that lasts?' Or would I be like the Nobel Laureate? Who spent a good deal of his life doing research on Physics and Quantum Physics. What would my life count for?

When you reach the working world, people tend to look at all these, fame, glory and richness. But in the end of the day, what counts? Do we stand in front of God telling him how great we have been? Or would God say, 'Well done, my faithful servant'


God guide me, my paths and my ways,
Let me be a Light that shines Your name,
Amen

What a day

Whoa~ Yesterday was an experience in itself. Never had my car locked up in the shopping complex until...yesterday.

It all started after Bible College, where I headed to Jason's Birthday bash at TGIF, Subang Parade. There I was, naively parking my car at Carrefour's parking bay, as I usually do to escape paying for parking in Subang Parade. After all, what could some exercise do, except some good?

And thus, we had a great time wishing Jason Happy B'day. I personally had a great time laming around (Laming around as in telling people lame jokes and all) and getting to know new people. I even got the TGIF menu! (FYI, TGIF and Chili's are considered rivals in the food business)

So then, after all the formalities and goodbyes, the 3 of us, Nicky, Jason and yours truly, headed back to the supposedly parked car. Only to find out that...the car park was all locked up!

Sheepishly, we had to call back Kelly to give us a lift to the mamak and later, I had to hitch a ride back from my brother.

And finally, I just got the car back 2 hours ago. All the way back to Carrefour with my momma.

Heh, what a day~ What an experience it was~ But, nah, don't think I would want to go through it again.

Ministry

Going to TCA for night classes has been an interesting and fulfilling experience. Our lecturer, Pastor Ronald Ooi, has really taught me much within these few days. It's so interesting, that I found myself staying back after classes just to have a chat with him on life, ministry and even miscelleneous stuff.

It was one of the days after class when I spoke to him about ministry, and what he said really had an impact on me. He mentioned that we do not enter ministry, but we are all already in ministry now. The only question is whether are we entering it in a bigger capacity? And do the church needs us to enter full-time ministry?

This was a paradigm shift from whatever I was thinking. I used to be so focus on my future ministry, on being the evangelist and on going full-time in years to come that I forgot it's not about me or my timing. But it's all about God and His timing. Graduating from Bible College does not make us Pastors or Teachers or Prophets.

No, the Bible college isn't a Pastor producing factory, but a Pastor, Evangelist, Teacher, Prophet and Apostles are all not mere offices, but also a call. Anointing comes when you're in the right ministry. Bible College however, gives us a solid foundation on Theology and that helps in ministry and in preaching and even in everyday life.

However, going into ministry at the wrong time is the same as going into the wrong ministry. Reading R.T Kendall's book on 'The Anointing', R.T. Kendall mentioned about Godly men that failed in their ministry because they went in at the wrong time. When's God's timing? We'll know it when the time comes.

Getting back on full-time ministry, Pastor Ronald mentioned that currently, only 3/10 bible college graduates enter ministry full-time, while the others got back to their secular jobs. And even so, we can still work in the secular world and still function effectively Pastor (erm, or an Evangelist in my case) until God calls us to give up our secular jobs.

What a mind shifting paradigm~!

Now, to earn my millions~! *Grin*