Missions Report : Day 3

Day 3 - 4/9/04

I was halfway through the previous post when I realised I did not write about the trip to the orphanage that was part of the missions trip. Now I know when we went to Alamanda. Anyhows, will post that up later
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We woke up early for the next day. Actually I woke up one of the last as it was very tiring for me (haiyoo..paiseh paiseh, hehe) At 9 am, we did our morning worship and dailly devotions as Su Chen led. After that we went into the 4 cars and also the Jeep as Charles led us for breakfast. We changed into the Van and Jeep just before breakfast.

It was great to finally sit in a Jeeper jeep for the 1st time in my life. In our excitement to sit in it, we ended up cramping 5 people in it. Dat was the start of the butt ache story. The rest, as they say, is history...


Breakfast was another crazy experience as we never expected so much food. It seemed that Charles wanted to fatten us all up (to be cooked?! Aiks~!!) There were 3 dishes on the table when Audrey snapped a photo, thinking it would be it. But the 4th came, followed by the 5th, the 6th and finally the 7th (!) And all were different style of noodles plus 1 Yong Tau Foo dish. Now I know where all my six packs went to, haihhh~~ It was already slowly dissapearing like a Houdini act then


After the sumptious meal, Boss went off to buy his undies supply (which ended up as too tight, hahahaha) and forgot to buy me my towel. So then, I had to run to the Pasarraya to get mine. We did manage to have some time to play pepsi-cola, though its called different names in other places.

Playing dat does bring back the good times I had in primary school. Pepsi Cola, Police and thieves, badminton, etc etc. Unfortunately, Charis killed me with her 1st move (*sigh*, what's with girls bullying guys nowadays? hmm...)


It was a long journey to the next village. And also a tough, butt-aching one as we cramped into the jeep. There, we (Boss, Joshua Chiam, Chee Yong, Chris Chou and me) formed the Jeep Crew as we cracked joke after joke (lame jokes included) on our journey there. Yea, the king of lame jokes was in the car as well, hehehe

Also, Josh, Boss and me had to share butt space in an already cramped passenger seat at the back. (and to think of it, Charis and Audrey wanted to change seats with one of us to sit at the back. We saved them the butt ache, heh) Yea, I wanted to doze off actually, but the fact was, it was impossible due to the cramped butt we were all having, haihhh~

We arrived at the next village in the afternoon, around 12:45 or 1pm but were too full from breakfast to eat the chicken rice Charles tapaued on the way there. Some din even eat at all.


As we hanged out the Church, Chern Liang, Bea and Charis amused themselved with the toilets (I wondered what they were doing, spending so much time outside the toilets, instead of being in them, hehe)

We sat around for awhile after lunch, being too full to move around but too sleepy to do anything else. It was really a lot of food.Perhaps dat was what being pregnant felt like. Thank God we didn't go burping around, though we would probably have appreciated the chicken rice better if we weren't dat full. Audrey had some ulcer in her mouth, warranting a shot, while Charis had a ladybird on her arm. Too bad it flew away as I tried a close up shot.


Oh yea, Boss fell asleep and wouldn't wake up although the gals, led by Bea tried to wake him up. Think Boss wouldn't wake up even if u pinched him. Thus, being the mischevious gals they are (ah, never expected this), they gave Boss the ultimate cool look. It was really amusing to see them give Boss a makeover, just like the TV series, Queer Eye for the Straight guy.


Anyhows, after introduction to the church elders and caretakers, the children came in. At first only a few came. And we thought dat's it, kau tim man. Just a few cute kids. But then, more and more kept coming in. There were 3 batches of kids I think and a total of 60 over kids, all full of energy and with a smile readily pasted on their faces. It was a bit scary for me as I never did handle sunday school before (Would be making the kids laugh around too much instead of studying~! haha)


And it was good as Ken took charge of the songs with all his erm, comical faces and Bea played the guitar. They had changed roles in the last minute. Thought it was a good move as Bea might just frighten off the kids with her comical face, hehehe (sorry ya Bea, just had to say dat *grin*)

I felt the team did a good job as everyone participated in the songs, doing all those funny moves and dances. You can even see the joy in the faces of the team members who were trying hard to get the kids to follow. And in the end, it was a good time of great fun, especially seeing the kids jump around in amusement.

Then came Chris with his puppeteers, Chern Liang and Josh and also Chee Yong the Goliath, who greatly entertained the kids with their puppet show on David and Goliath. It was really good and funny. Think we all had a load of laughter though we had seen it a couple of times. We are proud of them. Now, we can start our own sesame street huh? (Yah, and Spiderman do exists in Sesame Streetlahh. Really wan *grin*)

Later on, Boss did his version of a gameshow as he shared with the kids about Christ, salvation and christianity. The kids went into a frenzy as they were divided into 3 groups, led by Josh, Ken and Angeline. Now dats a good way to keep the kids attention. I was with the kids, trying to drum up more noise, haha, like asking them to shout even louder.


The pretty girls, led by Audrey did their wonderful dance(wah, spellbounding. Helped wash our eyes, hahaha) Su Chen did not do the dance as she joined us to cheer for them (haihh, we're the pom pom guys, heh)

It was after the dance dat Audrey, Chris and the rest then went around making baloons for the kids. There were visible signs of excitement from the kids as we took out the baloons and distributed it to them. As we passed the baloons around, some did not want to pass it to the next in fear that he/she might not get it. Though the fear was unfounded.

It was amazing to see them so excited over baloons though. City kids would rather have toys amounting up to hundreds of ringgit though.

As Audrey taught the kids from the front, the rest of us sat around the kids and
tried our best as well to help out as well as look macho in front of the kids, heh. It was hard for those baloon-phobic people like me and Ken though.

But it was rewarding to see the look of joy in their faces when we helped all of them to finish folding their baloons into rabbits. Thus was the end of our morning adventure with the kids from dat kampung. It was a good experience


We then said goodbye to the kids as we then chatted abit with the church leaders of dat kampung. As the Pakcik prayed for the food in bahasa Semelai, some of us were touched as it was the 1st time in the missions trip we actually joined them in prayer in some other language. After that, we finished up our goodbyes before heading off to the next place. It was really encouraging to see the response from the kampung kids, considering the experience of aversion the day before when we visited the Che Wong tribe.


It was a pleasant surprise as Charles took us to Tasik Bera. Charles had previously told us we were going straight to the next kampung to do some gotong royong/cleaning up job.

And it was another pleasant surprise when we were told dat we were going on a boat ride, something we never expected. We did worry about the cost though as we did not want Charles to go around paying for us.

There we were divided into 4 groups as there were only 2 boats. Thus the other 2 groups had to wait as the 1st 2 went off.


Thus, there were Josh, Boss, Chee Yong, Audrey, Me and also Ray playing Mafia while waiting for the rest to come. We were stranded. 6 bored people. 5 guys and a gal, so we can't probably go around playing masak-masak could we?

At least it was better than to just look at the lake for birds and fireflys. Though, the game opened my eyes to Mafia. And I found that it was a really addictive and fun game as well. Ya, plus all those bluffs. Josh tried tricking us to believe he was the spy once, haihhh..he failed miserably. Audrey tried to pretend she's the spy as well, hahahaha~!


The boats came after 20 minutes and took us for a ride of our lives. We were still at mafia then~! And I was the mafia and I wanted to kill Boss next..*sigh* The boat ride was fast, adrenaline rushing and good too. Not to mention deafening Still can't forget the way Audrey screamed as we approached some crazily small opening with the boat. It was the skill of the boatmen that kept us alive then, heh.

And it was a surprise (or a shock) to see Su Chen, Charis and the rest in the water, forming a circle. What happened to the civilized Su Chen I thought I knew? Hehehe. Apparently they were trying out some synchronised swimming/or trying to play dead as Chern Liang said. I personally thought that they capsized (!) for dat matter, heh. Must be an overactive imagination huh?

We soon joined them with only Audrey and Ray opting to keep away from the water. Chee Yong tried to, but we caught him and threw him in. Ray was smarter though. He held on to his camera. *sigh* And Audrey? Hmm, we're gentlemens.

And there we were, some farting in the lake, others pissing in it (man, Christians, kononnya) and the others just playing around with water and bullying others. It was real great fun, really...Never had so much crazy fun for a long time dy. Guess dats one of the hallmarks of this mission trip, we just be ourselves without worrying about impressing others.


It was all us again as the 1st 2 groups then left for the ride of their lives. (wondered if they screamed like crazy, hmm...) So guess what we did? We Mafia-ed again! Crazy people aren't we? And it rained, and it was cold. But we didn't care, for we were mafia-ing. It was really great fun. Hahahaha, din feel like I was all the 24 I was. Chee Yong and Josh made some patterns on the bushes with their piss though (sigh..)

We arrived at the pier only to wait as it rained heavily. No Mafia this time though. Guess dat everyone was really tired at this juncture. Tired but happy. It has been a long time since I had so much carefree fun. The Tasik Bera chapter of the mission trip was an experience I would always treasure *smile*

After the rain subsided, we washed up and went to the next village, Pak Sudin's place. At that time, we were famished and hungry. Not to mentioned, worn out from all the playing. I could have eaten a wild boar alive if there was one then, hehehe.


It was a nice and cosy place that Pak Sudin built for himself. Somehow, it just felt like home. We had dinner after settling down. Dinner was good with good nice wild boar pork that was well cooked. It was also an eye opener to how nice petais could be as it was well cooked then.

I turned from a petai hater into a petai lover dat night (think a few of us converted dat night, when's the petai baptism ceremony huh? *grin*) And it was interesting talking to Pak Sudin about how he cooked the food and other stuff. It was only later that I found out dat Pak Sudin was a former Chef with some hotel.


After dinner and clearing up, we had a great time with the debriefing. This time, it was turned based as individuals took turns sharing what they've learned and what they expected. Still couldn't believe that they had a heartful of laugh when I shared my side of the story. Man, I was being serious and was sharing my heart....*sigh* But still, it was a really good time to understand each other better and more.


Later on, we walked around looking at the stars and the moon and not forgetting the artificial satellites. It was indeed nice and at times I regretted not jumping in the river that was next to the place Pak Sudin built. If only I was more crazy (!)It was a good and nice talk I had too.


We then washed up and got ready to sleep as the night went on. It was indeed a day to behold as I felt the events brought us all closer. An eventful day. A really nice day.

Missions Report : The training

Hey dudes~! I'm back again and blogging more about the missions. I told myself I better blog or write about this sometime soon or else I would begin to forget the details and everything else (just like the Sarawak Mission Trip we had)

Training & preparation on the 28th was good I guess. We sorta got everything in place; the children's ministry; the sketch; the dance and a bit on the sermon. It started off with meeting for lunch at the HB3 foodcourt (while Desmond and I tapaued pork for lunch). And dat was followed by meeting up in Boss' place for our preparations.

Preparations not only included practices, but also preparing the stuff involved like cutting, binding and so on, so forth.

The highlight of the day? Guess that happened when Charis almost fell off the chair and Ken went, 'Aiks, if she really fell down, I wouldn't know where to put my hands to stop her' and saying so showed us his 2 hands. Hahaha~!

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On the 31st, we went for dinner in Puchong followed by training and practices.

And finally, on the 1st, we did training with Annette. Training with Annette is always something different, just like with other FES staff. I guess when FES trains us, they always make sure that we're well equipped to do the missions, other than just being observers.

It all started in the morning with worship and me being late (due to tiredness from the camp, a bad stomach and also preparing the sermon until the wee hours of the morning). Had a miss call from Charis to remind me that I was late before rushing out for the training.

After worship, we had morning devotions, led by Su Chen and then finally Annette took over. It was a time of reflection for us as we were asked reflect and answer the paper Annette gave us. Something that helped us define who we are and what we expected from the missions.

After lunch, we had a few games that actually opened our eyes. First came the teamwork game, where we had bible readers, clue searchers, idlers, bible holders, bible translators and finally writers. And to top it all, we had to be tied together to a piece of paper and ensure it was intact throughout the game with everyone except the searcher blindfolded.

And Annette and Ray were the 2 erm, distractions that were meant to distract and disturb us throughout the game. And the funny thing was that they (or more like Annette) kept disturbing us, snatching the bible, pen and even pulling out hair and poking us in our stomachs. I think Charis was the person most attacked by Annette due the the responses she gives (ahahaha~! you guys should be there as well)

And being the searcher I was, was hard as the team kept expecting you to fend off the dangers and even scolded you if you don't. *Sigh* And imagine leading 5 other blind people with a mischevious Annette and Ray behind your back. And having Boss (DK) shouting with all his might next to you, 'Annette~! Don't disturb us ar~!' when in fact Annette was really far away. (heh, am surprised I'm not deaf)

There was also the tribal game where we had to come out with our tribe name, King, rules and punishment. At that moment, I became Koo Koo Shy, the King of Shyland with people dat kept saying 'Shy Shy this, Shy Shy dat'

And it was really good fun with fun scenarios and seeing the other group with their Raygagugilaha kingdom and saliva worship rituals.

After all the games, we proceeded with going through the questions Annette gave with Annette, with Annette facilitating everything. After brushing everything up, dinner was at Dengkil where me and Chris Chou had our haircuts as well.

And then it was a time of preparing everything and getting ready to leave the next day. Packing up whatever is needed for the trip as well.


p/s: We also went to Alamanda, Putrajaya, but I can't quite recall when.

The 10 days

Phew! We're back in business these holidays~! It's been an awesomely hectic, tiring but also rewarding 1 days that began on the 28th August and ended just on the 6th of September.

And I thank God for all the 10 days we had. The training, camp and then missions trip. I can safely say for myself and my teammates, 'We came back changed~!' And I thank God that we've got to know each other better from the 10 days that was spent together.

How was the 10 days? (Writing here for memories sake)
28th - Training by Charis and Boss
29th to 31st - CF camp followed by awesome dinner
1st - Training by Annette
2nd to 5th - Missions followed by welcome dinner by Annette
6th - Debriefing by Annette and Ray

Imagine spending 10 days in the midst of the same bunch of people day in and day out. 10 days of mostly eating together and sleeping together. 10 days of listening of each others jokes, craps and also stuff you can't even label as jokes (hehe). And finally 10 days of seeing each other in action, the strengths, the weaknesses and the corniness of it all. I wouldn't give the world for those 10 days.

To my teammates: Audrey Tong, Daniel Khoo, Charis Liew, Joshua Chiam, Angeline, Teh Kean Sing (and dance as well), Su Chen, Chee Yong, Chris Chou, Beatrice Leong, Chern Liang and Ray (The X-ray dude)

Keep the fire burning~!

p/s: Check here for photos and more on the missions. Gotta go~ Working @ 8 am!

Intermission

Hi there visitors! Won't be able to update my blog for the next few days until the 6th as I would be going for a missions trip to the Orang Asli settlement in Temerloh, Pahang. Do check back then~! Thanks!

The Trip

Tomorrow will be a day I would term as 'The Trip' It will most probably be a day of meeting up some good old friends for lunch in KLCC and then just sitting around KLCC, doing some people observing and sermon writing.

Somehow, I find I've developed an interest of just hanging out in shopping complexes and observing people that walk past by (And no, it's not just the gurls, seriously *grin* Though I wonder if you guys actually do this as well, hmm). Guess it all started when I worked in Chili's and had to wait by the tables for the customers' every want and need.

Relationships never fails to get my attention. There's a wide variety of ways relationships could turn out. And I guess, at times it's quite interesting really to observe people and how do they actually react and respond to each other.

If you look clearly, there's always the couple that doesn't talk at all, the couple that is too, well, touchy feely and also the couple that's going around playing like kids in the shopping complex. You see, there are just so many possibilities in relationships and sometimes by observing others, you can learn from them.

Other than that, there's also the issue of Megasale still going on and also being in a place with a lot of people actually helps me get my mind running, instead of being at home alone, heh.

Oh yeah, for those of you who still haven't watched Alien vs Predator, don't watch it. We watched it last night, and well, it isn't a movie you want to spend your rm 10 on, unless you're a real big fan of either two. At least spend it on something of Shrek 2's quality *grin*

Okays, guess dats it. Had a great time with Kevin Tang, Audrey, Grace and Ah Ham on Tuesday. Thanks people! We should do it more often *smile* And nope, no deep thinking stuff or lame & funny jokes in this post.

God Bless and Happy holidays again~!

p/s: Still can't believe dat people said I'm 5 out of a scale of 1-4 on being talkative. Man, and I thought I was quiet. Am I not, am I not? *scratches head in amusement*

Quiet or noisy?

Ah, the finals is finally over. For many, it is a case of many papers, making the final paper so delightfully nice. However, I had only 1 paper throughout the semester (this is what you get for failing *sigh*) and so, it's the first and last paper for me. Oh yea, how's the paper? Erm, dun ask

Anyhows, would be heading to KL to release tension, eat in Burger King other than bringing out the juniors. Just a running thought, do you guys ever sit and think when you eat a burger? For example, burgers from your roadside burger stall, Mcdonalds, Burger King, KFC and stuff from Chili's and TGIF.

Hah, if you really want to taste a burger that's almost similar to those you get from Chili's and at a much cheaper price, you won't go wrong with Burger King. This is due to the fact that BK uses the same cooking technique as employed in Chili's.

Mcdonald isn't too far away, but KFC's burgers are really crap. And those roadside burger stalls? Heh, they don't even come close to what a burger is in America. Just try setting up your Ramli burger stall in America and the people will ask you what is it? *grin*

Ya, enough of burgers for today. Just another running thought. Do you guys think I'm a :
1) Quiet person
2) Oklah, not too quiet and not too noisy either
3) Kinda chatty
4) Noise maker! Nuff said (would take super strong Acme glue to keep me quiet)

Would appreciate input on this. Perhaps I would make a poll huh? *wink* Comments welcomed and appreciated!

God Bless and Happy holidays~!

Personality Tests

Heys! I'm back again! Heh, haven't gone back to hit the books yet. Soon I promise (ya, Su Chen gonna treat me to KFC when I grad! Oh yea, Joel & Fonie too! Isn't that inspiration enough?) *grin*

Anyhows, I stumbled upon this personality test site. It's a simplified version of the Keirsey's Temperament Sorter, that's been reseached on (Wazzat? hehe, I'm sure some of you don't even know what's it huh? *grin*) Anyhows, it's something that tests your personality. Really good stuff.

Anyhows, it's much more accurate than those quizilla/what's your color test/what's your bible book test/blah blah etc etc. Those are meant to well, erm, get you happy I guess. (Yea Mel, Leona & Joanne, if you gals are reading this, heh)

Do check it out. The explaination is really good and I'm dying to know what's your personality type. Here is it, just click on the Bloginality link

Enjoy~!

p/s: Time to exercise my people skills and reel in the Japanese chicks! Somehow, Olympics opened my eyes to Japanese chicks. However, Korean ones aren't too bad either.. *grin*

Now, where's that Katagana and hiragana book?

Consumed

Ever heard of the story of the communist guy? It was many years ago, when this communist wrote a tearful letter to his fiance. And in his letter, he mentioned a dream, his dream, the communist dream. He has reached a point where the dream consumes every portion of his soul, where every waking moment is consumed by the desire to spread the communist propaganda. And because of this, he can't and he won't continue their relationship. Though they were to be married soon.

At times, I do feel consumed by this dream. The dream to see the salvation of Malaysia. The dream of spiritual breakthrough happening in Malaysia. And no, it's not something that comes during a revival concert or a breakthrough camp, but it's something that consumes the very portions of my soul.

Was spending quiet time with God yesterday when again I felt God asking me, 'Leo, would you go? To be the evangelist I've called you to be' And it's not once. It's a thing that keeps repeating itself. Would I go? Would I give my life for a cause greater than this?

Many people have dreams of going overseas, going for a play or retiring happily at the age of 40. But I can't, cause every flitting moment is consumed by the dream, a desire to see a change in Malaysia. How God's gonna do it, I seriously dunno.

I have to admit, I've been distracted. At times, I find my short attention span leading me to something else. But I guess it's time to refocus. I know I live for this dream, this vision, this statement.

I believe too that God's teaching me something new nowadays. A phrase kept repeating itself when I did quiet time. It was 'Shepherd's heart' Maybe it has something to do with what's happening, does it?

Heh, guess dat's it, will be updating this blog later on. Gotta get back to studying. Heh, no amount of praying would get you an A if you don't study, rite?

God Bless!

The Final Lap

Matthew 16:24-26 'Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?'

Last week was a thinking week for me. I don't have much time left in Multimedia University. Straightaway after the finals, there's industrial training, which will then be followed by the 3rd semester and then graduation. And though 7 months might seem long, it's actually quite fast and before you can blink your eyes and say, 'whatchasaymynameis', it's gone!

And I kept getting this verse coming to my head. Perhaps it's God trying to tell me something, no?

Anyhows, I was just thinking, have I made an impact here while still in MMU? Have I left a mark in the Christian Fellowship? Have I done my best to bless others, help them and even be there for them? And at times I just don't know.

There must be a reason why I'm still here. 6 years in MMU (!) Could have gotten a MBA if I kept to doing Economics in HELP. And it's been a journey, a real long but exciting journey.

I still remember the times when I 1st set foot in Unitele (as MMU was known then). Lost, not knowing where to go and what to do, Sheila Jeremiah invited me to join the Christian Fellowship. And there we were, 10-12 of us that restarted the CF then. We were eventually known as the 2nd pioneers.

And it was great. Studying in the library everyday for the fear of failure and then coming home to the student house in the middle of the night, when the library closed. And it was obligatory dailly trip to the other CF houses next door to joke around, tease each other and to catch up with how everyone is doing, other than to have our Chor Tai Dee challenge (where the gals were sore losers, heh) *grin*

Of course, there were some BGR activities going on too. Some were innocent BGRs and some, not so, as we saw our CF gals getting too close to some non Christian guys. It's not that we didn't warn them, but in the end it was their choice, their lives and their walk with God. We just had to lead our own lives.

The Christian Fellowship grew as we went out of our way to invite others in. We had 38 members when I shifted to Cyber. 12 to 38, no small feat considering there were no seniors around then. Some of the gals stopped coming though, due to their relationships with well..*sigh*

Anyhows, here I am. Have I done enough? Have I taken up my cross frequently enough? Have I blessed you yet?

As I begin the last lap of my race in MMU, I hope and I pray that I can invest in people's life. God's been teaching me to view things through Christ's lenses. Perhaps that's it, to look after the needs of others and not myself. After all, it's not all about me, but Christ who lives in me. I'm willing to die to serve you, if that's possible.

Let me run the final sprint, the final 100 meters knowing that I've done my part here in MMU.

God Bless~

The Putrajaya Flour Bash : Insider story

Ah, enough of serious posts for the time being. I'm sure some of you have read Wee Liem's account of the birthday bash cum BBQ (heh, BBQ sounds like killed Pork, where BB = Babi and Q = kill *bleh*)

Coming to you is the insider account of the bashing, from the one who did all the flour, cold mineral water, tomato and finally beehoon throwing. So what actually happened?

We (Kenneth Tan and I) actually planned to have a BBQ as part of the joint CG activity early on of the semester. Somehow, it progessed to be a birthday bash for Wee Liem as well.

Eggs and flour were the initial items planned for our beloved Wee Liem. But somehow, as egging and flouring would be a real mess to clean up, we bought 2 packets of flour at rm 1.90 each in Tesco.

And thus, after everything was over and as Jo Wen was killing time by asking people for their comments, some of us were upstairs trying to light up the b'day cake we got from Berry's.

The funny thing was that we didn't have the lighter and we couldn't light it up, but Jo Wen didn't know that and after signalling for the lights to be killed, he started with the b'day song only to realise the cake wasn't there! (duh...)

And so, it was an awkward moment of silence. Everyone was waiting for the cake. Somehow, we found the lighter and was about 2 steps down the stairs when Kenneth Tan mentioned, 'Flour!'

And somehow, we planned for me and Kenneth to flour Wee Liem after Grace had taken the cake down and in the midst of the B'day song. It was kinda good too to find Wee Liem sms-ing innocently with his back turned to us.

So then, while everyone was busy singing the birthday song, we brought out the flour, tore both the packets and *POW* went Wee Liem! And yea, I was the culprit who did all the water, tomato ketchup and bee hoon on Wee Liem. It so happened that they were all within reach and well, flour is never enough huh? *grin*

The highlight of the flour bash? An unforgettable one when everyone was lined up for a group photo. As the cameraman shouted,'Ready?' a crazy thought went through my head. There was a group of bashable people and the packet of flour was still kinda full.

So then, as the cameraman went '3..2..on' and the voice was dragging when I flour-ed over everyone who were nicely posing for the group photo! Hah, how's that for a b'day bash?


Now, hmm, where do I hide on my birthday so I'm not bashed in return? Time to turn invisble I guess. I can be invisible when nobody's looking! *Blehhh*

Numbing it

Sometimes emotions are something that's hard to understand. It runs wild at times when we least expect it to and when that happens it's just so easy to get into the 'self pity' mode.

Wonder why I mentioned about emotions? Well, guess I'm learning to bring it under control, just like a cowboy reining in a wild horse.

Today was a really great day. From the start, meeting up Kenneth & Eric early in the morning to get stuff for Wee Liem's b'day to an expensive 'chap fan' lunch (eesh, kena conned by the chap fan rice uncle). It was followed by shopping in Tesco, cleaning the house, marinating the food and then waiting for everyone to arrive for the BBQ party to start.

BBQ was a blast with crazy kodak moments with Kenneth, Charis, Mel, Kae Ee and Wee Liem doing crazy shots on our digital cameras. Some we later bombed Wee Liem with flour, water, tomato ketchup and bee hoon, leaving us with a big mess to clear up.

But somehow, the emotions button clicked halfway through and though I tried my best, everything seemed to go down the drain then. (Ah, I should just blame it on the lack of glucose, heh) And there I was, smiling when turmoil seem to run through the emotions.

Someone mentioned afterwards that talking about it would be good. But somehow, somethings are better left unsaid, unheard of and kept in the heart. After all, it might give a bad outcome if it's out.

Just at times, we're faced with an option when our emotions run wild. Do we numb it with all our games, studies, movies and everything else? Or do we bring it and lay it upon the cross? All our hurts, broken hopes, broken dreams and pain.

It's always easier to numb it, but bringing it to God helps us grow in Christ. God help me go through less of these storms and tornadoes of life~

God Bless

Reaffirming the call

Isaiah 6:8 'Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."'

Somehow meeting up with my senior Pastor, Ps Henry, is always an awkward situation. There he would be, with his booming, fatherly voice going, 'Good morning Leo! Are you still interested about full-time ministry?' And it would always be in the main sanctuary of the church, in the full view of others. Heh, now what would you give to avoid that question? (especially when everyone seems to be around, haiihh~)

Anyhow, I guess the question is not the issue of commitment, but an issue of timing. Been learning a lot of things these past few weeks. Guess I've grown an inch or two spiritually too. (Yah, you expected the word 'sideways' huh?)

One lesson learnt was the fact you can't make people like you, especially if they don't (Heh, simple lesson huh?) In fact, every friendship work on a 2 way basis. We hang out with those we like, and vice versa, people that like us (on the basis of our personality, wit, humor and perhaps companionship) hang out with us.

We should not try to change ourselves to suit others as that's crap, but we can try to smoothen our rough edges. Heh, like for example, being more sensitive to others, being crappy/lame at the right time, etc etc. After all, life is about learning to live with others, right?

Another lesson learnt is the fact that we can only advice and pray our friends when we see them in a situation that might be harmful to them. After all, we care for their wellbeing. But sometimes, it's all up to them. It's their life, their decision and their choices. Doing more might just harm the friendship, wouldn't it?

Ah, back to full-time ministry. Was at FGA KL when they gave an altar call for those wanting to give their life to serve God. But, being where I am now, it's not about going out there. I've done that many times. But it's the issue of living my life dailly for Christ, dying to myself in order to life for Christ. After all, it's a long run, not a 100 meters dash.

Guess that's it for now. Till something crazy happens (like a flying cow over Cyberjaya or something like dat, heh *grin*) or when God puts something in this stubborn cranium skull of mine, God Bless~

p/s: People and relationships are all part and parcel of full time ministry. After all, your congregation is human after all right? *grin*

Friends

Was just looking back at my life recently. It's been 5 years plus since I registered as a student with MMU. And somehow throughout this time, I've drifted apart from the many friends I have. Guess at times, there are friends that go a certain portion of the road with you, and there are also friends that stick with you through thick and thin huh?

Did some calling up of old friends with the phonebook I have. And it seems that there's a barrier with those friends you don't keep in touch for quite some time. There's just a feeling of not knowing where to start. Conversations seem a little awkward. People seem hesitant to open up.

But I guess it's a sacrifice thats needed to be made. Most of my old friends meet up on Saturday nights and for many years now, Saturday nights has strictly been a time to serve the church. And after awhile, they kinda got fed up to call. After all, I wouldn't be able to make it.

Anyhows, enough on the sad note. Haihhh, will try to meet up with my friends on Saturday afternoons next time, as an effort to catch up with them.

On a brighter note, Thirst CG was a blast! We had a great time with lame jokes and bashing each other up. (Ahh~ Even the gurls ganged up to bash me~ Haiihh) At the end of the day, we wrote comments on each others back. Interestingly, here's some of them:

-Lame guy, wanna BULK you, but you're enthusiastic and very helpful!
-I pray that you don't get BULK so often >:) God Bless man!
-Real lame-o, but love ya!
-Forever the lame!! Don't ever change :)
-BULK!
1) For being too lame sometimes
2) For trying to be funnie
3) For being quite a nice guy

Guess you can tell by now that I'm the king of lame jokes, heheheh. It's actually a skill to be learnt you know? Not everyone can graduate with a 1st class in well, being lame. Wanna be my student? *grin*

p/s: What's BULK? It's BEAT UP LEO KOO. Just a phrase coined up by my demented friends. Haiihh~ It must be due to the sad environment of Cyberjaya.

Bitterness

Hebrews 12:15 'See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many'

Was doing some blog surfing today when I came upon some blogs that spoke with so much hurt, anger, frustrations and bitterness. Bitterness, something I'm so familiar with.

What's with bitterness anyway? Bitterness is unforgiveness that has festered itself and in itself is a sin. But sometimes, life is so much easier to be in the state of bitterness and frustrations. After all, it's familiar ground to settle in and after awhile, you sort of prefer to stay bitter than to get out and get a life.

Need an example of a bitter person? I was once bitter. And in a way, bitterness overtook every single part of me, every single thought was consumed by rage and bitterness. I virtually lost myself there. Friends became a place to complain instead of having fun. Haiihh, if only I knew better then.

Somehow, one day in the EARC 2002 camp in PD, God sorta short-circuited me and woke me up. And somehow, God got this into the thick stubborn cranium skull of mine during a moment in camp when I was feeling down and bitter about everything. And I suddenly came to realization that God was trying to tell me,'Look, there are people that are nice to you, you're not a reject or a loser. Even the nice pretty girls are talking to you!' Guess that the last part of the message had the effect God wanted huh? Heh.

Anyhows, it's been quite a trip so far. One year and 2 months since the day I decided it's enough, it's time to grow up and let the past go.

True, at times I still have to fight the pasts, the hurts and the pain. At other times, I had to acknowledge the fact I've got all my life screwed up and it wasn't easy to learn talking, relating and joking with others again.

It was and still is hard. There were a lot of times of hurts and tears when I just don't comprehend what's happening around me or when I mis-read some people's reaction. And staying bitter seemed the easy way.

But looking back, I thank God for what I've been through. Life is so much more fun now, so much more colorful, so much more joy. And I begin to find myself enjoying it everyday, instead of being frightened again by the chance of getting hurt.

It's tough brother, but you can do it too.

God Bless~

Bible College part 3

Yesterday (Thursday), was the last day of our Pastoral Epistle class. It has been an interesting journey of learning more about life, Christianity and how could we be better Christians.

Next semester, I would not be taking any bible college classes as I would be working as a service engineer in Puchong. That requires a lot of travelling outstation, and at times, I might come home late. Though, looking on the bright side, it would help me find more interesting makan places in the Klang Valley *grin*

So, how was the day? I had a hard time finishing the assignments. Guess I read too much and wrote too little until the dateline loomed around the corner. Then, it was a tough decision between salad and mashed potatoes, considering I was still finalising the assignment on the day of submission. We had pot bless as part of the final class you see.

Hah, had a fun time making mashed potatoes with Mich, though I ended up late for the pot bless. Thank God for the amazing food everyone prepared, it looked like it was prepared by some professional food catering service! Really had a great time eating the food and chatting before the lesson began.

And after class, well, it was goodbye and well, I do hope that there would be a chance that God will make our life's journey intertwined, so that we could meet again later on in life. For those of you who plan to enter full time ministry, may God continue to guide you and lead you. And as for me, there's still a long journey to go, learning to die to myself on a dailly basis. Being a godly Christian is never easy.

It's been great, my fellow Pastoral Epistles classmates!




p/s: Was really tempted to bring over some peanut butter and goober grape as my portion of pot bless, hehe. Perhaps with bread too.

David Crowder Band

It is insanity. Been listening to David Crowder Band's Illuminate album over 20 times now in a span of 4 days. But it's awesome creative stuff that brings you closer to God. One Christian music website even mentioned that it's the best thing to come out in the Christian worship scene since Delirious' Cutting Edge albums. And for me, it's the best thing since Delirious' Live in a Can album and Sonicflood's debut album



What are you waiting for? Go grab your copy from the nearest Christian bookstore. And don't wait, do it as soon as possible~!

p/s: It received great reviews too, from secular rock stations. Simply amazing

The Vomit Story

When finding for a church a year ago, I wanted a church that went for lunch after the service. This is so that I could get to talk and know the rest better during the lunch. And it was a pleasant surprise when I found that in this church,we would have lunch in church after the service.

Lunch today was Nasi Lemak with curry chicken. And being the lazy and greedy person I am (yes, I admit I'm lazy and greedy *blek*), I took 4 pieces of chicken, thinking it would be easy to finish them. But never did I know that they were extra spicy. Never did smell hot to me though. (Could you know a chicken is hot by just smelling the gravy? Hmm, I wonder)

So, halfway through the 1st, I gave one piece over to Xavier and was huffing, puffing and coughing in a vain effort to finish the rest. And along came Jeffrey and he went

'Hey dude, are you ok?'
'Erm, yea, I'm ok *cough cough* (whole church notices the bad cough)'
'Hey, here's some water. Take it slowly dude'
'Yea man *cough cough cough*'
'Are you sure? Drink the water first lah'
'Shure *drinks water*'

then suddenly...

'Errghhh~! *Vomits unto the church carpet, of all things*'
'Hey dude, you just vomited! Are you ok?'
'Aiks, how's the carpet doing?'
'It's not important how's the carpet, how are you feeling dude?'

Man, it was the first time a stomach upset ever got to me in church. Haihh, gonna swear off extra spicy stuff next time. Still can remember the funny face Lin Li gave me when she wiped away the vomit. And then, the left hand that smelt of vomit when I blew my nose half an hour later. Apparently, I forgot to wash my hands with soap, of all things.

Arghh! Enough of vomit stories for today~

Hope you don't vomit reading this. Heheh. *Grin*

Hope

Isaiah 40:29-31-He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

It's a verse that has been playing through my mind since yesterday, when Rebecca and I dropped by Canaanland to take a look around. There, in Canaanland, was this cross with an eagle on it and these very meaningful verses.

Hope. Hope in the Lord when everything seems to go wrong, to seem bleak and to seem too hopeless. Sometimes, I look too much at myself, my weaknesses, my faults and how much I lack when compared to others. I'll never be good enough, strong enough, smart enough nor funny enough when compared to others. Not on my own strength anyway.

And when this happens, I seem like crap, never good enough for friends around me, getting depressed and all. But God has given me and you a way out. Hope in the Lord and you'll soar on wings like eagles. Cast your eyes upon God and not upon the scars that you've been through. After all, Paul mentioned setting our eyes upon the goal, the finishing line, even though it might cost the body

Everyone has been through some crap in life, it just depends on how you deal with what life throws at you. What's life without the local spices and salt? Help me focus on You even more God and soar like the eagle out there, above the troubles and the crap, but keeping my eyes up upon you. 

Amen~

God sized plans

Jeremiah 29:10-12 - This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

I woke up to this words. It was early, 6 am and we were due to go for Bak Kut Teh with a bunch of insane young people (yes, if you're one of them and you're reading this, you're insane! Hahahah). Bak Kut Teh is a hellish portion of unhealthy pork and soup that is bound to make you fat, good news for those trying to put on weight. And as I sat in bed, half asleep and as blur as a sotong, these words kept ringing in my head. 'For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'

What plans God, what plans? Sometimes God's plans seem so far away, so far fetched and so unlikely, especially when we're still learning to trust in Him in everything we do. And sometimes things seem to go awfully wrong when we least expect it.

It's been one year since I shifted myself out of an abusive, hurtful & unaccepting situation. And at times, my past tends to catch up with me. I'm not used to crowds, being so used to sitting alone, just observing people joking around and teasing each other. To me, it's much easier to be an observer than to go in and stand a chance of getting hurt.

And I guess, that's the source of my depression. Unless I'm sure of our friendship, I would just sit behind and observe, then getting upset with myself for not participating. The past tends to catch up with you sometimes you least expect it.

And it was interesting, when the speaker for CF on Tuesday mentioned about forgiveness. Forgiveness also includes accepting yourself as how God sees you instead of looking at how others have mistreated you. Forgiveness also means being secure of who you are in Christ and not letting the hurts affect you again.

God mentioned plans, plans to prosper and not to harm us. And it's times like this when hope dangled down seems so powerful, so wonderful and so awesome. God indeed has plans for this wretched life of mine. I just need to keep focus on Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Maybe perhaps one day in the future I could look back at this and laugh at the past. Just maybe, if God wills it...

God Bless~

Unstable emotions

Today was an awesome day. However, at the end of the day, I felt down, depressed, broken and like crap. I don't quite understand why. Perhaps it was the expectations, the hormones, the big group settings and also the past. Or perhaps it's just me.

But examining the day, like any other mood-swinging day, everything ran fine, good and better than expected but ended with a feeling of depression. And at times like this, I just wished that those emotions, those feelings would go away and leave me alone. Why the feelings that don't make much sense? Why the heart that does not listen to the head?

But maturity comes when we're able to be temperate, self-controlled instead of controlled by the heart. Guess that it's a process that I need to learn to submit to Christ to be put on the altar. My rights, my wants, my hopes. Just like Abraham and Isaac.

God help me take this emotions away~!

Malaysia vs Norwich weekend

It was an awesome weekend, where it was about hanging out with some good friends and topped by the Malaysia - Norwich soccer match! And to think of it, we had VIP seats. At halftime, we went in for a meal when we found Malaysia's most famous soccer export, who is non other than Mr Shebby Singh!



Heh, for those of you who are wondering, Shebby Singh is a soccer commentator with the English Premier League. And those things we're holding, they're super loud horns *evil grin*

Bagai Rajawali

Just a song that inspired me so much recently. A song that drives on Psalms 36:7 'How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings'

BAGAI RAJAWALI

Aku ingin selalu berada di hadirat-Mu
Aku ingin selalu berlindung dalam naungan-Mu
Di bawah kepak sayap-Mu
Kau bawaku terbang tinggi
Melintasi langit biru
Bagaikan rajawali

Bagai rajawali melintasi gunung tinggi
Bagai rajawali melintasi badai hidup
Di bawah kepak sayap-Mu
Kau bawaku terbang tinggi
Melintasi langit biru bagaikan rajawali

First Love

I have to admit. I was tired. Tired of our Friday Cellgroups that are far away. Tired to drive around so much. Tired of being a nice Christian guy. Just tired. And to think of it, it's sometimes much easier to be another guy out there, free to do what I feel like doing, not caring less of what's gonna happen next.

But then, as I ask myself again, 'What's my life ambition?' To please God 'What's my dream?' To see breakthrough happening in Malaysia. I won't settle for anything less than this, for God has brought me through so much and given me so many promises.

And as I was contemplating writing this blog for a few days, God kept pointing me towards the word 'First Love' Everything I encountered seem to point towards the message First Love.

Jim Elliot once wrote, 'A man is no fool to let go of what he cannot keep and to hold on to what he can' Jim Elliot died holding on to his first love, killed by the Aucas in the mission fields of Ecuador.

At times, I do ask myself,'Am I a fool?' At times, it would seem so. Just a fool dreaming a dream so big that he doesn't know how God's going to use him. Just a fool driving around, doing things for the church. Just a fool, trying his best to be a good, Godly Christian in everyway he can.

Reading the book, Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster, Richard mentioned that it's so easy to say 'yes' to God for the big things. To give up our lives on the battle field, to change the world and to make an impact. After all, they don't need much follow up. But true discipline, true serving comes not with a big decision, but small decisions to serve God in small things. That's when the true sacrifices come in.

And to me, there's where First Love comes in. Are you willing to be a fool? To make such sacrifices, even if there's a chance no one notices, no one cares and no one says thank you? It's hard, it's tiring and it's unrewarding. And people might even call you a fool for a lost cause.

First love comes with putting God first in everything you do, even when things don't seem to work out. Let us also not fall into the trap of just doing ministry. (Revelations 2:2-5)

First love. Let me be a fool for something I know I can hold on to.

God Bless~

BCM's campus day

Just got this email back. Anyone's interested to stay in BCM and attend it's lectures for it's Campus day?

=============================================
Dear Leo,

How have you been?

Our newsletter is ready and I have made the arrangement to mail it to you. You will the info and registration form for Campus Day. Please feel free to contact me or you may contact the person-in-charge, Pastor Florence Teh 03-79565621.

Thanks and God bless you!

May
-----Original Message-----
From: Leo Koo [mailto:leokoo@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 12:00 AM
To: mayobt@myjaring.net
Cc: biblecm@streamyx.com
Subject: Re: From BCM

Ok

xxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx (ehem, private! If you need it, email me ya)

Thanks again

Leo
--- May Ong wrote:
Leo,

Please give us your address so that we can mail you the newsletter regarding our campus day on 22-24 Sep 04. The newsletter (with relevant info on how to register) will likely be out by the end of July.

Regards,

May Ong
Assistant Registrar
Bible College of Malaysia
Tel: 03-79565621
Email:

Hairy Story

Was helping out on day at Grace Community Center when I bumped into an old friend during lunch. As we were talking, a bunch of home schooled kids (more like 12-14 year old girls) were looking and suddenly developed an interest in us.

So then I asked my friend
'Hey, those are your students?'
'Yep, all those girls'
'What's with them?'
'Guess they've never seen their teacher chatting with a guy with dyed hair'

Man, guess home schooled kids are kinda too overprotected huh? Heh

Inspired

One of my dreams is to see revival breaking through Malaysia. Perhaps we could form a band that plays malay songs that will touch the hearts of the millions of ethnic Malays living here. If only and if only it's God's timing.

Here's a song that has truly inspired me throughout the last 2 months. May you be blessed by the lyrics

Mengejar HadirMu

Dekat padaMu itu rinduku
Setiap kataku Kau pun menunggu
Tak kusangka kutemukan
Satu kasih yang abadi
Kini kudatang dan kubawa hidupku

Memandang wajahMu
Mengikuti kebaikanMu
Mengejar hadirMu
Dalam hidupku
Membawa sembahku
Menyatakan kebesaranMu
Mengejar hadirMu
Dalam hidupku

©2001 giving my best music / true worshippers productions
Music by giving my best; Words by Sidney Mohede

Baby Sister

Was driving around Klang Valley with a friend, when we came across an interesting signboard. It read

'Baby Sister'
'012-xxxxxxx'

What? Baby sister for rent/sale?

Haih~~ Manglish to the max.

Blood Brothers

1 Corinthians 6:6-8 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!

One of the interesting things about Bible college, is that we learn part of the bible in Greek as part of the class. And an interesting feature in the Pauline Epistles (letters written by Paul) is that when Paul uses the word brother and brotherhood, Paul wrote it in a way gave the meaning 'blood brothers' and not just cousin brothers or brothers by agreement.

And when we think back, what does the term blood brothers could actually mean, we find that it's powerful stuff. Don't all of us, at certain times find that we couldn't get along with someone else (and perhaps, it's not us that doesn't want to try), or maybe we get worked out over the fact that some other Christian had dissapointed us, failed us, frustrated us or even cheated us (!)

And at times like this, we tend to draw swords, and its not the sword of the spirit mind you but swords to slash and cut the other person. We tend to gossip, slander and even talk bad about others. And sometimes, we tend to do it without noticing we're actually doing it. (Correct? Come on, admit it, most of us fall to it)

When God gave us the command to not forget meeting up regularly, God knew there were going to be problems of humans and egos getting in the way. Fellowship is good, but all the backbiting and politics that comes with a bigger church does not. (Not that there isn't church politics in a smaller church, but mostly, it's more controlled)

But then, if you look at the word brother, that appeared 34 times in the Pauline Epistles (NKJV), you find that Paul mostly wrote on how should we treat a fellow believer, a brother in Christ, a blood brother.

And he even wrote on the issue of sueing a brother. Would we sue if we're cheated? (though the issue of murder and rape are altogether different things, they're criminal~) And what if the amount is substantial? Or we're being slandered? Do we just let it go? Forgive? Isn't that unfair?

But when Paul used the word Blood Brothers, and blood is thicker than water, how than should we go about it? And even in this, how then do we treat our fellow Christians? As normal friends? Or do we really see them as our brothers and sisters. Maybe it's the fact that we've gotten comfortable and there isn't any REAL persecution around.

And then, we could apply this in our churches and CFs. Let us overlook minor offences and discuss the major ones, instead of backbiting and gossiping. Sometimes, people do not do things to offend us on purpose. Perhaps it was their upbringing or their past. Let us love even the difficult ones with compassion, cause God had loved us 1st.

And finally, a thought for you to ponder as you leave. If we can't love one another while here on earth, what about eternity with the person you hate?

God Bless~

Spiderman 2

Have you watched Spiderman 2 yet? If you haven't, catch it~ It's one of the best movies around this year, with a solid storyline, great cast, good action and special effects. Heck, even the comedy parts of the movie came alive!

And btw, if you do watch it at MINES, Serdang, you would be able to catch Spiderman in person! (ya, he's fake, but who cares...?)

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
==========================================================
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.
=====================================
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*