Mik's Sharings.......from Fall 2005 and counting

A day as 'Hunchback of Notre Dame'

2011-09-04T23:30:00.000+08:00

As I woke up for church this morning, I realized that my back was aching...well, it kinda happens once in a while, hence, I did the usual "crawl the wall" stretch that usually does the trick and keep the back in check.

During and after church, the back was still aching endlessly...alas, i couldnt even stand up after lying down on the couch to rest:/ Wires (aka nerves) in the whole lower back area and thighs were just flaring up and refusing to snap into place.

Muscle relief remedies helped to get me up to my feet, but my back basically was too weak and plaque with too much pain to enable me to sit or stand properly.

Come evening, it got a little better, and I could stand like "Hunchback of the Notre Dame"...had to walk while bending:/

Sigh...acute backache came back with a vengeance today after lying low for a few years...And just like dormant volcanoes, the fresh eruption is usually bigger after its predecessors.

Negative thoughts did cross my mind, and past x-rays results did show that I have a less than perfect spine that needs some medical attention. I did message a good friend to get his opinion through a Physio point of view, which was quite comforting to know although at this 'acute' stage as they call it, I'll need to pray and go see a Doc tomorrow.

"Hello Stranger"!

2011-04-23T20:30:00.004+08:00

Earlier this year, my friend from S'pore shared a link to a Thai movie called "Hello Stranger"! It's a romantic comedy filmed in Korea! I loved it instantly! Since I couldn't find out when it was released, and assumed that it probably came out a few months back, I started looking out for it in the stores, but couldn't find any traces of the movie.

Last week, while waiting to pick me up from work, my brother joined a radio station contest and won 4 tickets to the premiere of a Thai movie called "Hello Stranger", it took me a few seconds to register the name and I was ecstatic!!! Since he couldn't make it, I took along 2 other colleagues. We laughed so hard and totally enjoyed ourselves!

The movie is light and warms your heart. Inch by inch, the actors grow on the audience and before you know it, you'll be totally immersed into the story as well! They basically incorporated the essence that made Korean dramas successful and the humor of the Thai culture for a successful recipe!:) Yippee!

"Hello Stranger" Trailer

End March

2011-03-28T00:07:00.004+08:00

Another weekend just passed by! I realized it's much more gratifying to fully utilize time than to be idle (duh!? lol). Heh, anyways, it was a good Friday night out catching up with my usual old friend over dinner and dessert. I still feel sickly after 1 week, it really feels as if I ate a ball of fire, and the amber is just keeping me way too warm! Luckily after a night's rest, I was able to bounce back in better health.

I went for a long awaited consultation with a specialist, glad to know all is well, but the doc took some blood to check for more things, hence, hopefully everything is good! Went for more shopping and got more 'necessary' items! This will probably be the last 'self' indulging shopping spree.

Most of all, I have been reminded yet again that "things in the past, things yet unseen...my dreams and hopes are lifted to You...Lord, I offer you my life, everything I've been through, use it for Your glory".

Weekends

2011-03-21T00:19:00.003+08:00

This has been the second weekend that I've been working a 4-day week. We had to clear off some of the carried forward leave from 2010 by end March, hence, after the crazy peak period from Nov- Feb, we finally get a breather to get ourselves together and recharge a little.

Last Fri, I just stayed home as I barely had any strength to go out. At night, I got to meet up with an old friend who is now a short film director. One of the very few who got to go to Cannes & Venice film festival at this age! Very talented I must say, and super funny too! Glad to see that he's still the same old humble person that I knew from Sunday class last time.

Anyways, this recent Friday, I was more productive. Drove my grandma to run some errands, took her and my dad out for dim-sum lunch, and went shopping. It was literally a shopping-spree! One which I hadn't had in a long time. It just happened that there were things we both wanted to get, and we found suitable ones! haha...It won't be pleasant when the credit card bill comes next month, but 90% of the things had a pretty good deal!!;P

Although I ended up falling sick with a fever and sore throat on Sat morning, and spent the rest of the weekend resting and recuperating, the long weekend did me some good. It surely gave some balance back!

Q1

2011-03-10T00:22:00.002+08:00

As the first quarter of the year is coming to a close, it really seems like it's setting the precedence for the rest of the year - it'll be passing by in a blink, and very soon, it'll be the Christmas hols again!

Honestly, not much achievement so far apart from working through the busiest period of the year. Somehow I guess I have higher self-awareness this year, would need to up myself to improve in whichever aspects deemed workable:P

Have sort of started on learning my vocab and poking at math from the book, but no schedule set up to seriously study yet. Last Saturday, I spent some time on going through Research Methods and Stats with an ex-college mate who is now studying masters part time. She and her course mates needed some help with their assignments, and somehow she thought it was a good idea to enlist my help. Quite flattering as she mentioned they were willing to pay tuition fees! haha, well, I doubted whether I could shed any light since it's been a couple of years since I left college. In the end, I think I benefited from the session more than they did as it provided me with the insights of studying as an adult.

I took a glass of ice honey lemon as 'tuition fee', and went home feeling inspired by their perseverance and determination to complete the course!

February

2011-02-20T00:55:00.004+08:00

The entire Feb was filled with Chinese New Year holidays, birthdays celeb, and gatherings with old friends. I must say the 1 week hols to celebrate CNY was surprisingly rejuvenating. I did not have much expectations for the 1 week, as the visiting rituals were quite predictable. There were no ambitious plans either, no dreamy sit-in-cafe-read-a-whole-book kinda fantasies. Ironically enough, because of this, I had the most restful break!:)

The challenge now would be to keep the momentum of resting well. I guess last year I overworked, and drained myself from work frustrations. Moving forward this year, the goal is to renew my thinking, and keep a calm and more mature demeanor:P

Friends

2011-01-31T00:27:00.004+08:00

In 3 months, I reconnected with a friend, and had to bear the loss of the same friendship. I guess it is only through the passage of time that we get to see the true colors and depths of a person's character. I especially treasure those whom had made a difference or warmed my heart, however, not everyone shares the same values and place importance in connecting with others sincerely.

I was baffled and ruminated on the reasons to explain, and excuse the cold shoulders I received.

As I felt down and injured, our faithful God sent me phone calls/online messages from old friends to warm my heart. It reminded me that there are still good people whom I have befriended and cares. Somehow a whole handful of good friends from overseas came back for Chinese New Year celebration this year, and my following days are occupied with reunions and catching-up sessions! They range from a few I have known since I was 7, to college/Uni mates.

On Sat, I had a wonderful time catching up with a Singaporean coworker-friend over coffee. He was dropping by town en-route to the North and buzzed me for a meet up- a pleasant and comforting surprise! After that, I went to meet up my good old friend HT for another round of catching up. Today, there was another round of catching up with a few college friends over coffee!

Reminded me of a quote, 'you gain some and you lose some'.

Cast your bread...

2011-01-23T23:39:00.004+08:00

Last Friday night, as I was removing the earrings I wore to work, I realized one of the diamond studs I wear at the upper left ear was missing. I hunted the all possible places at home, but to no avail, because I had no idea when/where I lost it:/

So on Sat afternoon, I went back to my office, trying to retrace my steps and look out for
my tiny earring on the way. I didn't find it because what I did was probably equivalent to hunting down a needle in the ocean!!

After I got home, I told Misi I went looking for a lost earring, and guessed what happened? She handed me my lost earring complete with the back stopper as well! She basically found it on the bathroom floor by the kitchen while washing it. I guess I must have dropped it when I took a
shower there when I came home late from work one day.

What are the odds that the tiny stud with it's tiny stopper is still on the bathroom floor after people showered there a dozen times?! They basically survived multiple 'tsunamis' considering how tiny they are! Also, I must have been too tired to realize I already lost it for a few days.

Before I went back to my office hunting, I thought "Cast your bread upon the waters..." if it never comes back, so be it.

Now it is indeed ".....for after many days you will find it again" Ecclesiastes 11:1

This little incident proves that ALL things are possible, what our minds can think of is really limited, but amazing things do happen, and it's never by chance or coincidence.

Happy 2011....austerity here I come!

2011-01-02T22:42:00.007+08:00

Happy Happy New Year to all!!

It's already 2011!! I didn't realize a 'decade' has passed in the 21st century until a colleague pointed it out. Looking back, it's definitely a decade of many significant milestones!

Upon graduation from high school in 2001, I stumbled and literally fell into the deepest crack of the earth! Thank God for encouraging and supportive family & friends! The biggest stumble in academic life humbled me. I was a quiet student in college, and had the best times when I went to the US. Not only did I learn to be more independent in many aspects, it was also there that Jesus found me! Finally, I was able to put down the heavy emotional burden that I could never find answers for. I'm forever grateful for that one day in Summer 2006, that I woke up and felt that I'm finally ready to confess that I'm a follower of Jesus! HE has been ever faithful and His mercy is new everyday! Will probably have not been able to swallow the subsequent pressure from work and life without Him!

Looking back at 2010, it was also a year of many small significant milestones. B ventured out for the first time and came half a globe away to visit:) Korean friend visiting, visits to S'pore, and my first ever trip out to UK/Europe! I also got to visit and travel with an old friend (finally!).

God continues to amaze me with the mysterious ways He works in. I pray that He will continue to draw me closer and gives me the strength and perseverance to finish the work He has prepared for me.

This year will be a year of austerity. It'll be my first serious step towards the qualification I've always dreamed of. Will need to find out if my brains can still cramp for exams, and also if I can cope with work + self study. In order to do that, I'll need more brain power and proper rest, which means a more disciplined lifestyle (i.e. less time on FB, stay away from distractions!). Ironically, I intend to write more this year, considering how little I have in 2010:P

Cheers to a better year ahead!!!:)

Another public holiday

2010-12-07T19:52:00.003+08:00

Today has been a pretty restful day. I basically spent the entire evening listening to songs and watching the new 6ft Christmas tree glow in the dark. It was nice to see it lit up the entire living room.

Earlier in the day, I also took a 2-hr nap after a big delicious lunch, and watched a dvd that was dropped off by my old friend about end times. It's the first time I've listened in more detail about preparing for the end times. I guess it's not hard to imagine with how the world is evolving. If it is to happen during our life time, it really means we have so little time left to do what matters!

It is also quite unbelievable how fast time flies, just 1 week ago, I was with old friends attending Jz's bachelor party. The week has been filled with wedding celebrations, gathering with good friends and reconnecting with friends from high school. The long weekend has done me some good too!

But most importantly, there have been too many distractions lately, and I'm glad I shifted my focus back to Him, the wonderful God who always brings back a sense of peace and purpose back to a lost and wondering soul!:)

Autumn in Europe - love it!

2010-10-27T23:12:00.007+08:00

Just like many things in life, I reckon there must be some divine intervention for my recent trip. For the very first time, I stepped foot onto the European soil! It's my first visit to that part of the world that I've heard so much about, and just like many others before me, it made me stared in awe at its historical beauty!

One of the main highlights of the trip would definitely be my travel buddy! I was blessed with the company of one of my oldest good friend!:) What better way to explore Scotland and Paris than to go with the 'native' who has been living in the UK for years! I must say I really let down my guard for he reads the map, leads the way, and ensures that we manage to be on time for all the buses, trains, planes, taxis that we had to chase after during our trip from London-> Cambridge-> Paris -> Glasgow-> Edinburgh-> Scottish highlands. He also 'mothered' me to ensure that I get all things right during my lone trip back to London. Thank our good and faithful God for such a good friend!:)

I also managed to meet up and got reacquainted with some old school friends, while meeting some new friends as well. Not forgetting, my friend and I were also very blessed to have many friendly strangers/angels whom have helped us throughout the entire trip. Without them, we would probably have missed some very important transportation that took us to where we wanted to go. The trip was definitely enjoyable and memorable for many reasons, albeit being a little short;P

Random Sharings

2010-08-07T16:26:00.003+08:00

Last Wednesday's weather was lovely! In the morning, as I was walking towards the office building, there was a medium soft breeze blowing- if only I could go for a walk in this great weather! And then, in the afternoon, when I headed to the cafeteria, the sky was a bright blue! Almost felt like we were at a beach town with all the palm trees! haha
Super glue and I dont go well - Tried fixing 2 hair clips, but instead, ruined them:/
Consolation is that I fixed a keychain and a broken clay cactus deco
Experienced extreme fatigue these past 2 weeks. Most probably due to late nights and busy work schedule. Felt much better after going to bed at 11 last night! Will reinforce the 'in bed by 12am' ruling again!:P
One of our veteran secretaries at work shared 'Patchi' chocolates with us- creamy and smooth and super delicious!
A coworker shared 2 boxes of yogurt coated raisins from Hokkaido! Yummmy!
Dusted my table and all the deco items...how good it'll be if dust doesn't exist in this world!

Lion City Escapade....Roaar!!

2010-06-22T17:01:00.001+08:00

After many less than 1 day trips, I finally made my 'maiden' trip to S'pore after 14 years! 4D3N enjoying a weekend with friends and visiting family!:)

Old warehouse turned into colorful restaurants @ Clarke Quay

Great spot to have a feast!

Chilli crab ala S'pore style @ Jumbo restaurant

Clarke Quay at dusk....pretty!

Night Safari, reminded me very much of Disney's Animal Kingdom

Pleasant surprise - beachside @ Sentosa

Merlion statue @ Sentosa island! The last time I saw it when I was 12!:P

S'pore $1 ice-cream sandwich! A great snack after a long day of shopping... Yummmy!

My favorite 'pan mee' - ala S'pore style which includes fish and egg!

Hearts from across the Seas

2010-06-05T22:35:00.006+08:00

Annual Easter goodies!! Got my first Easter egg decoration kit, shall save it for next Easter celebration!:)) I also got autographed Jonathan Coulton CDs!! Too happy!!

Lovely candies from the Valentine's day period. Love the myriad of goodies from the festivities! Check out Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog, merchandise from Groundhog Day (Feb2) lol

Received a box load of 6 packets of different variety of cereals for me to sample. So much sugar!!;P By now, I'm into my 4th pack of cereals.

One step forward

2010-06-05T21:51:00.007+08:00

Aiks, time flies! During the weekdays, I normally look forward to the end of the week/weekends. However, weekends never last, and the week starts again. From this month onwards, I'll need to pull myself together, try to enjoy work, have a balance and start/complete things I have in mind.

Last weekend, I attended a 2-day family conference called "Firewall Your Family" at my friend's church. The speaker was Dr Robi Sonderegger from Australia, a Clinical Psychologist who specializes in Post-traumatic disorders, and family matters. Due to the crazy schedule, I didn't get to find out much about the speaker nor topic apart from the logistics before I showed up. Least to say, there wasn't much expectations but just to fulfill my urge to put my first step into the family arena.

Just as I half expected, the 2-day conference really reinforced and reminded me of the career I envisioned myself to have. The topics mainly revolved around familiar Psychological concepts such as self-esteem, identity, building emotional resilience, and conquering addiction/ obsessions. But approaching these concepts from a Christian angle and complementing the principles and concepts with each other were new to me. It was very encouraging to see a Live example of a Christian Psychologist sharing/preaching to empower others. Dr Robi was working alot in many parts of Africa and before coming to M'sia, he and his team provided trauma rehab training to Cambodian NGOs who work with victims of human trafficking.

One of my goals this year is to iron out my long term career path, and the first step would be to expose myself to more family conferences/workshops. I've also signed up for 2 other workshop/ conferences organized by the Focus on the Family M'sia in July. One of the sessions will be in Mandarin! lol

The funny thing was 1-2 months ago, as I was telling a close friend that I need to start reading up more on family/relationship stuffs, my Christian coworkers at work suddenly suggested that we go to a bookstore near our workplace. To my surprise, the bookstore was located in MY church, and it's a bookstore run by the Focus on the Family ministry that was founded by Dr James Dobson in the US. Least to say I didnt know my church had another bookstore, and FoF is an international ministry to help, guide, counsel and strengthen the family unit and to restore its value, meaning and purpose. I also didnt know my friend and coworker are into FoF. Guess it was time I found out what I needed to know!:)

Mayday!

2010-05-10T23:31:00.004+08:00

Occasionally, I do get emotionally/mentally overwhelmed by the ways of man. I do wonder if I'll ever get the chance to go to somewhere like Cambodia to teach English, explore European countryside with no worries that I'm not being 'productive' or 'losing time' as people my age is already half-way up the ladder. Being an Asian, M'sian, Chinese - just makes it alright to work your entire life to support an ideal lifestyle dictated by social standards. And because of this, one will practically never get the chance to wander off the tracks and lose yourself in the woods.

Today at work, I had an audience with the older gentlemen in my department who have always been the most caring and nurturing colleagues. The listened to some of the frustrations I had due to the many restrains of life, and one of my coworkers gave some really good insights and feedback, technically he has 50+ years of experience living, and he could relate to what I'm going through.

My elderly coworker said, "The problem is you've been having all these questions, and talking to yourself, instead of talking to God about it!"

Growing up is definitely not easy. But it is always great to spill it out to a listening ear and get some fresh perspectives!^^

To sum up Mar/April

2010-05-01T11:51:00.003+08:00

It's officially May today! How time flies! Personally I'm always glad that the first quarter is over!

For the past 2 months, I've been hanging out with good ol' friends every week, there was the Weds RM 7 movie nights, dessert outings, and random fun outings. From April onwards, my Korean and German friends joined us, which made it a refreshing cultural exchange!! I'm glad both local and overseas friends got along so well!

Basically, my Korean coworker whom was assigned as my official buddy when I was in Seoul, is now currently on her 3-mth attachment here in KL. In addition, my German friend who has been working in S'pore for the past year, finally made her maiden trip to KL last weekend! It was just great to catch up with them on stories!:)

Although I find it physically challenging to keep up with the pace of afterwork outings while balancing work duties, I'm glad I didn't compromise fun times! Coz at the end of the day, all I'll remember is the quality time spent with ppl whom I care and not the work part!

Yesterday I finally took a day off. I went to file my taxes (very impressed with the speed!), did some shopping with my brother, had some waffles, started a new book which came all the way from Seoul, learn the lyrics of my fav Korean song, brush up my Hangul while learning the lyrics, and attempted to keep to my 12am-sleep regime!! I also received another lovely package with all sorts of goodies- including a matching shirt, a better webcam, autographed Jonathan Coulton CDs, Easter choc candies, and an Easter egg painting kit, too sweet!:)

Today, I plan to watch a few episodes of an old HK drama I bought. Attend an aunt's 75+ birthday dinner and assimilate more 'life' to my daily routine!;)

Good Friday

2010-04-03T21:39:00.000+08:00

Last week was pretty exhilarating! It all started on Wednesday, when I tagged along a manager to Penang island for a workshop. Due to the off peak season, the hotel that we've always wanted to stay in finally had room for us this time. Both of us even got upgraded to an Executive suite! Sweet!

When I got back home on Thursday, I was invited to a good old friend's marriage registration ceremony the next day. Torn between many important things that needs my attention on Friday, I just decided to enjoy the Thursday night celebrating another good old friend's birthday! We ended up eating a yummy-licious pretty authentic Korean dinner, a ice-frosting cupcake each, and a walk around the KLCC park.

By the time I got home, I just went straight to bed as I was exhausted and still couldn't make up my mind after much analysis. I have been praying and decided that I would know what to do come morning.

By 7am in the morning, while I was drifting between the world and my slumber, an idea suddenly popped into my mind. That allowed me to not only go for my friend's wedding ceremony in the morning, it also allowed me to go to work, and also attempt to submit some documents.

While I tried to figure out 2 things for the whole week, I just couldn't handle it when the 3rd thing came on board. But Faith in Him got me through it, trusting that He'll lead me through the circumstances has proven yet again to be fruitful!:) Yay for Jesus!

A nice day

2010-03-16T00:02:00.002+08:00

Today as I stepped out of the office after feeling that I should save the last ounce of energy I have to drive home, I was greeted with a slight breeze and fair evening weather.

The weather was pleasant, and the busy road separating the two buildings was quiet and empty for me to cross over. It's been a while since I actually enjoyed M'sian weather. I actually left my window down for a few mins longer to enjoy the mild breeze!

Today has been a good day even though there isn't anything special, it's not the circumstances, but the goodness, the peace, and the joy that one feels when we walk with Him. He'll always be there no matter how far we have wandered away from Him.

Mail correspondence with a good friend. A sudden text to go learn diving. Sudden news that Korean colleague coming to town for meeting. An awaited call from another Korean colleague who is coming to M'sia next month for work. A sweet comment by someone special. A sweet voice. Gladness.

Extremes

2010-03-09T22:51:00.004+08:00

Recently I realized that I don't get too much job satisfaction. Probably only 1 out of 10 days of work that I'll feel very pleased with how things were going; while the rest of the time, I'm just fueled with non-positive energy! I always get worked up because I'm either debating/clarifying employee benefit period/terms or rushing to process information for other parties.

I finally got a call to review my submission as the one that I previously submitted required too high levels of the language that I have yet to master. It's a second chance, and it meant that any exciting start will only commence in Fall instead of Spring.^^

UPdates!

2010-02-28T13:50:00.005+08:00

The past 3 months have been pretty lovely! To summarize it all:

All four girls back together for the first time since 2005! And went for our first trip together, haha, it was definitely quite a havoc with all the chit-chats..but fun nonetheless
Almost had a full attendance for our New Year's eve lunch, except for Perth guy;)
After all the girls left, Perth guy came back too, and we have all the four guys back together- seafood, fireflies, mamak!
Met 3/4 of my close college mates from HELP- reminded me of the youthful days!;P
Finally completed a chat that was meant to take place 8 years ago- chapter officially closed!
Special friend ventured out of the country for the first time, and traveled half the globe to visit me despite snowstorm setbacks! =)
Spent quality time with special friend and realize that we need it in abundance!
Special friend and favorite guy friends gathered together and had durian!

I turned 26 early this month- officially in mid-20s! I still feel there are missing pieces that I need to pursue, and it definitely feels like it's no longer the peak of 'experimenting' years, sure feels like I'm venturing into 'settling down' years...ahha, not necessarily getting married, but settling down in a preferred career path, settling down in a place of choice, settling down to work on a serious relationship, settling down to start savings for the future.

Patience

2010-01-28T22:24:00.004+08:00

Ever since the year started, I've just been working in the old role that I was in for the first 5 months of last year. Only now, the scope is wider and there are more operational things to handle. I'm beginning to realize that I get annoyed when things are haphazard and people are unclear of what they're talking about. I also get frustrated when things cant be completed because of processes and fickle mindedness. As a result, there's been some feedback that I don't spend time listening anymore.

I keep feeling this shadow of impatience or negative energy weighing upon my body- making me the person that I don't really wanna be. I've probably always associated the source of it to my job. But today, I figured that I shouldn't be a victim of circumstances, and be influenced or put blame on external forces. I honestly think I wont be able to do it on my own, and I will really need to pray for guidance and feel at peace with myself and the circumstances that I'm in. One thing for sure, I don't intend to go back to the misery trap that I allowed myself to fall into last year!

Joy, joy, joy, I wanna pursue you!

Embracing 2010

2010-01-09T14:14:00.004+08:00

Happy Happy New Year!!

It's been a week into 2010, and much have happened! Apart from busy working and spending time with the 3 girls who will only be here till next week, there's been good and so-so news.

Good news is that my friend from Pittsburgh will be coming to visit me and celebrate Chinese New Year & our birthdays!! It's just amazing at how God has worked in making things happen! :)) Shall need to start tidying up my room and making plans so that he has a good M'sian experience!!:))

On the other hand, I finally got a letter from the embassy. They're still sourcing for a place for me, and if they can't, they have stated that they may withdraw the offer previously given to me :'( Honestly, I've been doing alot of thinking, and the experience in Korea have definitely given me a lot of previews of how life would be in a country with a foreign language. I have been skeptical and now upon receiving the letter, I found myself saying " See, I told you so".... But I figured that isn't the right attitude, because I should be optimistic and have faith in the pathway that God leads me on to. Shall need to talk to Him more aka. pray for guidance.

It saddens me yet again to see how my country is progressing...racial clashes, burning churches...we don't seem to have progressed anywhere for the past half a century after gaining independence!! All citizens need is a safe and harmonious place to rest without worrying.

When times get rough, it helps us to see what our priorities are.

2009 has been great!

2009-12-31T20:38:00.007+08:00

I've never really paid alot of attention to New Year's celebration...but somehow this year seems a little special. Probably it's because I'm still trying to digest the fact that today is the last day of 2009! I really liked how the numbers are written together..haha...

Personally, it has definitely been a very eventful year. There are many things that I will need to thank God for as without His guidance, I would not have been able to have such a wonderful year long journey. There were alot of hard work, tears, and sense of fulfillment. There were also alot of heart-warming moments, great experiences, and time well spent with awesome people.

I sure hope He'll continue to be the lamp guiding my every step as I venture into the New Year! And I pray that more and more friends and family around me will get to know what an awesome and faithful God we all have!!:)

To all my dear blogger friends: Happy Happy New Year!! Have a blessed and joyful year ahead!!!^^

Penang roadtrip!

2009-12-31T20:02:00.008+08:00

Last week before Christmas, a few close friends and I went on a road trip up north to an island called Penang. It was a leisure road trip and with 3 gals at the back seat, it was just a non-stop 4 hr conversation. We stopped by a town called Ipoh on the way for their famous chicken rice and shopped for locally made yummy biscuits. It was definitely great to spend some quality time together since the last time we took a trip together was about 2 years ago! With 4/7 friends overseas most of the time, having most of us together is already a great milestone! It was definitely a great culinary holiday as we spent 80% of the time eating!!loll

The beach on Batu Feringghi on Penang island.

We went parasailing! The last time I went on one was when I was 16!

Ipoh chicken rice with bean sprouts and meat balls. Yummy!

Fried kuey-teow (flat rice noodles) with big prawns..this one was a little unique as they also put in the 'lie liu har' (another type of prawns)!

Merry Merry Christmas! (belated)

2009-12-27T20:07:00.003+08:00

It was Jesus' birthday last Friday!! Merry Merry belated Christmas to all! I sure hoped it was a blissful and blessed day for all! It's my first time spending Christmas at home since 2003! In the morning, we headed to church and was reminded about the glory of God and the peace and love that would fill our hearts if we open up ourselves to Him! Jesus died so that we may be be saved!:)

Apart from church, we also spent our Christmas evening at a wedding dinner. It's always heartwarming to see two people celebrating love and committing to spend their lives together! Sooo sweeet!:))

Pics above were taken during my pre-Christmas celebration at Everland, Korea, back in Nov!:)

Traveling/working in M'sia

2009-12-18T16:55:00.005+08:00

I have returned to M'sia last Saturday night. Somehow the flight from Seoul was the longest flight that I've ever been on. I went out with my close friends from work on Friday night, and I probably drank much more soju that I should have. With just 3.5 hours sleep and a bad hangover, I finished packing while bidding close friends the final farewell on Sat morning and headed for the airport. I definitely leave Seoul with a heavy heart:/

Despite being totally exhausted physically and emotionally, I couldn't really catch more sleep on the plane. Probably it's part of my defense mechanism to be in a daze to soften the impact of me bidding my life in Korea farewell and come home. Anyways, after visiting with family during the day, I started packing again on Sunday night for a work trip.

Since Monday, I have been in Sitiawan, a coastal town 3 hours north. It has been a very interesting experience. I was attached to our company's van to assist in selling and new product swapping. We traveled deep into the oil palm plantations to service the stand-alone stores there, villages, and probably visited approximately 90+ restaurants/convenient stores for the past 3 days. The rural experience really opened up my eyes again to the many facets of life. I especially enjoy the conversations and bonding with the sales team.

I'm back today, shall be packing again for a leisure-gathering trip with my old friends on Monday.

Late night

2009-12-07T23:45:00.005+08:00

The month of November have actually flew past too quickly. I guess the difference was that I went from being all alone during the weekends to having a special friend to hang out with.:)

Now that the Korean dream is coming to an end this Sat, I go with mixed feelings. On one hand, I really enjoy the person that I am when I'm here- full of energy and excited about everything. On the other hand, I do miss seeing close & old friends whom I've grown up with or share a familiar conversation with my family.

Looking back at all the pictures, I've certainly done ALOT the past 3 months...Traveling, friends, food testing, exploring, chatting, having alot of fun and just being free and happy. I honestly have alot to be thankful for. I've gotten to know another country much better, made some very good friends, known some very great people, and met up with my American friends.

It's probably part of our greedy nature to never want good things to end. I know this will probably be someone else's awesome experience, I guess I'm just not willing to let go of it once I had a grasp. But I know all these shall pass, and I shall need to venture on to the next chapter.

I shall miss many people. At the same time, it makes me frustrated once again at how I'm like a traveling merchant, making stops here and there trading goods, and never staying put at the place I like the most or with the person I like the most.

Good night world!

Dad visiting!

2009-12-04T23:10:00.003+08:00

My dad got here on Monday for a 1 week visit!

Even though I can't take any days off this entire week with a ton load of work, we still get to have lunches and dinners together as well as some sight-seeing after that. He has been traveling on the subway going sight-seeing on his own during the day when I work and doing grocery shopping too! ahha

Heading to Seoraksan (Mt Sorak) again for a day-trip! It's gonna be cold!!! brrrrrrrrrr :)

Today!

2009-11-28T23:50:00.007+08:00

It has been a restful day today. I watched brief footages of the beginning parts of "The Proposal" and "Up" before switching it off and just rest. I guess I was more tired than I thought I was because I had apparently forgot to switch off the lights and missed out the usual 'bedtime rituals' before falling asleep.

I probably slept for 12 hours before waking up. Made a peanut butter with banana sandwich, tried planning out my dad's visit initerary, and spoke to a good friend Fenella online. At 5pm, I decided to take another nap. I probably woke up at around 7 or 8pm. My cravings for Korean streetfood came again, and after a shower, I decided to take a walk up to Gangnam.

At 10pm, the streets were still pretty busy. The weather was just right, cooling but not chilly. I thought it would be a good idea to take a walk and just clear my head. On the way, I had 'mandu' (dumplings) at one of the street stalls, it came in a tray of 10 small pieces! *gasp* I half regretted but ate all. Then, I wandered through the crowd and ate a plateful of 'soon-dae' (Korean 'sausage' aka. pig instestines with vemicelli) and 'o-deng' (fish meat paste). Soooo full.

Since I was determined to sit down in a coffee shop to read my book- something I've been wanting to do since sometime ago, I went to Coffee Bean at 11pm and just started to read till they closed at midnight.

Overeall, I just really missed times spent with friends. It probably stemmed from the fact that a close friend was having a house-warming party. The first friend among a close group of us to move in to his own house. How cool! I wished it was taking place in another town where I could just take a cab or fly there to attend and come back. I guess the last straw was when I read an update from 'lemette world', tears welled up and I really miss good times spent with close friends!

I'm really looking forward to going to church tomorrow morning. I finally managed to wake up early enough on a Sunday morning to go to church last week and it was the best place to be!!:)

Choonghyun Presbyterian church in Yeoksam, it's only about 10-15 mins walk from my place...But since it's about 2-3 blocks from the mainstreet where I walk by everyday, I've only seen the top of the two towers from the concrete jungle. It was pretty amazing to see a big white magnificent structure emerging from the buildings as I got closer!

When I walked it, I was even more impressed. It was almost like walking into the UN assembly....ahaha.. There's the choir at both sides in white robes...and the orchestra at the front of the choir on the right. Quite cool.

See those little buttons? I get to choose which language I prefer, Japanese, English, or Mandarin. I chose English of course..ahah...so basically when the pastor is preaching in Korean, we 'foreigners' will be listening to the translated version. When we sing the hymms together, we'll sing in English together with the translator, while the rest sings in Korean. It all blends very well! :)

The week

2009-11-13T19:36:00.005+08:00

My manager probably sensed that I work best 'under pressure'...ahaha, after knowing the ultimate deadline which is about 2.5 weeks away, my partner and I have been working hard for the past few days. One of the things I really feel blessed is the new friends that I have made.

Although I feel lost in conversation during group lunches, but the 1 on 1 dinners with my 'partner in crime' at work has been really fun. One of us would suddenly announce that we're hungry at about 6 or 7ish..head downstairs for some Korean good food...come back upstairs...wrap up our work..and try to leave before the security guard comes after us. Just yesterday night after dinner, we spent some time laughing and sharing stories! It's great to meet someone who giggles much more than me!! :P

Although the weather threatens to become chilly again after 2 weeks, I really enjoy walking on the broad sidewalks, listening to the harmonious orchestra of vehicles traveling back and forth on the main road, and just enjoying the cool night air. In Korea, one can also walk without worrying about the possibility of being robbed. The fact that you don't need to be defensive just makes you feel so much more relaxed!

As of yesterday, I have only 1 more month to enjoy the Korean bliss! sob sob...I feel kinda guilty when I instinctively answered 'no' when someone randomly asked if I missed M'sia! ahaha... I guess I won't miss it that much because I know I'll have to go back!!! Yay for the weekend!!

Dream List

2009-11-08T12:57:00.004+08:00

Last week, I asked my cubicle mate, "YH, what motivates you everyday?". She looked a little surprised at first, but after I clarified that I was just curious...haha..she proceeded to open up a page on her computer and asked if I knew about a person named John Goddard.

Apparently, John Goddard is a famous adventurer and motivational speaker who listed down 127 things (link) that he wanted to do when he was 15, because he has heard of adults saying "if only I had done this when I was younger...". He figured if he had it all listed down, he wouldnt miss out and have the same kind of regrets next time.

My coworker YH then proceeded to pull out an A4 paper from her diary, it was a full page listed with Korean words. She explained that she has listed all the things that she wanted to achieve, including career goals, travels, personal development, and relationships. Every year on her birthday, she would review this list and pull out the ones that she would like to focus for that year. So far she has achieved a few, and they are highlighted in red font. She told me this list is what motivates her everyday - including coming to work!

After that inspirational conversation, a conversation with another coworker came to mind. One of the main goals for J this year and next year, is to meet Mr Right. Because of this goal, she has been on a mission to make herself more desirable - going to the gym, going on blind dates (part of the Korean culture), improving herself mentally by reading etc.

And another good friend of mine, is also working towards her dream goal - to pursue her post-grad at her dream school. She has also been doing alot of things to improve herself in order to bring herself closer to that dream.

After doing some self-search, I feel like I had alot of dreams when I was younger. I was a super basetkball fan then, so my dreams then were mainly watching the Orlando Magic play in the arena, meeting my favorite basketball player Penny Hardaway, going to Florida where Penny and Shaq were at, study abroad, getting paid to play in Disney,work overseas, getting a scholarship, going on a hot air balloon, traveling etc.

So far, I haven't met my favorite basketball player Penny and haven't gone on a hot air balloon. But I have managed to work with Disney and visit the parks for free. Went to watch the Orlando Magic play, studied abroad, got a scholarship, and got to try out working in a real job here in Korea. I also had a few ticks on my traveling notebook...And so, what's next?

It seems as if these past few years, I have stopped dreaming and making new goals. It feels like my growth is stunted. In theory, being adults, we're definitely more capable than a young kid to achieve what we set out to achieve. But somehow, as my age increases, it feels like because I'm too aware of the current limitations, I stopped to think too far.

And so, I hope to start listing down the things that I want to do...and if I find myself not having enough things to do, then maybe I'll need to explore more!!

Falling into Autumn!

2009-11-06T20:54:00.024+08:00

Some of the pictures to depict what I've been up to the past 2 weekends- traveling!! I just love Autumn!!

Last last weekend, I went to check out Apqujeong. The 'Beverly Hills of Seoul", basically the area where all the most expensive designer brands set their stores.

I also checked out Dongdaemun, the fashion place where the big shopping centers and night market is. I didnt stay long enough for the night market to open at 9pm, but did check out the umpteenth clothes stores. I must say Seoul has probably a few million stores selling clothes, accessories, shoes, pants...whatever you can put on and look good!!

Also last last weekend, I took a 1.5 hour ride out of Seoul to Gapyeong, and took a ferry from the wharf to Namiseom (Nami Island). It is the place that got really famous amongst tourists after the "Winter Sonata" drama back in 2001...it was such a phenomenal success that they now have a statue of the actor (Bae Yong Jun) and actress (Choi Ji Woo) on the island!!:P

Places where the drama was filmed had little signs, or a big poster like this!;P

This is the famous line of trees where Bae Yong Jun and Choi Ji Woo threw snowballs at each other during the winter time....I even played the theme song from the drama while walking through these trees...muahahaha :P

Golden trees!! I must say I really like Namiseom, because it's a place filled with families, couples and just people who came to take a relaxing stroll, cycle and just spend quality time with loved ones!!

After the fire broke out at my office building, I took a 10-15 mins train to Lotte World theme park to check out another filming spot for one of my favorite drama "Stairway to Heaven" in 2003/2004. My first ride was of course the Carousel!!! :))

Choi Ji Woo and Kwon Sang Woo in "Stairway to Heaven"- the SAME carousel :P

Lotty and Lorry on a float during the 'Disney-Spectromagic-look-a-like-parade" :P I must say it's my first indoor parade since all of Disney's parades are outdoor! They must have used Disney as their reference...too many similarities :P

Lotty during the Halloween parade.

The Magic Castle in Lotte World. Sure looks like Cinderella's castle! :)

Ahhh...the ice-skating rink, another must-see because this is another location where they filmed many scenes in "Stairway to Heaven"...muahahaha...Of course, apart from checking the drama scenes and going on the monorail like how the Kwon Sang woo did...ahha...I also went out to the outdoor theme park and got on a few rides...the only best ride in the theme park was the Atlantis roller coaster!!

And then last weekend, I took a 3-hour bus ride and headed east to Seoraksan National Park (Mt Sorak). It is the place where one can see the most beautiful autumn colors in Korea. I must say I've probably arrived 2 weeks late...but there were still pretty colors up in the trees!!

The good side about having all the leaves down on the floor is that when you trek through the national park, you constantly have to look down because you need to find your footing and navigate your way through the pathyway...and it was just awesome that the entire pathway was carpeted with the autumn colors!! :) Love it!!

On our second day, we took the Ulsanbawi rock course. It was a total of 4-hours worth of trekking. The most difficult part was the last part - a 30-min climb up the rocks through 880+ steep steel stairs. It was especially difficult because we had been trekking through the rain, and the journey up the stairs became very challenging when you're going uphill while the water is running down the steps...and the railing were ICY cold!! After every 10 steps, I had to warm my hands...haha... When we got to the peak, we didnt see anything because it was all covered with fog...lol...because of this, it makes me wanna go back again!!! The other good thing about fog is...while trekking, you'll suddenly get a peek to a new mountain range when it clears!!:)

If I ever come back to Korea in the future, I'll definitely come during autumn, and I'll definitely go to Seoraksan again!! Simply awesome!!!

Offer

2009-11-05T00:12:00.002+08:00

This morning as I walked into the 'au bon pain' bakery to get my favorite chocolate croissant for breakfast, I heard a pleasing instrumental melody....and I started humming to it...coz it's such a wonderful song!:)

========================
All that I am, all that I have
I lay them down before you, oh Lord
All my regrets, and all of my acclaims
The joy and the pain, I'm making them yours

Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I've been through
Use it for your glory
Lord, I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life.

Things in the past, things yet unseen
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my heart, all of my praise
My heart and my hands are lifted to you.

- "I offer my life" by Don Moen

Today

2009-11-02T23:16:00.003+08:00

Early last week, was informed that my favorite manager has tendered his resignation the day I spoke to him on the phone.

And today, his most recent mail to me brought me close to tears. Honestly, if I can ever become half as good as a manager that he has been and still are to me, and his team, it'd be the highlight of these 2 years.

Received another peer's last day farewell note. Have received a couple of this kinda mails from M'sia's office since I came to Korea.

I wonder if it'd help to relieve the pain if I had worked in a couple more companies, and getting used to movements.

The temperature dropped from 18C last week to 2C- 5C today...freeeezing cold.

The hike to Mt Sorak during the weekend was pretty good. Went and conquered the Ulsanbawi path. Trekking through the rain, slippery stairs, icy-railing, painful hands, and climbed easily at least a thousand five hundred stairs.

Quotes

2009-10-30T12:32:00.002+08:00

Week 43, Thursday
What constitutes success?
She has achieved success who has lived well; laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent people and the love of little children; who has filled her niche and accomplished her task; who has left the world better than she found it; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty, or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best she had. - Bessie Stanley

Week 42, Monday
When we reach out to others, we share God's compassion with them. We are His hands on earth. We can reach out and touch others by concentrating on what they are saying and not saying. We can make a difference in others' lives by making ourselves available, by becoming vulnerable and allowing others to be vulnerable, by caring even when it costs us. - Gwen Ellis

Week 40 Wednesday
Put God in charge of your work, then what you've planned will take place...
We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it. - Proverbs 16:3-9

It isn't a fire dril!

2009-10-29T23:50:00.001+08:00

This morning around 11 thirty, I was in a meeting talking about next week's career fair. One of our colleagues got a phone call, and she came back to tell us that there's a fire and we had to leave. Our first reaction was "is it a drill?", but her facial expression was so grave and serious, that the moment she said 'no, it's real', we immediately dash to our desk and grab our handbags and jackets, and dash into...the elevator!

The moment I went into the elevator with some of my coworkers, I realized that we probably shouldn't be getting into the elevator because it traps smoke. My company occupies the top 3 floors of the tallest building in the area, and my dept sits on the 41st floor. We stopped for about 2 times in different floors and more smoke came in. It really smelled toxic..and we all had to cover our face with our scarves.

Thankfully, we got to the ground floor within a min or two..and when we went outside the building, there was already a huge group gathered there. Some of our other colleagues were already there. Apparently, a restaurant in the basement area caught fire. The scariest part was that the fire alarm ONLY rang after everyone was out of the building! It was after we came out to the open area, that we heard the alarm. I'm just glad that I wasn't in the restroom while the others evacuated. It would have been scary!!! *shudders*

Even though we were already outside the building, we could still smell the strong toxic smoke. While everyone was out, the firemen dash in... I dont know if the Hong Kong TVB drama on firemen helped create more awareness, but I certainly appreciate them much more. It's really no joke when it's deemed as a heroic profession.

The company declared a half day off, and I headed back to make lunch. And took the opportunity to check out the Lotte World theme park.

It's certainly scary to encounter a real fire evacuation while being on the top floor of a building. It makes me dislike living in high rise apartments even more.

Awesome Weekend in Busan!!

2009-10-23T23:04:00.015+08:00

Last Friday night, a coworker and I took a 3-hr KTX (Korea Train eXpress) ride southeast to Busan aka. Pusan. I arrived at the platform at 9:10pm, and the train was scheduled to leave at 9:10pm. It was definitely an exhilarating journey! The reason why I could make it ON TIME was because while I was on the phone in the middle of the train station trying to find out where the platform is, a guy aka. an ANGEL suddenly popped out among the busy throng of people and said "platform 9, unpstairs!!" ahha...I dont even remember if I thanked him, coz I probably just turned and ran up the escalator!! :P The COOLEST thing was, it was actually my coworker's friend, whom she just bumped into a few mins before me at the station. Her friend aka. ANGEL, later called and asked if the person he gave directions to was who she was expecting! Freaky yet awesome!!:D

We arrived on the last day of the PIFF. Apparently, my old friend Edmund Yeo's shortfilm was featured as well! Coolness...I even saw Takuya Kimura attending through the news!:P

My "Korean drama" moment, sleeping on thick blankets 'mattress' on the floor!

Shinsegae Centum City mall- home of the largest department store in the world! ahha

Gwangan bridge! 7,420 meters long..the second longest bridge in Korea after the Incheon bridge

The real reason I came to Busan was to attend a coworker's wedding!!:) I love weddings because it's always so nice to see people reuniting and make a commitment to be with each other!:) Saw many ladies wearing hanbok too!

After attending the wedding, it was time for the 5th Busan Fireworks Festival! It was definitely worth my 1.5 hours wait!! :)

The whole fireworks show was displayed above the Gwangan bridge and it lasted for about 45mins...Havent seen so much fireworks since I left Disney. Still thankful that I used to be able to watch fireworks EVERYDAY after work while I was in Epcot :)

After the fireworks ended, I nearly got crushed by the crowd...Korea is not a place for people with claustrophobia!

At the Gwangalli beach, overseeing the Gwangan bridge! Finally could see the beach after the crowd dispersed! :P

Just by the beach, it's street with bars...and foreigners! The Gwangalli beach is actually part of a popular beach stretch called Haeundae.

Morning walk!

Good morning Busan! :D

Sweet UP!

2009-10-11T15:40:00.004+08:00

I FINALLY got to watch Pixar's "UP" today! Have been trying to watch it ever since I read about it back in June!! When I was in the US in Aug, it was already gone, and the DVD wasn't out yet, and by the time I got back to M'sia, I never had the time to go. So last week, I finally took a risk, and got hold a copy of it. I was kinda concerned that they'll dubbed it in Korean, but fortunately, there was only the Korean subtitles and it's still in the usual English audio!!

It's really the most touching animation ever! Made me cry and laugh throughout the movie! The only other movie that I remembered to have that kind of effect was "P.S. I love you". Awww... UP is such an awesome movie!! Definitely a MUST-MUST-watch!! :)

Fun domestic weekend

2009-10-11T15:02:00.003+08:00

This weekend has gone on pretty well. On Friday, my mobile phone fell into the clean toilet bowl in the office. I really thought it was totally gone, but somehow after some advice to dry it out under the hand-dryer and air dry it for at least a day, it miraculously worked again after 1/2 a day! Go Samsung!!:D

That night, I also managed to sleep earlier than usual, was just too tired to stay awake. And I also managed to wake up on Saturday in time for breakfast at the lounge. They only serve buffet breakfast from 7am till about 9:15am. Hooray for an organized life!:P The interesting fact was while heading for breakfast, an elderly man striked up a conversation with me and invited me to share the table with him and his wife. It turned out that they're Koreans who have lived in China for the past decade. It was a get-to-know each other session over breakfast, and they also happen to live just opposite me! Haha...

Anyways, I spent some time doing laundry and ironing. I also repacked my clothes, taking out the fleece jackets, and some winter clothing because since Chuseok, the temperature has dropped quite a bit. I really enjoyed modifying the wardrobe according to the seasons. I can imagine how inconvenient or burdensome it could be for some, but I guess having grown up with 1 wardrobe for the whole year, it's fun to go through this hassle! :P By the time I completed all this chores, it was only 12:30pm! Waking up early sure makes a whole lot of difference!:) Hooray again for healthy living..ahaha

I managed to talk and take a nap after that before waking up for an appointment with my MT buddy here in Korea, Jess. We took a train to Paju town, which is a 1 hour train ride away for the Sszamzie Sound Festival. We got there at 9pm, and apparently, it's held at Peace Park, with a wide area for a big stage, some smaller stage and lotsa booths selling drinks and such. We got some free finger food at our company's large booth and heard 1.5 songs from a popular Korean band called "Crying Nut"...ahah. The cool part of this festival was that people actually brought picnic mats and 'camped' at the grounds listening to the music. Reminded me of the music festivals that I've been to in the US! And the weather was perfect- chilly but not freezing!!

We managed to catch all the last rides - last bus, and last train and managed to get back to Seoul by midnight. It was just nice to have time chat and eat, and since Jess and I stay pretty close by, we managed to walk home most of the way!! Fun times!!

Team Hoyt - an inspiration!

2009-10-10T09:54:00.003+08:00

A truly encouraging and amazing video of a father carrying his son who has cerebral palsy through the Ironman thriathlon.

The father pulls his son Rick in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat up front as they bike, and pushes him in a special wheelchair as they run.

Together known as "Team Hoyt", they had participated in a total of 984 events, including 229 Triathlons (6 of which were Ironman competitions), 20 Duathlons, and 66 Marathons, including 26 Boston Marathons. They have also biked and run across the USA, — a 3,735 mile journey that took them 45 days.

Love the song too!:D

Chuseok Weekend Pt 2

2009-10-05T21:39:00.019+08:00

Chuseok delicacies! Red bean paste in the middle! One of my favorites!

The big basket of Chuseok delicacies - rice cakes and such!

I got a free gift delivered to my room! ^^

The day before Chuseok, I got a 1/2 day off, hence, I went to check out the Namdaemun market! The most effective way to save money, is to stay away from shopping places!!!:P

I stayed in and rested on most of the first day of Chuseok, and while reading, a ray of rainbow shone in through the window! Awesome!!:D

Gyeongbokgung Palace, it was first constructed in 14th century and reconstructed in the 19th century, unfortunately most have been destroyed by the Japanese army! All the 4 famous palaces were opened to guests for free during the Chuseok weekend!

Gyeonghoeru Pavillion, a place for events during the Joseon dynasty..it's on the 10,000 won notes too! :D

Hyangwonjeong pavillion- it means "Pavillion of Far-Reaching Fragrance" :D

A performance around the palace grounds.

I finally got a view of the popular night life in Korea. Went to the University area in Hongdae. No different around the world in terms of intensity but I guess the only difference is the amount of time the clubs stay open...here in Korea...they seem to be open till whenever people leave! I suspect they stay open for 24 hrs lol!!

Went to "Ice Bar", and the bartender is mixing drinks in a real ice-cube that is made into a cup! Cool ness! We have to pay 15,000won for the entrance that comes with a drink.

Winter gear is needed as it's really freezing cold...there's a competition of who can stay in the room the longest...so far the record is 13 hours by a few Americans.

After checking a few clubs, and chaperoning some members in our group..ahha, coz they were a little tipsy and we had to make sure they're heading the same way as us...we finally sat down..and at probably around 5:30AM, the crowd in the restaurants and the looks on ppl's faces surely made it look like it was dinner time at 7pm!!:P

Good morning Seoul! Love this picture! I somehow like cities that has a clean river with lotsa bridges just like this one that they have in Pittsburgh!!:))

I went out at noon to meet friends on Saturday afternoon, and didnt get back till 7am on Sunday! It's definitely a memorable Thanksgiving!

Chuseok Weekend!

2009-10-02T12:04:00.004+08:00

For the past week, I've been looking forward to just getting home early and snug under the covers with my book or learn up my Korean beginner's book. So far, I've done neither, because room chores and online chatting just totally consumed my after work hours. Will probably need to reorganize myself a little more. Yesterday, working hours was only until 12pm because from today onwards is the Korean Thanksgiving - Chuseok! It falls on the 15th day of the eight month on the Lunar calendar - which is also the Mid-Autumn Festival that the Chinese celebrates. I guess the concept is similar - look at the full moon and remember the ancestors and be grateful; but the way of celebration is different. The Chinese eats 'mooncakes' and play with lanterns while the Koreans would buy gifts of rice-cakes and there's a greater emphasis on meeting up with family.

I slept in today and still have not decided where I wanna go. The places are pretty limited due to the public holidays..but I'll probably go check out 1 or 2 places while waiting for my friend's brother to call. Should be meeting up another one of Allison's friend tomorrow too!

Happy Chuseok!!:)

Weekend in Gunsan

2009-10-02T11:23:00.012+08:00

Last weekend was my second week here in Seoul, and I decided to head out of the city to visit Allison in Gunsan - a city in Jeollabuk-do province, 2.5 hours from Seoul. It was certainly a mini adventure since I had to find my way to a bus station that I've never been. But it all turned out all right, and I was able to get on the bus! woohoo!

The Central-City bus station which is connected to the "Express Bus Terminal" subway station on Line 7 and Line 3. I had a single seat, but halfway through, a man on the opposite side offered me some candy that he probably bought at the rest area, hhaha, how nice! Act of kindness!

Am thinking these are rice fields? But they sure looked gorgeous in neat green and yellow boxes spreading miles and miles along the way!!

Water! :)

At one of Allison-friend's coffee shop! Super neat! I wished I had taken some kind of namecard..this is the counter he makes the drinks! Super cool self-deco!

He even has mini Korean-seating-on-the-mat tradition-reading area below the elevated platform.

On the left, is an art table, where there are tubs of paint, brushes and drawing paper for people to spend time in solitude while having a sip of coffee! He decorated the whole shop himself with alot of paintings he did and photos he took! Too cool and cozy!:)

Gunsan's night life! It seriously wasnt as small as I've been told! :P

"Noraebang" - Karaoke place. I like how they have a floor seating and disco lights! :)

View of some parts of the city!

The entire weekend was spent meeting Allison's other English teaching friends, and Korean students. Before I left for Seoul, we met up with one of her students who is in his 40s or 50s and have kids my age! He was definitely the modern Korean who actually cooks and shares his wife's housework! :) Here, he specially prepared a stew pork for Allison! Yummmmmy!! :)

2nd week in Seoul!

2009-09-28T23:20:00.016+08:00

A wok of seafood topoki with ramen noodles...Topoki is a kind of 'sausage' looking rice cakes cooked in chilli sauce, gochujang spice and other things - a typical streetside stall food...but since we're in a shop, and there's seafood, my colleague calls it 'expensive topoki'! ahha..It was extra hot and spicy because it was boiling hot the whole time!

When we were almost done with the wok of food, my colleague ordered a bowl of mix rice that has a pronunciation that sounds like 'poke-em-bap' hehe....and they put the rice on the wok to soak in the leftover sauce....yummmmy! We were so super stuffed after this huge meal!!!:P

The previous photos of shopping area Gangnam was at the opposite of this road...apparently, on this side which this photo was taken, is nearer to my office, and has even more shops and restaurants! I'm beginning to realize that there are alot of 'gems' around my office area!!

My colleague checking out her future with a tarot card reader...haha, there'll be a few guys coming into her life next year!! I was kinda tempted to try it out too....but I figured it's pretty similar to the Taoist ones where they check for symbols and such from a book based on your lunar birth date and such...I was also tempted to check out one of my M'sian manager's tarot card reading skills in the office last time....but on both occasions, I held myself back because I know the plans of my life will slowly unfold themselves when the time comes because it's been carefully planned and managed by very good hands - His hands!!:))

Love the neon lights!

A corner with all sorts of coffee shops, shall bring a book and come here next time!

Last Tuesday, I went to the bookstore and bought myself a Korean- Easy Learning for Beginners book. So far, I've learned the first 5 basic vowels, and the basic structure of the Korean characters with 1 or 2 simple consonants. So now, at least I can read a few simple combinations here and there...and also able to spot where the vowel is in each character I see! A good start! ;)

I was at the supermarket and saw them selling various candy/dessert in nice boxes in preparation for the Chuseok this weekend (Korean thanksgiving aka. 15th day of august in Lunar calendar aka. our Mid-Autumn festival). They all seem a little pricey to me...so I bought some random ones that were on sale - 3 box for 5000won (approx RM 17 or so). Both left and middle boxes had red bean paste in them...not too bad...but the one on the furthest right, which looked the tastiest, ended up being not too desirable...:P

Some vendor gave my manager a beautiful box tied up in their traditional knot..and this 'tteok' (rice cake) was much more yummier than the ones I tried above..lol....these had crushed peanuts in it! Check out the different colors! Purple and dark green rice cakes!! - reminds me of the colored glutinous rice desserts back in M'sia!

The McD's yummy Bulgogi burger and ice-blended sweet potato that was mentioned in the previous post below.

The morning rain that was mentioned in the previous post below as well...it was definitely a challenge to hold the umbrella, try not to get wet, and take a picture discreetly while being in the middle of a sidewalk! :P

Rainy day

2009-09-21T22:08:00.004+08:00

Today Seoul was raining for probably more than 12 hours straight. It was interesting to walk to work with an umbrella with the rest of the workforce, however, it was not fun getting myself partially wet to start the day because of all the walking.

I finally got to try the McDonald's here- for dinner and lunch! During lunch, because of meetings, I had a Big Mac equivalent "tomato and bacon burger' coz I was really hungry, and I couldn't resist the tomato and bacon :P. It was definitely a tough choice because there was the 'localized' McD burger of 'bulgogi burger'... Anyways, after work, it was pretty chilly out, and I wanted to get something to a real Korean dinner at the shops near my office. But ended up trying the bulgogi burger (which was super good compared to normal McD burgers) because I couldnt figure out what to eat! Urgh. I wandered around the shops but couldnt recognize the shops back in the lanes that I've been to for lunch. I also couldn't read the menu. All I could figure out was the pictures of food posted on the glass. Sad sad. I REALLY REALLY have to learn how to read Korean. Because even though I wont know the meaning to everything that I've read, at least I could recognize signs, and recognize the food that I already know the pronunciation of. At least, today I got to try "Holly's Coffee", a coffee shop that's as famous as Starbucks. I got a 'sweet potato hollycino" which is sweet potato flavored ice-blended! :D

I was just thinking, when I first moved to Bemidji, my biggest food challenge initially was that I couldnt estimate properly, and didnt really had the stamina to cook without getting too tired to eat after all the cooking. But after a month or two, I got the hang of it, and even cooked my favorite brinjal with minced meat for our daily potluck.

Now, the new challenge is learning how to read menus in restaurants, and also try to cook up something using the abundance of Korean ingredients that are in the supermarket.

Goals to achieve at the end of my stay:
1) Learn how to read Korean
2) Learn how to cook at least 1 Korean dish!
3) Travel as much as I can!

Reunion Weekend

2009-09-20T22:12:00.016+08:00

This weekend had been pretty eventful. I finally got to meet up with my Bemidji floormate, Allison- after 3 years! She came up to Seoul, and I met up with her and her students. Korean young adults seems to be a very generous and passionate group! I'm impressed by their kind hospitality and patience in translating and explaining.

We went up to the 236.7m Seoul tower in Namsan mountain. We got a pretty good view of Seoul. Love how it has lotsa bridges across Han river that connects the mainlands. After that, the 2 girls slept over at my place..haha, sure felt a little like a slumber party!

Today, Allison and I went off to Insadong, a shopping area as she wanted to get a few more things before she goes back to the US the week after. It was definitely alot of fun shopping together. After she went off to catch her 3-hr bus back, I wandered off to Gangnam area to check out the popular area that I've heard quite a bit about.

Next week, I'll probably go visit Allison, and then the weekafter, go check out the church that my new Korean friend (her student) goes to.

Have been doing some 'room' chores ever since I got back. Did some work, ironed, showered, and am back in front of the computer. It surely feels a little anti-climax...and the fact that it's a long weekend back home, makes me kinda wonder what everyone's up to. Ughh...I suddenly feel like I'm going through the pangs of loneliness that creeps through the crack whenever one stays alone. I suppose life's complicated like that. When you're overwhelmed with people, you feel like going somewhere quiet and have more room; and when you're alone, you wished that there was actually someONE to talk to.

Am pretty sure this is part of His plan to grow and strengthen me. :)

Shall try to do more work and embrace my 2nd week here in Seoul! Enjoy the pictures!

"kam-cha tang", potato soup with huge pork ribs/spine.

N Seoul Tower..with an artwork hanging on the wire! ahah...pretty cool!
(The "N" infront of the Seoul tower most probably means "Namsan", which is the mountain that it's located on)

The three of us writing our country of origin. Malaysia, America and Korea!

And we locked our little heart on this tree that's outside the Seoul Tower. It's pretty neat, as there's been probably thousands of these things locked on the trees and also the fences around. It's probably a gimmick to get couples/friends to buy a pack of padlocks and the dangling heart thing with a pen, which we thought was fun to do anyways!:P So the next time any of us come back, we can go check out our memory token.

Night view of Seoul! (the other side, where there arent any bridges)

Yummmy lunch! Kimchi-Tuna rice, omelette rice, and kim-pap (aka sushi roll)

Insadong shopping street. Get off at Anguk station on Line 3, and head out from Exit 6! The place to get souvenirs!

Gangnam shopping area. Get off at Gangnam station, on Line 2, and head out of Exit 6 (I think)

The happening area in Gangnam, probably even busier during the night!

Seoul: Work and Food

2009-09-19T14:10:00.021+08:00

Anyung haseyo!! It's been almost a week since I arrived here in Seoul! So far, I'm really enjoying myself here. It's been mainly work the whole time, but because of the awesome working hours here, where the office is about 80% empty by 7pm, you're forced to work more efficiently and leave the office early. As a result, I've been able to venture slightly a few blocks away from my office while still able to go home by 9pm!

One of the super thing is that my office is located, as they say, in the heart of Seoul. It's almost surreal because I've never thought that I'll be really working in a super tall office building in the financial district. My office in M'sia is situated by itself in a neighborhood/factory area, hence, not so much of an 'awe' in terms of location :P

Somewhere along the streets in the Gangnam area.

View from my office! :D

View from another office window.

My first meal in Seoul last week. Bananas with peanut butter sandwich and milk. Hahaa..I went to the supermarket and got abit lost because everything was in Korean, and the ingredients were very much Korean...and because the taxi ride burnt 2/3 of my pocket money, I had to be really careful with my spending, and since things are sooo expensive here, I decided to just go easy on the first day. :P

First day at work, we had a farewell party for one of the coworkers, and so we went for BBQ. Yumm yumm, it was super delicious!! :)

3 different cups/glasses for a range of drinks....from left: soda, beer, shoju, pop. The middle shot glass is for the shoju.

One of my Korean lunches. Portion for 2 people. The main dish is actually the 2 bowls in black, the steam egg and bean-paste tofu. The rest are our side dishes of vegetables ;)

Another lunch for two. Yummmmmy!! I must say Korean food is mainly hot and spicy. But a different kind of spicy unlike the ones we have back in M'sia. Love Korean food!!

My first cooked meal in my room. I decided to start small with ramen...haha, but with some added stuffs that I bought. When I have more time, I'll go get the beef, noodles, and some Korean ingredients for my daily dinner! :P

Land of Kimchi and Korean Dramas :)

2009-09-12T10:36:00.007+08:00

After a whirlwind year, I'll be finishing the last attachment of my program in South Korea! By God's grace and all the prayers, I've managed to go through the program mainly unscathed....would never never ever been able to pull it off myself! If at all, all the tears, late nights, the work, the people have shaped me in one way or another...I believe that I've probably grown on the positive sides as well as picked up some negative ones. Hopefully it's more towards the positive sides! Nevertheless, I'm grateful for this 3-month stint in Seoul. I'll be arriving on Sunday morning, and starting work on Monday! Will be looking forward to meet my floor mate from Bemidji who is teaching English there and also a young man from the US Air Force- (friend's brother:)

Off to start packing!!

Random

2009-09-07T12:02:00.003+08:00

It's already September! I always feel that the most difficult times of the year is from Jan-March! Which is true for me, for a few years now. After it hits August, things just seems to dwindle down and it seems to be more feasible.

I've been assigned my next attachment. It requires moving to another country till the end this year. It has always been something that I wanted, so I'm really looking forward to living abroad again for a while. To experience, to learn, and just have a change of environment and get some time to know myself and know others. But most of all, none of it will be possible without our Mighty God- Jesus my Savior!!

Now that something is in the horizon, I still get bogged down with worries for other things. I always feel that as long as I'm in M'sia, I'll always be worried! ahha...coz it's home and it's where my life is generally built upon. Once I get out of the shores, and fly up high, I somehow am able to see things from another perspective and things that I worry about will become much smaller...or maybe because I'm no longer in the vicinity to do anything! :P

The pre-departure period can be pretty challenging, will definitely need His grace and guidance!

Hmm..

2009-08-31T23:59:00.004+08:00

I think I've been having way too much fun. After coming back last Monday, I basically kinda spent time at work for 4 days (not really working) before the long weekend came about. Now I think I'm too relaxed to get anything done. The realization that I missed the biggest deadline because I thought it was just like the previous deadlines they gave - it just dawned upon me, and I basically freaked out. Ugh, I duwana start well and end horribly. I probably just deleted myself off the list and threw away the opportunity of a lifetime...I guess if I'm God, I'll probably give up on myself...but thankfully, I am not, but He IS God, and He WILL still take me under His wings no matter how unworthy I think I am. Yesterday's sermon spoke to my heart. Why do I have such little faith, and become so protective of my being that is of no importance? If He can make it happen, He will deliver it, and as Jesus said in one of the verses, if I could only have the faith of a mustard seed, I can ask the mountain to throw itself into the sea. From John Maxwell's "Winning with People", I still have a long way to go in investing time with people and most importantly, love and believe in myself! Sometimes I feel so lost in life, but I know Jesus will ALWAYS hold my hand and put a lamp by my feet.

I feel like a problem child sometimes. Or maybe because it's just a dip in my mood tonight. I should probably sleep. The sun will rise again.

Memorable vacation food

2009-08-30T22:53:00.015+08:00

Home cooked French toast and Milo. They are very special French toasts!:)

Crabcake sandwich @ Annapolis...Maryland is known for their crabs, and it was indeed pretty good! At least it's made with fresh crab meat!:)

My ultimate favorite ice-cream: Moosetracks. I simply fell for it while working in the cafeteria in Bemidji. We used to help ourselves with the ice-cream after our meals..ahha...I never liked any choc chip ice-creams, but somehow Moosetracks have very generous servings of chocolate chunks and chocolate ribbons....yummmmmmy!!

The best burrito I've ever had is still the ones from Chipotle! Just simply love it!! Wished they had more Chipotles outside the US!! I can have one right nowwww!!!

Bananas Foster French Toast from Eat 'n Park restaurant. The sauce is like banana toffee icing. Yummmmm! Blissful breakfast:)

Delicious Bbq pork ribs...won a couple awards from various ribs cookouts throughout the country! hehe, just love the different variety of bbq sauce that they have...the 'killers' bbq sauce are pretty hot indeed!

Beet-raspberry jelly made by the Amish people! Too cool!!:)

This dish is named "Amazing chicken" hahaa...i must say it's indeed tastier than the normal chicken I've had at American Chinese eateries:P

Love this snack of cheese, parmesan-basil wheat thins and salami. Check out the dip at the far top of this picture...it's chives with sour-cream...probably the best dip I've ever had!! I probably had 50 wheat thins after Aunt Sandi brought out the dip!!;P

Tasty fresh warm bread rolls with Cinnamon icing-butter at "Texas Roadhouse" restaurant! It's bottomless!

Fried fish from "Bonfire" restaurant! It's probably the best fried fish fillet that I've ever had! I could only finish half of it....wished I could have finished the other half the next day instead of flying home!! Must have it AGAIN! :))

Whenever I stop by the Atlanta international airport, I'll wanna have a cup of Caribou coffee. Probably coz I first saw it in Bemidji, and have a fond emotional attachment to it! :P Tried the coolers this time! Also had my annual chocolate croissant from Au Bon Pain!

These are the food stuffs that I bought back this time...Had to have my Sun Chips - wholemeal Cheddar chips = the best chips ever!! Love it since my schooling times! I discovered Reese's Puffs one fine morning while we were having breakfast! ahha...it's simply too yummmy...Am having it for breakfast at work nowadays....muahhahaaa..

Baltimore.Annapolis.Pittsburgh. Country!:)

2009-08-29T09:49:00.021+08:00

I just love Korean Air, this is my 5th or 6th flight with them, and their entertainment system has been upgraded to this impressive design! :D I particularly liked the USB portal, just nice for me to charge my MP3 player, and their folded mini table, was quite impressive, coz it can be extended to the sizes of your choice.

Check out the colorful flower fan among the magazines, I spent an hour painting it at the Korean Cultural Center at the Seoul-Incheon airport, they now provide an avenue for travelers to do free handi-craft to kill some time meaningfully :P

Annapolis, a 45-mins drive south from Baltimore. It's also the capital of Maryland state which is situated by the Chesapeake bay. It is also home to the US Naval Academy.

The Maryland State House, the oldest State House in the US that is still in legislative use. This is where General George Washington resigned his commission and where Thomas Jefferson was appointed in the 18th century.

Inside the Chamber of the Maryland House of Delegates. There was the other room for the Senate. Pretty cool!

There were many ppl on vacation. My friends and I had lunch with a view of the docks, browsed through the souvenir shops, had my favorite Moosetracks ice-cream, and just enjoyed walking on sidewalks on a sunny day! :)

Met up with more friends for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory by Inner Harbor! After a wholesome meal, we took a walk along the docks and enjoyed the city skyline before going home to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! :D

Chocolate World/Factory at Hershey town in Pennsylvania!!

Next to Chocolate World is the Hersheypark, which is an amusement park with a tonne of rollercoasters. Haha, we went on a medium range rollercoaster called "Comet" to warm up, and then headed straight on to this giant called "Fahrenheit". It was a 98 degree drop as quoted by my friend...after I survived that, we went on another 6 or 7 more rollercoasters. Fun times!! I love the "Storm Runner", which I personally thought was more extreme than the "Fahrenheit", it had a '135ft cobra loop', and a 'top hat drop' with some 'flying snake dive'....hahaha, i love the speed and the evening view of the park going upside down from my vision!:D

For "Fahrenheit", we basically went through this entire line of people, it took about 1.5 hours! :P

The Waterpark in Hersheypark that looked really fun, we werent dressed for it, but it sure looks alot of fun for kids! Check out the giant pail that poured out all that water!!

After 7 hours of rollercoasters, we went on to the Hershey Chocolate Factory tour, which is a ride that takes you through how they make Hershey's chocolates. The cool thing about the ride is that you can smell Hershey chocolates throughout the entire ride..and get 2 free Kisses after that!

Me playing with Butters with the toy I got her sometime ago!

After we lost our boomerang in the creek, we took the hose and played with Rosie, the German Shepherd, the friendliest German Shepherds I've ever met! :P

I simply love the country! All the green hills, and vast lands, just gives me a sense of serenity and freedom!

I finally got to take a morning walk through the neighbourhood! 1 whole hour of fresh air and green hills!! Indescriable!!:D Not to mention it's followed by a healthy breakfast of oats, bananas and milk!

The countryside, love it with a passion!:))

His parents

2009-08-22T11:42:00.000+08:00

I wish I'm in some kind of movie where I accidentally stumble upon a device that makes time standstill! The end of my vacation is here today...ughh...I honestly detest it...packing and taking a long ride back to the reality that I dont wanna go back to.

My friend's dad was putting on his boots this morning, getting ready for the day. We had our usual chats, and I said " What time should we leave tomorrow morning? I'm sorry you'll lose some sleep over my early (6:40am) flight"

He said, "Aw, no problem Mi Ki, you're worth it!"

I really adore my friend's parents. They're the sweetest and kindest! I basically feel like this is a 2nd home, where I'm free to roam around the house and do whatever I want, from going down to the basement to just chilling.

Visits, food and games!

2009-08-22T11:28:00.007+08:00

On Wednesday evening, I got to go to my friend's workplace to meet him and head out to downtown to meet his good friends for dinner. Just as his parents dropped me off, his mom called me back, and asked for my handbag. I thought she want another look at it, but apparently, she opened the zip and put in a green dollar note into it...it was money for our dinner! I think it's been a while (if not the first time) I saw American parents give pocket money to their post-schooling children! Awww....

It was great to check out his friend's new apartment....it was very pretty & cozy! We had some 'Amazing chicken' at a Chinese eatery....and had lemon cakes - which turned out to be mini donuts! ahha...anyways, we played games and left shortly after midnight.

Thursday
I took a short nap shortly after my friend left for work. Messed around with the computer and went around the house...before I knew it, it was time to go head out with his dad to go pick up his mom from work. On the way home, we stopped by the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner. They were thinking of making hamburgers so I offered to make the hamburgers since his mom had to go for a Weight Watcher's meeting. I started peeling potatoes and cutting them. hhaha...my friend's mom got a bit worried with me as I fumbled around so she helped me out a little to get me on track..and I assured her I'll be fine and I'll be trying a recipe I learned on some of the hamburgers. It turned out pretty well, and their family friend who came over for dinner, had 2 servings of it!! Yumm!

After that, his mom took me to visit Aunt Sandi who lives 'out in the sticks' as they say...deep in the country. Well, actually, it's only about 10mins winding drive through the woods from the main road. I didnt managed to meet her when I came last year, hence, we headed over to say hi and check out her ginger-bread-themed kitchen! The short visit blossomed into a 2.5 hours visit where we chatted over the kitchen island counter with Sandi, her husband, and her daughter and son-in-law. She also made a fruit platter with yogurt-whipped-cream dip, and a chives-sour-cream dip that was simply amazing to eat with parmesan basil wheat thins! :D

Finally watched the movie "300"...it was good! Not as gruesome as they said, I enjoyed it!

Friday
A whole day of fun. Home-made French toasts, boomerang, playing with Rosie and getting all wet, meeting friends, heading out for good food, shopping, games, trying out banana-liquor shots, lotsa laughter = fun times! :))

Morning

2009-08-19T10:21:00.000+08:00

I didnt watch a crazy movie last night, but we played a game on Xbox that's called "Splosion Man". Haha..it's a really cute and easy game, as all you need to do is explode when you need to get rid of people and explode yourself off the walls when you need to move up. I played for 3 levels, and there was a part where I got stucked because I just couldnt get myself up the super high walls, but after some coaching from the expert, I made it!:)

This morning, I woke up at 7am-ish, and went for a 2.7 miles walk around the neighborhood with my friend's mom. She's currently on the Health Watcher's program, and is trying to walk every morning to keep healthy. It was a 1 hour walk through the rolling hills in the country. We basically made a big circle across the hills and came back. I enjoyed breathing in the sweet morning air, looking at the rolling green hills, birds chirping, catching the tail of a chipmunk, listening to stories of the houses and neighbors that we passed by, and also some stories of my friend's childhood:)

After coming back around 8:45am, I sent my friend off to work and his mom made us oatmeal, with milk and bananas. Yay for the healthiness! :D

I played with my favorite cat, Butters for a little bit with the toy I sent her last time. I'm still not entirely comfortable getting too close, but I've carried her again yesterday and patted another cat, Biscuits. :P

As I'm typing this, I got to talk to my good friend in Baltimore online! Hooray! Will probably watch a movie and then do some laundry. Will go out to meet my friend at work, and then head out to Pittsburgh to meet his best friend & his gfriend for dinner and hang out for the rest of the evening. I'm beginning to settle in on my vacation!:))

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."
- Sir John Lubbock

Rest

2009-08-18T19:05:00.004+08:00

After going on a road trip through different towns visiting friends last week, I've been back in Pittsburgh since Sunday.

The past 2 days have been home-bound since my friend have to go to work. I've learned more about glassware named 'milk glasses' by helping to pack up boxes in the basement, cleaned up my friend's room, and went out for a scrumptious Mexican dinner in Greensburg town with his family & family friends, which is about 30-40 mins away.

Then today, after bidding farewell to the parent's friend, Jeanette, who is flying back to Washington since Summer is almost over, I basically had to force myself to take things easy and relax. I actually found it a little hard, or incriminating to do nothing since I've been living such a fast-paced life where everything is due yesterday. I started to think ahead of myself and worry about me leaving this wonderful place and going back to my 'other life' of working. Ugh...I pushed that thought back, and scrolled through a number of songs on the computer to pick the ones I wanted to copy to my mp3 player, had some Hershey's kisses, moved my stuffs up from the downstairs room back to my 'previous room, went out to the backyard to breathe in some sweet fresh air and hear the trees rustling. My friend's dad joined me at the patio, and we had a little chat before Rosie, the German shepherd, came running to us from the creek and brushed her wet fur on my capri pants ahhaa...I love country life!

Since it was a pretty day, I brought my Bible out to read His words. After doing so much for the past week, it's actually good to sit down and dwell in Him a little. I read abit of comics, and thought it'd be good to actually take a short nap since I have been dozing off by midnight nowadays.

Now that I'm up from my nap, I feel a little restless and dizzy in the head, but will hopefully get some food for dinner with my friend's parents. Hopefully we can watch a movie when my friend gets back later tonight. Probably a hardcore movie like "300", which we were supposed to watch last year, but have yet to watch it yet.

Home of the Steelers

2009-08-18T09:49:00.005+08:00

Pittsburgh, I like:)

Stranded like Tom Hanks

2009-08-13T21:29:00.006+08:00

Greetings from Baltimore! :D

I have risen this morning to a Summer sunshine streaming through the window at my good friend's apartment!!

Basically, I was supposed to be in Pittsburgh today..but my connecting flight from JFKennedy airport got cancelled yesterday, and by the kind soul of a ticket agent, I managed to save myself from roaming the streets of New York City at night by getting a flight out to Washington Dulles airport, which is approximately 1.5 hours from Baltimore.

Even though retrospectively, it was just a flight cancellation followed by a 5 hour wait, but it was excruciating to sit and wait for a flight that might get canceled on ANYTIME. It all started well when I landed in JFK from Seoul. After 21 hours of flight, I was just glad to get past customs and be back in the US! But at the Delta airlines terminal, 3/4 of the flights got canceled due to 'weather conditions'. It was pretty absurd, considering the weather was just pretty good. Nonetheless, I suspect flights got canceled because the airport just couldnt cope with its huge volume of international and domestic flights. The easiest way would be to cancel on domestic flights!

After I heard my flight being canceled, I made my way to the super long snake line that has already formed in front of the counter for rescheduling. It was then, I met a few other Pittsburgh -bound peeps, where half of them are international students at Carnegie Mellon Uni. We had to wait for 1.5 hours to go through the line, but it honestly didnt feel that long because it was great fun chatting and exchanging cynical remarks about the airlines..ha..if nothing at all, I made a new friend!

Anyways, after my flight to Washington Dulles got delayed a few times, I was just super glad that I could fly out of JFK by 10:30pm. By then, it would have been 2 sleepless nights for me already. Prayers really helped, because the flights before and after mine got canceled as well...so, while I feel glad that mine wasnt canceled, it was still painful to sit in the plane, and wait for 1 hour for the runway to clear. Honestly, it was an experience watching planes lining up to taxi off at a runway. To cap it all off, my luggage didnt get to Washington Dulles when I got there. Am hoping to pick it up today *fingers crossed*.

All in all, I'm just super glad for my old friend and her bfriend for driving out to the airport to pick me. There was a "Tom Hanks- The Terminal" moment there because at some point, it almost felt that I'll be in NYC forever and ever! Because of this detour, my initial plans have changed a little. My friend from Pittsburgh will be driving down to Baltimore today, and most likely we'll all go out to downtown to do some sight-seeing. Hopefully I'll get to meet up with another good friend from Disney who is working in Baltimore as well.

The reality of being back in the US hasnt really sunk it yet, but I'm just glad for the change of environment!! :D

Korean drama - Star's Lover

2009-08-09T15:47:00.007+08:00

I've been spending my free time on the weekends watching a Korean drama "Star's Lover" starring Choi Ji Woo and Yoo Ji Tae. It was really a random drama that I picked up while shopping for DVDs in Penang. I have always liked Choi Ji Woo's acting...so I bought the series out of curiosity. The story revolves around the relationship between a super popular movie actress and a university professor. It is very true that once we let someone walk into our lives, both our lives begin to intertwine and nothing is the same after that. The progress of the drama is almost predictable at times, but because of the superb acting skills, you really get immersed into the series, and just falls in love with both Choi and Yoo!:D Just like other drama series, I actually fast-forward-ed through the stories on the supporting characters...ahah..I honestly don't care too much about what's going on between them:P

In 2005, I was head over heels with Choi Ji Woo's "Stairway to Heaven", now I am totally in love with "Star's Lover"...especially the character Kim Chul Soo played by male lead Yoo Ji Tae... honestly, he isn't super dashing..BUT the appealing part is his guy-next-door, ruffled hair, and nerdy looking boyish looks...His sheer determination and persistence to pursue what he feels right despite the adversity also totally melts your heart...hehe...and I must say his eyes could tell you just not words..but a whole essay!!! Soooo sweeet!:))

Weekend in Malacca

2009-08-05T21:37:00.010+08:00

Last weekend, 3 colleagues and I took a 2 hours drive out to historical town-Malacca. Even though it was my 4th no-rest weekend in a row, I figured it'd probably be good to go hang out with people for a change. It was actually a trip requested by an Australian trainee who is here for a short assignment. The trip turned out to be rather fun but I realized that the night life is just never gonna blend in with me! ahha..

One of the must-visit icons of Malacca- the Christ Church built by the Dutch and also the tri-shaws- which now even lightens up during the night and plays pop songs!

Chicken with rice balls. We were unwilling to queue up by the roadside at the famous stall, hence we settled for another shop nearby- which to me is just as good.

The 'A Famosa' Portuguese fort. Another icon of Malacca.

Chill out spot facing the green waters of Malacca straits at "The Jetty". No alcohol except beer is served, nice!

It took me a while to believe that Malacca straits have such green waters! haha, apparently, they have built "The Jetty" very far out in order to get the clearer waters! :P

Bring Your Difference

2009-07-29T00:18:00.003+08:00

After 3.5-4 months of hardwork of preparing all that is needed with the team, tomorrow and Thursday is THE day of execution!

Have just worked 14 hours with just 1 meal and 2 Milo drinks. Need to be back in office in 6 hours....will need another Milo drink and Zzzzz!!

Neither here nor there

2009-07-28T00:18:00.002+08:00

Have been hearing this song on radio quite frequently. Didn't know it was a song from the Hannah Montana movie (cousins' favorite) until I saw it on Youtube. Sometimes it feels like I'm climbing without knowing where the peak is, sometimes it's like I'm diving deeper into the unknown...or sometimes I'm just floating towards wherever the current or wind trends bring me. At the same time, I'm restless and I also know that I need to be still and patient.

Double dose of JB

2009-07-27T22:24:00.011+08:00

For a long long time, whenever I hear friends going back to their hometown in JB, it always kept me wondering how the town actually looks like. Suddenly in July, I've actually gone there twice. And if I plus my treasure hunt trip in June, that'll make it three times in total..ahah

Second JB trip - 2nd week of July
Due to a tight schedule, I could only go for 1 day. I basically slept for 3-4 hours and woke up at 5:30am so that I could catch the 7:30am plane. I got into Senai airport in less than 40mins and arrived at our JB office at about 9am+! It definitely felt pretty cool and 'business like'...haha. After a day's of work, I left for the Senai airport again, and flew back to KL at about 8:30pm. The 40-min journey was definitely super short, considering the first 15mins is about gaining height, and the last 15 is about preparing to land...I barely finished 1 drink, and 2 packets of peanuts before we already had to touch down!

Sunset in JB while a coworker took me to the Senai airport, which was about 40 mins from my office.

Even though it was a day trip, I still managed to try the 'chocolate laced ice-kacang' that I've heard about back in Bemidji! ;) I was taken to a store in Tmn Century, and apparently the store is pretty famous. The unique part of this ice-kacang (mixed ice) is that it is ice and red-bean laced with rose syrup and chocolate syrup. It was pretty neat that they put 2 straws for you to 'drink' the ice-kacang eventually:P The coolest part was at the end, because initially I couldnt find any red bean even though I tried digging through the ice-mountain...but after a while, you suddenly realized that your ice-kacang has transformed into a bowl of red bean soup! :P

Third JB Trip- 3rd week of July
For my third JB trip, I travelled with another coworker of mine who was down in JB for a roadshow. The hotel that we eventually had to spend the night in was pretty neat. I got a room with the straits view, hence, I could actually see Singapore from my window! I liked my room because of how big the bed is and how cozy it is. My coworker and I went to try out a fish noodle somewhere near "The Zon" where I stayed during the treasure hunt trip, and after dinner, he actually suggested we took a walk along that entire stretch along the Tebrau straits back to the Zon to catch a taxi. The stroll with a view of Singapore across the waters should have been pretty nice, except for the fact that I was on alert most of the time, and praying that we do not get robbed or attacked while walking.

My Bible lying on the super big bed that was the result of two big single beds put together. Super comfy! The window looking into the bathroom makes it a very honeymoony-like room! :D

View from my window...the land in the horizon is Singapore again!

Wedding

2009-07-18T12:22:00.011+08:00

About 2 weekends ago, I attended a cell group member's wedding reception at our church's original premise. Our Youth Pastor, Julie Khoo, shared a few reasons of why we should get married, and also the reasons that we shouldnt get married for (below are some pointers that I managed to jot down;)

It is not advisable to get married, if you're marrying for these reasons:
Insecure, Lonely, Changing of status, Financial gain (I personally & sadly think this is a common reason), Recovery from a bad relationship, Peer pressure, or just because you wanna have a big wedding

One of the main reasons you should get married for:
Because you're in LOVE! You want to make a commitment, Start a family, To make a convenant, ...etc

My cell group member and his bride did almost everything ala 'DIY' style, from wedding cards to the this deco on the aisle...they drew the logo themselves with marker pen, looks like it was printed eh?? Pretty impressive:)

Apart from the slideshow of their wedding and childhood pictures, there's a video clip of the actual proposal..hehe, it was pretty sweet how the bride-to-be then couldnt believe that it was happening coz it was just too good to be true!!! It really showed how surreal and unbelieavable it can be when you're caught off guard to accept a wedding proposal!!;)

The flower boy and flower girl happily playing with the cage that is meant for the guests to leave their best wishes to the newly wed couple...ehhe, probably meant 'capturing best wishes for the love birds':)

J-Power

2009-07-09T21:17:00.003+08:00

Shell has their petrol "V-Power", and thankfully, I have my fuel provider of "J-Power" from none other than...drum roll...Jesus!! :D

Honestly, I have been on the run without any rest since 2 weeks ago. Last weekend was pretty eventful where my entire Saturday and Sunday was fully booked without any time to spare. Then, this week I will be working this coming Saturday too. So far, I've been squeezing in everything required of me or needs me to act on...I squeezed in time with loved ones, multiple gatherings with different group of friends, work, projects, embassy matters, dreams, future, present and everything else in between. I'm kinda satisfied that I managed to attend to each one...One thing for sure, I would never ever be able to do all that was required of me on my own without His "J-Power" keeping me going!!

Song: "Above All" by Michael W Smith - Nice!!

Penang, I like!:)

2009-06-27T15:03:00.013+08:00

My 3.5 day trip in Penang had been very enjoyable. In the morning, I'd get an early ride to work, which is just 10 mins away in Port Weld from my hotel on Gurney drive.

I'll talk to people, run through processes, eat, talk to more people, and eat again! haha..

My coworkers in the Penang office were fantastic and warm people with great hospitality. I really had a very good time, laughing, chatting, and eating. I'm glad that I made new friends!:)

Sunset on Penang bridge. On my way back to the Penang island from our mainland Butterworth office.

Food market. I think food from simply any store would be great!

Penang curry mee is the best curry mee I've ever tasted!! It doesn't have the usual curry powder taste, it's just unique and simply super delicious!!!;)

Stuffed chicken in 'Lao Sher tea house' on Burma road. Marinated stuffing was very good!

Penang char-kuey-teow...probably a must-eat while being on the island. I like their big juicy shrimp!! This kuey-teow is from the road side stall on Siam road.

A super-coworker who absolutely has a passion for durians took me to an orchard farm in Balik Pulau for some Penang durians. After living in M'sia almost my whole life, I actually never knew that Penang is the hidden place for the world's best durians!! :P 4 of us ate 7 durians!!! We tried all the famous ones like "Ang heh" (red prawn species), "Cheh pui" (green skin species) and a few others. I had a very enjoyable time!!

In the orchard farm where we ate the durians, the owner also had chickens which laid fresh eggs..hahah, I realized yet again that I'm a totally hopeless city-person..Apart from the 1000 durian trees, they also had other fruit trees, a monkey, dogs, and also rabbits!

My super-coworker was also very kind to make a quick stop for the touristy-me to snap a picture of the Balik Pulau valley.

The sun rising in front of my hotel window in Gurney!

Up North

2009-06-21T23:06:00.005+08:00

Greetings! I'm now in George Town, Penang. Will be here till Wednesday to collect some information from our Penang and Butterworth regional offices. Carpooled with another 2 coworkers this afternoon after Father's Day buffett lunch. I was just thinking that I've gone South to JB and S'pore earlier this month, and now up north! Pretty cool since I havent been to these places for a long long while, probably it's been more than 10 years since I came to George Town? But I've gotten a little tired of long drives. Hopefully I'm not tired of long flights yet!

Never alone

2009-06-17T21:47:00.005+08:00

Things are actually pretty exciting and challenging at work. Keeps me on my toes and busy busy busy. Manage people, manage timelines, manage emotions, manage interesting characters..racing against time to get things done. It's actually almost impossible to stop and catch my breath. Feels like I actually need to make an effort to surface from the waters to breathe in and then breathe out.

I'm back to the 'unpredictable' life again, where I don't know where I'll be or what I'll be doing post July 31st. The possibilities are endless, and regardless where I end up, I honestly need to take some time off to just take things easy. Probably 2.5 weeks will be a just nice period to recharge.ahha. I can afford it with the number of off days that I have yet to touch. Plus there's the Raya break coming up! Money wise, hmmm...I'll need to spend carefully!

I honestly don't think my mortal mind and body can take the amount of pressure or even capable to make everything that needs to happen, actually happen. But all I have is faith. Somehow I just know that He'll take me through it if He has decided to bring me to it. He has put things at the door step, regardless how challenging it is, I'll just have to get to it regardless of the results. Just do it. Pray. Seek Him. Thank Him. And persevere. :)

A coworker, Angeline, who also likes Jim Brickman, played this song while at work, nice!

Jim Brickman performing "Never Alone" featuring Hillary Scott and Lady Antebellum

Love. Opportunity. Fellowship

2009-06-12T23:43:00.004+08:00

Love. There is a kind of love that you do not even need to have a trace of doubt on, it never ceases even when it's a bad day or yo-yo with mood swings. It never judges or gives up hope. It is in abundance, always protects, and never fails. And I believe there is only one kind of love that is so simple, light, straightforward, and never ending. It's God's love!

Opportunity. I believe that when opportunity comes knocking on the door, it's really up to us to decide whether we want to take the extra step to turn the door knob, open the door and step forward. God can only bring it up to the door, and it's for us to pursue it!

Just thought of these 2 words while taking a shower. ahha. Anyways, I'm not too sure if I've shared before, but I've always wanted to get into fellowship with other Christians ever since I moved to Florida in Sept 06. I made some effort but never tried hard enough to bring myself close to the desired outcome. Fast forward to April 09, a pamphlet with a list of locations/names/phone numbers of all cell groups was distributed to all at church. I really took it as a sign from God that "it's time!". I checked out the nearest location, checked out their group photos, and decided on which cell I was going to attend. It then took me another few more weeks to actually pick up the phone and dial the cell leader's number and the 3rd Friday of April. After my first cell meeting, which was more of a games and intro session, it took me another few weeks to finish up my work, and all other things. So today, I went for my second Cell session!!

Today's cell group meeting was so spiritually refreshing that I literally felt much lighter at heart. Probably felt like all the thoughts and worries that clogged up my mind has been washed away. The number of people who turned up today was almost double the people I've met the first time. There was a lot of laughter and sharings, and today we also sang worship songs, studied, prayed, celebrated a birthday, ate and discussed about an upcoming wedding.

After missing almost all the fellowship sessions at work for the past 1.5 months because of meetings and presentations, I finally could make it for today's lunch session. It was just 2 coworkers and myself. There wasnt a bible or any preparation, but we just shared over lunch- sharing our challenges, and prayer needs.

After missing church for 2 weekends in a row because of exams and treasure hunt, I'm really looking forward to go to the Lord's house this Sunday!!

I'm really tired and ready for bed, but I'm really rejoicing in the fact that I know Jesus, and I really yearn to be able to remember His ways and honor Him in all that I do. It's really easy to lose these thoughts while going through daily life, but I know He will never give up on me, and so I should never stop trying!!!:P

Good night!!

Fun times along Southern trail

2009-06-09T22:03:00.012+08:00

Orchard road on a Sunday afternoon!

From my hotel window in JB, we saw the sunrise over Tebrau straits that separates M'sia from S'pore. The buildings in the horizon is S'pore!

On Saturday morning, with just probably less than a handful hours of sleep, I practically dragged myself to the office for the flag off of our Treasure Hunt trip. My team members turned out to be really fun people, they just make the most amusing comments...ahaha. I laughed lots along the 8 or 9 hours journey. We did pretty well in the first stage, and it was really interesting to hunt for the answers amongst the myriad of shop signs. The only problem was, we were moving too slow in the first few questions, and ended up arriving at the check-point 1/2 hour too late...which probably meant lotsa marks being penalized, so naturally we werent the contenders for any prize this time. Anyways, one of the new tasks in this year's treasure hunt was to catch flies. hahaa, it was just hilarious.

After we arrived in Johor Bahru, we continued the next stage of hunting within the mall itself. This year, the company invited a super funny entertainer to perform, it was just a pure 1.5 hours of entertainment listening to him sing various popular hits in all the main languages and poking fun at some of the employees. It was also quite sweet when he made all of us hold hands with each other and swing to the music. Not to mention the time he asked us to swing our napkins like a cowboy! :P

On Sunday morning, some of us drove over to Singapore to check out the great S'pore sale. It's really my first time visiting the malls on Orchard road. My memories of S'pore has always been in fractions...After my 12 years old graduation trip, it was all flight transits...the last visit was a 1 day trip during 2007 Christmas, and this time, another 1 day trip..haha. Anyways, the sale in S'pore wasn't desirable simply because the prices weren't too low to begin with, and plus our weaker currency, the discount just got lost in conversion. hehe, my most favorite places to shop is still in the US!!

It was interesting to navigate myself around the malls like Ngee Ann City, Atria, Tangs and Lucky plaza. The streets were basically flooded with a non-stop stream of people, and incredibly, I bumped into my mom's cousin in the mall! crazy crazy... Anyways, all the Indonesian/Filipino maids were having their Sunday day off, and it was definitely great fun to see them hanging out shopping and catching up with friends. Made me think how Misi would have missed her days working in S'pore because she's basically stranded in our house as the M'sian law do not allow them to go out for breaks.

We only left S'pore at around 5 sth 6 after a MOS burger dinner (rice burgers!!). And the entire journey home took about 8 hours from the original 4 hours because of all the crazy traffic. Haha, we were so bored in the car that we ended up trading ghost stories...haha, even though I still didnt get to check out Johor Bahru city itself because we stayed in "The Zon" hotel which was just across the bridge fr S'pore, I still had alot of fun in the 2D1N trip...good times!!

I honestly think I'm in a severe state of lacking proper rest...After so little rest, lotsa activity and a mountain of work over these few days, my brain is ready to shut down anytime....Good night!:)

Going South for a Hunt

2009-06-06T01:02:00.005+08:00

I'll be heading South of the peninsula to Johor Bahru tomorrow for the annual treasure hunt! Last year, in my maiden hunt, my team and I got the first place..but this year we won't be defending our championship position as all of us will be competing in different groups. I'm with the Corporate & Regulatory Affairs and Legal coworkers...haha, it'll be interesting!

It'll also be my first trip to JB city itself, have just passed by the state to go to Singapore twice, but never gone through any parts of the city. Also, we might drop by Singapore on Sunday before coming back. It's gonna be a hectic hectic Monday-Tuesday next week, but oh well, it can wait :P

Have a great weekend!!

Misi is back!

2009-06-02T23:18:00.003+08:00

Last Wednesday, my good ol' Indonesian domestic helper finally arrived back at our house. After all the drama of a thief-maid, and the stressful days of arguing over house chores, I'm just glad to hear her laughter again! After being home for 8 months, she came back spotting a new hairdo, a tan, and a ton of food for us. She brought us fried banana chips, coconut candies, fried honey candies and more coconut candies. It was almost surreal to see her again, considering we were so sad to see her go back last October, and to think that she reapplied to come back to our home is such a blessing! :) Yay!

Awesome hands

2009-05-31T00:46:00.000+08:00

Big Bad Wolf Sale

2009-05-26T23:18:00.004+08:00

Earlier this month was the "Big Bad Wolf" book sale. It was very near my office, so an ex-colleague and I went over to check it out spontaneously. I just hopped into the car and off we went just like the good old times! :) Our initial browse through only ended after 2 hours! There were just tons of books everywhere, and the best thing is, there was aircond!!

Anyways, after my first visit, I went again with another good friend during the weekend. So in total, I have probably spent about RM 75 plus. I wasn't actively looking for any particular titles as I've already gotten a chest load of books from previous sales that I have YET to read. When it comes to books, I'm usually more of a 'fiction reader', but on my second trip there, my friend collected a whole boxful of books on leadership, development, business, and winning etc. It suddenly made me realized that I should probably be a bit more 'business minded' and get some 'non fiction' books. ahha.

First trip:
1) To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
- probably high time I get a copy, it's only RM 8 anyways. :P
2) A Spot of Bother (Mark Haddon)
- I read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time" a few years ago and found it quite unique..same author, so thought I'd give it a try. RM 8 again
3) Me & Mr Darcy (Alexandra Potter)
- haha, probably a light chick-lit read. The synopsis sounded pretty interesting :P I just like to throw in one light book everytime..but have yet to read any of them!
4) Shatterproof Your Marriage (John T. Eckenwiler)
- haha, I bought this particular one because the author is a family & marriage counselor registered with the American Association of Family Therapy...lalala....might come in handy next time....professionally...or maybe personally ;)
5) Christianity FAQs/encylopedia (Mandarin version)
- Thought it'd be good to get it for my grandma to read up and find out more about Christianity! only for RM 5!

Second trip:
6) Talent is Never Enough (John Maxwell)
- Obviously, this is a whole different genre from the above mentioned, so suffice to say, I got influenced to buy this...ahah...Just thought I gave it a shot..RM 8
7) Women. Get Answers About Your Money (Carolyn Castleberry)
- Since I was influenced to browse through the non-fiction side, this book caught my attention because it kinda teaches you how to manage your finances in a pretty simple manner, and the author is involved in Christian broadcasting..so i'm guessing it'll have some Christian perspective in terms of managing finances....RM 8
8) The Five Languages of Apology (Gary Chapman & Jennifer Thomas)
- My friend was contemplating on dropping it from her purchase, so I just decided to buy it and we can share reading it down the line...Chapman is the author of "The Five Languages of Love" RM 8
9) Health Psychology - a biopsychosocial approach (Richard Straub)
- ........this is actually a Psych TEXTBOOK...ahaha...I just miss my Psych classes...lol...it was going for only RM 15, only 10% of what we used to pay for our textbooks!

Birthday present from PA!

2009-05-25T00:12:00.001+08:00

Bz

2009-05-21T21:42:00.010+08:00

These past 2 days, I have been coming home pretty early, around 6-7pm. Am actually not quite use to it, considering the average time I leave work is around 10pm usually :/...Anyways, instead of feeling uneasy about it, I should feel glad and start enjoying these few days of 'relaxation' before it's over.

It seems like the month of May just flew past like an arrow. It's already the end of the week when I remembered just recently I woke up wishing that it wasn't Monday...lol... Speaking of work, usually one would be all geared up 1 week ahead in preparing for a presentation to the leadership teams (the top mgmt of a function, i.e. HR, Mktg, Fin..etc), but just as I was looking through my calendar again, I realized that I have been presenting at different leadership teams at least once every week for the past month. Last week, I even had 2 presentations for 2 different leadership teams, for 2 different projects. Everytime before I go off to the meetings for my slot, my neighbouring colleagues would know it for sure, because I will starting bidding them farewell, just in case I dont survive the 'battle' haha...

I guess the mountainous pressure just took its toll on me, as I feel like a deflated balloon. So far I haven't unpacked the souvenirs that I brought back from Cambodia, everything is still lying in a pile waiting to be put away. I also haven't done much except watching a couple of movies on the weekends, and catching up on my cross-stitch. I think I need to start sleeping more again, been too tired to do much after I step in the house. Shall update more when I feel more awake!!

Work, work, work

2009-05-20T23:08:00.005+08:00

Yesterday, after another 'battle' aka. presentation, I felt like the lid has just been lifted up the pressure cooker that was building inside me for weeks. Heaved a sigh of relief, so, I decided to go home early because I didnt have to rush for anything for the day after. Not only were my parents shocked to see me home at 6pm-ish, even my brother who was taking a nap, thought he overslept when he heard my voice drifting to his ears (coz he thought it was already 10pm - the time I get home usually). My parents decided to take us out for a good dinner since nowadays I'm rarely home early enough for a decent meal. Ahh!

Last time, whenever there was a presentation to any of the leadership teams (top mgmt of a function i.e. HR, Mktg, Finance..), it's usually a big thing where one will have to be all prepared 1 week before. For the past 1.5 months, I've been going into different leadership teams EVERY week, sometimes visiting 2 different leadership teams in the same week itself for different projects. I jokingly told my colleague that if this continues on, I'll probably be taking in a cup of tea, and talking to them about my project like I'm one of them! lol...Oh well, I'm still far from that stage really...but nowadays, come what may, I still make sure I go get some lunch and take time off for toilet breaks. :P

Today, while waiting for my dad to pick me up, I decided to just leave my desk and go downstairs to the lobby. Since we moved to the opposite new building, they have put more couches around for people to sit. I literally sank into the comfy couch that I've been longing to sit on. Since they put the couch by the main entrance, it'll be kinda weird to find yourself sitting there during office hours.

Japanese family friends

2009-05-17T18:07:00.004+08:00

After an awesome time spent in Siam Reap, 2 members from my host family in Japan came over in that first week to Langkawi island for a holiday, and stopped by KL for 2 days to visit me! (yay!) I always feel humbled and pampered when people come to visit me. hehe. Unfortunately, the 2 days they came smacked right on the busiest days of that particular week. I just couldn't take anytime off at all except to leave work on time (5pm!)

On the first night, my dad and I took them to Jalan Alor, which was near their hotel for a taste of Malaysian food. Frankly speaking, I always felt that it was a place meant for tourists, and it was my first time there after many many years. Surprisingly, the local delicacies tasted pretty good there too! I ordered a variety of what I perceived to be the core food that Chinese M'sians enjoy on a regular basis - satay (meat skewers), Hokkien-style noodles, Cantonese-style noodles, Wanton noodles, bak kut teh (herbal soup pork), fried kuey-teow (flat noodles), lala (shells), and fried chicken wings. The four of us basically wiped out most of the food...ahah, and we went for a short shopping trip at Petaling Street (Chinatown) and took a drive around town. My Japanese sister was craving for teh-tarik (milk tea), and so we wento one of the mamaks. They had a pretty good time taking pics with the gigantic roti tisu (crunchy 'pita bread'). aha.

While I worked the next day, I introduced them to check out the Pavillion mall, and they really bought loads as souvenirs for their family back in Japan. I only managed to meet them for dinner shortly before they had to catch their plane. My host brother and host cousin burned me a CD full of current J-pop songs..ahha..and one of my host brothers got married recently, and already have a little baby girl!! :) They showed me some of the recent pictures back at their home, and it definitely brought back alot of memories of my 1 month stay in Japan back in the Winter of 2002! :)

Cambodia!

2009-04-30T01:28:00.004+08:00

I'll be heading to Siam Reap in Cambodia! Took a day off from work (gasp), think the roller-coaster will start once I get back to work next week. But in the mean time, I'll set my mind to worry whether I'm brave enough to climb up the Angkor Wat, which has been known to be pretty steep!

Thank you!

2009-04-30T01:24:00.003+08:00

Heartiest thanks for all the prayers for my grandma! My aunt, bro and myself accompanied her to do some tests in the hospital today. Everything is clear, so the only advice was for her to limit her intake of fluids to only about 3 cups of water a day. She still shivers and feels unwell (difficulty in breathing) 2 or 3 times a day, but hopefully she'll get better very soon!

2009-04-28T22:35:00.003+08:00

My grandma's heart went skipping again on Sunday (a once in a while occurrence throughout the years) and this time one of her ankles got swollen. The doctor said that they're signs of the beginning of heart failure. She has gone to the hospital for further tests.

Cant bring myself to think.

Need to pray.

:'(

A smile!

2009-04-26T15:23:00.003+08:00

We were assigned another person to help clean the house today. The new girl looked very fresh and sweet with her short curly hair and she looked very young too. She was very hardworking, and displayed good initiative. I really empathize with the RM 15 pay for 4 hours of work, as I got almost the same amount while working as a barista in a coffee shop a few years ago. I decided to give her a tip, and when my mom gave it to her, she looked at me with a huge wide happy grin. Ahh, that made my day! :)

A miracle!

2009-04-26T01:01:00.007+08:00

One of my fav managers informed us through text that his wife finally gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday night after she was delayed by more than a week! Praise God! It's definitely very exciting because I've met his wife a couple of times, shared US traveling stories and her sister even went to Bemidji for studies too! (altho she went over a couple yrs before i did)

A few of my colleagues and I carpooled over to the private hospital all the way in Ampang the very next day. We were eager to visit the little bundle of joy and also to congratulate the new parents. And true enough to my manager's description that "...when she is awake you can see her curious little eyes wondering around exploring the new world that welcomes her. Such a miracle!" It was definitely such a sweet moment to come face to face with a little baby who was less than 1 day old...awww....she was awake when we visited, and she would look at us curiously with her little round black eyes, yawn, and slowly doze back to sleep after being awake for about 15 mins...eheh...too cute! Such a miracle indeed!! :)

My manager also narrated alot of details of the entire delivery process to us. The only two words to summarize the whole experience was 'great pain'...ahah, one can probably imagine a fraction of the labor pain expecting mothers have to go through by listening to the stories. But the huge wide happy smile on my manager's wife when she met us and the way she looked when she held the baby definitely was a great testimony that it's all bearable, and the outcome was totally worth it. I think having a baby is a very sweet process for a couple to go through. I cannot imagine how any husband, after witnessing how his wife go through so much to give birth to their child, would not cherish and love his wife even more than before. Well, the world sometimes proves to be otherwise, but I still think the whole marriage-children process should be born out of love instead of an obligation to fulfill the typical stages of life. Can't wait to meet the sweet little girl again! :)

Fellowships

2009-04-25T23:45:00.003+08:00

I finally went for my church's young adults cell group meeting on Friday (yay!). I met up with the cell leader and a few others for dinner at their usual restaurant below the apartment where they were gonna meet. The first few members I met were very easy going and friendly, which was a relief to me since i was a little apprehensive meeting up with strangers! :) And the rest whom I was later being introduced to in the cell meeting were aptly more so and funny as well. We spent most of the time playing ice-breakers and getting to know each other as there were 2 other new members in the group as well. After cell, some of us went to a mamak nearby for drinks. They definitely come across as a nice and funny bunch! It also has a good mix of married couples/singles, and males/females. Quite nice to meet other working adults other than colleagues!

On the other hand, our office fellowship group also managed to meet up last week. It has been pretty challenging getting all members together due to the busy schedules, but we have managed to invite a new member to our group! I guess it's already a good start to spend 20-30 mins of our lunch time once a week talking and sharing ideas about following Jesus! :)

Little things

2009-04-22T13:05:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, as I was heading to the wash room in between a meeting, I saw the plants and trees in our company garden swaying and bending over. It looked like a huge breeze just came by. Curious to feel the intensity of the wind, i headed out, ahah, it was indeed good to feel the wind sweeping past me while standing amongsts the greens. How nice if our company was situated a block away from the ocean or a big lake!

Today, I made myself a cup of green tea that a good friend recommended me to buy over the weekend. Thought it would be good to drink some hot tea to help digest the egg-broth noodles that I just had. The aroma of a good cup of green tea is so soothing. :)

Now, back to planning my 'wonderful' mega projects.

Random

2009-04-21T23:16:00.007+08:00

Think my mind and body have come to a point where it needs to just shut down and recharge for longer hours than the ones i'm allowing it to get. Been struggling to keep myself awake.

I used to spend just 1 day lying on the bed after every 4 days of working in Disney. That was because my feet would hurt much after standing the whole time while working in the parks. There were times I would push myself and work more than my 4-day worth of energy, and end up being sick after that..haha

Potentially might be visiting with a few special friends:
One of my host families from Japan were thinking of coming over to visit M'sia next month. It's been 7 years since I last saw them!

A German friend whom I knew through my Moroccan coworker in Disney, might be coming up to KL for a visit too, she's now working in S'pore for a year. Been 2 years since we last met!

And, my Bemidji floormate from Linden, who is currently teaching in South Korea, was saying that she wants to come visit in the next few months too. I havent seen her for about 2.5 years!

If they all come, it'll be really fun as I'll be able to catch up and show them the country where I live in. At the same time, I can also see the big deadlines looming in my diary for the next 8 weeks! Oh well, I guess there's always time for friends, what's work compared to people?! :)

Now, off to get some rest before midnight! (been trying to sleep earlier each day!)

From nose to tail dinners

2009-04-20T01:07:00.006+08:00

Last Friday, one of my senior managers organized a dinner at a pretty interesting place where we can "..smash some plates and eat all sorts of porkie dishes from "nose to tail". Since the dinner place was in downtown KL, it means that my first cell meeting will be postponed again!! tsk tsk to myself. In the end, only a handful of people from our department could make it, which includes our director and her husband! It wasn't scary at all, as they were very approachable and fun people. We had good chit-chats about anything but work- yay. It was good to know the other (personal) side of colleagues...and just be yourself and talk. I haven't had such good fun for a long time, sharing recipes, and random topics over good food and wine.

The dinner place "El Cerdo", which means "the pig" in Spanish, was situated in Changkat Bukit Bintang, on a strip with chic restaurants. True to its name, it was a restaurant that only serves pork that came from Iberio pigs that only feast on certain herbs or grass in Spain. The pork ribs (approx RM 50), paella (RM 88) and desserts (approx RM 20+) were really good. I guess their Unique Selling Point was that they let you chop your roasted suckling pig by using a plate! It's probably to show you how tender the meat is, before that, you're supposed to make a wish for either money or relationship, and then drop the plate to break it. So as we're eating, we heard many plates smashing going on...ahha...(i guess breaking plates while eating isn't entirely agreeable with the Chinese culture:P) Also, if you celebrate your birthday there and order a suckling pig, they'll place a candle on the pig and sing you a birthday song that ends with 'oink oink' in every sentence.....

We shared dishes, and ended up paying about RM 100 per person....it was definitely a rather expensive meal, but the food was good, and the company was superb, and the fact that we just got our bonus payout helped alot. Since I was also looking out for a place to take my family out for a good dinner, I decided to head to El Cerdo AGAIN today. This time, I had to foot the entire steep bill, but it was totally worth it since everyone including my grandma really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. I think I've had too much meat this weekend, will need to feast on my favorite cereals for the next few days!!

Monday

2009-04-15T00:36:00.005+08:00

I spent Monday morning shadowing the sales team out in the market, observing and interviewing them on their job scope as part of my fact-finding exercise for an assignment. After lunch, I spent quite some time in the warehouse office in Puchong tidying up my findings, talking to more people and bouncing ideas off the managers. It was almost bed time when I left, I was kinda hungry and tired but satisfied with my achievements for the day. I guess it's really humbling to work among the people who actually earn the 'bread & butter' of the company. Being away from my office in HQ was actually quite refreshing. I actually felt that I've learned much more by spending a day out in the field than 1 week seating behind my desk. ahah.

Ahh, the Beavers lost the semifinal game of the NCAA Frozen Four last Thursday. I didn't manage to wake up to catch it Live on webradio, as right before I went to bed the night before, I suddenly felt terribly unwell, and had to even take half day off the next day. But i guess i wouldn't last through the game listening with a sleepy head at 5am..:P

Just saw some carefree 'green grass-blue sky' picnic pictures from a good friend's FB album, ahh, it'll be good if I get to go for a picnic and lay on the grass sometime. Maybe with some fresh air too! ",)

Beyond tears, there's Hope!

2009-04-12T16:51:00.005+08:00

Yesterday, my brother, myself and a friend attended the Easter drama entitled "Beyond Tears" in my church. I must say it's a really good drama. It talked about how the parents of a boy have to struggle and make a decision to take him off the life support after he has been declared brain dead from a car accident. The boy was a Christian and he was also an organ donor. The entire drama brought us through the parents' journey from denial to acceptance and rejoicing. They eventually accepted Jesus, and they dedicated time to help other parents who are facing the same crisis. Their son's organs were also donated to 2 other teenagers whose lives have been transformed as they got a second chance to live and accepted Jesus as their Savior because of the miracle they witnessed.

The drama was a depiction of a true life story that the church's youth pastor has witnessed and it does a bring a tear or 2 to some in the audience, simply because the struggle of the parents was just so real. As I watched the drama, it brought to mind another real life incident that just happened the day before:

A colleague of mine witnessed a crime happening in front of her house in Bandar Utama. She was about to leave for work, when suddenly she heard a commotion at the opposite house, which was a day care centre. She saw 4 men dragging a little boy into their car and speeding away, with a wailing woman. She immediately took note of the car plate and called the police. Apparently, the mother has just drove the car into the day care centre's porch, and just as she was about to bring her 7-year old son into the day care centre, these men appeared with a parang (big knife) and kidnapped her son away. The day care centre was in a gated community! My colleague was so shaken by it that she sent a note out to some of us to warn us to be careful.

Be it because of money or any personal issues, I sure pray that the little boy will be released and returned to his family safely very soon. It is surely a traumatic event for both the little boy and the family. May there be hope for them beyond the tears they shed!

Coming back to the Easter drama, it was actually in collaboration with the National Organization for Organ Donation ran by the Ministry of Health. I have actually decided a few years ago that I would like to be an organ donor, hence, this was a good opportunity! I signed up and shall receive my organ donor card through the mail. They allowed me to choose the type of organs that I would like to donate after I die, and I decided to just give all organs and tissues, as it'll be a blessing if I can give life to someone else even after I'm no longer on earth! :)

Here's one of the worship songs- 'Because He Lives" that we sang today during Easter service :)

Because He lives I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living, just because He lives.

Go Beavers!! Go BSU!!

2009-04-09T21:25:00.011+08:00

I got to know that the ice-hockey team- the Beavers, from my uni in Bemidji is up to a big competition in Washington D.C.. As i was following the pictures of my friend's road trip from B-town to D.C., i decided to go find out more about it...AND, apparently, the Beavers, a No.4 seed in the Midwest Region for the 2009 NCAA Tournament (to me -one level below professional ice-hockey) , have beaten the No.1 seed - Nortre Dame University, and also Cornell University to be the Midwest Regional Champion and Canadian Hockey Assoc. champ. This earned them the right to advance into the National Championship game in Washington D.C. where all the regional champions fight it out in the 'Frozen Four' stage.

Due to homework and assignments, I've only managed to take time to go to less than a handful ice-hockey games back in BSU (had to make time for basketball games too eheh). BSU is pretty well known for ice-hockey, and i must say it's a pretty agressive and intense game, and the fans are usually very 'united', ahha. I particularly enjoyed how some would bring along brooms, and chant "sweep, sweep, sweep" (sweep away the opponents) or use synchronized hand gestures (cant remember what it was) to try to break down the opponent's spirits. It's also one of the 'cooler' games, haha, coz for one thing you're seated beside the ice-rink, and secondly, there are usually many cool dudes playing on the team too!;) I remember how many of us would feel a little 'star studded' when the ice-hockey star players came to eat at the school's cafeteria, and we're the ones working to serve them food...hehe...

One of the things I really liked about the US is how big sports are, even at the college level! :)

The games starts on the 9 April, Central time at 4pm (M'sian 10 April 4am), am contemplating trying to wake up to catch it Live on the Bemidji radio station's website (ahh, the goodness of internet:) I sure hope they win and make history by becoming the lowest ranked team to ever become the NCAA champion on 11 April!!

Go Beavers!! Go BSU!! *beaming with Beaver pride* ahaha :)

Quote

2009-04-07T10:51:00.002+08:00

This was written on my little daily quotes calendar 2 weeks ago. :)

Week 12 Friday

May there always be work for your hands to do;

May your purse always hold a coin or two;

May the sun always shine on your windowpane;

May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;

May the hand of a friend always be near you;

May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

- An Irish blessing

Vision

2009-04-04T23:41:00.004+08:00

I was reading a good friend's entry about "Vision". The inspiration for his post came from another source Squeeze the LIME which has the following excerpt:

I believe you should have two kinds of long term vision. The first is your LIFESTYLE VISION. Try to picture yourself at different ages. What kind of life would you want to lead by then? Where would you live? What kind of futuristic hovering car would you fly? What kind of values do you hope your kids will have learned from you? … Just imagine what you would do in an day or week…
(the other long term vision is Creative vision, which I wont really elaborate here)

For Lifestyle Vision, looking into my life 10 years from now, I hope that I would have moved on to a career that would actually make a difference and improve people's lives. Somehow I've just never taken Counseling class in my entire Psychology undergraduate degree, so I'm really interested to study the techniques of counseling, be it on family therapy, or post-traumatic counseling, it all seems really interesting. It'd be best if I could also work for a Christian organization. I also hope that I would be actively serving in church- teaching bible studies to children! That would be alot of fun! :) Going on a missions trip would be something I'd love to do as well. I also want to have a loving and supportive husband who would inspire and encourage me in the Lord, likes going out to see the world as much as I do and just shares the vision of raising our children in the Lord's way and living simply. He'd also be someone who would be interested to go for pre-marriage counseling with me! hehe.. I also want to leave the big cities and rat race behind, and live in a safer and serene place, with some time to enjoy the changing colors of Fall and pretty flowers in Spring! It'd also be great if I could pick up another instrument like the guitar. It's a more mobile instrument, which I can just bring along and strum and play songs wherever. Perhaps pick up another language, that would be pretty challenging. And a new hobby, like gardening or diving, it'll be my effort to get in touch with nature more. :)

Skullcrusher Mountain

2009-04-01T00:16:00.005+08:00

While playing the video game "Rock Band" with friends last year, one of the songs that I've grown to like a lot was Jonathan Coulton's "Skullcrusher Mountain". It's a kinda weird song in some ways, but yet sweet in its own way.... :) Take note of the lyrics!

I never played any kind of video games while growing up. The closest electronic games I've played were the computer games during our computer class in primary school or 'gameboy'. But recently, I've come in contact with nice music playing games like 'guitar hero', 'rock band' or more advance games like 'guild wars' and Nintendo DS ones. I'm still not a big fan of video games, but I really like 'rock band' alot simply because you get to play along pop, rock songs, and I've actually learned a lot of new songs through it! ahha! Currently, I've been trying to finish 'Zelda: The Minish Cap" on the Nintendo DS that I got for Christmas. I'm now at level 2 out of 4 levels. It's basically a puzzle game where you have to find and fight your way out of different places while searching for your target prize. It could be pretty addictive at times!

Peanut butter toast & Nepal

2009-03-30T22:59:00.004+08:00

As I was walking across the factory from a small office at the back end, it was raining, and I thought it would be good to drop by the company cafeteria en route back to my own office to see what's in the menu. Our cafeteria has improved tremendously, with a Japanese theme decoration, and quite a good variety of food - for lunch and dinner that is. But since it was the after-dinner hours, there wasn't much left. Just as I thought I'll give it all a pass, I caught eye of a toaster and bread on the counter. And so, I made myself a peanut butter toast! :)

Nightfall raindrops somehow softens the surroundings, and make things more refreshing and wonderful. While waiting for my ride, I chatted with one of our Nepalese security guards. He's one of the nicer guards that I've grown to know since he works 7 days a week and we see them everyday. Apparently he'll be going back sometime pretty soon. He's been working in M'sia for 3 years, with only 2 days off every month. He said he's tired, and he wants to go home and think of something different to venture into. I guess I'll definitely miss the hi-byes and friendly chatter! I honestly hope that he'll be able to do what he likes with the money he saved! Ahh, a new Nepalese friend!

A Way

2009-03-29T23:35:00.007+08:00

Dearest friend introduced me to a blog where I could download Christian songs, and I finally got some of my favorite songs, some have been songs that I've really liked since 3 years ago! Being a non-tech savvy person, who is also afraid to venture into peer sharing websites or media file downloading sites (bitten once and computer crashed), it was great to finally know where I can download more Christian songs :)

One of the songs I downloaded was Don Moen's "God Will Make A Way". It's the song that I shared the youtube video sometime ago. The song started with a short story narrating the inspiration behind this song. After Don's nephew was killed in an accident, he felt helpless as all the scripture that he could think of fell short of what he really wanted to say to his sister and brother-in-law, he prayed and read Isaiah 43, and he got inspired to write this song to tell them that "God will make a way when there seems to be no way". It is to declare that, even though we might not be able to see it yet, God WILL make a way for us.

I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. - Isaiah 43:19

He will hold me closely to His heart,
with love and strength for each new day,
He will make a way.

As the Deer

2009-03-26T23:50:00.001+08:00

There's this song that I have on my "Worship Songs" playlist named "As the Deer" by Joel Engle. I'm guessing that I randomly copied it from a friend's CD back in Bemidji and have grown to like it because of how simple and soothing it is.

So today, as I read up my 'Daily Bible Verse' box on Facebook, the verse was almost exactly how the song "As the Deer" starts!! I had an "aha!" moment, coz now I know where they got the lyrics inspiration from. I've come to realised sometime ago, that alot of the worship songs are formed from Bible verses. Just a little discovery :)

March 26, 2009

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1

.

Of Grandma and Fellowship

2009-03-25T23:45:00.000+08:00

Since we have to clear some of the spilled over leave-days from last year, I managed to squeeze out some time off to accompany my grandma to the eye clinic for a check-up yesterday. It was very brief, but it was good fun seeing my grandma getting all excited explaining to me a new comb that she bought for me and my cousin. haha. It's actually a comb made from cow horns (think they're called horns) that supposedly has some medical benefits. I always admire her creativity in making innovations to her handbag, purse, medicine casing and such to make it safer and more user-friendly. It was great joy listening to the experiments she did to prove that the comb is not just a piece of plastic!!:)

Today, a few of my coworkers and I finally had our first Christian fellowship meeting over lunch. We've been trying to kick it off since last month, but it was always pushed back due to meetings and busy schedules. Since it was the first meeting, we briefly discussed about the approach we're taking for the way forward, and also shared testimonials. It was very encouraging to hear how God worked His ways in different ppl's lives and sharing the promise and hope with each other. We decided to do it in the middle of every week, so that we could be refreshed, and it also allows some buffer days before the weekend comes, in case we need to reschedule. After we went back to work, mails for prayer requests were circulated. May the workplace be filled with God's people!!:)

With all I am

2009-03-23T00:53:00.002+08:00

The song that reminded me of the reason that I live for. My world is in YOUR hands.

Saturday

2009-03-21T15:45:00.003+08:00

Today has been another lazy Saturday. I was supposed to do some work because I have to go back to the office for a few hrs tomorrow, and there's a presentation on Monday. But I got to catch up with an old friend online who is still going to grad school, I got inspired to actually seriously look up on what are the studying options out there. Afterall, we can't just focus on 1 block of cheese all the time!! :P

My eyes were tired, so, instead of going for a nap, I remembered that I made an entry about eye exercises sometime back, hence I went searching for it in my blog, and found it as an entry in May 2005. And while doing that, I got to read up on some of my fun experiences working as a temporary teacher in my primary school. I'm pretty glad I wrote about it, because I've kinda forgotten most of the little detailed observations :)

Some of the comments that I still find amusing:
Student: "lao shi (teacher), he was running"
[little kids are only allowed to walk to prevent them from falling down]
Student: "lao shi, he talked"

=) Little kids are too cute!