m e

I think this picture does resemble me a lot. In many ways, it does. And the funny thing is, I have come to believe that resemblance is an understatement! Haha! I somehow like this pic, very candid. Thanks. ^^

7th Day (last day)

7th and the last day of my stay here in Beijing. It’s hard to make out what I feel about leaving the Capital…so there I was, just staring blankly out of the window at my parent’s hotel room as they busied themselves with packing.

We had breakfast as usual down in the hotel restaurant. Then it was free time till 11am. My parents, Aunt Maggie, sis and I went for a stroll along the streets near the hotel. Beijing was suffocating under a thick blanket of haze! Quipping in Haydn’s words, ‘the haze was so thick you could spread it on a bread!’ Well, that was the Austrian composer’s description of England some centuries back. To put it in our tour guide’s words, the condition was simply ‘cloudy’. Yeah right!

11.30am. The bus arrived. Trunks which grew heavier over the week and bags which were stretching the limits of their zips were loaded onto the coach together with newly purchased bags. We had our last taste of Beijing food for this trip and headed straight to the airport. In 45 minutes, we arrived. After some delay because of some airway congestion in Hong Kong, our plane took off and we were homebound. 4.45pm, and our feet, body and presence bade farewell to the Capital of our ancestors’ Motherland. What an experience!
(I’m journaling my holidays backwards as it would then appear in chronological order as I post them one by one from my office com)

Durian party...

When D24 taste like any other durian and durians don’t taste like durians anymore,….when the pungent smell of durians ceases to excite the senses and the nose seem oblivious to its presence,…when shreds of fresh cucumber floating in soda water taste like onions to the tongue,…when everything seems to be in a peculiar shade of yellow,…when the number 15 sounds better than 12,…when you’re gloating over a fruit excessively instead of rice or something more staple for dinner,…when sandwiches are sandwiched between mouthfuls of durian and when there is nothing else to mix vanilla ice-cream with except (you get it…) durians,…

If such a situation does occur, try one or more of the following:

1. consult a local doctor
2. drink some green tea and sober up
3. pray for deliverance
4. inform your church pastor that you’ve experienced the undocumented side-effects of a 40-day fast
5. go on a vacation
6. try observing the Sabbath
7. change your diet
8. dial 911
9. start to panic
10. practice writing a will




However, since it was Siew Lian’s birthday or durian party, we just sang a birthday song instead.


Happy birthday, Lian! :)

Cuz Serene

She came to see us off. It was a Friday night, and all thirty of us were already at the KL International Airport before 10pm. Among them was my Aunt Maggie, her mum. So, it was more likely that she came to see her mum off. And she arrived rather late. Still, we were loitering around the departure hall. She didn’t come alone this time, although along with her were her brother and her dad, my uncle and dear cousin Simon.

Time was ample before we were required to take the escalator down after checking in our baggage. As usual, we were entertained with this aunty-niece talk. The niece’s friend also tagged along the conversation, following nicely through each topic with a healthy prescription of humour in his lines. It’s my first time meeting Jeremy.

With some more time to spare, we sat around the corridor somewhere near McDonald’s. It was then that I produced my digicam and had a picture of her. As promised, she would be featured in my blog! Haha!

Here’s to you, dear cuz.

silhouette in white

Hmm...what do you think of this pic? A white silhouette isn't too bad, right? But it tends to give an icy, clinical impression. A bit surreal too…It's an exercise which would hopefully inform the potential of later pictures from my humble Kodak C360. By the way, it’s a needle-in-a-haystack task looking for lithium batteries! Finally managed to get my hands on a pack of two AA’s at Watsons after trying out a number of shops! Well, Energizer lays claims that it takes up to 600 digital shots, as compared to the meager 80 by a standard alkaline battery. So the price is a no-complain.

Leaves in the wind

My little white Kancil was parked under a street lamp. And over the fence was this little juvenile tree dancing in the wind. It would have been great to have the moon glowing in its background. Nevertheless, I tried hard to get a picture out of it. The problem was, long time exposure does not work well with moving objects, and to get the most out of the lighting effects in the dark…a compromise had to be made. I think movement does bring about a layer of interest into the composition.

colours of a sunset

Sunset for the past week has been gorgeous. The clouds were great and the dispersion of light through the great expanse (aided by the pollution??), beautiful. The charm of its splendour - irresistible! I was glad that I had my camera with me. (picture taken outside Dutt’s office…overlooking a great calm lake…lol!)

colour green

A picture I took while doing some site analysis with Alex, my colleague. I was particularly attracted to the greenery and the lines found in this part of the landscape that would eventually park cars.

A hearty breakfast

Food it seems has always somehow done much good not only to my stomach, but to my mood too. And when I’m in such good spirits, it’s amazing how positive I look at things and how much more accommodating and to an extent, more gracious and forbearing I can become. Food makes me a larger man! Lol!

I awoke before dawn today, amazingly! Just for breakfast, that I will do. Haha! Nopes. I don’t usually have anything more than just a cup of office-sponsored Milo and occasionally, some (yes, you guessed it rightly!) office-sponsored biscuits to start off the day. It’s a far cry from my staple meal of cereals and fresh milk I used to have for a few years now already, but I’d rather trade those 10 minutes of home-made breakfast for extra sleep. But last night had my ex-housemate and I an appointment for breakfast at McDonald’s this morning. It has been sometime now since we last caught up on each other’s tidings or embarked on a lengthy conversation. This here is a friend with whom conversations could encompass anything under the sun, merrily! Don Chan.

I was at Kota Kemuning’s drive-through McDonald’s at 8.15am. And the atmosphere was fresh, and the start of the day looked promising, somehow. The morning sun had its rays thrown right through the curtain walls of the fast food shed and the surrounding greenery made the cars journeying along the roads pleasant to look at. No sign of Don. I got a call and a groggy-sounding voice apologized for having overslept.

“Tomorrow again for breakfast?”

“Err…not McD two days in a row…some other time then lar…”

So there was I, having breakfast alone. Having paid RM6.83 for a Big Breakfast set, I felt that an indulgence that could have fed at least 2 people comfortably. But I was early, and before me, good food. And good food provides me good mood. They go hand in hand, beautifully.

I walked into the office 15 minutes early. The earliness, the breakfast, the good start, coupled with this mood, I feel well charged. Let the day begin!

1,000

This number greeted me this morning when I logged on into my own blog. A nice 1,000. Thanks to all those who have come, wrote a comment or two or left some messages in the cbox. I really do appreciate your visit(s). Have a nice day! :)

Music to my ears

Before me lies…Chopin’s Nocturne! Yeah, we’ll liken it to Chopin’s deliciously sweet nocturnes…with melodies dripping like champagne from every bar amid the note-splattering pages of a Peter’s Edition. I’ve done my scales and arpeggios (can’t say I enjoy them and honestly, can’t say that I don’t too…) and am ready to tackle the wonderful piano music of Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin. Tough it is, but nonetheless, exquisite. Haha! Truth is, I’ve not played Chopin for more than half a year now…in the absence of my piano…but here are the weekends. Sweet!

The Prayer of Jabez

Why do we pray if we don’t expect anything from God? Is prayer just a mere duty, a ritualistic part of religion, empty words just to fill a conversational quota to heaven? Shame to say, I must confess that most of the time I pray for certain matters that I don’t really have a burden for, but just because I feel that it is the right thing to do…

But a little casual chat with Grace over MSN just now got me thinking….

‘Pray and expect from God,’ was the reminder from Grace. And she brought reference to The prayer of Jabez. While I have yet to actually read Wilkinson’s book, a little inquisition got me to google about it.

And my search result got me thinking further, for there’s a website http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/Jabez.htm which raised questions about the claims, arguments and facts of Wilkinson’s writing. The problems with the Prayer of Jabez...here goes:

1. Does the Bible justify using "the prayer of Jabez" as a formula for success?

2. How can Mr. Wilkinson assure anonymous readers that God "always answers" this particular prayer in contrast to other prayers?

3. Could a formula prayer raise false expectations of what God might do and therefore bring disappointment, doubt and disillusionment rather than faith and thankfulness?

4. Could a habitual prayer such as the prayer of Jabez, distract from hearing and praying according to God's will for the day?

5. Might some readers be seeking the power of prayer rather than the power of God?

6. Can we assume that a step toward victory in one battle will work the same way in another battle?

7. Is it Biblically accurate to expect that the evils that surround us not touch and "grieve" us?

Lol! This is truly worth some debate and discussion. It’s been a while too that I’ve grappled with issues pertaining to matters such as this. Do I miss good theological discussions! It’s the arguments put forth and the biblical passages presented as grounds for justification that I am most interested in, not so much the answers…I'd rather we admit that we truly don’t know many of the answers till we get to heaven’s shores. But that does not excuse us from thinking, seaking and searching for answers though...

Does anybody out there have a copy of The Prayer of Jabez?

MV Doulos