From Merseyside

Things I like:
- MY ROOM!! besides having broadband which i never had b4 it's nice to just curl up with a good book and lose track of time...

- the weather..nice and cool after getting used to it

- the large helpings whenever we eat out..

- the cheap books(if you dun spend too much time converting! 3 new books for 5 pounds..thats better than msian!)

- finding a church the very first week and feeling at home...

- finally, staying in a house with ppl i know and am getting to know better...alex and hsu pheen are the shopaholics so far.. jack is the MASTER organiser and head of household...edward and i are the odd job ppl; edward esp is good at being the fuss pot and making sure everything gets done just so...tricia is the Head Cook together with alex..she's also quite high ranking in the shopping department...

and thats the first week...lots and lots of shopping..inevitably ending with lots and lots of walking. classes start tues..hope we've learnt enough scouser accent to start us off..

And some photos..

Music Festival at Liverpool's Albert Dock area...featuring McFly! You know...that McFly..

Our kitchen...overstocked on some items, lacking in others...

Bold St. - where we walk up everyday.. and where the shoppers have a job trying to keep thier eyes on the road.

Agnes Jones House proper...

And lastly, my room...yup I didn bother tidying up b4 the shot..

Here at last

Just b4 takeoff

Send off at airport

Agnes Jones House at dusk.

This is it. One year waiting to happen. God... help us make it a good year. Would have said something more eloquent if i wasn't so tired..

The Beginning

Instead about making a long story about how I enjoyed the last 21 years of my life(which i have), and how much I wish I wasn't leaving, I've decided to just note here that this is my last night home in Sitiawan.

I'll see you guys from Liverpool.

CONVOCATION aka gamelan-day!

Harry Potter rejects


some things are so good they leave us speechless

gazing at it as if we can't get enough of it

straining our ears to ensure we capture every single note

and drinking in the warm sweet fragrance that fills the air

this is not one of those things.







the dignified, reposed and refined dignitaries of the culturally sophisticated batch known indubitably as M103













WELL, we're halfway there..

The most interesting I learned today, 6 days before I set off to a new country, is how to brush my teeth the right way. It's amazing really. It all started when I went to the dentist this morning, in prep for my leaving. And let me say that once upon a time, you wouldn't have gotten me near a dentist without less than a good half an hour of kicking and screaming, plus a lot of shouting and running around tables and dodging attempts to be caught...Anyway, I went and was ushered in.
First thing I got was a lecture on how to brush my teeth. The doctor, a really nice guy btw, gave me the impression that he'd been studying my brushing technique for quite some time. It was as if he'd cameras installed in vista and at home..quite scary really. Anyway, he mentioned, and I guess I'd better put them down here for my own reference, that Brushing Your Teeth is a MYTH. We Clean Our Teeth is more accurate. And with me lying down holding a mirror, he proceeded to demonstrate. Apparently it was to be done right at the gums and not in a left to right motion, but rather up and down or circular motions a small section at a time. I was quite impressed by this, especially when he compared my upper gums which were nice and sharp and healthy to my lower gums.
Another day, another thing learned.

Nan Dattebayo

An example of how totally pointlessly I try to spend my time here b4 I go overseas..

Today I had the bright idea of going to the public library. And about the only reason I'd choose the public library as a more happening place to be besides my house would be becos it had one thing my house didn't. Broadband. So rather ambitiously, I lugged in my laptop thru the doors, knowing very well what I was about to hear. And sure enough, not two seconds later, I heard it. "Beg tak boleh bawa masuk." from a little Malay lady at one of the computers. Anticipating this, I'd already formulated a reply. "Kalau saya bawa laptop, boleh guna ke?" "Boleh, tapi tak boleh guna letrik sini." Ok, slightly unexpected, their tight holding of electricity rights, nevertheless I immediately switched to plan B. Returning my laptop bag to the car, I extracted my other peice of hardward, the external hard drive I recently got from Joy. Clutching this black peice of metal, I proceeded inside and signed up for an hour of usage. Sitting down, I plugged it into the USB port and smiled as it was detected almost effortlessly. I'm in, I thought. Feeling like a hacker from a movie, I proceeded to access my hard drive, and began doing what I came here for; 26 episodes of anime called Naruto!(ok David you can stop smiling now..) I'd barely gotten started when I noticed a snag. I'd downloaded using a client called BitTorrent, but the computer hadn't got BitTorent installed. No problem, I thought, navigating to the download page. Minutes later the download was started. I suppose I should've suspected something when I couldn't save it to my own hard drive though. Sure enough, when I downloaded it, I found I couldn't run the installer without admin rights. Looking at the Malay lady surreptitiously, I decided against asking her and considered my options. Finally making up my mind, I asked the lady if I could bring my laptop in and go online with it. Receiving a blank look, I realised I was about five seconds away from confusing her. Actually, after 3 seconds of explaining about networking and connecting two cables, she gave the no-no. So back into the sunshine I went, defeated at my attempts to take advantage of the public library. Life, I thought while trying to console myself, is more than Naruto.

Which was true.

But later, while I wrote this, I wondered, would I have thought so if I'd actually succeeded?

Unchanging Comfort

“God will make a way, when there seems to be no way…
He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me..”

Just went out for supper with Aunty Mei Ying and Uncle Kee In, my youth counselors back in Sitiawan. It was quite interesting, given that this was the first time I’d been out with them for supper alone, without Hang Yuan or Wern Jing or even Joel around. I felt especially nostalgic(man..) when Uncle Kee In mentioned stuff about me back in the days of Sunday School.. I’d forgotten they were around and teaching me back then.. Actually now I come to think about it, I still remember Aunty Mei Ying scolding me for using foul language back in a PJ session in primary school..
We talked about quite a lot of stuff, mostly concerning me going to the UK and the whole medical-student-life in God’s hands-what are you doing with your future kind of thing. And they were concerned enough to discuss the possibility of a CG for all of the “transitioners” waiting either to further studies(like me) or waiting to start work.. Was really humbled and saw my lack of vision, despite all I say about it…..
Also had one of those moments where I realized a lot will happen in the next few years.. Stuff like finding out where God would put me, what I was supposed to be doing, who He had in store for me.. Bet by the time I’d finished, both my sisters would have boyfriends, my dad might not be working anymore… So much in store..

“He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side,
With love and strength for each new day, He will make a way…
He will make a way.”

The words just popped into my mind as I drove home.. Truly He is the only unchanging element amongst the chaos and the uncertainty of the world. It’ll all depend on how I hold on to Him in the coming years.

Oh, and for the select few who saw my brush with the IMU computer in the medical museum, I managed to better that today… Had a brush with the sharp end of a tube of Darlie toothpaste later that night; it surprised even myself.

All Things Are Possible

Vas, Yoke May, Naveni, Kharti, Shalini and me - it's possible to chill in Sitiawan! hah!

Snapshots of CF Committee Retreat:

The crazy bunch of people God decided to somehow move through

Sarah exercising her right to rule...



Food we had on the first nite...note the creaminess of the omelette..











"Are we hired hands, or are we servants?" - Sarah, on the topic of servanthood
"Just notice me, that's all I ask." - Eu Pui during random sharing
"I should be embarassed, but I'm not" - Andrew, when questioned about his embarassing moment
"50% of my batch for God...whoa, what did I just say?" - Christine, realising her vision
"Make Jesus count in IMU and make IMU count for Jesus." - Sarah's vision statement
"Different, but in a good way." - Thomas, comparing retreats
"CF is student initiated; that's why we have a Sem 7 student sitting amongst us!" - Sarah on CF heritage
"Because she said, 'Be bowl!' " - Andrew after a bowl mysteriously fell when Sarah was talking
"I wouldn't go to a CF that is not relevant; I'd rather sleep loh." - Sarah on the 3 R's
"If the only time everyone can meet in lunch, we....should pray for more LTs in IMU la!" - Anna during discussion to change CF time
"It tastes a bit like no taste!" - Andrew being deep about food
"The birthday girl" - Daniel after Sarah asked what might blow out our candles
"Ok...I'll speak" - Jas Min after a long silence where everyone was waiting for her to say something
"Can stretch one la!" - Grace on theme application
"You all very scared to tread on each others toes one.." - Eu Pui during closing
"You asked me to say one word about the retreat..I'd say indescribable." - Joanne during closing
"Wei Ming...Wilfred." - Siew Lian on what's missing from the retreat
"Now this is where the real work begins..." - Eu Pui's closing statement

Hope when I read this this time next year, CF will have evolved spiritually as well as in size.

And I'm happy David, Siew Lian and I didn't kill anyone with our cooking during the weekend.

A Day Out

Today was great. Met up with friends from SPM 2000 and went to Ipoh to watch..shudder...Fantastic Four! Kharti, May Yoke Cheryl and Vasuhi, four friends I haven't seen in ages. We made it there safely despite my driving. Things I liked:

- Kharti's beard(there's one guy who shaves less than me!)
- Vasuhi's tendency to laugh over anything we say
- The fact that if you take digital photos of the food court waitresses, you'll get cheaper food
- Celebrating Vasuhi's bday impromptu after finding out none of us will be around to do it later
- Having friends to comment on my choice of long-sleeved shirts without criticising my fashion sense(if I have any that is..)

Also found out a lot bout what others in my ex-batch were doing.. A very big SORRY for not keeping in touch as much as I should have.. Sigh... guess it's time to go work on that Friendster account..

Oh, and they enjoyed Fantastic Four..Think my standards are too high?