Venting/ Venn-ing

Sometimes, I just feel so caught in the middle.

Sunset

Nus Computer Centre

Started off the day in a crappy mood.
Lack of sleep, looming deadlines, a gamut of emotions and politics to navigate through.
Mental curses rang in my head the whole day.
A million and one things gone wrong.
Just as I was stepping out to head home after a long dreary day,

a sunset exploded in my face with its beauty and fiery orange glows illuminating the sky.

Guess it's God's way of telling me He's still there. :)

Horton

"A Person is Still a Person, No Matter How Small."

Just went to watch this movie today. It reaffirmed my love for Dr Seuss and his stories once again. Lots of laughs, bright colours and a whimsical riot of characters. Absolute fun with a moral to take home in the end. I really think that sometimes children's books are the ones which give the most thought-provoking philosophical questions and answers packaged in the most simplest way.

Take for an instance the moral of the story, Horton. The quote about
"A person is still a person, no matter how small." just speaks to me on so many levels. Literally, Figuratively and also in direct Chinese translation! (haha..if you're not sure why, just ask me personally)
Everyone matters, anybody can make a difference. (if they want to)

No matter how small (size/status/age/mandarin translation) a person is,
he/she is still a person and so should be treated fairly as one.

Two Sheep

Yesterday’s sermon told the story of two sheep. Since the sermon was in chinese, I shall attempt to do a translation in my own words...haha.

The Story of BaaBaa the black sheep and BaiBai the white sheep.

One day, BaaBaa met BaiBai and a conversation started.

From the start, BaaBaa started to boast:

“Hello Ah Bai! Long time no see. You know, I have been enjoying myself to the fullest and life is the best! Every day, I can go to the stream nearby for a refreshing drink of clear water early in the morning. Then, I get to graze happily all day on the large patch of green grass beside the water. Just ahead of the grassland, there is a long and wide valley where I can move about freely in and out of the area as I fancy. I have all the things I need. I can do what I want, as I like, and nothing can stop me. Isn’t my life the greatest?”

BaiBai thought for a while, then asked:

“You seem to be having the best things in life. You have all the freedom to move around as you please, to relax when you want to and you don’t have to worry about food or drink. You don’t seem to be lacking in anything at all and I’m sure there are many who would be envious of your life!

But then allow me to ask you something,

What if the stream you rely on for water runs dry one day?

What if there is a drought and all the green grass dies off?

What if a pack of wolves come attacking through that straight valley path?

What happens then?”

BaaBaa couldn’t answer, so he did the natural thing that came to him. He turned the tables around and asked the same questions back.

“So BaiBai, what would you do then?”

Bai Bai replied:

“ I do not have a fresh stream that I can drink from every day. Neither do I have a patch of grazing grass to call my own. The paths I trod on are usually narrow and winding, with rocks and pebbles sometimes getting in the way. Life is not always easy.

But, what I do have is a Shepard who loves me and who provides for me.

He calls my name and I follow. He leads me to green pastures and quiet waters. If there is an attack from wild beasts, my Shepard fights them off for me and is willing to use His own life to protect mine. I may not have everything but I know I have the One who provides all things.”

In the story, the green grass, fresh water and freedom can be used as analogies to many things in life that we think is needed in order to be happy- money, fame, prestige, status, recognition, academic results etc... We put such a high importance on to these things and try our hardest to achieve them. Once gotten, we think that life has reached its peak.
But what happens when the thing that we have built our entire lives on crumbles and fades?


At least for me, I know I have found my Shepard.

Have you?

Time of my Life......

Got inspired by all the emo emails, emo leon. And so I decided to do a little something on my part to gush about our geography honours class as well! I'm having the time of my life right now..I hope you do too!

Dedicated to My Class, my friends....


Urban class


Tracy's house



Greenday- Time of Your Life

Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.

It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.

Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time.

Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.

For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.


It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.




Fm 5.1! (a.k.a the 'Green' people)


Greedy girl!


our mulu dormitory (can't believe the name!)


by the stream

class soccer matchday


I'm taller for once!





No other class holds three BBQs within a span of less than a year. (PGP/Tracy/Loyang)

No other class gets to travel overseas together often on the pretext of 'academic' reasons. (Bintan/Mulu/Thailand/Malaysia)

No other class has lecturers added as friends on facebook. (Pow added me!)

No other class can lose a game, yet walk away feeling like the world's biggest winners.

Lastly, no other class will actually bother to stay back after a gruelling examination despite looking all shagged, unglam, nerdy, grouchy, half-dead, undead, unkempt, unawake...
just to take a united group photo!







No other class but Ours :)

What you see is not what you get......

So there we were on the flight from KL-Kuching, midway on our 10 hour flight route and practically starving since we started off at 6am.

Lunch came in a pretty box and we greeted it eagerly. The one beside me made some comment about how environmentally unfriendly it was but concluded that it would make quite a nice container to store barang barang in such as t-shirts, socks, underwear…etc.

Whatever. It was all small talk before we tackle the munchies!

I opened the box cover before me to find- yogurt (yuck!), a cup of water, a dry looking pandan muffin and a cute cubic container labeled “Sandwic”.

Thinking it to be what you usually get for sandwiches, (you know, the thing with meaty fillings squashed between two slices of bread) I immediately attacked what I thought would be the answer to my hunger.

Alas! Things were not what they seem to be…

Presenting Malaysian Airline’s one time only, limited edition, exclusive flight food offering-
the ‘Meteor Bread’! Also known as the ‘Rock’!

A special concoction of pure plain dough shaped as a square brick block, with bits of ham thrown in for a dash of colour!

I looked over to the guy beside me and he looked back, we both threw that horrid thing back to its beautiful package and shut the lid. So much for lunch!

Touched down in Miri and found that our next flight had been delayed by an hour. Good! I thought, just enough time to search for a quick bite onto some good grub. Enticed by a delicious poster advertising for ‘Malaysian Wok’, we were in a mood for a little noodle soup…

Yet, Life decided that it was not at the end of its mischievous run.

Sometimes what you see is not only what you get…but MORE!

Guess what I found in my chicken ball noodle soup halfway after eating it?

A piece of STRING!!

Yep, a skinny white string masquerading as noodles was found floating in my soup as I fished it out with my fork. It’s the same type of string people use to tie exam scripts with during O’levels. Urrgh... I refuse to speculate on what went into the making of those chicken balls I ate!

And so that's the end of my adventures exploring the arid gastronomical wonders of MAS, not forgetting the 'delightful' surprise that awaited me at Malaysian Wok.
Thank God the rest of the food along the trip was normal and not quite as spectacular! haha...

Ulu Mulu: I Love You!

For those of you who have been wondering what I've been up to, don't worry my blog's not dead.
I was just busy exploring limestone caves in Sarawak, Malaysia while on the pretense of doing geographical fieldwork. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves and make every Human/Urban Geographer/ Non-Geographer jealous...haha!




miri-mulu flight

Meandering rivers in Borneo with an Ox-Bow lake clearly visible on the right.


Royal Mulu Resort

Taking measurements along the river flanked by limestone.


Royal Mulu Resort

Stopping for an ice lolly right after.


Bat Observatory

Watching millions of bats make their way out of Deer's cave for their daily hunt in the evening.


Entrance of Clearwater cave

Exploring the caves themselves with all the bat shit guano, collapsed dolines, speleothems and dripping water in utter darkness.


Park HQ eating area

Having a hearty breakfast with good friends every morning.


Sg Pala bridge along main road

Admiring breathtaking landscapes where the mountains meet the clouds together.


miri airport

Taking a breather from the 5m high piles of stinking guano in Deer's Cave. ahha.



Finally when the going gets tough, nothing beats wasting time more than taking stupid photos as we while time away waiting for others. heeheehee!


my tshirt for the day



Ahh.........!