KAYD Weekend

Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Day (KAYD) just ended. :) Well, the weekend passed but I'm sure the memories and fire are still bright and burning in the hearts of servants and participants alike.

Having to juggle three ministries (two hectic ones to be exact) was enough to keep me on my feet. I sort of enjoyed being able to serve to my limits and give my all despite the moments of 'argh' here and 'gasp' there when things did not go as I expected. Perhaps they were meant to be as such, else there's no excitement. :D

Seeing youths from everywhere coming together as One, amazing. How God's love draws the hearts of many, young and old, far and near.. awesome, simply wonderful. Too magnificent for words; only actions can speak for His blessings.

The next one will be in 2011. Hoping to see the participants for KAYD09 serving in KAYD11. Let us build God's kingdom for all generations! Praise the Lord! :)

Ngai em ti

Em ti cho mai.. li kia ngit tiam tiam em han. Kon to chiu chiu ngin hae oi chim ngai cho tung si. Sang ha ngai siong, hae ngai ket khiang, han hae gia sa mo pet sa ho chim.

Pun den sa to he tet jau tit kiok, mana boi ti met to ngai em han si. Se loi se hi, you cho lia cho ga. Hmm. Tet hae tet la.. em ti la. Chi to an em on lok cho an to. Kiang pet sa kong? Ahh. :S

Keu liao la. Sia ket tho ten ha ngai pun thuk teu hin.

Over

Got it over with. Ah. :)

What's done is done, no time machine can turn back the time. I suppose what we can do is learn from mistakes and do better next time. Oh, do you know that sometimes we often overlook the mistakes we've made, pretending they're not there... and we repeat those mistakes never realising how they affect your own self or others.

Somehow I think mistakes are meant to be made at times, for without them we can never learn and grow to be better homo sapiens. :)

So, what's next?

Let's stand up again! :D


The eye says: Punctuation marks tell a lot about someone's feelings in their writings. Check it out. :)

Hotel-swim-shed-run-black.

The 4 of us walked up the stairs, gazing at the sparkles on all four walls. It was heaven-like, a perfect vacation. Just the right timing after all the chaos life brought itself upon. No baggages, just us and the holiday.

A dip in the pool, how cooling. Fountains of fresh mountain water, bringing life to those who swim in it. All 4 of us went in, bringing the best of our burden hoping all would be washed away. Then a channel appeared. The sky turned dark. The waters we were in started rushing out and we found ourselves being rushed out too, with the water!

We ended in the sea. Nothing but the horizon. A wave crushed on us, and we landed on the shore. Surprisingly we were all dry, not a single part of us was drenched. Next thing was, we all got up and walked into a shed that appeared few moments later.

Once we entered the shed, the door closed behind us and started shaking. It felt as if an earthquake was happening, but we found the shed moving away from its grounds, taking us with it. The door flung open all of a sudden, and a dog-wolf-tiger creature sprang up out of nowhere taking a bite of my jeans. I had the shock of my life and started kicking my leg hoping to get it off, to no avail it took a strong grip. It was all so panicky and suddenly a friend said "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!" and the creature let loose. The shed was then still and the creature jumped out from the door.

A few moments later a crocodile-bull-something crawled behind another friend and almost snapped her legs when this friend called out once more "God of Esau, ...(something something I forgot)" and that creature immediately closed its jaws and retreated.

Running out of the shed, two of us girls hunted for the hotel. We ran though the woods, crossed the streams and ran till we saw a row of shops. We ran to our car (goodness knows how the car ended itself there) and drove to some place.

Upon arrival, she parked and forgot to put the parking coupon, of which I reminded her. But she ran out of coupons and we looked up and saw a coupon stand and bought the RM4.20 set. But once we got the book, it was all used coupons. There were poked holes on different dates and time, and we asked for a new set. The lady had no other sets but just one piece, so we took the one piece and had it placed on the dashboard.

Rushing to the place (which I assumed to be the hotel to get out belongings), we once again turned back to grab our laptops that were left in the car. I went back to get them, and then the event became blur..

When the image was clearer, both us girls ran under the rain with our laptops and when the rain got heavier, we stopped at a nearby stall. I carelessly left my friend's laptop (she held mine) there and only remembered when we reached the hotel which had no more sparkles on its walls. The moment she knew about it, she scolded me so badly that I shivered and all went black.

Back home

Got home two days ago after a whole long week of sessions with about 5 hours sleep at night to sustain the long hours during the day. Slept for 24 hours yesterday with 3 hours awake in between, broke my old record of 11 hours straight haha.

Anyway, the trip to Thailand was tiring but fun in a way that we slept so little yet could stay awake the whole day without complaints. The first day itself already was hectic due to the fact that we almost missed our flight and heard our names being called over the microphone while in the washroom! The run-for-your-plane was funny since we raced a European lady whose name was called too.

Upon reaching there, my friend's luggage got spoilt so we had a long wait for baggage claims but it was worth the wait. 350 baht. We were patiently waited by Kit, our old ASC friend together with his student Bank who thankfully could speak English-Thai so we had a good chat in the car while Kit drove at 180km/hr. Even though the session had already started, we took time and had dinner by the sea on the Floating Island enjoying life. Haha.

The sessions were great, in a way we learnt lots of new songs and actions and new words.. Not forgetting new friends and reuniting with old ASC friends - Reynard and Tui and Kit, Asian Team. The cultural night was funny yet fun, in which we from Malaysia performed bamboo dance which stirred the crowd to join us. My first time actually performing it but it was great. All went well. Malaysia won the AIDS quiz (so kiasu) and we greatly honoured all the countries for setting up wonderful exhibition booths (especially Laos who won the exhibition corner).

After a whole long week, goodbyes were exchanged; no tears though - as it was in the wee hours of the morning that most of the other countries left for the airport. The 3 of us went to Bangkok and visited Bank and Kit's school - so advanced! O.O My jaws practically dropped and my eyes couldn't stop staring in wonder.

We departed at the Assumption Cathedral as UCAN office boy came to pick us up. Sad to leave but life has to move on. We should not hold on to people, but to the memories we had. At UCAN we did interviews and it was rather funny to sit on such high chair and speaking in front of the camera. But we were paid that evening with a trip to the night market where shopping was the best for us. I bought less as my parents mistakenly calculated and gave me RM70 (700 baht) ONLY while my other friends shopped till I had to help carry their goods. All the same, it was great. They even went for Thai massage. I didn't. :P

Now that I'm back home, things had to be straightened out. College classes starting next week and camp preparations must be done for next month. Reports for this Thai trip to be out asap and I'm back to my busy life. Haha. Wish the trip was a week longer. :)

Pictures to be posted up soon, perhaps on Bangkok city and food. I won't bore you with the session pictures. But if you want to see them, check out facebook. :D

A Barber in NY

There was once a very good barber in New York, who gave FREE haircuts to everybody who came into his shop to have their haircuts.

One day a florist went to him for a haircut. After the cut, he wanted to pay the barber, but the barber replied, 'It's alright, I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.' The florist was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open his shop, there was a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting at his door.

A policeman went for a haircut and he also wanted to pay the barber after the cut. But the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.' The cop was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open his shop, there was a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting at his door.

A Malaysian software engineer went for a haircut and he also wanted to pay the barber after the cut. But the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.' The Malaysian software engineer was very happy and left. The next morning when the barber went to open his shop, guess what he found there.............


Can you guess?



Come on, think like a Malaysian....






Have you got the answer ........... ?????





come on .............





guess




guess




guess...................................................









a dozen Malaysians waiting for free haircuts! XP

Catholic Horse

One day while he was at the track playing the ponies and all but losing his shirt, Mitch noticed a priest who stepped out onto the track and blessed the forehead of one of the horses lining up for the 4th race.

Lo and behold, that horse - a very long shot - won the race! Before the next race, as the horses began lining up, Mitch watched with interest as the old priest step onto the track. Sure enough, as the 5th race horses came to the starting gate the priest made a blessing on the forehead of one of the horses.

Mitch made a beeline for a betting window and placed a small bet on the horse. Again, even though it was another long shot, the horse the priest had blessed won the race. Mitch collected his winnings, and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest would bless for the 6th race. The priest again blessed a horse. Mitch bet big on it, and it won. Mitch was elated.

As the races continued the priest kept blessing long shot horses, and each one ended up coming in first. By and by, Mitch was pulling in some serious money.

By the last race, he knew his wildest dreams were going to come true. He made a quick dash to the ATM, withdrew all his savings, and awaited the priest's blessing that would tell him which horse to bet on.

True to his pattern, the priest stepped onto the track for the last race and blessed the forehead of an old nag that was the longest shot of the day. Mitch also observed the priest blessing the eyes, ears, and hooves of the old nag. Mitch knew he had a winner and bet every cent he owned on the old nag.

He then watched dumbfounded as the old nag come in dead last. Mitch, in a state of shock, made his way down to the track area where the priest was.

Confronting the old priest he demanded, 'Father! What happened? All day long you blessed horses and they all won. Then in the last race, the horse you blessed lost by a Kentucky mile. Now, thanks to you I've lost every cent of my savings - all of it!'

The priest nodded wisely and with sympathy. 'Son,' he said, 'that's the problem with you Protestants, you can't tell the difference between a simple blessing and last rites!'

-Eab


A story to remind us not to depend on gambling to earn a living. Work hard and God will bless your needs with great abundance.

Disclaimer: Not to offend anyone or any non-Catholic believers. This is just a story told with a lesson to learn.

Sriracha

Sa wa dee ka...

In Sriracha now. The previous blog was written before I left, so it was scheduled to be posted today. Thailand is famous for its food and fruits. Here are some of them:

Stalls by the sea selling fresh lok-lok seafood and dishes.

Sotong the size bigger than my friend's palm.

Papaya salad - som tam. RM8.

Pig's neck - kho mu yang. RM 6 only.

Tom yam shrimp - tom yam kung. RM15.

Thai's best fish - krapung. RM20.

That's for now. Need to get back to dinner at 7pm (it's 8pm in Malaysia). Hungry and tired, lacking sleep. One more week to go. :)

Away

While you are reading this, I am away for a South East Asia gathering somewhere outside Malaysia. It's a hectic August for me, with my schedule fully packed and more to come, finding empty slots in my planner.

Being away from home without guardians outside Malaysia is a first-time for me. I am no traveller, and my survival skills can be rated top from below. But yea, leaving it all in God's hands. :)

So.. how are you doing back home? :)

I'll try to find time to share my experience during my absence, and hopefully you will learn something too!

Sharing is caring, indirectly gaining.

H1N1

Everyone seems to be talking about it. Death toll rises daily, number of those infected is also increasing rapidly. Precationary steps must be taken to hopefully prevent the continuing spread of the deadly virus attacking the lungs.

Many schools were closed in Malaysia. Increasing number of higher learning institutions can be seen, and more and more people are getting worried? for once.

Travelling is a no-no. Going to public crowded areas is not encouraged. Masks are recommended. Perhaps getting a flu shot should be considered.

Why the sudden chaos anyway? How and why did it happen or spread in the very first place? I shiver to think of someone I know, or someone close to me lying in bed at the hospital quarantined. Such cold atmosphere, feeling all so lonely and rejected. I feel sorry for those whose family members were affected, those who left before us because of this pandemic.

What is the reason behind all these tears and sorrow, grief and mourning, worries and fears?

I might be exposing myself to such danger, but I pray all will be fine. Little do I want those around me to experience such downturn in their lives. All the same, always be careful I would say. Know your limits and take care of yourself, for no one else can do better than you yourself.

I suppose it's time to look at ourselves and think for others for once; for before you know it, I might be here today but gone tomorrow. At least live the best for today, now that the world is turning in such direction.

Have no regrets. :)

Weekend Work

The weekend was spent with an inter-campus camp. The camp was actually running well on Sat until I got phone calls from the office and under unavoidable circumstances, I had to rush down from camp site to do the work. Skipped lunch, worked full hours straight and rushed. Pressured, watched, supervised; rushed back to camp site after the 5 hour strain. Had taize prayers that night and went straight to bed after that. Never in my life had I been so tired. Even ASC was not that bad. This time it felt like I ran the whole ASC for 1 whole month.

Sunday. Finished camp. Came down rushed to office. It was 3pm and I stayed there till 1130pm. You may ask "Is that necessary?" I can't seem to find the right explanation for that. To say it is, I'm half-hearted. To say it's not, then what's with all the rush?

This morning, Monday - got it all done. But there was a story behind. I was at the tip of finishing everything, when the computer jammed. It just lagged and stopped responding. I thought perhaps I worked a bit too fast so waited for the lag to stop. But it didn't, instead it remained frozen. Switched it off, and it restarted. But it stopped at the loading page. And never moved for the next half an hour. It was 1030am and I had to get things done by 11am.

I was losing myself then. Didn't know what to do, was so worried about the work which I saved inside the computer only, not externally. And I went to dad and he came over and saw to things. Switched it off. Waited. He prayed over the computer, and it restarted. And all went well after that. No documents missing. The power of prayer.

Perhaps you reading this might not feel the real stress in handling such situations at the very last minute. Perhaps this does not apply to you. Perhaps this might even be a funny joke to you.

But all I can say is; despite the hecticness, the pressure, everything, God makes sure you are fit for it. He won't give you something you can't handle; he just wants you to take the extra step to do it for him. In my case, sacrifice. At the very last minute, this morning say - I was so tired from lacking of sleep after camp and burning midnight oil in the office, yet he kept me fit enough to just finish everything, and this afternoon I rested since all's done. He plans your path, and as long as you are willing to submit to him and face the waves that come alongside it, all plans will unfold nicely.

That's my weekend story. For camp story, perhaps another day. A busy week ahead, but I'll make time, hopefully. :)