Sticky posts by Improbulus

For those of you who have been thinking about creating a sticky post on blogger but never figured out how to do it... here's your answer: sticky posts.

All credit goes to Improbulus for providing this tip to me. Go visit her blog. Its full interesting facts and helpful hints and tips about the technical side of blogging. Really cool... especially for those who's always asking "How do you do this?" or "How do you do that?"... this is the site for you! :)

climateprediction.net

I'm currently participating in a network computing project that processes the climate/weather data accumulated throughout the years to predict what the climate/weather would be like in the future. The project is called climateprediction.net (click on this link here to go to the website).

This project began when a number of universities in the UK and the Met Office (short for Meteorological Office, responsible for monitoring the weather/climate in the UK) embarked on this project to chart climate changes in the past and predict what may happen in the future. Instead of using a supercomputer in a research facility or a university, they decided to harness the power of the Internet by using the idle time of a lot of computers that are connected to the Internet.

You'll be given a small portion of the total data to be processed and you can either run it live or you can run it as a screensaver. Instead of me trying to tell you what is going on, just go to the site to have a look...

Spending time together

Su Yin is back for a week and as you can see, the rate of posting is down to almost nil. So bear with me ya?

I just want to spend as much time together as we see so little of each other. Everytime we do, its like starting to date all over again... its a nice feeling I guess but this is cancelled out by the fact that we have to be away from each other two-thirds of a year. Sighs...

Nevertheless, I'm counting the blessings and I am very, very glad that we still have the chance to see each other for the other one-third. There are couples who see each other even less often. Its all a matter of perspective - whether the cup is half full or half empty... and I'd like to think its half full. :)

Noise

I've decided to take down the radio player. Why? Cos most ppl think its a little annoying and intrusive cos I am forcing people to listen to it. Got an email about it actually... hehe. So I'm not exactly winning any popularity votes here but who cares eh? ;) Moreover, most of you would have some kind of music/noise playing on your comp already...

The thing is, I'm kinda getting tired of it too already. Furthermore, Firefox doesn't seem to respond to the autostart="false" command. So being your friendly neighbour and all... no more loud music.

Anyway, I'm still leaving the link there so if you want to listen to some good christian songs online, just click the link at the sidebar or click here lah...

Kenny Sia also wrote an article about what not to put in a blogsite... go have a look here. So if you are new to blogging or is interested in spicing up your site (yeah... I'm talking about you, Leslie), go take a look... it will give you some insight on what not to do. :)

Ramblings part 240805

I am almost nothing to write about... I have yet to start writing my 3rd instalment in my food trilogy but I am so lazy... just don't feel like doing it! :(

Anyway... Su Yin is coming back in a couple of days time... :) I can't wait to see her again! I wonder how she'd look like... my whole being is abuzz everytime I think of her... I wonder if that is normal???

My grand-uncle passed away a few days ago... my parents was suppose to go down to Seremban last weekend to visit him after attending a dinner in KL but he died the night before they went. He was recovering from nose cancer and was getting better but he was giving up. My grand-aunt passed away last year... and all he wanted was to go to be at her side with God. Its really sad but really so touching and loving. My mum told me that he was really peaceful and their children was also ready to let him go. So the funeral was more or less a peaceful and joyful celebration of his life and his legacy... I hope that is how I can live my life.

An interesting question for men and women...

I was listening to an interview recently about Men and Women and the interviewee described how men and women responded differently to the concept of love.

I'm going to describe 2 bad feelings, and I want you to tell me which is the least bad...

1. Would you rather feel alone and unloved in the world? or...
2. Would you rather feel inadequate and disrespected?

Apparently almost all men would rather feel alone and unloved and almost all women would rather feel inadequate and disrespected...

I'm not saying that men do not need to feel loved or women do not need to feel disrespected but rather choose one option that is less bad...

Hmm... interesting isn't it?

The funny thing is that this ties in with wat the Bible says about how men should treat their wives and how women should treat their husbands...

"...however, each one of you alst must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect the husband." - Ephsians 5:33 (NIV)

Isolation

I'm going through some kind of enforced isolation. I'm actually home alone for 2 days because my family's away in KL and Seremban for some family matters.

You know something? Coming back to an empty home is not nice at all. Its not that I have to take care of the whole house but its the lack of people that depresses me. I realise how hard it is to keep my spirit up when you have no one to talk to. I have the tv AND radio on but its still different. Sighs...

Great passing game but...

Arsenal plays arguably one of the most stylish sides in the Premiership, playing direct, fast flowing attacking football with alot of sharp passes and quick movement. Arsenal players pass to the feet more than any other team I've seen but I think that's the core of the problem with their football... they pass too much!

I was watching last night's match between Chelsea and Arsenal (1-0) and I realised that almost all of the balls into the last third are ground balls... where Chelsea, arguably the best team in the world right now, could easily handle because the back four were also very quick on their feet and they have holding players like Makalele and Essien that block and kill off all attacking moves. They just sat back and absorb all that Arsenal were throwing at them... and counter attack really, really well.

Arsenal should have had a more varied style of play with maybe some aerial bombardment mixed in with the passing game. This is partly why Arsenal has not really succeeded in Europe. The players in Europe are more technically/positionally aware and is not just all running, and is willing to absorb all that Arsenal throws at them.

Another thing was after Ljungberg was taken off injured, there was so little attack down the right wing... Arsenal should have exploited the fact that for the last 10 minutes, Del Horno (Chelsea leftback) was injured and Chelsea had used up all their substitutes but they keep pushing on the left where they were ably cut off by Chelsea so easily.

I also noticed that Henry was playing so, so deep. Is that good tactics? How can he run at defenders when he also have to navigate pass the packed midfield?

Btw, the goal was a fluke but that's all Chelsea needs to do... get the 3 points. It doesn't matter if the play is ugly... the ultimate goal for all team is to GET THE 3 POINTS and Chelsea have proven that they are very, very good at that.

Who says I'm not objective in my reporting eh? :)

Pic: Phil Cole/Getty Images

My favorite kind of burgers

Let me tell you... one of the 2 best burgers around is....

1. Burger King's Whopper!


2. MOS Burger's MOS Rice Burger
   

But of cos... nothing can beat the wholesome, made-in-malaysia RAMLY Burger! Woohoo!

Ass-u-me

Someone made this statement: Never assume about anything cos it would only made an ASS out of U and ME!

How true! I made that mistake recently and it really made an ASS out of ME... :(

Too long... far too long

Its been awhile that I've felt God's presence in my life. When you don't fill your life daily with God Himself, there is such a void and emptiness that you know only He can fill... yet we still try to fill it with so many other things: work, leisure, relationships... and you know in the end, you come full circle and return to where you started... you and God.

Only God knows and understand the constant struggles that I endure everyday to live up to people's expectations. It can be so, so tiring sometimes that I really feel like giving up.

When people ask you whether you are ok? Do you say, "yeah, I am fine" or "no, I am struggling with life itself"? Its so easy to wear a mask and reply the former to others. Only God knows, how often I have done that... and oh, the smiles you put on your face even though you are hurting so badly inside... you've got to be strong... but for what reason???

In the end, you realise the only source of comfort is in our Heavenly Father. What comfort to hear these words from Him:

Tell the fearful souls, "Courage! Take heart! GOD is here, right here, on His way to put things right and redress all wrongs. He's on his way! He'll save you!"
- Isaiah 35:4 (MSG)

Yeah, I am still struggling with so much, but it is so comforting to realise that there's always someone you can run to. God will keep calling you back to Him... and He never, ever gives up.

Misunderstood

Sometimes I only wish that I am given a chance to explain before being shot down... maybe its retribution for shooting other people down in the past.

I am much maligned and misunderstood... :(

Ramblings part 170805

Leslie bugged me to play Diablo 2 last night... He very 'keng', got work the next day still can play till late (until 2am). Yeah I know, some of you, young cikus are thinking... so early! I realise I can't stand much late nights anymore... signs of old age I guess :(

Playing D2 again brought me back to the time I played loads and loads of it when I was in Australia. The bunch of friends that I had was totally into D2 and we played and played and played... my best partners was Anson and Alister, the homeys from Kuching!

Anson liked to use Paladin and Alister liked to use Barbarian, I was the Ranged player... the Necromancer! Yeah, this character is a little puny at the beginning but when you reach the Nightmare and Hell level... hehe... he comes real handy. Moreover, I had 2 friends who loved absorbing damage. So I don't really mind. :)

Sighs... I miss some of my friends. :( Good thing I am still talking to Anson on an almost daily basis. :) Now to find Alister's contact...

Headache

I just realised something... Serene's blog is definitely not for early morning readings (or for any other time for that matter)! Ouch... headache now... too much to digest. :/

Its like eating nasi kandar in the morning or eating 8 'man tou' - chinese dumplings and then drinking water after that (someone in China actually died doing that, the 'man tou' swelled after absorbing the water in his stomach... yeesh).

Benglish translator

I was doing my usual routine of reading my favorite blogsites when I came upon Kenny Sia's site... you know what? This guy has an English to "Benglish" translator. Its so funny! :D

Now, I must warn you that this translator does not make an effort to keep the language clean. In fact, it does the exact opposite and makes whatever it transnlates as Ah Beng as possible! So it may offend some of you. So you are forewarned! :)

If you want to see how your blog is translated into Ah Beng-speak. give it a go here.

If you want to know how my site was translated, then click on the link here.

Expandable blog posts

My recent posts about blogtiquette has courted some controversy. Its partly my fault, wrote that without thinking. Hence, some people are thinking that I'm really nasty and selfish... that I made something that's a molehill into a mountain. I guess I did, so those who are unhappy with the way I dealt with the situation - I am sorry.

Whew... with that off my chest, lets turn to something more interesting...

I was talking to Michael yesterday about finding ways to reduce the length of our posts when displayed on the main blog page and guess what? I found a way to do it! Someone shared this on their blog and so I'm gonna share it with you (see I'm not such a bad guy really...).

This technique is very useful if you are the kind of blogger that likes to write very long posts. It saves space (meaning more posts can be displayed on your site) and helps your blog load faster. If you are interested in the technique, go to the blog posting >> here.

As you can see I do also "borrow" code from people, just that I go beyond just the copy-n-paste process and modify it properly for my own site. Its really fun once you get the hang of it... its like modifying your cars or decorating your rooms or customising your computer desktop... it makes the code yours.

That's what I'm encouraging people to do. I don't mind copy-n-paste, that's how most people learn about HTML, CSS and the like anyway... but try and go beyond that, and in the process you'll learn something new and at the same time have fun making your blog unique, really... :)

MU 2-0 Everton

Good start, MU... I think by now you know which EPL team I support. Hehe...

The 2 new signings both had their debut and played well. Park Ji Sung, who replaced the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, was really lively and troubled the defenders to no end, popping up on the left and right at the same time. Edwin van Der Sar gave much needed stability between the posts, with nothing much to do except when he had to make a brillant save against Tim Cahill during the first half.


Ruud van Nistelrooy is beginning to show his former sharpness in front of goal and Wayne Rooney is Wayne Rooney. He is just so strong, skillful and brave. 3 or 4 Everton players will go towards him when he gets the ball, demonstrating how dangerous he is to the opposition.

Paul Scholes did enough with some brillant passing but his tackles still sucks, with one of them earning him a yellow card. Roy Keane imposed himself when needed and his vision is still very good but his dominance is clearly waning. The heart is there but his body sometimes showed its age. Darren Fletcher played well but I think he is more of a central midfielder than an out and out winger, a future Paul Scholes maybe?

Gary Neville was his usual self, defending coolly and full of running supporting the attack on the right flank. John O'Shea was good going up, supplying the cross for van Nistelrooy to score but his defending is a little suspect. He was switched to midfield when Gabriel Heinze came on for Fletcher and only then was the area better defended. Heinze is showing that he definitely worth more than the 6m pounds that MU paid for his services. Rio Ferdinand seemed more focused, calm and alert after penning his new contract, marshalling the defence really well. Mikael Silvestre played well but at times his rashness would have gotten him a card, had Graham Poll decided to be less lenient with him. Poll helped kept the play flowing but there were a few controversial calls at both ends of the goals.

Alan Smith came on for Scholes but I'm still not convinced that he can do well at the centre of midfield. He was his usually fiesty self, getting himself in a war of words with Tim Cahill. Kieran Richardson was full of running but he came on late in the match and did not have much time to impress.

The Everton players that impressed me were Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta and Marcus Bent. All three looked threatening when Everton attacked, with Bent harassing the defenders to no end, Cahill making his runs from midfield and Arteta making dangerous crosses. A special mention from the Everton side has to be Phil Neville. His home debut Premiership match for Everton, he played the holding role well but he has to execute his tackles more cleanly. Rooney, van Nistelrooy and Park all at the receiving end of his tackles. These players must have had experienced this before during training matches at MU but it really looked funny because you never thought that he would be anything but a MU player. It's now down to only Scholes, Giggs and his brother Gary as the remaining members of Fergie's Fledglings. Sighs... its bound to happen I guess.

Hopefully, if they can improve on this match's performance, seeing this is the 1st match of the season, and with Cristiano Ronaldo coming back from injury... they might probably have a good chance to knock Chelsea off their high horses... fingers crossed.

Match pictures: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Blogtiquette

I just found out someone just copy and pasted my stuff and placed it on their blog... Normally I don't mind if the person would cut, amend and the paste the work... and also acknowledge where you got it from. I also don't mind if you ask me how to do it or ask me to show you how to do it... cos I myself have referenced plenty of people's blogsites when trying to make mine. That's fine... but I get really cheesed off when people copy my stuff and don't amend and paste it nicely... its sad... its like seeing your work trampled on...

I think its proper for you to just say to me: "I'd like to copy this stuff from you". Sighs...

Btw, I just found out that someone also blatantly copy Mike's stuff and pasted it on their site without even amending stuff they were not supposed to have...

Guys, just ask lah... we are nice people... right or not, Mike?

P/S The "offender" approached me liao and apologized. I realised that I may have misunderstood the person and so, now I feel bad. Funny how people are like that huh? :(
I have to admit I was not tactful and hasty in my handling of this situation. I should not have made judgment before finding out the facts. I hope that person will forgive me... "I am sorry". You know who you are. ;) Oklah, case closed. Over to you, Mike.

The haze is here... in Penang

Yeah, its here in Penang and its quite bad... smelly air and all...

Here's a shot of the area around my place (Tanjong Bunga) at about 10.15am:

Usually, u can see the hills just beyond the house opposite mine... Now, that's all you can see...

Another view of the area around my house.

And you know what? This development company is still carrying out earth-moving work behind my housing estate. Stupid, money-minded people...

Btw, why can't the DOE give us more regular updates? Now they are only taking 2 readings a day... I think this should be done more regularly right?

EPL restarts... what a relief!

Finally I can get my weekly dose of the English Premier League football again. This year is so fast eh? The break was so short but its so good as I was getting tired surfing thru Astro channels 80, 81, 82 and only to find pool, motorsports, American team sports (boring!), X-games and golf, golf and more gold... Arrghhhhh!!!

Tomorrow... the agony ends! WOoHOo!!!

This year, its gonna be exciting cos there are 4 teams vying for the No. 1 spot. Ignore the stupid comment made by the so-called self-confessed MU supporter, Peter Kenyon (shame on you!). This year, Chelsea, MU, Arsenal and Liverpool all have a chance to win the top spot. 4 great managers fighting for the crown of the most-watched football league in the world!

Spurs also quietly building up its squad strength, so is Newcastle (though they still badly need a striker... Owen?) and Bolton (old but talented man's club, with Nakata coming soon!). Everton (sorrylah... european-quality team they are not - yet), Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Blackburn, Birmingham and Aston Villa are all very hard teams to beat. So its really, really going to be an interesting season ahead for all football fans. Hence, my excitement.

Well... let the games begin!

Haze, haze, go away!

Almost everyone in blogosphere seem to have a posting on the haze, I might as well add mine to the growing list.

Well, i would like to announce something...

PENANG IS RELATIVELY HAZE FREE!!!

I know this will not last long though... the haze will drift over here sooner or later. I also forsee some of KLites will be moving to Penang for the weekend. Ho-hum... there goes the Penang traffic.

I cannot really celebrate as I really sympathise with the people in the Klang valley. I remember the terrible haze in 1997 and 1998. This is supposed to be the monsoon period for the West coast but leh... there have been no rain for the past 2 months, albeit the intermittent showers here and there. Moreover, the wind is now blowing from the South. Something is very wrong with our weather. This is made worse by the opening burning that is happening in Sumatra.

Stupidlah... Why do they need to carry out slash and burn to clear the land in Indonesia? Maybe we should bill the Indonesian government and the companies that are responsible for the open burning for every cost Malaysians incur that are directly and indirectly related to the haze! What do you think?

Write to your local newspapers and MPs. Let them know how you feel. If not, by the time October comes, we would all be sick by then.

Follow the doctors advise: Drink lots of water, eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Stay indoors.

Btw, someone has started a anti-haze pictorial petition here. Malaysian still have sense of humor in times of adversity. :)

Types of blogs

I have noticed that more and more of my friends and acquaintances are beginning to blog. The blogging phenomenon has been around for a few years but recently I've seen a spike in the number of blogs among my friends. I've also noticed that I can basically categorise blogs into a few styles. Of course most blogs will have some elements of each style but are categorised as so when most of its content follow a particular path and they are:

1. News/Information blogs (e.g. paul tan, jeff ooi) - this could be your regular CNN-type news, quirky news, reviews and commentaries on various issues such as current events, politics, technology, etc.
   
2. Life Reflection blogs (e.g. peter tan, danny chen, serene yeoh) - provides reflects on what is going on around the bloggers, instead of just describing it. Sometimes such blogs can be quite long winded especially when they are ranting about something.
   
3. Life Description blogs (e.g. lainie, Su Yin, joel chin) - the opposite of reflective blogs, describing instead of reflecting on their experiences.
   
4. Humour-oriented blogs (e.g. kenny sia, viewtru, alvin looi) - this type of blog uses humor to relate their reflections/experiences. This category is becoming more common because it encourages repeat readership.
   
5. Cut and Paste blogs (e.g. john keong) - most of their posts are taken from somewhere else, not much original content.
   
6. Hybrid blogs (e.g. micheal ng, willie chen) - a mix match of a variety of styles. One day reflective, one day descriptive... but fairly consistent in this manner.
7. Literati blogs (e.g. claire, shari) - aspirants of Byron and serious literature...
   
8. Self Promo blogs (e.g. furongjiejie, steven lim, LESLIE!) - main focus is on themselves and not their experiences. Usually vomit/nausea inducing... at least leslie's not so bad.
   
9. Unfocused blogs (e.g. again LESLIE!!!) - Cannot even make up their mind what title to apply on their blogs. enuf said! :) (sorry, couldn't help aiming a dig at him!).

Though I have created categories for blogs, it is perfectly normal for blogs to change the direction of their postings (so you are forgiven, Leslie). Its their blogs anyway... :)

Best friends...

Funny how you go through life having many "best" friends... I mean, it does not make sense! You can have a best friend but how can you have best FRIENDS? Well... because I could, and I did!

Now, I must clarify that I did not have more than one best friend at a time but over my 31 short years (yes, yes... I'm THAT old!) on this planet, I did have a best friend, someone who spends most of their time with you and loves you for being you, from time to time.

Here is a selection of some of them. For those of you who think that you were my best friend but I left you out, I'm really sorry ok? :)

My first best friend was Kin Keong. Met him in kindergarten but really bonded when we were in primary school, where we were in the same class for awhile. He left for England for a couple of years but when he returned, we picked up where we left off. Both of us dig the same things (one traits of best friends huh?) like comics and storybooks (he was the one who introduced me to Biggles and LOTR! Yes, he bought me the book and asked me to read it... bless him!). Both of us were also day-dreamers at heart and thus we clicked. We kept in touch over the years (his family moved to Manila for a few years in secondary school) but we never were in the same class again. Lost touch with him lately... :(

Another best friend of mine would be Wann Kiat. This guy could not be more different from me. I'm big, tall, loud and speaks without thinking most times. He is not-that-tall (*grin*), slim build (last time lah), soft spoken and is one who thinks before speaking. Again we liked the same thing, football (Arsenal) and cars, and we were even partners, playing as centrebacks in defence, for our church's youth football team once. We could talk and talk for ages, meaningful and thought provoking conversations. Then he left for UK to further his studies, found his love in Edinburgh and now is staying there but I've lost touch with him recently also.

Bari was my housemate from Hong Kong when I was in Melbourne. Funny how we met. He and his girlfriend was supposed to be my housemates but his gf decided to break up with him even before he came back from his holidays from HK (he was studying in Melb for 3 or 4 years already). Bummer... and I was caught in the middle. Well, the ex decided to move out and he was devastated. Somehow I really felt for him cos I knew how he felt, being in his shoes twice then! I also really don't know how but we clicked. I offered my feeble words of comfort and even more feeble cooked meals. Found out he's a very nice guy to talk to, doing media studies and loves football (Arsenal again! Why is this Man Utd fan so drawn to fans of that team eh???) too. I taught him how to cook spaghetti, and like the chinese saying, "green comes from blue. becomes better than blue, yeah", his spaghetti was even better than mine! Says alot about my so-called cooking skills. One of our favourite pastimes is to go to the nearby 24-hour Coles supermarket late at night to do our shopping (our record: 3am in the morning! The shelf stackers were at full swing at the time!). I cried when he finally left for HK permanently... :( Again, (why is not surprising?) I've lost touch with him... he has not been replying my mails lately... its me right???

Anson is the cousin of my new housemate, Elvin, who moved in after Bari left. This guy is one cool character. He sleeps early, keeps my apartment sparkling clean (he comes over to my place for dinner and just to lepak), only eats certain kind of food (but loves chocolate bars) and just loves his Gameboy! But he also have a very very big heart, unassuming, genuine and easy going. I really love him as a friend and we were really, really close... he was certain MY best friend. We love talking about manga and anime (for once this is one who is so-so about football!). Again, I was a sounding board to him, for a relationship that did not work out. However, he is a big hearted person and got over relatively fast and now is in a loving relationship with a wonderful girl. Don't worry... I am still in touch with him. :) (Whew! What a relief! I still have a heart!)

Finally... my current best friend. Who is my current best friend? Well... it can only be one person... my soulmate and my love, Su Yin, God's wonderful gift to me. How else can I describe the one that I really share everything with? My heart and my thoughts, my struggles and my triumphs, my joys and my pains and God-willing, my life and my all. It is an honor and a privilege to love her and to be loved by her. We share the same likes, such as Japanese food and shopping, but we also have had our fair share of disagreements but both of us has managed to walk out of it together. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her and I can only thank my Father for chosen both of us to be each other's partners in this journey called life.

Somehow God puts me among my best friends to be a blessing and to be blessed. Shared Christ with Kin when we were in Std 5 but he was non-commital. Then when he was in Uni, he received Christ and even became active in OCF! Wann Kiat was really a blessing to me and I really learned how to be more careful in my actions and think about the consequences before doing anything. I managed to share Christ with Bari but he was kinda philosophical about it, still the seed is planted. Anson was also very open about his faith and was willing to listen to me talk about my faith. Again seed is planted. Su Yin? I cannot describe how she has blessed me... how I have grown as a person and in my faith in God since I met her and started this journey with her. I cannot thank God enough for her.

God sends best friends as companions for us at different phases of our life... someone whom you can share your heart with for that moment in your life. To show you that someone really cares for you and enjoy your presence, and you theirs. Treasure them cos some of your best friends will only be with you for a short time only. They are God's precious gifts in this sometimes difficult journey call life.

I've been spammed!

Guess what? I was invited by some stranger trying to sell me so University degree... via Blogger comments! I've been spammed!!! Spam has invaded into every area of the Internet. No place is safe... :(

So what should I do? Remove the comments just because of spam? I don't think I want to do... it'll mean giving in to the spammers and prevent legitimate readers from giving comments. I've now limited the people who can leave comments to registered users only... hopefully that helps.

Is there any way of reporting this to Blogger? Any suggestions? Stupid spammers...

Canvas

I found an interesting illustration to describe a relationship (most likely I heard this illustration somewhere but I'll claim it as mine, for now... hehe).

I gave this illustration of what a relationship is like when I was talking to Su Yin's brother about girls (what else occupies a teenager's mind the most than that eh?) yesterday. I told him that its very hard to find the perfect girl/guy to start the perfect relationship because such things do not exist and that every relationship is like painting... with God as the painter.

When we start a relationship, its like a starting with new white canvas, ready to be painted. Then together with us, He starts to add a little colour to it, here and there... and slowly, slowly bit by bit, the painting is revealed. Sometimes its hard to see what the painter has in mind but we must learn to trust Him, allowing us to guide our decisions we make as a couple. Then, in the end, your painting will be regarded as truly beautiful... not only by yourselves, but by others too.

The same can be applied to each of our lives. We are the canvas on which God paints His masterpiece and He will not only paint our lives but together with us, paint the relationships we have around us... only if we let Him, that is.

In the hands of God

There are times in my life that even the people closest to me do not know or understand the struggles that are going on in me. Sometimes I just could not tell them because they too have their own struggles and issues to deal with... feeling that I am not right to burden them further with my problems.

Its then when God's still small voice will call out to me. Funny how we never seem to hear it when we first encounter those problems. Yet God is so faithful, when we are faithless... never giving up, always calling to us. I realise that even if we can't or don't share our struggles with our loved ones, there is always One who sees everything that I go through, and knows and understands me. Not only that... such peace surrounds you when you realise that God has always been there.

Thank you Heavenly Father for Your unfailing love, everlasting peace and eternal faithfulness.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, that transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7

"...if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself." - 2 Timothy 2:13

Never a trial that He is not there,
Never a burden that He does not bear;
Never a sorrow that He does not share—
Moment by moment, I'm under His care. —Whittle

Friends... and Family

Just came back from a night out with a few of my friends... went to PC Fair to do some scouting before the main assault on Sunday and then went to Air Itam for bak kut teh, because one of them had a craving for chinese food with rice.

Anyway, that's not why I am writing this post... just want to reflect on something that cross my mind just now - it is so weird for friends you've known for a long time to start courting each other... seeing them hold hands and all.

Now before you start throwing your stones, I must qualify that I am very, very happy that they are together... cos they have been procastinating it for a long time (don't worry... there was a good reason for that... what, you ask? Go ask them :P). Just that I've seen the girl grown up from a cute young teenager to a beautiful young woman... and in my eyes, she'll always be this girl who's like a sister to me that I want to protect (and a spiritual daughter that I've nurtured in one way or another). She's like family to me. Of course, she is now in capable hands (I hope! Hehe...) but still... I have this funny feeling that I cannot explain, kinda like a mixture of pride and discomfort at the same time. I wonder if this is how parents would feel when they see their children start courting.

I guess I have to learn to let go... and it would be the second time I'll be doing that... cos there's another one of my "daughters" (this one in more ways than one, but not literally of course! Hehe...) whom I recently had to learn to go too... I had to learn to call them less and leave them to carry on with their lives, to learn not to feel anxious if they made the right decision, just learning to allow them to grow up on their own.
Its so beautiful when you see them so happy in their relationships and life but its also painful when they get hurt too. Still, I'm so glad because even if I let go, there's one person who will never leave nor forsake them... and He is our Heavenly Father. He has not only watch me grow up but every person since the beginning of time. He knows when to let go and when to draw us close. Hence, my heart is assured that they are in good hands, very good hands.

Hmmm... I wonder if this is what it would be like when I have my own children. :) I guess its like a good practice, eh?

Transformers - LIVE!

Transformers - more than meets the eye! Steven Spielberg is going to produce the new live-action movie, with Michael Bay (the Island, Bad Boys 2) directing. Coming out in 07/04/2007. I can't wait for the movie to premier! this is one of my favourite cartoons when I was young. I didn't get to watch much of it then as my house could not receive TV3 due to its proximity to Pearl Hill. So I had to wait till I went back to my cousin's house in Sitiawan to watch it. :(

My favourite was of course Optimus Prime but I really dig the designs of the Decepticons like Megatron and Soundwave, especially Soundwave cos it had little cassette tapes that could transform into robots as well.

So, which is your favourite Transformer robot?

Near perfect match?

Recently, I typed the word "love" into google search and the first result I got is the Love Calculator. Its this calculator that will calculate the percentage of success by analysing you and your partner's name. I gave it a try by putting both our names and guess what I got? Take a look:

Love Calculator results

These are the results of the calculations by Dr. Love:

chen sien yau		chee su yin
	96 %

Dr. Love thinks that a relationship between chen sien yau and chee su yin has a very good chance of being successful, but this doesn't mean that you don't have to work on the relationship. Remember that every relationship needs spending time together, talking with each other etc.

So, what do you think? Match made in heaven??? :)

Games people play

I am thinking of getting out my old Diablo 2 and playing it again... not as complex as DOTA but still loads of mindless fun... hehe...

Bring on the hordes of hell and lets whup some demon @$$ (to quote one of Alvin's fav WWE character)! :P Anyone interested in joining me?

Expression of my love

Is there anything wrong in telling someone you love that you love them? Even if it is in public? I think there's nothing wrong in that. In fact, if we can do this to someone we can see, it is even easier to do so in our relationship with God. Remember the story in the bible where we are told not to hide our light under the bushell? Why do we encourage each other to shine brightly for God but keep our relationships with our family and our spouses/partner under wraps?

For me I feel that my love for Su Yin, or even my family for that matter, is an extension of my relationship with God and I want people to know that fact. Its not because I just want to show off... yeah, maybe I want to show off... but its not in a hypocritical way. I truly believe that if you love someone people should be able to see it.

I know sometimes it might seem mushy and cliched but its one of my ways of letting Su Yin know that I love her. I know that people can read this blog and it may be a potential source of embarassment if things do not go well with us but its a risk I am willing to take. What is love if you do not risk it? Christ risked his all for me... knowing that I may reject Him. Shouldn't I do that for Su Yin as well???

Nasi Kandar in Melbourne

Ladies and gentlemen, i would like to announce that Kayu Nasi Kandar is opening an outlet in Melbourne at the end of the month!

Where? 706 Station St, Box Hill! Hehe... it will make Malaysians like my brother very, very happy. Finally, the hopes and wishes of thousands and thousands of Malaysians are coming true!

Eh, boss... Roti Bom satu... teh tarik satu!

Young wife's tales

I just found out that one of my favourite online columnists has her own blogsite. I used to read her columns about love and relationships in MSN Malaysia. Her columns are insightful and practical. Then one day, the column just disappeared, for reasons unknown to me. Sighs...

Imagine my surprise and joy that I found out that she not only has her own blog but has her own column in the Sun newspaper too. She writes mostly on her experiences as a young mother and wife, sometimes giving tips on parenting and relationships but mostly asking a lot of questions that the reader will ponder and reflect upon. Give it a read... really insightful, touching and poignant writing.

Long day

Today is going to be a long day. 7.5 hours of lecture. One of the classes are not very responsive. Its hard teaching a non-responsive class. So how am I going to face this day? The best I can, since I can't avoid it, might as well go through it and enjoy as much of it as possible lah. I am so glad that I can depend on God for strength and peace and joy, which I know I will need a lot of today. Oklah, have to go now... Gambattei! :)

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." - Psalm 73:26.

Brothers

I miss Willie... I was just thinking about him and how I can see God's hand upon his life. To see him serving God so faithfully and learning how to really rely on God for every part of his life. Its really amazing. That got me into a melancholic mood and I started thinking about our relationship as brothers.

I remember how he first got started with the guitar, when Lionel came over to give him lessons. That's how it started boys... and how he and my cousin went to buy a guitar on a motorcycle. Yeah... so desperate. :)

I remember how one night, he sleepwalked from his bedroom and asked me whe some cartoon was going to start, at 10pm! And that was before the age of 24 hour tv channels (dunno if he still does it! hehe... this one must ask his housemates!). :)

As a kid, he also used to love listening to me tell him my space war stories... or at least I think he loved listening to them! I wonder if he remembered them. Sighs... those were the days.

Then in his teenage years, we sort of drifted apart... so now we are not as close as I would like it. Its my fault I guess... I was at the age when I'd rather be with friends than family... then after that, I'd rather be with girlfriends than family. Sighs... this is one thing that I would't mind turning back the time to change. Now that he is in Oz, we don't really talk much... "no news, means good news" but I am glad he still turn to me for counsel when he needs to deal with major decisions in his life. For that, I am touched and honored.

We are really very different in character... I'm a little more happy go lucky and he is usually more serious. He is definitely more talented than me. Music, sports and even videogames... he will beat me hands down. I love to sit next to him, watching play playstation or pc games. He is so good... his hand-eye coordination is peerless. Me? My way of playing console games is pressing and banging whatever keys is available. Combo moves... sorrylah, press-all-buttons moves is how I play games. The funny thing is though I know I irritate him alot, he never seemed to mind when I sit down and watch him play games. Pointing out enemies and clues to him. :)

In my opinion, he is also more mature in his thinking than me... more rational and in control of himself. I'm the impulsive one in the family. Somehow, people also think that he is older than I am. :) Dunno if that is a good thing, or a bad thing. ;P

Sighs...

Yeah, I miss my brother.

Sunday came... and went...

So, sunday came... and sunday went... without so much of a tremor. Well, there was a very, very windy storm last night, which reminded me of the prophecy and made my hairs on the back on my neck stand on its end, but no tsunami.

Now what? What will happen to that pastor's credibility? What about the church's members? Goes to show you cannot put God in a box and expect Him to do things our way, and that's good. Why? If we are to get what we deserve, there will be no mercy, grace and the cross. The cross is a reminder that its a good thing God did not listen to some of us, that His sovereignity is still supreme. That is truly something to thank God for everyday.