I believe

I know times are tough but I believe in YOU...

What would you do?

What would you do if you find out that YOU are the very burden that's weighing someone else down?
That you are the very person who is stopping him/her from flying high, soaring to where he/she wants to be?
What would you do?

Stay or Go?

Recently, one big question occupying my mind constantly is whether I should stay put or seek new pastures elsewhere. This question's weight is so great that sometimes I am so stressed out by this.

My whole being is willing me to go but somehow God reminded me of Joseph and the way he followed God... I am sure he had questions and fears when he was sold as a slave or when he was thrown into prison but he never doubted God. Instead he stayed focused and faithful, knowing that God has already predestined great things for him. He bid his time and allowed God's plans to work and come to fruition, knowing His timing is perfect.

I wonder if this is the same test that God is giving me right now. All I want to do right now is to get this right and wait upon Him. I have screwed up so many times by being impatient. So now I will try my very best to allow God to lead me to where is wants me to be, be it here or somewhere else.

I am where I am for a reason and I pray that God will give me the peace, strength and courage to see this through. Amen.

Laughter, the Lord and Little Things

Yesterday's Our Daily Bread talked of this old lady (104 years old, I must add) who credited "laughter, the Lord and little things" for her longevity.
You know what? She is right.

Its the joy of God within us, its outward radiance on our faces and its multiplying effect on others.
Its the Lord's hand of grace, guidance and favour on our lives as we make Him our all and...
its our enjoyment and appreciation of the simple, little things in life that will allow us to keep going on and on, day by day, regardless of the circumstances around us.

Let's constantly keep that in our mind, okay? :)

Know what and why you believe...

I just heard a comment from a colleague of mine that she knows almost nothing about her Catholic faith.
I don't know about you but I thought your faith/religion is central in guiding your moral principles.
If not, what is it that drives you on day by day?
Do you know what you believe and why you believe what you believe?
Confused? Not me.

Things I must have on my computer

This is a list, by no means comprehensive, of software I'd install on my computer and they were what I installed when I got my laptop's HDD up and going again after it crashed last Tuesday.

Here goes:

1. Windows XP (have to lah... no OS, no computer).
2. NOD32 - the 2nd thing I install, by far the best anti-virus program I've ever used.
3. TweakUI - minor tweaks here and there makes my computing experience more enjoyable.
   
4. MS Office - need to work, so I need to have this.
5. CCCP - this codec pack is essential for viewing anything on the comp. There are plenty of codec packs out there but this is my personal choice.
6. Spybot/Ad-aware - either one of this is sufficient, I prefer Spybot cos it is more proactive in checking for spyware.
7. Spyware Blaster - keeps out spyware before it gets to you. Works together with Spybot/Ad-aware.
8. WMP 10/Realplayer/Winamp - for my listening pleasure. WMP10 I like cos it allows you to add the currently playing item into the playlist, thus useful for my radio listening habits.
9. Foxit Reader - CPU-friendly alternative to Adobe reader, works just as well.
10. uTorrent - must have for downloading stuff

This list will continue to grow :)

Har Har...

Silly me.

I thought no one actually reads my blog until I crashed my computer and had to restore some of my bookmarks.
I realised that the Haloscan comments had not been working very well and so I decided to access my account to check and guess what?
I found out that I had not moderated any comments all the time I had my blog!
Sighs... :P
No wonder my blog is so quiet!

Thanks to all who responded. I will try and keep this blog alive for you ok? :)

Things I need on my Firefox

People put up their Top 10 lists of extensions to recommend it to others.

Me? I do it because I want a record somewhere just in case my HDD crashes again...

So, here goes:
- Adblock Plus
- Add Bookmark Here
- British English Dictionary
- Customise Google
- Download Manager Tweak
- Enhanced History Manager
- Firefox Extension Backup Extension
- FlashGot
- Forecastfox Enhanced
- FoxClocks
- Gmail Notifier
- IE Tab
- More Tools Menu
- NoScript
- ReminderFox
- Restart Firefox
- Tab Mix Plus
- Update Notifier

This list will be updated periodically.

Oh yeah, I dunno if the extensions here are good but I like them...
so if you disagree with me, go make your own list lo... :)

Crashed

My laptop HDD died on me yesterday morning.
I lost all my personal files, work files, pictures, photos, music and audio files. Everything!
Sighs...

Then I bought a new HDD last night = RM230
There goes my savings... :(

Only got it up and going at 2.30am this morning.
So sleepy now.

What to do... Murphy likes me... :(
but I thank God for His strength and peace.
I din feel panicky... a little sad, yes, but not panicky...

Its okla... At least I can use my computer again. :/

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Its my dearest's birthday today...

So I guess its only appropriate for me to say:
Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

May you continue to grow ever more beautiful, within and without, than you already are this year.

Have a great year ahead and may God's promises to you all come true to you at its appointed time as you allow Him to guide your every step.

I love you! :)

Compassion

"God does not just want us to tell people that He is a compassionate God...
He wants us to show compassion to others instead." - Father Gregory J. Boyle.

Profound...

Exiled gripe

I just watched the made-in-HK movie Exiled with my long suffering dearest last night... and I must say Johnnie To has done it again.

A pure, guy-movie, it has everything you want in such a movie:
COOL guys carrying COOL guns firing them off in a COOL but realistic way.

Not much dialogue but most of what needed to be said was said without words...

COOL!

Only ONE gripe though...
I noticed that in some scenes, the guns the guys were packing changed from one scene to another...
Come on Johnnie, for such a good movie, you could have just ensured some consistency in your props! :P

Ok, that's all... for now... KA-POW!

Sensitivity

Sometimes we as Christians are not very sensitive to other people's feelings.

I am guilty of that too.

In our eagerness in bringing the gospel to others.
We forget that we are sharing a message of love and hope,
and not condemnation.

Holy Spirit,
remind us to be gentle in spirit,
and sensitive towards others needs and feelings.

Happy New Year!

Yeah, yeah...
3 days late but still its only 3 days old...
so here's to all of you.

Happy New Year and may God bless your plans and your actions.

Rain rain go away

Though its raining like cats and dogs in Johor...
Its getting to be as dry as a tinder box in Penang.
Wish there is a more even distribution of water from the sky.
Any ideas?

Oh yeah, remember to pray for the people in Johor ya?

Not too late

Its still not too late...

Blessed Christmas one and all! :)

Zen = Nothingness???

*Blank*

That's the state of my mind right now...

That is not good right?

Cheer

I know this is belated.
That's because I was away at church camp over the weekend.
So bear with me.

Arsenal 1 - 1 Chelsea.

YESSS!!!

So near...

Why is it that I am so near to her and yet sometimes I feel that I am so far from her? :/

Inane wuxia stories... anyone?

If you are looking for some good (but sometimes not-so-clean) entertainment online...
I suggest you read Viewtru's blog.
He writes really good, funny and again, sometimes not-so-clean, wuxia stories.
Give it a try.
To go to his blog, click on this:
http://viewtru.blogspot.com/

That was a Blogger Community message brought to you by Danny Chen, the least read blogger online! :)

Storms...

Sometimes when the waves are too calm,
be careful.
Cos it usually means a storm is brewing.

Well, today I had one... albeit a small one.
It would have blown over quickly if support was given.
Sighs... Oh well.

Today's lesson:
We really need to watch what we say cos often times those very same words will come and bite not only ourselves but other people as well.

Daniel is James

I went to catch Casino Royale with my dearest last night and this is what I have to say...

Finally!
A James Bond that is as hard as a rock!
Not since Sean Connery in From Russia With Love,
that I have seen another Bond who is both hard and tender at the same time.
Daniel IS James...
He brought not only a hard edge and a cruel streak back to the character,
but managed to show enough emotions to get us to feel for him as well.
He can be both charming in one minute and cruel in another.
Moreover, he also has the physique of someone who can both give and take a beating.

Not only does the movie has all the classic ingredients of a Bond movie such as...

• Bad, bad Bond girls
• Beautiful and exotic scenery and locations
  
• Cruel villians
• Torture scenes (and this one is really, really painful to watch!)
  
• Boy's toys (cars, boats, HPs, laptops)
• Action, and lots of it (in short bursts)
  

But it also tells a good story,
the pacing is good,
and you got to know James Bond much better.
The focus is really on Bond this time.
Not the girls or cars or gadgets or villians.

Well done Daniel Craig and bravo Casino Royale!
Here's to Bond movie #22!

Life

Life is so, so fragile...
treasure it.
You are only given 1 chance.

We are not as invincible as we think.

Heavenly Father,
Thank You for this precious, precious lesson.

Keep it burning...

Let my heart keep burning...
For You...
For her...
For life...

Times like this...

"It is not good to punish an innocent man,
or to flog officials for their integrity."
- Proverbs 17:26

My dearest Father in heaven.

My heart is heavy.
I see so many things that are wrong.
I know its not going to last very long.
As Christ is coming back again.

Still...
May justice prevail in these last days...
May our light shine before man.
May it never fade or be put out.
Intervene on our behalf, I pray.

It is hard to live at times like this...
BUT...
Help us to keep our eyes on You.
Let Your love fill our hearts.
So that we may continue to share it with others.
Let it not be filled with bitterness and resentment.
Lest it hardens at the core.

The road ahead will not be easy.
Remind us that Your joy can be our strength.
That You will never leave nor forsake us.

I am so grateful that I can come to You.
That's all for now...
But I am sure if I ever need You,
You are only a cry away.

Thank You for that assurance.
Amen

What if I am not?

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous.
He will hear their cries.

The question is...
What if I am not that righteous?

Will You still accept me and love me?

Things I am not...

I am not that smart, though some may equate the trivial things I store in my head as so.
I am not that happy, though many are fooled by this smile of mine.
I am not that healthy, though my size and shape may fool many, myself included.
I am not easy to live with, there is no doubt about it.
I am not that nice, so please don't get too close to me...
Or you'll be greatly disappointed.

I am not that good a guy, really.

Is it possible?

I sometimes think there are certain things in my life that are too good to be true...
I wonder if this particularly precious thing that I have is also one of them.
I hope not but it seems more and more like it is.

I really hope not.

Shaken... Not Stirred

Yes, its James Bond time again.
I wonder how Casino Royale will fare.
My sweetheart says Daniel Craig is to rough to be James Bond.
What do you think?

As for me, I like Sean Connery.
But only in "From Russia With Love".
To me, that is the best James Bond Movie ever.
The story was simple and yet classy.
Not many gadgets and stuff.
Lots of action.
Exotic locales and a beautiful Bond girl.
Classic James Bond.

I hope Casino Royale and Daniel Craig can rise to the challenge.

Heh...

Pray.

Actually, I DO have something to say...
my little nephew, Isaac, is sick.
Down with Kawasaki disease.
Please pray for him ya...

Ramblings Part 101106

I have nothing to say...

Hah! :/

Pay More for More?

Hey...
Let me ask you a question.
Are you willing to pay more taxes to support the services given to us by the government?

Me?
Why not?
If they manage it well...

Ramblings Part 011106

What am I doing when not working and not with Su Yin?

1. Playing FM2007 (if you don't know what I am talking about... good).
2. Blogging... doing this right now. :P
   
3. Trying to lose weight (doing this with my dog, who's also as tubby as I am).
4. Day dreaming (and night dreaming also)... there's 2 concurrent stories running in my head right now (don't ask). BTW, I can switch between the 2 as and when I like it... sweet! :)

Does this all make sense to you? No? Its ok... if you want a blog that makes sense... go write one yourself... :)

Value of a man

How do you value a man?
By the amount of money he has in the bank?
To me, it looks increasingly to be so...
What happened to a man's character?
Is that not worth anything any more?
What about hard work?
Or commitment?
Or tolerance?
What is shaping us to be so "realistic"?
Where "if we don't have money, we also cannot be happy cos we will always be arguing about money".

God, what is the true value of a man?
Is this true anymore?
" ...give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonour the name of my God."

International Bank Konon

Went with my dearest to carry out my Santa Claus rounds...
Withdrew money from my piggy Maybank, no problem.
Gave money to a poor, poor bank in need for me to support it, no problem.
Gave money to a telco company in needing my money to feed its employees, no problem.
Went next to Citibank, international bank, got problem!!!
They dared to tell us the deadline for paying our bills is end of the month.
They dared call me up for not paying (I was late this month ler!).
They dared to charge me extra money for late payment.
They also dared to shutdown 3 out of 5 cash deposit machines...
and left the other 2 set at problematic mode...
spitting out our money cos we were foolish enough to fold it...
Btw, I din fold mine...
So I spent more than 5 minutes waiting...
another 5 minutes queuing in another line cos the 1st machine was spitting out the cash 2 hapless customers was trying to feed RM50 notes for 5 minutes...
and just less than 1 minute for me to donate my money to them...
BECAUSE I DIN FOLD MINE!!!
Teruklah Citibank...
If you know most people will pay at the month end after getting our pay...
make sure all machines are working la...
or else make sure you educate all the people you were so kind to saddle your credit cards on them with.
Adoi...

Breath in deep... count to zero... 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,..

Sighs...

Reserved

There is one word that should only be used to describe God and nothing else in existence...

AWESOME.

Happy In Between the Holidays

To one and all who reads this post,
meaning myself,
my sweetheart,
and a handful of people who had the misfortune of stumbling into this site,

Happy In-Between 2 Holidays Day!

You have a great one, you hear? :)
Right...

It rained last night...

and this morning too...
Praise be to God for bringing the rain.
At least the haze has cleared slightly.
Thank you, Father.

Sleepy again...

Tough, tough, tough.
Its only 1.22pm and I am already sleepy.
What am I to do?
Sighs...

Unconditional love

Unconditional love is never based upon the merit of the one receiving it...
but upon the merit of the one giving it
- a quote from Sunday' s message by Jack Frost.

Ain't that the truth?

God is near

Dear God,
I am glad that I can run to your loving arms whenever I am afraid,
knowing that I will be safe there.
Sometimes things around me are so uncertain,
yet you are my safe refuge.
I am so thankful that you will always be there for me Father.
Amen.

Drop him like a hot potato

England needs to drop Frank Lampard,
and do it very, very quickly...

Money

Su Yin needs a job,
and I need money.
Now, if only I can convince Bill Gates to donate to my fund...
Oh, I'm not greedy.
$10 million is a mere pittance to him...

Right? :)

I love her

and I do... I really do.

Ramblings part 051006

Star fruit and garlic is not a good combination... :P

Life less complicated

Sometimes I wish things are less complicated.
but if things were, then probably I'll be dead by now... :/

Get up

Instead of wallowing on my own self-pity and troubles, I will focus on the Lord.
Give Him my burden in exchange for His... which is to love and save the lost.
I have strayed too far from Him... no wonder I have dried up so much inside me.

Burden

Sometimes the physical weight can be shed...
but the weight on your heart may be the hardest to lift and get rid of...

Addict

Hello.
My name is Danny Chen,
and I am a Wikipedia addict.

Misery

This has got to be the most miserable day of my life.
I threw away a most precious gift in a fit of carelessness.
Now I guess I'll have to suffer the consequences of my actions/inactions.

Thanks for the memories...

I know its very very belated but...

Stevo,

Thanks for the memories...

Happy Anniversary...

I did not notice this but I have been blogging for 2 years already. :)

Pussycats they are not...

I dunno about you but I had a look at a photo of the Pussycat Dolls just now and let me tell you something... they are not very P.R.E.T.T.Y. are they?

In fact some of them are quite A.R.G.H.L.Y. (Argh! Geli!)

Love note

I love You Lord...

This is not good

Lack of sleep and long work day does not mix well... :(

Huh?

Guess what... it took so long to load Blogger that I've forgotten what I wanted to do already.

Hummingbirds

If God can allow a bird like the hummingbird to fly backwards, surely He has the ability to give me the tools to succeed in what I have been given in my life???

Retiring my faithful warhorse? No way!

I heard that there are some people who are out to get old cars (more than 15 years old) retired... they dare try!!! I'll let them know what a can of whoop@ss really means! >:(

My Brother, My Friend

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday my brother,
Happy birthday to you!

How long will this last?

3 straight wins in a row for Man Utd... so far so good... I wonder, how long will this last? Oh well...

Anyway, it looks like the Premiership is going to be very very, interesting this season, with all the top clubs making mostly big buys and each club in the league having a good manager at helm... Let's hope its going to be a next to next race at the top and a real fight at the bottom as well.

How unMalaysian are you?

Congratulations Danny Chen, you are 22% not Malaysian.

That means you're as Malaysian as...


Abdullah Badawi !

How Un-Malaysian Are You?

Why God, why?

I don't know why God allows people to go through what they go through but I do know that God is God and is a good God and He has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us.

Yet in this so-called pragmatic world we live in, we are constantly pressure to conform to the pace of the world and not actively wait on God... I pray that God will grant us the strength and peace to move at His pace.

Long long week

This has been a long long week so far... you know, the one where one things comes after another... very stressful la. I hope things will get better over the weekend. TGIF, really...

Man Utd Tagline

This should be Man Utd's tagline for the season: Hum-Drum, Doom Gloom.

Sad eh? =(

GSC sucks

Went to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest last wednesday night at GSC Gurney Plaza... felt like Davy Jones served us the Dead Man's Cheat instead... cos GSC decided to throw out the customer-first mentality and gave us movie-goers the don't-mind-them-losers-turn-off-the-audio-track-when-we-feel-like-it attitude.

IT SO SUCKS... 5 whole minutes of watching the movie in mute mode!!! If I hadn't walked out and pointed it out to the attendants, nothing would have been fixed! Grrr!!!

The funny thing is that when the adverts were on, the audio tracks worked just fine! Stupid...

Mind you, I'm not the first person to have a really bad experience at this so-called high class, professional cineplex... once a friend of mine watched the movie upside down for quite awhile before the technicians realised it!

I remember when I was watching movies at the old-style cinemas, we did not have much problems like this... and the film technician was an old man in his pagoda shirt! I must admit the place was not as decent and clean as the current swanky cineplexes but it managed to give us what we paid for... no stops, no mute mode, nothing... just good plain movies.

And oh, when it says 5.00pm on the ticket the movie actually starts at the stated time, not like the cineplexes where we are subjected to advertisements that lasted up to 30 minutes...

The food that we got was uniquely tied in to the movie-going experience too... kua-chis, kacang putih, burger, packet drinks that came in all sorts of colours, the small cinema tuck-shop... add in the rats, cockroaches, cigarette smoke, dirty floors and equally dirty old man that chose to sit next to girls... those were the days...

One of the most interesting experience you can have in the cinema is to watch one of those mid-night movies that usually was shown on a friday or saturday night. Never seen so many people waiting for the movies to start!

Oh, another one of those unique experiences... trying to squeeze THROUGH the cinema doors as people were trying to get OUT... also the curtains and the smelly toilets located IN the cinema, either at the back or at the front next to the cinema screen...

Sighs... sometimes I wished the old style cinemas are still around... at least they have character.

God still hears

I am amazed how God is so eager to hear from us and answers our prayers... just like how our earthly fathers being eager to bless us with good gifts, except God is so much more eager...

Thank you... Abba, Father...

I still heart Man Utd

Its tough being a Man Utd fan lately... every player of ours seem to want away, at least one is confirmed as going.... and not many good player seems to want to join us... sighs.

Its oklah, through good times and bad times... its easy to love something or someone when things are going fine. Its when times are bad when your faith, love, loyalty and support for that someone or something is really tested.

One month hiatus...

I've not been blogging for almost a month now... and I guess its because so many things was happening... no, not only was the World Cup on but I had a lot of work to be done in the office and much travelling to do because of Swee's wedding... Tired but satisfactory.

You know something, I did not watch that many World Cup matches this time... maybe its because of the time difference... I guess I treasured my sleeping time more than the football. I think through out the whole month of World Cup, I must have watched less than a dozen matches max. Hrm... at least Su Yin is not a World Cup widow huh? :)

Espana Campions?

I managed to catch the last 10 minutes of Spain's match against Ukraine and I must say I came away very, very impressed!

The Spanish team played like champions... they kept possession well and passed the ball around fluidly... they also chased every ball that was lost and when they finished, they finished clinically. The goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and forwards all worked together like a team and played very, very well. There does not seem to be any weaknesses anywhere... they are THAT good.

The Brazilian, French and English fans must have wished that their players had played like that...

Will the Spanish finally shed their images as perennial underachievers? We shall see... :)

Double O Bond

I've just watched the latest trailer of the next Bond movie, Casino Royale and guess what? it is very impressive and I can't wait to watch this latest installment of the Bond series. This movie brings us back to when James Bond first joined the Double-O ranks.

If the trailer is anything to go by, this new Bond is more hard-edged than his predecessors... which I think is very, very cool. Back to basics, Mr. Bond?

Oh yeah, one more thing... Daniel Craig, the new Bond, bears a striking resemblance to a young Sean Connery! If you don't believe me, just pay attention to the last scene of the trailer.

Rooney and his metatarsal

I am beginning to wonder if Rooney's injuries was over-stated... a smoke screen... hmm...

Updates...

This is bad, only 2 postings in the past month... I'm afraid I don't have much time to blog lately, with Su Yin back in Penang permanently (yay!) and student's coursework to mark (boo!).

Lots of things are happening... Mei Ching and William is back in Penang with my nephew, Isaac. Very cute, with large head! hehe... They will be back for a week or so, then its off to HK for a week before flying back to KL for Daw Swee's wedding.

Su Yin is bz getting her career life started... it was kinda stressful initially cos she din get much offers or replies... but lately it has been better. Offers are coming in but I think she's settled with teaching for now... until March next year when she will try and start her Master's paper again... no grants yet this year.

Willie will be back next week and we'll have a real big reunion in KL. Hopefully everyone can go down this time.

Hopefully I'll post abit more this month... hrm... maybe not, cos World Cup is starting in 2 days time! Woohoo! Samba, boys! :)

Emotions and cooking

I read somewhere that how well your cooking turns out depends alot on your moods. Apparently, if you are in a good mood or particularly if you are in love, your cooking will taste especially nice. However, if you are in a bad mood, the results will come up bad as well.

I found out that this is very true today... bad mood = bad food, and I was cooking for the family somemore. Sighs... :(

What's with the Metatarsal?

It looks like the Metatarsal bones on the feet of English footballers are akin to Achille's famous heel.

David Beckham, Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Michael Owen, Ledley King and now, Wayne Rooney (twice).

Why is it suddenly so vulnerable?

Too long

2 weeks is a very, very long time for someone who is wanting for his beloved to return home...

24

Lately I have been watching season 5 of 24, a TV series that chronicles the goings on, over a single day, of a counter-terrorist agent, Jack Bauer, and the agency he is working for, Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU). Its a very popular series and I was sucked into it during the 1st season... but then after that, the same thing seems to happen every season. So I lost interest and stopped watching.

Well, I heard that the current season, season 5, has as a consultant, Richard Marchinko... the guy credited with the setting up of SEAL Team 6, the counter-terrorist section of the U.S.Navy's elite special forces, the NAVY SEALS. So, I began to tune in to see if there is any improvement in terms of realism... it was so-so only but I noticed a few things about the TV series:

1. Jack Bauer is always either whispering or shouting, never talking.
2. His favourite phrase seem to be: "we don't have much time" or "we are running out of time"... and oh... "who are you working for?!"
   
3. Jack is one of the most pitiful and unlucky person in the world... all the people around him seems to die... like flies.
   
4. People in 24 also don't eat, go to the toilet or bathe. Phew!
   
5. He's been talking on his mobile phone while driving... bad boy! :)
6. The US of A is a super 'suay' country. Always kena attack. Heh. :)
   

Stupid Maxis

Stupid Maxis! I can't get Su Yin AGAIN! I've been trying to get her the whole night but there's no signal here.

Why do they have to shut down their system again at night?!

STUPID x10!!!!!!!!

I am seriously thinking of switching operators... #@$!*&^!!!!!!

ARRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sleeping soundly

I just noticed something about my dog Cherry... she's been sleeping on the job lately... :)

Cherry is allowed to wonder in and out of the house without much fuss from us, she's basically part of the family and we enjoy her company but during the nights, my mom would try to leave her outside the house, in the compound... she's a guard dog by definition anyway. There are nights though, where she would sneak into the house to either sleep under the stairs or on the couch in the living room and I noticed that when she does that, she'd be wide awake in the mornings and would happily wait for me at the bottom of the stairs to greet me. However, if she had spent the night in the compound, then she'd be dead to the world, sleeping away under the stairs, and not even an earthquake would wake her!

She is just so cute... :)

Is that it?

Looks like Man Utd's challenge for this season's Premiership title is as good as over. What a silly draw for Sir Alex Ferguson's team... why he replaced Mikael Silvestre with Patrice Evra in the starting line-up baffles me. Sighs... To make things worse, Chelsea beat Bolton 2-0.

That's it, I guess...

Something to frustrate you...

Went to buy a replacement bulb for my table lamp today... brought it home and was about to bring it to my room to change it with my old one when it fell out of the box and onto the floor. Whack! :O

There goes my RM13.90 (it was an energy saving one). :(

Good one this...

When I heard this one, it put a smile on my face:

An epitaph found on the headstone: "Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and nowhere to go." :)

Expecting too much?

I don't really know how to articulate my thoughts right now... its a little jumbled up and I'm feeling a little melancholic at the same time.

I guess I've just expected too much from certain people, not realising the massive gap in between us. Thinking that I could fit in, I tried to leap across the great abyss but now it leaves me feeling rather empty...

Me and my dog

Remember when we where in primary school... one of those essays our teacher would ask us to write would be: me and my pet? Well, here's my submission (albeit a very, very late entry!) of me and my pet - me and my dog, Cherry! :)
When we first got her, she was so small that i could cradle her nicely in my palms... look at her now... she still loves being carried by me :) Is that a smile of contentment on her face or what?!

Cool Rooney

Much has been made about Wayne Rooney and his temperament... that he is a hot-headed lad who cannot keeps his cool. However, based on his recent performances on the field, I believe this young man has managed to control his temperament alot while maintaining the passion for the game he obviously loves so much. Nothing seems to distract him from playing his heart out match after match.

Of course, he still lets his feelings known to a referee when he felt that he was unfairly fouled on but don't all players do that??? Even, the most even tempered players like Ryan Giggs do come up to the referee and give him a piece of his mind if he felt he was hard done by the ref's decision.

Take yesterday's match with Arsenal as an example, there were many times I felt he had good reason to berate the referee but he did not... even when Kolo Toure deliberately handled the ball to deny him the goal with the referee just yards away from the whole incident. All he did was cried out for a handball but did not pursue the matter repeatedly... if it was him 1 year ago, he would have went on and on with the referee.

This time, he decided to let his feet do the talking... making sublime passes after sublime passes... splitting Arsenal's defence time and time again with either his through passes to Van Nistelrooy or Saha, or using his solo runs that seem to ignore the defenders there. Instead of letting his frustrations rule him, he channelled it into the passion that allowed him getting Man Utd into goal-scoring situations over and over again. When he did score, it was a brilliant one-touch-and-shoot shot. Sooo... sweet! :)

Another testament of his much-controlled temperament was during the build up to Man Utd's second goal where he resisted going down when challenged by Senderos in the six-yard box but decided to stay up, look up and put a cut-back that allowed Park Ji Sung to sweep it into the net. If he had wanted to, he could have gone down and would probably have gotten the penalty... Senderos missed the ball completely... but he did not, stayed calm and because of that, gave Man Utd a 2 goal lead.

All this happened while he had the press making allegations that he had accumulated huge gambling debts hanging over him. Again, he showed that he could withstand the pressures of the game and came up trumps and oh, there is another fact that all of us should not forget, the field he was on had the likes of Fabregas and Henry to competing against him. Guess who won the Man of the Match bottle??? :)

If he maintains such form and temperament, and the other members of the England team is galvanised by the very passion that everyone is asking him to curb, the World Cup is theirs for the taking.

Hope?

The true essence of man is revealed when all pride and pretensions is stripped away from us... what then does it reveal? Utter despair or glorious hope?

Biggest shirt deal...

Man Utd just announced the biggest shirt sponsor deal in UK, 56.6m pounds for 4 years, with the US insurer company AIG. This deal will take a load off Man Utd's financial pressures, for the moment...

I am not exactly enamoured that the Glazers burdened Man Utd with so much debt but hopefully this will be a positive step in the right direction for the club.

One thing though... they need to work on the size of the AIG logo... i think its a little too big, don't you think?

On another note, Man Utd is poised to set another record by hosting the largest spectator turnout for a football club in UK, expected to be above 70,000, for this weekend's match with Arsenal.

Oh yeah, another thing... Kevin Nolan for Man Utd, anyone?

Sad, sad people

I just realised that there are alot of sad and unhappy young people out there. They may seem happy and cool on the outside, but deep down inside they are hurting and very unhappy... What can I do? How can I help???

Lord, show me how... soften my heart, Lord, for these people...

Weaknesses

Why are some people less ambitious than others?
Why are some people not as aggressive as others?
Is there something wrong with these people?
How can they change their attitude?
Should they change their attitude?
Who can provide answers to these questions?

Salary Man

Got my pay... and my bonus... not much lah but I am still thankful for what God has given me. Its so easy to gripe about the lack of increment but when you put things into perspective, there's really so much to thank God for...

If I compare with the people who earns more than me, of course I will not be satisfied... but to think that majority of the people out there in this world barely makes enough to eke out a meal everyday, I am thankful for what I have.

I've often pondered if it is appropriate for me to ask for a raise as a Christian... it may be a no-brainer for a non-Christian to ask this question but as a Christian, it is my God that is the One supplying all of my needs, therefore it is natural as a Christian that we should ask Him for the raise instead from our boss right? So, part of me struggles to understand and accept this fact. I do not know if this struggle is normal but it is real.

The only way I am coping with this struggle is to submit to God, remembering His promise that He will supply all my needs, according to His riches and glory, and also to be thankful always for His daily provisions... :)

GOAL!!!

I just realised that football is one of the only sport where you, as a spectator, would sit quietly for long moments staring at the match and suddenly, out of nowhere, you let out a roar... "GOAL!!!" and the floodgates of emotion is released! I doubt there's any sport out there that can build up tension as well as football. :)

Family matters

An update on my baby nephew, Isaac... Yesterday he was 5 months old... this is how he looks like now... Sooo cute! Kawaii!!!

I'm so... sleepy

I'm so sleepy x 10

Oh well... :(

Another one for daydreaming?

Sweetheart, this is for you...

I want my house to be like this...

This house has everything I want... next to the river, shady trees all around, a pergola, nice lawn, a shed to keep my row boats and last but not least, a barge house! :)

Win by all means?

There is only one word that would describe Didier Drogba: C.H.E.A.T.

Why? He did the same thing he did in Fulham... except this time, the officials did not punish him for it...

Does it matter so much that you have to win at ANY cost??? How can you feel satisfied when you know that you did not achieve your goal with your own ability?

God using anything or anyone...

God had used animals and children to remind us of Him... so today he used someone of another faith to remind me that He is still in control.

As you know from my last post, I was feeling rather miserable because of my student's poor results but then one of my students, who was quite happy with her results, reminded me not to despair, that her former housemate, a Christian, would read the Bible whenever she is stressed out. Wow... to hear that from one from another faith... I have again underestimated God...

Thank you Lord... for your timely reminder... I will lean on You. Amen.

Miserable

I am feeling rather miserable right now... got my student's results liao... not that great... almost all were marked down. Sighs...

I need a pick me up right now...

The going gets tough...

Its getting very tough lately... we've never been away from each other for so long before... and its affecting us. What are we to do???

A few more weeks Lord, please help us through the next few weeks...

Strawberry Trifle! :)

I was talking to one of my students on MSN just now about desserts... and I just realised which dessert I like the most... its not cheesecake nor tiramisu... it has to be trifle, and strawberry trifle to be exact...

What is a trifle? Well, trifle is an English dessert dish made from a mixture of thick custard, fruit, sponge cake, jelly/jello and whipped cream. Most trifles contain a small amount of alcohol (port, sweet sherry or madeira) - non-alcoholic versions use fruit juice instead, as the liquid is necessary to moisten the cake. Wah... so nice...

Wow... what a gem...

I've just found a gem of player in FM2006. He is young and massively talented... good stats. No, I am not talking about Rooney or Messi but Tomas Sivok, a defensive midfielder. Just the thing for my Man Utd... maybe Sir Alex should check him out??? :) Looks like I don't have to rely on Javier Mascherano anymore :)

Edit: I've just realised how slow I have been in unearthing this gem... apparently his name has been thrown around the FM forums for quite awhile now... :(