Sunburns

They're not exactly the best thing to look forward to on a day at the beach. It turns red and stays red and itches and... well, if you've had a sunburn, you know what it's like.

July.25.2009:Saturday
For the five of us who went to PD last Saturday, it was fun! It felt like we were kids again. We played in the sea, flew a kite, build what looked like a fort (or tomb) instead of a sandcastle (which we demolished to make other less demanding structures). We even got to chase a beachball down the beach. It wouldn't stop rolling because of the wind. It wouldn't get thrown where we threw it (unless of course the wind favours that direction). I think all of us just got too tired to even try playing with it after that. Haha. (It's probably good to consider investing in a volleyball for beach outings. It's heavier than a blown-up-beach-ball, it floats, and it's probably easier to throw against the wind.)

I know I wouldn't be able to experience that in awhile. Being able to play like a little kid with no worries. We even saw a plane fly by real, real low while playing in the sea! (Well, considering we took the Sepang way, we saw quite a lot of airplanes throughout the day.)

The exciting part of the day was actually being able to drive Mei Lin's Gen 2. Lol! We were supposed to go in two cars because there would be 6 of us but one of us decided not to come. (I wonder who... you missed a nice relaxing day out! xD) Anyway, since there were only five, we picked the Gen 2 over the Kembara considering we have to travel for one hour and 30 minutes at least.

That day, when I got home (about 40 minutes before having to go prepare for 100% worship), I got another surprise waiting for me!

My acceptance letter arrived~

Carolyn's starting honours this August!

---

Voon, Peng and Mei!
I told you the picture would like clear because of the sun XD


Mei posing for me xD. That's the beach we were going to. It was nice, and peaceful, and nice. (Thanks Voon!) We had just got out of the ladies waiting for the rest to get ready for the beach. We even had a reason for that.
"Girls always need the ladies before going out."


The scene from behind the fence. We were still waiting ;)


All of us at the beach!


Putting on sunblock.
(Here's when you ask your friends to help you with your back because... that's where you do not want sunburns!)

---

That's all I've got from my handphone. We should never get delicate equipment wet. Especially not with salt water. ;)

Will upload pictures from Yi Mei once I'm at home Uploaded pictures to the photo album!

Low Yat Visit

Once again I find myself in this building of wonderful offers. Only, this time, I wasn't there to buy anything for myself.

Today, my job was to help YM and YP choose laptops for themselves. They're leaving overseas to do masters and are therefore looking for PCs to use. I love computers in general and was pleased to be able to go window shopping with them (since I can't buy one for myself...) By the way, thanks for the lunch! It was an awesome lunch at First Cup (some cafe I saw for the first time at Sungei Wang).

Anyway, we pretty much ruled out Toshiba and HP and Acer from our list of brands to consider. I mean, come on... Acer's just cheap and really cheap (in price and... well, no offence, but in quality as well). HP and Toshiba's just too expensive for something you can find in other more reliable brands.

Thus, we were left with two brands of choice: Asus and Dell. (There are two of them, and they each insist on getting two different brands. Oh well.) =P

It's fun walking around low yat looking at different laptops at different shops. And it's nicer still when someone else has to deal with talking to the shop owners/sales persons. (Less stress haha...) Oh, I managed to come home with Cyber Clean for my keyboard and a laptop keyboard skin to make it easier to clean dust off it! No more painstaking effort spent on getting dust out from under the keys! (Came back happy, definitely!)

ASUS K40 (AB/IJ)
It's amazing how many different offers were made for this particular model. It was within budget initially (under RM2500). I knew nothing about this brand beforehand so all I could do was listen and check the specs.

The Good
+ lots of free gifts were offered +
+ price range is acceptable +
+ cheaper warranty than Dell +
+ durable +
+ offers other than Intel processors +
+ uses its own technology (apparently) +

The Bad
+ usually comes without OS (freedos) +
+ does not come with original Office (costs more if it does) +
+ no bluetooth (not a problem, free USB offered) +
+ does not come with system CDs (costs more if it does) +

Dell Studio 14
I have always been a Dell fan so I've actually looked this up before looking for it today. In fact, the first thing I did when I came home was to come up with a detailed specs list and end price offered for this model.

The Good
+ stylish, more colours to choose from +
+ cheaper than Asus (all things considered) +
+ reliable tech support and great after sales service +
+ durable +
+ price includes original OS and Office programmes +

The Bad
+ no free gifts (lol!) +
+ expensive warranty +
+ doesn't have its own technology (but it has the best combination IMO) +

I feel like upgrading my own beloved lappie after looking at Dell Studio 14 (my precious bao bei); it's a Dell Vostro 1400 by the way. Get better RAM, better graphics card, and maybe a larger HDD space. But, I'm not sure if I can trust what it can be upgraded to... Hmm... Besides, I have no problems with it at the moment.

I still love my bao bei the way it is!

After Exams Paintball!

July.02.2009:Thursday
+ movie marathon: Transformers 2 & Ice Age 3 +
+ the movies were awesome! +
+ bought Mansfield Park and Little Women +
+ tried out Krispy Kreme in Malaysia +
+ can't say it's any different from Aussie's +
+ probably only much smaller +
+ had a great time! +

July.01.2009:Wednesday
+ suffering from muscle aches +
+ can't go through standing or sitting without pain +
+ never dreaded the stairs more +
+ really want endurance training! +

June.30.2009:Tuesday
+ paintball at Tanamera (Sungai Buloh) +
+ largest paintball park in South East Asia +
+ check out their facebook group +
+ 8.30am to 11.59am: getting there and settling down +
+ 12pm to 3pm: Paintball! (6 rounds: 5 last man standing & 1 zombie) +
+ lunch was in between +
+ came back with no bruises (^_^)V +
+ friend's post on our paintball outing +

June.29.2009:Monday
+ final, final exam over and done with! +
+ lunch at Agefuku, Taipan +
+ bought The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory +
+ finished reading it the next night +
+ heard that it was way different from the movie +

Children See, Children Do

What are we doing for our future generation?
What have we learned from our parents?
What are our children going to be?
What will you be?

Your choice...

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." [Deuteronomy 6:6-9]

Youth Ministry: Q-Time

"If we would talk less and pray more about them, things would be better than they are in the world: at least, we should be better enabled to bear them."— John Owen

Came home to see what daily quotes had for me, and found that the very first quote really summed up what the speaker was trying to say to us tonight.

1 Peter 2:23
"When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

When the speaker spoke of Q-time, he was glad it was not titled "quiet" time but rather it can be taken as "quality" time; or what he prefers to call: personal devotional life. The foundation that makes us who we are. What we are really speaks of how much time we spend with God. This particular verse was one of the points the speaker brought up. What we face everyday is what Jesus faced before. He came to earth to show us how to face these things. When our boss seemingly hates us or our friends turn their backs upon us or when things just seem worrisome (like an upcoming exam...) we should just tell it to God and tell it again until we find peace. For:

"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, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
(Phillipians 4:6-7)

YM 1% challenge.
Give God 15 minutes of your time each day.
Just 1% of your time a day.

Weekends

July 21st, 2009:Sunday
+ mentally and emotionally drained +
+ saving this story for another blog post +
+ but it wasn't from frustration +
+ rather, accepting what I couldn't accept before +
+ it feels good to be freed of an emotional burden +

July 14th, 2009:Sunday
+ final day for the MPH book fair +
+ went with Nona +
+ bought two books: the Chronicles of Narnia & sketching +
+ would have loved music books +
+ or art books +
+ but there were none +
+ should probably have gone in the first few days +
+ I want to have more books +

Chiangmai Cadillac

Jetstar Photography Competition - Chiangmai Cadillac

A friend of mine entered this photo competition. If you like his photo, please vote for him. He really is a great photographer! (Lemme find his links again and post them up.)

Now I'll let you decide for yourself ;)
+ photo gallery at pbase +
+ my likes: [x][x][x][x][x] +
+ this is Chiann btw, my shepherd :) +

Silence and Libraries

Silence in Australian uni's are such that you're afraid to break it.

Silence in Malaysian universities?

Non-existant!

PHA3801

+ first final paper today! +
+ wishing friends all the best +
+ I can't sleep XD +
+ I want to learn javascript now! +
+ procrastination is deadly +

For Those who Love to Save

Digi came up with a new advertising scheme:

"You Click, We Donate" - for those who love to save!

They are trying to raise RM150,000 in 30 days and all we have to do is click on the charity we wish to support and they will donate RM5 to that charity. So what we have to do is just click.

Check out what you can support through this site:
http://www.lovetosave.com.my/

Home 2009

If you can ignore the poor science and take home the important message that our lives are in our hands (literally), I would highly recommend this video. It's about an hour and a half long but it's well worth it.

On You Tube

Main Site

---

Teasers:

PS: If you want the pictures without my meddling signature, let me know. ;)

Up On My High Horse

I've been listening to various "negative comments" from various "people" about how "other" people behave, speak or write from up their high horses; but when some of these "people" start complaining about my grammar... boy, oh boy... it's MY turn to sit on MY high horse!

Their insufficient exposure to literature pisses me off! (If they've read more than me - my record is probably easily topped - then they really learn nothing.)

Seriously, if one cannot read in context, one really needs to hold back their tongue! I don't go around fixing everyone's grammar (not anymore anyway since it's annoying and it really shows how much you actually know; which may simply be nothing) so don't start with me! Grammar meddling should be kept within academic settings and everything else just frowned upon if upsetting but not meddled with unless asked.

I am this close (i.e. just a click away) to replying that absurd email from the-one-who-tried-to-fix-my-grammar with my own absurd smug email.

Dear the-one-who-tried-to-fix-my-grammar,
There are two if's for a reason. There's also a comma for a reason. The sentence itself is pretty straightforward. "If you are interested, contact us. If you know someone (for your benefit, I meant someone-else-who-is) capable, forward the email." I would rather have a team of people who are capable than just one person. If you can't understand, I can't help you.

[I can't and won't send this because that will just start off a stupid war of nonsense.]

So don't worry. I rant here and I reply here. I know how rude it sounds.
To anyone reading this, keep it to yourself. Spouting nonsense brings you nowhere. ;P

It really seems like a silly reason to be ticked off now.

+ first paper this Friday afternoon +
+ studied in uni today +
+ feeling stressed at home +
+ in an extremely angsty mood +
+ please pray for me +

Otto von Bismarck

"When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of putting it into practice."

Probably the only reason why I had not believed what my parents say.
Probably the reason why I will not believe the first thing people say.
Probably the reason why I will not make claims I cannot follow through.
Probably...

---

By the way...
"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use." - Wendell Johnson

Outcome

Right, so we had the meeting. It was a peaceful one. Thank you all for your prayers.

They are now able to tell me how the keyboard was purchased and on what grounds: budget and brand and portability. I pointed out that there is more than just budget brand and portability. There is also style; there is also accountability; and there is also transparency.

They've agreed that they have overlooked this whole thing. That there was more to purchasing a keyboard. A set of procedures need to be established. I hope to see this in the future.

They've agreed that the buying of the keyboard could be different. That there could have been more communication. A proper discussion should have been there. That the young need to be trained and there should be continuous training in this ministry.

The keyboard is staying but they will be bringing back the old digital piano until I can get used to it. The after part of buying the keyboard will have to be put up with but the fact that, in the future, they must look through the buying of instruments properly before actually purchasing it.

There. That should be the gist of it. My mom was there to take care of all the extra conversations. She threw me off beat at the end and it was a bit annoying. Meh. At least the meeting was peaceful. At least we got to see where we are coming from and where we are headed.

Thomas A. Edison

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

I am so going to use this to reply the next person who asks: "Why do you do research when you fail to get results all the time?"

PS: One should look up on the aphorisms of Stanislaw Jerzy Lec. Very enlightening. They're just great for conversations or a good laugh at humanity.