Work, Fun and More Work!

More than a week has passed since i sat for my last paper. Besides staying at home and help watch guard over the renovation being done in the house, i've been enjoying myself a little.

After the exam, a few of my classmates and i went to The Curve, though it ended up splitting into two groups; Pek Mei and me watching Evan Almighty and had dinner at TGI Friday after (and she still owes me money!) While Alex, Chee Been, Chin Han, Eu Wah, Soo Yee and Yen Yen enjoyed themselves singing all the way in Red Box. We met up later for a drink at Damansara Perdana before heading home.

But that wasn't the end.

On Thursday, we (except Chee Been and Pek Mei) went to Sunway Lagoon and had a great time in both the theme park and the water park. While the rest were terrified by the stomach-wrenching 360 degrees-spin ride, i got my dosage of adrenaline rush from all the excitement.

At the same time, i learn that i should wear sandles, dress light and carry less the next time i come by the amusement park.

And in between last week and this week, there was a whole lot of manga reading; notably XXXHolic, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, Trigun Maximum, Beck and Bleach!

On a brighter note, there're two things i'm currently thankful for:

1. I've passed all my papers, including the two resit papers! And now my thesis and CF camp duty can get my attention.

2. Deus ex machina came in the form of Ms Angelina! Receiving her call a couple of hours back was indeed uplifting and encouraging. Not to mention also the help she's offering the camp comittee.

I've got reasons to smile.

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Can You Help Others When You Can't Help Yourself?

Taken from postsecret.com

This evening, i was abruptly awaken by a phone call from a church member. Asking me how i was doing and if i had classes was the secondary reason. The whole reason she called was because she wanted me to talk to Sy (not real name. But if you get my drift, do keep this to yourself).

Oh... i heard from his mom in mid April that he was back from Australia. After telling her that my mobile phone number has not changed, i waited for Sy to drop me a line, or an SMS message. Nothing.

Anyway, fast forward to the present - the church member told me that Sy was bogged down with some problems. He has not been going out, staying a lot in his room and was objecting his parents demands. Not to mention, he's unemployeed.

But here's the catch; although Sy and i were classmates in high school, we weren't close after we SPM was over as we went our seperate ways. In actual fact, the friends closes to him in church have already left church quite sometime ago for the same, if not similar, reason(s).

Dropped by his blog recently, only to find out that he has not been blogging since the end of March, about the time he returned back to Malaysia.

In short, he's not doing as well as one would expect after graduation (like other friends i know of).

Personally, i find it hard to click with him now. To tell him what's been going on around me, like telling him that Justin's getting married, Ernest is now studying in Terengganu or even the church will be shifting out of Ampang Point.... Trying to chat with him would probably be step one all over again.

I wonder, if the Bible did state love your neighbour like you love yourself, does that mean it's okay to hate your neighbour if you hate yourself? Surely, many youths who dislike their body figure or current growing pains would, if not ponder, agree with me.

In a self-centered, cold world, aid comes with strings attached - an equal exchange for the help received. Of course, people would question why should they help someone without getting anything in return. But should they be the way? If no one decides to lend a helping hand and only expect something in return, selflessness will be a virtue loss.

Perhaps we should help others without expecting anything in return. It is a reward in itself. And maybe, such favor will be repay when the time comes.

I think i should do Sy a favor and drop him a visit.


"...I wake up after seeing the beginning of my dream
but i'll grasp what happens after that with my arms

Yes, the most important things are always
the ones with no form
Even if you obtain it or lose it,
you do not notice

So turn your sadness into kindness
And your uniqueness into strength
it's okay to get lost, so begin walking
once again..."

Taken and translated from Little by Little's Kanashimi wo Yasashisa ni

Love & Peace!~

BC?

A Sound Dilemma. (Ver 1.5)

After having in pocession two, cheap, unknown protable music devices (an MP3 and an MP4 player) for almost a year, i decided to spend a little more money on quality after my current iPod nano clone failed me. Two buttons going unresponsive was the last straw. That's when i went looking for information regarding branded MP3 players.

It's not like i'm going to grab another MP3 player immediately. My current MP4 player is now at being repair at the moment. But the defects it has prompted me to looking to a possible new MP3 player, anyway.

And from array of 2GB MP3 player available in our market, i found a few. And here are the potential wins:


1. Creative Zen Stone Plus

+ 2GB, 9.5 hours playback time
+ Has FM tuner
+ Interesting smooth peeble design
+ Blue OLED screen, which provides date, time and stopwatch display as well!
- plasitc-like look
- Can't find many places that sells this
- Price: RM269


2. Sony Walkman MP3 Player - NWD-B105B

+ 2GB, 12 hours playback time
+ Drag & Drop music transfer system (finally, someone listened!)
+ Voice recorder
+ FM Tuner
+ Easy USB connecivity
- No Sony ATRAC3 digital data compression format
- Price: RM299


3. Apple iPod nano 2GB

+ 2GB, 14 Hours playback time
+ It's an iPod!
- It's an iPod! (not a big fan of iPod as it is.)
- Price: RM329 RM499 (gasp!) The price previously stated is for iPod Shuffle.

Currently, i'm putting my investment in either the Creative or the Sony, both price-wise and brand preference. But we'll see if the prices would drop in a few months' time. However, i'm not too keen on the iPod, unless someone can convince me otherwise.

While that happens, i'm trying my best to be contented with my soon-to-be-repaired MP4 player.

Oh, and the MP3 player was collateral damage in the accidents a few months back, besides my right arm.

*sigh* Decisions, decisions and more decisions....


Love & Peace!~

BC?

Days to Come.

There's some many things going on nowadays, i wish i had 28 hours per day in my life. That, or reduce in sleep time for full recovery.

I still remember Ivan made an hilarious statement about sleeping - that it is great, but it just takes up to much time. HAHAHA!~ Ingenius.

Currently, i'm sitting for my finals for the semester. Including the two papers i'm resitting, that's six papers in all. And the last paper will be on Tuesday. Which is good, since i can relax more (although, now i'm just too relax as it is) and read more manga and watch animes! focus more on my final year project. And that will be due in about 70 days or so.

Next week, it'll be Justin's birthday. Thought of bring him to Chilli's along with Kevan and Sher-Mayne. But this surprise dinner is not confirmed yet. IF you're reading this Justin Yap, please play along and act surprise when i inform you about it.

And speaking of Justin, it's about 12 weeks more to his wedding, in wheich i'll be one of the groomsmen/ushers. *Whew*

And we're now heading towards the middle of September. And after the end of this month, three quarters of the 2007 would have just gone by just like that!

So much to do, so little time, so darn sleepy.


"I am a one way motorway
I'm the one that drives away
then follows you back home
I am a street light shining
I'm a wild light blinding bright
burning off alone

it's times like these you learn to live again
it's times like these you give and give again
it's times like these you learn to love again
it's times like these time and time again..."

Excerpt from Foo Fighters' Times Like These

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Staring Blankly Redux: The Scars

A scene from Trigun. Vash's here, seen with his body painted with scars, stitches, and wounds; the price he pays for not killing his opponents.



"I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And my scars remind me that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel..."

Taken from Papa Roach's Scars

It's true that life isn't a bed of roses. Everyone has their own hell to go through, regardless if it's the Taoist type of levelled-hell or the fiery pits. The types of problems ranges from the minued we face day by day or things that loom from the past.

But the issue here is not what type of crap you're dealing with. Rather, who are those who are affected by your troubles?

Scars left behind from horrible incidents that went out of hand. The hurts the people closes to you gave. The memories burnt within the depths of consciousness. The pain....

Do you want drag them down to the hell you're going through? There are those who are willing to go through your sufferings with you, bearing every single tantrum and being by yourside. But they could be burnt by you if they're not sincere to be by yourside.

What do you do? Simple; you defeat your own demons.

It's stated in the bible to cast your burdens at the feet of the cross. It's because it's not something that you're meant to carry in your life.

That aside, i would want to defeat my own demons before i could bring comfort to those around me. I would rather cut my own arm than letting them be hurt by my own sins. And be alone, like the hedgehog and its dilemma.

The question is, would you rather remove the scars and memories of it away from you, living it out like a clean sheet of paper? Or keep them as a painful reminder, physically and emotionally, to what you were?

I wonder....

But it's okay to be shy about your scars once in awhile


"... He's... smiling?

"Goin' round and round tinkering dizzily all alone... saving so many... his scars and his troubles keeps adding up...

"... A true gunman... who's only looking at the bright side of life...

"Correct? Vash The Stampede."

- Nicholas D. Wolfwood,
taken from Yasuhiro Nightow's manga Trigun Maximum (Chapter 7: His Life as a....)



Love & Peace!~

BC?

Opportunity Given.

"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"

God from the movie Evan Almighty

This statement got me thinking a little while i watched Evan Almighty a couple of days back; which, surprisingly, was an okay comedy movie. Things mentioned in it made sense (i.e. the flood, God's love and the Ark) and Steve Carell played his role quite well, proving he can act serious despite being a narrow-minded, idiotic boss in The Office. In a nutshell, this darn hilarious movie is worth watching, if Bruce Almighty is your cup of tea.

Getting back to the point... God just doesn't give you whatever you just ask for... rather, He gives you the opportunity to get something. He doesn't just instantly gives you anything you desire. Rather, He gives it to you slowly, according to His time and will, so that you may learn something from the ordeal and appreciate your prayer.

It isn't like cheap instant noodles; where you just need to add hot water, wait a couple of minutes and you get yourself a meal. One which is fast, but it isn't nutritious and filling. Rather, it's more like making oxtail stew. The process of cooking it is cumbersome, but the outcome is a wholesome, delicious and satisfying meal.

Perhaps, faith and patience is all that we need after all... to move forward.


9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:9-11 (NIV)

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Semi-dislocated = Halfway Relocated?

If you have not already known, i was involved in an accident in the end of April, which resulted in me fracturing my right arm. Had to put on a cast and after that, went (and still is) for physiotherapy sessions. Fast forward four months, the humerus has joined back. However, my arm is still not functioning properly, yet.

I'm currently suffering from subluxation. What Greek am i talking? Well, it's basically incomplete or partial dislocation of a bone in a joint - in this case, my right shoulder. It is as if i'm walking in both the worlds of the ables and the disables.

It has been awhile, if you have noticed, that my right shoulder seemed somewhat smaller, weird. While i met the doctor in the hospital to get a letter, stating that i could not write during my exams, he noted that my arm doesn't look right, for a person who has had his arm off the cast for more than a month. And after an x-ray and check-up by several doctors, it was concluded that it was subluxation. Muscle wastage that happened in the right shoulder that failed to keep my arm in its position.

Taking off my t-shirt again and again for the doctors was a little frustrating. It would make any gay doctor, well, gay (either way)!

Apparently, the doctor told me that this case is uncommon, but it wasn't so much of out of the pan into the fire. However, worst case scenario if my condition doesn't improve is that i would have to undergo surgery to pull up my right arm to its original position.

from where i'm seeing it, it's just something temporary. Looking like i would have to kick my exercises into a higher gear and try to push myself a little harder. Hopefully, i would have to put on proper gear for physiotherapy now....


Kisuke Uruhara

Ichigo Kurosaki

Kisuke Uruhara: See? Now isn't the time to be embarassed right?

Ichigo Kurosaki: Don't act like this has nothing to do with YOU!

Damn it! Guess i have no choice...

Err... take this! The powers of justice! Justice Armor Justice HACHIMAKI (headband)!

ATTACK!

Kisuke Uruhara: Wow...! You actually DID it...!!

Ichigo Kurosaki: You BASTARD!!

Taken from Kubo Tite's manga Bleach, (Chapter 60: Lesson 2-1: Down!! )

Love & Peace!~

BC?