What we had that afternoon.

This entry should have been up on Aug 15, but there was some problems with up-loading the pictures. But since the pictures are up, i'll just blog about this anyway.

Well, Melissa D and i had late lunch at Kim Gary at Gurney Plaza last Friday, and it was a long lunch indeed. Anyway, here are some shots of the dishes we had.


Fish Lunch Set with Spaghetti, and cream soup.

I had a mix grill set, which had a chicken, pork, sausage, ham, sunny side-up egg, fries and vegetables.


Fries with meat sauce


All in all, it's about RM35. And it was worth it lah. Though, i wouldn't want to come here too often. Coming here every now and then is still okay.


Sometimes, you need to enjoy the silence before the storm actually comes. And with everyone is coming up here to Permatang Pauh to see the fiesta, i'm enjoying it as well. Five more days to go!

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Goodbye, Gideon.

(Late) Gideon Chan (left) and friend.


Yesterday, i was caught off guard after receiving an SMS which stated the following:

I'm sorry to tell you that our bro in Christ, Gideon Chan, has past away this morning.. please pray for his family..

Immediately, i called my friend to confirm the news validity. I was shocked to find out that this young chap, aged 22, was involved in a car accident yesterday morning. It just happened to suddenly.

I got to know Gideon through CF in university. We weren't close, but we had our small talks during CF meetings and in last year's CF camp. I remember he sending me to the PC block in his new Viva after a CF meeting.

Frankly, i don't really know this meek, yet friendly guy well enough, but i was a bit distracted hearing his death yesterday. I heard that a few of the CF members will be visiting him later after CF meeting today.

Well, rest in peace, and hope to meet you in heaven one day, ok?


Gideon (front row, right) with the rest of us CF members. Photo taken last year.


"Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes."

Benjamin Franklin

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Fever....

I'm experiencing fatigue.

Feeling disappointed as i couldn't see Melissa D last night or meet up with her this morning. I'm just feeling so tired. *sigh*

Well, it's the Permatang Pauh By-election fever. I think the whole world is looking at this three way fight. Oh well, we'll wait for Aug 26 to see the outcome, and what would happen for the days to come.

It's part of work, but i'll make it up to Melissa D one day. Sorry.

Love & Peace!~

BC?

The Prodigal Son in the Key of F

I heard this in a sermon a few months ago in PCC. And found this on the internet. Do check it out:


Feeling footloose and frisky, a feather-brained fellow forced his father
to fork over his farthings. Fast he flew to foreign fields and
frittered his family's fortune, feasting fabulously with floozies and
faithless friends. Flooded with flattery he financed a full-fledged
fling of "funny foam" and fast food.

Fleeced by his fellows in folly, facing famine, and feeling faintly
fuzzy, he found himself a feed-flinger in a filthy foreign farmyard.
Feeling frail and fairly famished, he fain would have filled his frame
with foraged food from the fodder fragments.

"Fooey," he figured, "my father's flunkies fare far fancier," the
frazzled fugitive fumed feverishly, facing the facts. Finally,
frustrated from failure and filled with foreboding (but following his
feelings) he fled from the filthy foreign farmyard.

Faraway, the father focused on the fretful familiar form in the field
and flew to him and fondly flung his forearms around the fatigued
fugitive. Falling at his father's feet, the fugitive floundered
forlornly, "Father, I have flunked and fruitlessly forfeited family
favor."

Finally, the faithful Father, forbidding and forestalling further
flinching, frantically flagged the flunkies to fetch forth the finest
fatling and fix a feast.

Faithfully, the father's first-born was in a fertile field fixing fences
while father and fugitive were feeling festive. The foreman felt
fantastic as he flashed the fortunate news of a familiar family face
that had forsaken fatal foolishness. Forty-four feet from the farmhouse
the first-born found a farmhand fixing a fatling.

Frowning and finding fault, he found father and fumed, "Floozies and
foam from frittered family funds and you fix a feast following the
fugitive's folderol"? The first-born's fury flashed, but fussing was
futile. The frugal first-born felt it was fitting to feel "favored" for
his faithfulness and fidelity to family, father, and farm. In foolhardy
fashion, he faulted the father for failing to furnish a fatling and
feast for his friends. His folly was not in feeling fit for feast and
fatling for friends; rather his flaw was in his feeling about the
fairness of the festival for the found fugitive.

His fundamental fallacy was a fixation on favoritism, not forgiveness.
Any focus on feeling "favored" will fester and friction will force the
frayed facade to fall. Frankly, the father felt the frigid first-born's
frugality of forgiveness was formidable and frightful. But the father's
former faithful fortitude and fearless forbearance to forgive both
fugitive and first-born flourishes.

The farsighted father figured, "Such fidelity is fine, but what forbids
fervent festivity for the fugitive that is found? Unfurl the flags and
finery, let fun and frolic freely flow. Former failure is forgotten,
folly is forsaken. Forgiveness forms the foundation for future
fortune."

Four facets of the father's fathomless fondness for faltering fugitives
are:
1) Forgiveness
2) Forever faithful friendship
3) Fadeless love, and
4) A facility for forgetting flaws


by Timothy E. Fulop
Assistant Dean of Faculty,
Columbia Theological Seminary


Have a nice day!

Love & Peace!~

BC?

As Seen In China.

Well, the Olympics in Beijing have started and i believe everyone knows of the story behind the girl who can't sing and the fake fireworks display. Can't believe the authorities actually support that the fake visage! Oh well....

Anyway, do enjoy the pictures below. Got them from Justin's forwarded email. Have a nice day:














I'm not putting any caption, as a picture tells a thousand words. Enjoy.

I'm currently blogging at the lobby of Sunway Hotel, Seberang Jaya, waiting for some bigshot to come. Oh well, back to work as the by-election comes!

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Brick Bridge Fractured.

"...The color, the color, the color of your skin don't matter to me
As long as, as long as, long as we can live in harmony
I kinda, I kinda, I kinda, like to be the president
And I could, and I could, and I could show you how your money's spent

Why can't we be friends..."

Excerpt from Smash Mouth's Why Can't We Be Friends

While i was in (an all boy) primary school, i remember i had two good friends; Eng Seang and Heng Tian. Both Eng Seang and i were close as i would go to his place for Bahasa Malaysia tuition classes with our BM teacher, and we were close. As for Heng Tian, we used to spend time together as prefects and in group discussions. We were close.

Yes, 'were', in the past tense. I don't mind not jotting down they're names here, as i've lost contact with them. We were close more than ten years ago. But now, i've got no idea where they are now, what they're doing or if they are still alive?!

In secondary school (yes, again, all boys' school), there a whole new set of friends i grew close to. Some of them, i've lost contact. For the rest, we still keep in contact.

But to put in a nutshell, wherever we are, we tend to open up to people who we're with in a close proximity after awhile. And i think if we start drifting apart, will that friendship/relationship we have start breaking as well?

The times spent together, sharing things with one another, having fun times and sad moments....

*sigh*

Sometimes, i ask myself, is it worth keeping or starting a friendship? But what i know is to savour the moments when you're together with your friends, or even with the ones you love.

I'm sorry.


"...I can be your friend
I can be your friend
Any day in any weather
We can be friends and play together

Ya were all pretty different some are skinny some are stout
But the inside is the part were supposed to care about
Aye! thats why we have feelings that are very much the same
So instead of saying weirdo i think friends a better name..."

Taken from Veggie Tales's I Can Be Your Friend

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Before Meeting Mr/Miss Right... read this.

An article i found while surfing through a friend's blog, and the Internet. Take awhile and read this. Or just skip it and just do your work. Either way, i just feel so darn happy!


FINDING AND KEEPING A LIFE PARTNER
by Dov Heller, M.A.

When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner, no one wants to make a mistake. Yet, with a divorce rate of close to 50%, it appears that many are making serious mistakes in their approach to finding Mr./Miss. Right!

If you ask most couples who are engaged why they're getting married, they'll say: 'We're in love'; I believe this is the ..1 mistake people make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based on love. Though this may sound 'not politically correct', there's a profound truth here.

Love is not the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of a good marriage. When the other ingredients are right, then the love will come. Let me say it again: 'You can't build a lifetime relationship on love alone'; You need a lot more!!!

Here are five questions you must ask yourself if you're serious about finding and keeping a life partner.

QUESTION ..1: Do we share a common life purpose?

Why is this so important? Let me put it this way: If you're married for 20 or 30 years, that's a long time to live with someone. What do you plan to do with each other all that time? Travel, eat and jog together?

You need to share something deeper and more meaningful. You need a common life purpose.

Two things can happen in a marriage:
(1) You can grow together, or
(2) you can grow apart. 50% of the people out there are growing apart.

To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of life!
Bottom line; marry someone who wants the same thing.

QUESTION ..2: Do I feel safe expressing my feelings and thoughts with this person?

This question goes to the core of the quality of your relationship. Feeling safe means you can communicate openly with this person. The basis of having good communication is trust i.e. trust that I won't get 'punished'; or hurt for expressing my honest thoughts and feelings.

A colleague of mine defines an abusive person as someone with whom you feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Be honest with yourself on this one. Make sure you feel emotionally safe with the person you plan to marry.

QUESTION ..3: Is he/she a mensch?

A mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can you test? Here are some suggestions. Do they work on personal growth on a regular basis? Are they serious about improving themselves? A teacher of mine defines a good person as 'someone who is always striving to be good and do the right ';. So ask about your significant other: What do they do with their time? Is this person materialistic? Usually a materialistic person is not someone whose top priority is character refinement.

There are essentially two types of people in the world:
(1) People who are dedicated to personal growth and
(2) people who are dedicated to seeking comfort.

Someone whose goal in life is to be comfortable will put personal comfort ahead of doing the right thing. You need to know that before walking down the aisle.

QUESTION ..4: How does he/she treat other people?

The one most important thing that makes any relationship work is the ability to give. By giving, we mean the ability to give another person pleasure.

Ask: Is this someone who enjoys giving pleasure to others or are they wrapped up in themselves and self absorbed? To measure this, think about the following: How do they treat people whom they do not have to be nice to, such as waiters, bus boys, taxi drivers, etc.. How do they treat their parents and siblings? Do they have gratitude and appreciation?

If they don't have gratitude for the people who have given them everything; can you do nearly as much for them? You can be sure that someone, who treats others poorly, will eventually treat you poorly as well.

QUESTION ..5: Is there anything I'm hoping to change about this person after we're married?

Too many people make the mistake of marrying someone with the intention of trying to 'improve'; them after they're married. As a colleague of mine puts it: 'You can probably expect someone to change after marriage for the worse' If you cannot fully accept this person the way they are now, then you are not ready to marry them.

In conclusion, dating doesn't have to be difficult and treacherous. The key is to try leading a little more with your head and less with your heart. It pays to be as objective as possible when you are dating; to be sure to ask questions that will help you get to the key issues.

Falling in love is a great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on your finger, you don't want to find yourself trouble because you didn't do your homework.

Another perspective... There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance.. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not going anywhere relationships. Observe the relationships around you.

Pay attention...Which ones lift and which ones lean?
Which ones encourage and which ones discourage?
Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill?
When you leave certain people do you feel better or feel worse?
Which ones don't appreciate you?
Which ones make you feel good, praises you, boosts you with loving and caring words or annotations.

The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you...the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.

An African proverb states, 'Before you get married, keep both eyes open, and after you marry, close one eye'; Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don't let lust, desperation, immaturity, ignorance, pressure from others or a low self-esteem make you blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don't fool yourself that you can change someone or that what you see as faults aren't really that important.

Do you bring out the best in each other?
Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do you compete, compare and control?
What do you bring to the relationship?
Do you bring past relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past pain?
You can't take someone to the altar to alter them. You can't make someone love you or make someone stay.
If you develop self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and 'a life'; you won't find yourself making someone else responsible for your happiness or responsible for your pain. Seeking status, sex, and security are the wrong reasons to be in a relationship.

WHAT KEEPS A RELATIONSHIP STRONG IS:
1. TRUST
2. COMMUNICATION
3. INTIMACY
4. A SENSE OF HUMOR
5. SHARING TASKS
6. DAILY EXCHANGES (meal, shared activity, hug, call, touch, notes, etc.)
7. SHARING COMMON GOALS AND INTERESTS
8. GIVING EACH OTHER SPACE TO GROW WITHOUT FEELING INSECURE
9. GIVING EACH OTHER A SENSE OF BELONGING AND ASSURANCES OF COMMITMENT
10. CONCERN AND CARE FOR YOUR LOVER IN YOUR OWN WAYS.

If these qualities are missing, the relationship will erode as resentment withdrawal, abuse, neglect, and dishonesty; and pain will replace.


Have a nice day, readers!

Love & Peace!~

BC?

How I feel now.

Drawn on Miami beach on Saturday morning.

What i felt then: I just feel so darn happy.

What i feel now: I just feel so darn happy!


More pictures to come soon. Don't understand why i can't upload other pictures!? Well, some other time lah.

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Life: Anew.

Sometimes, God gives you a reason to live. Slowly, but surely, you'll find another reason to live. But nonetheless, everything happens according to God's will and time.

Somethings come to you unexpectedly. Many unknown ELements will just fLow Your way. Seriously.


For now, I just feel so darn happy!~


"...She said "If we're gonna make this work
You gotta let me inside even though it hurts
Don't hide the broken parts that I need to see"
She said "Like it or not it's the way it's gotta be
You gotta love yourself if you can ever love me"

I'll do whatever it takes
To turn this around
I know what's at stake
I know that I've let you down
And if you give me a chance
And give me a break
I'll keep us together, I know you deserve much better...."

Taken from Lifehouse's Whatever It Takes

Love & Peace!~

BC?

(Luck) mois: Moving Forward

The letter has finally arrived!


It's confirmed: I'm now an employee of the company i'm working in. I'm no longer under probation as i stepped into the next sub-chapter in my chapter of the working world.

On Friday, i was on the plane heading to Langkawi, when Hani, the office admin staff here on the island, contacted me that the confirmation letter has arrived. I was thrilled to hear about, as the plane took off from the international airport on this island to the other island.

To sidetrack a little, it not only my first time flying with Firefly, but it has been more than a decade since i sat on an airplane.

Both Masry, my colleague, and i were in Langkawi, The Jewel of Kedah for an assignment. And here's the breakdown of the two day trip; 10% work, 90% sight-seeing, eating, shopping, chatting, meeting people, eating, seeing places, sleeping... and did i mention eating?

Here are some pictures from the island:


Telaga Harbour, where our group had lunch at Tapaz on Saturday.


The Loaf in Langkawi, owned by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed.


That's the yacht Datuk Azhar Mansur sailed across the world with, resides peacefully out of waters in Langkawi.


There are buffaloes here in Langkawi, The Jewel of Kedah! Doesn't everyone need a water buffalo?

I'll post more pictures, when i get some other them from Masry.

Back to the topic, I got into the office this morning, and received the letter from Hani. I felt relieved and happy, thanking God for placing me here on this wonderful island of Sun, sand and food!

Like i mentioned in one of my past entries, i've still got a long journey to go.

Yesterday, Melissa D gave me a devotional prayer study guide as a gift upon the confirmation. And i will start using it from today onwards.

A long journey for me in my life, both in the working world and my spiritual life.And i'm happy now, for so many reasons. I thank God for where He has brought me alive today.

For now, with His strength, wisdom and guidance, i pray that i can move forward, and be a better person than i am now, on this island.


I want to move forward.


"...Maybe the season
The colors change in the valley skies
Dear God I’ve sealed my fate
Running through hell, heaven can wait

Long road to ruin there in your eyes
Under the cold streetlights
No tomorrow, no dead end in sight...."

Excerpt from Foo Fighter's Long Road To Ruin

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Free Stuff: How Good Is It?

"The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the government will find a way to tax them."

- Anonymous

For the past couple of weeks, i've been looking high and low for a dictionary application my cell phone; a dictionary to be exact.

Everytime i manage to find one and install it into BlackCell (that's the name of my mobile phone), i could only use the trial version. One said i had to donate before i could use the software. Another was a trial version which only allowed me to find words that begins with the letter A.

It's darn frustrating to find a freeware which can actually meet my expectation. Heck, it's cheaply labeled 'freeware', where you can only see its display before you know you have to pay to use the full version.

If i were to buy it online, i would rather purchase a simple dictionary from the bookstore, which would cost me about the same price. RM20 perhaps?

It's like what someone told me a long time ago, "Good things are not free, free things are no good."

Looks like i have to be content with this real simple dictionary i've downloaded, which has the face of its 'creator' on the background. It's not comprehensive, but that's the best i can get, for free.

*sigh*

Love & Peace!~

BC?

These Laws are... true?

This is something i got off the bulletin board on Friendster, and i found it amusing. It somewhat rhymes with Murphy's Law (anything that can possibly go wrong, will go wrong). Check it out:

Law of QUEUE: If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.

Law of the TELEPHONE: When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone.

Law of MECHANICAL REPAIR: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will
begin to itch.

Law of the WORKSHOP: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of the ALIBI: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat
tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire.

Bath THEOREM: When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.

LAW OF ENCOUNTERS: The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are
with someone you don't want to be seen with.

LAW of the RESULT: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will!

LAW OF BIOMECHANICS: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

THEATRE RULE: People with the seats at the furthest from the aisle arrive last.

LAW OF COFFEE: As soon as you sit down for a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask
you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Have a great week ahead!

Love & Peace!~

BC?

The Peppercorn

I picked this off from my friend's blog. And i believe this touching story should be shared with the readers out there:

The Peppercorn

Ever pondered about the seemingly humble peppercorn that makes all the difference in taste?

Imagine for a while that you are a berry of the Piper nigrum plant grown mainly in India. One fine day, the fairly immature, almost-ripen berry is hanging out with its fellow berries just minding its own business when it is abruptly yanked out and thrown into a foreign land. The berry starts to shake; quiver with fear; it is confused.

All of a sudden everything the berry has once known becomes but a distant memory. One moment it was basking in the warm rays of the sun enjoying life as it was, the next the berry finds itself fumbling around in darkness, trying to keep its balance as the basket which the berry now call home sways violently – the berry feels lost.

In fear and confusion, the berry cries out “Help... Help... Help!!”

The swaying comes to a sudden stop. The berry breaths a breath of relief, thinking the worse is over! Short-lived moment of ‘peace’ it is, as another wave of violent rattling shoves the berry into yet another foreign land. Loud clanging and a hard-cold surface greet the weary, wounded berry. “Will this ever stop???” the berry cries out. What follows is a unimaginable. Boiling water is poured onto the berry. Water fills every corner of the container... the berry is ‘drowned’ in boiling water... it is scorched and hurt. As quickly as the last ‘trial’ the berry is shoved into yet another ‘trial’. The berry is lifted from the boiling water, and left to ferment and dry naturally in the sun until all that’s left from that once juicy berry is a wrinkled,black...seemingly ugly shriveled raisin-look-alike. It is now a peppercorn.

Confusion still envelopes the peppercorn. Constant questions of “Why? Why me? Why now? Why this? WHY?” torments the mind of the peppercorn. The peppercorn does not understand why it is in such a mess.

If you thought that was all, you’re dead wrong. The peppercorn finds itself in plastic packaging, being transported into yet another foreign land. The peppercorn sits there... Now, everything looks hopeless, meaningless.

Until one day... the plastic package is ripped open. Down come something big, with five protruding stick-like things, it is warm, gentle, it picks up the peppercorn. Ah... this touch seems different. It is... comforting. The peppercorn starts to feel a tinge of hope, when yet again, it is tossed into boiling water. This is the last straw!

“Is there No end to this?!” Rounding up every ounce of strength, the peppercorn puts up its last fight, battling against the scorching waves and ferocious currents. Its energy is exerted... weak... Helpless, the peppercorn finally yields... surrendering and succumbing to change.

Memories of what it once was... the processes and trials, the ‘long and narrow road’ it traveled. Memories flashed through the peppercorn. It finally yielded. Slowly, the peppercorn notices a change.

“Hey, what is this aroma I smell? What is this taste I taste? Wait... it’s coming from me! This can’t be right?! I am not capable of this, not me! How could something so beautiful come out from me – a wrinkled, shriveled, ugly being; How can this be?"

Down comes a ladle, the same hands that tossed the peppercorn into the pot of boiling water now known as soup, picks up a bit of soup and tastes it. Delight fills the face, a look of contentment, a look of approval. The cook is pleased.

The peppercorn now realizes, "This is what I was made for! This is why I was put through so much! This is why, this is why, this is why!"

Sometimes, we need to go through the motion, no matter how painful it is. Then, we wait for our time to shine. All the time we have is an investment. Waste it not, make full use of it. It's a gift from God.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

– Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

Love & Peace!~

BC?

(Luck) mois: Reflections

It has been awhile since i put up an entry. But it has been longer since i started work here; slightly over six months to be exact.

Started in PJ for the first three months of the year, and 'exiled' on the island once the new Pakatan Rakyat DAP-PKR state government was formed.

I learnt a lot of new things, built rapport and made new friends here, away from home. And work is indeed interesting, rarely, if not never, monotonous.

How often can you get to see the stern Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng giving friendly hi-fives to school children?

There is still a lot of room for improvement, and i want to try my best. If i'm meant to be here away from the comforts of home, then, let that be. It's all God's will.

I've got more to type, but i feel like sleeping now. But i'll post up more pictures next time.


For now, i just want to rest and get over this sore throat.


"...She said he said live like no tomorrow
Every day we borrow
Brings us one step closer to the edge (infinity)
Where your treasure, where’s your hope
Forget the world and lose your soul
She pretends like she pretends like she’s immortal
Don’t say so long
Your not that far gone
This could be your big chance to makeup
Today till soon be

Gone, like yesterday is gone,
Like history is gone,
The world keeps spinning on,
Your going going gone,
Like summer break is gone,
Like Saturday is gone
Just trying to prove me wrong
You pretend like your immortal...."

Taken from Switchfoot's Gone

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Second Half Begins

"...Time will tell us if we're out of answers when it stops
Climb back down to the beginning
Take it from the top
Who's to say where the wind will blow

What happens when all your dreams are lying on the ground
Do you pick up the pieces all around
And if the world should fall apart hold on to what you know
Take your chances turn around and go

All the leaves are turning and the sky fades to gray
Strange our life coincides with the seasons of today
Who's to say where the wind will blow...."

Taken from Lifehouse's Chapter One

The first half of 2008 have just passed by, as we stepped into the second half of it.

What have you learnt so far?
What have you gain until now?
What have you been through?
What have you experienced?

I know, i have a lot to learn.
I know, i have to improve myself.
I know, i should not indulge in self-pity.
I know, i am a long way from perfection.

I know, i need to believe in God, and in myself; I can do it.

It's a long, winding but interesting path to walk through.


"...Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again
Who am I?
That the voice that calm the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.

Not because of who I am.
But because what of youve done.
Not because of what I've done.
But because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord you catch me when I'm falling,
And you told me who I am.
I am yours...."

Excerpt from Who Am I by Casting Crowns

Love & Peace!~

BC?