Final semester...

I'm back in Brisbane. It's over. 12 weeks of bumming around. *Sigh* How time flies when you're having fun. No more sleeping-whenever-I-wanted-to-and-doing-whatever-I-wanted-to-whenever-I-wanted-to. My brain's rusty too.

This sem is gonna be a memorable one. I'm sure of it. I can feel it already. It's my last semester and I know it's gonna be my best in more ways than one.

Here's a pic we took today at Eumundi markets. It's about 2 hours drive from Brisbane. After that we headed to Noosa beach and I had fun! It's been a long time since I played Captain Ball. No wait, it's been a long time since I last played with a ball! (Playing basketball on PS2 doesn't count) And it felt great. I could feel a strain in my arms and thighs from all the jumping and running. It made me feel good about my body. Looking forward to more fun!


It still doesn't change the fact that I miss you.
Take care you. See you in five four months ;)

Will You Be My Valentine??

From this...

...to this!

This is a super late post. But what the heck, better late than never right?

This is our 7th Valentine's together. CT and I both decided that we didn't want to have dinner in a fancy restaurant. We didn't want to be stuck in a jam, line up for seats, fight with other couples for the waiter's attention. And, I didn't want him to give me flowers because I hate the fact that you can get it for a lot cheaper on any other day (that's the accountant in me speaking. tsk tsk).

The day before Valentine's, we went marketing. We bought beef, prawns, chicken wings, mussels, and clams. Not forgetting longan and nata de coco, for dessert. We took it home and he marinated the meat so it'll be ready for dinner the next day. He was going to cook dinner for me on Valentine's! Not like this is the first time, but how many bfs cook for their gfs?

To cut the short story even shorter, he was the chef and I was the sous chef. XD
The food tasted great because the special ingredient is love. Corny, I know. Wakaka... Seriously, we both know that he's the better cook.
I don't mind doing this every year <3

Fun-ness

So many things have been happening. Where do I start??

CNY was great! As always it's the time of the year families and friends get together, eat, gossip, eat some more, and, well, we who are not married get to collect ang paus :)

This cny, Chin Tuck and I went to Penang with his friends for a holiday. It's becoming like a tradition for us.

All we did there was eat, eat, eat. Gamble. Play with firecrackers. Eat. Get a tan walking (to food stalls) under the sun coz there's way too many cars on the road. Then eat some more once we've reached those food stalls. Gamble. Fight over who gets to use the toilet first. Play with firecrackers. Oh and did I mention eat? Hehe...

Be prepared to drool...
The one and only Oh Chien I will eat.

Fried lobak.

Prawn Mee. The Penangites call it Hokkien Mee.

Lion dance at Penang. (It wasn't really good though. I've seen more pro and better ones.)

We bought BOXES of firecrackers. It amounted to RM200. We had so many of them, we were mistaken as some firecracker-seller when we went to Gurney -___-

Ok drool some more.
Really delicious rojak!

And Penang's famous Cendol. I had 2 bowls! :D



Popo's famous Curry Noodles! It's #@%* spicy! So think twice before mixing the sambal with the soup. (We had this for breakfast. All of us super gung ho.)

One-of-a-kind kuey teow soup. I lllooovvvee the soup.

On the way back from Penang, we stopped by at Bidor to have duck noodles. Too bad the place was too packed so we bought the famous wu kok. (I just realised that I've been typing the word "famous" a lot. But it really is famous wat!)

After much planning and 2 cancellations, we finally went caving at Gua Tempurung. I've heard stories about it, and I was excited to check it out. 7 of us (Me, CT, Evie, Gene, June, Gary, Esther) arranged to meet at Esther's place at 7.30am. When we reached Gua Tempurung, we had to join a group of Middle Eastern people who were dressed like they were going to a mall (There were about 30 of them). A really friendly guy by the name of Wan also joined us.

I'll give the scenery in Gua Tempurung a 9/10. It's really beautiful, with all the stalactites and stalagmites, and we even had some history lessons taught by the tour guide. Apparently (a long time ago) Chinese from Mainland China came to Gua Tempurung to dig some tin. I can't imagine them getting in there without the stairs and whatnot.

If you're looking for some challenge, you won't find it in Gua Tempurung. (We went for the "Grand Tour" btw, which took us about 4 hours to complete) Even though I came back with muscle aches on my thighs (from all the duck walk-ing) and a bruise on my shin, I came out from Gua Tempurung expecting more. If you want something more challenging, try Gua Telinga at Taman Negara. I personally enjoyed Gua Telinga more!

All in all, I had fun, despite those Middle Eastern people slowing us down (if not we could've finished in 3.5 hours). They were so slow that we had time to take pictures in the cave. I hate complaining about others, but at some point they really irritated me (or us) with their shouting and singing. Please, we're in a cave for Pete's sake, there's no need to shout! And what's with the singing and clapping?!?! Save your energy and stop whining! Geez...

What I like about caving is that teamwork is required. The 8 of us (including Wan) really worked together. We had some fun moments as well! At one point the 8 of us "off-ed" all our torchlights just to see how dark it was. Now I know the meaning of pitch dark. It was so dark that I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face!

After everything we showered there and headed to Ipoh for a late lunch. That was my 2nd time in Ipoh in 1 month. Nice!! I don't have any photos from Gua Tempurung. I'm still waiting for Esther to upload those photos (She was the only brave one to bring her camera in :P). In the meantime, drool at the photos I took at Ipoh after our caving trip.

No pictures of Ipoh Kuey Teow though. You can see it in my Ipoh post. Hehe...

Ipoh white coffee!

Really really fresh egg tarts. Fresh from the oven. It's really good I swear!

Our "special" chee cheong fun.

Enough about food. My stomach's growling!

Josh and I went to Cineleisure to catch a movie. Before we even lined up, this nice guy came over and handed us 2 free tickets to watch a special screening of Punisher! 10 days before it's in the cinemas! How cool is that? Not as cool as what you're about to see...

Omg! Sssooo cccoooooolll! They checked our tickets and we went in. I wanted to take a picture with them but I was afraid they'll headshot me. Wakakaka...

I have a sudden urge to play COD -_-

I love freebies! Which reminds me, Felicia and I got a complimentary cheesecake from the manager at Vivo, Curve. It was so nice of him! :)

Finally, Josh kept his word, and took me to MOS. I love the fact that the place is smoke-free. Surprisingly I didn't feel tipsy. Roger, who drank less than me, KO-ed :P
And Nick was high, so I guess I can't blame him for talking really loudly (read: shouting) to us at the mamak stall. Siok Kwan & I had to "sshhh" him a couple of times.

These are the moments that we'll look back and laugh about. Good times :)
It's Valentine's today <3
xoxo

Only imagine

Yesterday was like any other day. Until I received an sms telling me of a friend's younger brother's passing. He was only 23 years old.

I don't know his brother personally. But I went to the wake service tonight, to support his family in this time of grief. From the amount of people that turned up, & the testimonies, he must've impacted many lives. And tonight is only the first night. I have a feeling there'll be more people tomorrow.

When I offered my condolences, I could see tears in his eyes. I can only imagine what it's like to lose a brother so young. So sudden, unexpected, abrupt, and without warning.

Life is fragile. We are fragile. And nowadays it seems that death isn't just a rumour to the young anymore.

God called you home. We may say it's too early, but God's ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts. There is mourning here on earth, but much rejoicing in heaven as He welcomes His son into His arms.


There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7

Rest in peace Markus Ng.

*Updated*
Markus wrote something that really touched me and I want to share it here.
What a rare mixture of youth and maturity.

What is success, if not without the possibility of failure?
Acceptance, without rejection?
Living entails making decisions; choosing implies uncertainty; uncertainty, risk.
What is success if not without the possibility of failure?
Acceptance, without rejection?
To live necessitates the triumph of hope over apprehension.
And what is hope? My hope is in dying to live.
Death I fear you not.
In God I trust.

Markus Ng
October 7, 2008