Thank You!!

I have finally gotten my laptop back
and it has restored my communication with the world again.. haha... Well it has been busy weeks for me.. parents were here for 3 weeks and spent 5 days in Germany and went on a visiting spree of family friends around England(literally).. was tiring at times but it was great to have mum and dad over here..

Thank you all again for all the Birthday wishes and especially those who even sent me an sms, Thank you... The day before I left for Germany my friends Serena, Alice, Joan and Mabel gave me a surprise birthday party of sorts.. it was unexpected... they bought some champagne, a cheese cake and a truffle. Mum was also present as she was giving them some 'cooking' classes while she was staying with me for a couple of days.. We left Uni on Friday after class to join dad in Harlow, North East of London where he was working.. We took the flight from Stansted Airport the next morning at 7am to Karlsruhe, Germany.

We landed in Karlsruhe and with the help of a chinese hot dog lady made our way to Heidelberg where we were staying.. It's was quite an unusual experience because everything was in German and surprisingly not many people could communicate in English.. or at least understand what we were asking them.. It was really funny especially when mum was ordering her food because half the time the waitress wouldn't understand a word that we said.. had i known earlier that i would be coming to Germany i would have taken a couple of lessons from Chirs... haha.. the only word i knew was 'Danke' which means thank you.. Heidelberg was a really nice place.. We went up to one of the oldest castles in Germany which was on a mountain and it was snowing there.. the view of Heidelberg city from up there was exceptional.. simply beautiful.. Heidelberg has nearly 1000 years of history and happens to have the biggest wine barrel in the world.. The wine barrel was really interesting as it was used to tax people in the olden times.

We were in Heidelberg for 3 days and then we moved on to a small town called Speyer where dad had a meeting.. I 'celebrated' my Birthday on our last day in Heidelberg and got a series of sms wishes right through the night before because of the time difference... Speyer is an even older town with more than 1000years of history.. It is home to the 3rd oldest Cathedral in the World after St.Peter's and St.Paul's.. The Cathedral was just a stone's throw away from our hotel and it looks spooky.. It still contains the tombs of the kings of Germany but also has some beautiful paintings on the ceilings and walls.. While we were walking around in the Cathedral, there was this pianist who played the most iry sounding music on the pipe organs.. Imagine walking in this hundreds of years old building with tombs, dim light and echos whenever you speak.. and you get this joker playing the pipe organs.. shivers man.. Pipe organs don't exactly produce the nicest sound.. it makes you feel sad and guilty in some way.. maybe that's why so many people go for confession.. haha.. We went back to Karlsruhe on our last day to stay for a night.. We visited this Media and Film Museum which was really interesting.. Never seen anything like that before.. It had equipment that were first used by movie producers years ago to the latest used by people like Spielberg.. I'm sure Ryan would love it.. It had equipment that could manipulate sound and images.. the great thing was that we were able to do it first hand on our own..

One thing that impressed me most about Germany was their efficiency, it was just quite incredible. The transport system is excellent and with the combination of trams, trains and buses are able to take you to nearly anywhere in the city. The trams run straight into the town centres and its track act as the divider for the cars on the road.. All public transports are very frequent and has a timetable for it which nearly never changes. BUT, the Most Amazing thing i encountered is the punctuality of all public transport. If the timetable states that the next tram is at 5.43, be sure you be there before at 5.42(literally) because the tram would arrive at 5:42:30 and leave at 5:43.. its just incredible.. i timed it for the first few times and it never failed me.. These goes as well to buses who are nearly uncontrollable when on roads.. It just blows my mind on how they do it.. In Malaysia we indicate time using quarters(every 15mins), that's how bad we are.. when we were there dad and i were indicating time by the minutes and seconds because we had to or we will just simply miss our transport..

One of my main goals when i went to Germany was to try their famous Franks(sausages).. At the end of the trip i counted that we(3 of us) had a total of about 25 franks in 5 days.. The franks a just simply delicious and come in all shapes and sizes.. The mustard they use on their franks are also superb which i would attribute my new found love for mustard.. The Germans eat a lot of pork and meat and i must admit that i was so busy trying out different German delicacies that i got a bit sick of it on our last day. Mum also got to try her favourite Swine-Hacks(pigs trotters).. If you are a meat lover, Germany is definitely the place to visit for you.

Over all, it was just a great time that i got to spend with my parents. Travelling in a foreign country especially of a language we don't understand was certainly an interesting experience and would certainly not be the last for me..

I would just like to Thank Mum and Dad for giving being here this last 3 weeks here with me. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to experience life in a different country and culture. Hope that i would be able to make you proud.. Love you both..

I want to Thank our Heavenly Father once again for providing the open door for me to be here.. Lord, may You continue to lead and mould me more and more according to your plan for me..

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

Wait...

next post coming soon.. my laptop is in the hospital... more stories on Germany too.. haha.. God bless!!

All the Best!!

In a few weeks time you will be like the man in the above picture.. hang in there.. Just want to wish all SPM and STPM candidates all the best in their exams.May our gracious God be with you always.. May God give you wisdom, composure and peace as you take your papers.. May God grant you strength and focus as you last through this hectic duration of weeks.. May God lay beside you to grant you rest in Him to be fresh for the next day.. All the Best and God bless!!

Our God is an awesome God.. He reigns forever more.. Amen

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Murphy's Law

What is Murphy's Law? Is it good or bad? There's a whole list of murphy's law which i have no idea how it came about.. Let me tell you.. most of us have experienced this before just that we don't realise it.. It's a law that we all have to abide even unconsciously..

Murphy's Law:" If anything is likely to go wrong, it will go wrong at the worst possible time. The time we least expected and in the worst possible fashion."

MY LAPTOP JUST KONK OUT ON ME!!! Arghhh.... at the worst possible moment too.. Dad had asked me to find out which is the best way to get to Harlow(north east of London) because he has a conference there.. Lo and Behold,i pressed the start button and all i get is a black screen.. ??? What happen??? i really panicked... 2 of my assignments are due on Monday Friday respectively... Not now.... i couldn't sleep well that night.. smart me though.. i had saved my work on my thumb drive.. but how could i be sure? I have totally lost confidence in this IT stuff...

The next morning(Sunday), I went over to my friends flat to use her laptop.. I breathed a sigh of relief and laid back on the chair when i saw my 2500 word essay appear on the screen.. goodness... Thank God... my other assignment was also in place.. but i was still worried about my laptop.. With Dad, mum, Uncle and Grandma we went to visit the historical city of Oxford.. Even the fascinating historical tour that we took could not take my mind of the laptop...

Aren't we a bit too dependable on technology? Has it been a good thing for us or has it just spoilt us? I read in the papers yesterday that there is a bar in London that u can order your beer via sms/text... ??? How big can the bar be?? It means people are too lazy to just get their bums of the seats to walk to the bar to get a beer.. What type of world has this become? i think the future will be that we dun even need to get out of our beds and everything is done for us...
The entire age of civilisation is an enormous cycle.. hundreds of years ago people craved for the technology we have now to make their lives easier and more comfortable.. but now... people want to go back to the old ways.. living in cottages.. going for holidays in the mountains.. living in the countryside away from all the concrete and skyscrapers... humans.. aren't we a really special but highly mysterious breed of homosapiens...

As the saying goes :"The grass on the other side is always greener". Technology has definitely made our lives easier and more comfortable. In which age could you speak to someone thousands of miles away face to face with no charge? but admit it.. a lot of us just wish to have a quiet place.. no traffic jams... no noise but the singing of crickets... ahh.. the life... If God would appear right in front of us now and tell us that he will grant us the gift of choosing which generation we would want to live in, won't it be a dilemma?

anyway.. i have handed in my first assignment yesterday and will get my laptop checked out soon.. am currently in a family friends house using their computer... but remember my dear friends.. Murphy's Law can be a good thing to us as it teaches us to be more cautious and plan better.. although sometimes things just cant be helped but this is life... Like my wise old(but still young) Taikache says:" Never call your child by the name Murphy!!" haha...

p/s taikache, its a more immediate reminder for you than me... haha...

Looking forward to the break

Ok.. don't worry that's not me.. i haven't lost that much weight ok.. i have lost a couple but i'm getting there(winks at jem).. Yeah its been some time since i wrote.. I have just been so so busy this pass week.. 2 assignments are due next week and with many to follow still.. Have to prepare for a presentation in 3 weeks time and its not that long a period based on the amount of research that needs to be done which i haven't started.. yeah.. so it's quite a full load for me recently..

The plus point is that my parents have landed!! woohoo!! My uncle and grandma also tagged along because they have to visit some friends over here.. anyway.. i went to the airport to meet them.. just got back from a superb north indian dinner with them.. ahh.. the taste of curry and spicy stuff is simply delightful... This british land has no chili whatsoever.. you cant even get chili if u go to Mcdonalds.. can you believe that? How do these people eat here? Chili is the toast of all food which brings out the full flavour in all the food we eat.. Chili.. one of God's many amazing creations.. don't you think?

Alright.. enough of my sermon on why people should eat chili.. that was just the introduction.. maybe i should write about it sometime... anyway... so since parents are here.. i gotta rush all my work and try to finish them during the weekdays so that i can go galavanting with them during the weekends... yay... so i must work hard so that i can say that i truly deserve the break during the weekends... haha.. ok.. now.. back to work isaac!!

Meaningless?? or not...

It was Halloween yesterday but it is a day that is nearly never celebrated in Malaysia. A day that we only see on TV shows or movies. What on earth is halloween? this is just a brief history of halloween.

Halloween, or the Hallow E'en as they call it in Ireland , means All Hallows Eve, or the night before the 'All Hallows', also called 'All Hallowmas', or 'All Saints', or 'All Souls' Day, observed on November 1. In old English the word 'Hallow' meant 'sanctify'. Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherians used to observe All Hallows Day to honor all Saints in heaven, known or unknown. They used to consider it with all solemnity as one of the most significant observances of the Church year. And Catholics, all and sundry, was obliged to attend Mass.

Through the years and even generations it has evolved into some what of a day of excuse. An excuse to get sweets, wearing something stupid and not be laughed at, having a bad hair day and getting commended for it, partying all night long etc. We usually watch on TV seeing children dressed in costumes going to each home to get sweets and the house owner is obliged to give out candies. It actually reminds me of the hungry ghost festival that we often witness back in Malaysia. It sounds similar, just that the ghost around here has a sweet tooth.... haha...

Anyway.. i went with my friends yesterday to the pub nearby to experience my first halloween.. not that i celebrate or care about it but just to see what people do.. It was a funny experience seeing people dressed up running around.. most of them already half drunk.. the worst thing is as i was walking, for every 20m i would count about 5 splatters of vomit.. absolutely disgusting.. and im doing a presentation on Alcohol consumption on Friday... anyway... it was fun at the pub.. people dancing and drinking away... These poor misguided people got no where to go and the highlight of their day is drinking and clubbing in the night.. was talking to one of my classmates and she told me that drinking and clubbing is her life.. she has nothing to do if she stops clubbing... i was saying to myself "what a sad life". So have i finally understood the word meaninglessness?

This really reminds me of the times i read the book of Ecclesiastes where the wisest man that ever lived on this earth, King Solomon laments about meaninglessness on this earth. His famous tag line in that book is "everything under the Sun is meaningless". The man who had everything in this world, power, wealth, women, kingdom, castle etc. and he says everything is meaningless. what sense does it make? So what then is our purpose on earth? Are we just extra dough that God miscalculated? NO.. God has a purpose for all of us.. That's why He sent His only begotten Son Jesus to redeem us from sin. We have a mission. Solomon goes on to say that life without God is meaningless. We have a call. Those people need Jesus and there are many more out there who need Him too. I really hope that i would never have to understand or experience meaninglessness in my life. I have Jesus.. Halleluyah!!