I will live a million years!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10615451

Mum needs a quotebook too

Me: Wellington zoo got this kiwi, one-legged one!

Mum: All kiwis are one-legged what

Me: =_= ll

Dad needs a quotebook

At the Bay of Islands…

Me: I want to go and swim with dolphins!!

Dad: Swim with dolphins for what, later go to the swimming pool I swim with you

Me: =_=

When a compliment isn't a compliment

Watching a TV show on obesity and stomach stapling:

Me: You know, fat people always have really good complexion.

Lyn: Yeah that's true. I wonder why.

Me: Must be because they don't lack any nutrients at all, cos they eat so much.

*Pause*

Kavita: Hey Fi, you have really good complexion.

2009

In 2009, I:

- streaked my hair red

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- became a tutor in a paper that I’ve never taken before

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- got a couple of jobs. and kept them!

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- modelled a Chinese costume chewah

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- earned more than I ever have in my entire life (3.5k only lar)
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- learnt to make proper coffee

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- tried to pick up French. failed miserably
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- got more involved in church

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- completed a half-marathon

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- read through 1st Peter (big accomplishment for me ok)

- made new friends! ruhanie, nat, dan, akemi, moi etc

- lost touch with some friends T_T

- emceed a fundraising event

- gained, lost, gained, lost, gained 2 kilos (it’s all muscle I tell you)

- went on an amazing trip to Marlborough Sounds with amazing flatmates + 1 random

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- got a degree!

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- advertised the mister’s channel hard out (click this out:

http://www.youtube.com/user/BuzBG

muahaha)

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Meh that’s all I can think of now. Altogether a very fulfilling year thanks to the big guy up there watching out for me :) Wonder what lies ahead next year?

Things to do with a first class honours degree

• Jump around ecstatically in front of flatmates and boyfriend

• Check results on another computer just in case

• Get a free crunchie at church during testimonial time

• Check results again

• Alter academic transcript to say second class upper, email it to parents, and wait for their reaction

Christianity

I remember crying during a Christian camp years ago. When asked why, I replied that I cried because everyone else was crying. And it was true. I was desperately trying to squeeze out tears just to blend in and pretty stoked that I managed to. I pictured a loved one dying.
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Everyone laughed at my reply, but I suspect that I wasn’t the only one who cried to blend in, or at least tried to look as sombre as possible. It is easy to go with the flow, without realising for oneself the profoundness of what Jesus did. It is easy to pretend to be an outward Christian, just because to turn away from that is to alienate your friends whom you grew up with. It is easy to be a Christian only when you are surrounded by Christians, and hide one’s convictions when you are surrounded by non-Christians. Like a chameleon, changing one’s colours according to the background. Trying hard not to stand out.
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It is easy to do all that when you don’t realise for yourself that God is true.
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I’ve wondered sometimes, how president Obama can be a Christian. I mean, he must be one of the smartest people in the world right? How can he believe in something so irrational as Jesus? To believe not only that there is a God, but that he send his son (whom is Him also, try working that out) to die to pay the sins of the world so that we might be sinless? What kind of brainwashed idiot would believe in that? For a long time, deep down, so deep that I can ignore it most times, I doubted that Christianity is true.
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I’ve often prayed to God that if he is true, would he please just tell me that in a clear voice that I can instantly recognise as his, or send an angel to appear right now in front of me. When I was younger, I put my hands over my short-sighted eyes and told God to give me perfect vision again. None of that happened. So I stopped praying. I stopped praying for my parents and my brother and my friends, because I doubted if God existed.
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Coming to New Zealand and being part of christian fellowship forced me to wrestle with my doubts. At times, I feel convicted that God is true. At times, I doubted. I am thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to express my doubts and not be shot down with a routine ‘go read the bible’ or ‘you need to pray more’ reply, or be met with a shocked ‘you infidel!’ expression. Honestly, responses like these only encourage Christians to stop thinking about why they believe what they do. When the rest of the world is thinking, how can we afford not to? 1 Peter 3:15: “… Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…”
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Although part of believing involves God’s spirit working through us, a stronger conviction requires it to be rationally possible, at least, for the Christian God to be true. I know for me it does. Because I cannot believe in something that has a 0% chance of existing. Why don’t I just jump off a cliff instead and believe that something will save me?

.To come to the conclusion that the Christian God can be true, I’ve wrestled with questions such as:
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Is there a God? Is this God the same one as the one proclaimed in the Bible? Is the Bible true? Did Jesus really exist? Did he and his disciples speak the truth? Like Buz said, there is no reason to assume that Peter and the other writers of the Bible weren’t as intellectual as we are now. Some of these writers saw and knew Jesus personally, and even died horrendously because they knew that Jesus was true.
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To be honest, I am still grappling with some issues, as any thinking Christian should be. But I know the basics of Christianity to be true, from thinking rationally about it and being convicted by the Spirit.
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I came back from student leadership camp last week, feeling refreshed and renewed in my faith.
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One lesson from SLC is contained in Psalm 23. God is sovereign. What Nigel said is true. To worry is to sin, for then we stop placing our trust in God. My future is in God’s hands, and deep down, I know his plans for me can only be good, even if it involves some suffering and hardship here and there.
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Another lesson is that of having an undivided life. To be a Christian is to be a Christian all the time, not just in church. And when you know the truth of the gospel, how can you compartmentalise your life? The joy of salvation cannot be contained.
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I’m writing this down so that I can come back to it when doubts haunt me again. Also, I hope it encourages those who are struggling with their faith to not be afraid of expressing that doubt and to take steps towards resolving them. Like Andy prayed after his talk, I hope that anything I’ve wrote which is not from God is erased from your minds, and that which is from God remains forever.

All for Thee

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing,
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

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For once in a long long time, I can mean what I sing.. more thoughts on Student Leadership Camp soon!

I should have thought of this...

BEFORE I lost all my earrings T_T

My creative juices were overflowing, so I made my own jewellery holder! Not bad right.. As you can see, I love my hoop earrings.

This one Ruth gave me one.

I love my accessories, because no matter how fat I get, they still fit! I still have more apart from those above sigh. Think I need to go to AA-- accessories annonymous

Planning Frenzy

These past few days I have been spending every available hour on the net planning my parents’ trip to New Zealand (and maybe surfing facebk, trademe and blogs too :P).

My itinery so far:

Meet parents in Auck when they arrive. Drive to Bay of Islands. Stay 3 days. Head back to Auck to pickup my big brother (who is still single I think and a doctor *ahem* interested ladies please submit CVs to muah). Drive down to Welly in 2 days, stopping by undetermined places on the way.

Stay 3 days in Welly, bring my parents around, introduce bigbro to pretty girls, and graduate. Fly to Christchurch, stay 1 night, and drive down to Queenstown in morning, stopping by Lake Tekapo.

Stay 4 days in Queenstown doing whatever tourists do, and visiting Milford Sounds one of those days. Parents fly back to Auck and I fly back to Welly!

Phew, makes me tired just thinking about it… Right after this, I need to plan my trips to Brisbane, back to Malaysia + Sabah, Hong Kong, and Bangkok! Travel til siao. Maybe I can start my own travel blog. Anyone who wants to meet up with me better book appointments now haha, chewah sound like some bigwig hot shot.

Any suggestions on stuff to do and offers of places to stay in the places above (apart from Malaysia lah) would be very very much welcome and earn my undying gratitude!!

Smoothie Baby

Today, I will talk about the purplish goo that I’ve been having for breakkie! Every morning, my long suffering flatmates wake up to the alarm clock that is my beloved Philips blender. I’ve tried damping the sound by wrapping my blender in a cloth but it’s still quite loud… I think they still love me though :)

For a super duper powderful smoothie, I usually use:

Banana, kiwifruit, and some mixed berries... (Blueberries + strawberries + raspberries are the best combination I think. Currently, I have cranberries, blackberries, and blackcurrants in stock. I also microwave them a bit so that I don’t get brainfreeze.)

A few slices of mango...

About half a cup of plain yoghurt... If you want it sweeter, you can add vanilla yoghurt:

Baileys (Haha jokes. Don't you think our collection is pretty though?)



A small tps of spirulina (smells and tastes like rotted liver but it’s SUPER good for you)

Put banana, yoghurt, mango, spirulina, kiwifruit, and berries in that order cos it blends pretty that way.

I left out the mango and kiwifruit for this one

Tadah~

It usually isn’t that pretty. I cheat one, added the sliced lemon and wand for presentation-- tips I learnt from working in the hospitality industry. Huitein would be so proud of me!

I’ve packed my smoothie to class quite a few times, and I always get people asking me “What is that?!” in a disgusted tone and a scrunched up face. To be fair, it does look a bit like Barney’s vomit, but it is oh so yummylicious! Try it :)

Shopaholic

This is what happens when you have too many clothes :(

But I'm putting 90% of the blame on the China-made rack :P

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My new buy today!!

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I don't usually buy shoes with "toe cleavage" (as sarah kee calls them) cos they're just a bit too sexy. But couldn't resist these, sigh~

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One day I'll blog about my fave shop where I got these, my Hush Puppies, Ecco shoes, Witchery and Cue clothes from!

Dad knows best

Quote from the infinitely wise Papa on convincing Buz to work in Singapore:

- Singapore so small but got so many people, New Zealand only got sheep! You think sheep listen to piano or people listen to piano??

The List

Until a few years ago, I had a list for the perfect guy, just like the female lead in The Ugly Truth. He would be slightly taller and older than me, smart, play the guitar, Asian but with really good English, outspoken, just a bit chubby (so that I don’t feel fat), pleasant-looking (but not too hot as to attract unwanted attention), have good earning potential, and possess a car.

And then I met Buz.

Although he’s smart, funny, taller and older than me, he was also skinny as when I met him, white, didn’t have a car, quiet, plays the piano instead of guitar (lol might as well plug his channel here http://www.youtube.com/user/BuzBG), and just a bit too hot :P As you can see, he didn’t quite make the list but he got me anyhow (read: “I got him” for his version). To be sure, he has other qualities that I wasn’t specifically looking for, things which would top my list if I had one still, like being gentle, unassuming, patient, always understanding, funny, cooks, and I better stop now just in case he reads this..

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Moral of the story is, burn your list. When you meet someone you meet someone. We’re a dino couple now, and it’s kinda hard imagining what it’ll be like without him. Can't vouch for what’s going to happen in the future, but it’s been a great 3 years :)

Smile

The awesome folks at International Christian Fellowship gave a farewell booklet to all those who're graduating this year. It struck me how often my smile was mentioned:

When I was about 12 or so, I remember practising my smile in front of the mirror countless times. Looks like it paid off haha. Maybe I don't need braces after all.

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I don't know if my smile is particularly obvious, or whether all the other graduates got the same comments too. But I do think that my default position is to smile. Like when I'm stumped for answers in class, I just put on an insanely wide grin and hope that the lecturer will move on to other prey.

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It's kinda interesting thinking about what other people's default reactions are. I can think of other people who seem happy all the time, some who seem worried all the time, and some who seem sad all the time. I wonder if we're born a certain way, or whether it's how we were brought up that determines our default response. Probably a combination of both, as with all things.

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So that you don't miss my smile too much! :P

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PS: I'm blaming my big brother for the little chip on my front left tooth. Can't remember how he did it but he did it I'm sure.

Crybaby

I have cried a grand total of 3 times in law school.

Best place to cry: A toss up between the toilets (can be anonymous unless you have a distinctive sob) and the cellphone chat rooms in the library (cos no one ever uses them).

Worst place to cry: In front of the lecturer in his office.

Side note: The windows in the library consist of 2 slidable panes, top and bottom. The bottom panes have been locked. Being vertically-challenged, I have always been annoyed at how I have to climb on a chair and onto the window ledge to pull down the top panes when the rooms get suffocating. Recently, I found out that the reason why the bottom panes are locked is to prevent possible suicide attempts. Ahh, what a happy place this is.

Things I learnt at law school

Having less than 10 days before the last exam of my undergrad degree, I feel that I am in a position now to impart my eternal wisdom to those unfortunate enough to still be captives of the law school dungeon. Hopefully, these tips will make the sentence just a teeny bit easier:

• If you want to eat while at the computer, either go to the Honours room at Level 2 or the G01 computer lab.
• Make as many friends as possible in first year. Second year onwards, everyone’s got friends and they don’t need more.
• If you aspire to be class rep, wait til 2nd year onwards when no one wants to be one.
• Never go to Alberto Costi outside office hours.
• Be nice to the librarians. Might get special privileges eg free photocopying cards and fine waivers.
• Be a volunteer note-taker. Makes you take pretty notes.
• Do NOT make a habit of asking more than 1 question per class.
• On that note, people who talk most in class probably know the least.
• Never sit at the back row. Lecturers ALWAYS pick on people at the back.
• Failing a test isn’t the end of the world.
• Coffee is your best friend.
• You will get the most marks for the stuff you spent the least time on.
  Smile. As if law school isn’t unfriendly enough already.
  

Read Your Labels

I am somewhat of a health freak. Part of that involves scanning the labels of almost everything I buy. It’s a habit which I developed in my teens, when I was super highly weight-conscious. Also, I get bored in the toilet, so I got used to grabbing whatever stuff with lettering on it to read, such as shampoo and conditioner bottles. You get a few surprises now and then, for example:

Innocent-looking coconut-milk

Porn?!

Innocent-looking body shop lip balm

With cannabis

Don't play play, person you kiss might get high...

Tweet

I was googling one of my sort-of-friend’s name just to see what would come up, and found out that he/she knows one of the top bloggers in Malaysia! How cool is that! Not revealing either name cos it’s just a bit stalkerish to be googling people’s names.. Just to clarify, I don’t do it all that often; it was just a random impulse. Really.

This post is so short I should’ve twittered/twitted it (whichever term people use). Alas my technological capacities aren’t that advanced yet.. I got a bit put off when I saw that one of the hottest topics on Twitter is “goodnight”. Like, duh.

Btw did you hear? Youtube, Twitter and Facebook are merging! Their new name is You Twit Face. (Haha, jokes)

Girl Talk

A girly conversation at our flat resulted in the following conclusions:

Black guys like looking at booties

White guys like looking at boobies

Asian guys like looking at slim girls

Indian guys look at girls overall in an unfocused way, cos their girls are supposed to cover up

(PS: I take no responsibility for the accuracy of these statements! But you’re welcome to dispute them lol)

The head came off...

This is a pen from Korea that Gina gave me:

Actually, that is how it's supposed to look like. This is how it looks like now:

Turn into a hungry ghost festival pen already...

This is my pretty red bag:

This is it after only a few uses:

Lining all torn already..

These are my hush puppies shoes which got trekked through the mud:

These are my witchery shoes after about a month:

These are a sample of earrings of which I've lost/destroyed/vacuum-sucked the other side:

This is my keyboard with the keys celloptaped on:



I think that apart from a pet-killer, I am also a stuff killer. If I borrow books from friends, I would try and flatten the wrinkles by piling dictionaries and other heavy stuff on top of them overnight before returning. I never buy expensive sunglasses cos I've broken at least 3 pairs by chucking them in my bag along with all my other stuff. More unbreakable stuff should be invented for people like me. Like this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO8G5zsQohg

Life would be so much easier...

I finally have a 12 pack!

Tutor Evaluation

Gee..thanks, I guess

Home

When I was in secondary school, I didn’t feel discriminated against at all. I could do all I wanted as long as I had the capabilities to do it. I was made a prefect, was on the committee of several clubs, took part in competitions... Of course, there were sensible limits such as not being able to lead prayers or join the Muslim society. Mostly though, things were based on merit. The Malay teachers were great, and I felt that I was treated the same as the majority Malay students. Although I hanged out more with my non-Malay friends, I could joke and talk with the Malay classmates like normal. I remember being invited to a Malay friend’s house, Aida, for a class gathering. I was blissfully unaware of any racial tensions. The 1969 riots were just a paragraph in my history textbook which never seemed quite real.

After that honeymoon period, things changed. I didn’t get a government scholarship despite getting straight As in my SPM. It seemed that apart from the government, others were keen to give me education opportunities; I got a scholarship from TAR college and Victoria University instead. Now that I am almost graduating and contemplating returning home to work, I am told that if I’m not a Malay, I can never advance to the topmost positions in the government no matter how good I am. Chinese high court judges remain where they are their whole lives as they see others more junior to them rise up to higher ranks. Is it a surprise that I struggle to find reasons to go back home and work, apart from being able to have my family and friends close by?

It doesn’t make sense. I felt welcomed and accepted by Malay friends back in secondary school, and I know that there are many Malays that don’t discriminate against others. Why am I made to feel the opposite way by the few Malays in power? Really, what is there to gain from making other races hate yours? Not that there is such as a thing as “race” anyway. I especially resent the fact that since young, I have been indoctrinated into thinking that there are 3 major races in Malaysia, Malay Chinese and Indian. That we are all different from one another. That because we are different, we have different rights. It is so ingrained that I instinctively feel more comfortable with someone who looks like a Chinese. The fact is, we are all born equal, but made unequal through circumstances in life. If only we had a government that would seek to restore equality among all. Perhaps, working towards that cause is a reason for me to go home, eventually.

Really outdated post

Of all things, they decided to put me on the cover of the English Proficiency Programme.

What, my Engrish no good isit?

On a side note, I found the pirate/pilot joke the funniest part in this year's Law Revue. Basically there was a scene with a some classic pirates such as Jack Sparrow and tat pirate from Peter Pan (forgot the name) moaning about how internet pirates are stealing the scene. Then this Asian pilot comes zooming in, thinking that it was a pilot meeting. Totally racist, but still freaking hilarious.

Clubbing

I remember 3 years ago, I wrote a post on how the clubs here were so ultra classy compared to the ones back in Malaysia. I take that back. Well, about ¾ of it anyway. I now know that the reason why they seemed classy at that time was because it wasn’t midnight yet. Past that ungodly hour, the clubs show their true colours. I’ve always thought that I’m pretty open-minded but really, people should not be humping each other in public and girls should not wear dresses which cover their private parts only half the time. Admittedly, it’s still good fun to go clubbing once in awhile, and much safer as long as you don’t drink yourself senseless and you’re with a sensible bunch of friends. Sure beats prancing around in the bedroom with music blasting from tiny laptop speakers.

Winter blues

I feel like I’m in the Kingdom of Malaria from the movie Igor, with dark clouds swirling overhead all the time. It’s quite depressing really. In summer, I was eager to jump out of my bed early for a quick run before it got too hot. Now, I wanna stay in bed til the sun comes out, which is like never most of the time.

If I were a mad scientist like those in Igor, I would invent a teleporter so that I can go somewhere nice and hot ala that guy in Jumper. I’d go swim in the warm ocean and sip on ice coffee (Malaysian style of course, not too creamy and not too sweet). I wouldn’t want a teleporter like the one in Star Trek, cos you need to teleport back to base before going somewhere else. And it won’t even work unless you stay still. Bah.

Jan 10. Malaysia. Wee!

Smacking Expensive Referendum

While other countries are combating poverty and worldwide, millions of people have lost or will lose their livelihood, New Zealand decides to hold a $9 million citizen’s referendum on whether smacking should be criminalised, which btw, won’t change the law.

Me thinks these politicians deserve a bloody good smacking for wasting money like this.