Kedah SU Camp 2010! =)

Siapa nak pergi Kedah SU Camp 2010? Pasti syoik! =)

This year, Kedah SU Camp will be held in Cameron Highlands! It's an evangelistic camp! So, invite your Christian friends along! =)

Anyone interested in going? You can comment on this post, and I'll get the form to you by e-mail. And, if you have any problems in paying the full amount, please contact me too! I'll try and help you arrange matters. =)

Red Paint Splashed in House...

Recently in the area I live, there has been a house splashed with red paint! As I was passing by, it so happened that there were a group of people surrounding the area that had been splashed. I think it's the reporters...

More about SUSOM 2010! =)

More about SUSOM! For older posts, click here! =) I think this post will be rather long! Happy reading! =)

Thursday 14.01.10
The fourth day of SUSOM begins! As usual, I woke up late again. =P

We had another session with Uncle Jason. It will be his last session with us. After this, he'll be just be joining us for the mission trips around Malaysia. He shared about "Understanding God's Will For My Life". Let me start with a quote from Asian Beacon Volume 31/5 1999.

"If one is led by the Spirit, one must be the right person at the right place at the right time."

He introduced us to 5 models of God's Will for My Life (in his view of this topic). The 5 models are the blue-print model, the non-inference model, the final-destination model, multi-tier model, and personal guide model. Let me go through all the models one by one.

The first model, the blue-print model. Do you believe that God has a special and detailed plan for your life? In the bible, it says in Jeremiah 1:5:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

Jeremiah 1:5

He knew us before we even born, because it is He who created us. Although we might say, we are not Christians and all, but still, do you know that every bad thing that happens to you happens for a purpose? Most of the time, when a bad thing happens, what do you do? You blame God for allowing the bad thing to happen. You would question, "WHY GOD? Why didn't you protect me? Don't you love me?". But I believe if you look long and hard enough for the reason it happened, I think you'll find the purpose why God allowed it to happen. But, it's just what I believe and what I think. You may disagree with me.

The second model, the non-interference model. God allows people to make their own decisions and plans, because He gave us free will to make a choice (since Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden). An example in the bible of it is in Judges 21:25.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did what he saw fit.

Judges 21:25

God doesn't interfere with the choices we make. We have our own free will, for He gave us that will. Therefore, if we want to turn our backs on Him, there is no one stopping you.

Final Destination. God has one ultimate or a few ultimate destinations for us. We are free to get there any how. Meaning, if you follow God, and God wants us to be a doctor, it doesn't matter we study locally or outstation, the end result would be still you would be a doctor. Like Joseph in the bible...,

Joseph's final destination is to be in a certain position in Egypt so that he may provide food to his family in famine time.

Example of Joseph

After Uncle Jason's DEEP session, we had a closing orientation session. This marked the ending of these heavy sessions, and the rest would be hands on experience. We were given a short briefing about the church deputations work we would be doing in Kuala Lumpur. The 6 of us had to split into two groups, as we were going to two churches; SIB Brickfields and Tamil Methodist.
Joshua, Xiu Ying and me were to go to Tamil Methodist, with Sieh Jin and Jennifer, while the other half with Runa at her church SIB Brickfields (FYI, SIB Brickfields is a Malay speaking church). Going to a Methodist church wasn't much a big deal for me, after all, I'm a Methodist too. Each group had to perform a skit or a song (My group performed a song, while the other did a short skit).

Lunch at Cameron Towers!

After lunch, we had a Pastor from Malacca to conduct a session on Cambodia, as he has been there for mission work in the children ministry. He touched a little on the Cambodian history. Did you know that Christianity was only legalized in Cambodia in 1990s? Before this, if you were a Christian, it was against the law! O.O

The Pastor sharing about Cambodia.

We had a little free time after his sharing, because he ended his session earlier than scheduled. Guess what we did!

Online! =D

After our little session of online"ing", we headed back to the SU Staff house to cook dinner... We were going to cook SPAGHETTI that day. Guess who was on duty to prepare dinner... Joshua, Xiu Ying, Xiu Jing and me (Sure very sedap, because I'm cooking! =P).

Jing playing with "Tong" the chicken... =D

Jing washing "Tong" the chicken... =D (She just loves to play with "Tong") =P

End result: Spaghetti and the sauce!

Spaghetti...
Sauce...

According to Jason Lai, when the spaghetti is cooked, throw it against the wall, if it sticks, means it is cooked. (Funny, huh? But somehow I think it's not true, because the spaghetti was still a little hard. =P).

Anyway, SUSOM ROCKS! =D

Fast Car Frenzy Racing Game Review...

It has been a long time since I played or blogged about games. I decided to log onto miniclip and check out the latest games and all.

The first game that caught my eye was this racing game (I like most racing and sports game you see); Fast Car Frenzy, it looked nice enough, so I decided to try it out!

The front page.

There are 3 cars you can choose from. Basically, I think all the 3 cars have the same acceleration power, max speed, control... etc. So, I think it's just the car design that is different.

Level 2.

Level 3.

I must say, I had trouble controlling the car at first, I supposed that takes time getting use to. But, I still finished first in all the 3 levels. =) And I think the car brake doesn't really work. When you press the brake, the brake lights do not come one (or maybe it's not clear). Oh well, but it is still quite entertaining when you wanna take a break.

Total score.

I didn't know that miniclip has an awards page already (Man! I'm so outdated! =P)

Name: Fast Car Frenzy.
Link: http://www.miniclip.com/games/fast-car-frenzy/en/
Levels/Races: 3.
Type: Racing, Sports.
Difficulty: Easy.
My Score: 178420.
Rating: 5/10

Spread the Word to End the Word.... R-Word Campaign.

Have you heard of this "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign? I have heard about the F-word, C-word, M-word, B-word, K-word, but the R-WORD??

Btw, the R-Word that they are trying to end, is the word "Retarded". So, why end the word? Shouldn't addressing the people who use it by insulting ways or wrong reasons be better? I see no harm or wrong in using that word. But it's just my opinion.

So, what do you think?

More About Scipture Union Students On Mission (SUSOM)...

Back to blogging about SUSOM. =)

Wednesday 13.01.2010
My old sleeping bug has returned! I woke up rather late today (which I think was okay, as I was not preparing the breakfast =P). I guess the previous' days of sessions has taken its toll on me. Breakfast was simple... cornflakes with milk! (Note: We SUSOMites have good food! =) So if you are thinking about what will we eat there when we attend SUSOM, do not worry! So, JOIN SUSOM 2011! )

The previous' days sessions by Aunt Runa was already deep and challenging, but today's was even deeper and harder to comprehend! In his first session with us, he shared to us about understanding the will of God. In his understanding, he believes that there are three levels of God's Will; God's Sovereign Will, God's Moral Will and God's Individual Will (which I too believe, until there is another input to challenge that thinking). I will just briefly write about what I understand from his teachings. God's Sovereign Will. God has a master plan for all creation from the eternal past to the eternal future. Our future is written in the bible, in 1 Corinthians 15:24-25.

Then the end will come, when He hands over the Kingdom of God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until He has put all His enemies under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15:24-25

We can never run away from the future, the human race will one day face the end of the world, maybe not this generation, but in the generations to come. So, why are we still trying to play God? But, it is just my opinion and what I believe. So, what do you think?

Next, God's Moral Will. I must say I still am a little blur in this area. But, from what I understand is God has a "code of life" for each of us... all of our different attitudes, beliefs, ethics,... etc. In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, it is written...

It is God's Will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like in heathen, who do not know God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

God's individual will is God's ideal and detailed life-plan uniquely designed for each individual person. So, I was thinking, if God has a plan for us since before we were born, shouldn't our lives be going according to His plan? And when that happens, shouldn't the earth be a happier place to live in? BUT! Uncle Jason added, God also gave us free will, free will to make choices, to follow His plan, or our own. BUT! God is not dictated or directed by man, because it was He who created us.

By the end of that session, my mind was already close to shutting down. I was physically exhausted from the previous' days sessions and I was finding it a little hard to pay full concentration on what he was sharing about. His session in the morning with us was cut short because every Wednesday, SU and FES will have a combined prayer meeting in the meeting room. The FES staff led the prayer meeting, and the message was also shared by a FES staff. She shared about the people in the bible.

We had lunch at Uncle Jason's house! They invited the SUSOMites + SU Staff to their house for lunch! We walked there, because his house just two rows away. Uncle Jason's house is designed in a way that it looks very spacious, and also the interior design is fantastic! It is then I was told that before Uncle Jason joined SU, his profession was architecture. Ah.... I want the CHEESECAKE Aunt Sharon served that day! =)

Uncle Jason continued his session with us after lunch. He talked about whether God is in control over the bad things happening in the world today. A quotation from Uncle Jason "God is NEVER out of control because He sees the end from the beginning. Nothing will ever surprise God!" So, I was thinking, God let bad things happen for a purpose??? So, I thought further, when bad things happen, what do we do? We blame God. Have you ever thought that maybe God allowed the bad thing to happen because He wanted to teach you something? It's often to see the hidden agenda for us, because we are SO BLINDED by the suffering we suffer. Isn't it true?

Life Application session was postponed, because Runa was feeling a little unwell, so we had FREE TIME! =) If the session was conducted that night, my brain would have exploded due to too MUCH thinking, and processing. =P

With our free time, we played "SPOON" and also "Taboo". "SPOON" was hilarious. Tong got sabotaged by Teng, that made him lose. Haha...

Our first free time together... =)

Playing Taboo! =)

Even Sieh Jin joined us for Taboo! =)

Thus, ends the LONG and HEAVY third day of SUSOM! =)

Save the Trees!

When I was out with the myFM Cruisers, I could not help but notice this pitiful tree was covered with nails. Why do you irresponsible people out there harm the trees? Can't you go and advertise your products legally? How would you like being nailed? The tree has life too, you know...

Save the TREES!!!

=)

Lepak"ing" in Taman Golf with TH, Sarah & Joanne,... =) ...before TH goes back to INTI College. I had a great time! =)

P.S. Sarah looks tall. =P (Quoted from TH)

myFM Cruiser Experience....

Today, I shall take a break from blogging about SUSOM. So, I'll blog about my experience following the myFM cruisers to give out goodies! =) myFM is top Chinese radio station in Malaysia. The target audience is the young people.

Astro!

I had this opportunity to join this cruiser trip, because my aunt works in Astro. She thought it would be good for me to see how the real broadcasting world is like. (Thanks!) And boy! Security was tight.... guess it should be. TV/Radio stations are after all plausible targets for takeovers....

I went in with this pass....
...Astro visitor! Although I'm supposedly to be "working" for astro, I do not get the smart card that is used to open doors and get pass security and all.

I was mesmerized by the facilities they provide for the staff and visitors, there is a panel of grid that contains 16 TV sets airing different Astro channels, and flat-screen TVs everywhere around the corridor, and even the cafeteria! For a kampung boy like me, it's an eye opening experience!

My aunt brought me up to where she worked. They worked in cubicles. Everyone could actually see each other if they stand up. The first department she took me was the IT Department. Guess she must have thought that it's suitable for me. She introduced me to the ICT staff and told him to give me a job. My first task was to identify the old computers to be written off... It was easy. All I needed to do was just to note down the serial numbers. Later, my aunt told my mom that I'm more than competent for that kind of job.

LOOK AT THE VIEW!It's in Astro grounds itself! Isn't it nice?

By the time I finished by job, it was about 11 a.m., the cruisers were supposed to pick me up at 11:30 a.m., I had plenty time to spare. My aunt, decided to treat me breakfast at the cafeteria, so we went. This is what I had...
Wan tan mee!... which I think was not bad.

The myFM cruisers arrived at the north entrance (I think) to pick me up. There were 3 guys and a girl, all in their 20s (by their looks, I think). The location the cruisers were to go today was outside K-Tar. Look at all the goodies they brought!
Mister Potato Chips, e-Pop, Chinese CDs, tissue paper, Pepsi, vouchers, etc... How did they distribute these goodies? First, all who come will get something, either Mister Potato Chips and a brochure, or a chinese CD and a brochure. Next, the play games with the crowd! The winner gets a prize of course! And they did that till everything was given out.

The cruiser car, a sponsored Perodua car filled with goodies!

The crowd who came...

In conclusion, this was all a new experience for me. I've often heard on the radio; come to this place or this place where the radio people will head and give out freebies, but have never actually gone to hunt for it.

I was really tired after the trip, mainly because I spent the day before in Nilai College. Oh well, I'm glad I had the opportunity! =)

SUSOM... (Continued Saga)

I'm getting a little lazy to write about SUSOM (I think this is quite normal for all of us, when you are at the program, you seem all eager to blog about it, but once it's over, as time passes, humans get lazier and lazier....but oh well, I'll make sure I make it to the end... =) )

12th January 2010
(This is what I wrote down in my journal) Ah... It's only the second day. Time seems to pass so slowly. I woke up unusually early, at 7 in the morning. The girls, were supposed to make breakfast! Guess who ended up doing.... Me & Teng! Girls = Sleepy Pigs... (Joking only har... =P)

In the morning, after Quiet Time, we had Part 2 of Spiritual Formation session by Runa. And yes, the perspectives and views throw by her to us were rather interesting and new to me. Who would have thought of the difference between the soul and spirit? I mean to me, I would not question it, because it seemed unimportant to me. We discussed the differences between spirit, body and soul; unity with God, transformation... etc...a lot of heavy and deep stuffs at once.
Lunch was at this hawker center near Old Town in PJ. The economy rice sold there is not bad, and not quite expensive.

After lunch, we found out that the SU Resource 1 session was cancelled, because the SU Resource guy only needed a session instead of 2 (Woopee! More free time! =P). The postponed ice-breaker session was conducted today by Daddy Koo!He started off the session with a ice-breaker game. The ice-breaker works like this, as a person answers a question about the opposite party, he or she has to keep the ping-pong ball bouncing as she says each word. Simple, right? But not for the twins... =P
He then asked us for our views on this ice-breaker and ways this ice-breaker could be improved (If I'm not mistaken, this ice-breaker was invented by Ah Koo himself).

Dinner was eaten out today, because we had a session at night in the office, also by Runa (She conducted two heavy sessions, you've gotta angkat topi to her, she must have been exhausted after she finished). That night, she talked about salvation. I had a few thoughts in mind when she talked about it. I realized how negligent I have been in my Christian life, we use the word 'salvation' almost every time we share the gospel, and in church, hear the preacher use the word 'salvation' often in sermons, but yet, after all this time, I've never actually took time to think about the deeper meaning of this commonly used word, 'salvation'. During the session, I realized that holding on with Christ is vital, the earth we are living on is so full of uncertainties! Even the line between wrong and right is getting thinner and thinner!

After the long and deep session, we spent about an hour figuring out how to use the washing machine! It was so hilarious! The 8 of us surrounding the washing machine, trying to figure out how to operate it. Haha.... I was so TIRED after that, I conked out when my head touched the pillow! =)

2nd Day of SUSOM...

I'm still thinking of writing about SUSOM journal style or normal style? Never mind, I'll try out journal style and you readers comment how is it, okay? =)

10th of January.The first official day of SUSOM has finally begun! I woke up super early today (it's unlike me to wake up early =P)! Breakfast was prepared by Jason Lai (this would be the first and last time the SU Staff will prepare breakfast or any other meal for us & btw, he is a graduate of culinary arts.)

We headed to SU office after breakfast. We had our first OFFICIAL briefing and our first session, Spiritual Session 1 led by Aunt Runa. These sessions were conducted to build us up spiritually and to prepare us for the mission work ahead. She threw us pretty deep questions, and also stimulated our brains to think more about God. She threw us questions like "Why were human beings created although God knew we will fall?". This is a very interesting question... Why did He created us?...when He knew we would one day disobey Him? He knew that we humans would fall into sin, so why did He create us?

We had lunch at Cameron Towers, our first OFFICIAL SUSOM LUNCH together. =) (Man, I AM SO MISSING those times together...=( )
One thing nice about this place is the sambal! I'm not a big fan of sambal actually, but the sambal served here was just very nice! Ever head down to PJ? Head down to Cameron Towers for lunch!

It's a very good thing that there were no two heavy sessions in a row that day, or else my brain would have exploded! After lunch, we were given a tour round SU Office by Daniel Koo. He explained the SU Staff and in which department they worked for.

Next, we had a testimony sharing workshop. I think a workshop like this should be conducted in any Christian camp. This would allow us to be able to share freely to non-Christians how, why we accepted Christ and how it has changed us. I think it also forms a closer relationship with one another as we know a little more about each other. Usually, we go to national camps knowing next to nothing about each other, and go back knowing just a little extra about the person. (But it also depends on how willing the campers are willing to comply.)

Dinner time! Tong and Deborah were in charge to cook! Look at how happy Tong is cooking red beans.... =)
We had a time of family time and prayer after dinner that night (also conducted by Runa (she is a real superwoman! =D)).

Thus, ends the second day of SUSOM. =D

999!

Some random thoughts and numbers for Jing and Teng! =P

999 is the number to call when you face an emergency. A thought occurred to me when I was reading the notice.

Here is the situation:

What if... 999 emergencies are happening at the same time at 999 different places in Malaysia, and 999 people call 999 for help. Will the 999 line be able to handle all the 999 calls at once? Or only 99 calls will get through, and 99 places be saved?

Anyone knows how this 999 line works? Care to shed some light on this matter? =)

The Famous Cendol in Sitiawan...

Each time I'm back in Sitiawan, I look forward of eating the famous Sitiawan cendol, located outside the temple.

But today, there was a BIG crowd! I guess everyone from all over Malaysia have come back and wants to eat the famous cendol! There was a SUPER long queue, and some more it was super hot (not as hot as Cambodia though).

The famous cendol stall outside the Indian temple...

My father and I decided against of eating the famous cendol because of the long queue (btw, this is my famous cendol's review, there is nothing much to read on that post). Instead, we decided to try the competitor next to it. The store wasn't as popular as the other, because the Sultan hasn't eaten there before.

The competitor cendol store...

They also sell cendol with pulut here, same as the other store.

Cendol...

There is actually not much difference between the two stores. For all you know, the owners of the two stores might just be the same. I think the only difference between the two stores is one has a greater nama yang lebih harum, and the other not so.

But, this cendol is a MUST try when you come to Sitiawan. =)

Happy Chinese New Year! =)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR & HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!

Let's Welcome the Year of the Tiger!!! ROAR!

P.S. The fireworks picture was taken by me. =)

Let's Start From the Beginning...

Let's start from the beginning... After SPM ended, I knew I did not get National Service for first batch, and I had the choice to go for Jeremiah School or SUSOM! I had to think and pray long and hard which was the better choice for me... In the end, I decided to take the road less taken by, and I am very happy with the choice I made 2 months ago!

My trip to SUSOM all began on the 9th... I took a flight in the morning at 8:35 a.m. from Alor Setar to LCCT, KL. And guess who I met on the plane...! 4 members from my church! And it so happened that they sat right beside me on the plane! Before that flight, I was a little worried about flying alone to LCCT, but God answers prayers in special ways. =)

The AirAsia airplane...

My uncle picked me up from the airport. I watched Avatar 3D that day, and the following day, I attended Sunday worship service in DUMC. And I must say, DUMC is a humongous church! I think a rough estimate of those who attended that day's Sunday Service would be around 500 - 600 people!

SUSOM unofficially started at 6 at the SU Office. All of the SUSOM students were already there when I arrived, except Deborah Yong; she was to come the next day when SUSOM was supposed to officially begin. I was a little nervous meeting new people, because I'm an introvert by nature.

(I can't remember this part =P, but this what I wrote down in my journal. This shows how much a person can forget when he doesn't write things down.) Runa briefed us a little on SUSOM. (I can't remember a single thing about this! Jing! Ying! Teng! Tong! What did she brief us on?) After that briefing, we headed for dinner down the road of SU Staffhouse.

I will always remember this sentence said by Daniel Koo: "Tonight's dinner is probably going to be the best dinner throughout SUSOM, because after this, you all are going to cook your own dinners!", which I think wasn't true... =P We had better dinners than that dinner, right SUSOMites? =D

The SU Staffhouse was still undergoing renovation and the floor was super dusty! We had a short briefing by Daniel Koo and Jason, before settling down for the day.

The first official group photo... =)

SUSOM has ended! =(

SUSOM has officially ended yesterday! It's very sad that all of us have to part our different ways. =(

After 34 days of being together as a family, it was really tough for me to part with all the other SUSOMites and SU staff. Why do good times always have to roll so fast? I wish just for one more day, oh just one more day in SUSOM! But when one wishes for one more day, he will wish for another day when the day ends. Life just has to go on whether you like it or not, one of the sickening fact of life that is VERY hard to accept.

It just seemed like yesterday all the 6 of us were stepping into SU Office, getting ready for our first briefing. Prefect strangers, knowing almost next to nothing about the other 5 SUSOMites. But thus, yesterday was the official closing of SUSOM. All of us gave a sad goodbye to SUSOM, departing home to our respective hometowns. We came as strangers, but we're going back as great friends and closer to God! And that's what matters most. =)

I'll be blogging about my experiece, memories and what I've learnt in SUSOM for the next few days and maybe weeks. And SUSOMites, please comment on what you think! =P There are just too MANY of them to blog in one post! =D

Prefect strangers we came,
Great friends we left,
Goodbye my friends,
I say with a sigh,
Till we meet again,
One day, somewhere, somehow.
God Bless you Guys! =)