Day of the dead living

14th August, Friday

0400 hour.


Sunway JB day trip to Monash University Sunway campus, Sunway University College, and Sunway Pyramid.



Codename: Operation Phoenix Rising



-Information classified-




and the main point of the whole day, (and counting the day before, for all intents and purposes) was that I was awake for 31 consecutive hours beginning from 10 hours before departure of the bus. Or if you don't count a meagre and uncharacteristic 1 hour nap on the 13th, it'll be 41 hours since last period of full, restorative sleep (the 7-8 hours sort). I wish I knew why I couldn't sleep AT FUCKING ALL during a collective 9 hours of journey (to and fro). I could give a few hypothesis as to why such as:

-the soothing sound of the bus engines

-the one movie being played (on return trip, Apocalytpo, which I eventually just watched anyway, not bad show)

-mum calling me every few minutes on return trip

-someone spiked my drink with morphine



and of course, upon return to home sweet home, after cleaning up, and grabbing some antibiotics, I crashed to bed and said hello to lalaland for around 11 hours.



Thats talking about before AND after the trip, which I felt you guys wanted to know most.....or maybe not.






Now during the trip...

I got an emo guy sitting next to me.




Ok actually thats just Chew Sin Nah, a cute adorable little girl in Ausmat who, cos of hoodie + cap + artsy angle = slightly emo-ish shot.

Thought I'd might as well join her. Minus the artsy-ness.

At Monash.

"The" Bridge. Its that Iconic.



Empty lecture.


Business school. Failed in artsy attempt.

Monash's Library + Learning commons. Obviously a lot more stylo than Sunway JB. Cos its 11 years old this year.
If I'm not mistaken.




Too tired for more pics.






Only 3 pics from Sunway University...cos I was too tired to bother taking any thing else.


Sunway University College pal, bearded viking of old, and fellow blogger, Eric Chia.


AHAH!! Miss Pearly caught sleeping in a lecture. Tsktsktsk.
Can't blame your students if they fall asleep in your lecture, but not that they will =P



Pang + Me in front of Sunway University (College).
Artsy shot fail #2




@ Sunway Pyramid.
And the only highlight here is ice skating. And subway. Nothing else. I need a whole day at least to sniff every corner in Pyramid for f--ks sake.

Groupie pic. courtesy of Sin Nah.






KU JUN PYO!!! (Daniel Chan, "seated"), Tracy and Me. OUTSIDE the skating ring.

Daniel was re-tying his laces while Trace gave up on ice-skating for the meantime. I was just catching a breath and you can see how f-ed up I was. Bad hair too.




Subway. Eat fresh.



Subway. Eat fresh part 2.




Revolve your eyes around the circle 10 times. Thats how its like walking in Sunway Pyramid. For the first time anyway.




This....doesn't really mean....anything. Artsy shot EPIC FAIL. gahh!!!









So the conclusion is, I should just give up attempting artsy shots altogether =/

Holy Light Church Family Camp (Awana Genting) 2008 - Day 3 and general overview

Well, this is it. Its been 2 fun-filled nights. And on the 3rd day, its time to just wrap the whole sermon session, pack up and return to humble origins after 3 days in a luxurious hotel, with mostly good food (I'll touch on that later, with some pics). But 1st off, I'll just the main points that Dr. David Gunaratnam has covered in the 3 days in Awana, into 4 sessions. If this doesn't interest you, you may skip to the food part.

Session 1 - Come and See - The Lord Jesus Christ.
1) His deeds

2) His words
-On what true righteousness is

3) His claims

4) His friends
-Fraternizing with sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes
-Friendship with women
-Welcomes little children

5) Final Judgement

Session 2 - The Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God - Central theme of Jesus' preaching
Kingdoms - Perceived in terms of power and polarization

From Christ's perspective
The Kingdom of God is the rule of God in the heart
*It is moral, not nationalistic
*It is spiritual not material
*It is actual not ideal

The Kingdom of God is also the rule of God in the world
*It is social, not individualistic
*It is universal, not local
*It awaits final consummation and is not yet complete

Kingdom of God described in 7 parables:
Parable of the -
sower
weeds
hidden treasure
pearl
net
mustard seed
leaven



Entry into His Kingdom

Solely by grace but preceded by genuine repentance:

-Sacrifice of career
-Giving up possessions
-Facing sin of immorality (adultery, etc)
-Transformation, not Reformation
-Fear of man
-Repentance confirmed before offer of salvation
-To the repentant "Neither do I condenmn you" (Women caught in adultery)

Session 3 - Profile of Jesus
1) Temptation of Jesus
1st temptation - priority of the spiritual over the material
2nd temptation - Trusting God is different from testing God
3rd temptation - Test of compromise (offer of the whole world from Satan)

2) Prayer life of Christ
-Prayed in secret - communion with God
-Great crises were proceeded with prayer
-Great achievements were preceded with prayer
-Great achievements were followed by prayer
-Interceded for His disciples for unity and purity
-Great sorrows met in prayer
-Prayers are never at the mercy of moods **
- Never deterred by business
- Never hindered by impatience
- Never affected by moral difficulties.

3)Gethsemane
-Victory of true surrender to God's will.

4) On the Cross -Prayer for cruel enemies
-A promise to a repentant sinner
-A provision for faithful followers
-His spiritual anguish
-His physical anguish
-Full atonement made for sins.
-Final surrender to His Father

Session 4 - "So, what kind of people ought we to be?"

The Great Commandment
Love the Lord your God

With all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Obedience to his commands

1) Willingness to suffer for His sake

2) Commitment to usefulness

3)Proclamation of the Gospel without fear

4)Love that demands hatred (or, love less )
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate (not actually hate, but love less in comparison to God) his father and mother, wife and children and brothers and sisters - yes even his own life - he cannot be my disciple"

5)Call to a sense of urgency

6)Call to resolute long term obedience

7)Call to a detachment from wealth (living moderately, honest earnings)

Love your neighbour as yourself

"As I have loved you, so you must love one another"

1) Right actions
-Love genuinely, practically, and sacrificially

2)Right responses
-Forgiveness, submission and building unity.

The Great Commission
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth"

Call to be witnesses
-by an exemplary life
-through proclamation of the Word
-through the power of the Spirit

Scope of witness
-Jerusalem,Judea
-Samaria
-The ends of the earth

Power of witness
-through the Holy Spirit's fullness

That about covers the surface of Dr. David's talks throughout the 3 days, and now its time for....

FOOD!!

Well, ok, I don't have the pics of ALL the food available in Awana, as photographing every single food available would make me look rather odd. But what I took, I snapped.

Curry Chee cheong fun. -.-

Lasagna, really good (around lower right), Shepherds pie (lower left), some fried chicken and fried fish (upper right), and pizzas which aren't that good (upper left)


Pressing your fingers around the glass cup produces a sound effect, as proven in this pic.



Food brings out the friendliness in people, eh?




Cher Wei: "I know you want to eat it, I can see it in your eyes..." >.<.. Jaslyn(left): "Nah, take this la, I can't eat that much anyway"
Yen Huay: "Har? So much ar? o.O"






Well, anyway, we checked out of Awana, got on the bus and...back to humble origins. On the way back from Awana, we stopped at one hawker stall for lunch and....



Man, the tables are laced. Talk about classy "hawker centres"

And we continued a long, sleep-filled journey back to Johor. And stopped at Yong Peng (again). But unlike the 1st time through, we went to a different place, like this one for instance...

No yo-yo's on sale, contrary to its name.




And in there, theres this pretty nice kueh thingy on sale.


Left is "peas" flavoured and the right is uh..coffee I think. If you ever pass by Yong Peng, do drop by this place and have a snap at their cookies.




Nothing else to say then. Except...oh, yes. One more thing







Sleeping pictures of Ju Chin



On day 1



On day 3.

I know, I've nothing better to snap on the bus. Cheerio people.

Holy Light Church Family Camp (Awana Genting) 2008 - Day 2

Edits will be imperative. More pics/videos as well as minor corrections (if any) to be included in later versions. For now, make do with whats available.

From,
The Editor.

****************************************************************

So, now that day 1's covered, now is the "climax" of the camp, to put in a way. Started on a slightly low note though, as I didn't really sleep well.
Slept at 1am. Woke up at 4am. Played handphone games till 5am. Recharged phone till 6am. Brilliant.



Anyway, at approximately 6.15 am, decided to go out to the balcony and take pictures of the scenery...

Close to sunrise. The small white "dot" above is the moon.

It looks as if the clouds have formed the word "Go". Like a message from God.

Went to the lobby area, at 7-something. Since its relatively desolated at this time, decided to shoot some roosters. You get what I mean.

Ehhh. Apa tuu? -.-

Went for a walk with the gang including Yok Kwang, Yen(ny) Huay, Jaslyn, Jasmine, Cher Wei and Ivan. Decided to get some fresh air and enjoy the "natural" air condition.
Of course, its nothing like LONDON, like what the ol Gabster is basking in now. But still a vast improvement from the blardy humid weather back in Johor.

Lost




Now now, is that a ball I see? Maybe I was hallucinating, hmm.



After our "lovely" walk around Awana, a group pic was carried out.

Yellow people. Do they work for DiGi? Mhm..

Group discussion time. Each group leader were informed beforehand of the fun night program that was to be held later that night, which is essentially a sketch, of sorts. Preferably a very funny and hilarious one, I was told. So...yeah. A very warm get together and some empty talk, discussion, rambles and random-ness on what we're gonna do for the sketch play later that night.

Whats the commotion, guys?

Well, being unaware of the fact that it had to be funny, I initially suggested something bout a guy trying to overcome the usual doubts and hindrances preventing people from helping people in dire need like those with AIDS, the poor, etc >.<>.<>

There you have it.

Later, I went to the "recreation centre" (for lack of better name) primarily for the archery range, but, ah, bumped into Raymond, Cher Wei, Uncle Donald, Yee Hsien, and some others playing...ping pong >.<

So focussed. Its as though they're in a tournament. Bravo.

Wei, don't bully small kids la >.<..

And of course, the main reason I came here. Archery. I went for the 50 arrows for RM20 package, as I doubt I could fire any more than that. And I assumed correctly, as after the whole firing session, both my arms ended up limp, and incapacitated. Almost. >.<

This is an arrow, its body is made of plastic, and its tip made of tungsten. It has superb penetrating power as it can pierce papers and cardboards with impunity. Fear it.

Just some of the shots.

The Massacre.
My firing 'range' is the bunch of circles, 2nd from left. Yes, 50+ arrows. The guy in charge was kind enough to throw in a few extras.

It was THAT bad in the beginning, but got better towards the end.

Before the night event started...

Guess there are some jealous people cos we're cool. Note the phantom group below. #8.

While waiting for the festivities to start, I decided to snap a few at-the-moment shots.

Yes, my judging is superb, such that nobody wants to listen to them >.<

Well, lets just say "utterly disappointing" is a dire understatement.
Chuah "Iron man" Sze Jin feels like ironing his own hair out of sheer frustration.




In the buildup to the grand finale, final preparations are being made......



The Invincible Invisible Man dressing up in his...."invisible" cloak. With shades too. Go figure.





Dr. Koh with a trendy new look.
Nice thorny horn there.




Dr. Chuah decides to jump into the bandwagon too.




Tan "The Bionic Man" Yee Hsien is working on his...."cybernetic apparatus"...mhmm.





Mr Lim, the Incredible Roti Canai stall seller.




And here we have, Mr Peter "Mad Eye Moody" Yip.
Though, he was playing as the one-eyed man, not Moody.


Indeed.





How...imaginative.




Sinbad and his merry gang?
Note their threatening swords >.<


Re-enacting the Sichuan earthquake? o.O


Uhhuh. Right.



Editor's interjection: Arggh. My dad apparently did not videocam the whole performance of my team, there goes the laughter. There goes the memory >.<


Well, make do with this.




My "transformation" into the man of steel. Guess what?













That S is done using a lipstick.

The Artiste, and her masterpiece. guh. From Pearl with love.




The Ice Man team in the end got 3rd place. Ah well, based on feedback from several people, we could have gotten 1st or 2nd, if not for the fact that:
1) We didn't utilise ALL our members
2) We were too lazy to design costumes.


Post-event

............whats up?




And the 3rd prize.
A towel, a pair of binoculars and some sweet-stuff. Nice.

I'll upload whatevers left of the video tomorrow. Sigh. Kinda depressed that my performance wasn't recorded in full. The essence is lost in it. If someone has the full video, kindly send it to me. Pretty please?