O Christmas Tree

Here are some of me memorable X'mas trees:-

1. This tree kept me company for the 2 X'mases when i was in Essex. Got it from Wilkinson. It is battery operated and have fiber optics which lights up! :-)

2. This huge tree was the first i saw in 2006! It was early November and i was in Paris. This was in Galerie Lafayette.

3. Ah, our campus tree on Square 3. It's lovely to just walk on campus and see it - or work at Food-on-3 and look out and see it.

4. The huge tree at Trafalgar Square - every year since 1947, a full size pine tree has been given by the people of Norway as a Christmas gift. Read about it here.

5. My "work-place" tree. This little tree has been sitting on my work table come every December for many many years - starting from me practicing days and now in me room in Uni.

6. And finally, this is the current tree we have in our house!

7. Just one more - this is no X'mas tree but both me mate Kathy and i felt that this was just one huge x'mas tree!!!!

Christmas countdown

Ok, ok, it's kinda late but better late than never!!! Well, look at it this way - it's early for Christmas 2008!!!!

Best Christmas movies!

Ok. This is tricky. What actually constitutes a Christmas movie??? What if the movie was based on something which happened in the month of December? If that's the case, then could arguably be a Christmas movie!! And then what about those which has events which took place over the Christmas season and then also the new year? Like I am legend, While you were sleeping and About a boy? Complicated-eh? Oh well... here's me list anyways, based on me own criteria of what is a Christmas movie - it must have some Christmas song/carol featured in it and the Christmas theme must be pretty central to the show!

1. Love, Actually;
2. While you were sleeping;
3. Home Alone 2;
4. Die Hard 2; (Yes!!!)
5. Scrooged

This year's new entry - The Holiday

Favourite Christmas songs/carols - this one is not much easier too!!!

1. Have yourself a merry little Christmas (The Pretenders' version);
2. Believe in him (Juwita Suwito);
3. Do they know it's Christmas time (Band Aid);
4. Oh come all ye faithful (any version);
5. That night (Bright coloured lights) - an original song by Cheryl;
6. Happy Christmas (War is over) - John Lennon

This year's new entry - The 12 Days of Christmas by Boymongoose(?)

Unforgettable Christmases

1. Receiving the BEST Christmas gift ever on 25/12/2006;
2. Caroling in the OA settlements in the jungles of Pahang in 2004;
3. A chinese Christmas - countdown with me fellow workers in a Chinese restaurant after work;
4. Staying up all nite chatting with RTG. Well, almost all nite;
5. Attending the Christmas Eve service in Edinburgh in 2005

The most unforgettable Christmas for all the wrong reasons was the one in 2004 where most nites before Christmas was spent at the hospital accompanying a fren who's husband was in ICU. It din help the spirits when the tsumani struck on Boxing Day.

Things i miss about Christmas in the UK

1. "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" and "folks dressed up like Eskimos";
2. The excitement and anticipation in the air!
3. Yorkshire pudding, turkey with cranberry sauce and that... that thingy... the cocktail sausage wrapped in bacon!!! Yes, i know we can get it here too but it's just not the same!
4. Carols in the Square - the caroling session in Square 3 on the UoE Campus;
5. Listening to Kost FM which plays Christmas songs non-stop all day long during the weeks before Christmas. Kost FM is an American radio station but i was listening to it while in the UK (thanks to me American flatmate, Michelle).

Special mention - experiencing the post Christmas Day sales - quite an experience!!!!

Movies to look forward to in 2008

1. Vantage Point

I've seen the trailer quite a while back and was sold immediately. The premise was so interesting - what starts of as a straightforward assassination turns out to be more than meets the eye - and we have different "vantage points" to look from. And on top of that, it stars Dennis Quaid!!!



2. Rendition

I just saw the trailer today. I guess the issues of international law and human rights (read: Guantanamo Bay) is enuf to get me into this movie. And it stars Jake Gyllenhaal!



3. Wanted

Another trailer i caught today. Yes, it's a hot Angelina Jolie that will make me head to the cinemas to catch this!!



4. The Dark Knight

The trailer looks good but i'm concerned - Batman Begins was really really good. Can this live up to its predecessor? Well, it does have Maggie Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger joining the cast!!! And check out the cool Bat Bike(?)!!!



5. But to me, the most anticipated movie for 2008 (for now) is none other than the long long awaited Narnia movie, Prince Caspian!!! And the trailer which was just released this month looks awesome!!!!



Another widely anticipated movie for me is the return of Indy Jones!!!! Yup, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens in May 2008. Can't find any trailers yet. Then there's also the long awaited return of Stephen Chow and the sequel to Hellboy!!

Oh, a mention also about Rambo IV!!! i won't link the trailer here cuz it's bloody violent - literally!!!! And after the disappointment of Rocky Balboa, i'm also not getting my hopes up. But the trailer will sure arouse interest in anyone who wants war and violence!!!

Great time at "High Hill"

Here are the highlights which made the trip so so good!

1. Star gazing at night

It was brilliant!!!! It has been so long - too long - since i've seen so many stars in the skies. We just lie down on wooder benches outside at 2 am admiring the view - stars covering every square centimeter of the sky. Lovely!

2. Playing ping pong!

Am not good at this - due to the fact that i hardly play it. But it was fun since i got to play wif fellow amateurs!!! OK - i was slightly better so winning made it all the more sweeter! Muahahaha!

3. Deja vu in the car

On the way back, i was in the car with WS and KC. It was a reunion of some sort for our France road trip last year. I enjoyed it as we sang along to the songs on the radio.

4. Back to the nature

It was nice to get away from it all. One afternoon, KC and i went up to the open air balcony and slept. It was lovely - the breeze was constant and cooling, and the sound of flowing water and jungle insects was like lullaby to me!

5. Stephen Low's talks

It was encouraging and really down to earth!

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix is the best HP movie

1. The scene of Harry along wif Moody, Tonks and Kingsley flying along the Thames was enuf to justify the price of the movie ticket - for me! It raised goose pimples on me, sent shivers down me spine and tears to me eyes.

2. Luna - Evanna Lynch's potrayal of Luna could not have been any more spot on. Exactly how i imagined her to be when i read the book!!!!

3. The opening scene with the Demntors - what an excellent scene to start off the movie. The guy next to me was so startled by the appearance of the Dementors that he kicked me accidentally!!!

4. The Ministry of Magic - beautifully done!

5. Everyone agreed that Imelda Staunton's potrayal of Dolores as wickedly wonderful.

6. The scenes showing Harry struggle with his frustrations were so much better than the book - in the book, he was irritating, in the movie, you sympathise with him.

7. The battle between the Death Eaters and Dumbledore's Army was super! And the Death Eaters' masks were so cool.

8. Tonks' hair! :-)

9. Two words - Alan Rickman.

10. Michael Gambon's Dumbledore had limited screen time - good, since he really made a mess of it in the previous movie. But then again, Richard Harris has left really big shoes to fill!

p/s - pics obtained from various links in IMDB

Things I've learnt in Romania

1. Humility - still have lots more to learn on this but it's a start!

2. How to make balloon animals! :-)


3. Certain Romanian words - like Peace, Bye, Hello, Good Day, Greetings from M'sia, Jesus Christ is Lord, etc.


4. The importance of having a talented and gifted translator - ours was truly blessed by God!

5. How to let go of you.

6. How to perform some magic tricks!

7. What is unspoken is really a huge percentage in the art of communication!

8. How fortunate we are in relatively wealthy Malaysia.

9. The problems and frustrations faced by people my age in the brethren assembly there is similar to mine.

10. Romania is a beautiful country with beautiful people!

Ten things about Tony

1. He spent some of his early years in Adelaide, Australia.

2. He was threatened with expulsion from school at 17.

3. He was the lead singer of a band called "Ugly Rumours" during his Uni days.

4. He used to smoke a lot.

5. Cherie stopped this nasty habit!

6. Apparently, he smoked his last ciggarette 15 minutes before their wedding!

7. When he first bacame the new Labour leader, the press dubbed him as "Bambi" - their view of him back then was that he was a political lightweight.

8. When he became the PM in 1997 at the age of 43, he ws the youngest PM in nearly 200 years.

9. His son, Leo Blair, became the first legitimate child to be born to a serving prime minister in 150 years.

10. Sting, Elton John, Bono, David Bowie, Bob Geldof, Mick Hucknall, Dame Judi Dench, Cilla Black, Stephen Fry and Kevin Keegan were among his weekend guests at No. 10, Downing Street when he was the PM.

Source: The Tony Blair Story from BBC News Online

What a d**k head!

Dun you just hate it when...

• someone says "Let's do some self-evaluation" and then proceeds to evaluate others??? What the...??? I think it's called "self-evaluation" cuz it's meant to done to one-self! *Duh*

• someone admits he is guilty but in the breath, praises himself for that admission and never even hinted at any remorse?

• someone hears one side of the story and immediately decides who is right and who is wrong

• someone can't seem to understand simple English - and refuses to even tho u take time to explain the content to them
  

• someone starts being all self-righteous and criticising the very ones who used to stand by him and not condemn him when he was doing things which he himself admitted was wrong
  

Still trying...

It has not been difficult (thank God) getting used to things here back home. But there are still some areas where i still need some time.

Things i still need getting used to:-

1. The Malaysian accent!!!!

With all the "la"s and "lor"s and "meh"s and.... I find it amusing, tho! :-)

2. Seeing so many "cub-chais" (small motor-bikes) on the road!

I found it amusing initially but now i just wanna run them down....

3. Malaysian(?) humour

eg. last Sunday, during group discussion, jokes like "A phelgmatic is someone who has a lot of phelgm - muahahahahaha" and "A choleric is someone suffering from cholera - kekekekeke" left me more bemused than amused!

4. The dressing of the locals.

Two things - first, i just came back from a winter which may not have been cold but people still wrap up in jackets, scarves, sweaters, coats etc. (altho some local girls can endure the weather in their short skirts and spaghetti strap tops) so seeing people dressed in so little still needs getting used to.

But the bigger thing is that i noticed that people in the UK generally dress much nicer. Everyone seem to make an effort to dress up - or at least dress properly when they go out. Here, sometimes you see people wearing clothes which you won't be surprise if they actually slept in them!

5. The lack of good and/or frenly service

I've been so used to being greeted with a smile, eye contact and a cheerful "Hi" each time i go to the counter to pay for anything. Here, the people at the cashier hate their jobs and they dun make any effort to hide it.

Further, after serving in arguably the most posh chinese restaurant in Colchester (some say in Essex), the level of service i've encountered here is appalling in comparison!

However, i must add that there have been frenly and competent service rendered here.

6. The cost of things here

No, i dun find it so much cheaper!!!! Kindly remember that i've been earning in sterling pounds - around 6 quid an hour. Here, i seriously doubt if i can get paid RM6 an hour in a cafe.

Here are some illustrations:-

I work for an hour there and can earn enuf to buy more than 10 bottles of good shampoo & conditioner, albeit Tesco brand. Here, i can't buy one bottle even after working an hour.

There, i work for 2 hours and can buy a good book - around 7 to 10 quid. Here, the same book costs RM40. Is it a wonder why M'sians dun read as much?

There, after working for an hour. i can buy 6 to 7 packs of good branded biscuits. Here, i can buy maybe just 2.

I can go on and on. It is so common to find things under 1 pound but here, stuffs are at least a couple of ringgit. That's why you have shops therelike Poundland selling all stuffs for just a quid each whereas u'll never find a similiar store here selling things for RM1.

7. Jogging

I feel like a rat running on a wheel when i go jogging here. It's basically just round and round and round a track - seeing the same people, same scenery and avoiding the same dog poo.

I miss the wide open areas on campus, the changes of landscape, the countless of people i meet. My jog in Colchester will take me thru wide open green fields, a path along a river, across a train track, thru a small wood, along the road, onto the campus, and ending by the lake.

8. People telling me how thin i am

Look, i've lost weight - but to categorise me as skinny??? I found it a tad amusing when i walked past a fitness centre and the promoters outside took one look at me and immediately lost interest! LOL! Yeah, it doesn't take much to amuse me!

9. Life without DC++

Self-explanatory, enuf said.

10. Mates so far away

I lived in a flat with 12 other people. Me other mates live on another floor or in the accomodations nearby.

Now, i live in Subang. See ing me mates would mean travelling by car thru traffic jams.

Oh, and i need to get used to not seeing that many people from China!!!!!