A really good holiday!

It wasn't planned but when the time drew closer, we decided to go down to S'pore during the short term break that i had recently. It was arguably my best trip down to S'pore!

1. It was a real holiday - we slept until we could sleep no more and then only got up to go out! =)

2. There was not need to rush back home at night to prepare for the next day at work or to get sufficient rest. We just took our time each nite and only went back when we were too tired to do anything else.

3. FOOD!!!!! Lots and lots of good food!!!!! =P

4. Shopping! tGiF bought some clothes for a bargain. I almost got a nice 3 piece branded suit for SGD250 but decided against it since i do not need so many suits. But i did get a really cool action figure!!!! My fav character in the HP series who also happens to be one of my fav actors!

Also, i manage to find the CD i have been looking for for some time - and could not find it anywhere in M'sia.

5. Spending almost every moment of the day with tGiF!

6. The only morning we had to get up early was to go to church - and we had an interesting and edifying time in the church we visited. Better not mention the name tho cuz i may want to blog about it another time. It was indeed an interesting time there too!

7. We did a LOT of walking. And i love walking! We even spent some time at the outdoor "gym" at the place where tGiF's aunty lived.

8. We had to travel far each day and it gave me an opportunity to think and pray, especially regarding my sermon which i was to deliver when i got back.

9. Perhaps the most important thing was that we had the time to catch up with frens. Again, as we did not have specific plans, we could spend the whole afternoon just chatting with frens. We even went to visit and see one of my fren's new baby!

10. I got a stamp on my passport! =)

Coloured hair!

Here is a list of actors with memorable hair colours:-

Natalie Portman in Closer


Milla Jovovich in The 5th Element


Kate Winslet - multicolours in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind


Anna Paquin in the X-Men series


Franka Potente in Lola Rennt


Natalia Tena in the Harry Potter series


Rebecca Romijn in the X-Men series


Anne Hathaway in Alice in Wonderland


Chloe Moretz in Kick-Ass


Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland

Why it was a good weekend

Spent the weekend at Ipoh - which wasn't planned! But here is the list of the little surprises we had that made it into a great one!

1. A nice McD lunch! It has been a long time since i've had McD!!! And the peach mango sundae was surprisingly good and refreshing.

2. A wonderful seafood dinner. We went to Unique Seafood restaurant - the good food was expected but we also managed to try out some new interesting dishes which all turned out to be pretty unique (pun not intended) and good!

3. tGiF's dad bought us some noodles for supper - simple fare from a roadside vendor which turned out to be really tasty!!!!

4. Having 2 breakfasts on Saturday morning! =)

5. Watching "I am number 4" - this was surprisingly much better than anticipated!!!

Teresa Palmer - part of the reason why the movie was so good!

6. Finding out that we got an early bird discount cuz the movie was before noon!

7. The popcorn at TGV was really good!

8. The refurbished cinema was impressive - much better than a lot of cinemas here in the Klang Valley

9. Having lunch at a nice local pub - feels a little like in the UK where people bring their kids to the pubs for a meal. the food there was good too!

10. Went around some furniture shops. There was one sales girl who was really helpful and nice.

11. A long and nice afternoon nap!!!!!

12. A delicious home-cooked meal by tGiF's mom

13. Discovering that Ipoh had good fried kway teow which could rival Penang's!!!!

14. Discovered good sate too - nice lean meat! In a big portion too!

15. Had a wine session at home.

16. Watched American Idol - it was surprisingly entertaining and the contestants were pretty impressive!

This was my fav performance of the nite:-

17. Went to a local bakery after church and discovered some really interesting swiss rolls - from durian to carrot to spinach to banana to jackfruit to coffee.... We were so spoilt for choice that we couldn't decide wat to buy!!!!

18. Went for lunch at a place which i previously din like cuz it was too dirty. Was pleasantly surprised that it was much much cleaner. And the food was good! =)

19. Another long afternoon nap!

20. Nice weather for most of the drive there and back home. Had a really good time chatting with tGiF.

21. Made it back on time to have dinner with me mom, me sis, me nephew and me niece. Sakea Sushi!

Yup, most of the things listed are related to food!!!! =)

Musicals I watched in London

Here is the list of musicals I have watched in London (in no particular order). It was surprisingly and disappointingly shorter than expected!

1. Phantom of the Opera - the best!
2. Wicked - very close to the best!
   
3. Les Miserables - my first ever musical in London
   
4. The Lion King - arguably the best visual spectacle!
   
5. Sunset Boulevard - clearly one of my favourites. Love the songs, the witty lines, the tragic storyline.
   
6. Miss Saigon - watched this with my family.
   
7. Starlight Express - exhilarating!
   
8. Spamalot - hilarious! Too bad i watched Monty Python and The Holy Grail before cuz a lot of the jokes were taken from that movie.
   
9. Grease - watched this when Debbie Gibson was playing Sandy.
   
10. We Will Rock You - great fun, felt like i was in a Queen's concert!!! Definitely a must for Queen's fans.
    
11. Hairspray - must say that i enjoyed the movie more.
    
12. Oliver - such a classic! Love all the songs - and i had the extra bonus of watching Rowan Atkinson play Fagin.
    
13. The Lord of the Rings - clearly unlike the movie. Visually good. I enjoyed the 2 breaks they had when characters came to us to in audience including some really scary Wraiths!
    
14. Billy Elliot - wonderful dancing!!!
    
15. Mamma Mia - this will get you up and dancing!!!
    
16. Avenue Q - wonderful songs, such intelligent and funny lyrics!
    
17. Cats - no storyline but entertaining nonetheless!
18. Blood Brothers
19. Love Changes Everything
20. Carousel
21. The Woman in White

Places in London that I love to hangout at

As usual, in no particular order:-

• Trafalgar Square
  

The first place i went to when i first stepped foot on central London. The fact that the National Gallery is there makes it all the more special!

• Museums!!!!

The best part of course is that all major museums in London are FREE!!!! But besides that, they are all absolutely brilliant!!!!

• Parks
  

Again free, beautiful, relaxing

• Chinatown
  

Feels so at home - it's funny, to want to be reminded of home when i wanna be away from it! But when i was a student, this place was the closest to home for me. So it became very special.

• Leicester Square
  

Always something going on, always happening - with Odeon there hosting major movie premiers, the ticketing booth for theatres (TKTS), stalls, rides (at certain times of the year), people just hanging out!

• Camden Town

I simply love this place - it has character!!!! It is so special to me that some people have referred to it as 'your Camden Town' when talking to me!!!!

• The Embankment
  

I love the embankment - and basically, the area along the Thames. I always seem to end up there. My last nite in London was spent alone there. If i get a chance to just go to one place in London, i would choose to go back and hang out here.

Memorable matches of the World Cup

There were some really good games during the World Cup recently. But here are the games that were memorable not so much because of what happened on the pitch. Read on to find out why:-

1. South Africa v Mexico

Tshabalala with the first goal of the World Cup 2010

Obviously, this was memorable being the first match of the tournament! And i watched it with a bunch of church mates in one of their rooms at the Heritage Hotel where we were having a retreat.

2. England v USA

Oops...

This was the second game - memorable cuz it was England's first game. Memorable cuz of Robert Green's howler. Memorable cuz i watched it in darkness in my room at Heritage alone (until my roommate woke up just when England conceded the awful goal!).

3. Brazil v Portugal

Ho0hum - most boring match!

This was the first game i watched outside with mates - at the local mamak shop near my church building. It was packed! Nice atmosphere. But too bad the game was such a terrible one.

4. Portugal v North Korea

Prolly his only highlight in an otherwise disappointing World Cup

We din plan to watch this game - but when tGiF and i walked into the coffee-shop for our dinner, we noticed that the second half just started. And as we had our dinner, we witnessed Portugal demolish North Korea and saw each and everyone of the 6 goals in the 2nd half!

5. Germany v Argentina

Winners and losers

This was one game that tGiF and i watched in entirety (ok, we started late and missed the first goal but sat thru the rest). It was prolly the most enjoyable action packed game. It was amazing how Germany demolished Argentina!

6. The Netherlands v Brazil

Using his head!

There were a few games which were really exciting - like how England held on to beat Slovakia, Puyol scoring the winner against Germany, the mad scramble by Uruguay at the end of their semi0finals with Netherlands - and this game. This was memorable cuz of the fact that i was supporting Holland and everyone did not expect them to beat Brazil. But they did. And they did it the hard way - by coming back from 1 goal down.

7. Spain v The Netherlands - The Finals!!!!

We are the champions!

The finals - a large group of us watched it together at the home of one of our mates. Great fun! Good end to the World Cup! Did not sleep after that - went for breakfast with tGiF and then to work!

Immortals

To me, these following people are immortal - they will live in my hearts and memories as long as i still have my breath here on earth. They are listed in chronological order (when i met them):-

1. Pei Fan & Geoffrey

My closest frens in high school - i actually knew them in primary school and only got close to them in BB, serving God together in the Christian group there.

Pic taken when they came to witness my baptism

2. Mrs. Yong

My class teacher in Lower 6, she can take a large part of the credit for me being a lecturer today. She went beyond the call of duty and showed genuine care and interest in my studies back then. She used to have extra sessions with me and another after school just to help us revise.

Class pic - see me?

3. Pui Wan

A 'younger sister' of mine - we used to talk like crazy. And wrote to each other when i was in London. Yup, those days before e-mails and online chat programmes.

Pic taken at Genting after a young adults' camp

4. Augustine, Stephan, Ling

Me mates from UeL - seldom see them these days but when we do get together, it's the good old days all over again! I see Stephan the most as he is working in the Klang Valley - and we used to have lots of time chatting over teh tarik. He used to be the closest person to me, knowing more about me than anyone else. As for Augustine, my recent trips to KK drew us closer to each other - even more compared to when we were studying. And Ling, our Wing Chun master, so far away and so busy - still makes me laugh with his occasional e-mails.

This photo taken with their respective wives and kids at Mid-Valley - we had a great time catching up while their spouses shopped like crazy!!!

5. Fred

He was the first person who made the effort to help me settle down in New Park Hall - and he became my closest fren. We served together running a Good News Club. he later offered me a place to stay when my studies ended - both at UEL and UoE.

Fred at his dining table with a British dinner cooked specially for me!

6. Shona, Heather, Hollie

What can i say? Those who know me well know how special these 3 girls are to me. That summer when i walked them to church and back every Sunday was such a wonderful time. Miss them so so much...

Pic taken on Harvest Sunday at New Park Hall

7. Kok Choong & Weng Soon

Students turned frens - separated by a decade but similar interests brought us close. Made me forget how old i really was!!!

At the opening of Episode 3!

8. Kristin

Another 'younger sister', but now all grown up, married and holding a high flying job. While i'm happy and proud of her, i miss those days when she was just my lil sister.

Taken at Chapel on Christmas after our drama presentation

9. Kit, Jes, Jess and Yujin

We were all attending the Young Adults Fellowship together - but we got really close when we started to get involved in the Orang Asli work. We would spend our weekends traveling together into the interiors of Pahang and stayed at the OA villages, sharing with them, encouraging them. We helped painted their church building there and organised many activities including Caroling under the stars (in BM), lantern festival, Christmas parties etc. We even formed the very first committee to organise and run the first OA Youth Camp for them. At the same time, we had great fun serving the Lord together.

Pic taken at the end of the first OA Youth Camp

10. Markus

Such a dear fren and a wonderful brother - not only to me but to many others. Called home to be with the Lord at such a young age but i'm blessed to be able to share my time at Essex with him.

I took this pic of him when we were trekking in Wales

11. Occupants of Flat 11, Rayleigh Tower (2005-2006)

Living with them in the same flat, it is no surprise that we became like a big family! Altho it took us a while before the ice was broken but when it was, it was a blast!

Various pics taken with them, arranged according to their rooms - Di, Chen, Alberto, Michelle, Isabella, Chiaki, Tom, Yuki, Aliz, Soong Ke, Sachin, Michael and Ghisseh

12. Michael

Michael is part of no. 11, of course - but he deserves special mentioned on his own. He's a great guy and i got closest to him - and i keep in touch with him the most after leaving Essex.

Pic taken at Taipeh when i went there to stay with him for a while - he was working there for a while.

13. Hong, Kevin & Food-on-3 staff

Actually, there were many wonderful people there, the temps and oso the full time staffs including our bosses Judy and Debra. But these 2 are the closest people i got to when working. Maybe it's cuz they were the only 2 other Chinese people working there?

Pics taken at the cafe, of course on their last day at work

14. Dani & Doina

They are Christian workers at Romania whom i had the pleasure and privilege of working with when i went there for a short mission trip. Such wonderful people, they are also extremely dedicated Christians from whom i have learnt so much from and been so encouraged with!

Pic taken by my team leader

15. Andre and Delia

The daughters of Dani and Doina, wonderful good girls whom i grew attached to during the Mission trip to Romania

Pic taken after one of our open air children's meeting

16. My students

Of course there'll be a couple that i will never forget for negative reasons - but most of them will be in my hearts and minds for the right reasons. They have brought so much joy and pride to my life - and in some ways, allowed me to vicariously go thru Uni life again. And so many of them i do not consider as my students (out of classroom and Uni) - but as my frens.

Collage of pics of my students from each batch, including personal tutees, mooters etc.

17. My first moot team

Closely related to no. above. I have had great times with my moot teams but naturally, the first team will be the most special. Having spent so much time together, preparing for the moot really drew us all closer to each other - going thru tough stressful times and great fun times too!

Our celebratory dinner at Delicious

Top 3 sore losers award

Why can't people lose graciously? For all of England's failings, they did not try to make any excuses. At the end of the day, you just have to hold up yr hands and say you weren't good enuf.

There were many teams which weren't good enuf - but they left losing more than their places in the World Cup. They left losing the respect of others. Here are the top 3, in descending order:-

3. The US press

Well, the New York Post, anyway!

2. Gerardo Martino

Kept on harping on mistakes of ref and saying that FIFA should apologise to them. How about the ref failing to give a penalty and send off yr goalie when he blatantly tripped Fabregas?

1. Raymond Domenech

Totally no class at all!!! refusing to shake hands at the end of your final game when you lost fair and square. Apparently it is because of Parreira's alleged statement that France should not be in the World cup due to Henry's handball. Even if that was said, that is true!!!! And the embarrassing performance of France proves indeed they did not deserve to qualify!