Treasured Memories

A week long break. Sounds good but it's gonna be over before I know it and I know this for a fact. Hmph..

Did some looking through some old photos during schooling days. I admit I missed those days. And I must say, I suddenly felt proud of all we did during that time. Whether it's talking when there's no teacher, sleeping in chemistry (not history) class, going for chess and mathematics competitions, rounding the school asking people to pay club fees (like ah long) though I wasn't the treasurer, decorating class for merdeka month (we won the best decorated class for 4 years, i think), doing class projects together (especially the ones on drama with Brian, Jin Young and Yee Ying), making fun of Sim and beating him at chess in every single game (and he initiates all of them), playing with hamsters, winning RM200 worth of Pizza Hut vouchers, etc.

I remembered how we spent time putting each and every piece of crepe paper on the ceiling.

And how this appeared in a Merdeka 51 Celebration Magazine.

Feeling utmost pride of my class..

I miss those days. And the people. But everyone's everywhere. Just miss you guys really. *sounding emo*

Truly Refreshing

Had a really long weekend. On Saturday, drove up to Tanjung Malim with some friends to just relax (not chill) at the hotsprings and also to attend Joel and Leann's wedding also held there.

We almost got lost as the place was really deep in some jungle, so much so it is not even in the GPS map. The place is just awesome and I think when it's fully completed, it will be magnificent.

The hottest 'pool'

The spot where the hot water, diverted through

a pipe from the source, flows in the 'pool'

A track leading to the jungle somewhere

Isn't it just beautiful?

The middle 'pool' (in terms of heat)

The 'jungle'

The supposed-to-be swimming pool

which is not yet completed

(that's why it's so dirty)

A 12 feet swimming pool? Good grief..

The super-duper cold stream which we swam in

(we swam upper stream though)

So we swam in a really hot pool, then a not so hot one and a super icy cold stream. The one that was really refreshing was the cold one. It was really like ice water. Justin took so long to get into the water.

This was a truly remarkable and unforgettable time. After that, we showered and had a change of clothes at one of the chalets there.

A chalet

As we were sitting around waiting for the wedding to start, some of them went for durians which Uncle Edwin 'sponsored'. It was my first time seeing people eating durians at weddings. ^^

Kudos to Uncle Edwin for everything and Uncle Larry and his family for the food. =) And congratulations Joel and Leann.

Invigoration In Troubled Times

Today was stuck in a terrible jam. Took around 45 minutes to drive a distance of less than 15km. So I did the math and realized my average speed was 20 kph. Hmm...

However, I've been doing a lot of thinking today. Was really blessed by the testimonies shared in prayer service yesterday. Before the service, I had been asking God so many things and was really stressed and restless due to the various issues I'm facing. I even thought twice whether I should go for the service as I was just so troubled and weary. BUT God really spoke to me throughout the service. Encouraging me and reminding me of His love. Different parts of the service spoke to the different issues that has been troubling me. He basically dealt with each and every problem. I felt He was very real to me last night. And just His reassurance really made my faith take on a whole new level.

But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

P.S. Alvin reposted my post on Reaching The Lost in his youth blog here. Apparently it fits the theme of FGA Cheras' camp that is coming up soon.

Random #7

I can't believe it's already October. Time is sweeping by at an outrageous speed. Hardly have enough time to get everything done.

Firstly, happy birthday to Mel. Her birthday was on the 5th and I think this is my 5th time or so wishing her. On Sun (4th), we went to Nambawan to celebrate with her. Lydia turned up with burnt pancakes which she really thought were her birthday cake gone wrong. Ah! Mel, she believes just about everything anyone says. Lydia, the 'professional chef' spoilt her reputation. She's such a good cook she could hardly burn the pancakes so much so some of them she used dark chocolate to make it 'look' burnt. We had candles and everything so Mel really fell for it. AND she was happy with it. Haha.

But after dinner, Nick brought out the real cake which was caramel cheesecake. A randomly selected flavour which so happened was Mel's favourite. Telepathy maybe? Hmm.. She was so shocked to see a REAL cake she just stared at it. Poor girl..

The innocent birthday girl

Caramel Cheese Cake from Cake Sense

Grilled Lamb in Butter Mint Sauce (what I had)

Standing (from left): Nick, Sam, Darren, Wei Ping
Seated (from left): Me, Jasmyn, Mel, Lydia

Food here is good and reasonably priced. Check out Nick's viewpoint here and Darren's report here.

On another note, all thanks to God that weekend classes for P2 are cancelled. It has been rescheduled to next Friday instead. Had been praying past few days because my Saturdays were all packed and I didn't want to miss church. I certainly didn't want to miss class as well. God opened a way and now I can still go about my Saturday programs and not miss church and yet still able to attend classes.

Also, wishing Happy Birthday to Xing Ying who'll be celebrating her birthday on the 9th.

Random #6

It's been a busy and wonderful weekend and holiday, though it was only 4 days.

On Saturday:
4pm
I went for taiwanese dessert with Michelle, Ann Ee and Sam. It was my first time there. It was surprisingly good. I ordered the best seller, so did most people. Best seller ma..


5.30pm
Some of my classmates and I went to Mel's house for BBQ. 11 of us cramped in her apartment and her poor but awesome parents allowed us to make a mess in her house (which wasn't really a mess since her mum thought we mopped the floor as it was so clean). Didn't have the chance to take pictures since my camera had no battery. Battery used up by my sis who didn't charge it after using and I had no idea where she had put the charger. Grrr.. but we had so many photographers so not to worry.. You can check out the photos here written by Nick or here by Darren.

11.30pm
Reached home. Did some P2 homework and showered.

On Sunday:
2am
Slept.

5am
Woke up. Drove half the journey to Penang!! (my second home). Reached around 10.30am.

Basically, I'm not going to say everything I did or rather ate in Penang because it will take forever. I might post it on my other blog (if I have the time). But, I had a good time there eating and just hanging out with my relatives. I wanna go back again!! Hmph.. Most likely next chance would be December. =(

Wen Wei (just tempted to put a pic of her)

  

Overall, just wished holidays were longer.

Profitable?

I happened to come across this article in Forbes, published last year. "The 10 Most Profitable Businesses to Start". These businesses are a constant demand and relatively low overhead.

#1 Accounting services (Average Pretax Margin: 25%)

Reason: Pricing power (everybody needs accountants, no matter how the economy is doing), low overhead and marketing scale, thanks to plenty of repeat clients. I may for the first time consider I may not be taking the wrong course. Hehe.

#2 Legal services (Average Pretax Margin: 21. 6%)

Reason:  Almost the same as the one above. I did law too!! Not enough to open a firm though.

#3 Dental Services (Average Pretax Margin: 20.9%)

Reason: Operating scale. Their equipments etc are very expensive so they charge a lot. I'm not talking about the government ones. Those don't earn much as far as I know.

#4 Specialized Design Services (Average Pretax Margin: 17.6%)

These are interior designers, industrial designers (not architects) and graphic designers. Reason : Talent and technology.

#5 "Other" Health Practitioners (Average Pretax Margin: 17.5%)

Examples are chiropractors, optometrists, podiatrists, physical therapists, speech therapists and mental health professionals. Reason: Specialization

#6 Outpatient Care Centers (Average Pretax Margin: 16.9%)

Examples are kidney dialysis centers, spas, HMO medical centers, etc. Reason: Uprising field

#7 Insurance Brokers (Average Pretax Margin: 15.9%)

Reason: Annuity-style profit streams

#8 Physicians' Offices (Average Pretax Margin: 15.8%)

Reason: No matter how the economy is, there will still be sick people.

#9 Medical And Diagnostic Labs (Average Pretax Margin: 15.3%)

Reason: Small marginal costs to do extra testing

#10 Depository Credit Intermediation (Average Pretax Margin: 13.6%)

Examples are small banks, credit unions, etc. I don't know about now as lending money has made giant creditors such as Citigroup and Lehman Brothers what they are now. Lehman Brothers has already been declared bankrupt, the largest bankruptcy in the history of US, with $639 billion worth of assets. Small lenders have been more insulated from the credit crisis than them.

But, no matter whatever business, with God as the CEO, it will surely be a profitable one.

Random #5

Today's traffic was considerably smooth-flowing. I took only 20 minutes to reach college as opposed to 45 minutes just the day before. On Wednesday, there was a 2.5km jam just as I went into the highway. So anyway, I thought I was going to be late today as I left home at 7.30am. I overslept. Did group accounts homework till around quite late last night. At first I thought it was because maybe a lot of people have already 'balik kampung', but Lydia said Federal was super jam today. So maybe it's just my lucky day. =)

As I was already running late, I didn't have time for breakfast or coffee. Went to class feeling hungry. Ms Menon didn't even give us a lunch break so we (or at least I did) starved from last night till around 2.30pm when I actually had lunch. And then had to try to finish the 'angpau' she gave. Basically, more homework.

Selamat Hari Raya to all who are celebrating.

Also, happy birthday to Sam, who just got his iPhone. =)

Faith vs Prudence

Been thinking a lot these few days. I remembered one of the things that Datuk Edward Ong said that really strucked me. He said when God reveals something, a vision for example, go by faith and put the first step forward and just do it. God will take care of the rest. Accountants aren't like that. Everything has to be prudent. After all, prudence concept is one of the main accounting principles. We shouldn't undertake any projects that is out of the budget. That's what cost accountants are for. BUT, this is what the world and everyone else thinks. Should we think like them? Who is greater? Accountants or GOD? We may plan all we like but we will still not be able to do it if God isn't in the picture. But, of course it isn't easy. A step of faith is taking a step into something unseen. We won't know what will happen. But we got to trust Him.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding
 Proverbs 3:5

So faith vs prudence? Faith, of course. =)

Defying Gravity

Not to worry. This is not about Keith Urban's album. Although I must say, I do love his songs.

Having some extra time in between some hectic schedule. So now for some updates.

Had class almost every day and it's kinda getting tiring. Hmm..

Still working on the website. Beginning to think it's taking up too much of my time BUT I gotta get it all up AT LEAST by year end. Thanks Alex for helping me thus far. So far so good. I have changed the look yet another time. So far quite satisfied. Will continue later after WCA. =)

P3 class today was headachy. (Is that a word?) I wasn't really sure what was going on in class. Maybe I'm just really tired. Wei Ping said I drop stuff around 6 times already. He was busy counting how many things I dropped instead of listening. Sam was busy playing some game on iPhone. Meow was hiding behind her jacket most of the time. And I was busy dropping stuff, doing experiments on how to defy gravity :D I can't think of a nicer title.

Basically, it's been a long day, and it's still not over yet. Feeling excited already. ^^

Also remembering this date 8 years ago. *moment of silence*

Reaching The Lost

It is a semi-public holiday today (Nuzul Quran). So I decided to arrange all my stuff. Last week was really hectic. Hardly slept much.

I came across some Bible study notes I prepared in AIM which some of you all might remember. I shared it at the youth evangelistic meeting at the Sungai Pelek outreach during our mission trip.

It was basically about the parable of the lost son. Before that parable, there was the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin. All three of them has similarities. Firstly, they were all lost and in the end were found. Secondly, they were all precious to their owner. The sheep was precious to the shepherd and the coin to the woman. The coin that was lost was worth about a day's hard-earned wage (just in case you were wondering "just a coin ma.. why so tai fan ying"). And naturally, the son was precious to his father.

But there are also differences which can be applied to our lives as well.

Carelessness (Lost Sheep)
The lost sheep illustrates the person who moves away from God unthinkingly, head down, one clump of grass at a time. The sheep wanders on from one place to the next, eyes only on what immediately lies ahead. It is unaware that it is not where it should be and all the time has been straying farther and farther from the flock and the shepherd's care. The sheep never wanted to get lost.
Similarly, People may be too preoccupied with their studies, career, relationships, problems of life and the pleasures of the world. Many are lost because they never look up and ask: "Where am I now? Why am I here? Where am I going?"

Carelessness of Others (Lost Coin)
The lost coin represents those lost through negligence or bad treatment from others. The coin cannot bleat like a sheep for help, nor find its way back like the son. It has been done in by the mistakes and wrong decisions or actions of someone else. (so sad, isn't it? but it happens)
People become damaged through victimization in a myriad of ways. The people they may have looked up to or respected caused them to have a broken concept of God. (that's why yesterday's message was so inspiring: our lives should be our ministry!!)

Personal Choice (Lost Son)
The son was deliberately lost - unlike the sheep or coin
It was not because he was unaware that he was lost nor was it because of other people's negligence. He was lost because he chose this path. Many people who once can be found in church singing worship songs, praying and serving are now no longer found in church. With influences from friends and other people around them, they start living their own lives without God in it. People without God are lost because they are ignorant of God, unlike God, and distanced from God. That is why it is so important that we be in the world (so we can influence and change it) but be not of the world (where the world influence and change us).

The shepherd searches for the sheep until he finds it (Luke 15:4). The woman also searches for the lost coin until she finds it. (Luke 15:8)
Love is not satisfied by a favourable percentage between those who are safe and those who are lost. With the sheep, 99% were safe; with the coin, 90%; and with the son, 50%. Who wouldn't want these kind of church-growth statistics? Most of us would rejoice, pat ourselves on our backs for doing a good job if 99% of the people in KL were in church.
Souls are not digits or percentages. When someone's child has died, we wouldn't go to his/her parents and say: "Never mind ma.. You still got other children.."

GOD REJOICES WHEN THE LOST ARE FOUND!!

The shepherd, the woman, and the father all rejoiced and wanted others to share their joy when the lost were found. Only one person did not rejoice: the elder son. The elder son represents the church which can go with business as usual in the Father’s house, and yet not be concerned with the lost, and never putting in any effort to find them. He represents any religious person whose relationship with God has grown lukewarm. He is the individual who has never agonized at all over a missing prodigal. He never shared the father's heartache, not does he share the tears of joy when the missing comes home.

I pray that I wouldn't be like the elder son. I pray even harder that it wouldn't be because of my mistakes or wrong choices that causes other people to stumble. And it's also important that we as children of God take on God's desire. To reach out and bring back all who are lost. Not to be satisfied or contented until all are found.

Tagged By Ju Han

Tagged by Ju Han

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions.

What is your name: Eliza
A four letter word: East
A boy’s name: Edward
A girl’s name: Eliza? Okay, Elaine
An occupation: Engineer
A color: Emerald
Something you’ll wear: Earrings
A food: Egg
Something found in the bathroom: Electric Hairdryer =p
A place: England
A reason for being late: Enter wrong class
Something you’d shout: Eh!!
A movie title: E.T.
Something you drink: Espresso
A musical group: Evanescence
An animal: Elephant
A street name: Jalan Emas
A type of car: Electric? It didn't say brand
The title of a song: Everything I Do I Do It For You
Tag 5 people: Does it have to be 'e' as well? can it be 'everybody'? =p (I doubt anyone has that name though)

Fuh!! Really spent so much time thinking what starts with 'e'. Some I cheated and googled. What to do? I'm not a dictionary.

MU's Meet The Fans Session

Finally something worth writing. Last Friday, 17th July, Wing, Kok, Liak Shern and I went for Manchester United's Meet The Fans Session at Mandarin Oriental. The tickets couldn't be bought outside. So thanks to her we got them.

The Tickets

Not many people turn up as tickets were hard to come by. Met Rashid Salleh there. He's an ESPN presenter and actor, in case you were wondering.

From left: Me, Kok, Rashid Salleh, Liak

There were 5 players there. Anderson, Wayne Rooney, Jonny Evans, Zoran Tošić and Fabio.

With Rooney

Zoran Tošić

It was a very memorable and rare experience. Really enjoyed it thoroughly.

Random #4

Had F7 EDC today. Almost overslept again. =)

After that had lunch at Pyramid. Ate at Ajisen Ramen. Ordered something which I forgot the name. (It was quite long and I just finished F7 class). They had there in the menu 3 chillies so I ordered expecting it to be spicy. It turned out to not have any single spiciness. So I added more chilli to make it spicier but it is still not spicy at all. Quite disappointed, really. But the food's okay.

Then we went to watch Angel & Demons. It was smart, as usual, Dan Brown. Some parts were quite predictable even though I haven't read the book. (Maybe because I'm as smart as them). Haha.

Other than that, a pretty normal day.

My Bones Are Brittling!!

Went to Pyramid with family yesterday. They had this Anlene promo or something (I don't know what you call it as my english not good). They had a bone examination to know the quality and strength of bones. So me, not wanting to be left out, saja go and try try.

Filled up some form and lined up for a short while only (around 5 minutes). The person asked me to put my right leg on some machine and after that he recorded the results on the form. I saw that it was in the low risk range and was quite happy with myself. They then directed me to another person who gave the consultation. He looked at me and said "This is not good. You only have 0.3 whereas the max is 2 and at your age you are supposed to be at least 1.5." He said this was probably due to my lack of calcium intake and too much coffee. He asked me to drink less than 2 cups a day, exercise at least 3 times a week and take 1000mg calcium a day. He said some other stuff as well which didn't really register in my brain as I was busy thinking 'No!! Not the coffee!!' :(

After that, I went and see my mum's results. Believe it or not, she got a 1.9!! Much much higher than me. Hahaha.. My dad was in the average risk zone almost nearing the high risk zone. Hmmm...

Probably it's all the hard work my mum always calls us to do. Probably it's because the machine was already spoilt. Probably because it was Mother's Day so we let her win. Argh!!

Care Or Don't Care?

Feeling down lately. Been juggling a lot of things and almost stressed out.

These few days I've been doing a lot of thinking. Is the way I treat people right? If I don't care, I'm considered not a good friend. If I care, people misunderstand and take it the wrong way. Been seriously thinking, what should I do? I'm really confused and helpless. Feel very pressurized.

I'm still deciding whether to take 3 or 4 papers this seating. I'm not sure whether I can cope with 4.

Can It Stop?

These few days have been quite stressful. A few sleepless nights and long hours of classes. Maybe that's why I'm quite moody these days. Not because I'm angry at anyone. Probably a little emo.

Too many things going on right now. Some I don't know how to settle without hurting anyone in the process. Some stuff I did and said which I now regret and am now trying to pull myself out of it. Some stuff that I appreciate but wish I don't know anything and can act like it hasn't happen. Hmm.. Really confused..

Just hoping things won't stay this way. OR maybe it's just the weather.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

After around half a year not blogging, I decided to post something. Seems like time passes toooo quickly and I just wish I have more than just 24 hours. There's too much things to be done and so less sleep, less play and more work.

These few days weather has been so hot I wonder whether it's gonna be like Melbourne. Hopefully not. I already have not enough sleep. So far it has only been 32 degrees. So not YET like Melbourne. But if the haze continues.. who knows?

Finally, just wanna wish a few people happy birthday.. Alex (18th Feb) and Darren (19th Feb). Happy Birthday and many returns..

Lots of love,
Eliza