Dreams & Reality

How many of us can actually see our dreams materializing? How may of us dreamed dreams and actually see them come true?

I'm not sure statistically but then I guess not many of us could do so...

Tze Lerk, my ex-classmate from secondary school made a very thought provoking remark to me. "So...lawyer huh.... Your dream came true..."

Wow... That statement made me think so hard. It got me stunned for a while. I'd never got time nor allowed myself to even think about this. Maybe i took all these things for granted.

I always wanted to study law and be a lawyer. All my friends knew this, my family knew this. Heck man!! The whole school knew about this! Ask all my former teachers and they'll tell you that i'm obsessed on becoming a lawyer.

"Lawyer" was always in my Top 3 list of profession. Remember those days when we need to fill in the stoopid card during primary and secondary school? It changes all the time... Police la, fireman la, scientist la...But somehow i noticed "lawyer" was always in there, no matter how low i ranked it.

Coincidence? Now that I think about it, I think it's not coincidence. I think this is my calling in life and that God had placed me in this profession for a reason, a good reason of yet i have not discover. And i can't wait to open the next door to this journey of my life, my endless life's pursuit.

Now that I'm taking a walk down memory lane, all the bittersweet memories when i was in school (scary teachers, "evil" friends...), how i screwed my SPM, how hard i worked for my STPM in order to get into law school.... Wow!! It's a miracle!

God's been really good, gracious and merciful to me.

I made it to law school (UKM), i managed to maintain my grades, i managed to get myself a good job prospect, i managed to travel to 3 countries within my 4 years of studies (fully paid!)...

Yes... I saw my dreams came true indeed.

Punked!

Was punked by ZLW's partners yesterday. What the...

I smsed LG to tell her i'll be visiting them on Friday. She sounded excited in the sms and she's gonna introduce me to their "new, handsome, young partner". Hmm...since when did they have a new partner and me not knowing anything bout it...

So i asked TJ over on MSN bout it. He used to be the chambie in ZLW under WM and he's still in touch with everyone there so he'll have some news bout it.

"What do you mean you don't know who? Cannot be. LG would've told you. What you mean you don't talk about work with her? Liar..."

In the end, i chose to believe him coz he sounded sincere and i have a naive and good heart (muahahaha....^^)

Went straight to 3A, Block B, Megan Avenue II near KLCC. Got into the office and chit chat with CZ and WM. Then LG came down.

"So, want to know our new partner? Hey! Partner! Come, come!"

And voila....

IT WAS TJ!!!!!!!! ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got punked!!! I was screaming like mad in the office (which is unethical. The office's supposed to be a sombre, serious working space...) and i gave him a nice slap to the arm for such an evil trick on me. I was still in shock!!

I have suspected it could be him, especially when he told me that he has a say in selecting chambering students. Darn!!! DARN!!!!!!

That was one of the best punks that someone pulled on me, other than Cle's Kelantan-Golok trick and Phil's UN trick.

Everybody's manipulating my good and pure, believing heart.

Porke!!!! Doshite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's it. Revenge is coming soon. I might not know how to execute it now, but when i do... You're so dead, TJ.... DEAD.

Sugoi!

Suga Shikao.

My new fav Jap singer/songwriter.

Check out his songs on youtube.

I was introduced to him by my friends back in Tasmania and boy! He is good!

His music has a blend of everything. Rock, R&B, Pop....even Disco!

Kiseki (Miracle) is my current favourite but there are other good stuff from him as well such as:

1. Tsuki no Naifu
2. Natsukage
3. Yozora no Mukou
4. Sanagi
5. Gogo no Parade

There are tons more of good songs by him. Some might seemed familiar to you. That's because they've been made soundtracks on anime "Honey & Clover", "XXXholic" and also Deathnote.

Check it out!

Suga Shikao - Kiseki

I'm So Dead

Tomorrow's my first CP class under Mona Fandey and I'm so dead coz I'm supposed to mug on 5 cases but I have absolutely 0 idea on what they are about since I've missed 2 classes now. Darn!

Don't care. I'm gonna take my chances and go ahead with it. But hopefully I don't get slaughtered alive in her tutorial tomorrow. *gulp*

Another bad news is our CF = Christian Fellowship known as PERKEB in UKM. We're no longer allowed to hold any meetings within uni grounds coz there's a new law out which bans all forms of religious classes other Islam within UKM. The basis for disallowing us to continue was that our sermons = religious classes. The rest is history.

The devil's working really hard to bring us down in Malaysia but we'll never give up nor let our guard down. Bring it on, Satan! We're ready for you and we'll win this battle coz God the Almighty is with us! Jesus rose up victorious after 3 days of his death. So you think you can bring down this God of ours? No way dude...

I do hope NECF and FES would voice out on our behalf on this issue. Whatever happen to freedom of religion and freedom of expression? It's not as if we are propagating Christianity to the Muslims on UKM grounds!

This is insane! Outrageous!

Totally insensitive to the founders of the Constitution and of the country. I believe they never had thought that one fine day, such Pekeliling would be issued to stop the minorities from practicing what they believe.

I do hope the relevant authorities would realised what would the consequences of their actions be especially in preaching Malaysia is a democratic country when reality speaks otherwise. They too, must always remember all their power comes from God above, and not from their own might nor by elections only.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"

(Proverbs 1:7)

A Week Now...

It's been a week now since i'm back in Malaysia.

All been's well, except i'm always tired and my sinus has come back to haunt me again, after going MIA for almost 2 months in Tassie.

On my 1st day back, i almost got myself killed while riding on my trustee scooter. It was raining, i didn't see a pothole coming, went into it, bounced back up to find my tyre a goner, almost lost control of my scooter and crashed, with the risk of oncoming cars running all over me!

Argh!! I forgot how lousy Malaysian roads are already!

Then there's tons of work to catch up with, with tutorials already starting next week (What!!!) I'm not even ready yet and i guess i'm the blurest person in class now.

Everyone said I put on weight already. *Totemo Kanashi!*

Other than that, i had quite a fun weel, binging on nasi lemak, char kuey teow and durian.

Been sweating as well which is good since i haven't been sweating for 2 months now. But my hands feel like falling off after the badminton game.

Saw Olympians Lee Chong Wei, Hafiz Hashim, Misbun Sidek and a reserve player, Darren Liew (hahaha!! not d goofy Darren Liew @ Yati!). Not bad, not bad... well, everybody was being cooperative by not gawking or running all over them when they were there. Occasionally there were some hardcore fan who were dying for an autograph and a picture.

Alright, back to my reports. Hope all goes well with my Bangkok trip next 2 weeks now since i'm broke and no sponsors.

Please pray for me yea!! hahaha... thanks! to cheh! kamsa hamnida! arigatou!

Sameshi to Tanoshi

Home sweet Home.

I'm finally back in Malaysia after my 2 month stint in Tasmania.

Sameshi... Ye, i'm missing all my friends and all the beautiful things in Tassie.

I missed the wonderful and fun hostel life, which is very different from Malaysian public uni hostel life. Tanoshi tashkani ne~

I missed practicing Japanese with my Jap & Msian frens there.

I missed the noisy and yucky dining hall food.

I missed walking for hours from UTas down to Sandy Bay and to Hobart.

I missed having to climb up the hill and stairs to John Fisher College and not sweat one bit.

I missed the chilling wind and biting cold weather of Tassie.

I missed the fact that sinus healed on its own in cold and dry Tassie.

But...

I'm happy...tanoshi to ureshi...that i'm back home.

Happy to see my nephew finally walking.

Happy to taste my nasi lemak (with sambal & chilli!!) for breakfast again instead of greasy & creamy food in dining hall.

Happy to ride on my scooter (but almost crashed as i went into a pothole...dang! Malaysian road...)

Happy to be able to wear shorts & t-shirt, not having to put on layers of clothing before stepping out.

Happy to eat Aunty's tasty Chinese food (with much taste) and yummy soup (not those creamy, tasteless soup in Aussie).

Happy to binge on durian yesterday!!! (but missing Tassie's crunchy, juicy & sweet apple).

Sameshi soshite tanoshi tashkani.

Oboteru ne, Tasmania.

Of Maze & Snow

It's fun being trapped in the world's largest maze and it's scary at the same time as there were some corner that were so dark I felt like i was in one of M.Night Shyamalan's horror movies. Brr... someone or something might just pounce on you in the middle of nowhere. Thank goodness there were 8 of us so we split according to pairs ala Amazing Race style with checkpoints.

Oh yea, forgot to introduce the place. Welcome to Tazmazia in Sheffield, the Town of Murals. It the World's Largest Maze and there's a mini village in the maze called Lower Crackpot, with chieftain Crackpot and his wife, Lady Crackpot as the mayor of the village.

It's a cool place to be but unfortunately it was raining when we were there so it was freezing and muddy at the same time. It would be more fun if the weather's good. There are several mazes in The Great Maze so you're bound to get stuck in all of them as it's really tricky. There's a lavender field as well but since it's winter, everything died so it's only one brown patch.

We all travelled up to Cradle Mt. after that to our cabin in YHA. We got lost (again) on the way there as the place's really "ulu" and the road signs were bad. No help whatsoever. We ended up being stuck near a dam and it was already dark. The road was slippery from the rain and frost so it's really scary. Poor Darren have to get out of the car to navigate the Kia Carnival Jeremy was driving. Haha... he was freaked out when he was sent ot face Mother Nature alone.

We had a nice steamboat for dinner and it's the best thing in the world since it was 0 degrees celcius outside. The cabin kitchen had a traditional fireplace so it really felt like Christmas. All that was missing was the carols and turkey. There was a fat possum waiting outside the door for food but obviously, we're not going to give it to that fat guy! The room was warm and nice so I did slept like a pig throughout the night.

I was greeted with massive snowfalls the next morning and the whole place was just covered in white white snow. It's cold but i still need my shower. Don't care.

I can't really see the snow then i woke up at 5.15am and it's still very dark outside. Only about 7.30am that I managed to see the full effect of the snow. The whole forest was white and it was like in the movie, "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "LOTR"!! (I know Bern wanna diss me with NZ stuff dy...) We took tons of pictures together as well as having massive snowfights. The snow is basically ice but it's soft so you can throw it at someone without having to worry that person will get a serious concussion. But it was too cold and i think my camera can't really take it. So it kaputed when we were hiking around Lake St. Clair which is below Cradle Mt.

It took us 3 hours to finish the whole hike trail and this was when i started to despise the snow. The snow wasn't altogether consistent as in certain parts, it rained then 5 minutes later, it snowed again. FYI, it doesn't snow gently, it was buckets and buckets of snow pouring down on you that you'll be drenched by the end of the day as our body's warm enough to melt it. Cis! It also rain hailstones occasionally. Luckily, it's not the golfball-size hail or else die... But it's painful la, like having lots of small pebbles hitting you.

Overall, i had fun but driving in such extreme weather can be dangerous. The road's really slippery with snow and water (our car got stuck halfway to the lake because of the snow. Thank goodness there's an irritated ranger who might be cursing the stupid Asians to perdition for driving in 3 inches of snow when they're not supposed to) and we travelled back on the same day Masa got into the car crash. Scary~ Lots of time we almost drove into the boulder on the side of the road due to the bad view (our windscreen was fogged up with vapor) and sleets.

Thank God we arrived in Hobart in 1 piece.

Therefore, going to Cradle Mountain in winter is strongly recommended.

Warning!

Beware of balck ice and very slippery (i mean it!) roads.

Cradle Mountain

Extremely cold!!

Fellow Roadtrippers

Tazmazia in Lower Crackpot

With Vimalan

Hidoi!

One of my friends here, Masa was involved in a really bad car accident when he and my other friends were travelling to Burnie (above Launceston). The road was slippery as it was covered with frost after a cold and rainy day. The car spunned and smashed into a tree.

He suffered a fractured left arm and worse, fractured his backbone.

Doctors said he was lucky that he could still move his legs and he did not feel any tingling or numb sensations to his legs as one of his spine bones was shattered and it was squishing against his spinal cord. Any further damage would have paralysed him as the cord will be severed.

I was really shocked and scared when I got the news coz it reminded me of what happen a year back when Veronica, who died in a similar accident in NZ during winter as well. I was travelling to Cradle Mountain in heavy snow so I do know how scary it was driving in such bad condition.

I've been visiting him in Royal Hobart Hospital 2 days now. He looked pretty bad when i first visited him but he's better now, since we have been entertaining him all the way. He was given "special" treatment by the girls as we all took turns to wait on him, feeding him and applying cream on him (he has a bad case of eczema).

He can't move at all as he was in neck braces and he cannot move his back as it's still vey fragile. So he was just lying very still on the bed but thank goodness he could at least move his right hand.

His fellow Japanese friends were kind enough to get him magazines (including Penthouse...which the girls didn't approve) and Ryo has been his translator to Masa's family ever since. We were also trying to get him to eat as he has been refusing food for fear of having to pass motion. I do know how it feels like. You wouldn't want someone to help you do your "business" and it's quite shameful as well. But the nurses were telling us to persuade him to eat.

Since i'm older than him (i'm older than most of everyone else here), I get to play the role of okasan (mom) and/or oneesan (big sister). Therefore, i have the ultimate power to make threats and harassments so that at least he eats something, even if it's only half a banana. I've also been pumping in chocolate milk and water in him and if he says no, i'll always give my deadly stare. Hahaha.... and he always give in in the end...

I don't know why I feel/emphatize with him or why i would take the effort to visit him in the hospital everyday while i can to take care of him but i think it's partly because the whole situation reminded me of my late cousin, Eddy who died of brain tumour 7 years ago. I couldn't do anything back then because i was in school but now that i have an opportunity to do so, i will try my best to give my moral support to Masa. Somehow, when i look at him, i also feel the pain and the suffering he has to go through. He told me that he needs his friends around him, not food. Gosh~ especially when his family is so far away and won't be coming over.

He will be transfered to another hospital this Tuesday to undergo a major surgery to have the shattered backbone removed and to have rods inserted to reinforce his spine. When the doctor explained the whole procedure to him (we were there as well), i felt like crying and i could imagine the pain he has to go through. God! But he has been very strong and courageous and he's been holding up very well on his own, unlike one of his ward mate (thank goodness in another room) who's been screaming and moaning since the day he's been admitted all the time. It was very disturbing as it sounded like something out of a horror movie and Masa couldn't sleep well because of that as well. I feel like taking something to knock that fella out cold and out of mercy as well. Sheesh!! Give us a break dude!! But Masa told me he understood why that guy was screaming like that.... I know he's in much pain but he's trying hard not to show it to show to keep us from worrying.

I'll try to visit him as much as i can before i head back to Malaysia for good next week and please do pray for his speedy recovery and for God to just give him all the strength and courage that he needs to go through this painful process of recovery.

Apple Story: Part 2

Dear all,

Just in case you're waiting for the sequel to my Apple incident, i have news...

GOOD NEWS!!!! HALLELUJAH!

Apparently, i was one of the lucky people who got saman during the transition period in the hierarchy of the office. So whoever got saman then, it will be withdrawn and we will only be receiving a warning letter instead.

YAHOO!!!!!!!!

I couldn't believe my ears and i know this is a miracle. I've been praying like mad for my fine to be waived coz they initially called me, they told me my saman was still standing and my appeal letter has been rejected. But then he wasn't sure about it. After he checked the whole thing again, he told me the good news. I could've kiss him if that guy was with me... Hahaha!

God's been really good to me.

Everything i had wished to do and complete has been done.

I wish to see snow - done.

I wish my fine being waived - done.

I wish to see the whole of Hobart - done.

I wish to go to Launceston and Cradle Mountain - done.

I wish to see snow on Mount Wellington - done.

I wish to fit in with my fellow collegemate - done.

I wish to see the Cadbury choc factory - done.

I wish to see kangaroos, koalas, tasmanian devils, wallabies & wombats - done.

I am grateful indeed to God for this wonderful opportunity. Being here in Tassie was something I have never dream of and now I am here without having to pay a single cent.

This is a miracle indeed.

And I can say with conviction that I am truly blessed by God.

Best!

I finally experienced my first snow ever. I was up in Cradle Mountain on a road trip with 7 other friends here. We drove up to Launceston, which took about 4 hours ++ and it was raining, not forgetting miserably cold out there.

We got to Sheffield, the so-called Town of Murals (but i didn't really see a lot of murals) to Tazmazia, the world's largest maze and paid $16 to get lost inside. Oh yea.... did I mention Vimalan was also part of the group? Hehehe.... (in case you dunno who's Vimalan, he's a fellow friend from St Thomas). It was great being in there, getting lost and it's quite scary as well coz the place was really big and the hedges were tall (REALLY tall). There were quite a number of dark areas around, so the guys would love to hide behind these places and pounce on the girls. Imagine the screams.... hahaha! I'm one of the people who pounced on them... :)

Cradle Mountain was cold. And snow.... wasn't like what i had imagine. You do get excited when you see white fluffy stuff falling from the sky but beware, it's messy. It melts rather quickly, especially when you run inside the cabin where it's warm. Everything just turns into water and you'll have puddles of water everything.

Cold & soaking wet...

My legs almost broke then as well as we went hiking around Lake St. Clair which is surrounded by picturesque views of Cradle Mountain. It's really like something out of Chronicles of Narnia or LOTR. No joke dudes~ Not bluffing either....I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Oh ye... back to hiking story. We hike for about 3 hours before we reached the checkpoint and by then, my fingers feel like falling off from the cold. We are to be blame as well la coz we were having a massive snow fight without waterproof gloves. So... you get the picture.

Sorry~ can't upload the pictures now as my internet in the room expired so i'll leave it til next time.

Bye bye~