Meaningful Birthday

A special birthday for me. More so for me, i believe it's a moment that i felt it so much at home someday in few months ago that i believe it's a calling for me to fulfill one of my life missions. "Life helps lives. Life touches lives. Life loves the lives of others."

To initiate and organize it wasn't tough but it was the coordination part that challenged me lot. As i looked back and reflected the process with the moment when my hands were held by those old folks, i am telling myself and God that it was worthy all along. It was and will be worthy. This moment you might see them but who knows the next round we revisit, people will be different already.

Sometimes, it isn't always about money, it isn't always about what's the return, it isn't always about we being busy, but it is just to fork out a few hours of our time, or even just a few minutes for these abandoned ones. Physical appearance meant so much. It's enough to see the wrinkled faces lit up by happiness and joy. It's enough for them to find some young faces to chat and it's more than enough for them to feel themselves as a parent to some of us (just for that few secs), for them to give us some strokes of hair, for them to give advice like a mum or dad. It is also reasonable for us to put words into action for the community.

I was happy because my minimum expectation was made. A friend was rightly mentioned that not a lot of people are of the same direction. Therefore, I didn't even dare to make a great expectation. All i know is we still can start somewhere, especially we, the Canossian Convent girls should do a lil bit more further than the rest because apart from the old folks, it is also about the caregivers (the sisters) that we could visit. Start small. Give a lil bit more. That's all they need and that's also what we can do :)

Psalm 18: 28-29 - "You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall."

It was a special birthday that i created for myself, first time ever.

Happy Birthday :)

p/s: The photo above was a surprise souvenir from one of the sisters. Appreciate it.

SDCU Retreat 2011

It's SDCU Retreat for real! =) It was an interesting gathering with... insects, animals and jungle for 3 days 2 nights! Haha! =) Managed to see fireflies that lit the jungle like christmas tree :) It was indeed a greater one as compared to the previous round when i went. Nevertheless, the fee has increased drastically. -_-"

The six of us that made up the firefly trip to RM 90 @_@"

For your info, we didn't even bathe when we reached on Friday night.
We went straight for firefly! Check out the t-shirt we wore o_O"

虾膏饭 in the morning market in Pasir Penanmbang! :)
Yum! with the sambal!

Actually, i quite like Firefly Park Resort :)

Then, we headed to Sekinchan, around 1/2 hour drive from Kuala Selangor :) So, finally we got to see the real paddy field :) Love the greens and the sky! It was scorching hot but the sky somehow filled with bit and pieces of gloomy clouds :)

Very first group photo =)
It's quite challenging for a short hand person to snap a group of six.

Then, we headed to Fish Village :) Nth special but smelly.

We never felt a single second of hunger. Kept on feeding ourselves with good food. Lunch was covered with seafood, eg, shark porridge (plain soup and spicy styles)

Very interesting dish: Spicy fried shrimps! Fresh!

Kung bo Sotong! :D Yummy!

Big kid (Amy) was playing bubbles :)
Fatt Mee bought us bubble stick for this trip purpose!

We went to Bukit Malawati in Kuala Selangor in the evening after the rain :)

Met many of our ancestors in black and brown. Mostly in blacks :D

Lighthouse on the hill- Historical heritage

Have you seen Malaysian version of Spice Girls? Here they are... XD

I like this group photo lots :)

It was windy and happy.

Then, we headed to Jeram for Ikan Bakar, namely Aroma Ikan Bakar. It is a huge place to makan ikan bakar, operated by malays. Very affordable to have seafood here.

On the last day morning, we had our own sharing session. On and off we did have our programme on our own for bonding purpose, which include self-discovery and get to know each other more. So, that particular morning, we shared our view on ourselves and our job. We also drew on the stones for each of us as a form of encouragement that never fade.

So concentrate except Ker Shin =X

Before heading back to KL, we went to Klang for Bakuteh. I must say this is the most delicious one by far. The dried and the soup ones :D

I believe it must be a momentous trip for me because it is our first time spending 3 days 2 nights together as a team out of office. More to come, i hope! :)

Watery Evening!

Sometimes, life can be very very fun! It allows you to be crazy. It allows you to think out of the box. It also allows you to break the rules! :)

Celebrated Chyun Fang's first birthday in SDCU in a very very special way. The plot was set in such a great timing and everyone was so good in acting. Things were in order, even the throwing to the swimming pool part was great! (not the part that i was a victim, too).

It was the craziest one by far after Amy's. It's getting more and more "serious" in planning those sabotaged birthday. Now, i guess ppl are quite afraid their birthdays to come. Haha! Anyways, wish Chyun Fang have a superbly memorable birthday with water and us! :)

This photo was cut from the video. I actually requested a student to "record" this down for us but to cheat CF to take a group photo.

The teamwork was great! =)

Plan had a special outcome: me into the water -.-"

so did my phone :/

Then, we had a birthday dinner at Alexis after cleaning up ourselves.

She loves this cake lots =)

i do hope we all can celebrate more and more birthdays together =)

Chyun Fang loves fishballs, so, these 26 balls were for her because she turned 26! Haha!

appreciate the friendships a lot =)

Dr. Biles's Birthday

Never in my life meeting such a kind and giving person. Dr. Biles is the very first person that i consider an angel from God. I knew her through working in UCSIU. Every year, she will come to Malaysia to spread her knowledge and experiences in term of counselling. Trust me, her schedule will be packed each time she touches down this land, filled with trainings, conferences, workshops and classes. Sometimes, listening to her, it's not so much with the position as a student-lecturer, but more so a mentor who guides us in a very different view in regards of counselling and life.

What's more, knowing her constraints and health, i felt the love even more because she made me understanding what is the word "sacrifice" and "humility". As an experienced person and a counsellor, she still bow down and learn from any individual whom she encounters with. Those precious opportunity spent with her was something we cherish the most.

This year round, we felt extremely honoured to be able to celebrate her 60th birthday with her and her other students/friends. What i can describe about her students is that they are a bunch of women with burning learning spirit because Dr. Biles is such a great motivator in everyone of them.

"You make me ME." was what she said during her birthday party. Again, her humility has taught me that no matter how good you are, how well-equipped you are, being humble is the greatest asset in human for us to continue to be a contributing individual. Dr. Biles, i wish you'll have a good year ahead and may God grant you with good health, great family and friends and give you blessing in any decision/action you do. =)

We blessed her with a huge birthday card and an iPad (this was a contribution from many many people who love her lots).

prayer from pastor to bless Dr. Biles during her birthday :) it was an emotional night for many of us because Dr. Biles has touched many lives in Malaysia.

a place called Batam

A step to Batam this time round was fruitful. The fruitfulness wasn't about how fun was it, how much we spent and how good the trip was, but for me, honestly, it's the much insights that i've gained through my own eyes to look at the culture, the people and the place.

I see- poverty. The rich and the poor leave such a big gap within this little island. From one end you will see people eating ayam penyet in a restaurant, on the other end you see people sitting down by the streets to beg and most of them were cacat. I saw kids (who're supposed to have fun during their childhood) begged for money; I also witnessed a kid pulling a tray of buckets by her own lil hands. My heart sunk at that moment and i was in the bus.

During that split second, i thought i was so fortunate.

I see- the culture. The culture of selling stuff by the streets with this small cart. It's so small that probably only 3 ppl can stand comfortably to choose the goods. I see how visitors compared and bargained, as though the bags were not at the cheapest rate but for me it was already. I see competition among those vendors because they are selling almost the same thing. I got to see the batik too :) It was nicely done. To my dismay, the culture of smoking also quite frightening. Indons smoke anywhere, anytime. There's no designated place for smoker, not even a hotel lobby. There's no "NO SMOKING" signage at all! =x

I see- friendliness. I believe we always have stigma against indonesians due to the social issues. It's undeniable that they can be quite a nasty bunch but they are also simple version on their very own. They are friendly and humble. Most importantly, i feel they appreciate whatever they receive from us. I am thankful to our tourguide-Fendi who took care of us, especially in terms of our safety. Apparently locals are quite superb in snatching stuffs.

the chips were fresh! :)

I see- sacrifices. To us, eating up fire and glass, jumping over the fire ring are thrilling performance. When i look at them, i felt "What a sacrifice they have been doing all these while at no charge but to solely depend on the tips received..." I was truly amazed. I wonder was the stomach painful after that.

This trip to Batam made me love Malaysia in a broader sense where we're much developed and advance. At least I know we have food to eat, we have good bus to ride and we have a better living environment. Indonesians are friendly bunch. The service received was great and welcoming. The food was delicious yet affordable. Nevertheless, the security of this island will make me think twice for a revisitation. Thanks for all for this trip. Appreciate it. =)

Creamy Wednesday

It's been ages for such celebration to bump into the real world of ours! :) We're still young, come'on! :) It was Amy's birthday on last Wednesday, well, she's quite easily "planned". The surprise zoomed in quite fast. One moment we're at the stadium to gather all the partners in crime, the next moment we're at the apartment to begin the cream war surprise! :) I had fun! Though we need to spend a lot of time to clean up, but birthday was still the main focus of the night.

I think we had 2 rounds of smashing cream on her. Thanks to Hau Shen who acted so quickly in this. The fake cake just went off "PIAK" on her face like that :) Chun'ted! :) and to our surprise, she didn't expect the CREAM was the main lead of the night :D

2nd round of cream war was during the group photo. "How about to wear a cream crown?" Hehe! And oh boy, the war went off so crazily that some of them hid in my housemate's room and didn't dare to step out! Hahahahah!

The birthday queen!

Glad to have you both around in the house ;)

I can't comprehend why that night i was quite touched seeing everyone had fun with the party. I guess the bond that we have is increasing in a linear way :) I appreciate all of your friendships to me, not just a colleague but more like a playmate, a friend :)

I guess it was an unforgettable night for all of us :)) and we actually had "After-action-review"meeting at mamak for the crime team! ahhahaha! FUN!

Now, who doesn't want us to celebrate your birthday? :)

Raya Break in KL

Colleagues and i decided to do something crazy. We went to Putrajaya for night photoshooting and playing lanterns! Putrajaya never failed to amaze me though i've been here for quite some times. This time round, we managed to see an upgraded version of the bridge. The colours changed in few seconds. It's really interesting and colourful! :) We did some jumping shots.

Betty crowned the best shot for this bridge :)

colour changes

Humongous! :)

Then we headed to a few government buildings just to wander around and snap pics for 4 of us. It's such a pity that i forgot about the tripod. Then i realised there's this function in the camera (frame) that i never used before. Hmmm, nevertheless i still wished to get a hold of my camera and come back here to adjust the functions of the camera.

Serene and I- pattern liao-liao! :Dthis group pic was great! :)

Amy said she looks smaller behind me -_-" so profound wasn't it? and all my fat revealed! ROAR! Anyway, it's quite a great pic too! 温馨 :)

That night, the 3 of them looked really great in any of the photos taken with just the 3 of them.

so, we played lanterns too! :) Some kids came by to see tanglung :D

hehe the camwhore us :D

Serene brought us to this Mewah Club. It's located in the hilltop, houses swimming pool, tennis court, yoga place and a cafe. We chilled at the hill top during wee hour. Witnessed some fireworks. :) Nicey :)

Met Jaden boy at Boulevard Hotel :)
boy boy was a bit cranked, maybe it's the long journey from Penang.
aunties brought him to Toy R' Us! immediately after we came out, he zzz'ed! @_@Betty and i :D

It was very very eventful after i reached KL. @_@ I wonder where does my energy come from but i really thankful to my friends around who always teman me always. God bless everyone! :)