Cranking Up the Will!

My dearest readers,

Sorry for my loooooong absence... It's been a tiring 3 months for me. I have much to share, but my schedule has been like a relationship of a rusty nut and bolt - Tight!

I notice the hit count is still increasing (but very slowly) despite my loooooong absence. Thank you so much for visiting my blog.

I would like to share with all of you some pictures I took during one of my gallivant to KLCC last year...

yes... last year. No pictures this year leh... I'm so looking forward for a vacation... But as for now, I'm busy building my little baby NSA together with a few good men (ladies included).

I really need to unscrew meself.

I didn't have any idea what picture I wanted to take when I was at KLCC. So, I took whatever that caught my attention, such as the wood carving. Kudos to the one who carved this piece of art - a dying breed!

The flaural carvings reminded me of life. However, it was merely a representation of life as wood is devoid of life. Man has always tried to duplicate it but none can match God's creation!

-life in all its glory! (Pictures taken at the KLCC water park)

Being humans, we are often never satisfied with the life that is given to us. We like to complicate matters in which we think will add to our happiness - chasing after the wind.

...But often times, instead of living our lives, we ended up cleaning the mess that we have created.

... Some just couldn't be bothered.

Sometimes, we need to be still and pay attention to God. He will show us a way out. (Pictures taken at the cafe at Kinokuniya).

Hope you have enjoyed my little tour to KLCC park. Will be posting more pictures soon. Catch y'all later!

Christmas 2006

This post is dedicated to all my Metro friends and especially to those who are overseas.

Christmas at Thirumal's this year was quiter than last year. Quite a number of 'regulars' didn't turn up this year. Maybe because it's on a Monday and most of us had to go back to work the next day. Also, there were a few who were stuck in foreign land... you absence did make a difference...

This year, although there was no carolling, we had a great sing-along session. I'll let the pictures tell the story...

"This is how we are gonna sing it..."

"Music..." "...and.. On the first day of Christmas my lover gave to me..."

Singing was actually a rather tiring activity. We needed to replenish our energy, and so, the eating continued...

Of course, there were a few who stayed back for the camera while the rest were pigging outside...

The photos of Christmas past (Christmas 2005), which I have held back for one year. Do accept my apologies... it is now available. Just drop me a line.

... and that's me.
Hope you have enjoyed the photos. I wish you all a very blessed New Year and may your walk with God be strengthened, and the Lord shall bring many blessings and opportunity to you for the year 2007!

Santa didn't Make It After All!

This is a sequel to "Santa Clause Ain't Comin To Town"

Date: 25th December 2006
Time: MYT 1705hr
Temperature: 33 Degrees Celcius

Sigh... waddya know... It's already Christmas. and there were no presents found under my mango tree, bonsai tree, Longan tree, and every other tree that I have planted...

Since there were no news whatsoever about the whereabouts of Santa, we could only make the following assumptions:

1) He did try to come to Malaysia. But the hot weather dehyrated his reindeers, and they all crash landed into the sea and drowned, or smashed into the mountains and fused with the rocks at the mainland.

2) Arrested by the Malaysian police while trying to break into the houses of Malaysian residence to deliver presents. (If Santa was to be arrested by the Malaysian Police, I bet his reindeers would end up being Ramli burger patties! ^o^)

3) Retired and now residing in the Islands of Caribean (=.=), or

4) THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SANTA CLAUSE!!! (*o*)

Truth is, boys and girls, as much as you would like to believe about his existence, I think point number 4 is the most likely answer. Well, you can blame Thomas Nast and Coca Cola for making Santa popular. It was Thomas Nast who breathed life to the image of St. Nicholas (a.k.a Santa Clause) and later commercialised by Coca Cola Corporation, where Santa got his famous red coat with white hairy edges. (do click on the links above to find out more)

So why on earth does the world even bother to acknowledge Santa? ...

Santa Clause Ain't Comin To Town!

Date: 24th December 2006
Time: MYT 1810 hr
Temperature: 30 degrees Celcius

... Still no signs of Santa Clause. Wonder if he will come tonight... I have been a good boy this year. I should deserve some gifts. Let see what gifts he will bring... Deep down in my heart there is a doubt that I will receive anything from Santa. Not because I have not been good, but because I'm in Malaysia. I figure, if he were to come to Malaysia, he'd probably crash land into the South China Sea (If he were to be coming from that direction). The logical reason would be IT'S TOO DARN HOT IN SOUTH EAST ASIA!

His reindeer would probably dehydrate before arriving at the Malaysian shores. They would have passed out and spiraled into the open sea. Should that happen, Santa's thick red coat would have soacked up so much water during the crash, and its weight would have dragged him down into the abyss!

Anyway, these are just my anticipation... Let's see what will happen tonight. If he survives, he'll have one more hurdle to go through. There's no chimney in Malaysia, so he will have to break into the house from else where. He'd better be good at picking locks! Suppose he manages to break in, I hope he knows where to leave the presents because we have mango trees, Yam trees, Bosai trees, Neem trees, and all sort of other trees but Christmas trees. Okay... maybe I'm exaggerating... we do have fake Christmas trees... But, what does Christmas has to do with Fir trees, Cedar trees, or Spruce? (These are the few common species of trees used as Christmas trees if you do not know it by now)

If he does his job right, he should just leave the presents and go off. But if I find him kissing my mom (for the all wrong reasons), you will have to get your presents from him at the Sungai Buloh Jail next year. Don't expect to get luxurious presents by then because the good ones would have been confiscated by the jail wardens.

For now, I'll just be patient...

The Day That I Fell ...

All my life of hiking and climbing, I have sustained injuries like scratches, cuts, hit by a bicycle saddle at my groin, but never one so serious that I had to be on crutches, or in a wheel chair.

On the Sunday of 10 December 2006, everything changed...

I was again hiking up Bukit Tabur with two friends. It was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear and blue. This time, Lydia was setting the pace. We were hiking into the lower parts of the hill, at the second decend. This part of the hill is usally well shaded and cool - a perfect habitat for moss and algae.

While busy chatting, I misplaced my footing and slipped. My body weight pushed my right leg downwards, perpendicular to the ground. The angle of the rock where I steped on caused my foot to twist inwards. The forward motion of my body caused it to further bent leftwards. To absorb the impact, I lunged my body forward and leftwards (to avoid falling off the edge). The leftward motion pushed my ankle further in. This caused a huge jolt at the Calcaneofibular ligament and the Anterior talofibular ligament. The downward force applied at my ankle during this moment was approximated to be more than 1400 pounds (body mass (kg) x gravitational force x 2.205).

The pain was excruciating. I quickly elevated my foot and checked for damage. There were no swelling, bruises, nor crunching sounds. All seemed fine except for the throbing pain. I was thinking to myself "God, help! Christmas production in 3 days away, and I'm one of the cast! Oh let me not me cast away! Please heal me..."

I stood up to test my foot. I could still stand, and walk with a little limp. I was quite confident that there were no broken bones nor detached ligaments. Saw, my good friend passed me a make shift walking stick and advised me to turn back. But I insisted to continue as we were more than three quarter of the way to the sweet spot. And so, we pressed on. It was worth while as you can see... sunrise at Bukit Tabur.

The view changed as the sun warmed up the morning air...

Miss Bukit Tabur shying away from the sun until...

She noticed my camera aiming at her... (actually I asked her to post for my camera lah)

My good friend Saw eager to get into the scene as well...

I must say, they sure no how to post for the camera!

The lady and her homemade carrot cake... though the cake didn't turn as how she expected, it still tasted rather good! (what did I do to crack her up like that?)

Saw and my walking stick...

That's my injured foot, basking in the glory of the 8 a.m. sun!

All was well untill after breakfast at Melawati town. That's when my foot swelled up. It was so bad I could not walk. Saw had to send me to the hospital, and that was when I had to walked on crutches and sat in a wheel chair! This was indeed the day that I have fallen! But thank God, the doctor confirmed that there was no fracture, only torn ligament. (what were the names of the ligaments again?)

By God's grace, I will be able to make it for the musical! I even invited the doctor to come.

Come and watch Word On The Street and experience the Spirit of Christmas at the Grand Ballroom of Flamingo Hotel this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (15, 16, 17 Dec 2006, 8pm) - more details at www.christmas.metrotab.org