being 19

Birthdays are fun! hehe.

Being a moderately vain person, I'm wishing myself a belated blessed and awesommmmme 19th birthday, and also my 2nd birthday away from home and family.

On Friday night, music practice is as usual, then I had a brief guitar lesson after that. Halfway through the practice, May suddenly told me that an RA had accounced through the intercom that someone was looking for me and told me to go to the office at once. I was dumbfounded for a second and didn't know who would come looking for me at 11pm.

Lo and behold, when I reached the lawn outside Studholme Hall (where my supposedly visitor was waiting), I saw my friends waiting there, with candles on the table, and they started singing Happy Birthday. hehe. Gosh was I touched *wipes away happy tears*.

It was pitch black outide (and really chilly too), and we set up cute heart-shaped candles on the ground surrounding the table, and on the table was a chocolate cheese cake, chicken drumsticks, ice cream, and drinks. Thanks to the girls for making me the home-made chocolate cheese cake, it was so yummy! We sang songs, laughed and basically had a really good time.

Woke up Saturday morning at 9 after 5 hours of sleep. *groggy* But it was my birthday! haha. So I was kinda hyper the whole day, and thanks so much for the Man above for providing such a wonderful weather yesterday. We went to Domino's Pizzas to get job applications for next year: work experience is always good. Went to get some guitar picks (thanks Alex for the cute PINK tortoise pick) and checked out the keyboards for sale. Then, had a yummy lunch at a new Vietnamese restaurant "Saigon" *thumbs up*! Watched Pirates II during the afternoon, Johny Depp rawks!!! *listening to PoTC OST now*

I wasn't expecting any surprises last night, but my friends brought me to the beach to celebrate once again. It was freezing cold as the winds these few days came from the Antartika, but the stars across the skys made it so worthwhile. We chose a place to sit down on the sand, dug a deep hole and placed candles in it, played the guitar, sang a few songs, ate chips, drank sparkling grape juice, and enjoyed the stillness of the night accompanied by the bright stars.

Finally, I'd like to thank all my awesome friends for making my 19th such a memorable and wonderful experience. Thanks so much to Janice, Rebec, May, Sing Sii, Alex, Raymond, and Sarah!!! Love you guys heaps, thanks for the presents, surprises, and for just making my birthday special. =) Thanks also to those who wished me a happy birthday, may all your dreams come true too!

"A reassuring presence
A light when times are dark
A hand reaching out
Is what friendship is about."
-Anonymous

Queenstown trip 06

Studholme College organised a trip to Queenstown last weekend. The whole trip was subsidised at least half the price, so we took the opportunity to tag along .

It was a four hours' drive to Queenstown, the "tourist town" of New Zealand, where there is an activity for everyone: Bungee jumping, skydiving, skiing, snowboarding, paragliding, horseback riding, gondola, luge rides, shotover jets, sandy beaches, fishing, shopping, and so much more.

The journey alone was already worth the $51 dollars I paid. The snow capped mountains, green pastures, blue skies, and cute/fluffy grazing sheep seem so much prettier in real life than those seen on TV! haha. All in all, more than 350 pictures were taken.

We reached Pinewood Lodge around 4pm, and hurried off to the gondola/luge rides without a road map and ended up going through all the "short-cuts". First was the gondola (cable car) ride up the mountains where once again, the view was awesome. Too bad we only bought 2 luge ride tickets coz it was soooo fun! haha. (Imagine go-karts ran only by gravity down a 900m hill, racing against each other).

Next day, we followed the "mystery bus trip" to Arrowtown, a nearby town renowned for being a former Chinese gold-mining settlement, where the Chinese migrated to NZ in the 1800s to dig for gold, literally. I can't believe the actual huts of those who lived there a century ago were still there. The toilets did't even have doors! eeks.

Before the trip back to Dunedin, there was still 2 hours to spare. We went to the harbour for lunch, and AGAIN the view was magical. hehe. I almost didn't want to go back to uni.

Cherry blossoms!

paragliding.

snowsnowsnow!

view from the top. after gondola ride.

more mountains.

classic gondola shot.

mountains. again.

at Arrowtown.

Arrowtown scenery.

A cute little guy at the beach!

Lake Wakatipu(?)

Though the time was too short and we didn't have enough time to do all the activities we wanted, at least now we have an idea of where to go, how much the prices are, and what to do during the next trip to Queenstown, which is probably next winter/spring. Can't wait!

Always in our hearts

Questions we shouldn't be asking:

1. Who is Steve Irwin?
2. Is Beyonce a boyband?

I won't mention who asked those questions, but the second one did give me a good laugh.

Speaking of the passing of Steve Irwin aka the Crocodile Hunter, it is a real loss to not only his family, his country, his fans, but also to whomever that appreciates what he had contributed in making wildlife seem more approchable and beauuutiful. I remembered during one of his shows, he held up an ugly and slimey looking snake, yet he said "Look at the beauty!" I guess that's where we can learn from him. Not that we should go around saying ugly things are indeed beautiful, but just to not take things for granted.

To those who are getting sick of people putting a tortoise in front of our nicknames or those who just don't get it, it's just a simple way of remembering him and how much he influenced the world with his unfailing passion for mother nature. While his good name will be embedded in our hearts forever, the tortoises will soon have to go. ;P

When I saw the news at CNN online around 5pm yesterday, I knew this time it was real (unlike the rumours going around few years back), and my heart sank. His death just seemed so untimely, but no matter how unfair this might seem, God has a reason for it all.


May he rest in peace, and may his family and loved ones find comfort.

Fathers' Day Bbq 2006

To those who might feel offended or affected in any way due to my last post, sorry. The purpose of me bringing up these issues again is just to raise my concern and hope in that it will be resolved as soon as possible and in a way that will benefit both parties.

Anyway, hooray for spring! It's finally here, after 3 whole months of snow-less, chilly, rainy, haily and miserable winter.

Yesterday was also Father's Day in New Zealand, not sure why it's celebrated earlier in Malaysia though. To celebrate Father's Day, a bbq picnic was held at Uncle James' house at Pinehill. The view is just breathtaking de woah. =) The sun shining *really* brightly, warm breeze, beautiful mountains as the backdrop, yummy food, funny songs, and great friends = an awesome time!

Prettiness.

Bbq in progress.

Say "spring"!

Renee: Tengok apa?!

Mahjong mania

Believe it or not, here comes the big bomb. I knew it was going to happen AGAIN very soon, but I promised myself to not let myself get involved, not even emotionally. Unfortunately, I don't think this issue will ever be settled once and for all if everyone keep defending and accusing each other. The only way to get it over with is to look past all these human mistakes (yes, we ALL make mistakes, and don't be afraid to admit it!), get down to the basics of asking God for forgiveness and start over. Sadly, nobody is humble enough to do that right now, and no matter how "holy" or spiritually filled you think you are, you'll never be good enough in God's eyes if you continue to add more fuel to this fire.

So there. Now please stop putting this weight on me, or on anybody else. Whatever happened to really forgiving and forgetting?! Forgiving means not critisizing others, even though they are wrong and are really intent in hurting you. Forgetting means looking PAST each others' faults and work together as churches, forming healthy spiritual networks, encouraging each other to grow in faith and unity.

Finally, I just want to say this to those who are stuck in going through broken relationships or networks. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! So put aside our differences and cooperate; love your enemies as you love yourself.

Anyway (a very big one), spring is officially here! *squeals* Though most of the trees are still "botak", it's only a matter of time when the leaves and flowers will bud, sending out that fresh spring fragrance. So excited!

Of course, my mood was super good yesterday. Music practice was AWESOME as always, and later on spent 3 hours discussing, praying and just singing songs with Alex and Raymond. Trying to pick up the very basics of guitar skills too. Learnt how to play mahjong last night. keke. Got addicted soon enough, and we ended up playing until 4am while eating steak and sausages. Uber funness!

Too bad holiday ends soon, back to lectures on Monday. Bleh.