Bukit Galing Expedition

Extremely tired now...just came back from climbing Bukit Galing in Kuantan. Gotta REVIVE myself as said in the bottle stuck onto a root by Tse Chwan. Don't worry, he's no polluting the environment. The bottle is now at my home's collection of aluminium cans. Anyway, for those who don't know where Bukit Galing - it's the range of mountain you see from STADIUM Pahang... claimed to be tallest mountain around Kuantan by my dad, even taller than Bukit Pelindung. Wonder why they don't put transmission towers here, what was ever to be put on the mountain summit is a PAS flag. Good thing though, because such a beautiful summit is not destroyed. Want to see how beautiful it is, just take a look down the photos...

This pic my dad still say not nice...coz my Nikon Coolpix small small one where can fight Nikon D200

Finally updated NOW! Let the pictures roll! 

The long, treacherous road up the hill...logger's road, full of dried mud and might landslide anytime...those are my fears I had before, but it is just walking, brisk walking...can't be considered climbing. Isn't it great that I actually walked over a mountain?

I did not know that somewhere near Kuantan there is a dam in the middle of mountain, but the dam (I don't know if it is, but my dad should be correct. DAD: It's CORRECT-lah!) is serenely beautiful. However, it has a scary tall drop that goes way down below... and can be a trouble for altophobics like me, but not Mr Ng KC!!!

Stumbled on some interesting plant which I never thought would be growing in Bukit Galing - the Eurycoma longifolia, the most advertised plant on telly...you've guessed it right - it's the Power Root plant TONGKAT ALI!!! Beautiful plant, but too bad people like to cut it down just for the roots to strengthen their libido... the roots and leaves are super bitter too. Why chop it to extend the other? They should chop the other I guess. Aihz, what to do, Malaysians like to boost their tenaga batin till they believe in everything...

Other plants were more strong and tall, just like a real man should be instead of relying on tongkat ali or kopi radix or kopi jantan with extra Eurycoma longifolia...

Finally, two awesome group pictures...all the tired yet happy faces...could count this as a succesful expedition. Gained quite a lot.

Valentine?

LOVE is the [pronounced "di"] most exaggerated word in this modern or post-modern age, don't you think so? Every song the pop singers singing are LOVE songs... and Valentine Day lately... but how many meant it?

Yeah, no partner currently....but this is not some Valentine lonely envying couples post! In fact this is the first time I ever took notice of this Valentine thingy and there's a whole lot of debate among Chinese about going to worship Tien-Gong or go Valentine. I seriously don't find it a struggle for I don't associate with both, but putting in those people's shoes it made me think...

God or girlfriend? Agape love or eros love? Can I really in the future make the correct choice? Is there a midway where both can come together? What if I love a girl that is of unequalled yoke? Hard questions to ponder... but perhaps one illustration comforts me.

Imagine You are walking lonely on a street amidst tall apartments, depressed seeing everyone holding hands and whispering romantic phrases...and SUDDENLY some brave boyfriend high on the apartment shouted " I LOVE YOU!". Doesn't that reminds you of God shouting from heaven "I LOVE YOU!!!" and His Son actually go to the extend of dying on the cross to marry you? Sad to say it's a love that many lost...

The song from Casting Crowns "East to West" was the expression of Psalm 103:12 - "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west". And I really loved the last line which says "Just how far the east is from the west, from one scared hand to the other". That is His love for us...

Happy Valentine, GOD!

STARBUCKS Chinese New Year

First experience of entering one of the few more civilised places in Kuantan - STARBUCKS MegaMall, Kuantan... sure feels like some Orang Asli...

Sitting at a table outside the Starbucks at 2010 hours, we waited for the waiter or waitress or whosoever to bring us the order, but all they brought was some paise-ness...the waitress/worker who swept the floor near our table gave us a weird "What are these weird constant laughing buncha teenagers who would just like to warm the chairs of Starbucks?" look and turn his attention back to the broom. HEY, ARE WE CUSTOMERS SO UNWORTHY THAT YOU LOOK BACK AT THE BROOM and say "You are more precious!"??? Walau-eh...

Anyway, we got back to our senses and realised that Starbucks is self-service...We got so desperate and ordered the beverages and as expected - it burned a big hole at THEIR pockets (I did not spent a single cent there as I was close to ringgit-less...the cheapest was RM 5 exclusive of tax). They had their cappucino, mocha and some other drinks that I forgotten, but I'm grateful to have friends like Hui Ling, Yong Qian, Jyo Lyn and Kok Thong who forced me to gulp some down...although some are sweet, mostly bitter and some artificially sweet... anyway THANKS weh!

Hui Ling - Yong Qian

Jyo Lyn - Kok Thong

We did have a great time there, lots of laughter which made the other "laptop computer" people stare at us for a moment...(and I wonder why Starbucks has all this so called latop customers, what's so great about drinking coffee while laptop-ing?) And now thanks to Joanne and James from RBS, I started snapping pictures almost at everything... we even had a combination of photos of ourselves....it's the combination and permutation thingy we learnt back at Form 5 Add Maths... Four of us taking pictures of two together, 4C2 =10, arrgh, I guess many post-SPM people already forgot about that, only poor me has this facts locked in my brain...can't throw away...

Here are the combinations of pictures... (Hui Ling, don't argue it's permutation, k?)

Woah! Finally 4C2 ended here, if permutation, Hui Ling, it's gonna be for eternity the pictures.

And what are friends without a group photo. Photo courtesy of Jyo Lyn, though got cacat a bit-lah, but what else can we ask for when we have to even take group pictures by ourselves...SELF SERVICE, aihz again...

Thinking back of what happened of the Starbuck self-service thingy, I'm glad that God did not expected me to self-service in my salvation. It is just for God to actually view me even less than a broom, but He didn't. He took the initiative to give me the menu to salvation eventhough in His sight I'm just a useless sinner who laughs his life around... How grateful I am... And I need not to pay through to get my salvation, it's FREE! No need burning holes in or even my whole wallet just to earn my salvation. Works to earn salvation is just earning a salvation that worth just like an RM 13 plus cappucino mocha expresso whatsoever and drink it, no matter how long (two hours?), is not eternal...

Chinese New Year 2008

Hey, it’s Chinese New Year again! For many the word “again” reads the same old Chinese New Year, nothing so different. However for me at first sight, the RAT word seems a little peculiar to me. Why my ancestors choose their zodiacs of such an animal? … so dirty and black… totally inauspicious! And they name it RAT instead of mouse (country rat which are cleaner) or rodent… but astoundingly the word RAT was something I could really relate to this Chinese New Year as I peered myself through with small rodent eyes…

Chinese New Year for me started two days before it. My mother’s side grandma was just two house down my street and after RBS I told myself I am gonna visit her every day just to talk to her. The “Me and My Family” session nudged me to show love to my “loved” ones. I didn’t really enjoy her company now despite we had wonderful times when I was small. She was the stubborn old grandmother who would always say how bad my whole family treated her by sending her to stay near us. She has that special connection with me and always called me the typical “Ah Boy”, so it was much easier for me to approach her.

On Tuesday, I did my obligation as usual tried to visit her and talk or perhaps hear her tell me all her grandmother tales…but it was a different day for it wasn’t about talking, it was EATING! See any RATty similarities? I had the chance to savour her best RENDANG AYAM nyonya style… and I ate it wholeheartedly (not GLUTTONY, k?) as it was the one and only in the world. It was in fact actually a few days ago that I mentioned I wanted to eat Rendang Ayam that she really prepared it… she said at first her hands cannot cook already… but now she cooked her one and only Rendang Ayam not just for me but also for all the relatives. It kinda reminds me of God’s love that He would give His one and only Son to die on the cross for us all… isn’t my grandma a wonderful display of this agape love despite being a buddhist? Sometimes God shows His love through someone you thought is unloveable…

And yeah, after that wonderful dish, I was so delighted that I ran back home and make a CNY card for her…my first ever card to her although my calligraphy wasn’t great. With the CNY card and a camera in hand, I ran back to her house as she was wandering what I took so long going home… and whether her grandson is actually avoiding all her grandmother tales. I rushed to the frontdoor and there I displayed my small CNY card. Her face bubbled with joy. I was wondering WOW how can I actually did showed love to my unlovable…but that smile in her face and the words she spoke was worth it all. “MY AH BOY IS THE MOST GUAI CHAI AFTER ALL!!!” I shall stop my story here and let me the pictures do the talking… there it is… another thousand words!


Now more on what happened at my hometown, KL (Kuala Lipis, though)...

Posting soon...

In the beginning...

1 In the beginning Calvin created the gmail and the blog.

2 Now the blog was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of Calvin's excitement was hovering over the blogpage.

3 And Calvin said, "Let there be words," and there were words. 4 Calvin saw that the words were good, and he separated the words from the pictures. 5 Calvin called the words "text," and the pictures he called "graphics." And there was title, and there was text—the first blog.

Genesis 1:1-5
Calvin's Bible