Blessed Steps

Valentine's day

2012-02-13T12:24:00.003+08:00

It's pink and hearts everywhere!!!

Alright, alright, I get it.

It's Valentine's day.

Do they really have to make such a big deal outta it?

at least I have my strawberries here with me.

I was never a berry-fan.

but since it's on sale,

2 for $3!

I'll give it a shot.

wonder why people equate Valentine with chocolate dipped strawberries?

I guess it's a heart-shaped thing, which is in red (the color of love) , dipping them in girls' all-time-favorites (chocolate)

I'm totally .Not. left-out here

check out my all-time-fav: Nutella!

Ahhhh! a sinful indulgence indeed.

fun facts of the day

2012-01-27T03:04:00.002+08:00

1. I want to visit Israel so badly! (One day!! :)

okay, well, I'm taking a Near Eastern Religion class which requires us to read Qu'ran and study the 3 religions which contains lots of similarities as well as differences: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

I just had a 1 hour 15 min of intense lesson of the whole history of the built-up of Judaism (1st, 2nd Jewish commonwealth)

and everything just mesmerized me! so much.

2. I have a physics assignment to be turned in today and I haven't started anything on it.

+ 2 physics assignment to be turned in tomorrow + few internship essays to be completed by Sunday + a 'date-rape-drug' kinesiology outline by Tues+ a wedding to attend + a lesson to plan for + few songs to prepare + a baking session + a catch-up with my girls! + career advising appointment + more internships essay and application + sit-ups and push-ups everyday!

PTL that I'm still surviving! Hula!

3. I am in this single study room in the library, and though there are walls and doors separating me from the rests, I heard this loud snore originated from the one of those rooms on my left.

boy! this guy is Tired!

2011-12-10T11:54:00.002+08:00

FRIENDS

Packing up the dreams God planted

In the fertile soil of you

Can't believe the hopes He's granted

Means a chapter in your life is through

But we'll keep you close as always

It won't even seem you've gone

'Cause our hearts in big and small ways

Will keep the love that keeps us strong

And friends are friends forever

If the Lord's the Lord of them

And a friend will not say never

'Cause the welcome will not end

Though it's hard to let you go

In the Father's hands we know

That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ped1jYLFtkA&feature=fvwrel

Words: Deborah D. Smith
Music: Michael W. Smith

In Memory of a dear friend

2011-12-09T03:31:00.001+08:00

Come to Jesus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PANiveIKVX0

updates

2011-11-28T03:56:00.006+08:00

1) I overslept today! (Sunday morning) It's the first time throughout my 1.5years here. Alarm didn't ring! (yea right, blame it on the alarm) and I totally slept right through the whole 9.15am service, only woke up at 11.20am when the Sunday school supervisor called me. I flipped open my phone, glanced through the time and answered

"Hello. Oh my goodness! what's the time now? Is it 11am already? I was still sleeping!"

thank God I got to catch on with teaching at 11.55pm till 12.30pm (half an hour! ha! better than none)

2) I was studying with this korean friend of mine yesterday for half of the day. 2.3opm-12am

I was kind of tutoring H in chemistry. He offered to pay tutoring fee but nope, I didn't want it. afterall, i can study as well and accepting tutoring fee somehow gave me the burden to be super prepared. I just wanted to teach for fun and I earn a study buddy afterall. Later on I was treated to a Korean restaurant for dinner. yum yum! I like Korean food.

I asked H about some Korean culture and he asked if I really believe that prayer works.We talked about things, and also God. I suggested him to pray for his uncertain future. Although H goes to church, but he told me about some of the doubts in his mind. H believes that God could have remove the suffering, poverty and evil of this world but He did not. after some talk, I asked if he thinks that being rich is being happy. H agreed that he thinks so. afterall, this is what the world taught us since young. The irony is that today's daily bread said that

"The poorest man is he whose only wealth is money." :)

H's a nice friend, with no hidden intention whatsoever and the sincerity to be friends.

I arrived home about 12.30am and by the time I finished preparing for Sunday school and washing up, it was already 2am. No wonder I overslept! (But no, the alarm did not ring! that's the problem)

3)Thanksgiving week. I am inefficient in general. Thought that having holidays can earn me some time to study for my upcoming 3 tests. but nope, time just flew away in a blink of an eye. I went for 4 Thanksgiving meals (American, international, Chinese all included).

and then it's Black Friday sales! Shopping time!

it's my First time ever throughout my whole 21 years of life to stay awake for the whole night! literally! woohoo! record-breaking! That morning I woke up early to prepare corn and went to my American friend's home for the 2nd thanksgiving meal at 11am, then the day starts and never ends till the next day at 10am when I got home from a whole night of shopping in San Marcos. Come'on! it's black Friday!

The funny thing is that I'm the one who kept on saying that I'm tired but ended up the 3 other friends were already sleeping in the car while waiting for me to get back from shopping at 7+am. *sheepish smile* (I actually haven't finish shopping in all the shops I wanted, but they're already waiting, so I just went back straight. )

But not much to worry! even after splitting the gas costs, i'm still within budget! ha!

4) I had been thinking and talking to a few about this thing that's in my mind recently. Christian serving and Chinese culture. To make the story short, Chinese churches do not have enough leaders stepping up the serve. that makes the few leaders carrying all the burden on their shoulders, the 10% serving the other 90%. well ,of course, everywhere need leaders. but the differences is that American culture teaches everyone to step up and be the leader, while in Chinese culture, nobody wants to be a leader.

I just talked to the Mandarin College fellowship leader just now. He's such a great servant of God. Despite everything that he's doing, the smile and the joy of serving never escape from his face. He is really doing it all for God. We talked about the situation in the Mandarin church currently and I asked about how can I pray for them. I expected him to say something like asking God to bring more leaders for the fellowship, but instead, he said,

"pray that God will touch more people's heart and allow them to know God."

After thinking about what he'd said, I'm so impressed. He is heading in the right direction!

That's the focus point, and that is what this is all about.

Not because you want to hold the organization up, but you're doing it for God for the salvation of many. I told him that sorry I can't help because I'm serving elsewhere but I will keep them in prayer. I will and I believe that God's hand was upon them, is upon them and will be upon them so long as they're doing it for God.

5) Meanwhile, thank you God for bringing in Caleb and Heather to help in the Sunday school. and I've decided to step down after next semester. still praying for a new area to serve in. and definitely, God will provide :)

and please keep me in prayer for my 3 tests this coming week.

Kinesiology, Physics, Psychology of Women.

after i'm done with that, then I get a week off of study break! (Oh Yes! Oh nooooo!)

praying that I will have discipline to study and the below is:

my final exam schedule

December 9, Friday 3-5 p.m. Physics Advanced Classical Mechanics (PHY 302)

December 12, Monday 8-10 a.m. Physics Theoretical Methods (PHY 332)

December 12, Monday 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Physics Advanced Electromagnetism (PHY 304)

Praying that I'll get done with it, then California! Here my sister, Maddie and I come! :D

Can't wait and definitely praying for safe, fun, relaxing and a memorable trip.

Go Missions ...

2011-11-09T13:36:00.007+08:00

Just went to Go Missions and Breakaway just now.

thousands of students gathering at Kyle Field (stadium) praising and worshiping God.

He is awesome and totally worth praising!

This week is the Global Impact week where everyday, there'll be different workshops, conference, concert concerning mission works all over the world.

This year's theme was focused on Christianity and Islam.

Sadly I can't make it for the breakout sessions

but at least I get to go today for the opening.

and it was GRrrrrreat!!

I went with my group of ISO friends (international student Outreach bible study) .

and out of no where, I heard someone calling “乐乐！”

I looked back and saw this white American girl looking at my direction.

I was like 'do i know her?' , meanwhile, my dear friend Lauren ran up to her and gave her a big hug.

I got it! the girl was calling Lauren. but wait, did she just say...?

I went up and asked "what did you call her just now?"

"乐乐" she replied

Lauren added on "That's my Chinese name while we went on a mission trip to Southeast Asia this past summer"

I was like "THAT's my name!!" replying while flashing her my big wide smile.

She's like "Oh my oh my oh my! are you serious? we have the same Chinese name!!"

(haha!)

Later on, I went on and asked a few of them who'd been on the same mission trip, what their chinese names are,

Interestingly, there is

阳光 (sunshine) :for this sweet girl

大山 (big mountain): for this superbly tall guy

飞 (fly): for this cool and laid-back, flexible character guy

帅 (handsome): for this 'cute' guy who looks like Justin Bieber (I literally laughed out loud when I hear this and I kept pestering them for a good explanation in giving him this name )

Lauren was happy and pleased about how Chinese letters have different meanings

and talking about Chinese letters and cultures,

I realized that there is so much to learn from a culture.

and in this week of Global missions, I am challenged to look beyond myself,

to look at the world, the other 6.4 billion people who have not even heard of Jesus.

Looking back at myself, I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to learn so many different languages (Americans are most of the times impressed by this, but wait, that's not the point!)

the point is, how can I serve God with all this different languages that I know?

communicating with the Chinese,Cantonese,Malay-speaking group,

there are a lot that I can do.

What's stopping me are just excuses with the lack of faith and courage.

Talking about going out into the world to reach out,

but look around myself, there is already a huge group of thousands or more who are not saved.

Rather than walking past them every single day without even realizing their hurts and needs for what matters the most,

I pray that God will give me his eyes for just one second,

give me his eyes so I can see.

Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5AkNqLuVgY

GTP

2011-11-06T04:32:00.007+08:00

Talked to my dad yesterday and found out about the recent Government Transformation Program in Malaysia under Dato Sri Idris Jala.

Checked it out online and find it quite interesting.

Though I'm not sure about the detailed job description but overall, it's an effort to improving different aspects of the government progress & country.

After some clicking, found out that there's actually a GTP (Pemandu) internship application.

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=108058282550804

Interesting.

I'm thinking of a good internship in Summer(May) 2012

But after some calculation, it is not economically and opportunistically wise to go back to Malaysia at that time, since I'll be back in Dec 2012 and May 2013(for good)

I like a few things about this program:

1. Innovative.

It is an innovative job which i believe would be less mundane and more challenging and interesting to get involved in

2. Nature

The nature of the job alone requires the staff to have a lot of opportunities to learn different things from different perspectives, exploration, interviews, surveys, observations, learning and applying, all sound good to me.

3. Goal-oriented.

The goal is direct and meaningful. you can see the results there and then when you've worked it out.

4. Flexibility.

If i'm not mistaken, the staff will sign a 2-3 years contract with this program; which means that it's not a fixed and forever job and I have the rights to choose to stay or choose to change my involvement into another field.

5. Bond.

I have to work for the government anyway, and since there is such a good opportunity that attracts me, why not find out more

One thing I dislike the most is consistently mundane task.

I can put all of my heart into a task when I am assigned to it, but I would definitely need time-out and refreshments/new challenges once the time is up.

Try thinking, we can get tired of everything that we do, no matter how much we love what we're doing, we definitely need time out for relaxation. Needless to mention the task that we're not so passionate about, we'd only need more time-out and maybe some permanent changes at some point of time.

well, since I'm still not 100% sure of what I am interested in and where God is leading me with my degree; teacher or governmental staff or church worker, I would definitely keep my options open.

SOME RANDOM UPDATES:

1. I just finished watching a Chinese drama 步步惊心

It's my first time watching a Chinese drama after so long (I think the last one was huan zhu ge ge)

and this was AWESOME!!

2. China is one of the first countries that I would like to visit one day! (Partly due to the Chinese movie i've watched recently :P ) and Korea too!!

3. I was supposed to go for oral surgery to take out my 3 wisdom tooth. Appointment was scheduled since August. Bought medicine and prepared rides and everything, but JPA changed insurance company, this new company replied today that they no longer cover wisdom tooth extraction. I canceled the appointment.

4. My roommate got a cat and named her Sheldon (yes, it's a her and it's named Sheldon)

She agreed to keeping her in her room. but now she placed all the cat's food, pooping box, blankets in the living room. My cells-dying-percentage peak this week and I'm going to have a heart-attack soon if she still doesn't keep Sheldon in her room. I'm gonna talk to her tonight!

5. Still praying whether to continue teaching the kids' Sunday school next semester. I actually made up my mind to stop (since I've taught for a year). I felt that somehow Asians are (negatively speaking) pushy, (positively) strategically smart in the way they communicate. After some talk with a few of them, I'm placed in the thinking chair again.

6. Re-admiration of a wonderful song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeRLyS9GHc0

7.The weather is getting colder. I miss summer!!!

8. Don't feel like studying recently (blame the weather!), but I have to!

Alright start studying!!!!! (Lord, help me!)

Anyong :)

The GLBTs

2011-11-04T11:37:00.003+08:00

Today's class in Psychology of Women, we had a panel of guest speakers from the GLBT association (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender)

It is a "Guess who is gay" seminar

So there were 5 students sitting in a row, we (students in the class) were allowed to ask any kind of questions except whether they like men/women/both.

and so, from our observation and their answers to our questions, we were to determine what sexual orientation they are. The panel is asked to leave the room and we went on with our discussion on why we think that he is gay/she is straight...

when the panel came in, they revealed their real sexual orientation.

It is an interesting session.

and the purpose is clearly to eliminate discrimination towards this group of people and to allow us as a society to understand more about them.

There are a few things that caught my attention throughout the whole class period.

1. When asked if they (the panel) thinks that being gay/lesbian is a choice or born this way. All of them answered is Not a choice.

2. The man who appeared to be most straight (with all the masculine characteristics) turns out to be gay.

3. There is one student from the panel who offered to explain what he thinks about gays and lesbians in the Christian context. According to him, the bible is always twisted in any way possible to fit the society's norm. e.g. the bible was used to justify slavery, justify against the rights of women, and now justify against homosexuality.

More and more people in the society is now opening up towards homosexuality and a person who opposes would be called an insensitive person or someone who does not know how to respect others. The society is moving as a whole towards understanding and acceptance. Everything is alright. It is just different stand point. and if you think that is wrong-that is just Your Point of view. or If you believe in that, That is also your point of view. There is no truth. Everything is subjective to your own opinion.

What do you think?

Quidditch

2011-10-20T05:17:00.002+08:00

Quidditch team in Texas A&M

Texas A&M, team members say, is ranked 4th in the association and has a shot of winning the cup this year.

http://www.theeagle.com/local/No-wizardry-required--6711852

The essence of Spontaneity!

2011-10-16T12:11:00.003+08:00

“If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything.”
Win Borden quotes and so when I came back from the Renaissance festival and Halloween costume hunting, I felt like cutting my hair. Ta Daaa!!

:/

2011-10-14T11:52:00.005+08:00

Ever went into the exam hall feeling nervous and came out feel like crying?

Not really crying. erm. But depressed.

Sooooo depressed.

Not even one question that I can finish.

I have the time.

But what do I do with the time if I'm stuck in ALL of the questions.

What I did was scratch my head and pull my hair and bite my fingers (literally)

I guess the prof can see how stressed everyone was, and he extended 15minutes and gave a few 'useful' tips which turn out to be useless for me.

Sitting there at my seat, the thoughts of giving up came again and again

but I pushed myself deeper into the seat

trying to persuade myself that I can do it,

just think more, try harder

seeing 2 girls walked up and turned in their papers with hopeless faces (I guess girls give up more easily?)

I totally feel like walking up and turning in my paper too.

But I persevere.

what good does it bring?

in the end I still turn in papers with all unsolved questions.

Just when I think I know how to study for Physics,

God gave me a new challenge.

But its kinda understood that this semester is gonna be tougher. much tougher.

I stared into the space.

my heart sank.

walked outta the building, saw a friend passing off hopeless smile and say scoring 50 points is considered a miracle.

walked down the road, few more steps,

2 friends sitting at the 'crying bench'

staring into the space.

trying to think what went wrong and how to improve ourselves.

but to no avail.

I guess its more of a hopeless scenario

I guess i'll just put it off

I guess i'll only be sad when I get back the paper

I guess i'll just reward myself for finishing all the 1st round of exams

I guess i'll just watch a movie now-

'The Notebook", here I come!

Ciaoz

owh. thanks to Maddie.

this is a good song for me now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmrOB_q3tjo&ob=av3e

Prayer Request!

2011-10-10T01:39:00.003+08:00

I'm having 3 tests this coming week.

Monday-Physics (classicalMechanics)

Tuesday- kinesiology (Pilates written exam)

Thursday- Physics (Theoretical Methods)

and I'm kinda not feeling very well (with all the lack of sleep, change of weather, and stress!)

please kindly keep me in prayer.

and I know that I'll survive through this week! yay!

Appreciate it!!!!!!

2011-09-30T10:46:00.001+08:00

BEST POEM IN THE WORLD

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Bob, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloudnine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.

'And why is everyone so quiet,
So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said,
'they're all in shock.
No one thought they'd be seeing you.'

JUDGE NOT!!

Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a
Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Every saint has a PAST...
Every sinner has a FUTURE!
Let God be the judge...

This interests me

2011-09-16T09:32:00.004+08:00

Today I went to my Women Psychology class. As usual, I'm kinda looking forward to it.

Today's topic is on 'Growing Up Female II'

We did an assessment on how gender identified we were (individually)

This is a new personality test which break from the tradition of defining people only as Masculine and Feminine

(there are a lot of personality test which limits a person to

e.g. high masculine traits must come with low feminine traits and vice versa)

but in this test, the masculine and feminine and neutral traits are viewed independently on its own. This means that a person is capable of having high on both masculine and feminine traits.

(Do not confuse this with bisexual/transgender. It's plainly on personality traits, not sexual orientation.)

So, there are 4 categories:

1. Masculine

2. Feminine

3. Androgynous (high score on both masculine and feminine traits)

4. Undifferentiated (low score on both)

Research is done and these are the results:

1. how you fall into which 4 categories affects how you code information and how you behave

2. Androgynous and undifferentiated people are unpredictable in social situations.

They choose what traits they want to use or how they want to react, depending on situations and people.

(oppositely, masculine/feminine people reacts according to their consistent traits.

3. Masculine/feminine people change their behavior when interacting with people of the opposite sex, particularly if they are attractive (Androgyny and undifferentiated do not)

4. Acc to a research done in which to identify how well can a person recalled a conversation (with the same sex and with the opposite sex):
Undifferentiated people fair the best, followed by Androgynous people who make some mistakes (same percentage error in recalling conversation, regardless of the gender of that conversation partner)

Masculine/feminine people tend to make few errors in recalling the conversation of the same gender; while huge errors in recalling conversation of the opposite gender

[side note: that's why many wives find themselves nagging their husbands because the men tend not to remember what their wives had said. same goes the other way round]

5. there is a 5th category: cross-sex typed (male who has high feminine traits and vice versa)
but it is too much info and somehow complicated to jump into this group. I'll skip it for now.

6. It is believed that the population of the Androgynous people are growing as society stresses more on equality in both genders. (no mention about undifferentiated group)

7. guess which category I fell into?
*****
*****
*****
Undifferentiated

BSRI (Bem Sex Role Inventory)

Now is your turn to give it a try (it is simple and requires less than 10minutes)
Click (or copy, paste) the link below:

http://flightline.highline.edu/aguthormsen/AA%2014.pdf

and one thing which I must mention, personality tests and categories is just a concept created by psychologists who feel that it is a necessity to define and distinct people in groups. It should never be the guideline of understanding ourselves or limit us to be who we are.

Anyway, having much said,

have fun and feel free to let me know your category!! :)

Clarification:

This test is created with the United States citizens, social and culture as the base of research.

There are definite differences in cultural and societal view of gender traits.

e.g. what is viewed as feminine traits in US might not be viewed the same in Africa.

If wanted to be more accurate, there has to be a total different assessment for people from different culture, Nationality and society.

Find the personality/career tests I mentioned in earlier posts at:
http://www.queendom.com/

Pride

2011-09-11T09:33:00.005+08:00

It's so scary to know that it can creep in without you knowing.

Something that you've been fighting consciously.

It doesn't come informing you beforehand,

It doesn't even shows itself when you look into the mirror;

More often than not,

you realize its existence slower than the rest,

More often than not,

you realize its existence after you have fallen into it.

It is a constant struggle that requires consistent check in the spirit,

something that you hate to see it in other people,

without realizing that it first existed in you.

Even with a built-in reminder in your heart:

to never allow a space for it,

it finds its way steadily,

right into your life, your speech, your act.

Scarier still, it can be You.

Telling yourself not to be like 'those' people,

trusting that you have better judgment than most do,

more often than not,

you fail more miserably than you know.

No matter how hard, strong, persistent you are,

it still welcomes itself,

crawling right into its steady seat in your heart.

Is there a way to pull out the roots?

Is there a way to destroy its seat?

Is there a way to get rid of it?

Proverbs 8:13

“To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance.”

Proverbs 21:4

“Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!”

Proverbs 16:18

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (NIV)

Proverbs 26:12

“Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the Blood of JESUS.

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhtppff37pY

Being a teacher for the Teachers

2011-09-08T12:29:00.003+08:00

Look like I'm meant to be a teacher.

There really are quite a few people who've told me that I would make a good teacher and I just laughed it off.

I mean, it's not that I've not thought about that. I have actually told people that I wanna be a Physics teacher when they ask about my future plans. But it's not something that I can't wait and excitedly looking forward to. It's just the best option out of the rest for my Physics degree.

Remember the psychology testing website link that I've included in my last post? Good link. Check it out! Lots of good and beneficial test.

I just did "Career Personality and Aptitude test"

Results as below:

Education Teachers, Postsecondary

Description

Teach courses pertaining to education, such as counseling, curriculum, guidance, instruction, teacher education, and teaching English as a second language.

It encourages me to obtain at least a Doctoral Degree.

Read the top 10 list of education career specified for me (Highest ranking starts from the bottom- the one with the highest CIP)

Drama and Dance Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1324)
French Language Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1325)
German Language Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1326)
Health Occupations Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1327)
History Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1328)
Physics Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1329)
Spanish Language Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1330)
Speech Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1331)
Geography Teacher Education (CIP = 13.1332)
Teacher Education & Professional Development, Specific Subject A (CIP = 13.1399)

Just to further describe what it means for the top ranked "Teacher Education & Professional Development, Specific Subject A"

It meant to teach teachers, simply, to be a professor in training educators. (Exactly what both of my friends are studying right now: Education phD)

wow. never thought of that. I've actually given up the thought of graduate schools after the consistent stress in studying Physics. But who knows right. Good thought. I may talk to my friends more about what they are studying.

News-of-the-day

2011-09-07T12:32:00.003+08:00

I've hesitated whether to drop the 'Women Psychology' class.

Cos the professor told us that we're expected to have taken PSYC 107 (basic psychology) class and she would assume that we understand all the basics as she teaches and she warned us that the average of the class is a C.

wow. that's kinda shocking.

I have never taken any basic psychology class and another fact is that I would need a class to help pump up my physics GPA. not to bring it down.

but this class really captivates me and I can see that I will look forward to attending it no matter how hard the tests are.

After some research and try-outs of different classes, I still settled for this class and

tell you what---

No Regrets! :D

So today, we learn about the difference between men and women.

Prof gave a few simple Visual-Spatial test to us.

(Visual spatial ability= the ability to mentally manipulate 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional figures)

and she said that research has proven that men are generally better at this.

so we discussed about why and whether gender are really a socially/culturally defined group or it is biologically determined.

btw, check out the free visual-spatial test at

http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=1118

and guess what, I got my score

Wow! Your score on the test was the top of the charts, meaning you have an excellent repertoire of spatial skills.
haha. i'm not boasting. please let me further explain this.

Follow my instructions and examine yourself :

(this test is generally for Girls, but Guys, feel free to try)

1. raise up the hand that you write with

2. put it in front of you with the back of your hand facing you

3. look and observe the difference in length between your index and ring finger.

digit-ratio experiment

if there are very little differences between the length of those two fingers,

you are good at visual-spatial test and tend to have more 'male' qualities or interests

if there are significant differences between the length of those two fingers,

you tend to fair badly at visual-spatial test and have more 'female' qualities: you tend to like red/pink, like hair-do, nail painting...

and the fun thing is that: No, you're not fooled by any 'palm-reading' or traditionalist superstitious belief.

Mind you, this is a repeatedly proven research in the biological psychology field. (it's related to a hormone called Androgen)

(I have almost similar length of both index and ring fingers. Now, it explains my score and my major :/ )

Fun isn't it? Ask your friend to try it. Just have to ask their major and their favorite color and check their fingers length. haha (might not be too accurate unless you know their personality well)

___________________________________________________________

On a separate occasion,

I feel that my lack-of-alertness often put me in situations where I can't help but to laugh at my own foolishness.
1st occasion:

Both of my classmates were talking about this man. I didn't quite catch the name that he mentioned (or rather haven't heard of that name before) but they were giving comments like

"He is quite popular right, I just saw the recent..."

"Yea, yea. He knows how to talk and those people who listens to him will just think that he is good."

"It's funny that he always say something that's anti-America."

"aih, I don't know, he just have his own way... He knows how to make the people like him."

They proceeded with the conversation and I tried to figure out who they are talking about. Then I asked,

"Is he a stand-up comedian?"

My friend burst out laughing and left me sitting there in silly and blushing smile "What?"

"Hugo Chávez-The Venezuela president

"I wish that he is a stand-up comedian too" said my Venezuela friend.

and they continued laughing.

I felt so stupid.

But I can't help but to laugh at myself too.

2nd incident:

I still can't help but to expose my emotions through my body language. Can't seem to hide my 'guilty face'

We're in the first bible study and we played a game "Signs"

To summarize it, the group stood in a circle and the person in the middle 'It' is supposed to guess who passed on the signs.

So when I was having the sign, 'It' looked at me coincidentally but my nervousness caused me to turn my head away and act as if I'm looking elsewhere but

Goodness!! what a stupid 'act as if i'm looking elsewhere'!

When i looked back, my face was all-written, 'I AM HAVING THE SIGNS!!!'

the 'It' laughed out loud and the whole group was laughing and obviously, I became the 'It' the next round. (sweat face)

Can't believe I'm being so easily-told-off!!!! (again)

Last day of work

2011-08-28T00:50:00.005+08:00

It's my last day of work.
though i've just worked for the summer, but i can't help but develop a nostalgic feeling when I know that I'm leaving.

I have an awesome adviser. One who always bring us snacks, one who reminds us to take our break, one who always ask 'how are you' not just for courtesy-sake.

I made a 'Petronas twin tower' themed farewell card, reminding that there used to be an international student from Malaysia who worked with them :)

It's true that people prefers to hire locals cos hiring international students (especially sponsored students) requires too much documentation and procedure and we're not work-study students (where govt pay half of your salary and the company pay another half. only applies to PR or citizens)

When i was hired, the library employment office lady told me that it has been years since they last hired another J-1 visa student. That explains why there are so many problems and delay when it comes to documenting me as a student worker.

Well, I hope that I've left them good impression enough to pave the path for other J-1 students to be hired too :)

I certainly has made lots of good friends and connections by working there. Though I'm not super-duple friendly type who talks a lot to everyone but at least I smile and say hello to them and talk when there's chances.

When I leave, these ladies gave me huge hugs and ask me promise to drop by their office during regular semesters and haul at them when I see them in church.

aw. sweet.

I somehow believe that I wont get a chance to work with them again. since...

Winter 2011: California trip

Summer 2012: internship?

Winter 2012: back to Malaysia

Summer 2013: graduation

unless i plan to work when i'm taking classes during regular semesters. but for that, i'll see how it goes. Since I'm still sticking to my concept of taking it in a relaxing manner.

All in all, thank God for such an awesome experience! :)

I brought this home for memory.

Meanwhile, we had our first ICF (international christian fellowship) for the Fall semester on Friday. It was awesomme!! Praise the Lord! there were around 10 or more countries of students there if i'm not mistaken.

Let me count: US, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, India, South Korea, China, Sri Lanka, Chad, Barbados, Guatemala... (and more)

wow! amazing!

A great time to worship God and get to know new interesting friends from all over the world.

and praise God that there is a Christian couple from Malaysia who just arrived few weeks ago and that they managed to make it to ICF yesterday night. Truly hope that they have a good time, like I always do :)

and oh well! Summer, summer, summer! Summer is finally over!

Come'on Jia Lerd! Buckle up! time for the Fall semester, and time for school. ><

(Hey! Don't gimme that look!)

Okay, time for school! :}

I made a new friend

2011-08-26T06:14:00.002+08:00

This is too fascinating and funny not to record it down.

I'm working in the library today. It's my second last day.

(To answer the question most asked

"Why aren't you continuing to work for the Fall semester?"

"Cos I wanna focus on my studies."

Too nerd? No no no. Perhaps? Hmm, but nope. I don't have a naturally gifted brain when it comes to Physics. I don't usually understand a certain concept in my first reading and I need lots of drills when it comes to Mathematical Physics formulas, equations and solutions.

Besides that, I still want to be actively involved in bible studies, Christian fellowships, hanging out and keeping in touch with friends and having time for myself.

To put it simply, I just want to enjoy my undergraduate life with what I think is important in a not overwhelming way.)

Oh, how have I gotten into that topic?

Anyway, so I was working and I was supposed to get off work at 2pm.

But I volunteered to represent the library at the library booth in this International Student Conference.

And so I took a ride with one of the librarians over to the West Campus.

Cut the long story short, I met this librarian (a phD librarian from India bout the age of a grandpa)

He also volunteered in this event cos he said he really love international students and like helping them.

So, cool.

We talked to international students, explain about the libraries and the facilities, talked to each other too during non-peak hours.

apparently, he knew 2 Chinese phrases "Ni Hao" (How're you), and "xie xie" (Thank you)

He said he enjoyed working with me cos I can handle the Chinese students with my Mandarin and Cantonese and he can handle the Indian students with his different dialects.

So later on when it ends, he offered me a ride home. (wow. cos I just want a ride to the bus stop, but he offered more)

He said that I'm his new friend now. and that I'm a sweet girl. (my mom says I have this aunty-magnet. but apparently, uncle-magnet too. lol.)

He even offered to pay me so that I can teach him some Chinese. (and earn some pocket money. Wow)

and He said he can bring me to try some Indian food some time when I'm free.

He said just drop by his office and give him a call.

(He was really careful not to let me misunderstood though. He said he doesn't wanna take my number, so, I can call him instead. He has a family in College station, he talked bout his wife, but i wondered if he has children.)

Well then, my light bulb lighted!

I thought that, oh ya, our international christian fellowship welcoming party is tomorrow. So I can ask him to go since he's so interested in international students.

When I went into his car, I take note of the surroundings, he has this elephant-looking decorated figure on the car counter, so I'm guessing he's a Hindu. But he didn't talk about it though.

I went ahead and gave him the ICF brochure and invited him to the welcoming party tomorrow. He asked if i'm a Christian and he asked how did I become a Christian.

(I know it's especially hard to tell older people about Jesus when they think that they've experienced much more than you do. But, I still think that it's a 'miracle', like seldom-happening scene that a older person will treat me like a friend and is so willing to help me around though they're not Christian. So, since I have the chance to know him. Why not. :)

and he really repeatedly reminded me that I'm his new-made friend and that he really wish that he can learn speaking Chinese from me.

like maybe one hour per lesson and make it 10 lessons and he'll pay me for that so that I can earn some pocket money. (since I mentioned I won't be working after Friday)

and he asked me to call him next week, maybe Monday or Tuesday or anytime when I'm free so he can let me try some Indian buffet at a restaurant around the corner.

He asked me to drop by his office for a coffee whenever I'm in the library.

Haha. Such an interesting friend.

and there you go. A new-made friend. haha :)

So Sleepy

2011-08-19T22:29:00.007+08:00

Talking about being sleepy...

i've no idea why i'm extraordinary sleepy today.

I was working.

Looking for books in the stacks,

I've got to squat down for this book right below all the other stacks,

instead of squatting down, I sat down.

"Ah! there it is."

Pulled it out, checked the call number, put it on the carpetted floor, closed my eyes

and when I opened my eyes again, i realized that I've been asleep on the floor in between the library book stacks for around 10minutes

and similar incident occur again when I'm on my way back from work.

I took out my book to read while waiting for the bus to start moving,

my eyes were scanning across the lines of words and I was reading, reading....

it wasn't too long before I noticed my weakly-shut eyes were becoming heavier

I put away my book into the bag and crossed my arm while trying to sleep properly

I can feel the vibration of the engine underneath me.

when I opened my eyes again,

oh, two more stops, okay, eyes closed automatically.

around seven minutes later, all of a sudden I bounced up, looked around, Oh! my stop!

people are entering from the front door but the back door was closed because no one requested for a stop.

Before the last person entered the bus, I pulled the cord,

the student bus driver looked at his rear mirror at me,

and I waved and pointed at the back door.

He kinda laughed and opened the back door half-way and I exit the bus as fast as I could.

When I was walking back through this small path to my apartment, I was thinking

"wow thank God that I woke up in time! If not, there goes my 30min of nap."

Harry Potter

2011-08-18T12:21:00.007+08:00

Just finished watching all of Harry Potter!

(after 3 nights of movie marathon)

wow! Though I've read the first four books in detailed and the 5th one half-way asleep;
but now I feel like reading the rest of the books and really really wanna find out a lot of details that were not properly conveyed in the movie.

Really, I'm impressed by Rowling's imagination.

It's sort of mind-blowing.

But i remembered even reading the first four books last time, it kinda got me into the 'magic' world with all kinds of imagination vividly described in the book.

lol.

maybe I'll just ask my friends bout the stories since I don't think I can finish reading so many books before semester starts :O x)

Oh! and those of you who'd watched movie with me before (in cinema),

FYI, I screamed till sore throat watching them in my apartment's living room.

Roommate A: When I watched the first episode with her, she screamed 5 times.

Roommate B: Haha. I bet she'll screamed more for this one. (HP and deathly Hallows 1)

me: (Tightly hugging the couch pillow, kept my legs with me while having eyes wide-opened) O.O

I just can't stand the suspense for the last 3 movies; since without reading the books, i've no clue at all.

I kept asking questions

"what's the thing he's finding?"

"Why is he acting like that?"

roommate: you really wanna know? It'll spoil the movie.

me: "Okay. I'm just asking. Don't tell me." (continue staring at the television)

btw, off-track, my roommate is keeping her friend's hamster in the apartment for a few days and I just found out that its name is 'Karen'

I literally Laughed out Loud at it! xD

and after watching HP, before going back to my room, I looked at it and just foolishly said "Hello Karen." (as if it'll respond)

It Turned And Looked At Me!!!

Hahahaha! Amazing.

Flurry little thing!

new hairstyle

2011-08-13T12:43:00.010+08:00

Let the photos do the talking :D

BEFORE

Bangs? No bangs?

In the end I googled Hairstyle 2011 and these are 2 of the many inspirations given to me.

Okay. Time for a pair of scissors, a spray bottle, a hair straightener, a hair dryer, and 2 youtube videos on 'how to cut bangs'

After around 1 hour of cutting and trimming...

Ta~Daa!!

Okay right? Please say okay!
I think its okay though :P

(oh ya, the messy curls are results of braids throughout the day)

Ciaoz!

He calls me friend

2011-07-06T14:17:00.001+08:00

odb.org (Today's readings: John 15:9-17)

Someone has defined friendship as “knowing the heart of another and sharing one’s heart with another.” We share our hearts with those we trust, and trust those who care about us. We confide in our friends because we have confidence that they will use the information to help us, not harm us. They in turn confide in us for the same reason.

We often refer to Jesus as our friend because we know that He wants what is best for us. We confide in Him because we trust Him. But have you ever considered that Jesus confides in His people?

Jesus began calling His disciples friends rather than servants because He had entrusted them with everything He had heard from His Father (John 15:15). Jesus trusted the disciples to use the information for the good of His Father’s kingdom.

Although we know that Jesus is our friend, can we say that we are His friends? Do we listen to Him? Or do we only want Him to listen to us? Do we want to know what’s on His heart? Or do we only want to tell Him what’s on ours? To be a friend of Jesus, we need to listen to what He wants us to know and then use the information to bring others into friendship with Him.

Sweet thought! We have a Friend above,
Our weary, faltering steps to guide,
Who follows with His eye of love
The precious child for whom He died. —Anon.

Christ’s friendship calls for our faithfulness.

my problem is not having a problem?

2011-07-06T13:15:00.004+08:00

I like to listen when people tell me about their problems.

I like to share their load and pray with them.

I like it when they are comfortable sharing with me.

But one thing always bothers me is that when they ask

"How about you? Do you have anything going on?"

I'm not trying to be too perfect and it's not that I do not want to share.

But I can't find anything to share.

What can I say? What should I say?

My work? yea, it's going fine.

My relationship? Mmm, nothing much.

My studies? So far it's good cos its summer. If it's during regular semester, I can grumble a lil and say I need your prayers for my test coming up, and it's really hard. (seriously, this is the only topic that I have stuff to share with my friends. Not much though. I can't be complaining about how hard it is everytime I see them. so the conversation shortens to...

'yea, it's really hard, and i'm having this deadline for assignments, but I'm praying and hopefully I can do better in it during the next test. Pray for me.'

My family?

"they're doing good, busy as usual. yea, you can pray for my grandma..."

My friends? yea, i'm keeping them in prayer.

"So how about you? how's things going?"
and there I go, naturally and automatically tuning myself into a listener. I am comfortable with it though.

but here is the problem when I don't have a problem to share.

things can go pretty wrong for me sometimes but it's never too wrong that I can't tell God about it. I tell God, I tell my family, I tell one/two friends. That's it.

I don't find a point to dwell in the same problem and re-tell everyone who expects me to share.

You might be wondering why do i find not sharing a problem.

cos as friends, we need to learn to be vulnerable in front of others.

My friends can share their problems with me once in awhile but later on they'll feel that they're troubling me. cos they're always needing me to listen but I have nothing to share to them

Quite a few said "Sorry. I'm always the one talking."

"It's okay. I like listening."
"I just feel sorry that I'm rambling off to you again. So, how are you? anything going on for you?"

"hmm, my work is good. studies is fine. Hmm......nothing much actually"

*Shucks!*

I'm stuck again.

Sometimes I think, is it because I'm too optimistic about things, which makes everything bad seems okay and alright and isn't a problem anymore.

or is it that my memory of my own experiences and feelings is really that bad? that I don't remember and never pay attention to what really went wrong for me.

or am i subconsciously comparing my problem to theirs and there I think, my prob is just peanut, nothing much, not worth even mentioning.

or.... what else could it be?

So, is my problem: Not having a problem?

The Hidden Storyteller

2011-07-06T13:06:00.003+08:00

I started out writing this as a response to the comments from my previous post, but it somehow got so long that I've decided to make it a new post on its own.

Speaking about writing narrative stories...

actually I have always liked writing narrative stories.(i find literature interesting too! that's why i like reading and watching movies of classic stories like Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre...)

I figured out that I have a hidden crush on writing during secondary school, but there's not really room for me to expand. since:

1) i'm not the Best when it comes to languages *ahem

2) I'm somehow made to believe that I should go into science (don't know how, don't know when)

3) back in secondary school, i'm too busy for school work, can't afford to waste time for personal leisure (like writing stories,drawing...)

needless to say, the passion faded when i entered National Service and later on into INTI where I'm told to study Science (Physics)

(believe it or not, i've actually thought of furthering my studies in English! can't believe it right? back then, I don't think my English is that bad and I do know that I'm interested in short stories, poems, classical pieces of work. So I actually researched a bit on TEASL (Teaching English as Second Language) and thought of going into the English field. But one thing i'm worried is that, I know my English isn't that good, i can easily be defeated in an area like this.

and so, Here I am, ended up in Physics, an area many dare not try, I thought maybe if I try harder, I have more opportunity to excel in it.

you can say that it just happened that I ended up in Physics, you can also say that it's somehow my choice.

Speaking about passion and love, I don't have much for Physics seriously.

Because JPA decided to offer me science, and to choose the best out of three, I would point to Mr. P.

But even if I didn't get JPA, I'm actually taking Physics in Form 6, and I actually applied to be a physics teacher in the education scholarship (English teacher was my second choice)

I went into this blindly. but, who knows, God has already planned it from the beginning.

I rmb working on my first narrative (it's a love story :P ) I used so much time to think of the story, use the right words and description to write it out.

it's a very short story but i'm so satisfied with it. (i think i still kept it in my pile of works in KL).

I rmb trying to figure out a certain word to describe the girl's feeling, but I can't get that word correctly, so i went to pakpai (who's watching late night 12am news on TV3), I described that feeling of 'don't really wish to say, but feel like saying anyway'

"What's that word in English?"

"Reluctant?"

"Oh ya!! that's the right word! How do i spell it?" (don't laugh)

So the whole story is actually a short piece describing the nervousness, embarassment and anxiety of this school girl who thought that the handsomely looking senior is giving her a flower bouquet to confess to her, the whole description, her sweaty palms, her heart palpitating madly, her mixed feelings, and all, but to find out that he actually wanted to give that bouquet of flower to her best friend. (The End)

oh well, short and simple. but seriously, that's the essay I love the most that I read through it countless times. I rmb even when I'm packing my Ipoh room, I still look back at my essay book, tear that page out, and kept it with my memory file.

It is my very own masterpiece.

June 30th

2011-07-01T10:09:00.006+08:00

LOL. seriously?
I got an A for my texas government politics class O.O (90.46%)

Hahahahha!

This is totally unbelievable for me!

Looking at the powerpoint slides while doing sit-ups,

flipping through the textbook chapters while watching korean drama,

finding answers from google during the quiz and test

(Ops! but it's an online course, they should've known better that students will do that. recalling the course syllabus, they didnt' forbid us from doing that though)

reading through my friend's past year exams

Arh??

well, firstly, Praise God for it! I said a short prayer whenever I press the 'begin' button for my quiz/test

"God, help me please."

Lol. so, really thank God for it.

and plus the fact that i'm taking it from a community college! lol. yea, that's the major reason.

Comparing the standard of the test and course with the US government politics that I took last year, this is really peanut level :/

Before this,I was actually thinking that i just want a C to pass then the credit can be transferred to A&M (only the credits, without the grades, isn't it good? :P )

But all of a sudden I thought of JPA!!

Oh no! they would want me to submit my result by the end of summer.

what am i going to say to them if i get a C?

Oh Greattt!

But surprisingly, YAY!!!

well, anyway,I'm done with politics forever and ever :DDDD

(actually I realized that I'm really quite interested in politics,

and I kinda told my friend, who knows, she might vote for me in years to come. lol. joking!)

okay. Yay! One down, two more to go! (english and history)

____________________________________________

oh btw, today I realized one simple fact about myself:

I tend to perceive words spoken in direct, straightforward manner much better.

and simply put, I naturally tune-off when words are spoken in lengthy, detailed, repetitive manner.

haha! Now I understand why I find certain people too naggy and I always appear to be listening while floating off :P

Not intentionally though! My brain really shuts off when words are spoken in long, precise, and seemingly in an unending-way

so what happen in work today was that, as usual, I ask question when I do not understand certain things. (better to be dumb then do the wrong things)

so I asked this middle-aged man officer just simple question like this

" So can the patron check out their book even if we haven't finish processing it?"

All I need is a 'Yes' or 'No' and if you wish, elaborate a little.

but he used 30min answering that short question of mine!! and the more he answered, the more questions I have. Oh Gosh! and I just float away with my mind, and constantly remind myself to look at him once in awhile to act like I'm listening.

not only that, after his lengthy explanation, he caught hold of another officer and asked him to explain the same things to me *faint*, and he moves on to my supervisor, and asked her my question again. Arghhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I get it! I get it! the answer is a 'Yes'! That's ALL I need!!! GOSH!

thank God my supervisor is direct. She said "Yes" and gave One sentence of explanation and continue with her work.

I'm like 'thank God!'

I turned to the officer (man) and said "Okay. I get it now. Thanks!"

and walked swiftly back to my seat. *sweat*

Later on, I went to bring a cart of books out for arrangement.

and Oh NO! He started again

"Jia, there, I was just explaining that for this cart of books, we usually only take it out one day after the date is stamp....bilibala"

OPS! My mistake. totally my mistake! there and then only I realized, oh ya, one of the 100+sentence that he'd just said consist of that information.

I cut him off and said

"Oh yea! We only bring it out tomorrow. Okay, thanks!"

and went back to my seat.

(Fuh~ at least now I understand my tuning-off system better.
ok, ok, yea, yea, i'll Try to work on it. pfft!)
anyway, yay! korean drama time!!! i'm done with Princess hours and Lie to me, now Full House :DDD
Dada~

My Job

2011-06-29T01:50:00.004+08:00

Some has been asking bout my job and how did it go. Thanks for the concern :)

So the nature of my job is working in the library backstage:

checking in books,

making bar-codes,

arranging them on the cart and bringing it up for book-arranging department

picking up books from book-drops from different locations in the library,

driving around campus to pick up books from book-drops in different locations in the campus (But I don't have a license(yet), i just help the driver)

helping my supervisors...

Honestly it is a very relaxing job. I really like it.

Though sometimes (like these few days), it can get real bored cos the library is updating the system and we can't process anything in the computer till it's done.

When it gets boring, I feel more tired and sleepy.

and we (student workers) get 15min paid-break for every 4 consecutive hours we work.

There is microwave, toaster, fridge, vending machine, staff lounge...

sometimes I just take that 15min to nap on the couch.

and many of the times, I just read my online courses online and check my mail (we're allowed to do that as long as we get our job done)

haha. too spoiled.

The best and most comforting thing is that my supervisor is awesome!

She once offered to fetch me to work on Saturday cos buses don't run on weekends during the summer. she said she'd done that for other students too. nice!

She brings snacks, pretzels, chocolates, and sweets to treat us.

She always remind me to remember to take my 15min paid-break! Aw!
She emailed me to remind me not to do work at home. only do the assigned task when i'm working.

She always asked me how's my day and she's funny and smiley all the time.

I have learnt that both of her sons served as armies (one of them is still in the army now) and her daughter-in-law is from the Philippines and her birthday is early June (June14 if i'm not mistaken? when I first started working. I greeted her and she was so surprised that I remembered. )

She naturally assumed that I had known somethings in the library (cos back in the interview, I told her I was a librarian during high school and that I spend most of my time in the library since I came here) and I liked that :D

I overheard her telling her colleague that it's really easy to train me. *fly*

hmm well, though I do get negative response from my friend

"a library job? on campus? Nothing much.." :/ (I do not appreciate that despiser)

But honestly, I really like my job! I think that it's the best job I can ever get on campus.

I actually rmb thinking to myself, if i wanna work on campus, the library is a good place.

and hearing from my friend that

"you got a job in the library? my friend has been wanting a job there. How do you get it? What do you work as?"

woah, make me happy xD

but even on my own, I'm happily satisfied and know that I'm blessed enough to get a job and furthermore, it's something that I enjoy and I truly learnt a lot :)

Thank you God!

bits and parcel

2011-06-29T00:42:00.008+08:00

Gender discrimination?

(making a good impression, acc to Jon)

case description:

For university buses, the campus always hire new student drivers. So whenever there is a driver-in-training driving the bus, there will be a supervisor on board, making sure that all is well.

Today, I boarded one of these buses. I was running towards the bus 'cos I am late. Once boarded, the supervisor greeted me loud and clear "Howdy!". Almost outta my breath, I replied in a squeaky voice (unintended) "Howdy!" and proceeded to one of the front seats.

The supervisor turned to the driver-in-training and asked

" Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, " he replied

" Always greet the girls when they board the bus."

(O.O *nod nod* I see..)

Language barrier?

While working,I was at the library counter, checking the bar-codes for net-books and making sure that they're labeled correctly. This man saw me and asked

" So you're doing inventory huh?"

*blank stare* (try to act like I know)

"I...guess? checking bar-codes and stuff"

I replied while thinking in my mind 'better google this word later'

he portrayed a question mark face and went back to his work.

then I moved on to the next counter and continue on my job,

this lady at this counter looked at me and asked

"Inventory?"

The same man heard and turned and looked at me

I looked at her. Smile.

"yea, checking bar-codes and all"

thinking 'I hope my answers are appropriate. why do they like to ask the same question? better google that word later on!!'

new word of the day:

Inventory

a list compiled for some formal purpose; goods and materials

Big realization for the Americans

Rmb the book 'How to win friends & influence people' by Dale Carnegie?

I didn't know it's so popular here in the US. I rmb picking that book up and checking it out while I was a librarian back in my high school, thinking that it's an interesting topic.

I'm currently reading the similar twenty-first century book by Tommy Spaulding, called 'It's not just who you know'

http://www.tommyspaulding.com/?page_id=85

Interesting and captivating book which speaks about ROR (Return of Relationships)

building sincere relationships along the path of your life will lead on to unimaginable returns

his personal story is astounding! of how a dyslexia (learning disability) kid can still get his master degree and become the owner of companies and such a successful leader in the society.

Awesome insights learnt from him.

In the process of pondering, it got to me that this was the social lesson that I have learnt, living in an Asian country. Business man or not, many have realized the importance of relationships and how it can get you way further than you've thought of. However, apparently, this concept was not deeply rooted in the culture of Americans. They are based on individualism,

“Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals.” Oscar Wilde

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself" Joseph Rudyard Kipling

No matter what, it's not too late for them to realize that we are living in a society and that community ad relationship matters.

Dating Paralysis and the Christian Student

2011-06-10T13:24:00.002+08:00

Interesting article from my current church's website:

Dating Paralysis and the Christian Student

an approach of gentle contradiction to what Christian youngsters were taught to believe

http://www.grace-bible.org/mattsblog/?p=397

such lovely waste of time

2011-06-10T07:51:00.003+08:00

Just one click to watch the "Today's Spotlight Video" in iGoogle,

I fell into deep addiction and stayed up till 5am+ for two nights, watching this Korean drama series!!!! Oh No...

and Awww! It had been so long since I last followed through a whole tv series.

the funny thing is that when I mentioned this series to one of my cf friends,

she had been following the same series since weeks ago. lol!

seriously seriously? Aihh

The whole series is not out yet, so i'm stuck here at episode 10,

being tortured in patience till next week when I can watch episode 11.

Here is one of my fav songs in the series, such cute and sweet song titled "Lovin Ice cream" (lol)

If and only if you have lots of free time, then I'd suggest you to check this out

Korean drama series "Lie To Me" (not too hard to find 'em, all the episodes are in youtube)

*big grinnnnn*

(dreamy) aihhhh

PENCIL

2011-06-06T11:57:00.002+08:00

A PENCIL MAKER TOLD THE PENCIL 5 IMPORTANT LESSONS JUST BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE BOX :

1. EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A MARK .

2. YOU CAN ALWAYS CORRECT THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE.

3. WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOU.

4. IN LIFE , YOU WILL UNDERGO PAINFUL SHARPENINGS, WHICH WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BETTER.

5. TO BE THE BEST PENCIL, YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE HELD AND GUIDED BY THE HAND THAT HOLDS YOU.

We all need to be constantly sharpened. This parable may encourage you to know that you are a special person, with unique God-given talents and abilities. Only you can fulfill the purpose which you were born to accomplish. Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil, always remember that the most important part of who you are, is what's inside of you and then allow yourself to be guided by the hand of God.

feeling sleepy

2011-06-03T11:46:00.003+08:00

I thought I had gotten used to sleeping late and waking up late recently.

but the power of online courses! just finished chapter 1, my head feels heavy.

looks like it's time to sleep...

10.50pm

the Aftermath

2011-06-02T07:05:00.002+08:00

within 30 min after I typed the previous blog post.

I was thinking, getting a job and start working wasn't that easy after all.

the department requires 5-20days of processing, by the time my documents are ready, it's about a week left till July. (given that they approve me of my job, of course; otherwise, don't even dream about earning my own money)

just then, i received a call from this lady from my church, and she asked if i'm interested in taking care of the kids on Saturday night (when the church is having family fellowship. it's only one Saturday every month).

and I was thinking, yea, I can do that. I don't have anything On on Saturdays.

and she explained that she understands the life of an undergraduate, not having income, having own school work and such, and that she'd talked to the fellowship and they agreed to give a small amount of 'thankyou gift' or rather known as salary? to the student who helped out.

oh wow! I'm kinda blown away by that.

and I just said "How bout I helped but I don't think I'll receive that offering. Since it's just one saturday per month, it's not like it's taking up much of my time. I think i can do that."

she insisted. and she said it's a very small amount. just take it.

"okay. Thanks."

*shrug*

Hello God! God up there, God everywhere.

You just wanna show me that You're really there huh?

Okay! I trust You. please handle my life for me then.

I'm telling you that I'm letting go, as in Everything, every part.

You can take it and make the best outta it right?

I trust You.

*whisper* Thank You!

Not that simple.

2011-06-02T05:12:00.001+08:00

well, good news that I've got a job. now what? Oh, I'm an international student, not only that, I'm a sponsored student with J-1 visa.

Not too good of a news.

paper works, application, approval, updating from the government department, reviewing and checking my status and the job offer. Gosh! How else can this be more complicated?!
Thought that I can start my job today but ended up with so many unpredictable paper works.

The two library ladies are still so polite, apologizing to me that they have no clue that hiring a J-1 student requires more paper-work and effort.
They promised to get me back in, and said sorry to have kept me waiting cos of the procedure.
I'm like. wow. I should be the one who's 'paiseh' (feeling sorry), because of the decision of hiring me, they have so much extra work to do.

anyway, the dreading part is dealing with Sponsored student program and the international student services. They are known to be the most inffective department in the whole campus. They are well-known for that. I've heard from my friends who said that she had to go to their office for 3 times in 2 weeks to get them started on her paper-work; some say that calling everyday helps a bit in getting them starting on your paper-work; some say, just straight away go bug them in their office everyday until your paper-work is finished processing.

Oh no!! Do they even realized that the whole world is waiting for their one little signature to get it rolling? (not forgetting to mention that the SSP lady-in-charged is not in her office for the whole week, again.)

I'm just hoping that for once, for at least once, they can get this procedure rolling out fast!

don't waste my whole month on waiting for their paper-work and ending up I just have July and half of August to work,

and most importantly, please, for goodness sake, approve my job offer!! don't give last-minute nonsense reason and reject a J-1 student from working.

I've good memory proof that the lady had once told me in April 2011 that I can go ahead and apply for any on-campus job as long as they employ me.

She better keep to her words!

*grunt*
Lord, I know that you are the one who'd provided me the job. You will make it come true no matter what. I trust in your I.M.possible power to make it come true. Give me peace once again, knowing that you will and you have taken care of everything. Amen.

I got a job! :D

2011-05-20T14:16:00.004+08:00

Praise God for everything.

I was just thinking about the peace that I had even at the beginning when I thought of having a job for summer.

This is what my prayer is:

1) I want to have an office work

2) I am expecting it to be part-time

3) I only wanna work for the summer

Am I too bold to be honest to those employers by saying that I'd only wanna work for the summer but not interested in continuing for regular semesters? Am I too bold to reject an interview which offers a full-time lab position? I don't know where I get the guts from.

I think I would call it FAITH.

believing in what you do not see.

This is the kinda peace that I had when I was waiting for JPA.

I don't know where God is gonna lead me, but I prayed and I knew that I am gonna get some kind of scholarship somewhere that will send me oversea to study. because that was what I've prayed for.

I have the peace. I am just waiting for it.

It is the same here.

I just talked to my friend who had suggested me Not to mention that I only wanna work for the summer; instead, just come out with some excuse when the semester starts and find ways to quit the job after summer. I don't feel right, I said.

I just wrote an email rejecting the interview for the full-time position in lab yesterday night. telling God that I am still believing and still waiting.

I was still in bed this morning when my phone rang at 10am.

This lady who'd interviewed me last time called me and asked if i'm still interested in the position. (she was very fond of me but couldn't hire me for the first position cos they wanted a student worker who can work for the whole year. so she asked me to try applying for another position instead and wait if there might be a chance that they would need people for only summer)

I sat up, tried not to sound sleepy and said "yea sure! anytime today or tomorrow would be fine"

so we're set. 2.30pm it is.

I went through another interview and most of the questions turned out to be the same

when i talked about my voluntary experience, I said that I'm helping out in the kid's sunday school in Grace Bible Church and this other lady is giving me a big grin.

I stopped and looked at her.

She giggled and said that " I thought you might wanna know that I attend Grace Bible Church too"

(awesomeness)

and so, I had my chance of asking questions and thanked them when i walked out of the room, being informed that they will give me a call if they wanna hire me.

I felt happy. went to the bank, still planning on going to this other building and pick up their job application letter when I saw that I have a misscall.

Oh! the library lady called me. it was just 30min after the interview.

Did i forget something or she pressed the wrong number.

So i called back

"Is this Jia? I was wondering if you're still interested in the Library position that we have interviewed you? We would like to offer that position to you. "

"Oh!! Yes! I am! Thank you so much!" totally unexpected that the decision was made so soon, I was actually crossing the road and then decided to stand at the corner of Subway just to hear clearer of what she's saying.

I was just bouncing as I was walking to the post office after that.

Saying profusely in my heart "I knew it! Thank you God! Thank you Jesus!" :D

First Time

2011-05-17T14:15:00.002+08:00

Do you ever remember your first time?

When you recall, most of them are just silly moments and they definitely can fit into the 'most embarrassing stories' from your book of life

hmm, so, I was trying to open the dishwasher but I tried too hard and it wouldn't open. I tried my best so that I don't have to ask my roommate (especially when all her friends are at the living room visiting her). but to no avail, so I ask

"T, I think there's some problem with the dishwasher? I can't open after closing it"

"Dish washer?" She walked to the kitchen, place her hand on the handle, and opened it with hardly any strength used. She laughed and said "you just have to press the thing in the middle"

her friends were laughing.

Lol. "that's funny" I replied *embarrassment #1*

I cooked and was so satisfied with my cooking and was ready to wash the dishes when the smoke detector went off and it was deafening! Ngiao ngiao ngiao ngiao!!!

I was like Oh~ohh! Big time trouble. nobody was in the house. and I looked around. trying to figure out what i can do. surprisingly, my instinct told me to grab a chair, reach up to the detector and I saw a button 'PUSH TO STOP'. I pushed it. it rang even louder. Oh Gosh!

I looked around and saw another detector at the door step (maybe this is the one that went off), so i brought the chair and push the stop button here instead. Ngiao nggiao ngiao..... and it stopped! FUHH! Thank God!

I came out from the bathroom and closed the door. lying on the bed and only realized I haven't brushed my teeth yet. Lazily, I got up and tried to get into the bathroom again, but I can't seem to open the door! oh no. what happened? looked like the door is locked from the inside. did i forget to unlock it before closing the door? I have no idea. but i'm too sleepy. so i prayed that I will be able to open it tomorrow morning and went to sleep just like that.

tomorrow morning, I woke up at 10am (having an appointment with my friend at 10.30am)

I still can't open the door. oh no! this is not good. nobody's at home. or rather one of them is still sleeping. what can i do? I called my friend who's in the same apartment complex(but different unit) to ask if she know who i can contact to get the maintenance and repair team. but she said she's no idea and that i should look online. i went online but to no avail, they only provide the marketing lady's contact info. Gosh! this is no good. how am i going to get into my bathroom? I haven;t even brush my teeth yet.

i walked aroud the house, praying and thinking what I can do. and I found a screwdriver at the kitchen. *ding ding*

let me be the technician this time. I believe I can do it on my own!

screwing and unscrewing. I unscrewed my main door's knob too, just to check how it works. then try it on my bathroom door

Good news in the end! I managed to earn my own way into the bathroom! YAY! and i screwed everything back. everything is now as good as new! :D

Finally an official cook!

2011-05-16T13:57:00.002+08:00

After waiting patiently for a year, I get the chance to have my own kitchen and yay!!!! first properly cooked meal in my life. should I mark this date down in my calender? xD

funnily enough, when i ponder back at how much I wished to move out last semester but God stopped me :?

Last semester, i wanted to move to the other closer and more expensive off-campus apartment, but funnily enough, I applied so early but still didn't get it.

well, if I've gotten that, I wouldn't have found this place with these awesome roommates :)

I'm living in a 4bed, 4bath apartment with 3 other girls: 2 Asian American girls and 1 Taiwanese + ME (Malaysian).

I'm nicely satisfied with where I am right now.

Interesting enough as well, God somehow arranged and allowed me to have my own decisions at the same time.

Okay, so when people ask me who am i living with.

"I don't know all my roommates before I moved in" They would give me a surprise look.

"well, but now i know them :) "

I really don't know any of them before this. but believe it or not,

among the 50thousand+ students in A&M...

I have met ALL 3 of these girls before.

I've met this one girl from the Asian American Inter varsity that I've attended only once and even had a lil talk with her. (but I totally forgot bout that till I meet her again in this apartment)

and I met this other girl during a Christmas party last year in a friend's place. She's a friend's friend. (similar case, totally don't rmb till I meet her again here)

and I've heard so much about this other girl who's D's friend, and I believe D had introduced her to me once? (D is one of the first friends I've met once I came here)

okay, let me think again.

Wait. If this is not awesomely arranged, what else could this be??

haha. nothing to say. Praise God! Thank you God for watching over me :)

oh ya! totally side-tracked. I was about to talk about my awesome dishes!

Here you go!

Healthy dish of chinese stir-fry vege (imitation) with potato, carrot, vege, minced beef

yummy chopped fish fillet seasoned with my roommates' seasoning powder(ops! pinjam guna sikit) and I'm too excited to prepare all the dishes that I've forgotten to cook rice. So, luckily I bought some tacos. and there you go, melted cheese on top of slight crispy tacos wrap.

hmm. I'm satisfied ^^

Something Borrowed

2011-05-15T13:24:00.004+08:00

Just finished watching this movie. gosh! I felt weird.

It just stirred my emotion so much! (not that I cried)

but it's just the ups and downs, tension, frustration, and ERG! eagerness and desperation to express the feelings for the actor!!

and when the movie finished, i sat on my seat, feeling like I was still in the movie.

this is strange.

hmm, well, it came down to one conclusion to be made, and one lesson to be learned.

Life is complicated.

yea. just that line.

for the lesson part:

Speak your mind.

(Speak out for what you feel and think. Don't be a coward who tries too hard to hide but fails)

overall, I wonder why is the rating only 5.5 out of 10.

I really do think that it's a good movie. (maybe the effect increased by watching it in a cinema. but still, Grrrreaaaaaaata!)

well, just, check this out:

http://somethingborrowedmovie.warnerbros.com/

[outta here! gonna start the kids' sunday school prep!]

Anyong to Spring 2011

2011-05-14T12:37:00.004+08:00

I'm finally done with my moving and is comfortably sitting on my new bed, in my new room, in my new apartment :D

Thanks to all who've helped me in the process (and even those who wished to help but just couldn't make it)

and a big YAY! for own bathroom, own kitchen and own room! Bazingga!

hmm, so.

Final's over. Spring semester's over. What now?

summer semester is coming!! before it starts, i do hope that i can at least chill and have some fun. and I'm still praying for a job. I've been to two interviews so far and I'm still waiting for the replies from more and and and I actually found out from a friend's friend that there's this vet lab which wants to hire student worker for only the summer! (That's Perfect!!) but vet? animals? (though she said i won't be dealing with animals. just the lab part), but still, lab? erg. that's smtg i.would.not.prefer.

well, Beggar doesn't have a choice, do they?

hmm, i'll wait till weekend and if no further news from the rest, I'll go ahead and call that friend to check out if the spot is still available.

meanwhile, I've had fun last night at Grand Station (bowling. and I got 6th! out of 6 people. Bravo to myself) and then northgate, check out and try out Hukka (woooo! i don't like it. make my throat feel powdery. but i do taste the apple taste after one breath though.) then went to check out a club but end up didn't stay that long either. [side note to myself: maybe i should strongly consider about joining, the next time there's a hanging out at northgate. cos i always end up thinking, what if i didn't go. maybe i shouldn't go afterall. I mean i really like having fun! but that wasn't too much of fun for me. something as simple as playing guitar with friend in a park would have much more fun effect for me i guess. hmm yup. reconsider before agreeing for sure!]

alrighty, and this morning, went with JV and C to the King's orchard in navasota for berries-picking! woohoo! I'm like asking her how big is the farm, but none of us have been there before. so when we arrive, there's this two small 'huts' and i'm like.. oh? is that gonna be smtg like Cameron highlands (quite a restricted area of strawberries), but come on, nothing like that!

we entered the hut from the front, and the back door leads us to a whole super mega huge farm with lots of pretty flowers and different berries and Gosh! that's just So Breathtaking! I'm really praising God for his awesome creation in there!

check out some of the fun photos we took:

By His wounds, we are healed

2011-04-23T05:06:00.000+08:00

totally inspired by jesuspainter

He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed

He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed

We are healed by Your sacrifice
And the life that You gave
We are healed for You paid the price
By Your grace we are saved
We are saved
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mac_powell/by_his_wounds.html ]
He was pierced for our transgressions
And crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed

We are healed by Your sacrifice
And the life that You gave
We are healed for You paid the price
By Your grace we are saved
We are saved

He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds, by His wounds we are healed
And by His wounds, by His wounds

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Counting Blessings

2011-04-16T12:57:00.004+08:00

A recap of what I've learnt for this semester.

1. 'God helps those who help themselves'?

Pride! unwilling to admit own's helplessness to God.
'God helps those who acknowledge their helplessness', 'God helps those who turn to Him'.

2. Not submitting is not trusting God that He will take care of it when you submit to your authority.

3. Make sure you marry a teachable man.

4. All that I am, all that I have, is from God and God alone. What is there to compare to? what is there to boast about? What is there to have doubt upon? It's ALL His.

5. learn to hurt people's feelings for good. sometimes, we have to hurt, fight, and challenge, to grow.

6. Do you pray for boldness and strategic opportunities? (even when it comes to something that you don't really choose to do?)
You can't get to courage if you don't go pass through Fear.

7. “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”Luke 10:41b-42

8.A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.

Jesus speaks straight to the deepest heart's desire.
What will he say to you if you're the one who ask "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

9.For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, "He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness." 1 Cor 3:19

10." For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" Phil1:21
Honestly, Are you able to truthfully say that?

11. What does your life tell about you?

12. rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature^[a] of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Phil2:7-8

Jesus made himself nothing. who are you to think that yourself is better?

13. Do you feel much loved by God:
a)because he make much of you, OR
b) at his great cost, the sacrifice of His son allow you to enjoy much of Him?

(in simple terms) Do you love God:
a)because He provides, He completes you, He maximize your ability, believing in Him can get you to heaven OR
b) because He is God and you just love Him
is it all about you OR all about God?

14. Be united, not divided, it's God's work, not ours.

15. Judge nothing before the appointed time, wait till the Lord comes.

16. J.O.Y- Jesus, Others, Yourself
B.I.B.L.E- Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

17. Do NOTHING out of selfish ambition..." Phil2:3
Nothing? Really? Can I do it?

18. you can hardly hear the name "Jesus" popping out of a conversation (either among Christians or non-Christians)
"Oh ya, Rachel, she is very religious, i think she goes to church often. 'Jesus'? No, I don't think i've heard her talking about 'Jesus'."

19。活着就是基督。
活着不是为了服侍主或服侍人，活着的不是我，是基督在我里面。
我的生命全为基督的目标吞没。
无论是生是死，总叫基督在我身上照常显大。

TOO PROUD
Timothy Floyd Thornton, Laura Elizabeth Thornton, Aaron Strumpel

VERSE:

I'm too proud to ask, too broke to eat, too weak to bow, too strong to bleed
Can you sing over me...words of comfort
Can you satisfy me...sweet honey
Can you break through me...strong hands
Can you undo me...enough to heal me

You take the weight...from my shoulders
My hands were clinched...now their open
I'll take your goodness...poured from the sky
Food from the ravens...water from the dry...well

Ahhhh~choo!

2011-04-08T09:21:00.006+08:00

Oh Hello! Pinky bottle and toilet paper! my two new visitors on the bed!

season of the year is here again.

well, according to my yearly record, i will get sick at least once every year. pish! (and i do hope that this will be the one and only sick days in 2011)

other than lil pillow, pinky and cookie monster, there's two new visitors on the bed: toilet paper and pinky bottle!

I've slept for 3 rounds and I think now, i'll sleep again (8.30pm)

which means i'll have to skip my physics discussion with my classmates :{

not good! but well, at least i'll have a chance of recovering after having enough rest.

had tuna bread and quaker instant oatmeal for dinner.

feel like having porridge but i'm just too weak to cook. and i can't buy it anywhere else. i wonder what do Americans eat when they are sick. McDonald? :/

i wanna have fun this weekend! not lying on the bed with pinky bottle and toilet paper! Grrrr

it's not fun to be sick!

Lord Jesus, heal me please. Amen.

*sleep*

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

2011-04-06T13:51:00.002+08:00

updates of the week

2011-04-01T07:30:00.003+08:00

Me.going.to.Passion.Conference.2011.Fort.Worth.Woo.hoo.

well, yea. I've signed up for this conference since last year. can you believe that? the first thing that i've signed up once i came to America is the Passion Conference. lol

by that time, i don't have much idea who is going, how I am going and so on, but I just figured it's something that I don't wanna miss out on.

and Kelvin highly recommended it too!

hmm, so.

now, it's actually in the middle of a busy semester and i'm having test once i came back from the conference :(

a tough physics subject.

I don't have an idea how am i going and where am i gonna live and i'm leaving tomorrow!

surprisingly,

God always surprises me!

so i managed to obtain a contact number of a girl who's going, Kelley.

and now i know i'm going with her and 2 other girls and a guy, staying over at her place in Dallas and yeeap! Pray that God'll truly move and may His presence be so so strongly present there!

more info bout Passion Conference:

http://268generation.com/passion2011/#/ftworth/about

erm yea, and that means that i'm gonna miss out Stephen Hawking's talk!!!!

how can that be!

gosh!

World-Famous Physicist Stephen Hawking To Deliver Public Lecture

COLLEGE STATION -- The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University encourages the Brazos Valley and campus communities to take advantage of a major opportunity to see one of the most brilliant scientific minds of all-time when Stephen Hawking returns to Aggieland next month to present a rare public lecture.

apparently, one of our board member in Texas A&M is a dear friend to Hawking and he comes to Texas at least once every year.
guess I'll just cross my fingers and hope that he'll come again *pray*

and since I won't be around this weekend, it means that I've no time to study for my physics test; which means that I have to start studying now but I totally don't feel like it. Aih! God, give me strength!

oh, adding to that, all the best to I.U. who has went back to Malaysia to start his new stage of working life. woohoo! all the best and eat lotsa good Malaysian food for me! see you when I return in few years time :)

and also a very big congrats to A who got a job offer from Amazon! that is reaaally God's blessing and finally, his hardwork paid off. very glad for him! may God continue to guide his future undertakings! :)

meanwhile, please still do keep Malaysia and the Christan back there in prayer. There is definitely a spiritual battle going on and may God work through your prayers and take control of everything!

waking up

2011-03-28T06:05:00.004+08:00

have you ever feel totally lost and weird after waking up from a long nap in the afternoon?

dreamt of a lot of weird things, waking up feeling mixed and blur.

suddenly wish that i can wake up at home and walk down the stairs to find mummy in the kitchen.

Very Happy!

2011-03-26T14:04:00.005+08:00

well, this is meant to be a short post. just can't wait to share my joy!

erm, okay, so i had this chemistry test this previous Thursday and I knew it well I had been over-confident in chemistry, thinking it's not as hard as my other physics courses and so i didn't spend much time on it.

but when the test is around the corner, i started panicked!

how come i don't understand what the prof is teaching in his lecture? oh no no no... not a good sign!

so i spent most of my wed studying for my thurs morning test.

and i'm still not that prepared when i stepped into the lecture hall.

I struggled in the test and i was thinking... no hope anymore.

i stayed through and waited till the very last minute to hand in my test paper.

and i came back, feeling crushed.

talked to makmai on gtalk for awhile, saying that i'm sad :{

but can't skype her yet cos i still need to study for my chem lab quiz later.

i've been checking the elearning online for my grades every day(morning, afternoon, evening to see if he'd posted yet)

and guess what!He'd just posted the grades just now and I found out that got 90 out of 90 for MCQ !!!

I literally went "Are you serious????" out loud to myself and checked the website 3 times for confirmation

and laughed out loud in disbelief!

well, i don't really care if i get a 0 for the free-response part, since 90 is already an A.

I srsly don't know how i did it.

but i do know how i prayed before i studied and walked into the exam hall.

God has everything in his hands ;)

i feel so good.

TOP 10 Reasons WHY you should take PHYSICS

2011-03-26T07:25:00.000+08:00

As I was waiting for my academic advisor in this Physics building room, I looked up and saw a very interesting poster:

TOP 10 Reasons WHY you should take PHYSICS

1. Physics makes you more attractive to uinversity recruiters, future employers, and that cutie you have your eye on. *wink* (if i'm still in US, the attraction on future recruiters would apply. and sometimes non-physics guys will just get intimidated by physics-girls.)

2. without Physics there would be NO: grocery laser scanners, space rockets, light bulbs, digital cameras, cars, cell phones, airplanes, DVD players, computers, flatscreen TVs... get the picture?

3. or explore the mysteries of the universe using lasers to develop new medical techniques. Become an international rap sensation, Help solve the world's energy problems! (wow, sounds very noble)

4. If you study engineering, you can do engineering. If you study Physics, you can still do engineering...(lol! engineering majors, don't be offended. but this is just Funny!)

5. ever wonder why you're learning all that math? TRY PHYSICS! (yea, try it and get your brain nerves tangled up!)

6. The laws of physics are 100% recession-proof, and the jobs you can get with physics are pretty darn secure too. (yea, i know, being a teacher is pretty secured)

7. Physics will get you a better score on any test whose name has three or four capital letters- SAT, ACT, MCAT, LSAT, GRE (sounds yummy!)

8. Physics explains: Why the sky is blue, why the world goes round, why global warming will have the Alaskans trading in their snow boots for flip-flops (lol, and polar bear deciding to shave off their white, thick fur)

9. Physics teaches you how to THINK! (that's what my first physics professor said)

10. If you get stuck inside of a black hole, you'll know how to get out. (Aha! or just get yourself deeper and deeper into the black hole)

interesting article isn't it? ;)

Quote from: www.compadre.org/careers

I'm back and safe from Las Vegas!

2011-03-19T15:22:00.006+08:00

Yep,

so i'm back and i'm in College Station now, trying my best to buckle myself up once again for the roller coaster ride of studies!

thinking about it already scares me off.

but well, God is bigger than my problems! :)

______________________________________

hah, i have so many things to tell about my spring break trip to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, and Bryce Canyon. but looks like i have to sleep soon (just got back from trip today and it's 2.25am at the moment)

so, let me just update One Specially memorable event that happens during the trip which reallllyyy blows my mind off and once again strengthening my belief that Prayer Does Work!

okay, so, we're on our way back from Bryce Canyon to Houston (25 hours of driving)

yea, i'm not joking. scary eh? Salute the drivers! (which is all of them cos i'm the only one who hasn't gotten a license yet. yicks!)

so, 2 cars, 7 people, speed limit 75 on highway,

and we went up to around 90.

whether intentionally or not, that's not the main point, we're basically following the traffic.

and so, all of a sudden, we saw this cop car stopping in the middle of the road and started driving behind us.

totally shocked and scared, we slowed down to the normal speed limit and my friend was saying something like oh no, and pray pray pray!

i was like, okay, i'm praying. hard.

then the cop car went in front of us and continue driving on, i'm like "fuh! we're safe!"

few seconds later, the cop car stopped in front and the cop came down from his vehicle and pointed at both of our cars to command us to stop at the road side.

Oh My Gosh!

seriously! i'm worried. this is my first time being caught by a cop in US (though i'm not driving, but sitting in the front passenger seat, i can totally feel the tension!)

i'm thinking "oh no ,God, i prayed! but... *sigh*"

so we stopped and we were panicked.

getting a speeding ticket means that we've to pay around 200usd or more, or pay a little lesser but the driver will have to go through the troublesome and time-taking defensive driving classes.

we wouldn't want both.

[recalling, even before the trip, the only thing that we've said we won't ever want that to happen is getting a speeding ticket!]

(going back to the story)

so we stopped at the road side, meanwhile the cop drove his car and went forward, leaving us behind waiting for him to return.

we wondered what happened but concluded that he wanted to catch more speeding drivers to achieve his quota.

to cut the long story short,

we waited for almost 45 minutes waiting for the cop to return.

US traffic rules: don't get down the car when you're stopped by a cop, he'll end up thinking that you're a dangerously armed driver and might shoot.

do we don't know what to do and we tried googling for Arizona's traffic rules, check if there are rules that we can leave after how many minutes if the cop doesn't return.

one of the reasons we don't dare to leave just like that is because we're thinking that the cop might have taken down our car plate's number and if we drove off, we might end up getting 2 tickets: speeding and driving off.

but to no avail, we can't find any of such rules which allow us to leave after stopping by a cop who doesn't return.

still worrying, my 3 friends in another car decided to drove forward slowly, trying to locate the cop and let him catch us quickly, instead of waiting pointlessly at the same spot.

but for the passengers in my car, we decided to stay put and not move, just in case the cop returns and suspect that we're trying to get off.

in the midst of deciding what should we do and how long more should we wait, i was still praying frantically hard and asking God that I sincerely wish that He can use this opportunity to prove that prayer works and He does miracles!

i don't know how this may work out as my friend was saying that, we were already stopped by the cop, there's no reason that we will escape getting a ticket.

but me, i have no idea, i told God i don't know how this will work, i don't know what's his plan (he might wanna give us a lesson?), i don't know anything at all but i just pray that we will not get a speeding ticket. dont know how. just only God can do it.

i was praying. praying. and still praying.

we were waiting and waiting.

i texted one of my friend and briefly told her about the situation and asked her to pray with me.

pray that God will prove himself to be real.

finally when my car (the 2nd car) decided to start our engine and follow the 1st car to move forward slowly, we saw the cop returning from the other side of the road.

the cop cut through the middle road shoulder and proceed to the back of our car to stop.

we stopped our car immediately and unwind the window.

Cop "Hi, how're ya'll doing?"

"afternoon sir"

"i stopped ya'll because you were off the speed limit and was traveling at 90. the car in front of you was traveling at 91 and you were following closely behind. "

" i'm very sorry sir"

" but ya'll have been waiting for more than half an hour, and i was actually expecting to return and not see you here anymore, but since you've waited, i guessed that's a good enough punishment, i'll let you go this time without a ticket. just don't travel at 90 anymore."

"Thank you sir. thank you so much!"

"are ya'll traveling with the car in front of you?"

"er, yea, we're together."

"Ok, i'll go and tell the same thing to them."

"thank you sir!"

smile.

(the cop was actually smiling and looked so friendly, not forgetting that he's good looking too. lol. he didn't even asked to check the driver's license! and acc to my friends from the 1st car, he was actually quite chatty. he chatted with them for awhile asking are we here for spring break and stuff. )

after he left, we literally leapt for joy in the car. and my heart was beating crazily out of nervousness and joy!

i was exclaiming "oh my gosh ! oh mygosh! i'm really praying hard i tell you! and see! prayer works! i don't know what to say. oh my gosh! Thank God!"

it turns out that there's a speeding car in front of us whose driver is driving on a suspended license and so the cop caught him and have to wait for to tow the car away. which is why he took so long before returning to us.

I mean,you might say that it's coincidence but i'm there, i mean i've experienced it and i just don't know how else this might have happened if it's not God at work. I prayed and i can literally see that my prayer works. If God is not awesome, nobody else is!

MARRIAGE. in different cultures

2011-03-09T09:14:00.005+08:00

"Is she a distraction to you?"
My classmate pointed at me while talking to my TA (teacher assistant)
I went "What??"

it turns out that my TA was married at the age of 21 and later divorced because he claimed that women are distractions to him while studying Physics.

and my classmate went on discussing about this issue.
"No. I don't believe what he says. I think women are not."
"When are you going to get married?" he asked.
Trying to finish up my lab report, I didn't look at him, but just thought that he was just trying to be funny to bring up this topic.
and so i answered naturally
"When i find the right guy."
he laughed and said "Yea, that's like the perfect answer for anyone."
and so for no reason, i asked him back, without expecting a proper answer
"How bout you? When are YOU gonna get married?"
"When I graduate."
"What?"
"Straight after I graduate."
I laughed. "Are you serious?"
"Yea."
*stunned mode*
and I went "Oh. wow. okay."

I never know he had a girlfriend. and we have never talked about that either. basically what we ever talked about is Physics.
but i got to asked him bout his girlfriend later on and found out that they are highschool sweethearts.
like most of the Americans who found their 'life-partner' in high school and decided; or in his case, tried all his ways to get into the same university so that they can be together and have actually planned to get married in 2 years time.
I shouldn't be surprised.

other than this classmate whom I've just talked about,
A friend: still dating her boyfriend whom she'd met since highschool (it is a norm to have boyfriend since highschool and it's quite often that people will stay as highschool sweethearts all the way through university life)
B friend:(one year older than me) is graduating in May, and getting married around July with her fiance who's also graduating in May.
C friend: got married straight after graduation when she's 21, then only went for graduate school and is pregnant now
D friend: pregnant in her freshman year,getting married this summer.

This is an advance and modern society. but people are still marrying at such a young age.
I wonder, is it just in Texas that people get married early?
Or it's just the problem of Asians? thinking that young teenagers are immature and shouldn't date or get married until they're 'old enough'. having the mentality that relationship issues will affect one's success.
My China friend told me that they're not allowed to date in highschool. Not allowed as in the teacher will tell the parents and some disciplinary action will be taken if you're found to be dating someone when you're in highschool.
and in Malaysia, our mentality and concept about dating at young age is somewhere in between Texas (USA) and China.
We do have students dating in highschool but we're always told that those relationship won't last (but in Texas, it's quite usual that highschool relationship last; very few students graduate highschool without a partner)

In Malaysia, getting married at the age of 21 or younger is like one in a hundred.
If you're one of those, you'll most certainly get a weird stare from the society (you Must have done something that forces you to get married at this young age)

Why can't relationhihp started at a young age last in Malaysia but it certainly Can, in Texas? Maybe its not about the age. it's the mentality afterall.
In Malaysia, you're being told that to be a good and obedient and proper student, you shouldn't date until you're 'old' enough, and highschool relationsihp never last. and why do you even think about starting a relationsihp at 14 if you're thinking about getting married at 26. that's like dating for 12 years. the percentage of breaking up is 99%
why can Texan do it but not us? well, they started relationsihp as young as 9 years old but if they want to, they can maintain it. they can get married at 21 and that's consider old enough to take care of themselves, while 21 in Malaysia is like, you've just step out of your baby-zone, now, finally A Bit older, you can look for a partner now.

I'm laughing at myself that my friend 19year-old friend is planning for his marriage in 2 years time and a 21-year-old me is still thinking that having a boyfriend is a burden to me.
talking about third-world country citizens usually marry at a younger age? that's certainly not true.

well, what do you think? i'd love to listen from different perspectives :)

blessed 21st dear Emily!

2011-03-02T14:24:00.004+08:00

Dear Sis,

No words can describe how blessed I am to have you as my dear friend.

How Fun, cheeky, goofy, smart, cheerful, deep, emo, artistic, random, floaty, spontaneous, ever-loving you are.

Appreciate you totally and i'm so thankful that God gave us a chance to know each other.

you're one of a kind and no one can ever replace You in my life *wink*

I love you for who you are <3

since my bday was just few days ago, my bday wish is that you'll stay and grow in the Lord.

Love Him as how He first loved you.

"A friend loves at all times,

And a brother is born for adversity."
Prov 17:17

And you are.

my friend,

my sister

Stay in the Lord at all times.

Feb27th

2011-02-28T05:22:00.003+08:00

⁴ Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
⁶ He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Psalms 37:4-7

⁸Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:7-11

Praise God for a good time in sunday school today. :)

A memorable birthday

2011-02-27T06:11:00.001+08:00

this has been an emotional birthday :')

you can never know how much you're blessed until when you sit and pondered about it.

A God who restores.
A God who sets me free.
I've received my Best 21st birthday gift right when i wake up on Feb25.
I can't imagine how God has been working in and through us, He's being in control; at the same time, working at the background unknowingly.
He is indescribably awesome!
"therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there at the altar. first go and be reconciled to them, then come and offer your gift" matthew 5:23-24.
___________________________________

well, yesterday was my 21st birthday. oh yea, talking bout this, i forgot to thank my mum for giving birth to me! *open facebook page*
My mum has been a real hero in my life.
some people actually said that I mirror my mum.
well, it's a subconscious action i guess.
whenever people ask me about my family, about my story of growing up and things that've changed and impacted my life,
i can't help but mention so much about my mum leaving those people saying
"wow, your mum seems like a really wonderful lady. I'd like to meet her one day"
Thanks for giving birth and fully carried out your role 200% to raise us up!
I wanna let you know that all the sacrifice that you've put into is all worth it.
Thanks makmai and do know that you're loved <3

UPDATES of the week!

this week had been a crazy week.
Physics tests in a row. homeworks due, quizzes, ICF worship,girls' night out, kids Sunday school...
and i basically slept at around 2 or 3am for few nights altogether.
i can feel my body heating up and i hope that i won't get sick soon!
*vitamins-double-dose time*
I got back my physics test paper.
errr..
well, i just prayed that i'd get above average and my prayer is answered. shouldn't i be happy bout that?
not really though. but at least i'm thankful that God listens :)
just that, i wish that i could do better with the amount of work i've put in.
I just pray that i'll keep on improving and do better next time.

Thanks dear friends and family and all other classifications of dear people for your sincere wishes!! :D

i doubt that i'd have time to reply one by one, but i'll try? ><
in the meantime, also sorry guys for those of you who'd tried calling me but i've not picked up most of the calls! so so sorry!
i'm either rushing for my assignment, in ICF, out somewhere or, smtg just happened.
but i'm glad that i got to picked up a few of the calls and i felt so so thankful for all of you!!!
thanks for the calls from miles and over the sea, i can literally feel your love flying in my direction! :DD

and so, i'm 21. officially an adult. and my girl friends decided to give me an adult experience or rather lesson? we went to a gay bar in downtown Bryan! wow! and the person in charge actually let me in free as a gift for my birthday. and so, i tried my first shot. it's just one though. only ONE. lol. they asked if i'd like to try more but i guess, first timer, one is good enough. Right? lol. i won't wanna get home drunk.

and so i stayed over at my dear friends' place. it's a girls' sleepover ;D

i had fun seriously. thanks girls!!!

Walking into ministries

2011-01-24T05:16:00.003+08:00

Thanks for the free response ya'll have given to my last post.

believe it or not, it helped a lot. (honest)

I guess sleeping helps a lot too. xD

well, i'm still praying about it and yeap!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

-keeping this in mind :)

_______________________________________________

Well for today. this is what i've got:

One of my new year resolution is to start serving in whichever ministries God'd called me to.
and thinking back, even before i have this new year resolution, Last year December, out of no where, I thought of helping out in the kids Sunday School and so I asked my friend if i can attend to observe for once.
The arrangement was somehow postponed to last week Jan16 and when i got home, i asked God once again and guess what was that day's devotion?
"a Child's potential" -our daily bread.org

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6)

and straight after i do my devotion, my friend called to ask if i'm really interested in helping out in the kids sunday school, telling me that it's a commitment and asking what i think about it.
I agreed.
Ta~Daa!
and here it is, the worker application and commitment form to serve in the church.
i didn't know that agreeing to help in the kids ministry means automatically being in the choir too?
lol. and that means my Sunday just turned from 9-11am to 9-2pm
(9-11am English main service, 11-1pm kids Sunday school in Mandarin service, 1-2pm choir practice)
of course, I reminded myself that serving is not a bed of roses.
I haven't even started officially, my mind is reminding me of the potential troubles coming in my way. ha!
but as long as it's God's will. Here I am!

my friend just shared about how taxing serving might be sometimes, but it's a privilege to be able to have the opportunity to serve in this Mandarin Church which we can hardly get in the English main service. (agree totally) and of course,
'the field is plenty but the workers are few'

I can't believe it all happened so soon, i had just drafted my new year resolution few weeks ago and here it is,
it's like God's saying "you asked for it? there you go!"
Lol. of course He's saying in a nicer way.
well, i foresee a super busy and packed semester ahead.
once again, i've learnt to pray before i make every decision and to trust as I continue my journey :)

安慰 assured

Should it be that way?

2011-01-23T13:19:00.002+08:00

the professor was scribbling on the white board.
Lines by lines, explaining something which seemed only to be understood by himself.
the rest of the class is quiet.
Everyone was either dozing off, paying attention (or at least they seemed to be), staring at their white blank piece of notepaper, sighing, or staring into the space in deep thoughts
Guess which category did I fall into?
BINGO! I was paying attention!
....Not

At least I tried to.
I tried my best. I mean I was looking at his scribbles, looking at him, trying my best to copy down what he wrote...
but Come on! those are scribbles! Who would understand that!
His writings are totally comprehensible, it's just that...... the contents are not.

She looked like she's paying attention, but her mind floats off~
'What do you think will happen if i change my major?' she thought to herself.
'Mathematics would be a good try.
Well at least the sponsors won't give her too much problem since Math is under Science too.'
'Math is good. Isn't it? Do you think I should?'

"Okay class, are you following me?" asked the professor.
that interrupted her train of thoughts.
'oh gosh, where were he? oh ok! voltage gain and inductance.
oh Crap! what's inductance again?'
there she goes again, struggling in the very first week of her class.
___________________________________________________

Well yea, that was me.
All I need is a confirmation that should i stay in Physics or should I change into Math major?
It's that simple.
then it would avoid all the nonsense thoughts floating through my head. (the thoughts have been settling in my mind since I took the 1st physics course!)
to be honest, it's not fun at all.
listening to my coursemate(who scored 'A') complaining about how hard the course is and that he should change major.
What?! you're the smarter one! come on! give me some confidence here!

some say "it's ok to change major, it's a very common thing to do here. you studied that course, find out it wasn't for you, change it."

some say "Maths is hard too ya know. everything is hard."

some say "Yea, I know physics is hard. i have no idea why people would wanna take physics as a major. No offense, but i hate physics. "

some say (a professor) "If you can't get an A in classical mechanics and **, then you should consider changing your course. I don't mean to scare you. but that's my advice."

(Oh really prof? Congrats! you managed to scare me to bits! :D X_X)

some say : "you didn't get an A for your physics last semester? you should! you're a physics major!"

(yea i know. thanks for reminding me that)

Oh God!

Why would you even allow me to take this path?

I've known that it's a road of suffering down here but why didn't you stop me?

you allow me to walk through this just so that i can realize i don't have that Physics 'thing' so that I can change my major?

But Lord, i know it's not that.

you'd want me to trust in you and that you would bring me through it.

Tell me that's what you've planned for me!

or, everyone has different skillful areas, maybe mine is not Physics after all.

It's a realization, is that it?

I don't know.

hey You! Yes You! Do you have any golden advice to offer to me? I'm lacking of some. or maybe plenty.

what i like about you

2011-01-21T06:15:00.001+08:00

while trying to ignore my last post,
i've a sudden desire to continue the 'facebook virus' of 'what I like about you'
but this time, i'm writing it on the Special one's wall :)

I like that you are indescribably good

i like that you are ALWAYS by my side

i like that you understand everything that i'm going through

i like that you made me ME

i like that you made me step on thorns, just to thicken my skin

i like that you guide me through my decision-making

you never stop me from choosing the self-torture path, but you made that as a process to gain my 101% trust in you.

and, I'm learninggg to like that!

i like that you speak to me every now and then to calm my soul

i like that i can find peace by spending time with you

i like i can find you everyday, anywhere, anytime, anyhow and you are never too busy to listen to me

i like that i got to know you early enough before anything stupid happens

i like that you are my role model

i like that i can trust you to get things straight

i like that you never give up/get tired of me

and i like that i love you and wanna love you more.

i like that you are my GOD :)

posted on Jan 20th, 2011 4.10pm on Jesus' wall.

lost numb sad

2011-01-21T05:44:00.000+08:00

well it's not that i wanna complain :(
but... but....
i DON'T UNDERSTAND A SINGLE WORD HE UTTERED!
Gosh! what in the world is he lecturing about!?
adding to the point that some students actually corrected him in the midst of his lecture?
i mean, Come'on! where did they get their brain from?
...........
so how?

Counting blessings

2011-01-15T12:55:00.001+08:00

How can i put it? other than saying that again, God has been more than faithful :D
well, this is my first ever holidays in the States. Supposedly should be a bit lost but I'm really fine with everything. Praise God for everything. I've a list of things to be grateful for.
Thank God that

1. I've met up with Madonna and managed to have awesome trip around Texas
2. God has protect and blessed us so much throughout the journey
3. We'd been able to find our way to different places of interests though we've not been there before and it's a foreign country
4. We'd met good friends like vivian, jimy and wilson who are nice people and who brought us around( to play super-go-kart, laser-tag, for volunteer work, to greyhound station, to karaoke, to watch movie)
5. thank God for giving good friends in A&M: weewen, william , iou uei, jing voon, vivian, emiline...(who'd brought us to San Marcos and for new year's eve countdown)
6. thank God for host families: Pastor Peng & Charis, Uncle &Aunty Tsang, Bishop Yong and family, aunty grace, uncle and tim(family) (who's brought me to NASA and brought me for Malaysian meal in Houston, gave me so so many things and treated me as part of their family :)
7. thank you Lord for just loving me and taking care of me.
8. thank God for william, iou uei and devina who'd helped me move my things into a new dorm!

wow, so now, i've managed to settle down and i'm still wondering who's this new roommate of mine, can't wait to see her knowing that God will again provide me with a wonderful roommate.
just went to help out in International Student Welcoming Party (the one which i've been to last semester when I was new to A&M, now, my turn to serve them :)
and yay! i met an indian christian girl who attend Grace bible church main service as well, hopefully we can keep in touch and she seemed super nice!
tomorrow, will be the mark of my first day : BACK TO LIBRARY! ok, so i got to check out my textbooks (read through and see if i wanna buy them online)
thank God that there's this freshman who'd bought my last semester's Politics books from me (I get 30usd for that :D
then Sunday: back to Grace bible church, then to ICF first ever gathering and prayer time
just got to buckle up, and be ready and equipped for the battle ahead! ;)

some photos to wrap up my winter holidays

say CHEESE!

new year's eve countdown

awesome family in Austin

Christmas celebration (white elephant gift exchange)

new room with bunk bed which made me knocked my head twice the first 2 days i moved in! o.O

lil peep into my new year's resolution:

1.buy a guitar and learn it well!

2.get my driving license (well i'm half way there :)

3. be a GOOD cook!

4.grow up yet be fun! :DDD

can'tbelieveit'smyyearintoadulthood!

Breakaway & The Star of Bethlehem

2010-12-08T14:17:00.000+08:00

what happens every Tuesday?

Breakaway!

it all started in 1989 as a bible study group where 12 students worship and study the bible, it grew and grew and now, it's the largest weekly gathering group on campus for great worship and sharing!

to my surprise, Chris Tomlin attended Texas A&M and he was once the worship leader for breakaway.

"There I was in college at Texas A&M, leading worship for a Bible study called Breakaway." Chris Tomlin

http://www.familychristian.com/music/interviews/chris_noise.he.makes1.asp

Praise God for the opportunity for me to be involved!

(remembering that TAMU has never been the university that I wanted to attend. it was just another safety school I plan to apply to. and My choice was never to attend any university Alone..)

nevertheless, I'm once again assured of the purpose of Him sending me here :)

"It's about the awesomeness of God, and what He is doing and the person of Jesus Christ. That is what we want to celebrate. That is what we are going to be doing at Kyle." Ben Stuart (Executive Director for Breakaway)

they just launched their first album and sample music can be found in their link

http://breakawayministries.org/live/

Besides that, I've just attended the greatest scientific proof of the bible presentation for

"The Star of Bethlehem"

"Was the Star of Bethlehem a real astronomical event? A myth created by the early church? Explore the history and science for yourself..." Rick Larson, a former law professor at A&M.

http://www.bethlehemstar.net/

the fact and scientific proof given in the presentation just blows your mind away and made you stay in silent awe of God!

it's about the announcement of Christ's coming, the prophesy before and after, until the day of Christ's death.

The Star of Bethlehem

"After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was" Matthew 2

"On December 25 of 2 BC as it entered retrograde, Jupiter reached full stop in its travel through the fixed stars."

The Day of the Cross

Joel 2:10 says, "the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine" and in verse 31, "The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (NIV; Isaiah 13:10)

33AD, April 3th, the day of the cross- solar eclipse

check this out, quick promo video in facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/bethlehemstar#!/video/video.php?v=1504078238473

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all

tiny bits of the States

2010-11-20T08:08:00.000+08:00

I have been living in a world of books, tests, assignments, homework and Library!
Library officially became my 2nd home and i actually liked that :)
I'm not a nerd! just that i like the cozy feeling of the library where you CAN...
1. borrow your textbooks for a period of 4 hours check-out per time, but not spending tons of money to buy it
2. just lie of the sofa and sleep like nobody's business
3. crash into one of the studyroom and do whatever you like in there with nobody watching you
4. use the computer for whatsoever reason (Without a sticky note of "only official work! no facebook!" )
5. choose to sit at the 'Poor Yoricks'-the snack&coffee corner and smell all kinds of yummy smell
6.explore the best-seller books corner and find out all kinds of famous and recommended books to read without buying them in MPH or kinokuniya
7. Bring your BAG in! but not leaving them outside of the library and holding a handful of books and stationery and sometimes even dropping them on your way in
8. EAT! wherever, whenever, whatever (you can just enjoy your meal while you're facebooking/reading a book/lying a sofa...)
9. walk into the University Writing Center (free service provided in the library) and get your grammar/sentence structure/citation styles corrected
10. print and scan your documents for FREE! (photocopy does need $)
tons of reasons why I should love the library! :D

hmm, why am i talking about the library anyway..o.o
alright, there are some interesting things i've found out about Americans which i think would be interesting to jot it down/share :)
of course, these might not be 100% true, just something which I've found out from my American friends but generally, it applies in most instances

1.Americans' first golden rule of thumb: Do unto others what you want others to do unto you.

2. 2nd golden rule: you can do anything with Gold $$$$

3.the American dream: every individual can succeed as long as you do what you're supposed to do, and be good in it. Wealth is not born with, it's made. own effort+hardworking-ness changes everything!

4. all Americans want to be a leader. nobody wants to be a follower. it's all about leading.

5. working life in America is hectic and no fun. you start driving to office at around 6am and get back at 6pm. the answer you'll always get when you ask them about their job would be "It's tough.", "tiring", "*sigh*","how i wish i can go back to study life"
and working is not fun time, it's WORK time.
like Donald trump, you don't get to the standard? "You're Fired!"

6. Ivy League is not so much of a superdream that everyone has here.
so what do they say about ivy league when they're asked? "well, not every program in ivy leagues are good. we (texas A&M) has very good engineering program, sciences, political science and a whole lot others too"
"and we have very good connections with the world out there, talking about CIA, pixar... we have connections! I tell you, Aggies get their connections all over the nation"
"but of course, being in ivy leagues, you will have different kinds of connections- with the elites"

7. most Americans like small government and more individual freedom.
you can hardly hear any praises about the government but you'll hear "the government shouldn't..."

8. American little boys have STRONG DISLIKE towards PINK while American girls are CRAZILY IN LOVE with PINK (generalization but true)
when we're wrapping gifts for a little boy (operation christmas child boxes)...
"This box is for a boy, should we put the pink sharpener in?"
"I guess the lil boy in the other side of the world won't have such dislike towards pink as American boys do..."

9. Americans like it A LOT Sweeter and Saltier.
me:"is the cake very sweet?"
American:" No, it's just nice."
me "..." (doubting what it meant by 'just nice')
Chinese :"haha. yea, it's not too sweet.you can try it.the level of sweetness is just nice for Asians"
me "oh okay! :D " (took a large piece)

10. me "how do Americans define a very pretty girl?"
B"hmm, well, she'll have blonde long straight hair, very slim, tanned, weight of ... and height of ...
in simple terms, she will look like a Barbie Doll, just that a Barbie isn't tanned"
me "how about a very handsome guy?"
B"he'll have either blonde or brown hair, tanned, muscular and fit, weight of... and height of..."
me "can i say he'll look like Kent?"

*11. an extra point here from my homegroup leader, which is very comforting to me.
"Do ya'll know that Texas A&M is the university in the whole of America that sends out the most missionaries? Don't think of College Station as a small town which has nothing much, God is using us" :)
PTL!

well, just some random facts that i've found out.
can't wait till Thanksgiving!!! (Black Friday shopping!)
and I pray that money will be banked in soon! ><

$ + Physics

2010-11-09T09:17:00.001+08:00

Broke. i'm broke! :(
just paid for my accommodation for this semester (+ general deposit and late fee charges, well i'm not being informed about the fee to be paid but they kept charging me for late payment until now! mygoodnesss!)
i think i have $100+ left in my bank account. yup! that's it. nothing more.
and a few bucks in my purse.
wow!! i'm officially broke! O.O
when is our sponsor crediting our account? It's November already! money should be in by end of last month or early this month! gosh! are they always like that? even when we're overseas?
what if we really have no more money to even eat?
never thought of that huh?
they trust us to find our own source of income i guess. (means that i should find a part-time job here, at least i can save up some of my income for emergency usage. hmm...)

oh and i got my test 2 results back.
hmm, well, a friend told me: study is all about using the right method.
it makes full sense to me!
well, a bit of a good news here
my improvement of grades from test 1 to test 2
history: D to B
political science: B to A
Physics: C to C
calculus: B to ?

well, at least, i've found out the way to study for history and political science, (despite the fact that i still don't like it that 88 or 89 is called a B!)
physics :{
another friend who's in physics PhD said something that made full sense too.,
he asked me how's physics, i replied with sigh and disappointment and hopelessness, but when i asked him back 'how's physics?', he said Good!
wow. i'm amazed.
he explained that "it's always hard, it has been always hard and it will always be hard. but i don't want to complain about it."
simple words eh? but impacting to me.
well, it is my choice, i've chosen to take this path, so why am i complaining and dreading the subject which is supposed to be my favorite?
well, i've decided that, I wont complain about it, i'll just face it with a positive attitude.
it's always hard, so i won't expect it to grow easy, just that i will try again and again to conquer and master the skill of studying physics,
adding up to a point that i believe God is bringing me there, i'm on my way! :)
and another big discovery that make me <3 physics more is that
Physics brought me closer to God! hahaha!
ain't that COOL? 8-)

simple updates:

@went to this gospel choir concert where most of them are african american. i've been having secret desires to one day attend this kind of church or to listen to a real-life awesome-pohsum choir of theirs. without proper planning, dreams come true. their music is just awesome! they have very little practices, most of it were spontaneous but it turned out like. WOW! (just to give a brief picture-it's like Sister Act when they sang altogether) but this is even greater! the whole congregation actually got up to their feet and sang and dance together and all of them sang so well!!! My God's awesome creation. the best part was that all of us were praising God together with those christian songs sang by melodious voices! <3333
@oh oh oh, and i'm beyond surprised to receive a call from Malaysia. thanks to jowel the bunny who sang 'pingpong' on the phone to me ^^
@planning to go Dallas/sugarland/ St Marcus for blackfriday shopping and thanksgiving. still undecided, but looking at my under-credited account, *sigh* ......
@praying that i'll get an assignment to off-campus housing soon *praying hard!!*

alright, signing off and hoping forward for the better! yay ^^

Octobieee

2010-10-25T08:20:00.001+08:00

OKay. I'm happy! :D
and i hope that this will last!

I bought an AGGIE shirt! weehee~! and a TAMU jacket which i've been longing to have ever since i found out that i'm coming to TAMU.

went to volunteer in the National science festival (Big Physics Day) and attended a Public Lecture by 1986 Nobel Prize winner Dr. Dudley R. Herschbach (see him? that small one o'er there :D )

and surprisingly found myself in the newspaper on Sunday morning when Kent told me that "You are famous!" LOL

got an awesomely lovely postcard all the way from Wisconsin (dudu <3 chloe chong!)

went and watched the Thriller dance (done internationally at the same day, time). ours are done outside of sbisa dining center. everyone is free to join the dance lesson and free to join the dance. they dressed up and make-up like zombies dancing with Michael Jackson's Thriller song.

having farewell for an awesome sister-in-Christ I've met in ICF- Kate who finished her PhD and got a job in Houston.

and finally! thanks to Brain for cheering me up <3 and spending time on skype, sending our "greetings" to stanley across the ocean ;)

alright. fun stops here?
No! Halloween comin' soon! they're having party soon and next Fri there's this country fair in GBC southwood campus. aww <3
but still, weekdays coming in 5 hours time!! got to start burying my head into deep books and mug mug mug.
Pray that God'll allow me to have that 'CLICK' for physics :)
PTL!

Smart Faith?

2010-10-16T11:32:00.001+08:00

We had a deep discussion on ICF just now about having Smart Faith instead of Blind Faith.
about how many knowledge and theories found were actually parallel to the bible beliefs, but scientists tried to put God out of the picture to the extent of saying Aliens created all that exist. Who created Aliens then?

Well, it's kinda deep. i mean it can go deeper but time and situation don't allow it.

I have a lot of thoughts in my mind. in fact i actually asked the professor who shared "How about childlike faith?" All it takes is just one sentence from him,(he quoted from someone but i forgot who was that)
he said, "we should have a childlike faith, with an adult mind"

thoughts running through my mind.
I have been really interested to find out more. but i am always having a combination of being curious yet afraid.
I am afraid that What If? What if in the process of finding out, I found more logical explanation for the other way. i'm very comfortable with what i'm believing right now and in fact i don't want myself to walk out of this faith that i'm believing. But i'm afraid.... that the process of finding out the truth might lead me in the other way.
and thinking and rationalizing more just make me tired and prefer saying "I'll just stick with my childlike faith. well, i know God exists, He exists to me. well, that's enough"

But what i learnt today is that IT'S NOT ENOUGH!
don't believe in a blind faith. why are you believing it?
faith= trusting the reasons which you are believing in
is there even a reason for my belief?
How can you explain your faith when people question it? when people throw you some Questions about Christianity and God?
well, i know that has always been my weak point. i have never been able to rationalize and give facts about those questions.
what i did best was to ask them to try it out. it's personal experience i say.
but.

*silence*
i really need to find out more about my beliefs.
that's what Smart Faith is about.

covenant

2010-10-12T09:54:00.001+08:00

Just as a rainbow is God's covenant to Noah that he'd not do it again,

the moon is God's covenant to me that He is with me and He will bring me through it all :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADONNA!

2010-10-10T12:43:00.001+08:00

HAPPY BLESSED 20TH BIRTHDAY MADONNAAAAAA! :D
(awwwww! finally it's your turn to grow up! xD )

This post is specially dedicated to the One and Only girl :

who has been a wonderful, Awesome Pohsum Best Friend of mine :)

Thank you for being there all the time

thank you for supporting all the way

thank you for keeping up with my mood swings

thank you for cheering me up when i am down

thank you for knocking on my door and bouncing on my bed when i'm bored

thank you for walking next to me when i'm lonely

thank you for finding me in the restroom when i'm hiding there in tears

thank you for recognizing roads every time we're out together

thank you for being a friend who reaches out

thank you for being the one who gives but don't expect much in return

thank you for your wonderfully knowledgeable 'input' of things

thank you for your company

thank you for your unfailing supports and encouragement

thank you........

"A friend loves at all times..." Prov 17:17a

*finally, remember to invite me to your wedding one day! ;D

check this out.

awwww! not that sad and emotional lar... lol. check this happier version out of BFF :D

Lerdie da' Pinky!

2010-10-09T12:43:00.001+08:00

I told my roommate " I found out that Americans like nuts!"
She laughed cheekily.
I went on "I like nuts too!"
She burst out laughing uncontrollably.
O.O!!!
*please raise your hand if you understand this.

Yeeeehaaa!

2010-10-07T07:59:00.001+08:00

YAY!! I'm freeeeeeeee~!

Well, mini YAY!
just a mini one cos i don't think i did well for my physics and i've another calculus test next week.
but meanwhile, WOOHOOOO~! I'm freee for this week!
how does it feel?
Awesomeeee~!
well, why am i sad in the first place? cos i scored badly in my History paper :(
i knew it! history is not my thing. but i thought, by putting in effort, at least i can fare better.
it doesn't seem like it. wasted all my time in it, but got below average, while those who'd not been paying much attention can get all the high grades. why? :{
cos it's their history i guess.
the subject is new to me. but still, !!! :(
well, i've decided to see the Professor this Friday. ask him to help me figure out a way to boost my grades up.

meanwhile, physics=killing subject.
everyone coming out from the room was like " I'm just happy if i can pass"
haha! :(
well, at least i'm glad it's over.
and i think that this prof that i'm having is a very good physics lecturer.
i've never understood physics this well, if compared to my time in INTI.
i've always been skiming through and hoping that i can do well in it. ?!?
but this time i'm very sure that i understood a lot of the concepts
but the thing is that his test is super hard!!!!
i don't mind at all if he gives me all the questions to solve and derive simple formulae on my own to get the questions solved.
but his Q is much much higher level than that.
*slap head. faint*
i just hope that i don't have to be forced to switch major 'cos i'm doing badly.V.V

never mind about that,
okay, now i want to THANK all of you out there who'd left me a msg/phone call/email/FB comment.
aww <3
thanks for your support.

i'll hang on! (to the hamster ball) and roll my way out well! :D

thank you God for everything.
"The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your fame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Isaiah 58:11

<3 Lerdie

2010-09-23T06:21:00.001+08:00

should I study? should I?
should I study? Should I?
Arghhhhhh~ sien!

stephensville

2010-09-16T10:14:00.000+08:00

Hello world!
I survived! :D
well, I have to anyway *tired smile*
ok, why am i blogging cos i went to my SI session for Political science at 8pm and they've changed the room and I've no idea where they change it to, so i came back.
and i'm feeling sick, don't feel like studying, so i posted photos in FB and blog. :D

Went to Stephensville last Sat for a cowboy camping experience.
along with international and local students who're from all over Texas, there are students from A&M, UT Austin, SMethodistU, UTA...
well, let the photos speak for themselves.

we sleep in a tent and couldn't bathe for 2 days! *yucks*

attended a cowboy church on Sun morning in a cowboy theater hall.

went to check out MoooMOOOo~

and news for the week! caught my first fish!!! i caught the first fish among the rest who're fishing. Proud Aggie! ^^

ride on a horse and be an official cowlady! Yeeehaa

and so, that was the highlight for my week.
praying that it'll go better and better :)

<3 cool friend and roommie :)

SAD

2010-09-08T00:23:00.000+08:00

No textbook +
No answer sheets +
Nobody to study with/ ask questions +
studied till 1am +
quiz next morning at 8am +
went into the wrong class +
sat on the chair for few minutes, asked the next person whether i'm in Math class, she said yes, was told that today there's no quiz, there's group assignments only, next week only quiz, took an agreement form and filled up half way then only notice MATH 150.
WAIT! OMG!! I'm IN THE WRONG CLASS!!!!
goodness!
asked where is my class and went to the next room +
classmates already doing quiz half way +
unsettled mind with confused brain +
questions don't recognize me, neither do i recognize them +
tried out, sribbled +
"time's UP!"
= SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

meanwhile received an emergency msg:
"Tornado warning. Tornadic activity near College Station moving toward campus.
Seek shelter immediately. 11.10am"

the weather describes my feeling.

Jot-downs for the days!

2010-09-03T06:41:00.000+08:00

things have been pretty busy around here.
and there are just too many new discoveries going around which means a lot of adjustments before i get left out by their speed?
hmm, let's see:

Jot-downs for the days:
1.a lady asked me: "how old are you? you're looking pretty mature."
i'm like thinking" whatttt?"
well, all because of this girl from China who's doing PHD but she looks younger than me! O.O
i mean, how is that even possible? Urg! but she's a very nice girl though.hee

2. My rommie called me at 9+pm asking "Where are yyou?"
lol, all because I've not gone back to the room from the morning. and i missed out informing her.
aiks. sorry to make you worry.

3. few days ago i went to the REC center with rommie! :D
gym! and i felt much healthier after that.
but straight after the gym session, i came back and eat a lot! puff!

4. I cook everyday. i just don't remember the last time that i went out to eat and pay on my own?
yea, maybe Tacobell and Freebirds are two of the only times i did that.

5. I just bought/rent 8 textbooks online (thanks to amazon, dealoz, bookrenter, mckenzie) for $250+
believe me, that is SO worth it!
a simple new and original latest edition math textbook can already cost you up to $200+, so there are 8 of them now. COOL! :D

6. i've just realized that i'm having math and physics quiz this coming monday and i do not have the textbooks delivered to me yet and i can't study and can't even do the assignments in there.

7. just forgot to mention that other than US history, american politics, becoming a teacher courses, I am taking Calculus 3 and Physics 3 altogether.
and that is my latest discovery after going to the whole week of classes. Wow!

8. i've been to different churches and this Sunday i'm gonna try out Baptist, maybe next Sunday 'fellowship church' and i do hope that i can find out to settle down pretty soon.

9. there are so many christian fellowship in campus and so many different groups doing different things which practically are similar. i thought of going to a whole bunch of them and decide which to stay on but it seems like That cannot be done cos some of them are having their meetings at the same day, same time. so it's just, time to make up my mind and choose! (navigators?campus crusade? christians and campus? Baptist fellowship group? a&m CF homegroup? international CF?...)

10.i'm going for this midnight yell thing before the official football game on Sat and i can't wait to see how it's like.

11. i like my roommate :)

12.i have so much to read, so much to catch up with. so much to go for. so much to do yet so little time.
(well, somehow i recall this has been happening to me ever since the day i remember that i remember.
hmm, it's about time management i guess? O.O)

that's it. and i'm glad that everything's well with everyone :)
Blessings to D' Loved ones <3

PTL!

the blessed me

2010-08-30T09:07:00.001+08:00

Wow! I myself can't believe what happened today.
well, as usual i went to church. I went to this Church of College Station and it's something different. No pastors and thy preach and speak as they feel like it. it's really like how Jesus was in a synagogue and he stood up and read the scroll? yea, something like that.
oh well, then later i went to have chinese buffet! (for free. ahem. hee)
then Nora brought me to H.E.B to buy some groceries.
and she was teaching me how to cook and what can i prepare with just a rice cooker.
and she suggested a few things to buy but somehow i said it's too expensive. really got to live on a budget! (since my accommodation fee is way off JPA's budget for me O.O)
then when we were paying. suddenly there's a bit of a commotion and the cashier boy told me "I think you just won something."
then I'm like ??? I gave him the weird look.
and there it was, a group of four to five HEB officers walking to me with this pack of goodies and said "Congratulations! You've just won this."
I'm like Whaaat?? (super duper blur and surprise!)
then i just said thank you and take the bag over.
and they smiled to me and then walked off.
It's just like how you used to watched that on TV and you just won something outta no where.
Yea! that's exactly how it was! :LOL
then i stared at the cashier and asked "What's that for?"
he said" I've no idea. I guess they're just doing this for now. and giving off free stuff."
xD omg! *speechless*
let's take a look at what i've got.
nothing much but still, it's F.R.E.E! :D

and haha! I'm being praised by my roommie for cooking nice rice! xD
omg! i hope she's not being polite. but she said "That's really good!"

Tadaa~ hahaah. it's egg+rice and broccoli. since Bronwyn only takes fish, so for my plate, i added chicken drumstick too! :D

oh yea, i went for a free dance workshop yesterday. and learnt hip hop, Latin, urban streetdance (i missed the contemporary dance session) but, still ya, it's cool! ok, i'm not a Dancer dancer, you know~ but still , i enjoyed it! haha. afterall it's free. and i think i'm gonna try out latin and ballroom dancing later on.
check this out

the PRO latin dancers

cool right? :D

and tmr will be my first day of class. hopefully instead of T.T it'll be :D

k. signing off.

much lovessss

bittersweet

2010-08-28T11:26:00.000+08:00

today's bittersweet. hah! why would i say that? cos the morning was so so, noon till evening was dreading, and night was Great! :D
1) skyped with pakmai, gokgoi and flurbie in the morning (for the first time) :D
2) went for Aggieland market, got tones of freebies again. got 2 free tshirts! haha. and blabliblablibla..
3) went on walking tour on my own-library(to get JPA's claiming fund things printed and photocopied), postal office to post it to JPA in washington DC, accommodation office to get verification of address, citibank to confirm my permanent address and most dreading part is to make my way to AT&T to reload my prepaid phone. O.O!!
all walking and i believe i've actually toured all of north and south of college station.lol
anyway, cut the story short. i walked whole day under the terrible scorching sun.
now, i LOVE my umbrella more than ever.
4) night time, went International christian fellowship in Grace-Bible southwood church. it was cool! really good. i love the fellowship, i love the people, i love the food (haha, so christiany-everywhere you go, ADA christians=ADA food)
and i believe i'll go for their fellowship+bible study again next Fri :)

something i've got for free at the ICF kick-off gathering :) chocolaties in a cowboy Boot! :D

cowlady signing off <3

Praise The Lord!

2010-08-26T04:04:00.000+08:00

Wow! PTL for His providence :)
last Sunday i went to Grace-bible church and actually i was thinking about going to different churches to try out first, before settling down in a church.
and i was thinking that how am i supposed to find another church? you know, even for chrsitian fellowship, there are tones of it over here. chinese christian fellowship, international christian fellowship, TAMU christian fellowship etc. just MANY that i don't know which to go to.
and for christian community, the church that i go to, there are a lot of TAMU students but all of them like kinda have their own group actually. don't know? *shrug*
so i was thinking and didn't really pray. maybe just mention to God.
"God, let me find christian community with lotsa christian friends whom i can hang out with and go church and do all kinds of stuff together"
then as i walk back from the ice cream carnival. just very randomly at the roadside, i saw this woman holding a pile of yellow brochures and looking a bit tired. cos this week there have been plenty of people giving off brochures, fliers etc to get new students to join whatever they're in. so i was thinking, should i look at her and smile or should i just walk pass like as if i didn't see her? =X eiks
then, i saw her and just so happen that our eyes met and she smile to me, and pass me this brochure.
i take a look at it "CHRISTIANS ON CAMPUS. Informational Meeting."
WOOOOOOO!
i was like "Howdy! hey, this is what i was looking for! :D "
she went like " Oh really? Good! are you a christian too?"
and so on so on so on...
very cool! 8-)
and i found out that she's a philipino and have been in Texas for 3 years and she gave me her contact number and address and say that she can pick me up or if i need transport or anything, i can just contact her.
and i'm going to the campus Christians meet-up tomorrow!^^

what to say? haha
God is Great! omnipresent ;)

Traditions & Discoveries

2010-08-25T11:08:00.001+08:00

today's the new student conference. and i've just found out tones of traditions and cultures that Aggies are keeping up till today:

1. Aggie ring: you can only get that once you've achieved 90 credit hours. and for transfer students, once you've taken 45 credits here. what's an Aggie ring? a symbolwhich represents values every Aggie should hold: Excellence, Integrity,Leadership, Loyalty, Respect and Selfless Service.and it's one of the most treasured items an Aggie possesses.

2. The man of luck: he has a name but i've forgotten it. i think it's a figure of one of our ex-president of TAMU. the tradition is that you put a penny at his feet and he'll give you luck for exams. so, during finals period, you'll see lotsa penny/dollars there, there are cases where people put credit cards as well. fuh~this people reaaaly stick to their tradition. o.o

3. Aggies yell: there are different yells for different year you're in. so, since i'm in a junior year, my yell will be like "A,A, A, Whoots!" with different hand symbols too.
4. corps cadet: well, this is like a uniform body that you'd join out of your own freewill. there are a lot of disciplinary rules to follow but surprisingly, there are still plenty who will join. they sleep at special buildings, have their dinners together in a separate building, have to wear uniform to class EVERYDAY, have to cut their hair one-inch short (you can grow longer hair according to the year you're in. e.g. senior year can have more freedom:can have a bit longer hair)

5. the forever and ever tree: haha, it's a bit far, notice the bend-down tree? there's a lane below the tree and according to the customs, if you walk there with your partner, then both of you will be together forever. but if you walk there alone, you'll be alone forever. *gulps*
and there's this story that a guy waited for his gf to get the Aggie ring and on the day she managed to obtain that ring, she was too excited. meanwhile, the guy brought her to that forever and ever path and proposed to her there. she got too excited and passed out. when she woke up in the hospital, she had memory loss and couldn't remember a single thing. o.O haha. traditions & stories x)

hmm, alright, come back to some of my discoveries! :D

there is MILO in Texas, college station. no worries (haha, though i don't go for Milo)

basically, there's this BCS Asian supermarket to get whatever you want.

went for Chinese buffet dinner! yummy~
tried Chillis and Freebird too(a type of wrap, texan food)

and my first cooked meal. not bad. though the rice a bit hard (mayb i've to put in more water)

oh ya, and my before and after of my room (bangga^^)

What a DAY!

2010-08-23T14:40:00.001+08:00

fuh! what a day? what a day!
tired man seriously. exhausted.
this morning from Fatiah's house, got up at 6.50am to be prepared to leave at 7.30am to shift my stuff into Rudder Hall (my hostel on-campus). finally it's the day to move in!
and freshman from all over the place will move in today too, which is why we have to move in either super early or super late. and we decided to go for the early trip.
Not even 8am yet, the whole road leading towards the hostel halls are packed. Traffic congestion early in the morning.
cut the story short, we moved in our things and i went back to church later on. Grace-bible church, with Simon Yau. Not bad church. but they don't have the habit of raising their hands during worship. wow! the whole church doesn't do that. i mean, there are very tiny miny bit of congregation who raised their hands a little.
but i like the concept of their reaching out, bible study, i like the message today too (speaking about Joshua) and i like the worship songs and style too actually.
just that i think i'll prefer a smaller church( it's quite a big congregation) like nobody knows nobody, you might or might not get a place, and straight after service, everyone leave. you just can stick to your own group of friends (that's the least and best you can do).
well i guess this is the States.
erm then, i went back to Rudder and finally i have the chance to unpack and arrange my things. finally! from Aug17th(the day i reach, until now, i finally moved in properly)
then i shifted the furniture, arrange the tall loft bed to lower it, carry this and that on my own!
i cannot believe it that i manage to do that. it's super heavy furniture and metal and heavy wood. i don't know how. but on the tall loft bed side, finally i had to asked Vivian(our residential adviser) to help me with it. can't be superlady afterall. lol
then checked out my program list, oh! there's this transfer student backyard bash party at the REC centre.mm hmm, should i go? should i not? well i just moved in, if i go, i got to look at the map and walk my own there with high posisbility of getting lost. in the end i decided to go, asked so many times for direction and end up reaching using 45 min to a place which i can actually reach in 15 min=.= i went there. i know no one. and there are like.. NONE international students. omg, i'm lost. then i really just walked around, took photos then sat there. msg fatiah to come and pick me up for HEB to equip my room well.
i just sat at the side of the pool, reading the Gig'em week brochure. decided to go off very soon.
until a girl, came over and asked am i new and am i a transfer student and decided to bring me around to know people.
goodness. well. i'm not that anti-social and blur and shy. it's just that when i reach there, really already everybody knows everybody. i have no chance of getting into a group to start talking to any person. all of them are so equipped with their own friends.
well, anyway, then this very nice girl Alyson accompany me for the rest of the nights and i met this pretty mixed girl Britney.
then A fetch me back to Rudder at about 11pm when the bash party is finally over. She's not sure where to drop me and end up i reached the North side of the campus ( my block is at the South). ok, then i struggled along. still cant' find. map is with me! but i just don't know how to look at it in the correct manner and walk to the right place.
end up i walked 45 min only did i realize i'm at the wrong side of the campus. go back? yea sure! have to. i'll find my own way and make sure i get back to rudder when i'm sure.
end up, walked 45 min, cant find, fatiah called, asked me to stay put and she's going to drive there to find me.
in the end, she fetch, went HEB and when i came back. she dropped me right in front of my hostel, but i walked the othe direction and the girls got to call me and point the other side until hani has to get down from the car to make sure i get into the right building. omg. omg omg
anyway, very tired. don't know whether did i say nonsense.
thank you God for today.
Good night :)

Texan culture

2010-08-21T03:58:00.000+08:00

oh my gosh! cant' believe that i totally forgotten about my new student conference yesterday! T.T *groan*
aiks. too comfortable with easy life back then that's why.
sheesh! luckily the department is good enough to allow me to join another conference on Aug 24th. hopefully there won't be any side-effects to joining late.
i know my course registration is supposedly today, but since i've not been to the conference, i can't register yet O.O *pull hair* maybe i'll just stick to the courses that they provide. afterall, this is just my first sem. don't be too choosy yet lar, i guess? *sigh*

oh yea, there's this one funny scene today. my friend brought me to Hobby Lobby. goodness! Madonna would love it over there. then i went Ross later on. the things over there is. C.H.E.A.P! it's crazy to shop in US. really.
oh okay,the scene. so, my friend brought me there to buy bedsheet and comforter and we left it in the cart (trolley). and we walked elsewhere to look for an umbrella while leaving the cart at the other side of the rack. and when we're back, there's this lady who claimed that the cart is hers. Hello? our things are inside. funny betul. then my friend kind of told her of that if she wants it, she can take it, but we know for sure that that cart is ours. that lady still think it's hers though. haha. for a cart. somemore it's FOC to just get another cart. *shrug*
and my friend told me that she know for sure that that lady is not local (from College Station) since she's rude. and CS people will not behave like that. hahaha!

oh and i've found out a lot of things from these few friends of mine. they're cool! <3
American football is a big thing over here and it's a yearly thing. only happens in Fall.
so the night before the football, they have this midnight yell where you go attend to learn how to cheer for our team. and it's a big thing too! people will just flow into the stadium from everywhere.
and to my surprise, TAMU is the host for usual football events. All uni football team will fly over to our place for the competition. cool!
oh ya, and for the midnight yell, by almost the end of it, they will switch off the lights and you're supposed to grab the guy/girl next to you and give them a kiss. hahah!
i wonder..
and my friend had her own shocking experience last year. that's just so funny!

alright, a few snapshots here and there :)

frozen yogurt with own choice of tops. $0.39 per ounce

haha! *thumbs up* cool wordings pillow from Hobby lobby

OMG! it's omg pillow xD

yeah man! yeeeehaaaa~!

finally, xoxo!

will update again soon ;)

first week around Texas

2010-08-20T01:19:00.000+08:00

God has been great to me, providing guardian angels wherever I am.
Praise God for it!
well, so far it has been good being in Texas.
I've nothing much to do but just to attend the orientation once in awhile, online, watch tv, cook ( i mean learn to cook), go around to get my groceries, bank account, phone number and etc.
i like it here cos it's like Malaysia. haha.
the weather is almost the same it's just that the sun can be scorching and penetrating your skin. but once you're indoor, it'll be just fine.
i'm currently staying with our fellow Malaysians who've been there for a year.
She has been real good bringing me around and showing me the routines and whereabouts.
I'll stay with her until Sunday which i'm only allowed to move into my on-campus housing at Rudder 235.
I've got to know my roommate but have not actually seen her in person yet. :)

what have i done so far? I've been to the New International Student Conference (NISC) and listen to the different talks about TAMU and been to Walmart to buy some necessities.
i've got my temporary phone number (prepaid) as i've not met anyone who's willing to share family plan with me yet. (Please do inform me if any of you have idea of people who's also looking for friends to share family plan with!^^)
i've so far, not used lots of money as I'm staying and eating in my friends' place. (too blessed x)
but i've got to learn my way around and got to get on my own live once i've moved into my new room.
well, school only starts on Aug30th. i'll see what i can do for these few weeks.
oh ya, i'm also praying for nice christian friends to hang around with.
and i'm looking for a church to attend this coming Sunday.
Do keep me in prayer for you guys who've read this. x)
thanks muchies!

a few snapshots of my journey to Texas:

my first dinner-buka puasa meal. their cooking is impressive!

my new TAMU ID card

squarish buildings found in college station, TX (this is my friends' apartment which i'm staying in now)

I'm in the States

2010-08-17T23:52:00.000+08:00

I'm finally in the States.
hmm...what to say? everything happened so fast. the waiting process is dreading but by the time you reach, you'll just feel like, a whole new life is waiting for you.
Praise God for smooth journey and transition.

Just wanna thank you all who've prayed and blessed me so much and to the crazy yet loving gang who sent me off at the airport, Big Thank You to you! :')
thanks to kok keong too, who've accompany me throughout the whole journey to LA (the longest flight of the 3)
and to Pakmai, Flurbie and gokgoi! I'm safe and sound! skype you soon ;)

Pray that the Lord will continue to lead me and guide me through everything as this is just the start! :)

2010-08-12T23:32:00.002+08:00

A farewell is necessary before we can meet again, and meeting again after moments or a lifetime is certain for those who are friends. <3

when i suddenly realize

2010-08-12T17:20:00.000+08:00

time flies.
returning to my home, i saw my mum, sitting at the kitchen table doing her devotion.
looking at her, my thoughts were triggered.
will i still be able to see her in this way when i'm away?
will i still be able to hug her, talk to her, merajuk to her...
suddenly, only did i realize that

I'm leaving soon...

i will miss her.

i'm leaving soon..
sitting in front of my laptop, typing out my mixed feelings of uncertainties.
pondering back to my memories.
i may seem steady and emotionless.
but there's just something inside.
my feelings are spurring.
when do i get to meet them again?
will I keep in touch with them? will the separate roads we're walking on merge at any point of time?
no matter how complex things turned, undeniably there are still good memories that I will surely cherish.
i'm telling myself.
this is just the transition period.
things aren't that sad.
there are always the starting and the farewell.
it is by then that you get another starting to a whole new level of life.

I always know that these 3 years will just pass like a blink of eyes.
i know that 3 years are just preparation for my future life.
the equipping process that God is bringing me through.
my life is back here in Malaysia after I graduate.
there're so much more new surroundings and adjustments and farewell and new starting that I'm gonna face later on in life.
but, no matter what come my way,
now i'm moving on into these 3 years of golden times of my life and i want to make the best outta it!
it's gonna be something that will stick with me for the rest of my years and times which will equip me and bring a smile to my face when i think back of it.

not to think too far,
let's come back to the friends, life, family, church, ministries here...
Am I ready to bid them goodbye and move into another world which God has prepared for me?
I think I am ready.
I am ready and I am looking forward.
but let me just say something for the one last time for those whom I'm leaving behind...

I'm sorry, i've not been a very nice friend/daughter/sister.
but Thank You! for not giving up on me.
I will miss you :')

J.I.A.L.E.R.D.

2010-07-21T21:25:00.000+08:00

tried this- 'playing with your names' in facebook
and this is what i got for my results

J - is very sexual

I - is really sweet & romantic

A - crazy

L - is a very good kisser

E - has gorgeous eyes

R - funny

D - a very good girlfriend or boyfriend anyone ever had

when FB asks 'publish to your wall'?

I'm like NO way! lol. neverrr

A God who surprises much!

2010-07-18T00:00:00.000+08:00

i remembered this day of last year.
Just took over ICF for one semester.
been stressed with lots of work, don't know how to juggle between studies and ministries and extra activities.
got involved in 30hour famine, first time handling CF with people of different personalities, taking physics 1 with a headache lecturer...
everything seems to go haywire.
someone told me that by taking up responsibilities in club, i have to expect my studies to surely go down the drain.
at that point of time, i was thinking- what a statement!? well, i'm not gonna let that happen.
God i'm taking care of your kingdom, you take care of my studies.

sometimes things really just happen for us to learn.
I got myself tired up with handling cf , being Organizing vice-chair for 30hour famine, in fact i've not much time for my physics and the hair-pulling part is that I got this particular physics lecturer which make me bang my head on the wall! *literally*
My result really went down the drain.
and for physics i got C+
Goodnesssss! this is NO good.

I'm actually questioning God where does He wants to lead me
where should i head to
i know by taking up the post in CF, there's no use regretting
but i'm lost.
what should be my next step?
am i doing the right thing?
questions filled my head.
don't really know who to share to?
which committee member that i can trust?
how am i supposed to carry on?

Installation night 2009
I went with a heart of responsibility
being asked to perform "Amazing Grace" song, acted in a short skit with the 13th INTIMA
actually really was persuaded to go,
in fact quite a number of committee members don't feel like going but was persuaded by Raymond and Deric to go.
not expecting anything.
just wished that that night will be fun? at least it's not something burdening *shrug*

A God who surprises much
ICF won :
Most progressive associate award
Best exhibition -christian awareness week
Best associate of the year~!!!

I've no expectation at all when i went
and i know this kinda thing shouldn't be what we're expecting at all
but personally, I really think that God is telling me something
"Jia Lerd, go on! walk on! you're on the right path. and I'll always be there to guide you. you're starting it well. Trust me. I will guide you. :) "

and why am i writing this?
cos i just received news from Installation night 2010 that
ICF won Best religious club.
haha. i laughed.
like i've said, it's not about the award we've received
but it's a confirmation from God to the new committee
they're doing well and
it's His affirmation that He'll continue to
bless, lead and guide ICF.

and once again,
by God,
I'm amazed. :)