FEATURE: Confusing English

1. If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it 
Fed UP?

2. Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?

3. If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby 
oil come from?

4. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't 
people from Holland called Holes?

5. Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy 
adultery?

6. Why the man who invests all your money called a 
broker?

7. If horrific means to make horrible,  does 
terrific mean to make terrible?

8. Why is it called building when it is already 
built?

9. If a book about failures does sell, is it 
called a success?

10. If you're not supposed to drink and drive, 
then why do Bars have parking lots?

11. If you take an Oriental person and spin him 
around Several times, does he become disoriented?

12. If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do 
humanitarians eat?? Humans?

Hope ya'll have a good laugh or at the least... 
ponder over the many, mysterious complexities 
of the English language!
Oh and Joann Chua Shi Ying! Juz like to wish 
you an early Happy Birthday! All da best as 
we survive 2nd year together!

~Tim~

Return From the Void

I have returned from what most bloggers would call a "blog void", a time in a blogger's life where no posts are put up on his/her blog for a significant length or period of quantifiable time. Yeah, I know that sentence could be simplified, but to cut a long story short, I haven't been updating my blog for more than 2 months. To my blog-faithful, I know you've been counting the days and wondering whether I'm still alive or whether my blog is. Either way, the wait is over...

First and foremost, I'd juz like to fill u guys/galz on something close to my heart. They say that no matter where you go, you'll always return "home" eventually. Then, there's the saying, "home sweet home". Without scrolling down, you might be wonderin where this narrative is heading to. Well, to fill those of u who are still clueless, quite a significant part of my long 4-month break was used to shift stuff from my old home to my new one. Yeap, u heard right... For all my primary/secondary schoolmates/frenz, the house many of u have visited me in every year, year after year, has already been sold to the government. Before I returned to KL to do my 2nd year of medical studies, my fam & I had already shifted into our new home, and I was stayin there for a couple of weeks before I had to drive up again. However, this post is actually written coz I wanna dedicate it to my old home, situated along Jalan Stulang Darat, where I spent a good number of years. I have many memories, both good and bad, of the things that went on in that house and I treasure them equally, as they have shaped me into the person I am today. In total, I have lived here for more than a decade! In fact, my adolescent years were spent growing up here. Now in a few weeks time, according to the city planners, the government will actually demolish it to the ground and use the newly flattened terrain to build the new "super-highway" leading from the new CIQ complex (for those jargon-illiterate, CIQ stands for Customs, Immigration & Quarantine) to Taman Iskandar/Permas Jaya.

I will juz post up my final visual memories (a.k.a. photos) of this monumental relic in my life...

1 of the 2 living rooms, probably the coldest room in the entire house coz it had two air-con units.

The "modified" kitchen where most of the meals at home were cooked, boiled, steamed, fried, etc...

The pantry where we kept all our canned food, bread, cutlery, and junk food! :)

The entertainment room, where the family would gather to watch TV, video tapes, VCDs, DVDs, ... yeah anythin visual and audible. Oh, and the younger generation in my extended family utilised the PS2/X-Box here too.

The ever-spacious open porch that my dad claims can fit up to 12 cars! I think he might be right. *winks to dad*

You can see the other half of the porch in this pic. Oh, and my home's guest suite is situated at the top-left corner of this pic.

As mentioned earlier, home is the place most people will run to in the end. To some, it could mean a place of comfort, to others it would mean being surrounded by familiar, loving faces of family members. Still, others seek out solitude in the 4 walls of their homes. Sometimes, people have varying definitions of home. I would admit, sometimes, that I define home not as a place, but rather, a being... to be more specific, THE being: God. We all need our "time-out" being away from people, not the least, our loved ones... at any one point in our lives.

There must be times in your life that you yearn for more of God than
your schedule will allow. We all have. We are tired, stressed by our
jobs, crowded by friends and burdened by obligations. We have abundant
life but are too busy for it! Even good obligations and commitments
can turn toxic to our soul. Christian author, Madeleine L’Engle
resonates within us when she writes in A Circle of Quiet that “(e)very
so often I need a OUT; something will throw me into total
disproportion, and I have to get away from everyone- away from all
those people I love most in the world-in order to regain a sense of
proportion.” However this is more than just a need to get away. There
is also a need to get to (somewhere). And in our case, the need is to
get to the presence of God. In other words, we need to go to a
spiritual retreat.

“Spiritual retreat,” explains Emilie Griffin in Wilderness Time, “is
simply a matter of going into a separate place to seek Christian
growth in a disciplined way. Retreat offers us the grace to be
ourselves in God’s presence without self-consciousness, without
masquerade. Retreat provides the chance to spend time generously in
the presence of God. In such time, God helps us to empty ourselves of
cares and anxieties, to be filled with wisdom that restores us.”

Jesus himself sought times of quiet and solitude. The evangelist Mark
tells us in middle of a busy schedule, “(v)ery early in the morning,
while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to
a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to
look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is
looking for you!"” (Mark 1:35-37). This is not an isolated incident
for Jesus. After his miraculous feeding of the five thousand,
“(i)mmediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on
ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving
them, he went up on a mountainside to pray” (Mark 6:56-46).

The evangelist Matthew too made a similar observation of Jesus: “After
he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to
pray. When evening came, he was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23). Luke
too remarks on this peculiar characteristic of Jesus: “Yet the news
about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear
him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to
lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16). It appears that the more
his fame spreads, the more he is in demand as a teacher and healer,
the more Jesus looks for a quiet place, to be away from the crowd that
he serves. And what does he do when he is alone? He prays. He commune
with his Father. As soldiers in battle in the frontline need to be
rotated back to the rear to rest or team sportspersons have time out,
Jesus after every spiritual battle needs a retreat; a retreat, not in
the sense of a setback but in the concept of a timeout. It is in his
Father that Jesus finds rest.

It is more than rest that Jesus receives in his retreats. He also gets
wisdom. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray,
and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his
disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated
apostles…”(Luke 6:12-13). These twelve men will transform the world
and brings God’s plan of redemption to another level. The wisdom comes
from being in the presence of God. To achieve this type of wisdom
needs trust.

For us, a spiritual retreat requires trust in the Holy Spirit. A
retreat is not like a church camp, a conference or a vacation- where
activities may be planned in advance and we know the agenda (mostly to
have a good time, hopefully to learn something). In a retreat, we do
not know what God has in store for us, but we are willing to take the
risk to find out. We participate in confidence that the Holy Spirit is
entirely trustworthy and will never lead us to harm.

There is a need for us to persist in Scripture reading, journal and
prayer even though the silence and solitude frightens us. In a group
retreat, there is a strong temptation to flee the presence of God into
the company of friends where it is safe and comfortable. To engage in
idle group gossip takes our attention from having to be silent before
the Lord, and the discomfort of the work of the Holy Spirit on our
souls. However it is to our good that we persist. The Psalmist says,

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:1-4)

It is in a spiritual retreat that you have the time and opportunity to
discover who you are, and to whom do you belong to. That is wisdom
indeed.

A Retreat Prayer,

Father, we approach You with great expectations and fear. We have high
expectations in this encounter with you. Yet we are fearful because in
Your light and holiness, we may discover things about ourselves that
we are not comfortable with. Help us to discover and face the truth
about ourselves. May the Holy Spirit works powerfully within our
hearts, minds, and souls. May we rediscover ourselves in new ways and
give us the strength to be transformed to the likeness of Your Son.
Give us more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Father, we ask for a more intense revelation of Yourself to us in this
retreat. We want to know You, know more of You and to love You. Help
us to break the many false concepts of You that we have developed over
the years, some of which we have made into idols. Help us to know You
as revealed in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Give us the grace to follow you. The road ahead is hard and rugged. We
are afraid, O Lord. We are afraid of pain and suffering. We are afraid
of things that you may ask us to give up. We are afraid of illness,
loneliness, dryness, despair and constant stress. Know our weaknesses
and be gentle with us. Forgive us in our failures when You test us. As
you make a saint of St. Peter, make a saint of us, we pray.

Most of all, Lord. We ask that you will show us the splendour of what
you have given us: our life in You; a life lived here on earth with
Christ. We ask that you show us and lead us into simplicity of life
and of heart. Lord, help us to know you in our daily life, to know you
in the breaking of bread, in song, in fellowship, and in the cleansing
of our hearts by penitence and prayer.

In the Name of Your Son we pray.

Amen

~Tim~

Full Gospel Tabernacle: The Church You Can Call Home (Pt 2)

It's like somethin so clear and vivid... yet at the same time... it seems so far away based on the measurable equivalent distance of any two places that are about 400km apart. The church, situated in USJ, or more specifically housed in Wisma Eagles, is a church that I will forever hold close to my heart.

It's been only approximately 2-and-a-half weeks that I've been in JB, and already I miss the people there, which is what constitutes the church... not the building, but the people! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't enjoy coming back to my home church in S'pore; but rather this post is a token of appreciation to signify how much I've matured spiritually each week that can only be attributed to FGT's role in my life this year. Over the 9 months or so in FGT, I've been involved in the transport ministry and evangelism ministry (through Evangelism Explosion), built new friendships, been exposed to many spiritual encounters that I never thought I would experience, attended the 365 Youth Camp, and the list just goes on and on. Through his servants, The 365 Youth pastors, Pastor Richard & his wife, Ps. Louisa Evans, this youth group has seen and experienced so much. God is really working in their lives to touch the hearts of this youth group here.

And yes, I have never seen so many Africans in a church before. I guess that the church is able to provide some sense of 'security' to these brothers- and sisters- in- Christ and create racial unity among its members. Another key factor that probably attracts people of all races is the church's love for music, and when I say music, I mean really good, all-out worship and singing! :)

You can look over the previous posts about the church events we've had over the past few months as well as some of the photos put up by the youths on Facebook.

But let's come to the main highlight of this post: the close friends in FGT I've built bonds with over the months... some of whom will be sorely missed next year due to studies and work! :(

First up, I shall thank the person who introduced me to FGT in the first place, my uni colleague and fellow Year 1 (now Year 2!) meddie, Ms. Evonne Teoh! We kinda came up with nicks for each other, where she calls me "Stubbornhead" and I call her "StubbornGIRL"! :p Anyway, I'm glad I got to know you better throughout this year, and I really appreciate you opening up to me on more than several occasions. :D Hope you enjoyed your holiday in Aussie, babe! (... although it meant that you missed my farewell lunch) :( Anyhow, I'll cya in time too next year.. it's juz 2 months plus more! :D

The 2 photos above are candid shots of Ms. Lim Tak Yee, who usually poses or smiles with her grin in front of the camera, AWARE! TY, thx for the advice and guidance you've given me throughout this year. I really appreciated it when you were sincere in getting to know me and where I wanted my life to go during the long chat we had in the LS... I guess that was the start of our long and beautiful friendship. Anywayz, I'm hoping to meet up with you and the others in Jan 09 when you guys get to JB! :) Haha, don't kill me for putting up these candids! :p

The dude above, ahem *clears throat*, is a semi-candid shot of none other than Dr. D.R.! Did you get that? I guess not! It's Mr. Ooi Dar Ray (soon to be Doctor Dar Ray), my closest bro in FGT and also my senior by a year. Really appreciate the close friendship we shared over the year, for lookin out for me, and for hearing me out at one point. It's good to know we've got each other's backs! :)

Haha, Mr. Steven Tan, my bro and cell leader in FGT... love the expressioN! Thx for all the contributions you've made throughout this year not only in our cell, but the Monash cell as well as the 365 youth group as a whole, both as a worship-leader and a musician. Super talented guy... can play almost any mainstream instrument known to man! Rawk on! :D

Last but not least, I'd like to include Ms. "Kaede" Chia Suyin here for two reasons:

1. She attended my farewell lunch organised by Steven exclusively for the ppl in FGT :p

2. We seemed to click almost instantaneously when we met the first time over lunch at Medan, and from there we could talk about almost anything! :)

Yeah, and she has a strong passion in joining EE next year as a trainee too.. praise God! :)

So, as some of you might have inferred, they had this farewell lunch for me at an Indonesian restaurant somewhere in Mentari, and all of us ordered ayam penyek, their specialty dish... which was super-spicy! After that, the conversation just flowed. It was good company, great friends... and as usual, we 'camwhored'!

And we didn't juz camwhore outside the restaurant, but we also took a mirror shot INSIDE the restaurant! Yeah ppl were looking at us, but hey, who cares? We only live on Earth once, right, so live it to the fullest! :p

So that concluded the year in FGT for me... and I'm lookin forward to more exciting and happening events in the next one! Toodles!

Those days in KL were... wait for it... AWESOME!! (Pt 1)

For those who watch and follow the HIMYM TV series, you'll understand what my blog post title is referring to... (winks especially at Rachel, Adnan & Nick). For those still clueless or reading it again and again with puzzled faces, HIMYM stands for 'How I Met Your Mother', a really cool comedy series revolving around its star, Ted Mosby, narrating to his 2 adolescent kids about... simply how he met their mother! The show has been running for 4 seasons now, and like Rachel said, when you reminisce, it is somewhat like Friends. The tagline reads 'A Love Story, in Reverse'. How true! Some folks might detest the show saying that it is too liberal in its values and the culture depicted is too "Americanised", unlike our traditional Asian culture. However, I believe that as long as you know where the boundaries and limits are, it's still A-O.K. to watch it!

Newae, this post series will play its purpose in updating u guyz about wat's been happening to and around me during these past few weeks/months. Life's been good, pretty much repetitive in some aspects, but nevertheless bearable and if I choose to see it in a positive light, fun! For those that are unaware, I am FINALLY back in my hometown after what I would call a brief 'post-exam holiday' in KL, before packin my bags and driving down 360 km a.k.a. 4-hour drive @ 110-120 km/h.

Let's see... While I was still in KL, there was this outing where Jun Yet, Rachel & I decided to visit The Mines. Both of 'em wanted to check out a Mandarin book fair and asked me to tag along.. even though I don't read Mandarin! But being the good friend I am, I decided to accompany them. Picked up Rachel in the morning, went to uni for a briefing, then both of us left for the Mines. A while later, JY showed up. We headed for the book fair and then spent a couple of hours there, which thankfully had an English section by MPH, kudos to them...

The pic below is one which I took showing the beautiful layout and design of the mall. Newae, it's been ages since I actually came here. Probably a decade, but to me, that's half my lifetime!

We went for lunch after walkin around the mall and feelin hungry. It was at this unique shop that specialised in teas. The food there was juz o.k., according to my high standards I have for food. I think the tea was better, not juz taste-wise, but also aroma-wise which was both scintillating and pleasant at the same time.

After lunch, we hunted around for dessert, or anything to arouse our already-aroused tastebuds even further. We probably encircled the moat you saw in the first picture once or twice, when JY (I think) pointed out to a stall called 'Snowy' which sells a variety of delicacies such as ice cream, ABC, fruits, etc. After much contemplating on what to order, we finally decided to have 2 bowls of iced fruits.

Thus, this concludes the first part of this post series. Who knows what I'm gonna write about in the next part. Newaez, gonna go for dinner at TGIF with family & friends now. I can actually hear my stomach grumbling amidst the loud Hillsong United music being blasted by my subwoofers back here at home. Haha, juz kidding, that was a little too exaggerated. Anyhow, until the next post from me, stay cool and God bless you all!

~Tim~

The Return...

Alas, I have returned to my blogging ways after a long, I-couldn't-help-it-cause-I-was-studying-for-exams "sa-blog-atical" (codename for a blog sabbatical!) Gosh, I wonder how long it's been, last I posted something was Oct 8... which is like more than a month! In fact, almost 6 weeks! I presume every1 knows why, so I shall not comment any further on it.

FYI, I'm blogging in the histopath lab in uni now. I have it all to myself cos every1 is busy enjoying the hols and not a single med student can be seen gallavanting around. I miss those days when I get to see one, two, or maybe more familiar faces around here, even if those faces are stressed out over too much studying (or the lack of it!) Not returning to JB until after the 10th of December for certain reasons.

My OSCE exam ended on the 10th of Nov and prior to that, my brain was being saturated non-stop with medical content: such as drug names, classes of chemoreceptors, Health Enhancement Program material, and so forth. I started studying and preparing for the written exam about 1 month before I had to sit for it, which is probably the longest period of mugging and cramming-data-into-brain that I've ever done so far for any exam. That's coz statistics show that:

Fact #1: NORMAL people usually only remember things they've memorised or studied with precision in the last 2 weeks.

Fact #2: Some claim that you can only remember with deadly accuracy specific details about a certain subject that you studied within the last 48 hours. (This fact is probably applicable to those major "last-minute-muggers" who aim to barely achieve the passing grade, or in medical terms, 'surface' learners.)

Therefore, after 1 month of studying, it's gonna take awhile before I start revising content of my Year 1 syllabus again. Furthermore, as you may have noticed, here I am blogging once more. =)Some of you may have noticed that there is a 10-day gap in between after my OSCE & now, and most prob wondering what I've been up to. Well, let me fill you guys in, with tons of details! So here it goes...

The day after the exam which was inarguably the 11th, I went along with the rest of MI6 to Low Yat Plaza (LYP) to do some shopping. Nick, Rachel and I started the trip there by monorail after Nick parked his car at KJ LRT station. One stop later, we got off to meet up with Sarah. Then the 4 of us headed off to LYP to shop for Nick's new handphone, which was eventually a Sony Ericson K "can't-remember-the-model" LOL. Moments later, poof, Jun Yet and Grace met up with us and thus the 6 of us "conquered" both LYP & Sungai Wang Plaza... literally. WHY? Coz we ended up shopping from noon till late at night, running around desperately to look for things that THEY would need for the formal dinner the following night. So, for the sake of vanity, the 3 guys bought a long-sleeved shirt each, Nick & I bought a tie, and Nick & JY both bought a black coat. On the other hand, the 3 girls bought a similar top but each with different colours; and who knows what else... ! :p Oh, I bought a CoolerMaster laptop cooler for RM92 on the same day too, carried it around for 10 hours, and coz I forgot to check the contents, I found out that the USB cable needed to power the cooling fan was missing! Arrgghhh! Had to go back there on Tuesday to get it... I learnt a valuable lesson the hard way, always check your purchases to make sure everything's there! On the upside, I went back 1 week later which was a good thing, coz I realised that brand power really exists. I used the cooling pad without the fan and presto, the aluminium body dispersed the heat emitted from my laptop with ease without crashing the system! It's true what they say, you get what you pay for!

Yeah, so as you know from what you've juz read, the next day was the MUMedS Formal Dinner at Bread & Olives Restaurant in Ampang. Everyone who attended was dressed to kill, even the lecturers! *looking innocent* Yeah, pics that were taken on that night by my friends and I are already uploaded onto Facebook, so go have a look to see what I mean. :>

Last Thursday: PAINtball! Period.

After the exam, I did quite a lot of shopping for luxuries/accessories that I don't really need but had been eyeing for the last few months, as well as spending more than I usually do. My most expensive buy of the post-exam season (for now at least), is a 320GB Maxtor external hard disk drive which cost me RM285, which I also got from LYP on the day I had to go back there to "claim" the USB cable for my laptop cooler. Kudos to Julian for bringing me there and back! You rawk!

I also got my Accord serviced and now it runs smoother, drives faster and ready to take the long journey home to JB after the 10th of Dec. Woot! Well, I think this post is way-too-detailed and I feel like hitting my Lineage 2 game once more... so saiyonara, take care ppl & God bless you all!

~Tim~

Does God Exist?

Faith is believing in what you cannot see.

If you have doubts as to whether God really exists, just look up to the sky at night. In certain regions of the world, you can actually see stars and constellations that speak of the vast nature of the universe out there. Everything in outer space has a "system" to function properly, and without it, even sustaining life on Earth would be an impossibility. Our planet is positioned just nicely in the Solar System, whereby any move nearer or farther from the Sun would be catastrophic. A perfect location... The only planet in our vast universe that is known to house living beings. What are the chances that all this was just due to chance, or due to the notion of "pre-existence"?

Do you believe in evolution?

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving a God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! " answered the barber. " What happens, is,people do not come to me. "

"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Keep the faith burning!

~Tim~

A.S.A.P.

Ever wonder about the abbreviation A.S.A.P.? Generally we think of it in terms of even more hurry and stress in our lives. Maybe if we think of this abbreviation in a different manner, we will begin to find a new way to deal with those rough days along the way.

There's work to do, deadlines to meet;

You've got no time to spare,

But as you hurry and scurry-

ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER

In the midst of family chaos,

"Quality time" is rare.

Do your best; let God do the rest-

ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER

It may seem like your worries

Are more than you can bear.

Slow down and take a breather-

ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER

God knows how stressful life is;

He wants to ease our cares,

And He'll respond to all your needs

ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER

People often misjudge the power of prayer.

A prayer of salvation and redemption.

A prayer of healing and comfort.

A prayer of forgiveness and restitution.

A prayer of hope and faith.

A prayer of protection.

A prayer of anointing.

A prayer of peace and harmony.

A prayer of guidance and purpose.

A prayer for the church or the house of prayer for all nations... For it is written in Isaiah 56:7, "... these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."

Any of the prayers listed above, and more, have the potential to bring change(s) in our individual lives, our community, our nation, and last but not least, the planet we live on. Let us not forget the power of prayer!

~Tim~