A Very Wet Chinese New Year

It started raining weeks before Chinese New Year and how I wish it actually stopped during Chinese New Year. I guess, what we were all afraid off is the flood, again~ coz the tides for the whole week of CNY are high. So heavy rain + high tides = flooding!

I was having a tough bus ride home and was only in Kuching at 4am on CNY eve. Good thing was I had a whole 8 hours of sleep before the whole afternoon of helping Mum to prepare our home-cook reunion dinner. Grandma and Aunty Ling came by for the dinner which started pretty early. 

And, it was time to sleep until 11.30pm where I woke up with sleepy eyes and my camera to snap photos of the fireworks that eve. Dad bought a long fire cracker and we too had our fair share of noises that midnight.

...the fire cracker Dad bought...

The next morning: Day 1 of CNY

Everyone in the family woke up extremely early for church...well, it was in mandarin so we couldn't sing or pray much, but we followed the flow and had 2 oranges each. And soon, after mass, it was off to Grandmama's house for my favorite dish! :) no way I miss this dish every year~ It wasn't much of a visiting this time around. Went over to some relatives and old family friends' houses and we were all worn off...

...CNY decorations in the church...

...camwhoring coz all the pictures my brother took of me all BLUR!...

Day 2 of CNY

As usual, my family has a tradition of Open House with lots of home-cook food. It was another early morning up to help Mum with the food and it was a busy day...and this time around, Aaron had a group of friends swarming at one time -.-" It was my turn to go out and have some fun that night. Adrienne, Elizabeth and Nick dropped by and we decided to go for dinner at Junk and later for a glass of beer at Junk Bar... I love the place~

...Aaron's bunch of friends from Blessed Sacrament Caroling...

Day 3 of CNY

It was a whole day at home and only until the evening, it was a blast of a reunion. It had been years since we ALL met up together: Adeline, Tiffany, Tracy, Cindy and I...too bad Jessica couldn't make it. Well, 5 out of 8 is good enough :) It was crazy...and I mean CRAZY! First stop, Cindy's house and later for dinner at Memories and then my house and lastly, Adeline's house. How funny it is to have parents calling us to make sure we are back home not so late in the night...hahahahaha...

...Adeline and I with my Ceaser Salad...

...told Tracy to look elsewhere, mana tau she look at my camera...

...that's the crazy bunch of ex-Teresians...

Day 4 of CNY

One long day at home, worried about the non-stop heavy rain and the flood. It was until later in the evening that Dad couldn't take it 'doing-nothing-sitting-and-sleeping' at home the whole day so we decided to go The Spring for a walk and later Aaron and I for bowling!

...Aaron happily winning the 2nd game...

 

...that's me!...

...Mum and Dad laughing at both of us...

Day 5 of CNY

Time pass really fast and it's already the 5th day. Today, Jessica Lim (a long time piano and secondary school friend) and I went back to our ole' 'sweet' memories by visiting our piano teacher, Sophia. It reminded us how badly we were both scared every Thursday morning to attend the class and even until now, we were still having big gulps to give our teacher a call...

...cam whoring in the car...

It's five days passed Chinese New Year: the year of the Golden Ox. It is a wet and cold new year for all Kuching'nikians. Another 10 days to Chap Goh Mei and counting...

The Mikado

Yea, finally have the time to update on 'The Mikado'. It was a musical by SONS (Symphony Orchestra Negeri Sarawak) on the 19th January 2009 at Dewan Suarah. I was one of the three photographers: me, Jin Thai and Lance. It was my first time to cover a musical performance and I do learn a lot from the other photographers and I definitely enjoyed the show :)

...the photographers: Lance, Karen and Jin Thai...

...Here are some shots from 'The Mikado'...

...Looking forward to another musical by SONS...

The One HELL of a 'Getting-Back-in-Time-for-CNY' Trip!

I had a meeting to attend to in Miri on the 23rd January 2009, so I had to arrange my flights to and fro and to make sure that I'll be back home in time for CNY reunion dinner. This was the most hectic and stressful arrangements I've ever made.

Took a flight from Kuching to Miri on the 22nd January at 7pm. There were so many people checking-in, stand-bys in the airport and I was worried that the security might stop me from carrying my backpack coz it was huge~! Anyway, I managed to get through and was walking to Gate 3 where they announced that the gate is changed to Gate 6! Deng~ it was far! But, I was one of the few who boarded the plane first: got a front seat, had the aero-bridge working too!

...been ages since I last went over to this side of the airport...

...KIA at night...

Reached Miri, specifically reach home at 9pm after picking up my rental car in the airport upon arrival. Well, it was a white plate manual kancil...first time driving a white plate vehicle. I have prepared myself to climb through the fence to get into the house as I wasn't sure whether I have the key for the gate lock, so I tried a couple of times and finally gave up. Looked around and managed to find the aunty living opposite my house and told her that I'll be climbing over the fence for the next couple of days. 'Mana tau, someone saw me climb in and call the police. Later free curry rice~'

The next day was another one hell of a day: stepped on dog shit after jumping too far off the fence, had to settle my units and results with the Student Service, prepare extra copies of the proposal, pipe burst (...it was one shitty day...) The meeting I had went on smoothly and it sounded like we're getting a deal, one big deal! Well, it was worth all the hussel for me to get back to Miri for this meeting. I had a good dinner with Sharon at Jing Wood before continuing my night with a meeting.

...my notes for the meeting...

...my bagpack, my luggage, my mum's nikon coolpix and me...

Packed my things and went to the bus station for my 1pm bus from Miri to Kuching. It was one hell of a long journey back home; wasn't my first time, but it was my first time alone. Couldn't sleep at all in the bus and I was starving since my last meal the night before until 1am where I found a burger stall open.

...the bus I boarded...

...my RM80.00 but 15 hours ride ticket...

...the mp3 that kept me company the whole way...

1.00pm - Leave Miri

2.30pm - Reach Batu Niah

4.30pm - Reach Bintulu

7.10pm - Reach Selangau

9.00pm - Reach Sibu

10.40pm - Reach Sarikei

1.00 am - Reach Sungai Tujuh

4.00am - Reach Kuching

...trucks everywhere at Batu Niah...

...Bintulu station...

...the toll exiting Sibu...

Mum and Dad picked me up from the station and off I went for a bowl of kolo mee at 4am and back home to sleep until 2.30pm. It wasn't fun at all! anyway, at least I'm back home in time for the reunion dinner...and I swear I'm not going to have another trip like this anymore! 

NO MORE BUS RIDE!!!

Have A Prosperous Year of the Golden Ox!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

- where's my angpow? - 

p/s: in the middle of a 'getting-back-on-time-for-Chinese-New-Year' trip

The inauguration of Barack Obama

...a history in the making...

CNN.com Live

The Mikado ...and it's my 301 post!

Didn't realize that its my 301 post already. Was so busy the past two weeks and still am to prepare for a 'business meeting' in Miri this Friday. Won't have the time to put up anything new in this blog for at least another week...it's Chinese New Year this weekend! ...and I'll be desperately praying and hoping that my journey back home from Miri on the 24th by bus will be safe and I'll arrive at the wee hours on the 25th just in the nick of time for the usual activities in the eve of Chinese New Year.

...the Director, Soloists and Photographers of 'The Mikado'...

will have this post up soon!

FRUSTRATION!

It's frustrating to wait for an answer...

It's frustrating when time is running out...

It's frustrating when you are trapped in between...

The frustration over a matter like this is just too much!

This is the biggest disappointment in the project, ever!

Can't wait to get it done and over with...like next Friday!

*cross fingers* that all goes well for our project...

EMPOWERED 1st Meeting of 2009

I heard about EMPOWERED Youth Ministry from my brother, Aaron. We missed the New Year's Eve BreakFree Dance Party last year. So the meeting for 2009 finally started yesterday, 16th January 2009.

Adeline and I decided to go for it. Well, we were once very active in Young Christian Student (YCS), so no harm going for EMPOWERED. Met a few people whom we knew as our 'seniors' in secondary school and also some 'juniors' too! *we feel so old!*

We registered ourselves and joined the Praise and Worship session. It was almost similar to Catholic Student Society (CSS) in Curtin's Praise and Worship. Good thing the songs we sang are familiar to me. I wasn't much of a 'so-the-jiwang' kindda person at first, only until the song 'I Offer My life' which we sang basically at all sessions during the night, came out. In the end, I got a little 'jiwang'. Hahahahaha...

...it was outside the St. Joseph Parish Centre...

We had a talk, 'Learning to Lean' where we had an activity where one will be the rider and one the passenger of a motorbike. Everyone had a good laugh.

...the boys in front of us when we were doing the 'motorcycle' activity...

And there was the January Babies birthday cake too!

...the January babies...

It was a nice gathering although Adeline and I barely know the people there (what more to say they are like secondary school kids!). What I felt after the gathering was something I long to feel for a long time - my shoulders were lifted: a relief.

Hope that I'll be able to make it to the upcoming meetings every Friday (at least until I return to Miri)!

Lord, I Offer My Life To You

A song that reminded my of the times I when I was down, when I was in trouble, when I was lost, I know that God is near by my side to help me through my troubles. 

And especially with the things that are going on: indecisive confirmations for a very important meeting, feeling trapped alone in a situation where there's little help I can get... but, I'm glad that I went for the EMPOWERED Youth Gathering just a while ago and this song was sang. It reminded me of the times back in Catholic Student Society in Curtin where I used to be involved with the Music Ministry. I does take away the burden on my shoulders after spending sometime in the meeting, singing praises to God.

Song by Don Moen

I Offer My Life

All that I am, all that I have

I lay them down before you, oh Lord

All my regrets, all my acclaims

The joy and the pain, I'm making them yours

(Chorus)

Lord, I offer my life to you

Everything I've been through

Use it for your glory

Lord I offer my days to you

Lifting my praise to you

As a pleasing sacrifice

Lord I offer you my life

Things in the past, things yet unseen

Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true

All of my heart, alll of my praise

My heart and my hands are lifted to you

(Chorus)

Lord, I offer my life to you

Everything I've been through

Use it for your glory

Lord I offer my days to you

Lifting my praise to you

As a pleasing sacrifice

Lord I offer you my life

(Bridge)

What can we give

That you have not given?

And what do we have

That is not already yours?

All we possess

Are these lives we're living

That's what we give to you, Lord

(Chorus)

Lord, I offer my life to you

Everything I've been through

Use it for your glory

Lord I offer my days to you

Lifting my praise to you

As a pleasing sacrifice

Lord I offer you my life

Bowling~

It runs in the family that all the Kuek siblings and cousins love to play bowling. Alex played for competition, I play for several competition and Aaron is playing for fun with his friends and when our cousins are around, we are definitely off for bowling.

Decided to go for bowling with Aaron at Crystal Bowl, BDC. I started to like playing there compare to the one at Riverside. It's cheaper, newer and the lanes are much better to play. Well, Aaron had cheaper rates (under 18 years old). We had two games each and mum was there watching us as we make fun of each other when the ball rolls to the 'longkang'.

Back when we were younger, mum used to play bowling with us too. Well, when Alex comes back for Chinese New Year, we are definitely off for bowling. As what Aaron said, 'The Ducks' Bowling Day!'

Movie to Release Stress

It is not a stress relief movie but its a way for me to get rid of my 'sudden' stress. Have been so bored with my holidays and its time for me to start my work for next semester. Editing, club documentations, project updates and some other work here and there which I got involved with all of a sudden.

Have been waiting and waiting the whole holiday. 

1. Waiting for the Chinese New Year

2. Waiting for new semester to start

3. Waiting to get the rest of the money for the project

4. Waiting for what's in store for next semester

5. Waiting for something very important to be confirmed in the nick of time

WAITING!

Lucky me, mum had two free tickets for a movie today. Who cares what movie it is, just go for it! ...to release stress... hahahahahahaha

It's my second Hong'kie movie I watched this month. Wasn't a fan of Hong'kie movie especially to watch in the cinema. This was some action comedy kindda movie la~ I observe that most Hong'kie movies involve cops and gangsters and car chases and bombs and fights... (copyrighted storyline). Okaylah this movie. I prefer this than The Beast Stalker lo... :)

More upcoming movies! Can't wait!