Last Day Of The Month

Dear all,

Sorry for the late update, been sort of everywhere lately. Anyway, academic semester has just ended officially on Friday. And boy, was it a weird one…heres how it goes…

09:00-Woke up to a ring on my hand-phone, friend needed help in his assignment.

10:00-Went over to the computer lab at ED14 to help the dude. After, ‘saving his life’ he offered me dinner that night…I duly obliged…it was the least he could do, heheheheh.

11:00-Went for math tutorials.

13:00-Finished my tutorials, got another ring from my friend (still couldn’t do his assignments.

13:15-Went back to the lab to help him (again).

14:00-Went back to my room to collect all my assignments.

14:20-Handed in my last 2 assignments (which included a programming and a surveying assignment)

15:00-Check my results in my “student’s blackboard”…found a serious error on the mark recording for my terminal test. Was a little worried cause I thought they might have mistaken me for one of the few guys who were caught plagiarizing. Sent an e-mail to my lecturer to clarify this.

14:00-Received an e-mail from my lecturer, telling me it was his mistake and that he has corrected the error…turns out there is 2 “Lee”s in his class…and the marks were swapped around…man, I figured the other guy must have wondered what he had done to have lady luck shine down on him.

17:00-Went for Bible study.

19:00-Went out for dinner at a Chinese place…food was pretty good…heheheheheh, at this point anything would probably taste better than college food.

20:00-Grocery shopping (didn’t buy much, just some cookies)

21:00-Went over to his place to chill.

00:30-Went back home.

Well, I guess that’s it, the weekend just zipped by…but on the bright side, I found a life to “The Jockey Club” for one of my paper…a friend offered to take me there (even thought he has no exams there)…man, this must be God’s grace…I remember back home…I use to ferry people around …sometimes out of my own inconvenience…So now, I am being rewarded for my good deeds…heheheheheheh…but F.Y.I, I did all those ferring around out of good will, not hoping for something in return…

PS, it's now daylight savings (or the end of it, i don't know), so we're now 3 hours ahead of Malaysia.

My First Spring Break

Wow, it’s been ages since I last blog…I bet my family are going like “What happen to Paul?”. Strange strange times. Just got back from Sydney…well, technically it’s been about half a day since I got back. By the way, I was at Sydney during the last week of my holidays…I was the honored guess at Serene and MH new apartment…I had the pleasure of being their first guess…There’s this saying “Luck tends to even itself throughout the course of your lives”…so in some sense last week was sort of that kind of thing, if you know what I mean. Got up early on Monday, because Serene and MH wanted to visit Newcastle…get the feel of NSW…just like that, I had a free ride to Sydney…I must say I had a real blast in Sydney…most of it was spent lazing around, reconnecting with 2 members of the family…I must say, they both are splendid host, I felt very welcome and at home at their place (thanks guys)…on Thursday ,I took the liberty of exploring Burwood, really nice place…convenient, and just so much things going on…it no wonder most of my Sydney friends told me they got a bargain…a couple of shopping centers and lots of interesting shops that will tend to attract you. On Saturday, we all went down to Darling Harbor and circular key…the thing that strike me the most, was that feeling of nostalgia and rekindle ness, as if to say “I’m back”…and “Hey, I seen that before”…it was a strange but nice feeling, strolling those docks and pavements, markets…after all, it has been 11 years since I step foot on those docks…Well, sad to say my holidays are over, but I must add, my luck did…I manage to get a free ride off my friend back up to Newcastle…talk about luck…heheheh…anyway, as I flung open my room, I can’t help but feel a little deflated…I mean after that awesome holiday…but all good things has to end somewhere…before something new emerges…look at my calendar “23 sept…that’s not right”…flip it…”has it been that long?”…sigh…somehow, at this moment…Newcastle is not the place I want to be…I want to be at home, with my family…having conversations…laughing…or just staring at the screen together…not talking…but enjoying each others company…I miss home…even thought it’s less than 2 months away till I bought that 737, at times I feel like it’s a crawl…but I was raised to be a fighter…and I have to fight this round before I can pop the champagne…I guess if you look at it at another angle…you somehow have this feeling that everything is going to be alright…

To humanity...

Another lazy day…it’s dark and cool outside…days like these I enjoy the most, lazing around and reading something…or just laying down…I have a really soft spot for spring now…Well, nothing much has been happening, just finish a online student survey by my faculty…as they put it “You have been randomly selected to undertake a student survey…”. Well, usually I’m not too keen on doing survey, especially since long surveys like that tend to repeat the question…just in another way…so effectively, you’re just answering the same 10 question over and over again…this was a long survey, However, they underline that they would donate 3000AUD to the “volunteer’s” selected charity organization…so I couldn’t really pass that up…there was basically a choice of 3 charity organization, something on forest preservation, cancer, and something else…I chose cancer since none of the other had any appeal to me…so all in all, I did humanity a favor this weekend…can cross that off my “to do” list…hehehehehhe…parent’s dinner is latter on tonight…can’t really attend, cause none of my parents are here…so, too bad…maybe next time…looks like it’s going to be a short weekend…

Spring Time!!

This week has been the best week I had in ages…well, at least this year. 1st of all, winter is over…spring has just arrive…Now, to make things perfectly clear…I have nothing against winter. In fact, I love winter, the downside is that sometimes it gets so cold, that you just don’t feel like getting out of bed, you eat to much and taking a shower is a drag (especially in public ones)…but since spring came, I have woken up fresh everyday, plus taking a shower is no longer a daunting task…in fact, I enjoyed one of the best showers I had this year…could shampoo my hair properly without freezing my butt off…classes have never been better (mainly because I start the day better now)…Things just can’t get any better…but wait…I finally got a FORTRAN compiler, so I have been fiddling with it a lot this week…doing loops and arrays…and stuff like that…hopefully all that work will pay off…everything is going well…plus I restock my food supply. The only downside is that the mosquitoes has return…with full ferocity…oh well, give and take…you can’t have everything…well, I guess the only thing left for me to do is…spring cleaning, hhhhhmmmmmmm, stuff that, I’m not cleaning my room…it’s good as it now, just like my room back in Tmn Kim Leng, which is good by my standards…maybe I might go play a little tennis sometime this weekend…

A glimpse of Newcastle

Yes...

Kangaroos were harm during the shot of this picture...

Everybody needs to kick back and relax once in a while...

With a power chair, heaven is just a flick of a switch away...

Sam Sam :Baby, while in the midst of writing my thesis...I accidentally discovered the secret of Life.!!!! Check it out.....they don't call me-"The Guy...who will one day discover the secret of life" for nothing.

Ming Ming : HHHHHHHmmmmm, no honey bun bun...it's just a recipe for Very very spicy Tandoori Chicken...I Wuw chicken...yum...!!!

(What a cute couple, don't you think??...I would know...stayed with them for a good 2 weeks)

Trusses...So many of them...

This is what Sam does doring his free time...Teaches his own brand of Latino Dancing ...

Better known as the "Spastics"

Some of us from "TEDS"

Gee...What did I say??

I'm feeling a sense of Eu-Catastrophe.

Food For Thought

“Ah, that’s a fine fellow!” exclaimed the Chief. “He has gained much land!”

Pahom’s servant came running up and tried to raise him, but he saw that blood was flowing from his mouth. Pahom was dead!

The Bashkirs clicked their tongues to show their pity.

His servant picked up the spade and dug a grave long enough for Pahom to lie in, and buried him in it.

Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.

-Leo Tolstoy,"How much land does a man need?"

Always was facinated by this short story...
One lesson that the author was trying to push was Greed.
However, when you look at it at another angle...I find that the author is trying to remind us all of our mortality. Despite our strengths and ability to conquer all, alas we are just fragile beings and death will always await us no matter what we are capable of achieving in life. The only thing we can take from this world is "Six feet from his head to his heels".

-P.S, Why are all my recent post so depressing??

Mom and Dad, how's the neighbour's construction going on??

Strange Discovery

Bond movies…so many of them…in fact, 20 in total so far. I’ve seen quite a few of them, but my all time favorite was “You Only Live Twice”. I never knew why I was so attached to this bond film…it didn’t have the special effects of gadgets the new bond movie often possesses…but it did have smarts and wits…
Turns out, by some strange coincidence that I learned…the screenplay for “You Only Live Twice” was written by none other than Roald Dahl himself. No wonder, he was the only one in the world who could pull of such a feat. Mixing a blend of Sarcasm, witty humor and a touch of elegance. Having said that, I think Ewan Mcgregor should play the next bond.
Worthy Note: Children’s favorite “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” screenplay was also written by Roald Dahl.

Finding Our Neverland

A place of tranquility, inspiration, to runaway, to hide. A place where time is relative to the observer, where everything you can imagine co-exist in harmony (well, except the grown-ups there)…that is Neverland Ranch…Ops…I mean…Neverland. I watched “Finding Neverland” with a friend the other night…and man...simply loved it… in fact, it was one of the best movies I had seen in a while. The story is based on the life of play-writer JM Barrie. The plot focuses on Mr. Barrie, when he was going though the worst period of his life with marital problems, and your typical writers block. All that change, when he met the lively Davies brothers and their mom Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. Well, like all great stories…Mr. Barrie needless to say, made a triumphant comeback.
I was so inspired by the movie, that I actually googled “JM Barrie”. Turns out they did change some of the historical details. Basically, when Mr. Barrie met Mrs. Davies, she just became a widow…but in fact, her husband was alive when they 1st met. In fact he was really jealous of her and the boys close friendship with Mr. Barrie. But still, they manage to manifest that tension with Mrs. Davies’ mom in the movie.
It was just amazing to see how Mr. Barrie, despite being older, never actually growing up. “You brought pretending into this home” quote from the movie. But alas, this kind of thinking was probably why the Davies brother who never grew up met tragic ends. George, one of the sons, died in World War I, Michael drowned himself with his boy friend in Oxford. Peter, who become a publisher, committed suicide in 1960. I guess even if we hate to…or despise growing up. Eventually at some point, we’ll always have to. Or at least know when to.

"I guess like the ticking crocodile, time is always after us".

What's New???

Fluid mechanics is tough...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Interesting Thought

Something my friend told me today, it's not true...but it's still really funny.
"Women are like carparks, they're either taken or disable."

Margaret Court

As The Name Suggest

This Place is even greater up close

Me and Ken Roswell

Back at One

Whew…!!! Finally arrived back safe and sound at Newcastle. What a relieved. I’m pooped, arrived back at Newey unexpectedly late…Can’t believe that my first journey alone (technically second) went wrong…the express train back to Newcastle was cancelled due to technical failure of the regular route…so I was forced to endure a grueling 3 hours and a bit ride “home” .
Anyway, Melbourne was something else I would say…it would be one place I would definitely recommend people to go to…it’s just so organized, like a bigger version Singapore, minus the pressure. Everything is so neat and in place, accessible…I like it a lot…it’s a City not to big…but still, lots of attraction…it’s probably a vision I see for KK in the not to distant future I hope. Definitely a huge contrast between Sydney. In Sydney, everything is just so big…dense…sometimes I feel overwhelm in Sydney…it always so chaotic…Maybe it’s a little too much for one that has come from a humble and tiny city… but it’s definitely different.
Been all over Melbourne…well, at least the places I deemed worth the effort. Bourke street was probably the most happening place…it the China Town of Melbourne…an as one would expect…very busy street…food there was great…at least I get to indulge in some Asian food before I head back to KK. Lygon Street was probably my favorite, very classy, very Victorian…Mom would definitely like it there. Smith Street I would imagine would be Dad’s forte, lots of bargains and steals…but I think Victoria Market would have been everybody’s favorite place to hang…you would have been just blown away by all the fresh Veggies and poultry you every seen. Strange food, all the colors, smells…was like a huge kaleidoscope.
Anyway, I guess that’s all I can just about muster up at the moment…feeling really jaded, and beat up. I guess the best part about the whole trip was that it felt at home…spending time with Sam gave me a glimpse home…that’s why it was extra special…plus Jia Ming was really hospitable…we all had great fun together…all in all…fantastic vacation.

The Genius

whew...He did it again...Roger Federer has officially cemented his place as one of the elite players of all time. Man...I'm just so relieved that he won a grand slam this year...who said being a Fan is easy...After enduring one of his most trying seasons , with all the pressure weighing down on him, especially since he set himself impossible standards after his spectecular performances last year (which included 3 grand slams and the masters cup). I was worried the pressure might finally get to him, with the press constantly hounding him with his semi-final losses at the Aussie Open (to Safin) and the French Open (to Nadal)...but not Federer, he responded with spectecular fashion...cruising to his third straight Wimbledon title and a masterclass performance against No.2 seed Roddick. There's something about the grass that inspires Federer...every part of his game seems to be enhanced when he's playing at grass...shots seems better...but regardless of that...order has been restored in the ATP circuit...Federer is the undisputed world No.1...with that monkey off his bone...we should be able to see a more relaxed Federer (emotionaly)...expect more things to come from this tennis genius.

Simply Absurd

Here’s something I heard on the news on the radio today…it goes something like this… “The governor (or something like that) of New South Wales would like to congratulate the Newcastle Police Force, for their contributions , helping Newcastle achieve its lowest crime rate since 1993. According to statistics, car thefts and breaking entry rates have decreased…however, kidnapping has shown an increase.”… my friends and I were laughing while listening to this piece of information…we said something like “Citizens, your cars are safe now, but your children aren’t…but don’t worry…we’re working on it.”

Growing up......

Everybody has some kind of role model, or fantasy when they were growing up. I remember clearly who mine was…personally I think it was rather bizarre. Well, basically, Sam adored Spider-man…he would always be wearing the fruit sack ( those things “Tai Sing” use to package their fruits), and he’ll hang in all sorts of acrobatic positions on the swing…pretending he was Spider-man… Serene on the other hand… well, frankly, I don’t really have a clue…she was mostly playing with her doll house and Barbies… I reckon she saw women with impossible figures as a bench mark (I really don’t know, maybe girls never go though that phase…which would make my intro pretty redundant…or…they’re too shy to talk about it)…anyway, as bizarre as it sounds…I simply adored Michael Jackson… I haven’t a clue why really. Maybe it’s because he was at the peak of his career. Or ,maybe simply because my maid loved MJ as well… so when I was young…I used to ask my maid to tie a pony-tail for me (like MJ)…and I would be running around the house trying to bust a move, or sing a MJ tune…As you would expect, mom wasn’t really a fan about this whole ordeal...( with good reason as well, seeing how he turned out)…One of the things that would drive my mom absolutely nuts is when I go jumping around the house singing those famous line “You know I’m bad…I’m bad…I’m bad, I’m bad, I’m bad…” (it was one of his hits at the time …and probably the easiest to remember as a 5 year old)… my mom would say something like “If you bad Paul, I have to rottan you” …well, it didn’t catch on after that... I don’t go around acting like MJ anymore…but still, remembering those day just puts a smile on my face…you know, as a child…the innocence and ability to capture imagination or catapult oneself into a whole new world…it just fascinating at times what children can do to amuse themselves…it’s a face that nobody really appreciates really…but when it’s gone…it’s gone…so don’t stifle children of imagination…encourage it…who knows…we might learn a thing or two.

My Picks for Wimbledon 2005

Man, exams are officially over now...Far Out!!!! I'm just so relieved...Anyway, I'm just overwhelmed with so much emotion that I probably won't blog something serious...

Well, Wimbledon just started today, so I'll try my chances as a bookie...

Favorite to win 2005 wimbledon : Roger Federer ( How can you go wrong with him??)
Second favorite : Andy Roddick (hey, he might suprise...comes out of nowhere)
Third Choice : Lleyton Hewitt (looks hungier than ever...sign of danger)
Long Shot : Tim Henman (I'll normally put him up there, but judging by his consistant ability to disappoint, I reckon i shouldn't jinks him by putting him up the list...)
One to watch for : Richard Gasquet (might just raise a few eyebrows)
Special Mentions : Marat Safin (not going to win it...for sure!!)

The Greatest Invention In The World

I reckon the greatest invention in the world is the "lint remover"...it's probably the greatest thing since slice bread. Before I had a lint remover, my clothes had lint on them. But after using the lint remover...wallah, it was lint free...amazing thing, this lint remover...everybody, go get yourself a lint remover, and forever rid yourself of...well...lint.

Words Of Wisdom

"When your feeling cold...you don't feel hungry...you just feel...cold..."...words of wisdom indeed.

Potatoes

Ah…potatoes…everybody loves them…such beauty and versatility. You can mash them, boiled them, bake them, steam them, make cream soup with them, put them whole in broth, fry them, make chips with them, or wedges with them…heck, you can even eat them unskinned. Amazing vegetable this potato is…simply stunning. And the “best” thing is that you get to have them, every single day in T.E.Ds, for the rest of your lives here. Rain ,shine, gloom…it’s potatoes, potatoes, potatoes…always….potatoes.

My Picks for Frenchy 2005

Favorite to win 2005 French Open : Guillermo Coria (if the pain of last year doesn't weigh in on him)
Second favorite : Roger Federer (provided the errors don't creep in)
Third Choice : Rafael Nadal (as the form player)
Long Shot : Juan Carlos Ferrero (always a threat on clay)
One to watch for : David Ferrer, Nikolay Davydenko (could be their break through year)

Special Mentions : Carlos Moya, Marat Safin, Tommy Haas and Gaston Gaudio (will loose when expected to win)

The good, the bad ,and the ugly

Phew, I feel so relieved now. My assignment is as good as done. I’m just so glad it turned out alright in the end. It all started a week ago when I attempted my surveying assignment report. Everything was going so well, I was on a roll, my numbers were crunching in just fine, I was just in the zone, at a groove, no problems what so ever. But when the moment of truth arrived, I was shocked to realise my numbers didn’t add up right. Horrified I was…sigh. I spent the whole weekend working on it and it turned against me. Man, I checked everything through again, from my field notes, to my numbers to my calculation. Everything seemed fine, there wasn’t a trace of error. I was crushed, and in my desperation I went to see the lecturer the next day. Well, she didn’t give me any answers (didn’t expect it anyway), just some tips and stuff like that. With renewed spirit, I went back to re do my assignment…but…it came out just as bad…which lead me to fear the worse. Our group must have stuffed up when we were collecting data during the field exercise. I was sort of in a state of denial. We went through the whole thing with so much precision, like a surgeon we made sure everything was accurate and right on the spot…couldn’t believe it. I was dejected for a couple of days…still shellshock by the whole thing. Cum weekend, I sort of accepted the fact that my field notes were wrong and had to take up the optional exercise (perhaps a lot of students got it wrong, thus a separate assignment was given as an alternative)…but I wasn’t about to give up without one last fight, like they say, “it ain’t over till the fat lady sings”, fat lady wasn’t in sight …went through the whole assignment again…and to my astonishment, turns out I input the wrong data to one of the calculation. The number should have been 97.852, but I wrote it down as 87.852…turns out it was a big deal, because the errors just snowballed if some information was misinterpreted. Well, it was a turn of events, or “Eu-catastrophe” as Tolkien puts it. Wallah, my work now was near perfect ,and because no field work can be perfect, plus the fact, no perfect equipment has been build yet…my work was thus…PERFECT…

The Right Attitude

Well, time flies really quickly when you don’t pay attention to it. I remember, when I first got here, I was thinking “how am I going to survive 9 months here?” Well 3 is gone now, and time still moving forward…At this time, it’s good to reflect on some of the things I’ve gathered in my course thus far. As a Civil Engineering student, I’ve learn to appreciate so many aspects of construction, from the mechanics to material selection to cost of project. One of the many things our surveying lecturer always tries to emphasize is the need to be accurate, because the client expects it to be accurate.
That reminded me of the time my dad gave me, my brother, and his friends a job as data collectors (we were hired to count cars at a particular stretch of road)…come to think of it, he was pretty brave to have given a million dollar project to a bunch of kids (maybe he though is wasn’t going to get through anyway). I remember distinctly that all of us started seriously enough…with our pens and paper, marking every car that whizzes by. However, the job eventually took its toll, and by noon, all of us were just lazing about…some proceeded to “manipulate” data so they could go to the shopping mall (I didn’t do that, just so you know). 8 years later, when I think about it, I thank God that the project never went through (although I think it still should have, that stretch is still always jammed). If it did, it might have cost the client serious amounts of money and put my dad’s job in jeopardy.
Being so young at the time, we neither saw the magnitude of our work, nor the seriousness of it. I guess at that time, being a pre-teen/teen…we had that all too familiar attitude of “couldn’t care less”…I think the mistake most young people make nowadays (or always for that matter), is that we think we can live a life without care or responsibility because we have youth on our side…and youth will bail us out whenever we are in trouble…however sooner or later youth runs out and your left with no more excuses for your irresponsibility.
So my advice to all my young readers (though I still consider myself young)…never make the mistake or cultivating the attitudes of “couldn’t care less” or “I don’t care” because one day that might be your biggest downfall…instead start learning to treat each situation with respect and dignity…and your efforts will definitely be rewarded.

About Time and Wisdom

One of the assets that has been given to us once we were born is TIME. Same things, yet viewed so differently by each individual. I bet both scientist and philosophers alike have been constantly finding explanations to define the mechanics of time. Hence the age old question, are we moving forward with respect to time, or is time just going in circles. Well, on one hand, we could say it’s moving forward, the way we evolve as an individual, we learn, we grow. However, after December comes January, seasons repeats itself…so how does time play its part.
The book of Ecclesiastes talks a little about time. In chapter 3, we can clearly see how the author of the book appreciates the role of time. However in chapter 1 the author start with puzzling words “Meaningless! Meaningless!”. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” The chapter proceed to talk about how everything in life is periodic. Chapter two then talks about how effort is meaningless. You see, in that sense, time really just goes around in circles. Life really is frustrating. As a student, life really is about routine. But it gets worse once you’ve entered the workforce, everyday, you work because you need to put food on the table, pay the bills, and once you get your paycheck, it still doesn’t stop there, because you will still need to eat, and the bills will still come in. It’s really frustrating. The current workforce work, but will be replace by the next generation. We work hard to build up something, only for someone else to take it over, with or without caliber.
Hence we come back to chapter 3, and we can really see how time really just goes in circles, because in life, we will not only know love, we will know hate. We will not only know peace, we will know war. We don’t escape any of these, all of these will come to pass. In fact, we aren't really moving forward at all. The author even goes as far as to say that men and animals share the same fate. “all from dust, and to dust all return.” This is where the conclusion was drawn. Life is really what you make of it, so enjoy it while it last.
Remember that Ecclesiastes simply means wisdom. It’s kind of odd isn’t it, the bible telling us that life is meaningless, and life is really what you make of it. But turn to John 5:24-25. Verse 25 “I tell you the truth, a time is coming AND HAS NOW COME when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.”
You see, life really is what you make of it. However, Jesus offers us a way to break from that cycle, because his time has already come. So what are you going to make of life??


Inspired by a sermon in UniChurch

Tips on Dressing

This is a pretty old story, it involves our old friend Tim the care-taker. Well, this happen about 2 weeks ago. Tim and some of the fellas were having dinner. Now ,Tim was being his usual chattery self, when all of a sudden, my friend Fira came with her tray and sat with us. The whole gang grew silent as Tim, the catalyst of the conversation pauses, and proceeded to stare at Fira with a very odd and inquisitive look. Was there something wrong? Long lost daughter?…we were all puzzled, what could have made this machine of words stop during one of his more intriguing stories?? What, What?? It was intense and mind blowing, the silence just saturated the air, we couldn’t wait for it to be broken. Finally his lips start moving again, with a slightly questioning yet sarcastic tone, he says “Does your T-Shirt say BUM Equipment ?”. And that is the day I decided to never step foot into another Bum Equipment boutique again.

Note: Slight dramatization and exaggeration might have been added to enhance the plot of the story.

A Little Something About Marriage

Here’s a little something I learned off 1 of my conversation with our college care-taker. His name is Tim, and when he has dinner at the college, he usually sits with us and has all sorts of conversation. Now I can’t recall how this conversation came about, but I think it started when we asked him about his wife and kids. So he proceeded to elaborate about his family, took a pause, turns to me and goes, “You know, marriage is like a business partnership. In a business partnership, both parties will strive to reach an agreement where it benefits both of them. In the same way, when you’re married, you have to think you know ‘what’s in it for them’, and not just yourself”. Well, I’m not married, so I can’t really give concrete advice regarding marriage, although my parents are in fact marriage counselors. But, I guess looking back at that statement, it does make a lot of sense. And more importantly, it does give us a guideline on how to approach friendships, relationships and anything to do with people. On a lighter note, he goes on to say “ They say MEN are the HEAD of the family, but what they fail to realize is that WOMEN are the NECK in the family, see nobody notices the neck, but the thing is, WHO MAKES THE HEAD TURN???” interesting huh? Well, I shouldn’t go on about this, might give women too much ideas.

Cause and Effect

This is a pretty old subject, but non-the-less, still very intriguing. Many interesting people have cross my path during my stay at Newcastle ( and hope to meet more ), but 2 of them stand out, when it comes to the topic of cause and effect. Well, one of them is 4th year Swedish guy persuing a graphic design degree, the other and Australia born Cambodian girl in her 1st year Pharmaceutical post grad degree. Now both these guys are your regular Uni students, nothing fancy, just like you and me, and sometimes, we take being ordinary for granted, because we hate the fact of being ordinary (not to mistake for not aiming high in life). Now ,I'll start with the Swedish guy, nice bloke, well the story doesn't really lie with him, but his great grand-parents, sometime during the early-early nineties, when the US opened their shores to the foreign, his grand-parents actually bought tickets to go to the US, on the day they were supposedly to leave, all ready with the tickets in hand and suitcase full of their belongings, they suddenly decided they didn't want to go. And there ends this particular story...not very impressive?? think again, had his parents boarded that ship, my friend would probably have not existed, instead, it would probably some 3rd generation Swedish Americans living in Ohio...who knows?? Well, the 2nd story involving the girl takes a more dramatic route, see, her parents lived in the mist of the Pol Pot regimen, to escape this onslaught, they had to flee to Thailand, and eventually found solitude in Sydney,Australia...well, certainly more dramatic when lives are at stake, but again, demonstrates that circumstances forces people into action... when I heard this two particular stories, it made me wonder about my own family's past, and it hit me, had the Hakka people been a rich tribe, they wouldn't have made their way to Sabah. To give their children what they couldn't have, an opportunity. So in fact, the idea of each and everyone of us being where we are, doing what we do ,or even who we are, isn't as simple as being born under our parents, or even talents that we have bestowed...NO, it certainly runs deeper than that, the probability or events that lead up to future events, are so small, that it's seems almost by chance...doesn't that make your feel fortunate and bless that standing/sitting where you are right now lies on such deep history and could not have happen any other way. Therefore, be thankful each day because the "effects" we have now are down to the "cause" or our fathers (and mothers)...definitely as the Lord had plan...

One to my dad

I watch the Tennis Masters Monte Carlos final between Rafael Nadal and Guillermo Coria. It was a grinder, long baseline rallies, touch shots, lots of running and slidding, in the end it was Nadal who triumph in a grueling 6-3,6-1,0-6,7-5 encounter. Somehow, watching the match here seem different. Back when i was still in KK, my dad and I would watch tennis matches together and make our own predictions, he seem to always support the opposite number. That's because my dad just loves underdogs and always rooted for them. I on the other hand always went for percentage, higher probability and form. I could just imagine how my dad would be all over me after that match, he'll probably say something like "See, I told you !". Nadal, was no doubt the underdog in this match.So, here's one to you dad, I'll get you the next time.

Hey All !!!

Dear readers,
This post is to announce, as of today, I am officially a blogger. Now many of you might be thinking “Paul, a blogger ?? No way !!” .Well, this is to prove that this is no hoax, I am really starting a blog. I have no idea why I decided to start a blog, maybe it’s because I just finish my major assignment, feeling really good, or maybe it’s because there’s so many things going on here, and it would be a shame to not share it with people.Anyway, my parent always said I was the quiet one in the family, and they kind of insisted I keep the family as up-to-date as possible, so having a blog wouldn’t hurt for this cause. Whatever the reason, here it is, for your viewing pleasure. Do drop a comment or two…will be much appreciated…peace out.