There is more to life than just being a Klang boy

Coca Cola : The Friendship Machine

2011-12-16T21:08:00.001+08:00

This is a absolute brilliant idea by Ogilvy & Mather. Pure genius.

Recap: Price Tag - Love Currency

2011-12-16T20:21:00.005+08:00

In my church, youth camps are held one in every 2 years. This year is that year again and so this year, the Bethany Chapel Youth Camp was held in Seminar Teologi Malaysia, Seremban for 4 days 3 nights on the 9th December - 12th December. It was definitely a good camp whereby the younger ones were able to open up and I believe that they have been growing closer to each other ever since.

As for me? The camp serve as a good reminder to myself about obedience. The camp verse was taken from the book of Galatians 2: 20. It says, ' I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body , I live by faith in the son of God , who loved me and gave himself for me.' One of the main questions throughout the camp that I was asking myself was, ' Are you living a life worthy of a price tag?' It was a good 4 days of not just having fun but to be reminded as to how we should be living our life in Christ.

Introducing the 4 groups for the camp. Each team were named after a currency from different countries.

Naira from Nigeria

Dirham from United Arab Emirates

Kyat from Myanmar

Peso from South America

Camps are always fun. It was just sad that it had to last for only 4 days. 7 would have been good :P but like how it was shared in camp. After 4 days of staying together, being all close together .. is certainly not the end because as we return back to klang. That's where it begins :) You must understand one thing. The youth in Bethany chapel are a quiet bunch of people. Sorry. I meant .. was. This camp was a breakthrough to so many youths. Even the team leaders who had their first hand on experience on leadership.

The youths are growing again :) Not just in numbers but spiritually. It is the prayer of the church that the youth will one day grow up to be people who are passionate for the Lord. That they will live for His namesake!

Pray with me.

To God be the Glory.

The moment when number 2 is looking at it's own reflection.

2011-12-16T19:54:00.005+08:00

Yup. And just like that I'm finally 22. Just a quick update i guess. 3 down. 1 more semester to go before ... this whole new life that is gonna take place. The final leg. At this point of time. I am just excited to be out of school. Although .. yeah .. I know some day I might regret what I said but ... it has been way too long for me. I'm done studying :(

So on a side note.

Whenever I see "Music Speaks" .. AJ Rafael comes to mind. Sounds very gay? I know. But I admire what he does. A lot. I mean we're both the same age and he studied in Berkeley School of Music. Just to summarize his life? Father pass away. Had a father as his inspiration to share music to the world. Started with Myspace and Youtube. Had his first album recently and now having his first ever Asia tour. Yeah .. He's coming to Malaysia on the 14th of January next year.

WAIT?! SAY WHAT?!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOO!!!!!

Yes I am that excited! I know I wasn't as excited on Facebook or Twitter but that's because I was just keeping myself calm not wanting to make such a big deal out of it. BUT IT IS A BIG DEAL SO YEAH! :] To all who doubt that i was still a fan of Aj Rafael. Heh! You're wrong ;) Cause I'll be trying to get myself some media passes. Well not really me but I'll find my way :D What a start of a new year ;)

I'm gonna let him sign my ukelele.

Tae guk gi

2011-10-07T19:04:00.006+08:00

First it was the oldest one in my family, and I had to bid my farewells to my sister. Five years later, i'm doing the same thing with my brother. I guessed it's pretty sucky I must say, to bid farewell knowing that the person dear to you is going to leave to some foreign land. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for them but well .. that just makes me a regular visitor of KLIA. I go there. Say your goodbyes and then come home. (I've been doing that each and every friend's or family I know) Hah! Whom am I kidding, I can't complain right? I had my time whereby there was a moment in my life where I needed to make a decision? and I made the choice to stay, so yeah ...

It's not that i'm not happy, maybe I'm just regretting a little.

So a lot of people has been asking me if I miss my brother and I think I have been pretty cold with my answers :S I mean my respond would go like, " Well I'm too caught up with my assignments so I don't feel anything. Maybe later when I'm done with my work ... " or I would go like, " Nah. It's for the best for him. He SHOULD go ... " And well, though I still agree with my second answer? Truth be told, I miss my brother.

Why?

Well he has been my roommate for over like 22 years of my life and no, we don't have the same bed. I guess things are more quiet. Nobody to mess with, nobody to go crazy with. I need to keep my insanity .. Yeah you heard me right. It's my insanity. Maybe one day you should try it too. It's fun to just let loose sometimes .. well at most time. Life's too short to be serious all the time. Where's the fun in that?

So to my brother who is in India right now, God bless you. I know that it must be tough but you will get it through.

Yes. for those who has not seen my brother at all. He happens to be my little brother and yes, he is the 'hot' one. I know ... I know ... don't worry .. I'm not being bitter about it ...

.....

I'm not ....

Blessings :]

Cause one day we need a roof under our heads

2011-09-28T18:45:00.009+08:00

Hey all you people :)

So sometimes I can't help but to think where I would want to stay in future. Should I start saving money for a my own crib? Having that said, reality checks in and I realized that houses nowadays are not cheap at all. Like seriously :( Comparing to the days when my dad said that people could afford to buy a house that cost RM 124, 000 and now is valued for RM 1 million. No kidding :O

True Story.

So I know there are moments in each of our lives that we wonder what would be the ideal place to stay. Do we want a house or an apartment? What kind of house it's gonna be like? I'm pretty sure there were moments in your life that you came across, wishing that you could live in those huge mansion or that beautiful home around such as Eco Park, Setia Alam Lagoon Perdana, Bandar Sunway or Ambang Botanic, Bandar Botanic. Well if we actually work hard for the money, why not? :) And even if we may not have such huge amount of $, we could always start out something more simpler. By the way houses like below do catch my eyes, I'm a sucker for architecture designs.

As I was looking through the site, I realized that Propwalls, a Malaysian property website really helps me search for any house that is vacant. The best part of this site is that it has details to the house and the pricing to it. Not forgetting the photos for some help to picture how the house it's like, some that furnished and some that are just empty spaces to let you have your own creativity in how you would want to decorate your own home.

To all who are about to get married, to all who are interested to have their own crib, to all who would like to live nearer to your workplace, this is the site for you :) Sometimes it's hard to find out about property. May this site be able to help you in that area in searching for your dream home.

No harm trying to just plan and see, have a look to see how it's all gonna be like in the near future :]

Blessings :)

Malaysia - my home

2011-09-13T11:24:00.006+08:00

Here in my home, no can ever tell me that I don't deserve to be in this country. Just like an egg that hatches from a mother hen, I was born and raise in Malaysia and will always be a Malaysian. For those who says that all the chinese should go back to China and that all the Indian can go back to India. We forgive you ....

I forgive you.

* Despite the conflicts that we have, I'm still persevering for the country that I love. To-the-people-who-loves-to-find-troubles, to the BN, to the Perkasa, to the Menteri's, stop breaking us apart. We were meant to be unique. That what makes us special. Why that that away from us?

Remembering Malaysia. Happy 54th year.

What is your passion?

2011-09-01T22:07:00.005+08:00

It is what I do whenever I don't really seem to have any conversation with a person I just met. It is a question that I usually ask, hoping that whatever they want to do in life would inspire me. Obviously we only have one life to live for, the question is - What are we living for?

From time to time I have never fail to question myself about the things I want to do with my life. One thing is for sure. I am not gonna let my life go drifted by without doing anything. It is totally unacceptable. Listing out the possible passions that I once wanted to do in my life.

Football studies. School of Performing Arts.

Okay. Let's be realistic here, I'll scrap football. First off, I suck at it but it concerns me when I think about the arts. I love dramas. I love musical yet I don't think I can sing or dance or even act properly .. but there is just something about the art scene that I'm so madly in love about. Something about backdrop, the lightings, the props - sometimes the simplicity in creating an atmosphere in the surrounding. The message that one is trying to bring across. One that instill certain values or to share a life of a public figure once more to those who are of a different generation. One that inspires.

And what do I settle for? Communication.

Remembering the wise words from my father who said, "Colin, every man should be able to earn a stable income to support not only himself but his family", and so Advertising came to mine. I guess, it was the closest thing I could ever gotten into bringing a message across to people and to try and continue to inspire. Because we only live once in a life time. Don't we all want to make the best out of it?

I have seen with my own eyes, the trouble that one has to go through day by day, convincing her own self that she (she* is anonymous) has to do what she has to do on a daily basis as a doctor because it is what her parents want, it is what she had achieved years in the medical field, a doctor-in-a-making yet if she has the passion to open up a cafe, why not go for it? why be a doctor just because one is told to ...

Aren't we more than that?

Of course .. I'm in no position in telling someone about he or her life that they should not be listening to their parents and certainly "all talk" can just be really easy .. but when it comes to the real deal, say to go for one's passion. It is never easy. But hey? It's a start, "Because no matter where you are in life right now, no matter who you are, no matter how old you are - it is never too late to be who you are meant to be." - Esther & Jerry Hicks

Cause the day before Saturday was Friday

2011-08-09T11:57:00.008+08:00

I have never really took noticed on how messy my study table can be. Everything is just everywhere and most of the time, I always have a problem trying to search for something. What's so ridiculous about the whole thing is that two months ago, I actually tidy everything up. Oh well. I guess I will have to do it again.

Hrmm .. It's really messing. Oh well then, moving on :)

Last Friday evening, Me and JQ attempted to make Macaroons. As you can see here, if you are interested in making em', the recipe is just right here.

and since Macaroons are just generally so expensive to get, why not make them? Thus having our first attempt at it. (Btw if you are wondering why the quality of the pictures so bad. Blame the Blackberry!!) Then again, at least I have a camera so shouldn't complain so much :)

Mixing everything to the bowl was my favourite part. Adding the colours to it made me like one excited kid :D Cause the colours were pretty. Err .. too much? *Ahem*

We both had a shot on 'squeezing' em' on the trays. Here as you can see, it's JQ's work. How unorganized :P

Once it was done, we put it in the microwave oven. While waiting for the macaroons. We had some complication with the macaroons. It just didn't want to rise at all. As you can see, the macaroons are suppose to look like this.

Unfortunately ours looked like some coloured stone or some funky chipsmore cookies. The macaroons were just too flat!

However, this is certainly not the end of it. Gonna make it soon again and I hope by then, it will look perfect :O !! I forgot to take the final shot of how the macaroons actually look like. We called it "Macoons" :) Cause it's flat and small, still. It did taste good though, with chocolates in between two macoons ;)

Looking for Cars For Sales

2011-08-08T00:46:00.008+08:00

Am I getting more random or what? Well, I have said it before and I will say it again. My blogspot can be a little random sometimes but hey? It is still a post and plus, it's informative .. so why not? After all, I did say I would make it one heck of a rojak blog :)

So if you are around my age, knowing that it is going to be your final year studying. Say you are about to go off to the big world, you get a job, earn some good money .. some of you may even have a partner in your life and you would love to spend your life with that certain special someone, with that comes a house, so you need to go and find a perfect location where both parties are happy with it.

So many things to think about right as we get older?

But wait! What about a car then?! It will be pretty troublesome to plan a life without a car because it is one of the essentials, especially today in this country.

Hence, if you are interested in getting a car but not knowing where to search for it, if the newspaper aren't telling yo much detail about the car that you are looking for, you can always check it out Carsifu.com. Carsifu is Malaysian's leading Car Classified website, with over 2,000 cars for sale posted online all across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor.

As you can see from the picture, it is quite informative because not only they show the condition of the car but the year of when it was purchase together with the name followed by the contact number. There are a list of selections of non-Malaysian and Malaysia cars for your own preferences.

The search engine of Carsifu helps those who are looking for a car more conveniently as they have already labelled each brand of the car with the different specs and different models. The location is written down so that if they are interested, at least the person who is interested in buying a car wouldn't have to face such a shock knowing the contact person might be a few states away. Also the price really do help a lot in terms making sure that any budgets will not be exceeding it's limit.

For more information, you can always go to www.carsifu.my

It does not harm having an early planning for the future :)

Nadhira's 12 Shades Album Launch

2011-07-29T21:09:00.007+08:00

So on Thursday night, I was invited to attend a media launching of Nadhira. It was held at Laundry, The Curve and yes it was the same day when Singapore beat Malaysia in the Asia Qualifying World Cup stage :( and I must say, I was very annoyed with those Singaporean players.

Okay. so anyway I attended the event as a Blogger. Yeah I know right? You people might go .. "eh? Colin .. Event?? .. Blogger ??? Since when??!!". Who knew that this one kid who doesn't go anywhere that much and just made a comeback with his dying blog could end up as a Blogger attending a Media Launch at The Curve. Well it's possible :D

So many of you may not know who Nadhira is. Well shame on you! Because this is her releasing her second album, 12 shades this year. A classically trained pianist, Malaysian-born singer songwriter Nadhira has over the years moved in various directions including rock, blues, jazz, sould and R&B. These began to make their presence felt on her inaugural album "From Malaysia with Love" that was launched in 2010. Available for preview at www.nadhiraworld.com, it made it's national debut through Hitz.FM last month and has joined the playlists of several other local, regional and online radio stations since then.

12 Shades features 10 English and 2 Bahasa Malaysia tracks. The first single off the album 'Tear Us Apart' features Ron E Jones and was produced by Tom Diesel, both based in Australia. Australians Tom Diesel has run a successful studio and production house, Tommirock, in Australia having achieved Australian Record Industry Association Awards (ARIA) Chart sucess through his work in producing and mentoring artists across multiple genres. Ron E Jones is a singer songwriter. Jones has performed all around the world and worked with artistes in a variety of roles - including writing music and producing tracks.

I know what you are going to say, "That's it? Why the pictures so sikit?" Sorry la! :D It's times like this I wished I had an iPhone with me. Who's with me and just feels like booing Blackberry for having crappy camera features :P And I know you might go, why suddenly there's a different with the way the post is being written, I was in some academic mode just now, mind me. It was as if I was doing my assignments. I guess I need to chill a bit ;) Without much further ado, I present to you Nadhira's Tear Us Apart.

A girl with some huge vocals. I heard her sang live and well, she reminds me a little of Alicia Keys. What more, she's Malaysian Made and it's my responsibility to ask you people to support your local artist. If you have not seen or heard of her. Just take this time to find out a little more about her. She is definitely an uprising star :)

Visit her at her website: www.nadhiraworld.com

And okay. Na ... I ain't no media blogger. I was just a plus 1 but can't I just 'shock sendiri' for once? :] Here's the truth. I was with someone that very day and well, she invited me :) you can know it is now by clicking on LifestyleAsia.com. Yes! For once I felt awesome and happening :D She knows how much I love Arts, especially at our local scene. So I thought I do my part in sharing with you guys Nadhira because when I heard her sing? She's really really good.

When good things must come to an end

2011-07-27T17:24:00.008+08:00

It's my final week of semester break. Bummer. It doesn't feel enough. I'm not ready to go back to school. Awesome stuff has been happening and I don't want to go back to the dreaded regular, day to day routine of a student life :O Where you have to stay up late to do your work, burning those midnight oil, getting all stressed up over assignments. Well of course, the good part is you don't have to feel so lifeless? But I was having a life even during my breaks! Well I get to hang with friends again, people whom I hardly get to see during breaks because they are just all over the place. Semester Five. It's my final year. And I am "loving" it.

So what did I do the past one month? I can't really recall everything that I've done but maybe just a few to share :) Well, I have been updating my blog so a few that I have already posted, why would I want to post is again. Right? :)

Okay. So coming back. Remember me posting about my cousin's farewell? Yup. Mervyn came back for the holidays and I can say that he is a life testament to many out there. You may know why from the pictures :)

The Singaporeans also came down during the holidays and though it was just four days, Friday to Monday. We managed to catch up with one another. Unfortunately during the weekends, I was caught up with Footstool. Half of the time, I wasn't with them. This pictures of the six of us was taken last year. By now, as you noticed, Mervyn is way lot thinner, Calvin became slightly muscular and Lyon .. well .. he's been working out. I will leave it to you guys to be the judge on his current upper body strength ;)

Jun Sean and Jia Kent came back for the holidays too and the four of us managed to meet together. Now here is the latest story of Lyon the Band. We've decided to journey on different pathways. I know I posted about our gig in Indie Youth Fest 2010 a while ago but hey, we're still friends. It wasn't because we fought or anything. If ever we did. I blamed Sean :P Just kidding. I'm really gonna miss all of them. Lyon the band was really going well surprisingly. I mean you would have thought .. "Apa ini .. Lyon da band? Tak pernah dengar punya .. " but we get gigs quite frequently, thanks to those who has been supportive, those who loved our originals. Sorry it didn't last long. We didn't expect a full time commitment anyway, but I never knew we couldn't have gotten that far. To have the privileges to play with some of Malaysian local artists was definitely a memory to keep. I will love you guys, always.

*Takes a deep breath* *exhale* *sniff* :) So other than the Port Dickson trip that I went with my cousins, We the guys planned up a trip to Melaka to just do the usual, which was 'makan-ing'. At this point, you might expect the beautiful historical landscape of Melaka. From churches to those really old school kopitiams, from chicken rice ball or Assam Laksa to the cooling awesome cendol. Well no. The only picture I got with me was the one with us flying a kite in Pantai Klebang and even with that, it's just a picture of us guys without Isabel and JQ. Sorry girls :] But it was a fun day indeed :) Thanks to Syaz. Yup. The guy who is carrying that red kite.

Speaking about kites, it's as if my life has been fulfilled that very day. I got the privileged to finally fly a kite for the very first time in my life! Yes! No kidding! I mean come on :) Didn't you had a long list of things to do before you turn 21? I did. To name of some a few examples, to play pokemon again on a gameboy, eat those chocolate sweet that has a toy in it. Look at the smile on my face. That is satisfactory. That's a smile of a little boy inside knowing that he has completed everything he wanted to do in his list before turning 21.

It's things like this, just like having to own Aj Rafael's first album is huge! I started listening to Aj Rafael when I was 18 years old. Today I'm 21 + and I'm one of his biggest fan in Malaysia. His album was released somewhere in the month of June and I just had to get my hands on it. People like us in Malaysia will never be able to get a chance to see Aj Rafael live, it's hard for me to show my support in that sense, going for his gigs and all, so I do what I can on youtube and facebook when it comes to sharing his music to my other friends, and also to buy his album with all his original songs in it :D

Last but not least, my beloved <3 Some of you may know her, she even made an appearance here logging into my blogspot! using my laptop! and even posting something that I didn't even know for 3 weeks! but the post was really sweet :) Call me cheesy but she's the apple of my eye. I just wanted to write that down because I have never done that before. Now that we have moved on from that awkward moment. Lee Jian Quin became 21 in June. She is now a woman. Yes my woman is a big .. girl now? :S You really got to forgive me whenever I write such nonsensical statements like this. What I am trying to say is that .. she is one amazing person to me and I will always cherish her.

Who would have thought? That us being friends would one day become an item together. We were just friends who likes to annoy each other. Well maybe me annoying her, while she has to endure the silliness ..... thanks for being friends with me then JQ, if you are reading this. Hee. I guess there was just something about her that caught my eye. I mean she doesn't even look Chinese to begin with. Sort of. She has this brownish-green eyes and her hair is brown. She's so fair and she is mine :) It started of with an awkward conversation by the KTM station, and the rest is history.

When good things has to come to an end, I guess it is not so bad after all. Like what my mom always says, "There is a time to work, and a time to play". This is my final year in Degree. Semester 5. Play time is over. Time to bring in the academic fighting spirit.

Of Randomness and Seeds

2011-07-25T22:08:00.005+08:00

This is me. Writing. Listening to some music on a humid night. Yup. I still don't get why people like to burn rubbish sometimes. Are they crazy? The weather is hot enough already. I wonder if they were well educated. I don't mean to offend any relatives or family members .. if they want to live as if like the world is hell .. be my guest but please, leave me out of it.

Pardon my bitterness :)

So Footstoolplayers has run it's 6th performance this season and so far it has been a wonderful journey. In this special tenth anniversary production, Footstoolplayers revisits some of many favourite sketches from earlier years. It's good to be back again with the rest, first off is because I miss them all and after having a years break. It was a good timing to be back again.

This is us together with Soon Wei, Adrene and baby Jude at
the Christian Life Gospel Centre, PJ during our 3rd performance.
(Soon Wei & Adrene are part of the footstoolplayers)

For those of you who are curious as to what I do here in Footstoolplayers, I do Stage and Sound :) and it's a privileged having the opportunity to learn so much behind the scene. Many of you may know that I love the Performing Arts and well yeah, taking a step back from acting in churches and doing small short films, I don't have such an opportunity to go into KLPAC or any School of Performing Arts, thus gaining my experience here at Footstoolplayers is huge for me, with that in it, a bonus with spiritual lessons that I can challenged myself with from time to time.

So coming back, as I was saying, We've performed in six churches so far and just last weekend, we performed in Melaka Wesley Methodist Centre on Saturday and the following day, Seremban Gospel Chapel. We left KL around 11.30am and reached Melaka around 1.30pm. Stop for some lunch and off to church to set up.

Setting up the stage and lights at Wesley Methodist, Melaka

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the play from Wesley Methodist. Then again, I actually took all of this photos from the facebook page itself. Now that's pretty lame :] But at least as I write in my blog, at least I can support with an image ;) Oh well. So below are just a quick sneak of the play. Do try to catch the play if you have not. Trust me when I say, you'll have a blessed time :)

Here is scene from Cracked Pot. What are your cracks in life?

A scene from Big Spender.

If you want to know where we will be performing, you could check the link out at our website at www.footstoolplayers.com. The play is 70 minutes long. The best part of it all is that admission is free :)

A peculiar encounter

2011-07-05T17:36:00.005+08:00

Just yesterday I went to Port Dickson for an overnight stay in with the other 2 cousins and my brother (Lyon, Mervyn and Calvin). We stayed at Avillion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson. First OFFICIAL holiday and the only reason why we booked it because it was charging for half price. RM400 a night became RM200.

The view from the pier

Not visiting Port Dickson for more than 2 years has definitely changed my perception. It has changed so much! In a good way, of course. For one, the beaches are cleaner now, even the sea water is so clear. No Kidding! I wished I could show you how clear it was, unfortunately I'm not the type of guy who goes around snapping pictures with his DLSR/Digital camera ... I wonder why. I should actually. Words doesn't do much justice when there isn't any pictures to show ...

Okay so aside from that, coming to the main focus of this post. After having KFC for lunch before journeying back home, I spotted an Indian man sitting by the side of the pathway. The Indian man looked delusional and then the most unusual sight took place. It's a sight that you don't see everyday. It's a sight that would bring a certain kind of joy in your heart. A sight of a Malaysian looking out for another Malaysian's well-being. A Malay man walk towards the delusional Indian man and in the exact same word, here is what the Malay man said :

Malay man : Sudah makan?
Indian man: (blabbing some random words)
Malay man: You mabuk?
Indian man: (again blabbing some random words)
Malay man: Sini .. ambil RM 5, pergi beli makanan ya.

I tell you ... it was as if I just watched a scene from Yasmin Ahmad's latest film, the feeling was surreal. I could not believe what I just witnessed. I felt so ashamed for walking past the Indian man protecting myself and here is a man who took the time to talked to the Indian man and asked if he was hungry. All this in the midst of Bersih. All this in the midst of Perkasa telling Malaysians to respect Malay rights, then only we are allow to talk about national unity. I don't know what is going to happen to Malaysia.

Another incident took place about 3 years ago, during my Diploma days, I sometimes come home late after playing futsal with my friends in Subang. At that time I used to take the train to Uni and so whenever I come home late and my mom can't fetch me, I'll usually take a bus from the train station and later walked home about 20 minutes to place from the bus station. I did that a couple of time every night and then one day, a Malay uncle zoom close by in front of me and stop his motorbike. The turn towards me and he asked :

Malay Uncle : Dik, nak tumpang motor pak cik tak?
Me : Uhm .. tak apa la pak cik. Saya boleh jalan sendiri
Malay Uncle : A lar .. Tak pe. pak cik nak pegi kat Andalas. U tinggal je kan? Meh pak cik tumpang .. pak cik ni selalu tengok kamu jalan sendiri. bahaya la ...

And that was my first ride ever on a motorcycle. An usual encounter. All I know is that whatever that had happen to me, I'll never forget it because that's how I see us as Malaysians.

Searching for a Proper Direction

2011-06-26T00:02:00.010+08:00

How about a smile to keep this post a little more cheerful

So whenever I write a blog, I just don't get how people can just go on writing like nobody business. I actually admire them. However it has always been my interest to do the same, just .. I find myself not being able to write as well .. to just talk about things that people usually do in their blogs. I certainly don't see myself ranting. I can be political but i try not to be so bitter about our country, it's bad enough that I have to tolerate through the nonsense from PERKASA or Barisan Nasional or basically, our Malaysian Government every morning. I'm scared of our nonsensical ISA too, I don't want to be taken off just like that to a middle of nowhere. There are of those who goes on blogging about events and food. Ooohh .. That's so good. I do admire them a lot. At least they do have their direction.

Oh and there are the people who just talk about their everyday lives. Too much? I don't think there are people out there who would like to know about my business in my own home. I mean come on? What do I have to write to excite them? "Today, I tried to pump my body. So close to getting my perfect six-packs. I can feel them within me" And of course there are those who just stick to their tumblring, cause they believe that a 'picture can speak a thousand words', so why would anyone want to write so much when you can just blog an image and just leave a tagline to sum the whole picture. Which is superb, just in case you are interesting in mine. You can check me out right here ;) www.vantageground.tumblr.com Thank you very much ;) I do hope you like it. Yup, don't feel shy to click on that follow button.

Still, having people like Award-Winning-Director, Yasmin Ahmad and Book Author, Mitch Albom in my life helps me to be an inspiration to people but clearly, i have not done such a good job in that area for like more than a year now? I mean .. come on. I didn't even plan to post this up but here I am just writing my thoughts out and well, i must say, it's pretty impressive to see how one mind works [just log on to blogspot - have a clear mind - let your fingers do the talking - and walah - a blog post].

The boy who dares to dream definitely has to go. I cracked myself sometimes just looking what I try to accomplished. Mind my English if it is really bad. It's unfortunately really, for a guy who struggles with his own mother tongue. Barely surviving with his Bahasa Malaysia, you would expect a person to be good in his English Language. Oh the humiliation. Then again, it is one of the many reason as to why this is here. It is for reasons like this :) To be able to improve on my writing skills, my English and to challenge myself in coming out with an interesting post from time to time and well .. I thank my dad for giving me MacBook. I love typing on it. Well that gives me another reason. Okay. I shall stop there.

Maybe .. just maybe. I shall 'rojak' my blog. How is that? Any suggestive ideas from you would be deeply appreciated by me.

Mahalo :)

* See what i just did? ;)

Something for you

2011-04-08T00:30:00.004+08:00

To begin this blog post, I am not the boy who dares to dream here writing. The boy is now at his home sleeping soundly. So who am I? To some of you, it couldn't be more obvious. To the rest of you, you will soon find out. :)

Am I hacking you might ask? You could pretty much say that because I do not deny the fact is that I am using his account to post this directionless post up to his blog just so I can see some updates. Also, to kill your curiosity, nope, he doesn't have a clue. So, I'm can't be sure if he will be mad, happy, sad or just plain blur.

You see, the whole story started when this perfect gentleman trusted me with his precious mac just so I could use garageband for my assignment. Confession, I had the intention of using garage band but I managed to finish my work without it. It's so tempting, I just couldn't resist not writing something. Just so you know I love blogging. :)

Officially, it's about three months now. He has just been great the whole time, being very patient with my 'merajuk-ness'. Don't mind being my driver even though I can drive as well. Very supportive in all my dreams and goal in life. He let me be who I want to be. What can I ask more?

I love how he say that he can't stand the silent treatment that I give him sometimes when I am upset. I love how he tries to justify himself. I love how he make sure that I am well fed so that I will never go hungry. I love how he takes the insecurity away just by kissing my forehead. I love how you try to go on when I say 'Somemore' even though your eyes are heavy after a long day.

Compassion, Loyalty, Trustworthy, and Loving. Love God was the fundamental to this present day. It all started with a book titled 'Prayer' and public transport. Who knows that the always late KTM can do some good for us.

So I pray for this boy who dares to dream. May all his dreams come true with me by his side and God's favour and blessings.

Love Always,
the girl by the side of the boy who dares to dream. :)

Keeping up with Life

2010-10-04T20:50:00.010+08:00

As of now, currently "Living life to it's fullest!" as told by Lee JQ

So what's new with me? I guess I need to put in more effort in updating about myself, that way I need not have to explain myself too much. I can just simply say .. Read my blog :) Hehe

Well first at foremost, the Lord has been good to me - though a lot has happen and sometimes I just feel like I'm at my lowest point but He still remain victorious in my life and what's surprising is that people like (you) actually reads my blog and I'm thankful for that. It may be just one or two but it's enough to get me going. Thanks for the encouragement :)

Random stuff has happened and it's been really good.

I'm currently in a band and we are known as Lyons. We have performed in two gigs, one at the open mic at Mosiac Community Centre, Centerpoint, Bandar Utama and the other Time Square, KL for the Indie Youth Festival. It's been a good journey thus far, together with Jia Kent, Jia Yien and Sean.

It's been a while since I played Volleyball and recently won 3rd placing for School of Comm which I must say is pretty good for us. The team did not train as a whole and well we managed to do good together after getting the hang of it.

Floorball has come back into my life, Thanks to Kelso :) for extending the invitation to join in Grace'Bandy (not sure if I got that right but I'll explain more once I get to know more about it ). Tournaments will be coming soon and that's pretty exciting as well.

Fr Left : Sean, Kent, me
below : Jia yein (Awesome Drummer)

p/s : I should write something with more substance in it. Yes I should. Thanks for the readership (if it's valid for blogs :P ) once again ..

If You Think I'm Talking Crap, Shoot Me

2010-09-16T11:43:00.006+08:00

"You'll be in my heart

No matter what they say

You'll be here in my heart, always "

- Phil Collins (Tarzan)

That's what I love about Disney Movies so much. I know that it's a fairytale but ever since I was a little boy, I think all Disney Movies ends with a happy ending and in it, despite any troubles, difficulty, sadness and pain that comes their way, still it will all be good, somehow ..

I think the problem with us nowadays is that when we grow up? We see life pretty much differently. It's true to say that life is not like a fairytale because when reality checks in, sometimes things just doesn't go the way we want it to be and we get frustrated. To the point we lose hope in life, we lose faith. we stop believing .. in anything.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that .. In the movies, their fates are decided and the people behind it decides on the plot, however in reality, you wouldn't know how your life stories will turn out to be ..

But Disney Movies gives us that reminder sometimes that life can end beautifully, sometimes the choices is in our hands, remember that God gives us the wisdom to choose and decide wisely in whatever we do.

It is not the end yet ;)

Family

2010-08-17T12:35:00.018+08:00

"Blood is always thicker than water" was the words that came from my youngest uncle, when melody was in tears as she hug her brother goodbye. Tears were flowing when the clock strikes 9.30pm when my cousin, mervyn was about to leave for the US-A.

I kept my cool as I waved goodbye, I kept my cool real hard. I've always hated the fact that someone I hold so dear to my life just have to leave .. Well I know we've all grown up now and that life would sometimes separate us for a bit - studies .. work ..

It's good to know that he'll be away for just 2 years but then again, 2 years can be really long.

I'm gonna miss all the awkward " Harlooos ", the piano piece from Owl City's Fireflies (cover), Movies, Plant & Zombie, Pokemons, our regular sunday meet, KFC, Mcdonald, our makan together.

I'm waiting for our big reunion, one day :) With Sher ren, Sher lyn, Cheryl, Kenneth & Shaun .. and maybe Calvin :) Come back to Malaysia and let's spend more time together before we get older and have our own life's to live.

Ohana means Family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten. We may fight all the time with our brothers or sisters, we may hate them while growing up, but when the time comes, as we get older and mature. It's only then, we'll know how to appreciate them the most.

Cause after all, Aren't we a family?

From Top Left : Sher lyn, Cheryl, Sher Ren, me

Bottom Left : Mervyn, Lyon, Calvin

* Missing : Kenneth, Shaun and many more

who wasn't born yet at that time

Till we meet again :)

August Rush!

2010-08-03T14:04:00.013+08:00

When "I wanna spend my life with you" becomes just a mere sweet words to the one you love but you know that ain't happening at all.

Okay. So I was battling whether to get that off my chest or not, it may sound random but i'll just leave it that way and just a heads up, that has nothing to do with my post.

- Need to learn how to balance it up a bit ;)

So! What do you know? Half a year has already past. August is here and school has started! And just a current update about the leg. It's healing :) Thank God for that! Oh! For some of you who don't know what happen - I injured my leg real badly during futsal and i tore my ligament, well i did a stupid thing and ram my foot to the ground, misjudging the ball. Many has laughed over this issue but the pain was unbearable, but i'm able to walk with my two feet again without the help of any crutches that keeps my underarm sore. I.AM.HAPPY :D

So i'm in the first semester of my degree, so far so good (and that's because it's just the first week) I have exactly 2 years till i'm out to face the real world. All i can say, one step at a time - although a part of me is just excited, I don't know why but i'm just curious as to what's in store for me.

Life as it is. It's been one hell of a roller-coaster ride. Seriously. It has been fun but sometimes one can just get pretty sick and tired of it.

Coming back to the topic, I guess in a blink of an eye, time do pass real fast without us realizing it. Oh well! My weekends is gonna be pack !! and i'm really looking forward to it. Hence the title :)

Aug 7 - TEEN SCENE FEST! [ TIME'S UP ]

Aug 8 - CUCI the musical

Aug 14 / 15 - Orang Asli Trip

Aug 21 - Rbs Reunion ( like finallyyy!! )

Aug ( Merdeka week ) - A possible Penang trip!

Oh and whenever you can. Go watch Inception. Confuse? Don't worry. If i can understand it, so can you :)

Twenty Fifth of July

2010-07-25T00:40:00.006+08:00

Today, marks the first anniversary of the death of someone I hold dearly to my heart. I'll be forever grateful to her because she made me believe that all of us can make a different in a person's life through a simple lens, a simple short story. It need not has to be always perfect but clear.

"Our children are colour-blind. Shouldn't we keep them that way?" the words that appear at the end of the multi-award-winning Petronas television commerical, " Tan Hong Ming in Love " reflects the heart of Yasmin who had a passion for telling and sharing with the world heartwarming stories.

I've never been much more proud of my country, to call it my home because of what she has done. It's silly because I know it shouldn't be because of her but I never was proud of being a Malaysian. Instead my eyes were just full of hatred while growing up, of the things I've heard or seen, but it was because of her, that reminded me that my home will always be my home and i'm not going anywhere. I was born here, thus will always be, a Malaysian at heart.

It's been a year now and I don't think I've yet to come to terms with her passing because I still feel that she has so much to share, to inspire, to help us Malaysians. Her openness in bridging cross-cultural barriers in heart and love.

Words escape me at this moment in time. All I will say is that she was the greatest there ever was in Malaysia advertising and even to large extends, Malaysian Cinema.

Things aren't the same anymore, but I believe that she has left a great legacy.

Yes, she has departed, but i guess her work including her special commercials will forever be tattooed on my heart.

If only I could meet her in person, I would like to thank her personally for making me who I am, Today.

Thanks for being such an inspiration to my life.

My future children will definitely be hearing about you :)

Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops

2010-07-24T00:10:00.005+08:00

" Let no one who loves be unhappy,

even love unreturned has it's rainbow "

- James M. Barrie

The Sweetest Nightingale

2010-07-12T01:23:00.018+08:00

"So long, fare thee well. The dancer and the dancings have taken leave and fell. So turn down the bed of stone, quench me with the deadly nightshades from the rose that you belong. The long December rain is falling now, running down the streets to nowhere. Music is my life, You're my sweetest nightingale, but I can't hear it here no more" - I go, Pete Teo (Talentime)

It would have been good if I knew what that whole line meant, I know what you might even say (if don't know the sentence, why still wanna put???) it's either too deep or my vocabulary is just very limited. I don't know if the picture would even suite this post because I certainly don't have a clue as to what I wanna say. All I know is that .. I'm a little messed up right now :/ It's funny cause it shouldn't feel that way but I guess the more I'm in denial, the more messed up I'll be.

Time has past, it's been a year plus now. maybe two. Still, just having the talk with you makes me wanna go back to where we were, the memories that we shared, just the thought of you once in my life .... again =] I see it now, both picture and the stanza do make sense. Wait, maybe not, whatever :|

I'm just so glad that we finally can be honest. I'm glad that we finally gotten it out after a long time. I know we can never change our past but we can always write our future. Still. Do trust me when I say, I understand how things are as of now. We can't just go changing things as we like as much as I want change to happen .. It's just that ..

I really miss you.

To a Land Where Joy Will Never End

2010-06-25T12:26:00.014+08:00

" The saddest people I've ever met in life are the ones who don't care deeply about anything at all. Passion and Satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there's nothing to make it last. " Dear John - Nicholas Sparks

I've been addicted to that book lately and as I read it, I tend to picture myself as John Tyree. It's a good book so far, can't wait to see how's the ending like =] I dunno, maybe one day I would like

to meet a girl like Savannah Lynn Curtis :)

SO ANYWAY, A lot of things has happen and I don't really know where to start. There was the youth camp, Camerons with family and then Langkawi with my friends to Karate Kid and to Toy Story to Dear John.

For one, I just lost a really good friend in a very tragic accident involving his family & a trailer. He is only 23 - it's just too soon but "Jesus has overcome and the victory is won" and I know myself that Joash is with the Lord in heaven right now, for we believe that He is our God, the maker of heaven and earth, the one who saves us, and even though times like this may be hard for some of us to comprehend, we will still rejoice because he is with the Lord in heaven, a man after God's own heart.

"Death sometimes gets the last laugh on us. Until we come out victorious"

Another goodbye, and this time it's to you :(

you look good here man.

I'll see you again soon,

maybe then we can play the guitar together once again :)

Okay .. *taking a deep breath* Now I'm finding it hard to continue on, I guess I'll stop for now but looking back at the quote on the top by Nicholas Sparks, I feel it's really true to say that "Passion and Satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there's nothing to make it last. "

Like how Yasmin once said, "Life is short" - so SEIZE every moment you can in life. DO NOT hold it back!

Some Updates

2010-06-16T16:16:00.005+08:00

*Smiles* About the run I was talking about? I completed it without stopping. Oh yeah! I'm glad I kept my words. It wasn't easy but it sure was rewarding. More to come. Gotta start pushing myself more. I managed to clock 1 hour 8 minutes for the 10km run, i knew i could have done better just that towards the end, with the rain and tired legs .. I slowed down a little. Anyways if you are interested in running? Let me know .. like i said, there is more to come :)

Life words

2010-05-17T22:39:00.012+08:00

" ... He noted that first came the date of her birth

And spoke the following date with tears

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years

For the dash represents all the time

That she spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved her

Know what that little line is worth

So think about this long and hard

Are there things you'd like to change?

For we never know how much time is left,

That can still be rearranged ... "

Many of you may know that I just lost my grandma last weekend, but praise be to God that she's home now, away from the pain and suffering (Thanks to all who've texted and sent me a message on facebook not forgetting about praying for my family) Ah ma suffered from stroke about 4 years now - in a way, it was a good thing because she's in a much better place now than where she was before. I really pity my dad though, not being able to celebrate his 55th birthday due to ah ma's death but losing his job at the same time, I really look up to him sometimes as to how he controls his emotion, still being able to make some jokes telling me how sad it is that he lost 3 things in a day (his mom, his job and the thomas cup). I remember dad giving his eulogy, as sucky as it may sound but I somehow got to know ah ma better during her funeral, stories that I've never really heard before from ah ma's friends, sisters, brothers, children and from my dad himself.

I had my fond memories with ah ma. Remembering how she used to give me rm2 each time I come and visit her, and from rm 2 to rm 1 - okay. enough about that. money isn't the only thing i remembered. I guess if there was one thing that I could learn from my ah ma throughout her life was that education was really important, and I remembered the time when Ah kong was still alive and how when I got my one and only A for UPSR, they gave me rm 30 each for it where else my sister got rm 100 for straight As. Again, it's not about the money but the life lessons, among the grandchildren in the Gan's family, I was the worst among the lot when it comes to education, but if there is one lesson I could pass down to my children next time? It would certainly be this.

So coming back to my dad, when he was sharing his eulogy, I start to wonder if I die, what would people remember me by? There is a saying goes " Life is too short and fragile ", you'll never know when your time will be up. For me, I know I wouldn't want to regret my life here, there is so much to do, okay other than the long list of life's achievements, I guess I can start by just being there to those who are dear to me and to spend as much time as I can with them when I'm still here. I'm blessed to have my siblings, my parents, the Gan's & Chua's (extended family) and friends.

" So, when your eulogy is being read

With your life's actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent your dash "

- Linda Ellis

Goodbye Ah ma.

I'm There ... Almost

2010-04-27T21:11:00.014+08:00

" Ugh .. This is tough .. "

" dear God, I need your help "

My finals are just around the corner, and I need to make sure I don't screw it up. With just two papers and I'll be on my way to do my degree in mid-July.

What's the other side gonna be like? I'm very interested to find out too =]

And So, Let The Race Begin

2010-04-18T14:05:00.007+08:00

"Come on Colin! Control, keep your pace! you can do it! " says the good friend of mine, Edwin Phang.

It's the time of the year where the marathon race is here and I'm on a mission to get my medal. Yup, and for this year, I've taken my training to the next level, no more running just the week before the marathon, just to "so-called-self-train".

I started off with 4 Km at the botanical garden, Klang with 36 minutes 18 seconds on the clock, the week after that, 6 Km with 54 minutes 32 seconds on the clock. Trust me when I say, I've never been so proud of myself for not stopping, for not giving up. I held on to every single encouragement that Edwin gave, the numerous time where I just wanted to stop running, my body was tired, even when the sun has already set and the street lights was on, I was still running, and for that I'm truly thankful to him.

The week after that, 8 km with 1 hr 11 minutes 56 seconds on the clock - I almost died. Never in my life have I ran 8 km without stopping! What was I even thinking !? Agreeing upon adding 2 more km that day, but I did it, I finished it even when my legs were failing me at the very last finishing line, but all in all - To complete my goal that night which I thought it was quite impossible. It felt good, damn good :)

So I still got about a month to train before hitting the road in Setia Alam and Putrajaya's 'Men's health' race, A long more way to go in order to complete a 41 Km full length marathon.

But hey? I guess if I stick my mind to it, I'll definitely be able to complete it :) Like my dear brother Edwin has once said "It's all in the state of mind".

A Start Of Something New

2010-04-09T17:09:00.004+08:00

Remember the days when we were young, and when our parents or teachers would ask us " ah boy .. what is your dream? "

I would go "my dream is to go Disneyland!" or "my dream is to be a mechanic!"

I can still remember the expression on my mom's face - the disappointed and awkward silence. Thinking back, I wondered why I mention mechanic too, probably the fact that my late grandfather owns a car workshop or the fact I was into cars. Well neither of that dreams came true, I've yet to visit Disneyland and I'm currently pursuing communications.

I thought to myself again, at this current state. What is my dream? I honestly find it hard to answer. Maybe of the fact that, I'm not sure whether it will ever come true one day so why dream? I would love to own an Audi 4, I would love to see changes in Malaysia - the political environment, and I would love to continue what Yasmin left.

But of course, at times we do hear testimonies from people who dared to dream and got what they wanted in life. So it's possible to say that dreams do come true especially " with God, all things are possible " - Matt 19:26

Your dream is your direction, your motivation, your inspiration in what you want, in what you love. Nothing will inspire you in quite the same way. It's like an adventure - question is : are you game for it?

The question for each man to settle is not what,
he would do if he had means,
time, influence and educational advantages,
the question is what he will do with the things he has.
The moment a young man ceases to dream
or to bemoan his lack of opportunities
and resolutely looks his conditions in the face,
and resolves to change them
he lays the corner-stone of a solid and honorable success.

- Hamilton Wright Mabie