Updates

Currently icing the knee watching 'The Guardian' on tele. So inspiring. :) I hope to have the same attitude as the US Marines Coast guard tag line 'so others may live'.

Just an update to say that i can finally receive mms'. So to all ya'all out there who relies on free mms', yup, i can start receiving em. Must've been pretty annoying to always receive replies from me saying that, 'oopss, sorry, i can't read your mms'.

I was just reading the local newspaper today and found out the most interesting piece of news today. In spite of the recent economic downturn, there is an increase in the number of international students in Adelaide. It was a whopping 26, 000 last year but this year, it has increased to  a massive 30, 000, injecting about $740 million into the state's economy. One third of them are from Mainland China, 5000 from India and about 2200 from Malaysia and the remaining from other countries. There is an annual increase of 29.2% of international students studying in Adelaide, 4.4% ahead of the national average.

Just looking at things from the outside, i belong to a generation where our parents made sacrifces or wise economical decisions to ensure that their children will be able to continue their education in a foreign land. It's not only a Malaysian-thing, clearly, it's across different cultures and nationalities. We definitely have a lot to be grateful for.

On a personal note, just finished reading 'Piercing the darkness' by Frank E. Perretti. Definitely gave me a different perspective on spiritual warfare. Might start 'Contemporary Christianity' by John Stott soon. Been on a reading spree. Some of the books that i have just recently finished,

'Dangerous Act of Worship' by Mark Labberton, 'Postcards on a Journey' by John Mallison, 'A hitch-hikers guide to missions' by Ada Lum and not to forget, 'Grand weaver' by Ravi Zacharias.

Had the most intense kau kau com meeting thus far this afternoon. Definitely looking forward to more.

The dash

Stumbled upon this the other day.

The Dash
copyright 1996 Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstonefrom the beginning...to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birthand spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the timethat she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own;the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard...are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enoughto consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger,and show appreciation more
and love the people in our liveslike we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect,and more often wear a smile...
remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.
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 spend your dash?

Autumn's here. . .

More pics/stories

Ken came for a bit

Cousin Ben came to visit and we went all carnivourous in the German town in Adl.

Sherny lost his ring while at Justin's. He took it out while eating lunch. Needless to say, the first thought was, shoot, someone must have brushed it into the bin while cleaning up and Justin had already took out the rubbish. Yes, we then emptied the bag on the floor and went through it WITH OUR HANDS touching almost every single piece of rubbish in the bag looking for his lil ring...and thank GOD we found it there. and yes, when i picked him up from the airport, brought his baby photo to hold up. While ppl had big signboards with names, i had his baby photo.hehehe.

never treat your garbage collector with disrespect.

Sherny's first meal in Adelaide, courtesy of Handsome chai.

On CNY, which was also Australia day, was driving around town with the Aussie flag out one window and my Malaysia flag the other..but took the Malaysia down after awhile, figured some Aussies might find it disrespectful

Pics of the new place

Autumn leaves come early on the garage floor

The lil garden patch with a fountain thingy that we have to make sure is well maintained and the living things there don't die.

The garage which has a lovely wooden roof thingy (i thinks called a pegola..or something??) and there's a nice lil table with 4 chairs which i can go have tea and just chillaxx.

The Kitchen

Dining

Hall + new human being..hehe

Mint and parsley plant which was a gift from Kak Shaleeni. I left the parsley out when it was 40+ celcius and it died. Sorrrryyy..Mint's a bit more hardy, managed to survive the heat, trying to slowly bring it back to life again and use it in cooking. I have to say this, 'May, i walked past your lavender patch in Adl Uni today and thought of you.'

New Human being's room, he recently rearranged it, looks a bit diff now.

My personal space, it's connected to a balcony

My fav spot in the hse so far, often times, its just me and Him and the world around us..occasionally the new human being too. haha.

Quick one

Matthew 19:14 (New International Version)
14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

I had to stand in for a brother at Children's Church yesterday on the guitar. Boy, what an experience. It was so just so refreshing just to see these young ones singing praises to our King.
Not to forget too, to be playing with such professional guys. The only experience i can recollect for now in terms of serving with children is back in Sunday School and it was sometimes very cincai if i can say that. hehe. But at church here, it's a whole new diff level. What happen to action songs like 'Jesus loves me this i know'. Now, its drum-led Hillsongs, 'I'm not ashamed of the gospel'. My ears were ringing after that. Different songs, different eras, different environment.. same God.

Amazing.

I just might sign up to join the worship team for Children's church. :)

shifted to a new place. pics coming up soon. still no internet hence the lack of updates and slowness in replying emails, plus uni started already and handsome biological brother just arrived.

internet should be up tomorrow..i hope :)

Chai latte

Its 4.51 am on the 26th of Jan. It's Australia day and also the first day of Chinese New Year and i can't sleep. That explains why i'm awake. Tried chai latte last night for the first time (thanks Cheryl and sorry again for breaking that infuser thingy) and it was good and i'm thinking it's because of that but www.organicsaustraliaonline.com says otherwise, that chai latte is a good sleep tonic.

Why can't i sleep?ish ish

Anyways, its happy chinese new year!!

haha...ba kuaaaaaaaaaa

Happy new year.

Another year beckons. 362 days more to go.

Had our first OCF SA summer programme last night and Aunty M challenged us again on how are we going to live the remaining 362 days of the year.

Currently at uni using the internet to do some reading. Pray for me. I've got a paper on the 7th of Jan. or more like a presentation which requires a certain amount of reading and studying. Its super quiet here. As opposed to the usual busy-ness here at the com pools when it's hard to even get a computer.

I walked through Adelaide Uni's school of engineering today to get to the comp pools and i was again overcomed with gratefulness to Him. Sherny's coming over here in a couple weeks time and I am so excited. I can't wait. :) God has been so merciful to us as a family. 2008 really has been another year of receiving His mercy. Even when we did not deserve these things, out of His love and grace, He gave it to us. I look at Lynda's life too this year and even more, i am overcomed with a sense of gratefulness.

I think about mama and papa and the things they sacrificed for us and again, i'm blown away.

I am grateful too for cousins, aunts and uncles. Cousin Ben's around in Adelaide for a bit and eventhough i don't have much time to bring him around, i cherish the lazy-moments we have. (he's the musically gifted one and is here for a National Music Camp)

2009 has a lot of uncertainties.. as all new things do. Seeing how things have been unfurling in Israel the past few weeks, one can only wonder what God is doing and really, how long more do we have left. But i just would want to take a moment again, here, to give Him praise for the great things He has done and for what He is going to do and just totally surrender to Him trusting Him.