LEDs

Some time last week, I was influenced by Chaw to add LEDs to my bike. Haha~~

In case you're wondering, LEDs are the much cheaper version of Neons. One Neon tube would cost around Rs700, and you'll need one on each side, hence Rs1400+. On the other hand, a string of LEDs comes in 4 pieces, which means I can put 2 on the right, and 2 on the left, producing a somewhat similar effect as Neons. So I added 2 LEDs, 1 string below the rear body kits, and 1 string above the engine, for only Rs380 (~RM30)

Initially I wanted to add red LEDs, but it was out of stock, and the fella doesn't know when new stock will come. So, I decided to add blue instead.

Ta~Da~~

Sorry for the poor picture quality. It looks alot nicer in real =P.. Ok back to the books. Bye bye!

DURIANS~~!!!

Imagine this:
You're in a land of total lost-ness, everything is so different, and you miss home more than anything. Suddenly someone came to tell you DURIANS are in town!!!

WOOH~~~!! When I first heard about durians here, I gave the same expression everyone would give, "Ya right la!". After a long argument with Benny and Edmond, last Thursday, after class, we dashed straight to the fruit stall to get a smell of those miraculous durians. But as expected, sold out. Apparently they only had 2 bijis. But that wasn't the end, more stock coming on Saturday!!

So today, after our Biochem test, we, namely Edmond, Benny, YangZet, DeZhi, Vanessa and myself, dashed to the fruit stall once again, and HOLA!! DURIANS!!! 3 biji some more!! So we excitedly took all of it. Mana tau they don't know how to open durians zzZ.. So Edmond and I tried to open it, but their knife was the flabby type, so we couldn't use the all time effective twist-knife-"crack"-durian method. We had to artificially "crack" it. Ok never mind the opening process, the excitement in us was already exploding. The moment the 1st scent of smell came out, we got a glimpse of India-ly heaven. Ahhh~~~

Durian No.1

Considering that we're in India ~The Land Where Durians Are More Precious Than Gold~, the durians tasted O-K-A-Y... Back home, such durians would be used to throw at dogs. The 1st one was dry and a little hard, nevertheless it was sweet. The 2nd one was creamy yellowish-orange, BUT! It was sour. What the heck? SOUR DURIAN?! My 1st time coming across a sour durian. After 2 bijis, we had enough. We left the 3rd biji for another lucky soul. Aww, how kind of us. xD

Durian No.2

Wow, what a long post just on 2 bijis of durians. Lol. Okay gonna nap, and then study!!! Anatomy test on Monday. Can't they give us a break?!! zzZ..

To A Dad Who Is Always At The Top

..
Dear Dad,

....... I remember promising you a poem this Father's Day, as I did not have time to write one for your birthday last year due to I-can't-remember-the-reason xD. However, I was really busy with Supremo Interbatch Pool Competition and Physio tests last week (But hey! At least I made it in to the finals, and still got a borderline D for Physio test.. xD), so I just did a short one, may not be as good coz I couldn't rhyme alot of the sentances. Anyway here goes..

To A Dad Who Is Always At The Top

To a dad who loves me so dearly,

Who taught me everything so patiently,

Who wants me to just be myself only,

And be the best whom I can be..

To a dad who takes his dinner at home,

Who keeps the family ever so close,

Who hardly drinks and never smokes,
Is no doubt the perfect example for me to follow..

To a dad who loves God more than anything,

Who gave me Christian education since the beginning,

Who always encourage me to pray without doubting,

What is, to God, a perfect Ending..

And on this very special Father's day,

I pray that God will guide you with his shining rays,

Provide you strength to overcome life's waves,

And prosper you in every possible way..

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

To A Dad Who Is Always At The Top

I LOVE YOU DAD!!

~Your Son, KokMun~

Blog Revived!!

Walao 不知不觉 FirelessFlame has not been updated for 20days!!! that's 3 weeks (minus 1 day)!! Am I losing readers? Haha.. Alot has been happening recently, which has been wearying me out both physically and mentally. I'll try to update more frequently if time permits.

Anyway, this post was supposed to be up 3weeks ago. I actually uploaded the pictures last week, but had to save it as a draft, due to some unforeseen circumstances. And here I am now, completing the remaining of it.

As most of you would know by now, my parents came to visit exactly 1 month ago, and brought ALOT of REAL Malaysian food over. I had the happiest time ever in Manipal. My first meal with them was..

SaladPrawn, SiuMai, HaGao, SingaporeFriedMeehoon...

... and Chinese Pancake!!! Wooh~~~!!!

Besides those, there were more storable foods. Don't get jealous k? I'm just super duper blessed to have such great parents. =P

LongYoke, LohHonGo, CharSiewPau, etc..

Apart from spending time with me, my parents also cooked some simple hotel home-cooked food for my friends and I. Thanks alot mum and dad!! And ma, all of them said your BatKuTeh was the best. Start a Chinese restaurant here la!! Confirm everyday full house. Lolz..

BatKuTeh, Omelet and LuncheonMeat

Us, cramping into the hotel room..

Us again, eating..

Besides food, we also went to a few places around here. The furthest we went was TurtleBay, and others like Udupi, EndPoint and MalpeBeach. Seriously there isn't much to do around here.

TurtleBay

The few of us who went along..

The machos..

EndPoint

MalpeBeach

Gobi Manchurian. Apparently mum loved it.

Before sunset..

Sunset

Yet another Indian-classic, sari = swim suit??

That's about it for my parents' visit. Can't wait for August to come...

I'll Miss My Parents

1st and foremost, FirelessFlame was not updated for 10 days becoz KokMun's parents visited him in Manipal and he was having so much fun he decided not to bother about his blog. =)

Parents and I

Anyway, my parents just left for Mangalore airport. Seeing the taxi zoom off infront of me, I tried really hard to hold back my tears. Back in my room, a sentence from JayChou's 时光机 suddenly poped up in my mind, i.e “慢慢清醒，原来思念你，是加了糖的消息”, which means slowly gaining conscious, only then I realise that missing you is actually a sweetened news. And yea, missing my parents is really a sweetened news, it give me even more motivation to put in 101% effort and achieve the best that I can, and make my parents proud.

Initially when I just got to know that my parents will be coming, many thoughts ran through my mind, like will I still have time to study, will I still get to spend time with friends, where should I bring them to, what would they do when I'm having classes, etc.. Nevertheless everything turned out well, and it happened to be the best week of my life in India so far. Sooo much has happened and I'll slowly blog about it. As for now, I have alot of work to cope up with. Well, 1 week of lost-ness in class in trade for parents' 9-day-visit is definitely worth it.

Have a safe trip home Mum and Dad!!

OVER!!

Block 1 exam is finally over!! Wooh~~!! The feeling is indescribably awesome. Better than the after-SPM-feel. We had to digest soooo much info in 1 week, including memorising 8 pathways in 1 night, I bet it was a torture for all of us. Well, just glad it's over. Nevertheless that marks the end of Block1 and the start of Block2, which also means we're 1 block closer to University Exams. Well, I'll just chill out for now..

Wanna know the most messed up thing? We're starting classes on block 2 tomorrow. TOMORROW!! Argh!! Can't they give us a break?? I'm starting to understand why many medical students drop out halfway. To be very honest that thought did appear in my mind before, constant self-questioning on why am I here? why medicine? why all the stress? etc.. Well, it'll alright now. What does not kill us, makes us stronger.

I realised FirelessFlame is getting very picture-less. I need more interesting event to blog about. I need fun, I need entertainment!! On the happier note, it's just TWO (less than 2 actually) more days still my parents arrive in Manipal. I'm so excited. Wooh~~! By then I should have more interesting updates =).

Stay tuned..

Equation Of Life

I'm losing the blogging mood. There really isn't much to blog about recently. My life has been sooooo dull I wouldn't call it 'life' anymore. Equation of life here is:

Books + Study + Test + Exams + Stress = MADNESS

Well, got to get use to it. It's just the very beginning of our 5-years-course.

Current desktop wallpaper: ~Block Exams Timetable~

On the other hand, monsoon season is coming. I heard the peak of monsoon here is scary. It'll rain so much that you'll be praying for the rain to stop. Last Saturday, it rained in the morning, hence the corridor outside lecture hall was colourfully decorated with umbrellas.

Ta-da~!

And I miss Malaysian food. The other day I cooked a packet of sent-from-Malaysia curry maggie mee. The 1st bite I took, wooh~~!! New definition of India-ly heaven. Lolz!

Trust me, it taste alot better than it looks..

Oh ya, few days ago, I got the most happifying news ever. That is... MY PARENTS WILL BE COMING TO VISIT ME!! Counting down, 7 days!! That time would be right after blocks, so I'll be free to spend a whole week with them!! Wooh~~! I'm sooooo excited. I miss them to bits. Too bad my sister is stuck in Australia with exams (Aww..), if not it'll be the 1st happy-family-reunion in 12 weeks.

I bet everyone here misses their family. Who wouldn't?

Happy Mother's Day

Regardless how busy and stressed this exam season may be, I insist of posting up this short post, just to let the world know that I have the greatest mum in the world!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Since I am miles away, I definitely won't be able to celebrate Mother's Day with you. I just wanna wish you a very Happy Mother's Day. Thanks for providing to all my needs, and for always being there for me. Have a great day ahead!

A prayer just for you:

"Lord, thank you for mother's day. Pray that You'll bless my mum and shower your blessing over her. Give her strength, wisdom and guidance in her work place, and in everything that she does, she will prosper. Help her to enjoy herself today, even without us by her side. Amen"

I LOVE YOU MUM!!

~Your son, KokMun~

Pissed

IT just had to happen. Damn. The guard said it fell by itself, but I don't believe. If I ever find out who did it, I swear I'll make him/her a specimen in Leonardo Da Vinci Hall!!

-Ranting only, just ignore this post-

My New Baby~~!!

Good news and bad news. The good news is, I finally got a bike!! The bad news is, riding a bike can be darn addictive!! Wahsei.. Bad addiction at a wrong time. 2.5weeks more to block exams and my mind keeps thinking about how to improve my riding skills. Lalala~~

Honda CBZ

I know Honda CBZ isn't a very powerful bike, 150cc only, but who cares, as long as I'm happy with it. I so filled with joy now I really don't know how to thank God for such a wonderful blessing. Also wanna thank all the seniors who spent time to teach me how to ride, especially Chaw. After all, I bought the bike from him. Haha. Not forgetting the other seniors who came to kacau while I was trying to learn, namely WeiYi, Desmond and Huey Jing dai ka jie. Haha~ She can really ride wei, female biker. Haha~

Ok time to hit the books. I spent half of my precious 4-days-long holiday learning how to ride. Nevertheless it was time well spent. No regrets! Pray that I'll ride safely. And once again, thank you God for this great piece of blessing!! =)

Horribly Long Tag

11days ago, on the 14th of April, I was tagged by Sonia Fz. Since Physio Test was over just this morning, studying today would be betraying my entertainment side. Hence I've finally decided to this dreaded 50-questions long tag. Pray hard that you don't get tagged in the end. Muahaha~~

Personal Detail Questions
1) Whats your name?
Cheng Kok Mun

2) If you could change your name what would it be.
Err.. I'm happy with my name as long as its pronounced properly.

3) What is your age?
18years, 2months and 25days.

4) What is the age your waiting for to come?
23!! I want my MBBS degree~~

5) Whats your address?
Current address? Mahe Hostel, Amartya Sen Block. I have no idea what's the full address.

6) If you can stay anywhere, where would you stay?
Err.. Work in Australia, then retire in Malaysia.

7) When was the last time you cried?
Hmm.. tough question.. After getting back SPM results? xD

8) When did you have the best sleepover?
6th March 2009, my farewell party+sleepover in Robin's house.

9) What was the last song you heard?
友情岁月 - 陈小春

10) When was the most dramatic and sad crying moment you've ever had?
Har? Dramatic? Life itself is a drama la..

11) When was the last time you said "I Love You" to the girl you love?
Is mum included? I love my mum very much =)

12) What were your last words for the person you love and now she's gone?
What a coincidence, my mum is in Hawaii! I think I told her to "enjoy yourself in Hawaii".

13) When was the last time you hugged someone?
My farewell in KLIA, 8th March 2009..

14) Had any love letters, song dedicated to you, roses, chocolates or other stuff relating to love?Nop.. Sad rite? =(

15) If you answered yes to question 14 then when was the first time you got it?
-NIL-

16) Who was the last person you chat with on msn?
Esther

17) Has a girl ever called you handsome?
Yes/No/Maybe =P

18) Has a girl ever liked you before?
Would you believe if I said no? Haha~

19) Do you actually love your enemies?
It's humanly difficult to actually love your enemies. Btw, I prefer to call them healthy competitors or rivals.

20) Do you like someone?
I like all of YOU!!

21) Do you hate your family at times?
I used to say I hate my sister. But I kinda miss her now. xD (I'm so gonna get shot for saying this)

22) Are you blessed to be who you are today?
Yea of coz! Super blessed.

23) Are you a rule-breaker?
Ever heard that "rules are meant to be broken"? Haha~ I judge based on a situation. I'll break if I think the rules are dumb.

24) Did you cry yourself to sleep before?
Yea~

25) Are you Asian?
I'm a non-Asian Malaysian. Lolz..

26) Are you in love with a movie star?
No =.=" Who would be so unrealistic??

27) Are you gay?
If gay = happy, YES.
If gay = homo, NO.

28) Have you ever eaten something rotten and it taste good?
Looks rotten but taste good then got. (I think India Indians eat with their eyes closed..)

29) You prefer girls or boys better?
In terms of BGF, obviously girls la. I'm not gay. Haha~ But in terms of hanging out, either gender will do. I'm not gender-ist.

30) Do you think one of your friends will become a beggar when they grow up?
No and hope not.

31) Are you perasan?
At times..

32) Would you rather lick peanut butter of a hobo's foot or lick it of your dog's butt?
What's a hobo??

33) Would you rather give up your books or your music collection for a month?
Music collection. (Medical students can't possibly live without their books.)

34) Would you rather eat the same food for one whole week or eat ants for one whole week?
Obviously the same food for 1 whole week la.. zzZ

35) Would you rather stick your head into a trash can or into a river full of trash?
Wth? River full of trash.

36) Would you rather have the same old subject with different teachers or different subjects with the same teacher?
Different subjects with the same teachers IF the subject sucks and the teacher is good.
Same old subject with different teachers IF the subject is interesting and the teacher sucks.

About Love
37) Name 3 guys you like as brothers.
TerngSheng, WeiHan, HannJiunn.. and other FXC brothers~~

38) Why do you like them as brothers?
Understanding, helpful, fun, etc... Sometimes they can even tell what I'll think even before I start thinking. LOLz!

39) Name 3 girls you like as sisters.
Eilene, Celeste, YeeEng.. and other FXC sisters~~

40) Why do you like them as sisters?
Understanding, easy to talk to, TOO smart.

41) Name 3 teachers you like.
Mr. Yap (SAM), Ms Rachel (SAM), Pn Norashima (WMS).. and the list goes on~~

42) Why do you like them?
Mr Yap would by far be the BEST lecturer ever.
Ms Rachel is very student-ish. Easy to communicate with.
Pn Norashima is the most caring teacher I've ever seen.

43) Would you cry if the ones on top you mentioned for the boys, girls, teachers died tomorrow.
CHOI!! 大吉利事 (Touch wood) And of coz I'll cry la.. depends how many days only.. lolz

44) What is love?
A weird feeling where everything wrong will still be right =)

45) When did you found out about love?
When I was 1st gained my consciousness coz God loved me even even before I was a zygote =)

46) Do you hate them sometimes?
Them? Har?

47) What colour shirt are you wearing now?
Blue

48) What colour is your pants?
Black

49) What are you doing?
Typing this post tag while listening to music.

50) How do you feel?
Happy that this tag is finally~ lolz..

I tag: WeiHan, TerngSheng, Eilene. You knew you'd get tagged, didn't you? Haha~

Huluran Kasih

YAY!! Anat Class Test 2 and Physio SDL/Non-SDL Test is OVER~~!! But it also means spotters and block exams is drawing near. Got to really get down to business already!

The last week has been quite boring for me. I spent most of my free time sleeping, and some time studying for testS. Biochem PBL on Kreb's Cycle is on Tuesday, and I have not started preparing anything. Crap!

Just now, I attended a meeting by Huluran Kasih. Going as a freshman of batch24, I only knew a few seniors. Soon after I arrived, Dawson and Reena came too. So all in all only 3 batch24-ians came. I remember few weeks back, when those interested to join Huluran Kasih were asked to write our names on a piece of paper, a long list of at least 30 people filled up. And today, only 3 people came. Batch24-ians are really fei kei wongs (飞机王). During the meeting, I was happily talking to WeiYi, suddenly the prez told me that I'm the new rep for batch24. I was stunned. But after some thought, this should be a club worth investing time in. Huluran Kasih is basically a charity club. They visit slums to help the poorest of the poor. There will be a visit to a special-school soon. Not very sure about the details, but I promise to update more soon.

That's about it for my weekend. Kinda dull huh? I know. Need to get more life. LOLz~~

LIFE

I CUT MY HAIR IN INDIA!! OMGosh!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!! And guess the price? Rs30 (RM2.30) only!! Haha~~ NO! No pictures. Don't even ask..

Following up on Jeoffrey's status, he left us on Saturday night, the night before Easter Sunday. Despite so many prayers and cries, He still did not spare him. Does this mean that we were praying against His will? Or is there another testimony to be told? Hmm..

Few days ago, I received an sms from my dad to call back Malaysia because my grandmother's condition worsen. However I only read the sms an hour later because I was sleeping. After reading the sms, I swear my heart stopped a beat. In my half-awake mood, I was stunned. I replied the sms to ask if it is too late to call. My dad replied to say that my grandmother's condition improved, hence no need to call. I felt alot more at ease. If I had missed the last chance to talk to my grandmother, I'll never forgive myself for taking a noon-nap.

Maybe I shouldn't be talking about this incident, but just yesterday, a batchmate suddenly skipped half a day's lectures. Later in the day I heard that she was on her way back to Msia because her father just passed away. I don't know how true is the news, but she really is back in Msia already.

The above events really give me a reality slap on the vulnerability of life. It got me thinking, how would I react if it was my relative who *touch wood* passed away? And if I were to rush back to Msia, what difference would it make? Even if I return as a qualified doctor, it's still pointless overall. Or if I were to remain in Manipal, how would it affect me emotionally?

Questions on LIFE has no true or false answers. After learning the very basic anatomy, physiology and biochemistry of our body, I can't stop thinking that our body is built just perfectly and wonderfully. One small injury in a somewhat insignificant area may cause permanent injuries or even death. The beauty of our entire body organisation reflects the greatness of our creator. My creator is definitely God, how about your's?

My whole point is this: Life is short, vulnerable and unpredictable. Just live everyday to the fullest and be happy. Remember that 1minute of anger is 60seconds loss of happiness. And never plan too far ahead, for it is said in the Bible: "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matt 6:34 NIV

..............................

On the happier note, I did very well for my mock anatomy table test two days ago. No need to know the marks, just be happy for me. And that table test marks the last day with our beloved table lecturer, Dr. Bincy M George. Tomorrow onwards, we'll be getting a new table lecturer to teach us about the lower limbs. We'll miss you Dr. Bincy!! Hope you won't get students better than us in your next table.. =P

Students of table 1 with our cadaver and Dr. Bincy

And whoever told you medical students are boring people has not joined a medical school. Introducing Shawn. He went into the skeleton display cabinet and posed in anatomical position, while YangZat tried to locked him inside. .. LOL!!

The stupid things we do everyday..

Last Saturday, I received the parcel from my parents!! I was so happy when the hostel office called and to collect it. Back in my room, I immediately opened it up and unpacked the stuff. Maggi meeeeeee!!!! Oh Maggi.. India's Maggi sucks to the max. Sama-sama "Maggi" brand but the taste is 200% different. 150% awful and 50% weird. And chocolates!! OMG just yesterday I kept swallowing chocolates to reduce my extremely high cortisol level. In case you don't remember, cortisol is a stress hormone.

The parcel~~ See the Hello Panda? Haha

My supply of dry food and instant noodles =)

My supply of chocolates =D

Oh ya, our first Physiology PBL presentation today was horrible, terrible and vegetable. Basically everyone of us got shot in the head by Mr. JayPrakash's Magnum Sniper, and our group leader, Sashee got sprayed by his AK47. While presenting our conclusion, JP kept asking Sashee whether she was sure of our hypothesis. Then when she said yes, he said no; When she said no, he said yes. Wth man. And after such a terrible presentation, he still can smile and say "good". Damn darn sarcastic wei. All of us beh tahan his senyum kambing.

Next week will be hectic again, Anat class test 2 on Monday, and Physio class test 1 on Saturday. (At least we 1st batch ppl are over with Physio PBL, 2nd batch will have their PBL on Thursday. Those lagi syok, 2 test and 1 presentation in a week. Yeng ar!) And I heard Biochem class test 1 will be somewhere in the following week. @.@.. So, this maybe my last post in the next week. It really isn't easy to squeeze out an hour to blog like this. 1 hour is hellalot of time to study weiii.

Signing off now, bye!

FirelessFlame Wishes Everyone A...

VERY HAPPY & BLESSED EASTER!!!!!

The Real Me

In the past one week, I had many problems affecting me physically, mentally and emotionally. I questioned myself on why am I here? Why am I studying med? Why am I having so much problems? Was it all my fault? Yesterday, at one of the lowest point in my life, I even fell sick. I couldn't hardly eat my dinner, and could not even talk straight. I felt that the whole world was crushing down on me.

Before I went to bed, as usual, I randomly opened up "Our Daily Bread" booklet and it was on March 14th's passage on disappointment in life. In my half-drowsy mood I read that passage and the conclusion was this, "In our seasons of disappointment, we too can find comfort in God, who cares for our broken hearts." Suddenly I felt that God was trying to speak to me. After doing yesterday's quiet time, I went to sleep with a much encouraged heart. In the middle of my sleep, I received a call from Benny, and smses from DeZhi and PangHan. And that also encouraged me quite a fair bit. I never thought that people actually cared. After a 14-hour-sleep, I felt much better.

In the late morning, I received an sms from John and Chris, saying that there will be a urgent prayer meeting at KMC green's stage to pray for Jeoffrey at 12.30pm. I don't know who he is, but I've heard a bit about his condition. Basically Jeoffrey is a fellow churchmate of BreadOfLife, who has multiple organ failure, and is currently in MICU (Multi-disciplinary Intensive Care Unit). He is 100% on life support machines, and is really in need of a miracle. Since I was feeling much better, I decided to go for the prayer meeting. What's my little sickness in comparison to Jeoffrey's condition? And at the prayer meeting, I was amazed how they could gather up almost the whole church with such a short notice of less than an hour.

The faith and crys of their heart really got me to think that no one is strong enough to live alone in this world, we all need support. In such critical stage of a person's life, even when doctors had given up, these group of churchmates has not given up hope. For once I felt the unity and support of a church.

Back in my hostel, I read this email from uncle Teh about an interview with Rick Warren. FYI, Rick Warren is the author of the all time best selling "Purpose Driven Life". The last time I updated, more than 20million copies has been sold.

The email:
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales . This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, author of 'Purpose Driven Life ' and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: "People ask me, What is the purpose of life?" And I respond:

"In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one or two or more. You never know.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do..

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings."

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD
Painful moments, TRUST GOD
Every moment, THANK GOD

In a nutshell, my Easter holidays has been very fruitful in terms of getting back on track with God, and also with my fellow friends. After the self-reflection I've done by the sea, and the series of events mentioned above, I realised that all my problems arised from the very fact that I was too engrossed in making sure everything was perfect, so much so I failed to realised that I am only human. As Rick Warren said, "life is a series of problems... You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others."

I really need to stop being so selfish, and learn to think from the point of view of others. I'm sorry if I've done or said anything hurtful. Let's just let things be how it used to be.

A list of things I wanna change in the next 2months:

1) Be stronger in every aspect, so that the people around me would not need to worry about me anymore..

2) Be more sensitive towards the needs of other people, and Learn to put their needs above my own..

3) Tear my pride away that I have nothing but God to boast..

I don't mind letting everyone know what a weakling I am deep within. I'm tired of putting up a false smile mask everyday that completely covers up my sorrows and problems, at the same time giving people a false impression that I'm strong and care-free. This would be the 1st step to tear away my pride.

Before I go, I just want to wish everyone out there all the best in whatever you are doing. Don't make the same stupid mistake I've been making for the past 18years of my life. Have a great weekend ahead, God Bless!!

Malpe Beach

Friday and the weekend will be our Good Friday and Easter Sunday HolidayS. Hence 19 of us, went down to Malpe Beach to chill out. However our main motive for the trip was to celebrate our "1 month anniversary" in Manipal. We arrived on the 9th of March, and it was 9th of April yesterday. Shawn and Benny's idea. Lolz

Malpe Beach

Let's see if I can remember who went. (Arrangement of names are in no particular order k) The testoterones were Shawn, Edmond, Benny, DeZhi, WeiBian, Dawson, Leon, Paw, TC, Kiong SanHo and myself. The oestrogens were Garnet, Vanessa, TzeHui, Reena, LiNing, WenXin and YunLih. Yep that should be all. Oh we meet some seniors there also. Well its a long break afterall. And mind you, for us MMMC students, 2 days of holiday is considered long (Don't forget we have classes on Saturdays as well), 3days is very very rare and hence considered as unbelievably looooong!!

Chilling out~~

Back to the main story line, our last lecture ended at 4pm. Some of us went back to our respective hostels to prepare, while some went to buy some drinks, snacks and cake. Yes a cake. What's a celebration without a cake?? Benny, being his natural cheeky self, wrote "We Survived One Month In Manipal!!!" With THREE exclamation markS. Lolz. We met up at 5pm, and took autos down to Malpe Beach. The journey there was SYOK!! Imagine riding a running elephant. I knocked my head against the roof of the auto a few times T.T. The best part was this, imagine a small, narrow, close-to-90-degrees right turn, the auto literally drifted through it with another incoming auto on the other side @.@.. Garnet, who was sitting at the right most in the auto, got a shocked of her life.. LOL!!

Most of the guys

Upon arrival, we picked a spot under this really short but huge coconut tree and placed our stuff down there. After a short photo session, off to the water they went. Since I'm hydrophobic, I sat under the spot and helped them jaga their stuff, at the same time enjoying the breeze and clearing my mind. The past one week has been very hectic for me. Besides academics, there were a lot of other personal problems. Whoever told you Manipal is care-free has not experienced Manipal-life. Under the tree, I was talking to Garnet since both of us weren't in the mood to play. Thanks for listening to my rants. Oh btw, I take back what I said about JPA students, they aren't as arrogant as they look =).

Our "spot", with most of the girls

Those who were playing

This isn't me, but it was practically what I was doing the whole time.

Have I mentioned about the strong wind and drifting sand? The superficial layer of the sand was moving! It was quite a scene. Personally I enjoyed looking at the sand getting blown by the breeze. It was sort of an "art". I even video-ed it. Lolz. And the sunset was awesome. I enjoy looking at the sun, especially sunsets. Weird huh?

Sand drifting. Click to watch..

Sunset

After sunset, the place got alot darker, obviously. They changed into a dry set of clothes and off we went. Since the cake was still uncut, we decided to cut it over dinner. In other words, we brought the cake all the way to Malpe Beach for nothing. Haha. 40 minutes of iGallop, the cake was surprisingly still edible. Only the writings were gone. Dinner was in Manipal Canteen, PangHan大哥 joined us for dinner.

"他妈的! 我写的 'We Survived One Month In Manipal' 不见了! 还有那三个感叹号啊!!!" [Benny]

PangHan. He dared me to put his picture up, so.. TA~DA!! =P

It's Been A While..

NOTE: I realised it's been a while since I last updated a proper post. Hence this will be a long post with few events that happened in the past 3 weeks.

3 weeks ago, we had UTSAV, which is an inter-college competition. Nothing to do with me as I didn't participate, but I did attend to see my batchmates' performances. And boy the crowd was massive. Apparently it's one of the biggest event in Manipal.. @.@

Massive..

Some solo dance competition..

From left: Ken, Dawson, Me, Leon

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Last Tuesday, we were conned asked to attend this formal dinner function in Valley View Hostel. Apparently some big shot of Malaysian Student Association (MSA) in India wants to give us a talk, and have dinner with us. When I say "us", I meant my batch of student, that is batch24. So by 7.30pm, we were there. Nicely sitted and waited.. waited.. waited.. Finally the besar tembak arrived, and gave his speech. OMG HE WAS TALKING ABOUT JPA ALL THE WAY!! "Tugas kami adalah menjaga kebajikan pelajar-pelajar Malaysia, terutamanya pelajar-pelajar JPA. Of coz private students are also included, tapi lebih kepada pelajar-pelajar JPA." At that instant, we, private students were like, WT* are we doing here then?? Our only consolation was free dinner, which was at 8.30pm. If I waited any longer I swear I would have gotten stomach ulcer. My last meal before that was just a Roti John at 9.30AM, some 11hours ago. zzZ.. Actually we could have started dinner at 8.10pm, but some JPA idiot asked stupid questions like "bil medikal kami, termasuk dalam bayaran JPA ar?" and "kalau pergi berjalan-jalan di india atau balik Malaysia, JPA bertanggungjawab ke?" OMG LA DO YOU EXPECT JPA TO PAY FOR YOUR GRANDMONTHER'S TONGKAT ALSO?!! zzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ~~~ (No offence to my JPA friends, but put yourselves in our shoes, and see what will you think..)

From left: Edmond, DeZhi, Shawn, Me, Paw, SanHo (Blury picture, photographer noob..)

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Last Saturday, 7 new batchmates arrived. They will be learning everything we learnt in the past 1 month in just 1 week. Super intensive class wei. Anyway, in the afternoon, Arvend (batch24's class rep) and a few of us brought them around to buy stuff, at the same time help them register for bank accounts and Airtel sim card. We felt like seniors when we are actually their batchmates. Haha..

In the evening, at 6pm, I attended Bread Of Life Church's "Freshers' Welcome Service". However, I didn't stay till the end as there was another event that night.

At night, 7.30pm, we had the most racist event in the calander of MSA, that is Chinese's/Indian's/Malay's Orientation. I can imagine how messed up would the Indian's Orientation, they got to keep smiling all the time. Obviously I attended the Chinese Orientation, which was organised by the all chinese seniors of batch22. They prepared perfomance, dances, singing, short sketches, food, drinks and games for all cinapeks in MMMC. And I swear it was the brightest place in India. Overall, the orientation was a blast. I really enjoyed myself, especially the part where I poured 1 whole pail of water on Benny. LOLZ!!

Dance performance

See all the spot-lights? (No no.. not those street lamps there.. Lolz)

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On the other hand, I've been really busy catching up with my lessons. There was once while we group studied in Benny's room, we felt hungry and ordered delivery. Benny did the calling. On the menu, it was written "Chicken Egg Cheese Burger". But when he ordered, "Give me one Chicken Cheese Egg Burger, put cheese 1st ok? Egg later." We were all like.. "what's your problem la Benny." Cute guy la, forever talking nonsense. Haha!!

Meet Benny. That's what you get when you talk too much rubbish. LOL!!

Lastly, before I go, this is dedicated to WeiHan, who wanted to see pictures of nice motorbikes here. I personally like the Bajaj Pulsar. But it's considered expensive, around RS40k so I'm considering to buy the cheapest bike, that is CBZ, around RS20k. (I'm still learning how to ride a bike..) It looks similar to a Pulsar, but of coz not as nice la. Lol. Oh ya, Yamaha R15 also very nice. Price lagi syok, >RS100k. LOL!!

Bajaj Pulsar