Year 2008: What have I done so far?

For me, personally, the year 2008 have gone by so fast. I can't remember all of it now the things I've done but I am sure each journey or adventure I went through this year was a memorable one.
I celebrated the end of last year (2007) and welcoming the new year (2008) in a nightclub in Eastbourne, East Sussex with my best friends. This year I'm celebrating it with my friends and family and with $100 worth of fireworks hehehe
I think I travel more than 10 times this year. I've already lost count of it! My most unforgettable holiday would be attending the World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia where I got the chance to meet the Pope in person. I was there for 2 weeks in July and it was a remarkable journey for me and my friends. Oh yah not forgetting, I meet a lot of new friends this year too which I will forever cherish our friendships.
I must admit it has been a very hectic year for me. Both office and church work have been demanding and it really challenge me physically, mentally and spiritually. After having some self-reflection, I guess all the hard work (sleepless nights, meetings, racing against time, etc.) are worth it. I have the opportunity to find my self, capabilities, talent, etc. despite the busyness of life. There are some things that I want to change or at least try to change in the new year; that'll be part of my new year resolution.
Hope the New Year will bring you happiness, peace, love and joy. God Bless!

Christmas Celebration @ Home

My Christmas celebration wasn't that bad after all apart from getting lesser sleep, I still managed to survive on Christmas day itself. I went to the dawn mass at 5am (the last 9th day) on Christmas Eve, woke up at 4am that morning and I still have to go to work. Then I attended the midnight mass at 10.30pm till 12.30am and then back to church again for the Christmas Day mass at 9am. We have Christmas open house in the parish hall after the mass and head back home to have our own open house. It was raining heavily that morning and I was soaking wet and cold (my dad just installed 2 new aircon in the extended living room and dining room).
All I wanted for Christmas was to sleep! But we have a lot of guests that day, it was hard to catch even a short nap. We had visitors until 10.30pm, I was on my feet all day and I was really exhausted. I woke up at noon the next morning!!! I had a lot of text messages on my phone when I woke up, mostly invitation to open house and I could only manage to go to one house.
Anyways, I enjoyed my 5 days holiday and now I'm back to work. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to the new year but it is better not to have any expectation or else I'll be disappointed. Just leave it in God's hands to decide for He knows what is best.

Some pics from my Christmas Open House. Thank you for celebrating this joyous celebration with me and my family.

Our Christmas tree - My mum decorated this tree 2 wks before x'mas

My cousin addicted to my Nikon SLR camera

View of the living room

My extended family

Kitchen invasion

Yummy food

hey! where's my drink?

Baby Lizam 1st Christmas visit


MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009

Christmas Eve - Eve

Well its 2 days till Christmas. Most of the things that needs to be done are done for now but I still want to do some last minute shopping later in bandar.
To be honest, I'm not that excited about Christmas yet. I don't know why but maybe because of fatigue. Been running around like headless chicken for the past few weeks; been busy with the ordination preparation and now Christmas. I'm exhausted!
I went for retail therapy to Singapore with my family recently. I really enjoyed the time we spend together and plus the shopping hehehe feels good to be away from 'work overload' once in a while.
Oh yeah...gadget update! To pamper myself this Christmas, I bought a Sony Cybershot H-10 which I've been eyeing since last Oct. It comes with 4Gb memory stick and pouch for less than $500. so yeahhh :D very happy!
Will try to update and post some pics soon. Till then I wish you a happy and blessed Christmas and a happy new year 2009.

Mid-Life Crisis

We celebrated a friend’s 25th birthday recently and we talk about mid-life crisis. We were thinking at what age a person would face this crisis. For example, age ranges from 0 to approx. 100 years old so if it is ‘mid’ meaning we’ll face this crisis at 50 years old? Hahaha well this is just a thought. And I was teasing my friend that we face mid-life crisis when we turn 25 and she went O.o hahaha just joking!

Been a pretty hectic week now. I’ve been in the church office almost every evening now. I don’t remember when was the last time I had a nice sit-down dinner with my family. Anyways my family understands it. Looking forward for the short break with my parents next weekend and also the Christmas season. Tis the season to be fat falalalalalalalala…

Ok back to the blog…

I think I’m physically exhausted (but my mind don’t think so). My weekday routine goes like this (for now): Wake up at 6am, go to work at 7am, lunch from 12 to 1pm, go home at 4pm, on my pc or watch the tv or have tea with my family for about 30mins or less, take a shower, go to church at 7pm, go home at 10pm, do some chores or on the pc again, sleep around 11pm or midnight and back to square one all over again.

I also notice that my brain and hand coordination are not functioning that well too. Whatever is in my head turns out wrong when I type it out. So please excuse me, if some words are missing or the sentences are not in order… screw the grammatical errors! And I tend to forget things easily which shows how tired I am :(

My granma is still staying with us. She’s not been feeling that well (due to her age and some other things) and that makes me worried. As you can see I’m juggling between a lot of work and responsibilities now. The term is ‘multi-tasking’. Thank God I don’t have a mental or nervous breakdown in dealing with this entire situations. Hahaha --> Laughter is always the best medicine.

So anyways I’m sorry if I don’t ‘layan’ (entertain) you for the past and next few days. I’m really trying to sort things out for the upcoming big events. I guess you’ll be seeing me running around like headless chicken on those days. Will catch up on lost time when I’m relief of my duty hahaha


oh yah and just for the record, I'm not having a mid-life crisis.


Ciao!

Granma in da house!

Like what the title says... my granma is staying over in our place for the next couple of days while my granpa is still in the hospital. I was surprised to see my granma sitting outside at our porch yesterday after I came home from work. I'm glad that she's here and that we can take good care of her.
Anyways, I went to the CROCS (the famous shoe brand) shop in Pandan 7 after work and I bought a slip-on shoe for my granma. It is highly comfortable and light. I wanted to get one for myself but since I'll be going to S'pore soon I'll just get it there (they don't have my size and the shoe that I wanted at the shop anyways). A well-spend $60 I must say hahaha the moment my granma slip on the shoe she neatly packed her old slippers into a plastic bag and kept it aside. She's now wearing her new pair of CROCS around the house. I never expected to buy it but I wanted my granma to be comfortable while staying with us. And this morning she told my mom that she slept really well last night which make us feel relief! Well u know..it's difficult to take care of old folks.
My granma is 96 (I think) years old and my granpa is 99, they live a very long life. I have a lot of fond memories with my grandparents as a child. I grew up balik kampung every weekend and visit them which I still do till now. My granma will look for me if I seldom visit them and plus she knows how much I love durians hahaha I miss the good old days but some things have change now. Nevertheless I'm glad to be here for them.

TGIF

Thank God Its Friday!!! I'm bored out of my mind sitting in the office all day long not doing anything.

My offshore trip was canceled yesterday due to rough sea (big waves, etc.) . I wasn't looking forward to go because I dread the journey to the platform, it takes about an hour and end up feeling sea sick in the boat :S
I bought a nausea relief tablet from Singapore and took 2 tablets 30 minutes before the trip as instructed. I woke up early that morning to prepare my things and then left home for KB port at 6.30am to avoid the traffic but the traffic was still slow that morning! I don't understand how ppl could stand driving at a constant speed of 60km/h???
After check-in, we had a safety briefing and saw the boat arriving at the port. They told us we can't proceed with our trip due to the rough sea. Some were disappointed because works will be delayed and some were happy... like me! hehehe
Went back to the office as usual and I was very, very sleepy. I took a nap after I came home from work but end up waking up at 7pm!!! My sleeping pattern are so screwed!!

Anyways, I went for a blood test last week and I just got the results today. Everything is normal (thank God) except for one thing... my bp. My dr asked me to start on a medication for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully it'll work!

Yeahh...its the weekend tomorrow.

When You Wish Everyday Was Like This...

I'm in my office now feeling really bored *yawn*

I don't have any work to do at the moment.

Sometimes I wish everyday was like this but then it really bores you to the core hahaha

I'll be going to offshore tomorrow for a safety site visit so at least I'll be out of the office!

Ok the reason I've nothing to do at the moment is because I'm still waiting for some project files from the engineers. Without the files, I can't start on anything.

So now I just have to show up at work everyday, sit in my office sipping tea, wait for work to appear from God knows where, read emails, watch videos, read bulletins, etc. till it's time for lunch or to go home. Tell me that isn't a boring routine.

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A bit of a sidetrack here despite my utter boredom:

I had my end of year performance review with my boss last Monday and it went really, really well. Thank God for that! All my hard work this year are being appreciated and recognised. The sweats, wearing orange coverall (or pyjamas as my boss calls it) for a week, going to yards in the hot sun and attending meetings every week are all worthwhile! I'm now involves in more project discussions and meetings, which has spark an interest in learning more especially in the electrical discipline (my dad is an electrician so I guess its in the gene). I hope one day I can pursue it and what comes after that... I'll leave it in God's hand.

The Weekend Project

Surprisingly I'm at home today. I've been away on most days during the week so it feels good to be at home now. I was in church this morning to help out in the gotong royong; did few cleaning here and there, polished some metals and got few cuts on my fingers from the sharp metal tip.
I went home after lunch and spend the day upgrading my old desktop pc. I installed the new motherboard, processor and RAM which I bought last weekend in Singapore. I have an existing 320GB harddisk which I bought last year, a dvd-rom (just there for decoration) and a dvd-writer so all that can still be re-used. My desktop casing is quite old now, it's 8 yrs old to be exact! I still have the sticker at the back of the desktop to prove it. It's still in a good condition after surviving years of abuse hahaha I now have more cuts on my fingers from installing the hardware. Took me about an hour to assemble everything and to install the operating system. I installed an original window vista home premium which I bought few months back during an IT exhibition in the Mall. Finally I won't be getting that counterfeit warning from Microsoft!
I still have to install the office 2007 but I don't have the CD for it yet. Anyways, I'm happy with my desktop now. I hope it will serve me well for years to come hahaha

New motherboard, processor and RAM

After assembling it

Installing the O.S.

What does your birthday mean?

I got this from Facebook and its about 90% true hahaha so here it goes. My comments are in red.

Your birthday means that you are an early morning person. (True. I wake up before 6am on most days)

You like water (It depends. I like swimming.) and water sports (err..no) , and your best colors are blue (So true! I love Blue) and gray (Yes for a car color). You are artistic and love to express yourself in many different ways (err... I don't know about this one). While you tend to be more of an introverted person (again true), that does not mean you sit at home (hehehe). On the contrary, you have the best ideas when it comes to going places (oh so true! hahaha) and finding things to do (sometimes). You are very innovative and excel at creativity (err I don't know about this. I would say maybe..).

That was fast...

Wow the weekend have gone by so fast and here I am typing this blog back home. I wish it could be a little bit longer. Anyways I enjoyed my short trip to Singapore. I managed to get some stuffs which I have been longing for quite some time. Bought some hardware to upgrade my desktop pc which I can't wait to install! Finally an upgrade after all these years... (my pc still runs on Pentium 4!)
I must say Singapore are very 'semangat' to celebrate Christmas every year. It's only early Nov and they have already put up the Christmas decorations and trees in front of the shopping malls. Not much sales going on and I couldn't find any nice working clothes :( My luggage was 80% full of M&S biscuits and chocolates hahaha and some other people's stuffs.
Oh yah and I bought my first LEVI's jeans at the airport this morning. I managed to do a bit of shopping at the airport (a request from my mom). I'm tired and aching now from all the walking and I even have blisters on my palm! That was one intense one-day shopping. My advise to you if you want to do what I did.... be physically prepared! hahaha
My parents picked me up from the airport this afternoon, had a short lunch and went back to Seria. Then my parents decided to balik kampung because my granma was looking for me and its the fruit season. I just had one whole durian for dinner, I hope I still have my voice tomorrow for work hahahaha I love durians... thanks granma!
Overall it was a good and enjoyable weekend... cheerios!

Off to Singapore

I'm typing this post in the car on my way to the airport. My brother is driving me to the airport.
This is the day I've been looking forward to after postponing and planning for months. The sad part is I'm only going for 3d 2n.
I went to work as usual today, work thru lunch and went home an hour earlier. I need this break because I've been extremely busy at work lately. I was given a task by my boss to look for a subsea cable which is over 6 yrs old and its repair kit (not found yet). Not an easy job but thankfully I managed to find the cable and was awarded an achievement cert and token from the manager yipee...
Today's work was quite frustrating as well. Both of our secretaries are on leave and they expect me to look after the office and it is also the same day that I'm going for my short 'stress-free' break!!! Wat are the odds!! I couldn't settle some things in the end because I had to leave early so I end up leaving it for next week. What can I say? It's not my job looking after the office. :S This things always happen everytime I go on leave, something important at work will turn up.
Ok I will stop talking about my work now, I'm almost at the airport now... will update soon...cheerios. Have a nice weekend.

27 candles x 4 cakes = 108 yrs old!!!

I celebrated my birthday last Sunday. I didn't have any plans for it because it was a day of obligation in the church (All Soul's Day). The night before I had a meeting in SJC. We started the meeting late after dinner. Steph & Al joined us through videocall from bandar. The meeting ended at about 11pm and I was really sleepy because I woke up very early that morning! The team had planned a surprise birthday cake for me after the meeting. (Thanks peeps!) I was speechless and more than surprise....I was shocked! I really didn't expect it. Dot spilled the beans on our way home. They have been planning it all along through emails. I don't have a pic of my birthday cake but I think it was chocolate fudge. I really enjoyed the night though I was very, very sleepy. Text messages started coming in till 2am but I was already asleep.
I went to Sunday mass as usual the next morning. My mom have a bad cough and she wanted to avoid the aircon in the p.hall so I sat beside her to 'shield' her from the cold air!! (At this point, I think my fats comes in handy hahaha). I don't think my parents remember it was my birthday. Bshp celebrated the mass and he mentioned the date 2 Nov - All Soul's day, pray for the dead, etc., etc. and my mom started to repeat the date and I guess that's when it clicks her hahahaha

At breakfast, my cousin gave me a cake and another cousin gave me another cake.The cakes are
still in the fridge now. No idea how I'm going to finish it but I did manage to eat some of it

.

Cake No.2 (cake no.1 - no pic)

Cake No.3 - the fruit on top fell off

I received a text from a friend and she asked what was my plan for the day. I said I've no idea, at that moment I was sitting in front of the TV watching Spongebob cartoon hahaha Then she texted me again saying that I should go out and enjoy and don't be like an old person sitting in the house doing nothing. Well I did plan to go to bandar to do 'something' that morning. So I decided to go ahead with the plan. I pick up Dot on the way and she said she wanted to watch High School Musical 3. So I agree to watch it too even though it was not my kind of movie. We made it on time for the 3.20pm show with plenty of time to spare that we ate dimsum at the foodcourt! The movie was ok. Lots of singing, well duh...musical. Most of the time I was yawning and the cinema was full of kids!!!

I can't believe I went to watch this movie!

We had dinner with few friends at Swensen that evening. And I had another surprise!!! Thank God it was not a cake! It was a one scoop of chocolate ice-cream with half of a banana and it has 3 chocolate chips on the ice-cream that makes it look like a smiley face (again no pic). And again I was really caught by surprise, the other diners also sang along too. It really make me blush and thank God I was facing the window hahaha another great time!
I had another surprise birthday last nite by some of the seria youths at escapade sushi in KB. And again, it caught me by surprise! I was talking to Ann and Josh about our recent stay in Subok and all of the sudden the waiters and waitresses started to sing just outside the private room where we were having our dinner and it made me jump from my seat. Ann was surprise too and she thought I was singing!!! hahaha They were singing the birthday song and half way through the song, one of the waiter asked 'who is cathy?' it was hilarious! And so I had my fourth birthday cake last nite. Thank you so much Ann, Josh, Eileen, Agnes, Rach and Phel.


Cake no.4

Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes, greetings, love, prayer and support...

There goes the internet...

I'm using my wireless broadband now to connect to the internet at home cos' my modem and wireless router went kaput after last night's storm. The thunderstorm and lightning was really scary and the power went off for quite some time.
I was already in bed watching the Simpsons on my laptop and it was raining heavily, didn't expect it'll get worst than that. A loud cracking thunder made me jump out of my bed and away from the windows. I'm not taking my chances to strike by those lightning last night.
Anyways, I'm not been feeling well again. It all started from the long meeting I had last week, I was feeling feverish the next day and then I got a bit better for the rest of the week. Then I've been sneezing all day in the office and end up with a bad cold on Wednesday morning till now. My voice is hoarse and my nose is stuffy :S thank God I don't have a fever or sore throat to add to that or else it might get a bit complicated like before.
We had our departmental meeting this morning and thankfully my boss didn't ask me to present on HSE. I think I've infected everyone in that room. I didn't manage to go to the doctor either because I can't get through the reception to make an appointment. We also had our department Hari Raya 'open house' after the meeting. The food was ok, not my type of food though and also I can't taste a thing! The rest of the day was a bit boring... but finally its the weekend again and I can rest and recuperate. I'm suppose to have a meeting tonight in COLA, but I don't feel fit to go anywhere. I even turn down some open house invitations.
I'm just going to have a relax day tomorrow and hopefully I'll get well by then.
Over and out...

My back is killing me

Ok..an update from the previous post. Raya fall on Thursday. Thank God for that. I was in bandar that evening to run some errands (not last minute shopping) and stayed overnight at a friend's house because it was too late to drive back to Seria.
On the first day of raya I drove back to Seria hoping I could join my parents to visit my aunt's house in Bear Hill. But my allergy kicks-in and my hand was swollen red and itchy so I decided to stay home. I didn't realise I was alone at home, my cat was sleeping on my parents' wardrobe and I thought my brother was in his room (he went out for raya-ing too). Some annoying kids press the doorbell, inda nampak kali rumah kami nada cucul!!! Kan ambil duit saja pikir ATM kah rumah ku anie?. I spend most of my time playing my PS3 hehehe it was a holiday well-spend.
On 2nd day of Raya, I went to my cousins' house in bandar. My final stop was in Rimba and I took the opportunity to go to Giant as I've never been there. The place is huge but boring. I was having headache on the way back to Seria maybe becos of the hot weather.
On Sat, my sister ask me to drive her and some friends to Miri to buy liquor. So we went and make full use of our quota then head to town to my beloved Starbucks at Bintang Plaza and ends the trip with a dinner at Secret Recipe. I bought 2 books from Popular: one is about the history of the world (very interesting but I know some of you finds it boring) and the other one is a travel book on Bali (cos' I'm going there nxt year). So basically that's all I get from my Miri trip. Looking forward to go there again to buy more books and some Halloween stuffs.
And last but not least, the last holiday... Sunday. Came back from church that morning and was hook on the internet for hours and watching the Pink Panther movie. It was hilarious. And again I was left all alone in the house with the cat, which was of course, sleeping! I don't take naps in the afternoon which is a good thing or else I'll sleep at work. So I'm now back to work as usual. Sitting in front of the PC for 8 hours.
Oh with regards to the topic, I just attended a meeting in church and it lasted for 2½ hours. It was a dreadful meeting. I just kept quiet throughout, just don't bother to open my mouth. I'm at home now and my back has been aching lately and it bothers me a lot. I guess it is just one of those time when you are just too tired and everything don't feel right :/

Long Holiday Ahead

It's the festive season (Eid Muhbarak or Hari Raya) and if the moon is sighted tonight, I will have 5 days leave from work including one day ‘forced’ leave meaning to say it will be deducted from my annual leave next year :(

Anyways, I can’t believe I don’t have any travel plans during this long break. I would have book my tix to Singapore but the hotels are so damn expensive because of the GP season. I’m still deciding where I should go (Miri? KK?) Or I’ll just stay home and play my PS3 for countless hours.

I’m really dead bored right now with no plans in mind. Been surfing the Internet for hours now in search of something interesting that can occupy my boring spare time. I’m taking a break now to write this blog. Thought I should update it.

I went to Kuching about 2 weekends ago with some friends. I can’t say much about it because its top-secret hahaha didn’t went anywhere interesting not even to town. We had other things to do there so it wasn’t a leisure trip. I went to Kuching twice before, it’s a nice place rich in history. There are a lot of road constructions going on there which never seems to end ever since I first visited there. Other than that, I’m happy that they have Starbucks coffee at their airport.

Ok what am I going to do next? I’m not in the mood to go shopping because it’ll be difficult to get parking; the shopping places are crowded; traffic jams everywhere, definitely not my cup of tea. Hope there's something to do during the holidays besides eating!!! Will update soon.

WYD@SYD2008

So I've not been keeping to my promise lately to update this blog dutifully. And I don't know how many people do actually read this boring blog of mine. But anyways here I am now trying to spare some time to update it after being idle for quite some time.
I've been traveling on a monthly basis now (not for work) ever since my trip to Sydney in July (which btw was awesome!). I was in Bangkok two weeks ago, commuting between bandar and Miri (not far, I know) last week and next week I'm off to Kuching. Though it is tiring I enjoy every single bit of it.
Like I mentioned earlier my trip to Sydney was awesome. I was there for about 2 weeks to attend the World Youth Day and met a lot of people from all over the world (my facebook friends are growing in numbers now). Explaining where my country is located was a bit difficult, some thought it was in South America and some thought it is Bolivia??? Anyways I've my Nokia N95 with me and show them the exact location (a tiny dot on Borneo island).

Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera house

On arrival in Sydney, we went to Broken Bay for our Days in the Diocese event. We stayed with foster family in the Australian outback. It was a great experience! The weather was extremely cold for some of us, funnily I felt warm on the first day we arrive until night fall. It was almost 0 deg C during the night. We attended some music concerts and workshops but sadly I had to leave early for Sydney just after 2 days in Broken Bay as I was part of the International Liturgy Group. I felt so sad to leave everyone and to be separated from the group.

@ Mingara

I took the train from Woy Woy station to Central Station in Sydney which is about an hour journey. Took a cab to the ILG headquarters at the University of Sydney. The oldest university (I guess) in Australia at 150 years old. The building architecture is so beautiful, just imagine its like Hogwart in the Harry Potter movies. Anyways, I have my own room at the girls' dorm which I'm very thankful of hehehe Next, our names and tasks were posted on the board in the common room even before we arrive! My tasks was to receive Holy Communion from Cardinal Pell during the opening mass in Barangaroo and Papal stage escort during the evening vigil. Seeing or meeting the Pope has always been part of my life mission! I went to Rome last year during Easter sunday just to see the Pope but didn't get the chance(to cut the long story short, it was the final blessings by the time I was in Vatican city). Everyone were pretty excited about their tasks and along the way we made new friends. They were 142 of us from 59 countries. The day goes by like this in the ILG: talks in the morning, grab a packed lunch from the cafeteria and either walk (from the uni.) or take the bus to rehearsal site in the afternoon till nightfall. We have rehearsal almost everyday and it was tiring and also freezing especially when we had our full dress rehearsal (some of our clothes were not meant for cold weathers). Nevertheless we enjoy each other's company, most of the time talking and laughing.

Some of the ILGiers

I keep in touch with the group via sms and phonecalls. You do tend to miss your own friends from home at times. I remember the time when I finally meet up with them at Hyde park, they were queueing up to go in the merchandise shop and some of them were in St. Mary's Cathedral. They were screaming and hugging and soooo excited when I told them what my tasks was. I was so happy to see them, it felt like ages (it was abt 4 days to be exact).
Barangaroo, the site for the opening mass, was fully packed on Tues 15th July. We had to go through the VIP entrance and security was really tight. We waited for more than an hour in the dressing tents before we were allowed to go to our seats near the stage. It was nightfall when it was our turn to be on stage to receive Holy Communion, and we were shivering to our bones because of the cold wind from the sea. Thank God you can't really see it in the video hahaha After the mass, we rushed back to the tent to have our 'pilgrim' dinner (which was curry chicken 'soup' and bread) and taking advantage of our VIP pass we took a shortcut through the barricades to meet up with the rest of the group. It was soooo difficult to look for them as there are more than 100,000 people in the crowd. And when we finally did find them we were overjoyed and they kept saying 'we saw you on the big screen'. We dance, sing and jump throughout the concert, having a great time together. The group was staying at a school in Merryland which is about half an hour from Sydney Central station.
The days goes by so quickly that week. The Papal arrival (on a boat) was at Barangaroo on Thurs 17th July. The place was fully packed and of course excited to see the Pope. The crowd was chanting 'Benedetto' followed by the clapping. The atmosphere that day was just tremendous and I felt so proud to be part of it.

L to R: The stage at Barangaroo, The Pope on his way to Barangaroo on a boat, The Pope on stage.

My next task was the Papal escort during the evening vigil at Royal Randwick racecourse. We have rehearsals three days in a row at Randwick at freezing temperature but the cold didn't put us off. We were to escort the Pope from under the stage (papal tunnel) onto the stage and all we have to do was to wave like mad. Then light up the tiki torch and spread the fire to the rest of the crowd. Sound easy right? Well it was not... the stage was bigger than in Barangaroo and its 20ft high so we have to see where we're going and make sure we don't get ourselves burnt from the torches, etc. After the rehearsal we have to find our own transport back to the uni. I think I'm getting the hang of the transport system in Sydney.

L to R: View of Randwick, behind the stage and under the stage in the Papal tunnel.

Anyhoo every night after the rehearsal I really try my best to be with the group. On 16th Jul was the Asian Youth Gathering (AYG) at the Olympic Park. A group of us board the train at Central station and try to get to the venue on time. Unfortunately the event was over by the time we were at Lidcombe (an interchange) and I saw my group getting onto the same train to Merrylands. I got drag in by them leaving my other friends behind at the station. Wat a day! It was my first visit to their accommodation and the school staffs are very friendly. I only stayed for a few hours and took the train back to Central alone before midnight! It was scary but thank God I met some good people on the train.. One lady start a conversation with me and asked me if I'm from Brunei because I carrying the Brunei flag on my backpack, coincidently she was from KB but have move to Perth about 20 years ago. She told me she will be visiting Brunei at the end of the month. Small world after all. I didn't get her name though.
We attended catechesis at St. Benedict's church about 15mins walk from the uni. (I took the bus instead) and experience the great Aussie style bbq for lunch. I meet up with the group a couple of times after that though for a short while only as I've to rush off to rehearsal or to another WYD event with the ILG.
On Friday 18th July, we attended the Station of the Cross. It was very beautiful the way it was acted out and we were in reverence.

L to R: The Last Supper, The Pope saying a few words, St. Mary's Cathedral

I had to leave as soon as it was over and rush back again to Randwick for the final rehearsal. After the rehearsal, I rushed back to the uni. pack few of my things and took the train to Merryland (alone) because I wanted to be with the group for the 9km walk the next day. My sleeping bag was already the Uni. of South Wales (UNSW) our changing place, near to Randwick. I spread out my jacket on the classroom carpeted floor and doze off to sleep as it was really late by the time I reached Merryland.
The next day we got up early and prepare ourselves for the 9km walk. We were to start from North Sydney and all the way to Randwick. Took the train from Merryland and head to North Sydney, along the way some of us got confuse and board off at the wrong station. When we arrive at North Sydney, we waited for the others before embarking on our journey. It was fun and a good experience.

Passing through the Harbour bridge

9km is not that near especially when there are hills involve! Not having enough sleep, energy and stamina really challenge all of us during the walk but nevertheless we overcome it. Upon reaching Randwick, I overstretched my left ankle tendon. It was an old injury I guess I must have stressed on it during the walk. The group entered Randwick through one of the gates but I had to go to the Uni. which was way up on the hill. I wanted to cry but I just carry on despite the pain. After walking for about 10minutes, I finally reach the uni. alone (again!). I freshen up and rested my ankle. After getting few mins of sleep, it was time to move. Got into my national dress and limp all the way down the hill to Randwick. It was painful but I couldn't back out now. I didn't have the chance to go to the first aid tent to get it checked!
We were escorted to the papal tunnel and waited and waited and waited for which seems to be 2 hours. We prayed the rosary together, took photos and waited again. We could hear the performance above our heads on the stage but unable to see it. Then we were asked to standby near the door, everyone was nervous and excited to see the Pope.The Pope quietly make his way behind us, we turned and stood in awe. At first he look scary but then he smiled and gave us the blessings. We managed to say 'We love you, Papa' before we went out and that widens his smile. He didn't look scary after that hahahaha but in fact he look cute like a small child. And of course I noticed his red loafer which was very striking.

Escorting the Pope and carrying the tiki torch

The atmosphere that night was exhilarating! There were thousands of people, screaming, chanting and all I can see was flashes of camera lights. I didn't feel the pain anymore when we stepped out onto the stage and I was saying out loud 'wow look at that' and I even forgotten that the Pope was behind us! It was an amazing experience for me and I can't believe my first world youth day will be this way! What an opportunity!
After the night vigil we were to sleep under the stars on the Randwick ground. It was cold, a bit noisy but who cares when you're so tired. The loo (toilet) was far from where we were sleeping and I could feel the pain in my ankle again. So I decided to go to the first aid tent (which was also far) and get it checked. They put my ankle on ice for 20mins but it was still swollen so they had to bandaged it. I went to our group's sleeping area but some was asleep and few were missing. I wanted to meet up with our Bishop but he was not around yet. I've not seen him for more than a week when we were there but we kept in touch through phonecalls and SMSes, which surprised some people in the ILG. hehehehe
I did manage to get some sleep after tossing and turning. They woke us up at 6.30am for breakfast and then morning prayer. We rushed to the performers tents and use the loos there as it was cleaner and more private. My hair was in a mess and decided to use a beanie to cover it.
The final mass was attended by almost 400,000 people; celebrated by the Pope. I was taking some candid shots of everything then as I was focusing on the stage, I thought I saw a familiar face and it was none other than our Bishop! Standing in the middle of the stage taking photos and he was also projected on the big screen! Not believing on what I'm seeing I asked a friend to look through my camera lens and confirmed it. Even some of the priests in front of us was laughing and asking us what he was doing. It was really hilarious.

15secs of fame, the Pope during the Final mass.

The Pope gave a very touching homily and some youths got confirmed on that day as well. He announced the next world youth day will be in Madrid, Spain in 2011 and look forward to see everyone there. As he bit farewell (which was the saddest part) we cannot help but to chant 'Benedetto' and scream 'Viva El Papa'. It was such an amazing moment and I just couldn't believe I was part of it.
My first trip to Sydney and my first World Youth Day have been the greatest trip of my life. I have new friends and a close bond with the group. What more is there to say but to look forward to another great adventure...


There's more to this story, will try to upload some pic in another post.

Counting the days

I'm getting both nervous & excited for the trip next week for the World Youth Day in Sydney. Only 3 days to go and I've not packed or prepare any of my clothes yet. It will be winter in Australia at this time. I have my winter jacket from my previous trips to UK last year so I'm about 10% ready.
I've never been to Sydney before but I've been to Perth in 2006. Rummaging through my drawers I manage to get hold of AUD12.30, I guess I can use that to buy some drinks or snacks in the airport.
We'll be leaving on Wednesday on SQ flight via Singapore and then another 10hrs before our next flight to Sydney. Unfortunately the flight to Sydney won't be on the new Airbus 380 because it leave early in the morning. But the good news is that we'll be in it on our way back from Sydney. *excited*
Oh yah its the weekend today and thankfully I'm at home this time. I guess I should start packing bit by bit now. I just hope everything will fit in my luggage!!!

Coughing, aching & deprive of sleep

Greetings fellow readers or bloggers. It has been awhile since I last post an entry. Due to my infamous hectic schedule at the moment I find it hard to just sit down in front of my pc but now I can spare some time (by skipping dinner) just to type out this post.
I'm not feeling 100% well at the moment. I've a very sexy voice because of coughing too much. My body aches because I participate in the tug-of-war in the Panaga Highland game last Saturday. Didn't warm up before the game hence the result = aching! I spend my weekend staying overnight in Subok with some friends to discuss for our upcoming trip to Sydney..9 more days!!! *excited*
My weekends are very occupied this month. I was away from home most of the time. Two weekends ago, I went on a road trip to Sibu with few friends. It took us about 8 hours with pit stops in between. The weather wasn't permitting too. It was really hot at first but then it got gloomy and started to rain. Upon arriving in Sibu, we were all exhausted and needed a good shower and sleep! We had the chance to go around Sibu town which is pretty big with a lot of shopping mall compare to Miri. I did not bring my camera with me hence no photos :( anyways I'm sure it won't be my last trip to Sibu.
This Thursday I'll be taking half-day off from work in the afternoon to attend high-tea with the Australian High Comm. at her residence. Cool huh. It'll be first time doing a diplomatic thingy.
Lastly I'm desperately looking forward for my 2 weeks break to Sydney. I need to get out of the office!!! Till then...ciao!

Weekend: Where art thou?

Well it's the weekend soon but I won't be around for it. I'll be spending it in Sibu. Kinda excited about the trip to Sibu because it'll be my first time to go there. Though I'm not looking forward for the long journey, it's about 5 or 6 hours drive from Miri. But when you're with friends, I think it'll be a fun road trip ;)
Last weekend was Father's day. Since I've $150 worth of Empire vouchers I decided to treat my dad and my mom to the Sunday Dim Sum brunch at Li Gong restaurant. The place was fully booked that Sunday and thankfully I have a reservation. My dad receive extra points/miles on his Royal skies membership and also a key chain from BMW. I wish they give the car instead!!!
There was a BMW roadshow at the hotel and great offers on the cars like a BMW 5 series cost $92,800 from its original price of $113,000++. I so want that car!!! But nahhh I already own two cars maybe in the next 4 or 5 years time.
Sadly, I'll be away on most weekends from now onwards. Will try to update this blog and upload some pics from my trip.

Ciao...

A long week

It has been a very long week for me. I attended a 5-days course in KL recently. I must say I was a bit worried because I don’t know KL as well as Singapore. Didn’t know where to go in town or use the monorail, LRT, etc.

I stayed at Concorde Hotel, which is just next door to Hard Rock café. The last time I went to HR Café was 4 or 5 years ago.

On my first day, I took a taxi to Bukit Bintang and built up the courage to walk around town alone. I even went to the new shopping mall, the Pavilion, which is not far from Lot 10. They have lots of branded shops there like Gucci, Coach, Burberry, etc. Had my first dinner from McDonald’s and went back to the hotel before dark. (I use the taxi)

My course started on Monday and I forgot what time it start. But I woke up early like I use to when I go to work here. Had my breakfast and went to look for the room for the course. It was held in the same hotel I was staying. After settling down and meet some new colleagues, a familiar voice saying ‘Oh no. Not you again!’ came through the door. And it was a friend of mine who is working in offshore. He talks to me so loudly that everyone in the room knew instantly that we are friends. Ironically we seldom meet in Brunei and we often bump into each other overseas. And it happens to another friend too. We either see each other in the airport or in Singapore.

11 people attended the course. Lunch was provided at the hotel and it serves good food (hence the weight gain and rounder looks). The course was very interesting. I enjoy the ‘lecture’ and I learn a lot on the equipments I’m dealing with at work and plus we did a lot of calculation too which is something I like to do.

It rain almost every day in KL with thunderstorm and lightning included. The traffic is bad as usual and the monorail is always packed with people. I took the monorail at Bukit Nanas on my own and meet up with my friend at Bukit Bintang station. My friend brought me to Petaling Street in Chinatown after getting off at the Maharajalela station. It looks a bit different from the last time I was there. But bargaining for the imitation things is still in practice hehehe and I suck at bargaining! I bought a ‘Prada’ sling bag for RM40 from RM85! And two Puma shoes for RM70. I’m happy with my purchase :) especially the shoes. I didn’t have to bargain for it because it was the last pair so it was sold to me for RM30!

I went to Low Yatt plaza (IT mall) to look at some IT gadgets. Nothing interests me there I don’t know why but I did return back there to buy a hard disk for my laptop since I have some extra cash left. Bought some t-shirts and the highlight of my shopping were the 55-200mm Nikkor VR lens (RM750) and flash (RM350) for my SLR camera. Like I said I’ve nothing else to buy so why not invest in something to support my hobby (photography).

Oh yah my parents join me in KL on Wednesday and we went back together on Saturday. They went around town on their own (telling them to take the taxi to wherever they want to go) while I attend the course. When I return to my hotel room after my course on Thursday I was in awe and they were happily smiling and announce they bought RM600 worth of ‘kain’, ‘batik’, etc. from Jln. Masjid India and my dad was complaining it was heavy to carry. I already forewarn them that I was not going to follow them shopping and it was for this very reason. You know how mothers shop right? It’ll take them ages and they will ask about 10 questions on one item. Imagine if it was 10 items = 100 questions!!! Anyways I’m glad they enjoyed it. I even give up my hotel breakfast to them because I was already bored eating hotel food for the past few days.

I decided to return home early because I’ve another prior agenda during the weekend but I look forward to go to KL some day again. Who knows, I might be going for another course again next year.

Off to KL

I'm away to KL this week. The last time I was there was last year and it was only for a day after transiting in from Bangkok. Hope to get more out of it this time.

Some pics taken during last year's trip in KL


The Petronas Twin Tower








Berjaya Times Square

The 'in things' for 2008

Here are the lists of things, which I think is the “in things” for 2008:

1. Own a blog
2. Own a digital SLR camera
3. Own the latest or stylish car
4. Must be online using your mobile phone or pc (MSN)
   
5. Get a 3G SIM card while it’s still free (for the month of May)
6. Get a 3G broadband (faster speed)
7. Or get espeed for the house
8. Go on holidays
9. Sign up for Facebook
10. Take lots of pictures and post it in Facebook
11. Practice your photography skills
12. Get at least one free flight from the promo on AirAsia or Malaysia airlines

If you have some more ideas, leave me a message in the saybox. Thanks.

All sorts of event...

I attended various events over the weekend and it really tires me out. But what matters most is that I enjoyed it to the max.
A friend invited me to her dept. family day at OGDC after work on Friday. There were bouncers, games and FREE food! It was fun but I didn't go on the bouncer (it was the biggest bouncer, the titanic). because 1. I'm afraid of height and 2. the after-effect of it (bruise, sick, etc.) Food was great and also free ice-cream from the Mr.Softy's ice-cream truck. It was more like a carnival! It ended beautifully with fireworks.

On Saturday, there was a wedding in church and the bride needed my help with the projector. And my other friend was in-charge of the music. It was a very, very hot Saturday afternoon but nevertheless the wedding was nice and simple. And we were given 'ang-pow' for helping out *grin*

That evening I attended another event. It was a charity dinner to raise fund for the poor and underprivileged in the area. The food was excellent, 8 course of Chinese food *yummy* and also various entertainment mostly dancing. But I can't help feeling sleepy that night after a long series of 'fortunate' events.

On Sunday after church I went to the DST roadshow in KB. And thankfully I brought my niece along with me because I manage to apply for the Student Postpaid Go! Broadband plan. Instead of paying $400++ I only paid half of it. Unfortunately upon arriving home I found out that there isn't any 3G service in my area yet. Called up 151 and let out my frustrations.

Anyways, I went to bandar that evening to watch the new Narnia movie with some friends. And I manage to surf the internet using the broadband in my car all the way from Lumut to BSB. Connection was great, no hiccup while watching YouTube. It serve me well.... so far. I even bring it to work with my mini-laptop so I can surf the net when I'm bored or stress out.

Surfing at work with the Go!Broadband

I love the new Narnia movie. It was fantastic! The movie lasted almost 2½ hours but my knee hurt after that because of the limited leg space. The cinema is only good for their 'reclining' chairs which can be annoying. Arrived home at midnight and only had few hours of sleep and then back to work on a brand new week.

I'll be away most of the time from now on, will try to update if I can.