the start, the end of it

christmas dinner: spent most of the time just snapping pics. btw, why is it all black and white?

my bro, shin chan. hehe... don't mess with the ong's k...

bah humbug! ah.. so sad that the christmassy season is just about over. technically, there're supposed to be 12 days of christmas but today i heard CNY songs in gurney plaza already. sad. really.

coolest pic ever haha. just look at mel's expression... priceless!

i did have a wonderful christmas/ the days up til christmas (if you get what i'm saying)... busy enough so that i won't feel bored and yet, relaxing enough to enjoy. matriach V took up most of my time... loads of fun as usual, but extra tiring this year. don't know why but the make up and dressing seemed more tedious then ever. but overall, praise God it was awesomely wonderful!

girls will be girls. enough said.

sabri's in a skirt. and heels. so proud of you dearie!

he says he looks slim here.

and of course... the fact that people from all around the world (literally) are congregating back at this lil island is enough to make me get as excited as a puppy *wagging tail* . it's so great that they're all back. lionel, ann ann, prissy, qian, adrian... and the list goes on and on. but by now, most would have gone back already. or going soon. reunions... another awesome part of christmas. i didn't feel it the past years because i still had most of them around. but this year, the time spent apart makes me thankful for what little time i have with all of them. *happy sigh* my cup runneth over.

i quote lionel: the girls are just so finnneeee.... lol

sorry annann.. i just had to put that in.

i'm with lcd tv

i didn't have time to go christmas shopping this year. so, no presents. very sorry about that! and to those who gave me gifts... thankyou so much, i loved them all. honestly, sincerely, cross my heart.

XOXO

love,

Denise

christmas presentation '07

though it's been said many times, many ways.. merry christmas to you

don't you just love the christmas season? peace and goodwill towards men. jazzy christmas carols. gingerbread cookies and all things sweet. sleighbells and mistletoe. red and green. snow (not here though). warm and fuzzy feelings. Jesus.



do you ever stop to think why people say merry christmas? neither have i.

i guess that's because christmas is associated with happiness and joy, love and peace. it's the season where people are more receptive towards goodwill messages, willing to put away grudges and forgive people. families getting together to celebrate the greatest birthday of all. hmm... yes, a very merry christmas.



Jesus is the reason for the season.


anyway, i'll be pretty busy from now til christmas. christmas presentation from today (21st dec) til sun (23rd dec) at dewan sri. some infor abt it.

venue: dewan sri pinang

time: 7.30 to about 10-ish

organizer: penang first assembly of God

admission: FREE

yes, i'll be taking part. so i'll see you there! the more people the merrier. it's a Merry Christmas afterall isn't it?


and yeah, i'm running a lil late already. supposed to be going soon. so goodbye. and to all a

Blessed Christmas

evolution of dance

love, just because

[post written the night before]


sometimes we just need people to love us. not for what they hope to get in return, not because they have to repay our kindness in the past, not because they feel it's their duty to.


sometimes, all we need is for people to love us just because.


today i did something i'm not proud of. i admit, while it was somewhat of a misunderstanding, i was the one at fault. felt guilty because i was asked to do something and i was really irresponsible and the outcome was... not so good. (looking back, it was just a small thing but if i can't do small things properly, how am i going to attempt bigger things?)


and to the person (you know who you are) who listened and comforted and didn't try to rationalize the situation and accepted me for what i am; flawed... i just felt i needed to say this.

Agape, from Denise. and thank you.



and then, it just struck me so hard that who else can we turn to after we've done things that we're ashamed of? who else welcomes us back with arms wide opened after we've repented of our wrongs? who else but our Father in heaven... Now i think i finally get what it means when we say "the beauty of grace".


Time and time again, i make the same mistakes and He forgives me. I cry, i weep. i repent. and a week later do something stupid again. Yet, He's always there to take me back again. to comfort me. don't you think that it's so awesome that someone would actually do that? the beauty of grace. now i understand.

bored backwards

bosannya saya...

very lonely at home.

i'm in my self pity mode

so don't bother listening.






















mel gettin a kick in the... (you figure it out yourself).



dreaming of early mornings by the beach, feeling the tiny waves with my toes...

col

had a good study day yesterday. unfortunately... can't say the same about today. the moment i open my file to look at my notes (intro to mass comm- best subject ever), my mind is anywhere BUT on the notes. i think i spent 2 hours just doing 2 chapters! and they're just mini chapters. i just keep reading it without understanding it and then i have to reread it again. torture isn't studying. it's studying something you dislike.

making silly faces... is kinda fun.. hehe

anyway, just wanted to post some pics of my col peeps. since, you know, i hardly mention them here... you know, when i entered my col in jan, i knew no one. and big culture shock: all chinese speaking. i felt just so odd there. but it's dec now and i really feel at home there. well, almost. and that's thanks to these people.

makaning assignment. these people really put up with all of my emo-ness and difficult moments. really really grateful for them.

crazy peeps (btw, spot the lecturer)

too much studying can do that to a person. poor feller.

just an ordinary day in class

they're gonna mince me if they ever see this. hehe. featuring: my groupmates posing for our assignment. i took the pic k... *bangga*

hey there pretty ladies... lol yeah ok. so sue me for being perasan.

omgosh... i AM perasan.

noooooooo.....

!!

study week

i should be studying

i should be studying

i know i should be studying

so what am i still doing here?

!!!!! lazy larrrrrr

i just need a lil favour from you people.

don't ask me out anywhere this whole week.

cos if you ask me out, i will go and if i go, i won't study, and if i don't study...

well, you know what happens after that.

and if i get a bit lansi, you know it's not me

it's just.... study week.

ok time to hit the books.

i LOVE studying... you know that right?

happy camper

i just got back from camp. ignite youth camp to be exact.
i'm not gonna blog about it now... in fact i don't even know if i'm gonna be bloggin much about the happenings there. we'll see how it goes. hehe.
tired, very tired (but i don't feel like sleeping yet)
and there're still things i need to think about.

this camp has been, among many other things, a very much needed refreshment to my soul. lately i've been feeling very dried out, very tired... so this was just exactly what i needed.

something's happened, something's changed in me. i just feel so different, like i'm really growing up in the Lord you know? like He could really use me.

i really don't want it to just end here, forget everything after a week or two. it's easy to be good and close to God at camp but when we go back to normal lives... it's not that easy. the fire dies out and i don't want that to happen. but i'm gonna try to keep my standards. i know i can't be holy but at least i can try. and that means no more south park. not that i like it so very much but it's one of the things i'm giving up.

other than that, i had man yoke and jacin as roomates (by accident, since my original room was occupied by some scottish tourists) weeee!. i haven't had girl talk in i don't know how long.

4 days just flew past like that. just doesn't seem like i'm back already. one minute you're packing your bags and the next you're home. i miss camp already.

brief update

and you have no idea how good it is to have finished all my assignments for the year. woohoo!

actually i shouldn't be so happy yet. exams coming (2 weeks time) and i'm extremely unprepared. yes, in other words... i haven't studied and yes, gonna cram all i can during study week.

yay~

anyway, i'll think about that after camp. why worry today when you can worry about it tomorrow. bad motto i know. heheh. camp's tomorrow and i haven't packed a single thing at all. haven't even been thinkin about it being so crazily busy the past 2 weeks. but anyway, the past is the past and tomorrow i'm going to pangkor! yes!

it's been a very lizardy night and morning. 2 incidences only but it's enough to scare crap out of me. i dunno why, but lizards just LOVE to hide behind toilet/bathroom doors and when you close the door... you know what happens la. and the worse part is they wait for you to take off all your clothes before they start running around like mindless babboons. and here i am freaking out and it's even more afraid than i am, i think. we're both panicking, and as i run out of the bathroom (with towel... with towel), i hear this *plop* on the bathroom floor. seriously, i don't even want to know.

what a wonderful world

how could you?

no it's not a pattern: badly whipped back

am doing research on african slavery (my topic for my speech). i knew it was so cruel and inhumane, what they did to the africans... but this, this really broke my heart. as a father and husband, how can you stand to see your wife abused by the overseer and not do anything? but if you were to protect her, you're dead meat. what just perplexes me is how people think they can just own other people like how they own sheep or cows.

In his autobiography, Josiah Henson described how as a child he saw his father punished for attempting to protect his wife against the plantation overseer.

The day for the execution of the penalty was appointed. The Negroes from the neighbouring plantations were summoned to witness the scene. A powerful blacksmith named Hewes laid on the stripes. Fifty were given, during which the cries of my father might be heard a mile away, and then a pause ensured.



True, he had struck a white man, but as valuable property he must not be damaged. Judicious men felt his pulse. Oh! he could stand the whole. Again and again the throng fell on his lacerated back. His cries grew fainter and fainter, till a feeble groan was the only response to the final blows. His head was then thrust against the post, and his right ear fastened to it with a tack; a swift pass of a knife, and the bleeding member was left sticking to the place.



Then came a hurrah from the degraded crowd, and the exclamation, "That's what he's got for striking a white man."



Previous to this affair, my father, from all I can learn, had been a good-humoured and light-hearted man. His banjo was the life of the farm. But from this hour he became utterly changed. Sullen, morose, and dogged, nothing could be done with him. He brooded over his wrongs. No fear or threats of being sold to the far south - the greatest of all terrors to the Maryland slave - would render him tractable.



So off he was sent to Alabama. What was his fate neither my mother nor I have learned.



(http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASwhipping.htm)





makes me so angry sometimes. oh the injustice!



anyway back to work. gotta prepare my speech and more articles to read.

insanely talented people

i was browsing through deviantART recently, to get ideas for my graphic design thingie (it's getting to be quite a headache) and i came across these gorgeous pieces of art.

and they're tattoos! which kinda reinforces the idea that tattoo artists are insanely talented.

so i've posted a few which i particularly liked.

workload- heavy

short post.

you know, i can't believe how nov is here already... it just doesn't seem like the end of the year yet.

christmas is coming and so are my assignment datelines. so i've made a resolution to sleep less and concentrate more on my work (i CAN do it ok!!). so basically, i have 2 wonderful weeks to let's see... complete my (group, thank goodness) intro to mass comm presentation; design, print and package my cd; study for sociology (test tomorrow *pulls hair*); prepare notes for debate (also tomorrow), prepare and present 2 speeches for english (with powerpoint); and let's see what else... oh yeah, that's about it.

i'm not complaining. it's just that talking about it helps me sort out the mess in my head.

in need of some prayer.
"dear God... help me finish on time..."

randomly random

my current obsession: bubbly by colbie caillat. i'm at the listening-to-it-the-whole-day-and-not-get-tired-of-it phase. which is usually not a good thing because a week later i'll get so sick of it that i won't even like it anymore. and it's too good a song to loathe. a very happy song. makes me feel... well, yeah... bubbly when i listen to it.

*vision of flowers dancing in the wind and a sun with happy face*

had an inprompto get-together with some of my ex classmates on deepavalli. how i miss them.

yap thought ting en (red shirt) was a waitress trying to get into the pic. lol.

animal farm

ross's b'day present, which i've yet to give her.

i looked for something for her my whole vacation but still couldn't find something nice. and when i was in brisbane... i just fell in love with it. sigh~

i liked it so much i got one for myself too. :-)

some people...

sometimes, some people are so... they're just so... and i'm so....


ok. i'm cool now. really i can talk about it rationally now. restart.


so what do you do when someone you've been helping blames you for not gettin his/her meal just because you forgot to push the spoon into his/her mouth?


you could:

A) get real mad and throw the bowl on his/her head hoping it'll crack in the process

B) get real mad and scream at the ungrateful wretch

C) apologize



guess what i did?

.

.

.

i apologized man! how mature right? but before you nominate me for sainthood, i have to admit, i was this close to shouting at her. the only thing preventing me from doing that was that at the moment, my brain shut down and i couldn't even think of what to say because technically, i did forget to put the spoon in her mouth.


but seriously, at this stage... don't you think you should be able to stand on your own two feet without being prompted to? at least ASK if you want me to feed you. i know i'm not the world's most independent person (far from that actually), but at least i can put the spoon into my own mouth without assistance. i just can't believe she wasn't even bothered about HER OWN PART, when the rest of the group members are going all out for it. if you're not sure about what you're supposed to do, please ASK and not ASSUME. i'm not supergirl, i can't remember everything honey.

anyway i'm cool now. talking about it made me burn a bit just now.

and when i was walking to my car after class... some idiot in a city(honda), kept blasting his horn at me just because i can't cross the road in 2 seconds. 2 seconds, honestly ler. 1 honk is fine, yeah i get it you're an impatient jerk, but repeatedly peet-ing your horn and you've crossed the line fella. what's with people nowadays? do you need to pee so badly that you have to bully me into moving like superman... i know i'm small and skinny amd easy to bully but have mercy ler.

now i really should stop before i start getting mad again.

nonsensy

the only time i get to blog is now, in class. graphic design. haha.

and now that i can blog, i can't seem to think of a way to start. sheesh. things never come easy when they come easy. so i shall ramble on and on til i find my topic. [lecturer talking about packaging now. any volunteers to help me with my project?]

oh and i got my chinese dance costume. it's umm... green. bright fluorescent green. but other than the brightness, it's pretty nice. some kimono-ish/tang dynasty-ish robe-ish thing with big sleeves. you know, the one where you would pee in your pants if you met a person wearing that walking on the streets in the middle of the night. it's a pretty lil thing though, once you overlook the colour. [oh we're talking about green packaging now]

qian's back too. and for a week too. yay my girls are coming back. ann ann.... we're waiting for you.

nov is gonna be a busy busy month. i think i started the month off hyperventilating about not being able to finish my assignments and studyin on time. but after planning my whole nov, i think it's gonna be manageable. just so long as i FOLLOW my SCHEDULE. 2 down, 3 more to go. i can do it... i have to.

packaging is starting to look as hard as climbing mount everest. i think i should start paying attention. oh wait, he's finish. sigh~ it's a good thing i'm not in design.

from gold coast

sea world

and paradise country farm

lots of sunshine

on umm... it was a monday i think, well you know how it is on vacations that you can;t tell one day from another, that we left cold sydney for sunny gold coast. queensland- the sunshine state. yeah yeah...

walking around downtown

well my sis absolutely loves gold coast. think: stretches of gorgeous beaches, hot bods *wink wink*, and surf brands. haha. but i kinda prefer brisbane. anyway, most people go to gc for their vacations so it has this sorta 'holiday-like' atmosphere. which is fun because you know everyone's just out to have well, fun.

and i like like like the way the people dress there. the girls i mean. they wear lots of dresses which i heart (summer dresses especially). and skinnys and flats, print tees... really casual but nice. and since it's almost summer there, the clothes can be worn back here. so hehe, we kinda went a lil crazy buying stuff. and of course... sunnies! everyone there wears shades because the sun's really really bright and it's painful to not wear them.

recognize this store?

oh yeah, and the week we were there, they had the Indy, which is like F3 right in gc. which was a good and also a bad thing. the bad being a lot of roads were closed so you can imagine what the traffic was like. but the good part... aha! street parties, private parties and i heard that good charlotte and nicole ritchie were in town for for the after-race party. with the veronicas too.

v8 supercar. they race this and also the f1-type looking cars. the difference being all the cars in the Indy are manual.

came out from the grocery store in time to see this.

and this...

in the heart of GC is surfers paradise. which is kinda like, the town centre. to me it felt like that. hotels, nice shops... good food... plus it opens til about 10 because of the pub going crowd. so, more power to the shoppers.

yes, it's as beautiful as it looks. and the sand... my gosh the sand.... so soft and so fine

hotel we stayed in

my hotel was in the middle of surfers paradise so we're within walking distance with just about everything. shops and all... so much so that i knew my way about pretty well. not bad eh for someone who needs help getting around penang roads.

view from my room

we spent the most time in Gold Coast so, come to think of it, i do miss it quite a lot.

it's wed already. yay!!

my saturday

starting to get lazy to post pics up.

plus it's starting to get boring. even after two posts about it.
amazing.

anyway, will get back to that later.

yes i do like myself

so yesterday, my col had to play host, no wait, the mass comm society committee members(gosh what a mouthful)

random pic of THEM

had to play host to visiting students from some col in johor.

i came late (20 mins only laa) and the first thing kitt yeng said to me,

"they only speak CHINESE!"

lol. i should've expected that.

my first time being a tour guide.

no that's not right either.... we bullied the only FLUENT mandarin speaker (my senior, jason) into being our guide and translator. *evil laughter*

so the 3 of us were like shepards herding this flock of sheep (felt like it anyway)

had lunch in batu lanchang market and became food critic pulak.

as if i go there often.

ice kacang uncle and char kuey teow aunty should really subsidise me for bringing them more business. really la.

oh oh... and the amazing bus.

i'm not even going begin describing it.

okok, all adjectives: small, old, airconless, cheap, small, small small....

i really can't believe the admin is being so cheap. i mean, hello~ what kind of impression are you giving to our visitors? there were not enough seats that some people had buttache. kesian.

my friend used to call buses like that bread vendors. cos it looks like a loaf of bread.

places we visited.

guan yin ting (temple)

penang museum (it is getting more and more boring)

gurney plaza (i'm so sick of malls but for the sake of sitting down somewhere with *gasp* god forbid! aircon....

speaking of which, met the tings (ting en and su ting) outside coffee bean which was great.

invited them to crash our bbq

my legs look short in this.

and yeah, the supposed highlight of the day.

BBQ

starting the fire was fun. hehe kinda like the good-at-times guides times.

eating was fun too.

of course

crept off to go home during some game which until now i'm still figuring out how to play.

ok and yes, i DO feel bad for ditching the people there AND for not even helping to clean up *guilt pangs*

pity the prez, he's so sweet he won't even torture me for not doing my share.

but at that time i was super exausted and the only thing on my mind was

"go home go home"

but, i did have fun

i'm startin to have a thing for hats

i know i look funny in this. don't comment. it was just so cute i had to try it on

my sis looks sooooo cute. ahaha...

but imagine if we wore it back here in pg...

oh yeah by now, i think you've figured that the pics of me are just random. told you i like myself. oh yeah, and anyone who wants to dress up as a cowboy/girl this halloween, come see me. i have 4 straw cowboy hats just waiting to sit on someone's head.