CNY 2012

2012, January.

The Dragon came down to earth.

And all Chinese in the world,

cried out cheerfully to each other...

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's finally another CNY.

And for me, CNY means...

Eat! Eat! Eat!

Every day, 

friends and family

will spent time together,

at a round table,

with delicious food.

I was very privileged

to enjoy luncheon and dinner 

with them in many restaurants.

And of course, the food there was

simply delicious!

Pork! Chicken! Duck!

Vege! Mushroom! Soup!

Fish! Shark Fins! Prawn!

YUMMY!!! <3

So.... let's dig in people!

Hahaha! Grab your chopsticks 

and get digging!

No scraps for late people!

Hahahah!

***

This CNY, I have an exception

from the NS camp,

around 6 days,

to celebrate CNY.

And within this CNY,

I have tried my best to enjoy

to the fullest,

asked my friends out

and had a great time.

We spent the whole morning in

Jusco Bukit Tinggi.

We had an early luncheon in 

Pastamania.

Hahahaha! They finally surrendered

to me as I finished up all their last bits

of cheese dishes!!!

I just love Cheese!!!

Before we say Good-bye,

we finally say 'Cheese!' in front

of a cute dragon! 

Oh right, it's the Dragon Year!

Happy CNY guys!

 

Along the way, we brought birthday presents 

to my friend and my sister.

Supposed my birthday present

should be given to me,

(my birthday is in January,

during 2012 CNY)

But since I'll be off to 

NS camp some time later,

I rather choose my birthday gift,

after my NS.

So... my friends,

YOU OWE ME A GIFT!

Hahahaha!

But first, I'll wish my friend

a happy birthday!

FYI, he got his first birthday gift 

from his friends, that's us!

And we should celebrate it!!!

Look at him, he looks so happy!!! XD

***

Look at me!!

I was like a star!

Everyone wanted to take a photo!

All because I cut away my hair!

Ya... this is called the army-hairstyle.

Yeap, my NS camp requires this hairstyle.

I am not so sure if this hairstyle suits me.

What do you think?

But first, do make sure you know

which is me. I'm the middle one.

Haha!

Anyway, these two beside me 

are one of my best friends

since young!

By the way, that's us in a house.

Guess what, we went to wish happy CNY.

We Chinese call it bai nian. (拜年）

Of course, we received many 

many many ang pau!

You know what I love about CNY?

You get free money in a red packet,

just by simply telling wishes of CNY!

Great isn't?

Why, I would love to suggest,

to find a Chinese friend,

and celebrate CNY together,

so you can not only eat delicious feast,

have fun time together with friends,

but you can have free money! $$

Enjoy the celebration!

Happy CNY to all people!

Ciao!

(To all readers, note that I'll be off to National Service Camp

for 2 more months. So, there will be no stories shared. Thanks for reading.)

Chinese New Year, The Pride of the Dragon People!

给我世界的华人朋友们，

春节快乐！

一瞬间，兔年已过去了。

龙年的今年，夹道！

在我写部落格这么久，

我很少写华文的故事。

我都不知道是否我的华文

是及格，过关还是幼稚呢？

各位，如果你认为我的华语

配不上你的标准，那我要抱歉哦！

*

身为华人的我，

我觉得是个必须来为各位

华族 拜个年！

新年快乐！

 恭喜发财！

万事如意！

身体健康！

心想事成！

龙年行大运！

坦白说，我对华人新年的传统习俗

很陌生。

我认为，对新世纪的华人，

这些传统的习俗是个挑战。

在追随世界的进步，

我们的脚步不得不快。

因此，有一些华人就宁愿

少做这些习俗。

比如，华人常常会

捞生。

信不信由你，

但在我活了十八年内，

今天还是我第一次 捞生 呢！

哈哈！ 明白了吗？

*

很多人会问我，

“咦？ 你不是基督徒吗？

你有庆祝华人新年？”

我就会回答说

“我虽是个基督徒，

但我是个华人啊！

我仍然是龙的传人啊！”

我为我自己骄傲！

我为华人骄傲！

我为我的根骄傲！

*

各位华人，虽然我不是孔子，

也不是什么孟子，

不会写诗，

也不会朗诵，

但我要说出我的心声。

让我们在这庆典之中，

不时地提醒自己，

别忘了自己的根，

要常常记得我门是华人，

是龙的传人。

我们，黄皮肤，黑头发，

应为我们自己感到骄傲，

感到荣耀。

华族！ 再次祝贺各位

新年快乐！

谢谢！ 

****

(Translation)

To all my Chinese friends 

throughout the globe,

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

In the blink of an eye, the year of Rabbit 

had left us with now, the year of the Dragon.

All these while, in my blogging history,

I have rarely written any story of mine

in Chinese language.

And for that, I would not know

if my Chinese language got a Pass

of a Fail.

I here by sincerely apologize if my 

Chinese language is not as good as you expected.

*

As Chinese, I had in mind,

that it is a must for me, 

to wish all Chinese people,

a very Happy Chinese New Year!

May you have a blessed year,

a great prosperity,

a smooth journey,

a sound health,

and good luck in this dragon year!

Honestly, I have little knowledge 

about the Chinese tradition of 

Chinese New Year.

To me, it is a challenge to catch up

all tradition of the Chinese New Year.

As the world grows exceedingly fast towards modern,

we cannot lose our footsteps with it.

And for the reason of being too busy in this race,

many of us Chinese have decided to cut down

on much of the tradition of this celebration.

For example, lao sheng.

Believe it or not, 

in my eighteen years,

this year had been my first time

to lao sheng!

 (an example of my friends and family and I doing 'lao sheng'

**I'm the one with the super short hair at the right side XD)

*

Friends of mine usually ask me,

"hey man, you're a Christian,

and you're celebrating 

Chinese New Year?"

And my answer would be the same every year.

"Friends, I may be a Christian,

but do not forget, 

I am Chinese too!"

And Chinese celebrates Chinese New Year.

There is nothing wrong with that, right?

For that, I am proud of myself,

proud of the Chinese

and proud of my root as a Chinese!

*

Lastly, to all Chinese people out there,

I may not be those famous Chinese poets,

and I don't write famous Chinese poems,

but let me tell you something.

Take this celebration,

as a reminder for every one of us,

that we should not forget our roots,

and that is we are all Chinese,

the descendants of the Dragon.

Yellow skin, black hair,

and as Chinese as we are,

we should be proud of ourselves.

Dear all Chinese, 

Happy Chinese New Year!

Thank you!

Chinese New Year Eve: Simple but Warm

 

A little pinch of salt,

add with some seasoning,

a kiss of love

and a punch of care,

have given us the food,

the strength and the energy,

to continue our life,

with health and a sound mind.

That's my Mum,

who have worked hard for us,

in the past decade.

*

2012 is no exception.

The Chinese New Year Eve dinner

is nothing but a must in 

the Chinese tradition.

The ''coming home'' concept

of CNY eve's dinner

is still not in a great impact to our family,

as we have our dinner together 

almost everytime.

Many Chinese tried to prepare this dinner

as big as possible,

as costly as it can be,

and as delicious it is.

But the quality of the food is not our purpose 

of this CNY eve dinner,

but the REASON we have this 

very dinner in the CNY eve's evening.

Mum had nicely prepared a simple dinner.

Nothing fancy, she admitted.

But to us, it was more than satisfying.

It had been supplying us the need we have,

throughout our entire life 'till now,

and it have given us good health.

What more can we ask?

*

Simple but Warm.

I hope for a simple life.

Yet, a life full with the love of family,

the warm relationship with my friends,

and the good way I will be going on this year.

The dragon is a year, that will bring happiness to all.

But, no matter how lucky we are, 

there's still room for us 

to work for our successes.

There's nothing free in this world.

I want a simple life,

with a simple dream.

Sometimes, simple is nice.

Warm in heart, 

in health and 

in the things we do.

*

As we eat our simple but warm food,

I thank the good Lord who have preserve us

in the last year, and I hope for the best

in the year to come.

Although we have a simple life,

but make sure, 

it is as warm as the fire

in our hearts.

Happy Chinese New Year 

to all my Chinese friends in the world!

新春快乐！

PLKN DAYS #4; 2 Weeks, 2 Lessons

PLKN DAYS #4;

This is the story of me, 

learning two big things,

within these 2 weeks of NS camp.

**

The day I stepped into NS camp Paya Indah,

it had been two whole weeks.

Yes, in these 14 days, there had been many 

many challenges, emotions changes and feelings.

Complicated yet inspiring,
I realized that all these times at home,

I was nothing more but like a king.

And now, I am learning to be a human.

A human that can survive in the outside world.

APPRECIATE EVEN THE SMALLEST THINGS

That's my first lesson.

Yes, so many rules and regulations 

that are entangling us in the camp.

So, when you were given

even a tiny bitsy of mercy,

seconds of grace period,

loosen the punishment a little,

letting go a strand of stress off,

makes you breath... less stress.

And that's what I thank God for.

For example, 

our practice of the marching.

Under the hottest sun in the afternoon,

even a 5-minutes break 

will give us a break to smile.

As comparison to my life back there,

I think I took for granted of ...

well, almost everything.

At home, I did not need to queue for meals.

Instead, my mother was the one who,

would eventually keep on calling us to enjoy our 

lovely and warm dinner.

But in NS camp, no way man.

You don't get call for dinner;

you got to get to the canteen on time,

or you'll go hungry!

You don't get to sit down straight away 

with your delicious food on your table,

all well served.

You have to make a bee line 

just to have that miserable dinner.

Needless to say, the food there will never

I mean NEVER 

can match the feast I had at home.

HOME IS ALWAYS THE BEST

So, what's keeping me all the way?

Well, I'll tell you.

And that's the God's word that are

upholding me all the way,

giving me strength to overcome 

all these... challenges.

In Romans 8:28,

''And we know that all things work together for good 

to them that love God, 

to them who are the called according to his purpose.''

That's why, I see this as my Lord's purpose for me.

And I know all things will work well, eventually.

And that's when I can properly... smile.

*

WITH CHRIST IN THE VESSEL

WE CAN SMILE IN THE STORM

 PLKN, or NS, is likely,

a storm in my life.

 I'm the vessel, and 

hallelujah, Jesus Christ is with me!

Jesus is with me, always

because His name is Immanuel. 

And because of that,

I can smile in the vessel in the storm.

I had learned to slowly enjoy

and see the bright side of everything.

Just like in reality,

there will always be ups and downs.

And at every trials and difficulties,

we must inclined our trust to the One

who created the Heavens and the Earth,

and once died for us for our salvation.

Yes, the Lord is my strength,

and the Lord is my refuge.

With Him, all things are possible.

Thus, as fragile as humans could be,

we should always cast all our worries to him.

1 Peter 5:7,

''Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."

And with that, Lord Jesus Christ leave us

with a promise to all mankind.

That whoever needs Him, 

and desire to cast their care upon Him,

they can do it whenever and where ever.

That's because Jesus never leave us.

Matthew 28:20,

''... I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen''

Thus, I am never alone.

Never.

And so are you, my friend.

=D

 

PLKN DAYS #3; My First Dream In Camp

PLKN DAYS #3

For two weeks, I have no dream.

At the fourteenth day in camp, 

I finally... dream.

**

Since day one, I haven't been able to dream.

NS camp was very tiring.

Only 5 words to describe me;

Confuse

Unease

Depress

Fear

Unacceptable

See? I was constantly in turmoil.

Trying so hard to find the balance point

of peace and happiness.

As lonely as I was,

I kept on reading the Bible,

finding peace and comfort from my Jesus.

Then, came along the news of Chinese New Year Break

for all trainees of PLKN.

Only five days!

That's because, we were forced to return by the third day of CNY.

That's not even close to satisfaction!

And all these while, what's keeping me going on,

is the plan I made with my brother,

to have a sleep over at his place

this holidays.

And that's what dream was about.

* dream *

I was in a mansion. 500 housekeepers and maids greeted me.

I could not see their faces clearly, just figures of them.

Then, I went up stairs. The fleet of huge stairs was beautifully adorned.

As I walked up to the first floor, I turned around and looked around. 

Desperately, I was searching for my brother. "where's he?" 

He's the one who invited me, and he should be here to greet me.

But were was he? He was no where to be found among the crowds.

I stopped my footsteps in front of a huge door leading to somewhere.

I pushed open with both of my hands. Gosh, they were heavy!

Made of metal, steel and gold lining, the door lead me to a large room.

Still thinking that my brother will be among the crowds, I looked back.

As I walked backwards into the room, I hit something; or someone.

Quickly, I saw an angry looking woman as I looked behind. 

Her face contorted to a weird looking, scary expression that indicates

that she was extremely fed up and angry. Oh my God!

Is that his mother? What's this place? Is my brother the family of the mafia?

Since I haven't meet his family, I just made a wild guess.

She snared at me, and I fell down the stairs, and WOOP!

 *I woke up. It was 7.30am. *

My first dream, of my going to my brother's house for sleep over.

Awesome! But wait!

Why was my dream... a negative side? 

Shouldn't it be a happy ending?

Is this some kind of ... vision 

to tell me that,

my holidays will not be as good

as I had planned???

PLKN DAYS #2; Help Me, O Lord

PLKN DAYS #2

This was what my heart says

in the first few days in NS camp.

*

Help me, O Lord.

Save me, O God.

My heart is in pain,

and my soul is in turmoil.

I'm in this dessert.

Admist strangers.

Among the people of the world.

There's no peace, at all.

There's no room for joy.

There isn't a trace of love.

Only sounds of rules,

regulations,

rules

and regulations.

Then come fear,

scolding, yelling.

It's hot, it's stressful, 

and it's tough.

All these, made me stand

on the edge of cliff.

I am so near

of giving up.

It is insane in here.

A total turn about from my life.

Every time I think of this,

I cry.

Tears flow in my heart.

Scream heard within me.

O God, you're the only one 

that can hear me, you know that?

Jesus Christ, my Lord, 

where are you?

***

Mummy called, comforted and calmed.

Through her, Jesus called, comforted and calmed me.

He told me,

And we know that all things work together for good 

to them that love God, 

to them who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

I sucked it in. 

But still, I feel nothing more

like a prison.

I'm like a prisoner.

Not physically,

but mentally.

I am still,

spiritually and mentally,

not accepting the fact

that I was chosen to NS,

although my flesh is here in camp.

My mind,

is locked in a cage,

stuck in a bog.

I could not escape.

My hands are cuffed,

and my legs are chained.

My God, my God,

please, do not leave me,

nor forsake me.

Be with me always,

and that I will obey your call.

For all things work together for good,

to those who obey you, my Lord.

Amen.

PLKN DAYS #1; My First Feeling

PLKN DAYS #1

This is how I felt when I first got in.

*

I thought it'll be okay;

but I was wrong.

So very very wrong.

I smile to keep my sadness away,

I laugh to hide my disappointment.

I cannot, once, comprehend;

WHY ON EARTH AM I HERE?

What sin have I done

to make me wonder in this place?

What had I done

that I deserve all these sufferings?

Is there, really,

any good in here, in PLKN?

Is this what they all called

THE BLESSING IN DISGUISE?

Positive I am for all reasons,

pushing myself to the limit,

making me stand in the crossroads;

What shall I do?

How should I feel?

Loneliness is all I can feel

in here.

I extremely miss my life

back there

in my very own comfort zone.

I miss all my friends,

my family members,

my dogs,

my life,

my bed,

my time...

and my lifestyle back there.

Will I ever, ever ,ever,

fit in into this?

Will I ever really enjoy 

myself in this camp?

Will I ever be able

to smile again?

I look to the sky,

where is peace,

where is joy,

where are you,

O Lord?

PLKN, National Service Malaysia Version

Tthis is PLKN.

Program Latihan Khidmat Negara,

National Service Malaysia Version.

Yes, for two whole weeks,

I was blog-free,

because of this.

Yeap, my name,

was so lucky,

that I was shortlisted to 

undergo this program.

Although it's know as NS,

but it is named Program,

because it's only 77 days.

That's about 2 and a half months.

Not bad, for somebody

namely me,

who still doesn't know 

what to do 

where to go

which route to choose

for my future.

This 77 days,

may be my grace period,

to think carefully,

to decide wisely,

and to confirm affirmly,

of my future.

Indeed, I do not wish to choose the wrong path

to walk the dead route

to a destructive future.

But, within this 77 days,

I can grow

and grow

and grow.

**

For this PLKN,

I have so so so 

many things to write about.

So many stories to tell you guys.

FYI, I was computer-free

for two weeks.

But now, I'm back home.

HOME SWEET HOME.

So true, that the old adage say,

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Glad to be back.

Yes, I am back home for Chinese New Year.

It's Chinese New Year Holidays.

Hahah, why, 

am I not a Chinese?

So, we have the rights to 

celebrate our new year.

*

Anyway, to all my friends out there,

thanks for reading and being patience with me.

I'll try my very best to compensate you guys

with all my stories 

about me 

during these 2 weeks in NS.

Thanks for reading and supporting me

in all my stories.

Without wasting any time,

I'll began my NS-DAYS series 

right away!

Ciao~!

 

2012, Jesus With Me

A Rock that stands for ever

Is Christ my righteousness

And there I stand unfearing 

In everlasting bliss;

No earthly thing is needful

To this my life from heaven,

And nought of love is worthy

Save that which Christ has given.

For me there is no sentence,

For me death has no sting,

Because the Lord who loves me

Shall shield me with His wing:

His spirit to my spirit

Sweet words of comfort saith,

How God the weak one strengthens,

Who leans on Him in faith.

My heart in joy upleapeth,

Grief cannot linger there,

While singing high in glory,

Amidst the sunshine fair:

The source of all my singing,

Is high in heaven above,

The Sun that shines upon me

is Jesus and His love.

**

Though it seems I'm oft unnoticed,

and lost in time and space,

God above is watching over me,

though I cannot see His face.

So I face an unknown future,

full of faith and unafraid, 

and the peace I have through trusting,

for the world I would not trade.

Higher hands are leading me,

I'm not alone, I know,

as I walk this world below,

for higher hands are leading me.

Thank You God for 2011

Bless Us for 2012