Storm

Many a time, I feel this song so much...


Storm (Lifehouse)
How long have I been in this storm?
So overwhelmed by the ocean's shapeless form
Water's getting harder to tread
With these waves crashing over my head

If I could just see You
Everything would be all right
If I'd see You
This darkness would turn to light

And I will walk on water
And You will catch me if I fall
And I will get lost into Your eyes
I know everything will be alright
I know everything is alright

I know You didn't bring me out here to drown
So why am I ten feet under and upside down
Barely surviving has become my purpose
Cause I'm so used to living underneath the surface

If I could just see You
Everything would be all right
If I'd see You
This darkness would turn to light

And I will walk on water
And You will catch me if I fall
And I will get lost into Your eyes
And everything will be alright

And I will walk on water
You will catch me if I fall
And I will get lost into Your eyes
I know everything will be alright
I know everthing is alright

Everything is alright
Everything is alright





Matthew 14:25-33 (New International Version)

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

I Saw Mr. Santa Claus...

Santa stuck in someone's chimney...

Christmas Festival

Some weekends ago, a Christmas Festival was held in our suburb. The main road was closed to make way for food, rides, and even animals...


Th Beatles came and performed (n_n)/ They were really good! Had the audience jumping to the front and dancing all the way, through songs like Help!, A Hard Day's Night, Twist & Shout, Love Me Do, and so on. They had cute wigs too :)


A butterfly (or a fly or dragonfly) came out and play!!


Weeee.... rides for the kids...


There're many colourful stores setup too. I think this store is selling girlie accessories.


Thomas the train is also in town, fetching kids round and round.


Some games...


Another amusement game for kids...


This really smells good. Pork, beef and lamb souvlaki (Greek wrapped food). Really wanted to try this, but the queue is reaaaaallllyy loooooong...


Malaysia food!! Go go Malaysia! The lotus rice is good. But the char-siew-bao is just so-so.


Farm animals. They're very tame and domestic. They seem unafraid of humans (and pesking petting kids).


More farm animals... fluffy chickens, pigs, lambs, sheeps, goats, cows (yes, there's one happily sleeping in the corner), deer, rabbits, etc...



Deer hungry. Deer see camera. Deer want eat camera...


Space shuttle to the universe! All rides are free (n_n)/

Grow, Basil, Grow

The little basil I bought (n_n)/

Mega Adidas Shopping

My colleague forwarded me an email on Adidas warehouse sale. From the looks of the brochure, it seems to be a good bargain. AUD 3 for socks, AUD 5 for shirts, AUD 20 for jackets, AUD40 for shoes, and so on. Not bad...

So, hubby and I decided to have a look.

The sales started at about 9 am. And we reached there about 10 am. And GOSH, cars are parked till the end of the road. Some are even parked on the grass areas!!

It was held at Adidas headquarters office. They kinda transformed their basement carpark into a super big lelong market.

As we walked towards the Adidas building, we saw many people, who're done with their shopping and walking back to their cars, with boxes and boxes and bags and bags of Adidas items! It really got us excited!! I want to get a new jacket!! I could buy my brother some shirts!!

This was really an eye-opener for us. Really, really an eye opener... I never really had experienced kiasuness until this very day...

Ta-da! Their office basement carpark transformed into a lelong market. No racks or tables to display their items. Just boxes and boxes of stuff. You have to really dig into the boxes to find stuff.


Planning to shop alot and need a trolley? Use a cardboard box instead!! When we got in, the Adidas staff greeted us and directed us here to grab our "shopping trolley".


This is an example of a "shopping trolley" filled with items. As you can see, they're no different from the any box laid on the floor. There're many times when we're browsing around some boxes, and then someone behind came over and said "Excuse me, those are mine". Oppss... sorry :P


Clothes. Jackets. Sweaters. Pants. Shorts. Etc. Bermacam-macam pun ada. BUT... mostly in XL or XXL sizes. And the designs are kinda same. Though it's cheap, it's not really something I'll be interested in. Besides, I can't fit any of them. Still, I wonder why their "shopping trolleys" are so full. Oh, I saw a few shoppers getting 3 or 4 of the SAME item. Big family? Early Christmas shopping? (@_@)''''


SHOES!! Well, at least the shoes are nice. They even have the Stella McCartney range! Woo hoo... But, too bad, they have only size US 7 and above.


The cashier counters... people buying in bulk. Huge, big bulk!



Oh ya, in case you're wondering. Yes, we did get something...

*ahem*

Two pair of socks for me, and a water bottle for him. I think we spent less than AUD 10. And we're the only one came out without a bag or a box.

The Answer to the Curious...

Ever since hubby and I started our life in Melbourne, we get many questions from curious friends and family. How is it like there? Is there chinese food? How is the weather like? Is working life more balance? Etc etc etc...

Of so many questions of the curious I received, this is the one I get most frequent...


"Are there durians in Melbourne????"


Well, to answer your question, I'll just let the pictures do the taking.


Ta-da!! Durians on sale. Imported all the way from Thailand. Not so sure it's cheaper than M'sia. It was on sale in an air-conditioned supermarket, i.e. Woolsworth (Jusco/Carrefour/Tesco equivalent). And there's no smell at all. So, from the display saying "Ripe when fruit exudes a strong smell", I think it's not ripe yet.


Ta-da!! Durians nicely wrapped individually.


Durians are heaty. So get some coconut drink!

I want to...

Dance like no one's watching.
Sing like no one's listening.
Work like I don't need the money.
Love like I've never been hurt before.
Live like there's no tomorrow.

and...

Eat like I'll not gain any weight (n_n)/

Life's too big, too fun, too beautiful.
Why should I stay idle, silent, or bitter?

Oh Lord, open my eyes to this world You created.
And let me savour every moment, every presence, every where.

And proclaim aloud from the bottom of my heart,
That it is very, very good.



Genesis 1: 31 (emphasis italics, mine)
God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.

Christmas Already?

We were at Chadstone (huge shopping mall!!) one weekend for some grocery + homeware + window shopping. Myer was having mid-season sale and we're looking for some towels and manchester. So, we thought, why not have a look in Myer as well?

Oh ya, FYI, Myer is like Metrojaya/Parkson/Isetan in M'sia. Their items are slightly on the pricey side. But you can get really good bargains during their sale. Sometimes, their sales prices are equal or even lower than Target or Kmart...

Oh ya, FYI (again), Target or Kmart or Big-W are like Jusco in Malaysia.

Where was I? Oh ya, Myer's sale...

Lo and behold, guess what was on sale?

...

Christmas items!!!

Actually, we're not that surprised anymore. We realised that sale is a culture here in Melbourne. Pre-season sales. In-season sales. Post-season sales. They never seem to end...

And, at the very edge of winter (read: before winter was over), shops everywhere are having SUMMER sales. *ahem* Have people here forgotten that there's a season in between winter and summer, called SPRING?

So, right now, even when the weather is still so cold and windy (we still do get single digit temperature!), bikinis and swimwear are on sale everywhere! And people everywhere are preparing their body to fit into those sexy, skimpy bikini (for female) and those triangular-shaped, underwear-lookalike swimming trunk (for male).

More people jogging in the park and even along the busy streets in the city (yes, imagine jogging along Jalan Tun Razak). More people hitting the gym. People taking fruits and salads for meals. Slimming and lose-weight programs advertised everywhere. Guys trying to divide their united, singular-pack into six.

People here really work hard for summer.

Anyway... back to the sales...


I see, I see a Christmas tree... What month is this?


I see, I see another Christmas tree...


A chubby and cute Gandalf (Lord of the Rings) statue.... Yes, hubby? ... Ohh... It's not Gandalf?? It's Santa Claus????


Cute kangaroo celebrating Christmas!

On the Way to Church

A view on the way to church on a sunny Sunday...

On the Way Home...

On the way home one fine day. Can't help but to snap this photo.

Broadband Internet

Now that we have our own unit, we applied broadband internet so we can surf the net at home. Hubby can also “snake” work at home.

I think we have, like, 80 Gig a month (or something like that) – 40 Gig for off-peak hours and another 40 Gig for peak hours.

After a week or two, hubby looked at me with a somehow sad expression and sighed.

“Dear,” he sighed, “I think we’re overpaying the subscription and under-utilising the broadband.”

“Oh, really?” I questioned. It’s not so surprising to me, actually. I don’t go online at home. I don’t even want to open my notebook at home. My notebook shall sit quietly in my Hennley’s notebook bag (yes, she loaned it to me), in the corner of the room. I’ve been facing the notebook the whole 8-working-hours, and I’m not going to face it after work.

Yes... NOT even Facebook can tempt me...

I am DETERMINED!!

I am INVINCIBLE!!

Bwahahaha....

“Dear,” my hubby sighed again, “will you PLEASE make good use of the bandwidth? Else, I think we need to consider another subscription plan.”

Ah... my hubby is pleading me. How can I ignore his sorrowful cry for my help?

“Ok dearest, I’ll try my very best” I promised him.

And indeed, I fulfilled my promise to the maximum. I heed his cry. I noticed the pointless waste. And I stood in between the gaps... of the unused bandwidth...

And thus, I started my journey to redeem the lost ... and the unused bandwidth...

...

...

...

I started streaming Korean dramas.

In the beginning, I streamed 1-2 episodes per night. The drama is really very interesting. Then, I streamed 2-3 episodes per night. And then, 3-4 episodes per night. I usually sleep before midnight. These days, I’ve been sleeping at 1 AM. I’m almost finished with one drama, and already planning which drama to watch next. Oh, and I’m kinda watching two dramas together. My motivation to go home after work is to watch Korean dramas!

YES! I saved the day!

And then, suddenly... one fine day...

“Dear,” my hubby sighed again, “I think you’re over-using the bandwidth. At the rate you’re going, I think we’ll be out of bandwidth before the end of the month”.

(@_@)'''

But, I thought I saved the day?!?!?!

Ok ok, I get it. MODERATION. Nowadays, I do watch my beloved Korean dramas. But with moderation. Hope this discipline lasts (n_n)/

...

HOWEVER, for those who are interested in watching dramas / movies... Cantonese, Japanese or Korean, head to the link here and feast yourself! They have a good and big selections of dramas / movies.


http://www.mysoju.com



My Girl - I know, it's kinda old and 8TV aired it about 1-2 years ago. But I missed it. All thanks to my wonderful workaholic personality (and my work that feeds my workaholicsm). Love the storyline. Love the characters. Love them all!


Boys Over Flowers - Korean version of the Japanese manga "Hana Yori Dango". A LOT better than the Taiwanese version "Meteor Garden". Cuter boys and girls. Though I don't really like those scenes in the drama where the characters just stared at each other/play around/having fun/looking sad/thinking/etc., with some catchy/sad/romantic background music, for a very very very looooong time. Fast forward!

Happy Father's Day (Aussie Version)

Today, in Australia, is Father's Day.

HAPPIE FATHER'S DAY !!

And BIGGEST HAPPIE FATHER'S DAY to the Father of all fathers, King of all kings and Lord of all lords.




He Knows My Name (I Have A Maker)
by Paul Baloche

Verse 1:
I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hands

Verse 2:
I have a Father
He calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go

Chorus:
He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call

Interesting Experience in Melb: A Not So Ang-Mo Life

All my life, I have not visited any countries except for Malaysia (home-country), Singapore (how modern Malaysia would look like in Lego world) and Thailand (somewhat like a non-Malay/Chinese/Indian-speaking Malaysia).

Basically, I have never gone out of Malaysia, or her lovely influences.

Melbourne, Australia...

When hubby told me that we're going there, I pictured us staying in a foreign land filled with western influences and surrounded by fair-skins, blond hairs and blue eyes. I pictured an ang-mo life in Melbourne...

It's been 2-3 months now since we first arrived. And to my surprise, life here is not as ang-mo as I thought.

I pictured myself eating corn flakes, milk, sunny-side-up eggs for breakfasts.
I drink Milo for breakfast. The Milo here is A LOT tastier!! More chocolatie and not so sweet!! And yes, I can finished up a 1.25 kg Milo in 3 weeks! Ok ok, I'm denying the fact. I actaully finished it in 2 weeks.

I pictured myself eating sandwiches and pasta for lunches.
People here seldom go out for lunches. Usually, some would pack their own lunches. And some would just eat whatever they can find in the pantry. My office pantry has frozen expired bread (yes, FROZEN & EXPIRED since July), peanut butter and fruits. So, they'll make peanut-butter-banana-sandwiches (@_@)... I usually cook more the night before and pack some for my lunch the next day. It's usually chinese food - rice, stir-fry vege and meat.

I pictured myself preparing whole chicken to be roasted for dinner.
Well, this is kinda true. My kitchen is equipped with an oven. And I just looooove experimenting new dishes with it (n_n)/ I've tried making roast chicken, baked fish, baked potatoes + pumpkins + vege, etc etc etc, and the latest, TANDOORI chicken!

I pictured myself surrounded by blond-hairs and blue-eyes.
There's soooooooo many Indians & Asians around. Sometimes, I don't think I'm in Australia.

I pictured myself to be shorter than average girls.
*ahem* I am taller than I thought :P Ya man, I'm proud of my height.

I pictured a world with less shopping malls and less people in the malls
Till I found Chadstone and Southland. Super big, mega-mall. Packed with billiooooons of people. OK, billions is a bit exaggerating. But there's so much people!

I pictured myself having a hard time finding Asian food and ingredients
In the area where I'm living, there's about 2-3 Thai restaurants, 1 Malaysian restaurant, 4-5 Korean/Japanese, and somewhat a few more Asian restaurants... and then there's 3-4 Asian grocery shops (opened by Chinese and Koreans), 1 Indian grocery shop, and 2-3 Asian mini-markets. If you're looking for authentic Asian stuff (like, the classic blue-red china plastic bag, paper tang lung, penyapu lidi, bright pink laundary basin with a classic flower print at the bottom, etc.), you can find them here.

Oh ya... speaking of Asian grocery items, I took some pictures of some interesting items I found :)


Is mooncake festival coming???


Lotsa lotsa mooncakes in so many flavours.


I found A1 Bah-Kut-Teh!


Lotsa Asian sauces and spices. Lotsa Lee Kum Kee stuff too...


Traditional, classic penyapu :)



I wished I took more photos. But people in the shop were looking at me as though I just came out of prison. Haha...

Beautiful Sunset

Ahhh... beautiful sunset...
What a view to end a working day (n_n)/

Yet Another Visit to the Library

I feel that I didn't do the library justice (see: A Visit to the Library). So, I deliberately visit the library again JUST to take photos :P


The library outside. There's even a small playground for the kids.


The view inside the library. Nice, neat, warm and comfy :)


Books, books and more books...


Magazines!!


CDs


See, I told you that books can talk :P


MANGA!!!! My favourite section!!! YAY!!

Interesting Experience in Melb: Talking like Them

After some time, I began to realise, Aussies have their own slang too.

This is how they usually talk:

AAA: How is it going, mate?
BBB: Not too bad, not too bad. Yourself?
AAA: Not too bad myself.
BBB: Where you're heading to?
AAA: Aiiii am going to the Maccas (pronounce: Mec-kes). Feel like getting myself ayyeeee burger.
BBB: Beautiful!
AAA: Ye, ye. They have fantastic burgers. Would you like to join me?
BBB: Nah. Aiii'll skip. You go ahead and enjoy.
AAA: No worries.
BBB: Alrighty. Cheers.
AAA: Cheers.

Let me try to translate that into Malaysian.

AAA: Wei... Hoo mou? (English: How are you?)
BBB: Hoooo. Sek joh mei? (English: Good. Eat already?)
AAA: Wanna go Mac-Dee eat burger. You want?
BBB: Dunwan lar.
AAA: Ok lar. Bai-bai.
BBB: Bai-bai.

Note to those trying to speak like them:

• When starting a conversation, always ask how's the person's day is.


• When replying a "How are you" question, always say "Not too bad" TWICE. Followed by a question back to the other person, e.g.: "Yourself?"


• Use adjectives like "beautiful", "lovely" or "wonderful".


• Drag the "a" longer. E.g.: "It's a lovely day." >> "It's ayyyyeee lovely day."


• When giving respond or agreeing, say "ye" AT LEAST twice.


• When giving compliments, say things like "You're a star!".


• To say "alright", say "alrighty".


• To say "no problem", say "no worries".


• End the conversation with "Cheers" or "No worries".

Me? To them, I speak like an American. All thanks to their biggest import to Malaysia - Entertainment.

TV dramas. Movies. Reality shows. Music.

Love them or hate them, they teach us Eng-rish.

A Visit to the Library

After moving our our new place, we found out that there's a library nearby. So, one fine afternoon (yes, I WAS still unemployed. Note: past tense :P), I decided to pay the library a warm visit.

Lo and behold, the library was fantastic! It's modern. It's cozy. It's spacious. The staff are friendly. It has almost everything.

Yes, almost everything a library should have... including...

• Modern computers (WITH LCD monitors) for resource searching. Easy to use search features.


• Magazines - from food, automobile, cycling, fashion, lifestyle, etc. ... and even those 888 (read Cantonese: paht-paht-paht) magazine featuring Hollywood tabloids! Get your up-to-date news on Brangelina here :P


• Fictions - Lotsa lotsa them. Teenage novels. Romance novels. Chick-flicks. Murder and crime. Fantasy novels. Etc.


• Non-fictions - Books on travelling, cooking, automobile, religion, etc etc etc


• Non-English books - Err... don't really know what language they are, but I think they're some Russian and Greek books around.


• DVDs - Ya man! Watch movie for FREE at home...


• CDs - Oldies, Pop, R&B, Hip hop, etc...


• Books that talk - I mean, audible books. Why read when someone can do it for you?


• Graphic novels - There's a section labelled "Graphic Novels". Curious of what that means, I went to have a look. And surprise, surprise! The library have MANGA / COMIC. Hehe. I spent most of my time in this section.


• Internet - Yes, they have a section that looks like a cyber-cafe. But you have to book the time slot at least one day in advance.


• Useful facilities - Including child care center, story-telling center, discussion rooms, playground (outside of the library), and so on.

Sweeeeeet....

Happily, I signed myself up as a member. And even borrowed a few books.

• Car magazine - For my hubby dearest :)


• Cook books (Asian & Mediterranean) - Feel like cooking Paella and Ratatouille this week!


• Fictions - Some easy reading for my train/tram ride to work.

Moving

Yes! We're moving to our own unit. We rented a one-bedroom unit in a suburb about 20 minutes from CBD.

And moving was TOUGH! Especially since we "collected" so much stuff from the day we came to Melbourne. We carried stuff and went down (via lift) to our car, and up to the apartment, and then carried more stuff and went down to out car, and then up again, and down, and up... Ugh... I think my biceps and leg muscles are building up!

And thank God for our own mini pickup truck! Yup, I said it correctly. MINI PICK-UP TRUCK. We realised that our lovely Jazz is not really a hatchback car. You just drop the back passenger seats, and VOILA, it transformed into a mini-pickup truck!


I forgot to take a picture of it. This picture is courtesy from www.wheels24.co.za. Empty view.


Full and stuffed-like-sardine-can view. Hubby can hardly see the back via the rear mirror. Super dangerous!


Side view. The car is really stuffed to the max! And also, I had 3 or 4 super heavy items on my lap. For a moment, I think my blood stopped flowing to my toes.



It was a very, very, very dangerous drive. So, we drove very, very, very slowly.

And, prayed very, very, very hard not to be stopped by police...

...

Ya, I know, what a thing to pray...

Anyway, we reached our unit safely! Thank God!

Here we go again. Carry our stuff up to our unit (this time, we have to climb a fleet of STAIRS), and then down to our car to carry more stuff up, and down, and up, and down... More biceps and legs muscles and staminaaaaa!


Ta-da! Home sweet home!


Look at the amount of stuffs we have!


The bathroom.


The bedroom. We have to sleep on the floor for the first night! It was torturous!! The floor was so cold and so hard.


The kitchen.



Sweeeeeeeeet...

After we had moved everything from the car into the unit, we prayed and commit the house to God. We prayed that the house will be filled to the abundance His presence and His love.

Amen.