Community Work, or Lost In Stereo

I went to Sukau over this weekend (well, four days to be exact). Went there all fired up and prepared to work. 'Cos that's what I do. I have this heart (like my momma, who I have recently added on Facecake) for the STOP people who are the.... Uhm, Sick, Torn, Oppressed and Poor (I think). And so I like going out and in to the interior to help and do work and stuff. I like it. I like seeing the looks on their faces when we help them. I also like the little children who, for some reason, have this liking for me, and follow me everywhere, and they don't pronounce my name right, so I just let them call me Koko.

So anyway, there I was, ready for something like Pitas (we had like 600 people there in one day where they were waiting for us to arrive), when we were sorely disappointed; We only had 220 people there in both days. The need wasn't there. But it was still good to help out.

This time I did eye check duty and photo taking/ printing.

Now, I have to explain this in greater detail. My mother does this 'ministry' where she takes photos for kampung people and gives them the photos instantly in photo frames (sponsored), via the two Selphy printers that we have (also sponsored). It may not seem as significant or as helpful as medicinal aid and stuff, but it does lift their morale and make them happy, and it's a good way of gaining trust.

Made good friends too, with this dude called Jamil. We used his house to take the family pictures, and we got talking about cameras and stuff. Long story short, I'm thinking of buying his camera: D2x Nikon! And he plays music and all too, and he's really nice and friendly, and me and mum and Uncle Geoff went to a Kampung Wedding because of him =D It was a good experience. I can now say I have, and I think they were delighted to have a Caucasian there.

So yeah, I was doing a lot of photo printing and taking, along with Jamil and Mum. And some of the people there are pretty fussy about it. Not the way they look or anything, but the amount of copies we gave. It's specifically one photo in a frame per family, and they want more. HELLO? We're already given you free stuff. Give it a rest.

Consumption for What Is Perceived to be the Mind, But Is Actually the Heart, or Starships

Isn't it great to be happy? I like being happy. All the time. Why, I aspire to have a smile on my face as well as a smile on the faces on others around me. That's why sometimes I do silly things or skip happily or act energetically so on first impression, that's the impression I give. So many times I have had people giggling at my general direction, and when I approach them and smile sweetly enquiring what's wrong, I usually get things like "Why are you always so happy?", "You're so energetic today" and sometimes "WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU".

It's good to be happy. You're outlook on life is more positive. When I woke up and got out of bed a while ago I would have been all zombie-Nigel mode. Oh wait. Sometimes I still do. But that's because I'm sleepy, so yeah yeah. I get out of bed happy, and if I wake to the voice of another, well, that just means the whole day is going to be a great day, just because it had a great start, no matter how crappy the middle is.

I like being happy. It's like food for the soul or the heart, or something. There's something about being happy about something, like getting good grades, but if you can set your mind to be happy about absolutely nothing at all... Wow. I salute you, and skip merrily by your side. Happy happy happy!

Happy, joyful, exuberant, jubilant, glad. All these words describe emotions that make your mouth twitch in to that wonderful smile of yours. These words make you laugh, they make you clap, they make you cry, sometimes. These words can spur you to jump for, what else, joy.

Isn't it great to be happy?

Well I'm pretty happy! Eventhough I'm not, I am... If you understand that.

Whataday, or The Sound Of Settling

Phew. Today has been quite the day. I am exhausted, and I have no mood to blog (eventhough my blog is in serious need of human touch to its words).

I was so stressed out though, SO SO SO stressed out, but in the end, things worked out well, thanks God! You're like, the best, really! Prayer is power, and power is awshum!

Today I received something wonderful, became an evil gamemaster, sang a song that I think I shouldn't go around singing, drove three different cars, ate a burger, drove up and down I was probably on the road for more than an hour, unloaded a bunch of crap with (barely any) help, lost something, found something, went to see a friend in a crisis, met up with new friends and finally was able to see an old friend. And these words just don't justify it all. It doesn't.

I was at the Backpackers Cafe in KK, and it said that on this date, in 1947, a Japanese General was executed for war crimes in Borneo. What a coincidence!

It was a good day, though. No regrets. Except misplacing my bag.

DISC, or What You Waiting For

I got back on Thursday night, and my mum poked me and said, "Nigel, tomorrow you help me run event again ah." Erm, okay, fine, sure...

Now before I give a downlo of what happened, let me just explain what DISC is. DISC stands for Dominant, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. These four traits are the main personalities that the rest of human behaviour can be more or less derived from.

Let's shove a few examples to quickly explain:

Cleaning a Whiteboard:

D- Quickly orders someone to get the job done

I- "WHEE LET'S CLEAN THE WHITEBOARD WHEE"

S- Waits for someone to ask him/her before moving to the whiteboard to clean it

C- Calculates the best way to effectively clean the whiteboard

When the Roof Caves in:

D- Organises a crew to help clear the rubble and aid the wounded

I- "WOAH, THE ROOF CAVED IN! AWSHUM!"

S- Huddles in a corner

C- Works in his mind why the roof caved in in the first place

A few people of DISC characters in the Bible:

D- Paul. Paul is a typical D, hardheaded and strong.

I-Peter. He get's things going.

S-Abraham. Mr. Behind The Scenes worker.

C-Moses. He charts the course (People argue he's got some D in him, and of course he does. Everyone does, so shut up and let me explain)

Anyway, so my sister, Andrew, Kah Mun and I were helping my momma out that night. Apart from Mum, me and Andrew were given walkie talkies. We were dressed up in super formal black (someone said debonair) (except for Andrew; He wasn't dressed up THAT much), and both of us ran around helping coordinate the whole show: From the release time of the alcoholic beverages (after the PM's speech) to registration ("Good evening sir... Yes you may sit there") to cueing (?) the guest performers, like the runner up from the latest season of Akedemi Fantasia (what was her name... Akilaah or something, but she was cute), to standing on the stage to hold the bowl of lucky draw slips.

It was pretty 'fun', in the sense that I got to boss people older than me around, and watch them wait on my call (that's the Control-Freak D in me), scurrying around serving food, and doing things I tell them to. When things go wrong, though, it's frustrating, because it's the event organisers who get the blame, not the hotel staff, or the performers.

Thankfully there were no major slip-ups. The hotel staff, however, are some of the most slow (mentally and physically) people I have ever met (and hello, the Chief Minister is here); I had to poke their supervisors twice to get them to hurry up and get more people working.

This event was the Shell Sabah Journalist Association Awards (OR SOMETHING), and it's held annually, every year, once a year. I met a few people who could be future contacts in the future, so that's a good thing. Who knows, maybe next year I could be a participant instead of the one running around?

Funny thing? I met my father there, who was a guest of his friend. And my mum was there. Awkward...

I did get to enjoy some booze after. A bottle of J, anyone?

Helium Balloons, or Sweetness (Jimmy Eats World)

My Chem tutor told me that the reason that our voices become all high-pitched and freaky when we inhale helium is because the density of the air that we inhale is not as dense as normal air, and so the vibrations caused by our voicebox is faster, causing our pitch to become higher than usual.

Also, helium balloons have to fall down one day. This is because (insert reason here because I have no idea why this happens). I am so smart.

Why talk about helium, you say? The lojik applied in science usually, generally and almost always applies in our everyday lives. This lojik makes a lot of sense, and it makes us nod our heads and go "Oh yeah kan". Lojik is the currency of reasoning: If you have not lojik, you reason poorly, or not at all.

What goes up eventually has to come down. Cindy told me this one day, and I pointed out to her that I told her that first, and she just laughed. It is true, though. Good times come to an end. Bad times come to end. All time will come to an end. What you do while your balloon floats up there is what counts: You don't want to waste your time floating up there doing nothing. You want to do something. You want to be worthwhile.

There is always a push and pull. In Karate, we learnt that the sharper our negative reaction, the more powerful our outwards thrust. I've applied it and see it at work physically (ask the people I poke), but now I come to realise that it works socially as well. It does. TRUST ME!

How are you going to spend your time at the top?

---

I'M SO STRESSED OUT WITH ALL THIS CAMP STUFF, ALONG WITH THE OTHER THINGS I HAVE TO CLEAR UP BEFORE I LEAVE FOR CAMP/ MIRI. STRESS. OUT.

TEKANAN. KELUAR.

And I've been unusually, strangely and oddly hungry lately. I don't understand. It can't be that I'm exercising more lately. I get hungry at the strangest of times: Lunch time, after lunch time, in the middle of the night, when I wake up, after I exercise. Ask the people I've been around. They've seen (and heard) me eat recently.

Things in life have been a chaotic bag of chaos. Inside is crap. I hate that crap. I wish it would go away. But I found this picture in Matthew Lee''s house one day:

I want to be like that. I want to learn how. I just need a partner to laugh along with my mistakes, to be there when I'm down. I don't expect you to solve my problems: I want you to be there, and let your presence just comfort me. Love is not selfish. Love bears all things. I'm bearing as much as I can.

I want someone to dance with me, as sweetly and as silently as possible.

Teeth, or Littlest Things

At Bel's bakery (Walnut at Foh Sang, go there and buy bread, and maybe I can ask them to give me some for free) I had to sit for awhile to wait for my sister. Contrary to what my mother thinks, I wasn't THAT much of a kelefe... I had to discuss some things with Eleni, and after that I found this book lying open on one of the tables.

It was a book on sex. But it looked... Interesting (besides, there was nothing to do), and so I started reading. I was so engrossed in it that time flew by, and I didn't realise that I could've just gone home. Instead, I just read and read and read, and I made the owner promise me that I could borrow it once I was done.

I'm not going to go in to much details. I mean, we all know the drill right: Sex is holy, sex is pure, sex is something that needs to wait for marriage. We know the details, right? But what are we doing about it?

What's your excuse for not having sex before marriage? Religion? Is that HONESTLY it? That, to me, after reading that book, isn't really a good reason at all. If you want to know more you can ask me personally. But yeah, good read, I can't wait to get my hands on it again!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honestly, I have no idea why I started that rant. Wasn't really a rant to begin with, but whatever.

There's a lot left in this year. A LOT. Lotsa things to do, lotsa things to get through. Imagine, that it was January just a little earlier this year. It seems a lifetime ago, but it passed by so very very fast. I very very much so despised my life last year: Not the experiences and situations I went through, but the person I was. I wasn't myself. I was... Different.

I'm back (as close as possible) to the person I once was, but... But I'm, in a sense, 'stronger'. I realise that sometimes, I need to be serious. Sometimes, I need to stop fooling around. I'm still learning, but I take life in with every chance that I get, not taking it for granted.

Recently I've been... Confused. I wasn't sure of the road to take. Down a new path, or up the same one that I've followed for so long? Before I could make a proper decision, the new path shed some light on the truth. The truth amazed me; I expected it, but not so soon. I was shocked, and so I wanted to run down that road, but that wasn't the right thing to do. I had to stroll down the path, take in the scenery, all the little things, because I wasn't on these paths for want of a means to a destination. Rather, it was the journey I was on that really counted. And so far, I'm enjoying the sights, sounds and warmth of this new path. This path was something that seemed very... Comfortable. Like I was already used to the path; I knew the turns and bends even before I approached it, and I knew where to go. There were still some things I needed to learn, but I had time. Oh, I had nothing but time. This experience is... It was...

Different.

Sorry about that, it was all very very cryptic, and even the people that know what I'm talking about will find it a little hard to understand!

Being enigmatic is useful to a lesser extent. Eh.

Show me your teeth when you smile.

Full-On Freak-Out, or I Wanna

My body aches so bad. I'm so out of shape!

But I think that, if I go the gym more often, I'll be in shape. Aha.

Hmm.

So yesterday I went to the gym. Me, Kimbo, Joshua Ronald and Adren went to the Sutera Harbour gym, where we're all members, and 'worked out' (Adren ditched us to play tennis after awhle). I just jogged a lot (6.5 Km, which to some of you isn't a lot, but to me at this time, IT IS), and did some ab work and a little bit of upper body exercises. This morning at church me and Josh were flicking each other's sternum (is it? Not too sure, I don't take Bio), which caused some painful wincing.

You were the one who raised me from birth.

But oh, you've changed so very very much.

What happened? Yeesh.

I went to pick my mother up from the airport just now. The first thing she said to me was, "What are you wearing? You look ridiculous." That's really what you want to hear from your mother. I think something's going on with her; something that she's not telling us. She's grumpy, touchy, and easily irritated, and even more unreasonable than she normally is. Stubborn and resolute, she's not going to give in to anything, so I surmised it's simpler to just walk away. And it's working, in a way.

I didn't realise I mean that much to you.

I mean, I did, but not now.

Just a hug?

After the meeting, something just pushed me into your direction, and give you a long awaited hug. I still don't know if that was the right thing for me to do. Maybe I should stay away, away again. It worked that way, didn't it? The silence. That's for the best.

But it's not what we want.

NOW IMMA GO LAZE AROUND THE HOUSE, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Why can't the holidays come faster? Come faster! COME EH!!!!

You Are Practical, or Underneath

You Are Practical

You have your feet firmly planted on the ground, and you are very sensible. You always seem to know what to do, and if not, you can sort things out on a long walk. You are like comfort food for the soul. You set your friends (and even strangers) at ease. You take extra good care of yourself, and because of this, you have a lot to give back to those you love.

Seriously? Man I rock!

The Little Things We Share, or Hanging By The Moment

Isn't it great that there are just so many things to talk about in this world? How easy it is to change from one topic to another topic with ease?

Okay, what nonsense that is, right? Both sentences do not have to do anything with each other. As many topics about anything and everything in the world (music, movies, books, food, food, food, school, porcupines), and indeed, there are many things (including food), it isn't always easy to talk to someone.

I know A LOT of people who are chatterboxes, but those boxes are closed; shut tight, firmly locked. All you need is the key to open this box, and voilà! Instant chatterbox (just add water). So many of these people complain on the inside of being lonely and that no one ones to be their friend. Believe it or not, I was one of those people. All it took was someone to open me up.

I'm generally like that, too. Whenever I go to a new place, I don't talk to anyone. I plug in my iPhone, listen to music, and alienate myself from the strange surroundings. As soon as someone starts talking to me, though, I open up to them, and the earphones are put away.

It's like that story of the frog? The frog who is taking a bath, and the water gets too warm, and he gets comfortable, and after awhile he's boiled alive. Disgusting as that may sound, the whole point of the story is "don't get comfortable with what you're doing. Complacency is dangerous". And Indeederific, it is.

Over the past few weeks, I've been making new friends, making old friends, making a mess, and making a plan (okay, that's not grammatically correct, but I need to put 'making' one more time). I'm devising a plan for my mother on mother's day, and I'm not sure how big it will be, but it will definitely be successful, eh Josh? But I know you don't read my blog, so never mind. If anyone is reading this and knows Josh Ronald tell him to start blogging again, he hasn't done it for 9 months.

Anyway, I hope this people skill thing comes in handy one day. In fact, I hope I'm able to make a living out of it. That'd be great, because it'd cut studying time.

Which reminds me.

I have my exams in a week's time.

It doesn't feel like it though.

Ah well. BZZT.

Note for self: Lol, remember at the start of your blog, where you refused to write about yourself and what happened everyday? That's what you've become, Nigel. This is the kind of shit you should be writing again.

Note: I love my scarf!

The Sharpest Edge, or Don't Quit! Not Quite!

The Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?

Alice Kingsley: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.

And I find this to be quite true, actually. Like Joshua Ronald's shirt says, "Well behaved people seldom make a difference." It takes just on person to step out and change the world. In fact, it took only vote for Hitler to come in to power. So yes, if anyone says that one person makes not the difference, that is in fact WRONG.

We have to stand up for what we believe in. It is okay to have anger, but do not let anger have you. We have to be stubborn and unmovable for what we believe in. When asked on Saturday, "Are you ready to die for Jesus?", I averted my eyes, because I believed I was, but when the situation comes, what will really happen? Because saying something and doing it are two completely different things.

If you were not at the Cutting Edge conference, you missed not a good conference, not a great conference, but an important conference. It's about or nation, generally, and some people confuse it for being something political. There is NOTHING political about God, guys. Religion is political. God is not.

I won't go into details, because that would take awhile. Just know that God has risen up a Generation to declare.

On a side note, I played bass again for the first time this year! It was great to play for a Rally again. I enjoyed the Praise and Worship a lot, even though my lack of practice caused me to make tons of mistakes. Ps. Sam told me on Sunday that he "enjoyed watching me play. The enthusiasm on your (my) face is very encouraging." And I try my best to show when I serve, I suppose.

And people like the song we wrote! People are asking for the mp3 and the chords and all. I'm just so encouraged by that. It's not me, but He who lives in me. It's me making a difference in a way that

I know how.

Mum is sick. I slept all day. And there's school tomorrow. And there's work to do.

On the bright side, Chelsea won! =D

Yes, Carm. I am awesome. Just admit it.

I See Now, or When You're Looking Like That

I got sick recently. I think it was due to the bug going around, and also due to the fact that my mother isn't here, I have the house to myself, and the late nights out. Sure, I have a Wii, but again, I didn't buy the Wii to play it myself, it's more of a party thing. I never stayed up late Wii-ing. Rather, I'd be out, or in, watching movies or something.

But I'm all better now, and the work is piling up. I tried doing my Math and Account work, but somehow, after finishing one chapter of Math, I couldn't figure anything out anymore. My brain got stuck. So that leaves me with half a chapter of Math and a total of 6 Account questions (for those of you who don't know, Account questions take an average of 25 minutes to complete, each), and I tried doing them, but I honestly couldn't. ARGH. The one time I actually am committed to doing work and I can't. WHY WORLD, WHY?

Anyway,

Please, if you feel anything for Malaysia, even remotely, please come. Don't ask questions, this will only take at most two-and-a-half hours of your time (if you only come for the rally, 7.30pm, 1st May, Skyline SIB). You really want to know, ask me about it personally.

I'm giving up on my work, and going to bed, reminiscing on Suit Up, which, by the way, went alright. As last minute as it was, we did make a HUGE impression on the church, but sadly, and I hate to say this, but my mother wasn't there to take brilliant photos of us in our marvellous and fantabulous looking sooooots. Instead I had Jo-Hanna taking photos, but she wasn't used to my camera so we only got mediocre shots.

Anyway, I just need to survive this week (Especially tomorrow when I meet my math and account teacher, who, whopee, are the same person), and when Friday night comes Tristana (my Nikon) comes out and I'm snapping pics for Cutting Edge. Apart from that we have practices on Wednesday and Thursday, so that means every single night from now for this week is occupied.

Come, yes? Come and be blessed in, and in return be a blessing yourself. We're playing The Declaration, ahahah... When I first heard it being played by anybody but myself, it was like "Wow, haha, okay, okay.. Wow, haha", so you can get that I didn't really know what to feel about it.

Have you watched My Sassy Girl (English, not lame-ass Korean)? It teaches you that leaving things to Fate or Destiny or "Whatever will be will be" is simply the stupidest, most passive thing to do.

If you want something, you have to do something? Logic, yes?

ARGH STRGWTGR HOMEWORK

Legendary, or Lullabies

One word of advice, before I start.

GET ENOUGH REST BEFORE MISSION TRIPS

Okay, now! It begins! The tale of Dandun, Pitas.

Slept at 1am, forgetting that I would have to wake up at 4.30 to pack.

So I did wake up at 5 (haha slept woot!) to pack, albeit hurriedly, but I packed everything, nothing was forgotten, so there!

Set off to go McDonalds/Shell, where we were all meeting to depart as a convoy.

Went with Melvyn, who was driving Ps. Philip's car. I know, awesome right? WRONG. That car has minimal pickup. Heck, there were Kias speeding past us at times.

Was a bumpy ride when we went off road, we got lost a total of TWO times, which set us off schedule of course. Raining pretty heavily.

Started unloading everything off the cars in to the hall: medicine, towels, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, brooms, tables; the like. This wasn't a regular mission trip: This was a medical trip, where we work together with the government to provide treatment for the interior dudes.

Set up consisted of preparing stations:

Registration>Height and Weight>Temperature>Blood Pressure/Deworming>Doctors>Medicine Collection>Goodies

So what was my job? I took pictures and helped out wherever I could. Pictures later.

After that went to the suspension bridge.

After THAT, went to play in the river. That was FUN, playing with the little kids there, splashing water everywhere. I think they love me.

Shower up, dinner.

Went to watch MU vs ManC. EPIC game... Last goal was so... Epic.

After that, went to eat porridge with Rachel Lee. Stayed up with her and random people till like 4.15. I blame her, it's mostly her fault.

Woke up at 7.15. Walk around like zombie awhile.

9.30 went to church.

Halfway through church, though, I was suddenly called to act for the children in a separate building. We did the prodigal son, and guess who that was? Me.

Went to set up Medical Centre one last time, then it was just helping out with the medical side of things again.

Left there at 4 smth and arrived back at 7.30. Woo.

Had dinner with mum, Kimbo and Melvyn.

That was pretty simple and straight forward. And that was just what happened.

Overall, the experience was amazing for me. As tired as I am (believe me, I'm dead tired. Do the math, and you'll see that I slept for an amazing total of about 7 hours in 2 days), I have to write down what happened while it is fresh in my mind.

I gave away to caps to two children there. Those actions, of course, garnered me a lot of attention from children bugging me for caps and candy, which I carried around at most times. It's a good way to communicate and make them do things.

Mum brought up two Canon Selphy printers, where we printed photos as my mother took them, put them in photo frames and gave them to the people. This was another good way to make them sit down and not run around (parents and children included), because it was pretty much chaos in that place. They were generally quite happy to receive pictures of themselves, though it did cause a bit of problem, which shall not be elaborated on.

The river was fun. Children were playing in the river butt naked, boys and girls together, and even when two sisters almost drowned, their friends swam in to help them and continued playing. Only me and Aunty Jenny dared to go into the water; everyone else just stood at the riverside and watched us. All I said was," You don't get to do this everyday."

I won't bother commenting on the football game.

The real fun begins at 10.30. The majority of 10.30pm-4.15 am the next day was spent at what me and Rachel-

Okay, pause a moment. I made a new friend, Rachel Lee. It's not true to say that I didn't know her before. I mean, we went to the same church and all, but we barely talked to each other at all. We both somehow clicked, being around the same age (her a year older than me), and at the camp we just hanged around a lot doing tasks together. In a way I'm glad that I got to know somebody that was around, but I never knew. Our families our kinda simliar and all too, but never mind, back to the story.

-referred to as 'Harry's Place'. Uncle Harry was my mum's friend who she invited to go in this trip because he's a super safari guy. He has a meanass car, and meanass camping gear to go with it. He had a box full to the brim with different types of instant noodles, a water boiler (camping style, no current needed), and all sorts of stuff.

Anyway, Harry's Place was where me, Rachel, Harry and two friends, plus two doctors for awhile gathered, along with the night-watch people. In the end, when everyone fell asleep, it was sorta just me, Rachel and Uncle Harry, and the night-watch for the hour (they took turns- Josh Siaw and somebody, Alvin and somebody, Eric Foo and somebody, Etc). Me and Rachel talked endlessly, made it rain on each other, looked at the beautiful night sky, made Ipoh White Coffee, while all the while talking with the night watch people and Darrell, and eating chicken ginseng porridge made by Uncle Jeffery. It was an epic night, and the memories are still there, but I can't be bothered to write it all.

I am EXHAUSTED. And I have an Oral test for my O levels tomorrow. Should I upload pictures? Nah they're on Facebook.

Now was it Legendary? The best part, though?

It brought me back to me and you, Ri. Funny, ain't it? It's where it all began.

Go again? Sign me up!

What's It To Ya, or Don't Trust Me

xvc

You know those super awesome killer long weekends where Friday is a holiday? Thing about these long weekends are that they are usually wasted with sleeping at home.

Not this time!

Friday

Friday was Good Friday, and it was the Goodest Good Friday ever in the history of me. Woke up bright and early to go with Bernard, Maxine, Val, Deanna, Jo and her colleague to go on an eating spree. Went all the way up to Tuaran to have Tuaran mee.

After that, went to eat Loh Kan, which is actually seafood (which I usually never touch), but it was SO good, that I had to have some.We ordered 80 of these babies, and I had like 10. Only. Still, better than nothing.

After that, we headed to 1B (we still couldn't figure out why we decided to do this), and we had McDonalds ice-cream (in my case I had a sundae, McFlurry and vanilla milkshake) (Some people know who to turn to when they're not hungry any more). We then proceeded to Toys R Us where we had the time of our LIFE. We spent an hour-and-a-half there playing with all the times and laughing our heads off. Great fun.

After that, went back home, grabbed my stuff, went to shower at Maxine's house, and then went to Bella Itallia for dinner (more food I know). Some Vedablu after, then me n Bernard went to Clash of the Titans, but there were no good seats, so we went to go play pool instead. Nick Lee called us after a few games, and we went for supper at Salim.

A Food-Filled Friday, haha. Awesomeness.

Saturday

Saturday was actually boring, haha, until Youth. I just used the computer and slept until like 6.30, then went to Youth, where I was observing constantly my iPod for football updates, and, thank God, CHELSEA WON M. U.!!! No surprise, really. Anyway, Youth was great, Ps. Siaw (yes, the term I coined actually stuck) preached, good message, disgusting beauty pageant though.

Then he asked me to go up and intro the song we wrote (PRESS ON). I had to recount the story for like the third time. And they sang it! It was good, in my opinion, anyway.

After Youth ended, talked to Yien's friend for awhile (A lot, actually). She's reading the same book as me now, what a Coinkidink! The Zahir by Paulo Coelhr, wonderful book, unheard by many, but she was reading it too!!! Scary. Didn't catch her surname though, Nicole something.

Had supper at Lido there. Wonderful Kweh Teow Soup.

Sunday (Easter)

Woke up early, Banjo picked me up and we headed to church. Was doing two things for Easter, so went early for practice. I'll skip that.

Easter started good, Praise was wonderful. Then was the children's thingy, which could have been better (ever the critic, I am). But they did the job they were supposed to, so praise God.

Then some message, then Joshua did a duet with Cindy, then it was time for my skit.

Did a skit with Deanna and Nathan, where I'm the Devil (yes, me) in a way. Malas want to recall the skit. It's about forgiveness and slavery or smth like that. I had fun doing it, so yeah.

Then after a lot of stuff, went on stage to finish the service with Who Am I, My Chains Are Gone, and Oh Happy Day (Love that song, man!).

After service went to Grand Port View to eat, after that went to the US navy ship thing. It wasn't all that bad, in the end.

It WAS freezing cold though.

We were SOAKING wet. Literally. We dripped all along their nice shiny floor, hehe.

They gave us a tour of most of the ship, really friendly guys, we went to the anchor room and the control room, and also the deck, but it was really cold, so we went back inside real quick. The picture above is from the deck.

This picture is of their canteen.

After the tour, me, Clem, Nick and Jon Lim ran to the car, SOAKING DRIPPING wet. I lost my tag in the rain so I had to go out cold and freezing to get it.

Now, however, comes the highlight of the weekend.

How Clement Lee Fainted

We went to City Mall after the US navy thing. Jon Lim wanted to donate some blood ( I don't know why, in the end he couldn't because they couldn't find his vein or something), and he ask Clem to donate some too (you had to be 18 and above to donate). So Clem was allowed to donate, and he lied down on the stretcher thing. They tried on his left arm, but they burst something(!), so they had to do it on his right arm. He had been injected with anaesthetic twice now (from both arms), so he was giggling a fair bit, giggled when I talked to him, giggled when I told him he was giggling, etc.

Anyway, so he successfully donated a large amount of blood. I stayed with him for awhile while the rest were with Jonny boy, and just talked to him, 'cos he needed to lie down for awhile. After 5 minutes he got up, but he felt dizzy so we guided him to the chair and he sat down and we gave him Milo to drink (he got like this huge bag of goodies for donating blood).

After awhile, we were all, "let's get him something to eat" so we started walking to KFC. Suddenly Clem stopped mid-speech, and his legs were collapsing-ish. In my mind I was all "wtf", and me n Jon who were standing either side of him caught him, but he was so heavy we needed Patrick and another random guy to help us drag him to a nearby chair while people were looking on.

While this was happening, his eyes were open, and we were all talking to him, but he wasn't responding. I was seriously freaking out a bit by then.

This lady out of nowhere produced a white little thing (which turned out to be a sweet), and waved it in front of his face. After a while, he blinked, and squinted at the sweet. He actually blacked out, so yeah. Hard for him to grasp what was going on. Anyway, long story short, we stayed with him, fed him, fanned him, made sweet drinks for him, and his parents came, all worried.

Really interesting moment of my life, hehe. Clement may not be the nicest person in the world, but through this, he has garnered my respect. Honestly. He sent me home after all that again, lol.

Had dinner with Kara, then here I am at home!

So yeah, it was one of those weekends. Those better ones, I suppose. Crab actually came to church again (surprise number 2!), that was good. Ate way too much food, that's good too. Made a new friend, Nicole, which is good I suppose. Easter was good, which is good. (XD).

Best of all though? I don't know. But hey, more's to come. Cutting Edge, people, end of this month! More details to come.

Can I rant for awhile? Haha, thank you.

I hate it when people say they want to leave it to God, but remain completely passive. What's passion for if there is no action? Being indecisive and staying that way is only your own downfall. You make mistakes only to get up again, and that's where I've been. So yeah, here's to you lukewarmers out there. Go do something. PRESS ON!

Soon to come: You'll be hearing The Declaration soon, this I promise :) Whooahooah!

Never again, Ri! Haha, I'm not mad.

Looking Busy, Doing Nothing, or Starlight

Last night I was privileged enough to attend the Chief Minister of Sabah's, that is, Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Musa bin Haji Aman, birthday party. It was at his private residence and it went on well in to the night.

This blogpost is really going to be useless, because I'm not allowed to post any pictures about it, or say anything much about the party, but it was an interesting experience. I wasn't invited, of course, but I was asked by my mother to help out (my mum was organising the event). So apart from taking photographs here and there, I sat at the kelefe table far away from the rest of the tables with the other kelefe people (my mum's workers, the band, the sound and light guys) to eat and drink.

The food was gooood. Catered from Hyatt, it was a very good, free meal for me, heheh. Had like tons of sushi.

I really didn't do much there, but it was interesting to see what our CM is like in private. He's a very friendly man, he is.

A side note is that most people there was a Datuk, so if you shouted "Datuk!" probably half of the guests would turn around to look at you shout. Haha.

All in all, I think it went pretty well. So Happy Birthday, Datuk Seri, may you keep Sabah in working class conditions.

Did I mention it rained yesterday? Well it did, and guess who played in the rain?

All of our Chief Ministers have Wikipedia pages 0.0

It's Coming, Whatya Want From Me

Can you see the clouds? Can you feel the chill? The rain's coming. And if it doesn't, then we'll just have to make do, but no thinking like that. Believe it's coming.

It's March already, and next week it's going to be April. More than a quarter way through there, means that time is ticking ticking ticking away. It's already been 17 years of my life, and here we all stand in 2010.

In 1993 I was born.

In 1994 I learned to read.

In 1995 I went to school.

I have no idea what happened in 1996.

In 1997 I went to London (I think, crap I can't remember).

In 1998 I almost graduated from Kindergarten, but I didn't.

In 1999 I actually did graduate.

In the beginning of the 2nd Millenium, I started public school.

In 2001 I went to Australia for the first time.

2002 was the most carefree year of my entire life. There was no stress, no worries, just plenty of fun, my family still intact.

2003 was when I started to grow up. Remember my mother caned me for getting bad results.

2004 was the year our choral speaking team went all the way to Penang. Good times. Not so good for my household though.

In 2005 we had UPSR. "WOAH", we thought. How insignificant, eh?

In 2006 took my first step as a Secondary schooler.

2007 was a roller coaster of emotions, and dissapointments, and generally not feeling very happy, but there were enough good moments to cover for that.

2008 was the best and worst year of my life.

In 2009, I added the most number of Facebook friends ever, bar none. Bittersweet year.

What else do you want, 2010? You want my sanity too? Come get some! You've still got

365-31-28-22=264 more days left to ruin it. I'm determined to survive this year, eventhough, as I predicted, it would suck.

Anyone up for paintball?

The Declaration, or Dare You To Move

Last night we didn't have worship practice, but Josh Ronald asked me to go so we could work on our previous song (PRESS ON!! PRESS ON!!) a bit and to write a new one. Since I had a gist of a song in my head already, I was all for it.

So we went and fiddled with Press On, then we came up with what may well be the BEST SONG EVARR!

The Declaration

Music and Words by:Joshua Ronald, Nigel Chee and Joshua Siaw

This song is our act of declaration for the greatest and most worthy of causes.

Intro

A E B C#m x2

Verse

E F#m A

The mighty things you’ve done I know by heart, I know by heart

E F#m A

Though I may not understand the things you do for me

C#m B A

Still your promises remain

C#m B A B

Promises that help me let the whole world see, that

Chorus

A B G#m C#m

This is our declaration, whoa whoa

A B G#m C#m

Sing out your proclamations, whoa

A E B C#m

That Jesus lives in me, and now I’m gonna let the whole world know

A B

That Jesus lives

Inside of me

Bridge

A E

Now I’ll run with wild abandon

B C#m

‘Cos the truth has set me free

A E B

Christ in me the hope of Glory

A/C# E/B

I’m gonna finish this race

B/D# C#m

With the strength that he gives

A/C# E/B

I’m gonna shout out ‘Jesus lives!’

B/D# C#m

And He saves, He saves

BEST PART EVER

A E B C#m

WHoaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooo whoaaaaaa oooooooo who ah oh ah ohhhhhh

WOOT BEST SONG EVARRRR! Glory to God! (not part of the song)

The actual only reason I posted this is so that if I forget I can always use my iPhone to come back online and check the lyrics and chords. The Woah melody is still stuck in my head.

Did I mention Revo came? Must say that there should always be two nights to a Rally: The first is the 'Rally', where people actually come to know about it. The second night is the 'Harvest', and we know what happens there. We know that the Revo here was supposed to end with a bang, but somehow the atmosphere wasn't right. Next time, Revo team, we're waiting. But we don't need them to be energised. Hey! Be the change! Write amazing songs like me XD I'm joking of course.

But really. This is how I know to make a change; it may not be as impac-ful as other revolutionaries, but hey, it's a change.

What are you going to change?

Release, or Let It Happen

I have finally got over her, after what seems like almost 5 months of struggle. It's not painful for me anymore. Now I'm free, and it looks like you're the one having a stressful life now. I can't help, because to you, I'm not the person I once was.

How did it happen? I woke up and realised it. Now on to people who actually want to talk to me.

I've reached that stage. Are we all happy now?

It's Your Day/100, or Stella

This weekend, or rather, this whole week has taken it's toll on me.

Quick recap mode!

Monday: Oh. Nothing actually

Tuesday: After school, went lunch with ma dad, then went to All Saints to go say hi and help the Debate team out, who by the way won! Congratulations! Quad smth smth smth. Forgot the school motto lol. Then again, who remembers it right.

Wednesday; OKAY. It starts here. Lee Clan took me out for dinner then went to worship prac, where I'm haunted by "Press On" wherever I go.

Thursday: Straight after school, picked up by my driving instructor, had two hours of driving lessons, then drove all the way back home from ADC. Freaking scary. The car died twice ><

After that, Kristal took me out to go watch the sun set, then dinner at Upperstar KK.

Friday: Went to the Marcus Clan's house to celebrate Joshwel's bday. Stayed there for like half the day.

Saturday: Got up at like 6 smth, went to Kota Marudu with mum, Bossman aka Uncle Richard, and Ps. Kee Chuan in the car. Kota Marudu was awesome, saw a lot of our stuff there (we donated a lot of things to the hostel, so we saw like 4 paintings there, two tables, and our mattress, along with alot of our clothes). Came down afternoon, then rested then went to youth, then went home late, and stayed up pretty late too.

Sunday: Got up early again, went to church early cos singing in choir. Played Majesty brass cos Willie didn't show, then went eat lunch with youth, said goodbye to Kristal, then went for a DotA session with the guys, pretty fun, then went home, and now at the com typing this.

Really tiring week. And this post marks the 100th post of this dying blog. To celebrate this occasion, I think I'll go to sleep.

Happy Birthday Crab.

Press On, Press On, or Beyond The Sea

When I signed up for the Worship Retreat last week, I didn't even know when it was, where it was, and what was happening. Blindly I woke up on Friday morning and rushed off to the retreat away from my mother.

I would take me a while to describe what happened, so suffice to say I nearly got lost at sea, was forced to sing a song about it, wake up at ungodly hours (okay, not really), eat horrible tasting fruits, swim in chlorinated water, be sexually harassed by Joshua Ronald, eat, sleep, talk, laugh, take pictures, push people into pools, play on the slide, get stuck on the slide, beat JR up for making us get stuck on the slide, and so many other things that I really won't go in to details. You can ask me personally if you really desire to know.

I'll upload the pictures on Facebook sometime, the uploader here is giving me a hard time.

Pastor Rob Scott hugged me and said that God asked him to give me a hug. He said he only hugged two people, and wow, one of them was me. He said that he could see something inside of me, something good, and the rest I'll keep to myself, because maybe they were words for my ears only. But that was one anointed man, that was. Not just because he spoke to me, but because he knows what he's doing.

Hah! And I had to sing on stage last minute on Sunday? Joshua's strap falling off during the whole thing? Me running to replace it? Us smashing Jon's face into a cake? Kristal coming back? Eating two portions of lunch? Watching a movie?

That's just an ordinary Sunday. Man I'm exhausted.

Before The Sleep, or This Love

It's not fair to say that I've been busy. I've been appropriating my time to different matters, would be more correct factually.

Poor momma, her foot got stabbed by a piece of glass. But she's a fighter, my mom is, and I've never seen her cry so hard, but she stuck it through and went to church and still had enough energy to host our open house the next day.

Oh, about that. Sorry for not inviting youse peoples. It was a last minute thing, my mum was like "Hey Nigel, call your friends come to the house tomorrow." If I knew before, I'd have asked all youse peoples to come, and I only managed to invite a few of you. My house not that big bah. They even crashed my bed to the floor (but that wasn't really their fault also).

But it was fun, you know, the open house. I've never had one before, because my mum always has some excuse, so it was odd, rushing up and down, trying but failing at being as courteous a host as possible. I hope it wasn't such a bad experience for you guys, it was pretty fun for me.

So the start of a lunar new year marks the beginning of? Not really sure. But 2010 is important a year for most people. Making choices on where to go, or just to finish their bloody last year of studies here in Malaysia, it's going to be one roller coaster ride to Hell.

And we've only just begun.

I wish I could just stay at home and eat and people would pay me. Ah well. We all can't be Paris. Don't know whether she eats though.

49 days down. Don't know when we'll be ready.

A Place To Lay My Head, or Say (All I Need)

No. My room isn't done yet.

I know it's been forever, and I KNOW that it's almost CNY and all that nonsense, but my room isn't done yet. I have no idea what's taking so long, but the massive renovation to my old computer room into my room still isn't complete yet. It's ALMOST done now, though. The only thing left to do is afix the wooden planks in my room onto the walls so that they resemble shelves and so I can put stuff on them.

I went shopping for beds yesterday, and found one that was cheap, and when we asked for the price, the guy said it included the table next to it and also a standing mirror. So I was like, "Erm. Yeah." So I FINALLY have a bed. After sleeping on a mattress for so long I finally am able to sleep. Like properly.

Here's some pictures of my room. It's a bit messy, but loving it cos I actually sort of know where things are. And because there's a bed.

The two computers at my desk. The desktop is for torrenting, and for secondary gaming :)

Kuma Kuma! ^^

My desk, complete with bookshelves, with new computer chair.

My cupboard, full of clothes.

The pillows on the floor, with the mirror that came with my bed. I finally have a (sort of) full length mirror now!

My bedside table that came with the bed, with my bass and amp, together with the pieces of wood that hasn't gone up on the walls yet.

MY NEW BED OMG FTW

Imma go try it out tonight. It's been, what, three months since I've slept on a proper bed of my own? That's just sad. But not tonight!

That is, if I can sleep.

And so the boy tried to find solace in the dark corners of the world. But the fire gave no warmth.

The Crab That Got Away, or Heartbreaker (MSTRKRFT ft. John Legend)

I find it possibly impossible to update my blog anymore, but I was committed to start this waste of webspace, so I WILL strive to continue.

Just finished writing my second article for the Daily Express, my state newspaper. I'm writing a column a week now, and it appears every Friday in the Teen Spirit page. It's a page by the youth for the youth, where we're free to express our own opinions. Email me with suggestions and comments, greatly appreciated.

Havn't really been myself these days. I think I shall write a cryptic story!

Once upon a time there was a young lad. He wasn't unpopular, but neither was he the life of the party. He kept to himself most of the time, and he was a loner of a sort. It wasn't as if he didn't like people; He did, but he liked solitude of sorts most of the time, because he knew the evil in people, even when they don't mean to be.

At the beach one day, he was by himself (as usual), using a stick to poke at the fire he had started. The warm glow kept his hands warm from the cool sea breeze. Turning around, he saw a little, Crab. It was bright red.

"You're a Crab", the boy said.

The Crab denied and stuck her tongue out at him. "No I'm not!"

Soon after they started talking, and they didn't realise that the sun had started to set. The young lad felt as if he'd be able to stay forever near the fire, under the shade of the trees, with the breeze in his face, talking to the Crab who was Not. But he had to leave and they said goodbye.

After that day the young boy visited the beach everyday, and without fail the Crab would be there waiting. The fire kept burning and the warmth from it discharged into the air and comforted the both of them; The fire was never put out. Time and time again they would spend time just talking senseless babble until the time ran out and they had to leave.

The young lad began to grow attached to the Crab. Attempting one day to see if there was any compelling feelings for the Crab, he decided not to go to the beach. The whole day he peered out his window, knowing that the beach was so close and yet he stopped himself: It was a struggle. It was a hard, hard, terrible struggle. The next day when he visited the beach, the Crab was waiting, angry and sad.

"Why didn't you come yesterday?" asked the Crab.

"I don't know. Maybe I just wanted to see whether reverting back to my old life would change anything. And it did."

And they left it at that.

However, the memory of that day still haunted him. One night he confronted the Crab.

"What am I to you, little Crab? Why do you keep coming to see me? I did not ask you to."

"I don't need a reason. But I don't know."

And sick of the confusion, he left.

From that day, whenever he visited the beach where the fire still burned, the Crab was nowhere to be seen. But that wasn't the Crab's fault, because the young boy went out of his own way to avoid the Crab, because it hurt too much to see the Crab, for reasons of his own.

"And oh, I ran far away, far away, for I never wanted to see that Crab again"

The fire still burned. But it was still cold.

Mum says that my room should be done up by tomorrow. Went shopping for beds and shit today. Finally. A bed.

Imma find chocolate.

Time To Start Living It, or The Fanatasy

Woah! Is it me or is it February already? (Of course it isn't just me. Dolt!) One month has gone by in our final year of studies slowly crawls by like the multitude of work tossed on to us. Banana boat (this is to see if you're paying attention)

Anyway, what can I say about January? I expected it to be way, WAY worse, but it was pretty good. Enjoyed my January (w/o all the work from my new school), and I finally got my 'L'! But I don't have it yet. But still. Hopefully by the end of the month I can grab my licence if all goes well (not like my theory tests).

One of the highlights of my January was the kindergarten reunion that was one of the messiest things I have ever planned. In the end, I was gratified that some people did make an effort to turn up, while some didn't. It's okay, we'll have more reunions, promise!

And this is how we changed:

Thanks to Joshua Ho for the image.

From Top left corner clockwise: Isaac Leong, Clifern Ong, Eric Tang, Joshua Ho, Nigel Chee, Eliza Tang, Kara Harris, Sack Yi Ying

Missing from this picture is EVERYONE ELSE. Lol.

It's hard though when most of our kinder buddies are all around the world, in places like USA, Australia and Singapore. Sadly, we'll never EVER have a full reunion because the States have different holidays than the rest of our side of the world, so sorry Brandon :(

Looking forward to the next one, though! It was so good to see everyone again!

But oh, the January ended abruptly and sadly for me. Now what? February?

I'm starting to start hating you, 2010.

And oh, I ran away, far away, for I never wanted to see that Crab again.

We're Doing It Well, or Give A Little Bit

Next week the first month of this year will be gone.

And really, so many things have happened, and so many things are going to as well.

Sorry for being all mysterious and all. I'm just really tired from jumping in to the pool after pushing Jon Lim in, and jumping on the trampoline, and jumping around practically.

But I guess we're making things work out, right? Right? Please?

Legal, or Time For Me

I failed my loser driving test again, but this time it was worse, because, lol, it was the second time. Anyway, I went with Chong, Gabby and Abi, and they all passed except me, and in Gabby's car (we were going for lunch), her mum was asking in Chinese:

"So you all pass lah?"

*Silence*

Then Gabby said:"Everyone except Nigel lah."

Whopee! Anyway, Saturday was pretty good, went out with ma daddy, and Kim was invited to come :D Dad let me drive his Pajero around the empty lot near Shan Tao, and some bleeding (not literally) kids came there and were watching me drive, and they started cycling around (not near me of course), and I'm pretty sure they were mocking me.

So then I asked Dad, "Hey, can I drive home daddeh?"

Dad:NO!

Me: Aww come on, I won't kil us both.

Dad: Well, okay, but drive really slow.

So I drove home (Really slow), and those stupid kids in their bicycles purposely rode alongside me awhile then they overtook me. And my dad being my dad just laughed along with them, so I revved the engine up to show I meant business and they ran away.

After that went to ma dad's station in some far away land, then we went to his house, then we went to City Mall.

After that went to church, but before I did I went to a spot where I listened to music and watched the sun set. Yes, that spot brings back memories.

Then at church did church stuff, and after church me and Nick were partay-ing to the awesome beats of United States of Pop 2009: Blame It On The Pop. AWESOME.

Supper was fun. THE END

Then it was my birthday, lol.

Sunday was excellent in a way. Thanks to a little crab. Nights are supposed to be for sleeping, though.

Hmm. I HOPE I PASS MY THEORY TEST.

It's Over There, or Meet Me Halfway

I don't know how to keep telling people where my new school is.

Everyone(E):Where is your new school?

Me:Hilltop.

E: Oh, you mean Unitar (70% of people say this).

Me: No. It's near Unitar.

E:...

So this post is just to explain where on earth (or in Hilltop) my school is.

See that? Oh alright, maybe you can't, maybe you recognise this place. It's that place where people always go to eat noodles and nonsense. OKAY FINE.

Okay, maybe it's not that clear, but THERE, that's where my new school is. I report there before 9 every week day and go home at 12.

IN YOUR FACE HAH! And I can wear whatever I like and it's freezing cold.

This is my classroom.

I'm taking this picture from my seat. I know it's very very very small, but there's only 7 people in class anyway.

First there's me!

Then there's Sing, this typical Chinese guy whose English is a total fail (he has trouble understanding what π means).

Then there's Adrian, and I don't know whether it's true or not, but I think he's slightly mentally handicapped, and he has some sort of skin problem, and he has some sort of speech impairment. He's insanely tall and skinny though. I'm not judging, I'm just saying what I see.

Then there's Bryan Hong (who is the only person who's surname I know), who goes to my church. I was like 'phew', someone I know. But he just plays with his handphone.

Then there's the three Korean siblings, Soul (at least it's pronounced like that), Ara, and the other girl whose name I forgot.

I was like sitting next to Soul today, and he actually spoke to me.

Soul(S):Do u know how to do accounts?

Nigel(N):(Stunned) Uh... No... Sorry...

S:So are you doing accounts?

Nigel:(Still kinda stunned) Yeah, just not yet...

S:Okay..

*SILENCE*... Then

S:How old are you?

N: (WTF?) Try you guess? *Smiles

S:Oh no... *Shakes his head* I think ah, 19, 18, 17?

N: I'm 17 this Sunday.

S: Oh, so you're birthday is on this Sunday?

N: (That's what I said, duh) Yeah.

S:Oh, so you are new year birthday. *Laughs to himself*

N:(WTF) Ahh... Yeah...

*SILENCE* ...Then

S:So before here, where you study?

N: Singapore, but before that Sabah

S:Oh, so you are Singaporean.

N: (Why does everyone assume that?) No.

S: *says something about 'friend' and 'Singapore', can't understand*

S:So where you study before? TTSS?

N: (EWW NO) Nah, I studied at All Saints. Over thereee *makes pointing gestures in a random direction where I think Likas is*

S:Oh, it is government school?

N: Yeah.

S: Oh, I never hear of it. I went to Seri Insan.

N:(He did?) Oh okay.

S:Yeah. It is rubbish school

N: (XD XD XD XD) *laughs* Yeah, it is.

Okay, long story short, he just made fun of Seri Insan a lot lah XD

This is a picture of his...ah... Hair.

See that thing he's holding? He keeps READING something on it, and obviously I can't understand what it is, because it's in Korean. But every single minute after being distracted by accounts or something, he'll return to his gadget of wonder.

So far, so good. I'm actually hoping that I can skip one day of school a week so I can stay at home XD Cos I have other subjects to study for that isn't offered at the centre I attend.

First week gone! Have to study for my 2nd Theory test tomorrow. Oh God, if you could give me a birthday present, please bring her back, and let me pass my test, thanks.