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Showing posts from 2012

Movies of the year

Well, the following movies are not the movies of the year as acclaimed by the mainstream movie review. Since I've only watched two movies this year, so they have come into my movies-of-the-year list. Is not that I don't want to watch movies but finding the time away from kids for movie seeing is near impossible in this and perhaps next one or two years. The most anticipated movie of the year is the sequel and completion of The Dark Knight. It was good that the director / writer has decided to end the story in 3 series only. Unlike other superhero movies, you may have unfinished story. Thus, this sequel was timely told. If you have watched the first two series, you may notice there's a continuation theme. In the first movie, we were introduced with the origin of fear and the purpose of fear. In the second movie, chaos was the main theme. This was paired with sacrifice. The third instalment focused on hope. Although the third instalment may not be as good as the second

Street performance in Tokyo

One of the interesting stuff to discover in Tokyo is the street performance, particularly in Asakusa area. There was performance on Dragon Ball and some magic show. Fees is by kind donation of the patron. It's like what you've seen in the movie - street performers stage their performance and people will pay if they like it. The Dragon Ball performance was pretty interesting and funny.

Moon cake

While most of us buy commercial moon cake, this year we made ourselves. We made the easiest one - "pingpei" moon cake. No baking required, just chilled and served.

A day made of glass

The same company which brought you the glass in the iPhone. The idea in the video is quite futuristic though. The latest video is even more futuristic. We will see if any of these ideas can be realized.

Memory of Hanoi and Sapa

Photos were taken many many years ago. You can see the year was 2005. Back then, I used the novice point-and-shoot camera. That was the trip to Hanoi and Sapa. Sapa has to be the best retreat place in northern Vietnam. Its vast rice terraces and scenery are one of its kind. Of course, how could one leave Vietnam without sampling its famous coffee.  

Asakusa, Tokyo (Part 3)

From the front gate, the author walked passed the row of souvenir shops. And it was getting dark as well (already passed 6pm local time). In between the shops, you could find some decent Japanese restaurants tucked just behind the alley. In one corner, you would be able to gaze the Tokyo Skytree (at that time, it wasn't open for public, not until later May). Tokyo Skytree is the latest addition to Tokyo's high rise structures; twice as high as Tokyo Tower. Towards the end of the complex, one would reach the temple. At this hour, many people were  still queueing up for prayer offering. As night approached, the temple complex was lightened up. It was very natural, not too much artificial lighting.

Asakusa, Tokyo (Part 2)

I would say the most interesting thing to see in Asakusa is the vast variety of shops selling local delicacies and souvenirs. With all these stuffs, come nice packagings. You will rarely get your purchased items put in a plastic bag though. Most likely they will wrap or put them in a paper bag. Their paper bags are great yet simple. And of course one must not miss out the famous Tokyo Banana snack. A banana-shape sponge cake with banana cream filling. It's not available outside Tokyo, as far as I know.

From story telling to trusting God

Today we were privileged to have David B. to share some updates at the rally. Haven’t heard his sharing for quite some time (I think almost a decade more), today sharing was quite inspiring and interesting. As he returned to Singapore, he’s been thinking how to move the gospel effectively. There are two platforms he has in mind: a muslim-christian dialogue and story telling. Well, he shared the latter part (maybe we will have chance to hear the former in near future?). The thought of story telling began when he and his discovered that the way of his bible study sharing was monotonous and boring. So to make things interesting, one must tell story, like Jesus told story when he was teaching. And he joined a story telling club, which at that time most of the members were female. Not surprising as most storytellers are mothers and early childhood educators.   Later on, the group joined a story telling competition. Other contestants chose popular Chinese fore-lore but David chose to

A step into the land of gems

Last June end, I was given an opportunity to attend a workshop in Sri Lanka. It was a four-day trip. So I didn't have all the time needed to explore the country. Nevertheless, that short trip was an eye-opener to Malaysian like me. I first landed in Colombo early morning (there's a 2-hour difference between Sri Lanka and Malaysia). First impression after landed: coconut trees a plenty; at least u can see them lining outside the airport. Came the immigration checking counter. I was hinted by the officer for 30-day visa if I add some tips. Well, if one doesn't know, he may think that's a bargain. But the fact is everyone is entitled a 30-day visa upon entry. So there was a delay at the counter as the officer was expecting some tips. Sorry, no tips from me. Their airport is not that gorgeous as compared with KLIA or HKIA or Changi. Probably the size of Penang airport. Step outside of the airport and it was a different world. I was then took a three-hour journey to Ka

London 2012 Olympic games - the opening event and us

Did you watch the opening event of London 2012 Olympic Games? I did and I liked it. Somehow it was quite memorable and very British. The opening act was good in describing Great Britain's journey since industry revolution. It also paid tribute to the workers and national health care system as well as British literature. How about Beijing 2008 Olympic Games? Do you remember their opening ceremony? I remember some - pieces here and there - the giant paper scroll and the four inventions. How about Kuala Lumpur 1998 Commonwealth Games? I do not remember at all even though I attended the event in Bukit Jalil Stadium. So what if Malaysia has a chance to host Olympic Games in the future? How will the opening ceremony look like? Will we portrait to the world that we are a harmonious multi-racial society? Will we stage the foundation of the nation since the Malacca era (with the mythology of Hang Tuah)? I read a blog commenting on the possible event if Malaysia is going to host the next O

Big boy's birthday

Not long ago, we celebrated no. 1 son's birthday. He's 3 years old now. A big boy. Still there's a lot of things for him to learn. Time will tell.

Balloon Festival (again)

Not long ago, there was a balloon festival in Putrajaya. The wasn't much spectacular for this time. Unlike previous year, they had Dark Vader and Doraemon shape balloon. This year it was quite boring. Not many international participation. Let's hope it will be better next year. This time, I snapped the photo from afar. A better location to take fireworks at the end of the event. A view from the bridge

A missional community

We had a rally at the Nav office last weekend. Wency from the Philippines Nav shared on his community team setup and lesson learnt. He called it a missional community. In brief, a community should have three elements. The foremost is that a community should be relational. The members in the community should have a transformational life as well. That's the second element. In other words, one couple or family has the influence of transforming other member's life especially in spiritual life. Lastly, a community should be missional. Members need to relate to outsiders as part of their missional work. So one does not need to go out from his or her comfort zone to be a mission worker. How's your community life sound like?

Asakusa, Tokyo (Part 1)

Asakusa district is famous for its old temple. It is also a hang out area for the backpackers. A must-visit place in Tokyo for every tourist. At the temple area, it is like walking in Jonker's Street area except with much crowd. The most photographed site is undoubtedly the main gate - Kaminarimon, with its giant lantern hanging. Wait, not sure if it is a lantern. But it does look like a lantern, doesn't it? Inside the complex, you will find all sorts of souvenir shops and local delicacies. Further down the street are the theaters. While I was there, we (friends and I) bumped into few Malaysians. See, that's why it's a hot spot.

Titech

I must thank my Prof for selecting me to attend a workshop in Tokyo recently. The workshop was held in Tokyo Institute of Technology (TITech) - Ookayama campus. I would say the premise is very convenient. The train station is just across the street from the main gate. Nearby there are rows of shops and eateries. Not to mention McD is situated right opposite the main gate too. The campus is not big. You can cover the entire campus by foot. This makes the navigation easy; unlike our local public university. Some of the buildings are quite artistic (check out the library building). The main administration building is the most photographed building in the campus, I guess, as it's one of the earliest establishments. A decent place to study I would reckon. The main administration building Library building Library (closer view) Main road leading to cafeteria

Heaven is for real - the book

 This book is an account of a four year old boy who claimed to have gone to heaven and back. Well, the book was written by his father who gathered all the information from him. It happened when the boy had a surgery. During the surgery, he claimed to have flown out from his body and went to heaven. Well, the interesting piece was how he described heaven, Jesus, his great grandfather whom he never met, his other sister whom did not make it to the world (and his parent never told him about this) and other heaven stuff. His parent always him asks how does Jesus look like. Because he can't fully describe the feature of Jesus' face (he was only four, remember), he can only answer if the portrait resembled Jesus. Most of the portraits do not match to what he's seen. Until one day when his father came across a news about another kid had a vision of heaven and able to paint it out. And here how Jesus looks like, according to two sources from what I've read. How do you