.: Chillin :.

Chillin with Drew & SJian @ Old Town Cafe in Uptown Damansara NOW :)

.: Encouragements :.

Words of encouragements :

You say: "It's impossible"
God says: All things are possible
(Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest
(Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me"
God says: I love you
(John 3:16 & John 3:34 )

You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient
(II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things
(Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able"
God says: I am able
(II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "It's not worth it"
God says: It will be worth it
(Roman 8:28 )

You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I Forgive you
(I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage"
God says: I will supply all your needs
(Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear
(II Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME
(I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I'm not smart enough"
God says: I give you wisdom
(I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel all alone"
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you
(Hebrews 13:5)

.: Let Me Let Go :.

~* Let Me Let Go *~
Faith Hills & Tim McGraw

I thought it was over, baby
We said our goodbyes
But I can't go a day without your face
Goin' through my mind

In fact, not a single minute
Passes without you in it
Your voice, your touch, memories of your love
Are with me all of the time

Let me let go, baby
Let me let go
If this is for the best
Why are you still in my heart
Are you still in my soul
Let me let go

I talked to you the other day
Looks like you make your escape
You put us behind, no matter how I try
I can't do the same

Let me let go, baby
Let me let go
It just isn't right
I've been two thousand miles
Down a dead-end road

Let me let go, darlin', won't you
I just gotta know, yeah
If this is for the best
Why are you still in my heart
Are you still in my soul
Let me let go

The lights of this strange city are shinin'
But they don't hold no fascination for me
I try to find the bright side, baby
But everywhere I look
Everywhere I turn
You're all I see

Let me, let me let go, baby, won't you
Let me let go
It just isn't right
I've been two thousand miles
Down a dead-end road

Oh, let me let go, darlin', won't you
I just gotta know
If this is for the best
Why are you still in my heart
Yeah, you're still in my soul, let me let go
Let me let go, let me let go

Let Me Let Go - Faith Hill

.: For The Love Of Money :.

Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, also known for his Ponzi scheme (a hedge fund scheme that was all one BIG LIE) may be the largest investor fraud committed by a single person.

His sales method was to offer his clients a modest return on their investments and his investments was often marketed as "too complicated for outsiders to understand".

So what was his scheme all about? How did he manage to pay out such high yield from his funds - way above market returns? How did many "intelligent" companies/individuals get fooled into this? It's not the housewives-next-door that gets caught in this scheme. Investors includes HSBC, BNP Paribas, RBS, Ascot Partners, etc.

Well, in a nutshell, it works like a pyramid scheme (MLM, Network Marketing or whatever you may want to market it as).

A very simple, yet explains-it-all lesson I learn from my lecturer is this - to look at the cash flow of the company. Where is it getting it's profits (which will later on translate to cash) from? And more importantly, is it sustainable?

Bernie's scheme is such where new investors invest cash into the scheme. Existing investors who wants to draw out cash would be able to do so, but the cash actually comes from the new investors rather than actual profits made by the funds.

In this scheme, it's like a musical chair. Everyone is happy when the music is playing, but once the music stop, the one left without the chair is in the losing end (and it's usually the later investors, while the earlier investors who have already withdrawn from such schemes are safe).

It's really quite sad for I've seen this type of scheme presented to me a couple of times, which I must admit, the returns are really good. The testimonials from the investors of such scheme are so convincing. They are not of older people, but of people my age, who claims to have make it big, driving a Beamer, shopping at KLCC boutiques and all that. But take a more closer look at these schemes, push asides the greed in us for high & fast returns, and you will unravel the wolf behind sheep's clothing.

The main reason why this type of scheme is still around, despite numerous warnings from media, etc is because of human greed. High returns without having to do anything. This young girl came up to me and begin to testify in one of the talks I went to. She began to tell of how she loves to shop, and want to buy branded goods - and because of this scheme, she doesn't have to slave and work, and she can just earn money just like that and can buy whatever goods she wants. I can see why many people will buy that, especially those of my age range. Easy money. No HARD WORK (albeit, no boring 9-5 jobs, sitting behind the office desk). So much time to spend shopping and holidaying and spending money.

Yes, I never dispute the fact that one could make money from such a scheme. Just have to be the pioneers, the top end of the pyramid, extracting money from the bottom end of the pyramid. These schemes are to a certain way legitimate (if it's marketed the right way) but in substance, it is morally wrong.

I have seen and heard, all of this with an open mind, but one should never let greed get in the way of rational. I've seen intelligent friends, some even from accounting backgrounds, who got fooled into such scheme, and got burned in the end.

Sometimes, the money invested and lost can be viewed as "education fees". You learn from your mistakes. And move on. But some, who has poured in their lifelong savings - have literally nothing to live by. Because of the collapse of the Bernie's funds, there were a couple of people who decided to take their life. There was this elderly man who had to go back to work, instead of enjoying his retirement - all because his savings were wiped off overnight.

I really feel very strongly against such schemes but have been keeping mumps about it until recently. I just hope that people would be able to wake up and realize all this and make a wise decision before it's too late.

Remember, money is not the root to all evil. The love of money is.
(1 Timothy 6:10)

The Challenge

I was given the challenge to write what happened on the nite of 21/2 in 1 to 2 sentences and of course who would be so brave to do it in 1, so I will try with my tall england to stuff all that happened that nite into 2 sentences. (Starts with the next paragraph)

Here we go,

Shan gathered us all in her little blue car and we made our way to Jaya33 but diverted to Jaya1 for spicy Thai food, which we soon found parking and made our way to the restaurant where shortly after placed our order and starting chatting about senseless stuff that included an affair between me and the dude working in Starbucks @ Jaya1,  but sadly there was not one strand of truth to the before mentioned allegations, oh, we also found out that Qian Hui is intimidating and has an intimate relationship with Shan. (phewww, I think I just killed half the English language with that sentence...) After our scrumptious meal, we decided to play some pool at a bar nearby since it was still early and it was not yet Shan's curfew hour, but she gave an excuse that she had some stuff to do, where soon after gave in to the temptation of pool which she enjoyed very much with the rest of us nor did she at one moment complain about going back, and also set a plan to have shabux2 @ my place on nite of 8/3.

Tremble b4 my voluptuous england and be awed by ginormous vocab!

Please get back to me on how many ppl for the makan makan.

.: Saturday :.

SJian, Qian, CKong & I decided to met up last weekend. Jes & the Leo brothers could not make it due to work commitments, while SMay, as usual, hasn't been replying our smses.

The initial plan was to have dinner at an Italian place recommended by Sjian in Jaya 33.

Prior to that, I've made a appointment with CKong to met up with SFoong (YZhi's sis) at The Curve.

So it was kinda of a busy Saturday for me - as I woke up bout 9-ish, got myself ready & went to One-U with my aunt to catch a movie - Valkyrie. To be honest, I'm not really into war-themed movies, so I was kinda dreading to go. But my aunt really wanted to watch that movie, bcoz of Tom Cruise I reckon, so I, being the nice niece that I'm *ehem* (and who could really refuse an offer to watch a movie for free *wink*), had to accompany her.
And to my pleasant surprise, the movie was really enjoyable.

Sidetrack : Valkyrie was about a group of top ranking German officer plotting to assassinate The Fuhrer of Germany, Adolf Hitler. Using Operation Valkyrie, the national emergency plan, they mobilized the national Reserve Army to overthrow the Schutzstaffel (SS). It's really an interesting movie - even for someone like me, who's World History knowledge is confined to Form 5 History textbooks (pathetic I know). Highly recommended to watch this!

Anyways, after the movie, I headed straight to the gym in Damansara Uptown, did a lil bit of cardio & sit ups.

Then, I rushed to pick up Ckong to head to The Curve.

Sidetrack : To save money on parking, one could always park nearby Ckong's place (in BU 4) and cross the road. But remember to wear pants - coz we had to climb over a bar. And I was trying to climb gracefully over the bar in my skirt, thankfully not a mini, that I accidentally scratched & bruised my poor lil leg.

Anyways, we headed to Ikea's Café (coz I could get free coffee there). Sat for about half an hour, before realizing that Sfoong was sitting somewhere else - waiting for us (communication breakdown somewhere along the way I guess). We chatted for about an hour before she left. CKong and I continued to chat - talking bout things from work to personal relationships to studies. It's interesting to have someone who knew you during high school days to tell you that you have changed and became more mature. Well, for those who knew me back in high school, you would know that nobody uses the word mature & me in the same sentence. I was really living the Hakunamatata philosophy back then.

Anyways, we then picked up Qian & SJian and decided for Thai food (absolutely spontaneous) at Kinnaree Thai Restaurant in Jaya One. The food we ordered was great (individual tom yum soup + asparagus + deep fried fish in some sort of special sauce + bottomless peppermint/lemongrass flavored tea). The price came out to RM44 each, a lil bit to pricey in my opinion. But the ambiance and food was really great.

Updates : Refer to SJian's accounts > click here < on what happened during dinner with his voluptuous English (private joke)! :)

Then headed back home at bout 12am.

Such a fruitful Saturday! Looking forward to another gathering at SJian's place on the 8th of March for some shabu-shabu! :)

.: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow :.

Tomorrow: Back to work :( Monday blues!

Currently: Laughing my head off watching Russell Peters on YouTube. A real comedian.

A hour ago: Talking to my brother about his exam results

A day ago: Dinner and a couple of game of pool with SJian, Qian & CKong

Two days ago: Obtained my ACA (ICAEW)

Three days ago: Obtained my ACCA

So much achieved in the past few days. But so much more to achieve in the future.

.: WaMu, My Pet :.

My Pet Society updates:

My pet Rudolph has been now renamed to WaMu (a female green rudolph-look-alike pet).She has five rooms in her current house (the number of rooms goes with your pet level - to a maximum of 6 rooms). Existing rooms are : living hall, indoor garden, kitchen, bedroom & a game room.

I love to pamper her with pink & girly stuff, so totally opposite from her owner :)

I will take some pictures of my WaMu and post it here!~ :)

Pictures! Pictures! And more pictures!

Who wears it better? The must have look this season. Flowing white dress with a golden crinch at the top. Matched with big chunky gold bangles and golden shoes.

In pic : WaMu & Riceball

Princess tea party at Penny's bedroom. Both of us are wearing a sparkling cubic zirconia tiara. Looks expensive, but it's actually quite affordable. Only 1500 PS Coins.

In pic : WaMu & Penny

Chinese New Year visiting at Riceball's crib. All red-y for abundance of prosperity and wealth!

In pic : WaMu

Jammin' with my buddy at his place.

In pic : WaMu & Black Widow

Getting ready for costume party . Ninja Boy in an authentic ninja costume. WaMu in a beautiful Golden Dress and an Elegent Golden Mask.

In pic : WaMu & Ninja Boy

Visiting my dearest friend Boubie in France. Picture taken at her beautiful dancing daisy garden.

Also, the lovely red tunic I'm wearing was a gift from her!~ :)

In pic : WaMu & Boubie

Goofing around with my pal from the USA. A buddy who never fails to make me laugh.

In pic : WaMu & Ballzack

Micah : What are we gonna do tonight WaMu?

WaMu : The same thing we do every night, Micah. Try to take over the world. Muahahahaha.

In pic : WaMu & Micah

Dollies collection on the shelves in my bedroom. More to come.

In pic : WaMU & dollies

With random people chillin at the local cafe.

In pic : WaMu & random people

.: Disappointed :.

I'm very very very disappointed...

A vow to myself that I will never ever let anyone (and you for that matter) hurt me the way you did.

.: Commercial Dog :.

Quote to pounder on : Never let the tax tail wag the commercial dog

.: My Valentine Gift To You :.

My gift to you is my love
Given from deep within my heart
It is the best I have to offer
And its yours until this earth we depart

You have captured a part of me
A part so very fragile that I am in fear
For it is my heart I have lost
To you my love, the one I hold most dear

I chose to love you now
With all that I have and all that I am
And I pray that God follows us
To guide our steps as we cross this land

For it is with His blessings
We will live most at peace with each other
For He is the reason after all
We found one another

~~*~~

.: Surprise! :.

A pleasant surprise I had when I received 1/2 dozen bouquet of pink daisies at my workplace this morning.
When I got a call to collect the bouquet of flowers from the receptionist, I was wondering who on earth would send me flowers.
Of course I thought of JC, but knowing JC, he wouldn't send flowers to my office.
I took the flowers read the card and smiled to myself, with the receptionist & another colleague walking in looking at me.

Looks like I don't know JC that well :)

I was super embarrassed that I had to walk from the reception area back to my place, holding a big bouquet of flowers.
So I quickly made my way thru, looking down on the carpeted floor mostly, to avoid glares from fellow colleagues.
As I settled down at my place, two of my colleagues surrounded me and began questioning me.

Cor : Wah, from who? Bf ah?
*nods head*
Co : Your birthday?
SY : Nolar, it can't be. Must for Valentines day!
Cor : Or is it he make you angry?
*all of us laughed*
Co : How long have you dated him?
Me : About 3 years
Co : Wah, almost 3 years also still romantic ah?

If only they knew that JC is also known as woody among my friends *laughs*

I called JC and told him "I'm gonna kill you!" to which he replied with a laugh "I'm busy now, you can kill me later"

JC has been really really sweet these past months, can really see that he puts in a lot of effort (finally!) to make me feel special! :)
Aside from the flowers today (tho Qian has warned me not to be too swooned coz it's "just flowers"), he's been planning spontaneous trips to see fireflies & of most recent to Ulu Yam waterfall (I love nature!).
Also been buying me flowers & graduation bear & perfume. (Tho I'm not materialistic, it feels good to be showered with small gifts once in a while)
And last night, he wanted to take me out to dinner at The Ship (which I must say serves the best steak - tho I've not been there for quite some time), but I choose KFC (as in Kentucky Fried Chicken) instead. And he said ok (which means a lot coz he's not really into fast food).

So yes, you could say that I've melted becoz of pink daisies (he purposely picked daisies coz its my favourite flower).

And the message in the card attached to the bouquet is really sweet. But I must grill him to see if it comes from him or it's like a pre-template words provided by the florist.

So tonight I shall grill him first, after that kill him for causing such embarrassment! :)

.: Markus Ng :.

Markus Ng Chung Yau

(6th May 1985 - 4th February 2009)
http://markusng.last-memories.com/

I couldn’t believe it when I heard the news. I even called up a few friends just to make sure it isn’t some hoax or prank.

Even though I’m constantly reminded how fragile life is, and death is all part and parcel of life, I still could not immediately accept the fact that this could happen to him.

He’s too young. My age. It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be.

I didn’t really know him that well. Barely that much to even call him my friend. An acquaintance I would say.

Markus was my primary classmates for a couple of years. Though blurry and hazy memories of my primary school days, I remembered that Markus was one of the more quiet and timid boys. A gentle, quiet soul I would say.

Thru modern technology of networks, we “met” again thru facebook.

To me, he was the “UNICEF” guy as he has posted quite a number of post on UNICEF.

As I read his blogs and his board messages from friends, I began to fill in the gap on who this 8 year old timid I once knew him to be to this UNICEF guy I later known him by.

He has truly accomplished so much and touched so many people life along in this short 23 years on Earth that many ever had and ever will in their lifetime.

Quotes on how inspiring Markus was, how dedicated he was to things he was passionate about, of his kindness, gentleness, but most of all on how he has touched the life of many others in such profound ways.

I once asked, if it was my last day, what would I want people to remember me by?

Now I have the answer… I want to be remembered the way people remembers Markus…

.: You're Beautiful :.

Man looks at the outward appearance
but the LORD looks at the heart.

Lord, if I can't be beautiful outside, let me be beautiful inside.....

.: Changes :.

Currently reading (for bedtime reading) : Hannibal Rising (Thomas A Harris)
Currently listening to : Quiet sounds of air-cond humming, and the tippaty-taps of my keyboard & clickity-click of my mouse
Currently wishing : Less drastic changes in her environment and more changes from within

Well, the long weekends are over!
My GFC had some shocking news for all of us today. He has tendered his resignation. Morale is kinda down for the moment.

Sigh!