Saturday 1 December 2012

Thank you, poetry class.

In these three months, I've learnt a lot of things to improve in writing poems. At the beginning of workshop, Iv'e received tons of negative comments which got me down for weeks. But after learning to use the criticism and tell myself to have a constant idea to write a poem about a particular subject, I've received positive ones instead. You see, writing poems is like writing an essay. You need to have an introduction stanza, a body with one or a few stanzas, and an ending stanza that concludes or reflects your idea. You also must not let go off the topic, otherwise the readers will get confused of what the narrator is trying to express.

Other than that, I've learned to use imagery. Lots of imagery to make a poem visual. Well, of course every reader needs to picture a topic while reading a poem or a story. An imagery must be clear, concise, yet somehow difficult vocabulary can make an imagery as a puzzle for readers to imagine. Some imagery can also reveal symbolism, which makes a poem stand out. Even the structure of the poem symbolizes something! A unique shape of the poem like a slope shaped by end of each line might shows failure or slipping of something else. Take George Herbert's "Easter Wings" for an example. The shape of the poem is a pair of butterfly wings!

You can also play with words, or taking a line, cliche, or excerpt from someone else's work to make it yours. This means that you can use the idea of a poet's poem (copy a line/verse you like-it's kinda like your plagiarising, but you're making it your own masterpiece to appreciate or comment on his/her work). You can even write a poem about a movie, a book, a song, an artist. Anything. BUT, here's a warning I've learnt. Avoid using cliches, quotes, and abstraction! Sometimes I forgot this rule,and sometimes we want cliches or quotes to make a poem looks interesting. But without these things, your poem will have the "flow".

There's a lot more to add here. But these are the major points I've learned throughout this course. So, for those who wants to be writers as well, learn to write good ones by practising and take notes on tips from famous writers you inspire. I'm looking forward to playwriting and children's literature next year. =)

P.S. Oh! Btw, happy 8th birthday to my youngest sister, Mona!

Monday 26 November 2012

Creativity is challenging..


Inspired
Sitting by the window,
as the painter paints the imaginary enviroment
with different shades of words.
Eyes darted up,
absorbing the image in front of her. 
She perceived the words from the figure.
Faded lines starts to come clear.

Days flown, 
as she waits for her painting,to be bought by potential buyers. 
Wishing fish myteriously appeared and granted her deepest desires.
Her inspirations were infinite,
Triggered her partner in crime to be different artiscally,
Mustered all her strength she could, 
to be known worldwide,
But comes with a price, 
Not known yet, but it will be reveal soon.
Dreams never dies as long the energy of believing cycles within

She stood out strong
No matter what the insolent threw at her,
She's not damsel in distress but a force of nature, 
Her weapon of choice?Flickering shades of words that will eat your hearts out

Whitewashed walls before, tainted with dark and light hues now
Paintbrushes suspended on the paint buckets.
She's a beautiful art that's worth a thousand words. 
A long journey from the start,
Observed how far she trudged along the slope,
Distinguishable coloured caterpilar that feeds on the Green,
Metarmophised into a butterfly with hues of her favourite colour 

A best friend wrote this poem for me, and this reminds me of what I'm struggling right now. An artist who seeks for inspiration to create something new, something fresh. Ever since I take this poetry course, I learn a lot of things to improve, such as a constant idea and not to write out of topic, just like an essay. I am on the way to become a real writer, but the barriers I've faced while writing makes my enthusiasm in writing drops, as well as the weakening of imagination. There is a plateau in the process, but I know I have to keep trying. I shouldn't let my friends down, I should let my dream disappear. There's definitely inspiration that brings me a new hope in creating new things. 

Monday 8 October 2012

Thanksgiving..and an early birthday celebration

Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians! Today has been so far a great holiday to me. After all the stress I have these weeks (more than a month already), I finally let all the assignments go for this once. My family and I drove all the way to Vancouver to take a walk round Queen Elizabeth Park. The sun shone brightly at such a supposed-to-be cold fall day. Watching Mona feeding the ducks and geese at the park pond gave me an idea to write the next poem for workshop next week. And plus, I get to breathe in the outdoor air.

Then, we went to Burnaby to have Thanksgiving dinner at my uncle's place. After like about two hours of waiting for the turkey to be ready (the little cousins and my younger sisters played outside), I was blown away by the food on the counter top. Turkey, potato salad, spaghetti, garlic bread, Uncle James' special pumpkin cream soup, and most importantly, gravy. Too much! But, as I expected, we had a family reunion of this Thanksgiving dinner goodness. We talked, laughed, and enjoyed the dishes.

And here's what happened during desert time of pies and ice cream. My uncle suddenly placed a birthday cake on the table, and I couldn't believe my eyes. "Happy Birthday Michelle" (It's supposed to be Michele!) was written on the white icing. I was like, "Oh God! You guys shouldn't be doing this! My birthday hasn't arrived till Sunday!" But, I appreciate for what Uncle James and Aunt Sarah did for me. It was sweet of them though. I bet Micah, Ethan, and Amber kept this away from me too. XD Anyway, I'll definitely remember this year's Thanksgiving, because of this. The early celebration of my 19th birthday. Speaking of 19, I'm getting old!

P.S so Canada, how's YOUR Thanksgiving? Turkey got your tongue? Haha.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

No Longer The Same

It's now the third week of school, and things are getting more stressful. I missed a few assignments that was due this Monday on Psychology portal website. And the Biology quiz yesterday got me shivered, but at least I've studied and answered a few questions right. During Creative Writing (Intro to writing poetry) class a few hours ago, my poem was selected to give comments/feedback. I received some useful advice, and critical comments as well, which somehow leave my heart bleed. One or two positive comments were presented to me, and I don't know whether I can try harder to improve. And when the writer (myself) was called, I stammer. Like usual. I tried to explain what the poem I wrote was about and the urge to proofread more so that I prevent from seeing typos. I was told to put in more specific details instead of just abstraction (of course). I didn't receive praise or comfort from the whole class. Just honest, yet hurtful comments. Every time in that class, I listen attentively to the comments given by the other students. And believe me, the other writers are really good, like literally. They're like professionals! Compare to myself, I'm just a low dwarf. Is taking this course a mistake? I even don't know where I'm heading to next.


Memory Poem
Title: Secondary School Days

My fingers ran on the pages
of one of my high school yearbooks.
A couple of droplets trickled from my left eye,
my mind was whizzing with illusions
of memories I had back then.

A flashback of the school filmed in my head.
The classrooms and laboratories
where I was drawn to a wide galaxy of learning,
grasping the values of discipline and responsibility,
and earning the power of hard work.
The field and courts,
where I gained skills in playing sports,
and cheered for my respective team in matches.
The hall,
where I was indulged in the same announcements
every single Monday,
bored and restless till my head yelled, “Get me out of here!”

I still can recall
the stern principal
who carries a bamboo cane everywhere he went,
barking at mischevious boys who liked to break the rules.
I remember,
the wonderful teachers
who burdened to help me to reach the goal,
as well as treated me as a second child.
I rewind
the unforgettable times I had with my dear friends,
each and every moment of fun and laughter,
and the emboldening smiles which healed my cold heart.

Those secondary school days
I will never forget.
As I took one last glance at my senior year class photograph
and the autographs of my friends
at the back of the yearbook,
the memories back home
will always remained in my heart
forever.

If I keep getting negative feedbacks, my dream as a writer is over. 


Monday 3 September 2012

Los Angeles!

Going to Los Angeles, California for the first time was a dream come true to me, but due to only 4 days of staying there, it's only a short break of fun. Once my family and I arrived in LA, we first went to Hotel Maya to stay for one night. It was located around Long Beach. Definitely white, soft sands and palm trees sandwiched with volleyball nets. That day, we went to one of my dream places, HOLLYWOOD!!! Well, I didn't get to see celebrities there, but I took tons of pictures of the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The sidewalks at Hollywood Drive were huge pink stars carved in names of famous stars and their fields of career like singing and filming. There was also a shop which sell unique souvenirs like mini Oscar throphies for beloved family members or friends or any other common people XD. On the window was a bunch of license from celebrities like Michael Jackson, One Direction, Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber and more. Oh! There's also cheap T-shirts, and postcards, and certificates for rewarding common people like us (Best mother, best daughter, best friend, best son...best boss). Oh! And do you know that most of the Hollywood films were premiered in the huge old Chinese theatre? Outside of the temple-like theatre were footprints, handprints, and signatures of movie casts like Twilight and Harry Potter! Cool, huh? You can also get to take photos with mascots who wandered around like Cookie Monster and Tinkerbell. The best part was the Hollywood sign. It was small from my phone camera lenses, but the giant letters on that hill was quite a sight!

The next day, we went to Universal Studios! The original Hollywood theme park where films were actually filmed in the studios. If you ask me, it was WAY better than Universal Studios Singapore! Why? Because there were more rides, a studio tour, and more shows in 3D! First stop, Waterworld. It was similar to the one in Singapore. Then, we watched the Animal Actors show, a show for trained animals that were in a few shows like Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Hotel for Dogs! Around the park, you can say hello to some characters like Paranorman and Spongebob Squarepants. And don't forget to go to Shrek 4D adventure! It was much better than the Singapore version because the theatre was huge and the special effects were real till spiders really drop only your legs!

One thing I love about Universal Studios is the studio tour. At first, I thought we really get to meet Jimmy Fallon. But it turned out that Jimmy Fallon was only on the TV screen in tour buses. Anyway, the bus drove us around the studio area, like the building where hit TV series CSI was filmed, and a few films which were shot in other studios. The studio tour led us to a whole new world. We entered into a dark cave, and we were told to put on 3D goggles to watch King Kong in action. The giant gorilla jumped onto and over the bus, shaking us vigorously! It seemed it was trying to protect us from those attacking dinosaurs. Next, we saw a row of prop cars that were in films like Fast and Furious, Jurassic Park, and Back To The Future. Behind it was a short film scene of Fast and Furious. Two cars were blasted off by smoke and fire. We entered in Jurassic Park world where dinosaurs scared us with roars and hisses with water sprays approached all of a sudden. There was also a scene where we get to see the demonstration of a flash flood. Oh! We also get to take a look at the set of Wild Wild West before we entered into another cave. Shockingly, we were trapped in a real-looking earthquake! Pipes crashing down, fire blasting, debris all over! Shortly, we were out of the tunnel, feeling dazed. Our excitement returned when we saw a scene from the film Jaws. In a water village, we saw blood oozed out on the water surface and blasting gas tanks that revealed a fake shark. It looked real to me. XD Oh! And we peeked at the houses where Desperate Housewives was filmed! We also saw some props filmed by Steven Spielberg like a Christmas movie, Psycho, and War of the Worlds. For Psycho, it was a very old movie. But we saw a crazy man dumping a dead lady into the boot of a truck! And he was going to shoot us with a gun! Luckily, we were safe! War of the Worlds area included crashed planes, houses, and other vehicles. The tour ended with last words from Jimmy Fallon on TV and a view of Hollywood further ahead. We saw a Warner Bros studio way over there where the Ellen Degeneres show was shot!

After the studio tour, we went for Transformers: The Ride in 3D. It was like no ordinary theatre. We put on 3D glasses while riding on a vehicle (Megatron). We were sent into a battle to destroy a villian, but with the help of a few Transformers (I only know that the yellow one was Bee), we saved the day XD. You should go for this ride! It was awesome! Oh! Wait! Did I miss Terminator 3D? It was kind of creepy. I don't want to talk about it though. The last ride that evening was The Simpsons Ride. It was hair-raising! Like a roller coaster! Yet we were once stuck in Maggie's mouth! Haha.

Another attraction we went was Disneyland, my favourite place on Earth. We first saw a marching parade that trotted to the entrance, followed by Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland. Shortly, we arrived at Fantasyland, where girls had their princess dreams come true. It's A Small World was definitely my favourite. We rode on boats to see tunnels of the whole Earth. Children from Asia, North America, Australia, Africa and more. You know that I'm not a roller-coaster kind of person, so I went with Mona to Mad Hatter's Tea Party (spinning teacups), Storybook Canal Boats, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, Sleeping Beauty's castle (the icon of Disneyland), and taking a photo with Princess Merida from Brave. In Tomorrowland, the whole family aimed toy guns in Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster. Whoever scored higher points get to be in higher levels. It was a blast! We had fun shooting monsters XD. Buzz Lightyear was there too, guiding us with body moving and firm instructions. He's like a real-live talking toy from the movie! Tomorrowland also included Star Tours (from Star Wars), which had talking robots and a 3D show of riding to safety from shooting lasers and teleportative tunnels.

Finally! I see Walt Disney statue at the centre! He is a big inspiration to me. I salute him! Then, we exited to Disney's California Adventure Park which was opposite Disneyland. We were greeted by a big parade. We were sprayed by water jets from floats, and danced with cast from The Incredibles, Monsters Inc., A Bug's Life, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Tow Mater from Cars. At Paradise Pier, we had lunch at an Italian buffet before heading to Mickey's Fun Wheel. It was a ferris wheel with swinging cables. Trust me, I wanna throw up when I get in one! You would feel like you were REALLY swinging here and there like a roller coaster! My heart popped out of chest and I was screaming like a banshee. =.= Never want to go there again! My nerve breakdown got cured after indulging myself into The Little Mermaid's world. I was sent into tunnels that told the story of Ariel (you know, getting legs, noticed by the prince, romance, getting married).

Ahem..okay where was I? Cars Land. The newly-opened place was similar to the movie Cars. The buildings and sceneries from Route 66. We rode on those cute tractors in Tow Mater's Junkyard that swung around in semicircles. We stopped by at those cone-shaped stores at Cozy Motel for ice-cream. We also took pictures with Lightning McQueen himself! Oh! And we went to A Bug's Land, where yup, the film A Bug's Life took place. We watched a show in the theatre called "It's Tough Being A Bug". I must say, I agree with Flik. Humans couldn't stand the ickiness of spiders, cockroaches, grasshoppers, and other bugs, We got poked by bee stings at our backs and got creamed by cockroaches on our seats!

Evening came and we missed the last show of Aladdin The Musical in Hollywood Land. So we went to see the Muppets 3D show instead. Fans of Muppets, you will enjoy it because Kermit the Frog is the host and you'll laugh at the adventures of them making a 3D cartoon come to life. We also entered into Animation Academy. Inside the room, you'll experience the art created by Disney artists for films like Tangled, Pochahontas, Mulan, and The Lion King. There's a small room where you can learn how Toy Story characters come to life (zoetrope I think). And I mean, really come to life like in the movie. In the academy, we were taught by a real Disney artist on how to draw Piglet from Winnie The Pooh. It was so much fun!

Night fell by, and we rushed to Mickey's ToonTown to see Mickey's House. We were amazed by his furnitures and memos (he wants to call Minnie every day, awwww how sweet!). We also saw his organ, washing machine with his gloves and pants tumbling in water, his Chicken coop, and other whimsical things. We finally get to see him for real, taking pictures with everyone's favourite mouse. Our Disneyland day ended with a night show at It's A Small World and a fireworks presentation at Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

Oh! What a vacation! It's a pity we didn't go to all of the rides. I'll remember this vacation forever.

Monday 27 August 2012

Cluster of Crystal Dews

I came up with this title since I was like 16 or 17. The first book I want to publish is a collection of poems and short stories entitled Cluster of Crystal Dews. Picture this! The first page is gonna be a poem with the same title, describing the collection of poems and stories in my first book. 

Dear readers,
Before you flip the pages,
Let me whisper to you something I want to share,
As I grip a pencil or a pen,
To write a poem or a story,
I recall and record,
Of the observation I see,
Of the experiences I am indulged into.
Of the inspiration I seek,
Of the imagination I create,
And mould them into masterpieces of words.

Each poem and story,
Reminds me of the endless love gave by my family,
The unforgettable support presented by friends,
The inspirational advice shown by teachers,
And the eager excitement seen by you,
Readers of mine.

I've struggled to put in as much effort as I can,
I've prayed to hear positive feedback from you,
I've hoped to see smiles of satisfaction from you,
While you gaze at these precious dews,
I yearn that you will enjoy reading them.

Friday 24 August 2012

Four Seasons poems

Autumn Beauty

Opening the door where Canada lays,
The temperature of earth drops like a stone,
As random gusts of cold wind assaults against my face,
Forcing me to pull up my coat tight,
The sky above is painted a light shade of grey,
Elicits the appearance of a rainstorm.

Down the sidewalk of the neighborhood,
My eyes gaze at a picture-perfect scenary,
Of rows of trees dipped in natural dye,
Dark red, bright fading yellow, light orange, plum purple and golden brown,
Dry leaves are set free from their branches,
And sank down to the ground,
Making a mess,
No one ever seems to care about it,
No one volunteers to clear them away,
But just leave them behind as a display.

When fall approaches by,
People would rather stay hidden in residence,
Chewing turkey for Thanksgiving,
And later prepare for Halloween,
To celebrate the birth of fall,
But soon it will fade away,
As you might watch the plants wither,
Signalling the coming winter.

This season,
Revealing the hint of a beautiful landscape,
The very first time in real life,
That set originally before my eyes,
I wonder what does autumn stands for,
And what will happen next in my life.

White Landscape
Temperature drops to negative degrees,
The sky above is carpeted in clouds of grey,
The surroundings turn cold and numb,
Like as if the hour on the clock is frozen,
In the blink of an eye,
Tiny sprinkles of snow rain down,
The storm mount up into thick ice,
Which spread throughout the city.

Through my window,
My eyes gaze on the pearl paradise,
The roads are sandwiched with ice sidewalks and grasses,
The whole neighbourhood is frozen under the Earth refridgerator,
Children scatter around,
Throwing a party of snowball fights, leaving marks of snow angles, and building giant snowmans,
Adults grunt in complaint while shovelling their driveways and wiping snow off their car windshields.

In forests,
You can pronounce "picture perfect",
When looking at the snow-covered flora,
Downtown,
You can get the illusion of a postcard,
When you see the large pile of snow on mountain peaks,
In the evenings,
You will be surprised that the snow is still standing,
Never melt,
As the sunset glistened on ice with soft shades of colours.

For the first time,
I immerse into the Artic mode,
Feeling the snow dripping onto my skin,
Nearly slip on melting bits of ice,
Step onto the overlapping opal-colour earth,
And mould them into snowballs for a playful war.

Winter,
Reveals a postcard scenery,
An alive portrait by the window,
It is sure an amazing sight to see,
Wish it wouldn't fade away.

Cherry Blossoms of Vancouver

Dark cumulonimbus clings above the earth,
Are finally gone,
The mighty sun pokes through the clouds,
Shines down like a heaven's flashlight,
Fights its heat against the cold breeze,
I feel the conditioning air blasts to my face,
In front of me,
A newly-created garden is formed.

This garden,
Sandwiched and landscaped with the hustle-bustle city,
Like a Sakura jungle,
Buds slowly swirling out into flowers,
Thousands of them that hangs from branches,
Revealing a spectacular creation called cherry blossoms.

Beneath my feet,
Not only cement pavements are connected to tar-covered roads,
Soft, luscious grass spreads long and wide,
Forming tiny, enchanted daisies and dandelions,
Of white and pink,
Some sunflowers,
Small and fragile,
Rose up from the wild grasses,
That gives a heavenly smell whenever a pedastrian went.

Far from me,
The rows and columns of cherry blossoms,
Have a large number of friends,
Accompanied by shrubs of geranium,
Together with various tulips,
White, red, yellow, purple, magenta,
You name it,
Orchids that are painted in cream, topaz and cherry,
Swayed to the sound of air,
Lavenders perfumed out the scent of wonder,
Bluebells tingled to the atmosphere like windchimes,
The tree relatives,
Oak, poplar, maple, and pine,
Are alerted by the calling of a new morning.

The awakening of nature,
The landscape of flora,
Became a spring paradise,
I wish I can lay down here forever,
And gaze at the sudden gentle showers,
Of the cherry blossoms,
In Vancouver.

Don't go away! I'll be writing a poem about summer during the family vacation in Los Angeles next week! =)
Oh! And when all four poems are written, I'll combine all four seasons into one poem as a summary! 

Thursday 23 August 2012

Timothy Green moves my heart..

Guess how I spent my afternoon today? I went to Cineplex Coquitlam to watch The Odd Life of Timothy Green. It was definitely worth watching, and I recommend everyone especially families to watch this breathtaking film. The young boy, Timothy Green was indeed a special kid to Jim and Cindy Green. Both parents were working for pencils. Simple wooden pencils made from trees. They were struggling to have a child of their own, until one night when they wrote down traits of their dream child on pieces of paper and put them into a box before buried it into earth, they found themselves raising Timothy who was born from their garden. At first when I saw the leaves on his legs, I thought that it was just a common thing that he was born from the green. But actually, the leaves symbolized the traits from the box. Timothy first tried to impress a girl named Joni. He was bullied in school, hardly had any friends. At a pool party, Timothy had to wear socks due to the leaves on his legs as a secret. Joni spotted him diving into the pool and joined him. But it turned out that Joni pulled down one of his socks and noticed the leaves. Without hesitation, Timothy kicked Joni's face hard with his foot, leaving her face bleeding. (I know! Harsh..but it's his reaction when someone found out his secret) Well, it wasn't that bad. Joni chased him down a forest. But instead of sabotage him in return, Joni shown him a birthmark on the right side of her chest. Not only he had a secret, but Joni had a secret too.
Anyway, to me, Joni and Timothy were sweet together. They had a bike ride which surprised Jim and Cindy, weaved leaves into huge curtains to create a mini world of autumn, and liked each other's company. Meeting Joni caused one leaf to wither and drop from Timothy's leg. Moment by moment, one leaf turned brown and drop down due to a trait being done. Like making Uncle Bub laughed for the last time, being honest to his mother's boss about her appearance while drawing her portrait, knowing how to rock at a classic music concert, able to kick a soccer ball to win a goal, and gave one last love to her parents before disappear away from life. It was miserable to see Timothy just vanish like that after his last leaf dropped and a thunderstorm approached. But in the end, Timothy left a short letter in the box which was buried in the garden. While the couple presented the letter to an adoption office, Timothy told us that he gave his withered leaves to a few people he cared. One for a snorty mother who finally learnt how to rock, one for Uncle Bub before he was sent to heaven, one for a friendly botanist/gardener who first helped him to tried to cut his fresh leaves (earlier in the movie), one for Cindy's boss, one for his grandfather who learned not give up faith on him, and two for Joni for being a good and only friend. The film ended with the couple adopted an Asian girl named Lily to replace Timothy.

One scene that took my breath away was when Timothy gave suggestion to his parents about creating a new pencil. Since Jim lost his job at the pencil factory, Timothy suggested that they should draw a whole new design and make a new pencil (environment-friendly type). Within days of hard work, the couple worked hard to create a unique green pencil made of leaves. This blows me away! A pencil made of leaves! That's out of this world! The pencil also saved Jim to get his job back. As the factory was about to close due to bankruptcy, the leaf pencil was introduced to the entire staff but was credited to the owner of the factory. Timothy stood up for what was right, telling everyone that it was his family's idea to create the pencil. He also had no choice but to show his legs of leaves to everyone so that he could proof that leaves were a big part of the Greens' life. Now his secret had been revealed to other people, the pencil became a whole new product.

This Disney film had pulled my heartstrings, and I cried when Timothy was gone after having only a few days of lifespan. Why can't Timothy just become a permanent child???? He's so special! He taught me to smile no matte what situation I face, like when he smile to get better during his first trial of soccer practice. He also taught me never to give up and soak in nature to clear stress or something (like when he raised his arms high under the sunlight like as if he was breathing in nature. Twice!).

Jim and Cindy also influenced me to learn how to become a good parent in the future. You know, thinking of having a dream kid is kind of new to me. If I were given the chance of having a dream child...
~ Honest to fault (like Timothy)
~ Never give up to achieve goals
~ Finding a talent/ hobby to express ideas and feelings, and to be creative to influence people's life.
~A seeking heart to be with God.
~ A worthy friend
hmm..that's all I got.

Timothy Green, you're a star among the people you met and cared.

Sunday 12 August 2012

Summer School of Truth goes Japan!

Yesterday I came back home from my first and last Summer School Of Truth, the pre-training for the Lord's recovery. Never knew that I could be this close to the Lord. I mean, I've learnt to prophesy, and I was in front of the saints to prophesy a message three times! In my small group meetings, I shared what I enjoy in most of the messages.

Megan and I were dropped at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. It felt great to see the saints from Vancouver, Coquitlam, and Burnaby once again. That whole week, everything is all in the same schedule: morning revival, breakfast, lesson, small group meeting, lunch, activity time, quiet time (shower and naps), lesson, small group meeting, dinner, gym for singing, lesson, small group meeting, prayer time, sleep. But then on Friday afternoon, we had a rehearsal for an exhibition meeting. The exhibition meeting is a last, special meeting when all the young people sing hymns to the parents/audience out there, share a portion (like about 2 sentences) of what we enjoy in the messages we've learnt throughout the camp, recite 5 bible verses to the audience, and encouraging the parents to register their kids for Summer School of Truth next year.

Oh! You might wonder what the title for this post is called Summer School of Truth goes Japan. That's because 37 saints (I think) from Japan joined us in this year's Summer School of Truth! Japan, yay! I would definitely find an opportunity to go to Japan! We get to learn a few Japanese words/ phrases, including O Lord Jesus and Praise the Lord for the Body of Christ from the sweet, KAWAII (Cute) Japanese saints. Yes, I learn a few Japanese words from watching "Smile Precure" and any other Japanese anime, but I wouldn't want to speak to them in Japanese because I was afraid of getting messed up. We faced language barriers too. Only a few Japanese saints were able to speak English. So translation from the serving ones are needed. I wished I can just speak out "Komenasai" (Sorry), "Sumimasen" (Excuse me), "Ohaiyo" (Good morning), "Konichiwa" (Good afternoon), "Oyasumi" (Good night), "Hoishi" (delicious), "Sugoi" (amazing), and of course "Kawaii" (cute). =P

Ahem...where was I? Oh yeah! I had a lot of fun being with my group, including with two Japanese saints. Those two loved the Lord and were willing to prophesy in English! Even though we were from different cultures, we were in the same Body! We belonged to the Lord! At the end of the camp, we handed the two Japanese sisters cards and tidbits as souvenirs. In return, we received candies in those adorable Hello Kitty plastic bags from them! KAWAII, again. XD

I must say, Summer School of Truth turned out to be a good experience. I get to stick more with Claire and Sophie, as well as blending with the rest of the young people and the serving ones. This idea just came to me in the middle of the camp. I wrote a poem about the Summer School of Truth. And I received positive comments from my group partners!

Summer School of Truth
Arrived at the destination,
I dragged my suitcase and sleeping bag down the row of dormitories,
A drop of anxiety trickled into the puddle of my heart,
Fidgeting on whether this church camp was worth it.

A bunch of young people,
With friendly smiles and seeking hearts,
They released enthusiastic meteors all around the hall,
Willing to unroll the scrolls of truth,
And to escalate the level of our spirit. 

Hymns were sang with exercised spirits and joyous voices,
Prayers were uttered together to contact with the Father above,
Lessons and testimonies were revealed to guide us to God's kingdom,
Prophecies were shared for the life of the Triune God to flow,
Experiences were illustrated for us to learn in the future.

I was indulged in the love of Jesus,
I was summoned by the miraculous works of Christ,
I was cocooned by the warmth of the saints,
I was emboldened to speak for the Lord,
I even was composed with the verses of God' words and painted with the colours of God's abiding.

Dear,
Summer School of Truth,
A message which I would like to leave behind your doorstep,
You are the crossroad to the further treasures of God's kingdom,
You are the candle that illuminated the flame of God's eternal power,
And most of all,
You have made us young people more whitewashed, 
For the preparation of God's return! 

So what do you think? =)

Ki di  sdok no ka ra da o san bi shi ma si!
Praise the Lord for the Body of Christ!
Amen

Sunday 5 August 2012

One more month of summer..what should I do?

Whoa! So hot! Now Coquitlam is blazing out scorching heat at about 32 degrees Celsius! Somehow I wish I can just go out to Stanley Park for a bike ride, or to Victoria Island for a sightseeing tour, or to Capilano Suspension Bridge for an exercise on the bridge! I mean, come on, it's summer! Can't a spray of cold water would be enough?

Church camp starts tomorrow and I wonder whether one week of sticking my butt on a chair while listening to the serving ones (priests) giving lessons, would satisfy my summer. And plus, no technology is allowed during the entire camp. I don't know how am I suppose to survive in there?

Hey, I wonder what should I do in the next two weeks? Well, I still looking for a summer job. Plus I have to find time to finish reading the driving book. I, of course, need to catch up with my writing.

Oh, God! This summer seems to be really boring!

I came back from Korea yesterday morning, and you have no idea how tired I was! I slept till 8:49am this morning! Yup, I overslept so I skipped the chores and go straight to the church. If you ask me, Korea is way  hotter than here. You can't imagine that you'll get sunburnt in seconds! That what happened to me and my sister Megan. We went to Cheong Bak Dong palace, some sort of Myedong village, and Lotte World (mall and theme park). It was crazy! We faced lots of language barriers there, but at least we had fun buying souvenirs, laughing at candy makers who sing, eating the delicious food there, and getting to know Korean church saints.

I don't know when will be the next time for me to return to Malaysia. It was such a short time for me to be in k.k. I wish I can see all of my friends again...

Sunday 29 July 2012

Why...clock..why???

This summer vacation turned our fast, and 2 days left till my flight to Korea before transiting to Vancouver. I went to Suria Sabah with Ivy a few times already, and the last time we went was yesterday. Ivy and I had one last sleepover. We went to One Borneo hypermall late at night, and you wouldn't believe what we actually did. We watched The Amazing Spiderman at around 9pm, and we arrived home around midnight! And then the next morning (yesterday), we drove to Grace Chapel church in Kingfisher to see our dear secondary school English teacher, Mrs. Chu who gave a testimony about her late father and how her family loves the Lord. Mrs.Chu also invited us to her house after the meeting, since we had to be in Suria Sabah around 3pm. Knowing that the father is now working in Perth to support the family, I pray that Mrs. Chu's family would make ends meet.

At Suria Sabah, (sorry we were half an hour late =P) I was totally glad to see my friends once again. Eloise just couldn't make it. Pity. Paulette also had to leave early that very noon.

Okay. First, we met Haznol who worked at the Times bookstore there. Then, we headed to the arcade before making our way to the theatres for Ice Age 4:Continental Drift. I never knew that I've grown so tall! I was stunned to see Vanessa and Michelle John were shorter than me. Okay..back to the hangout. We didn't did much shopping, but we had a blast at dinner that night. Brenda and Haznol finally joined us. We had a good dinner at Upperstar restaurant, and had a game of UNO after that, which brought back memories back in tuition and secondary school.

Finally! All gifts are distributed! But I was sad to leave them again. That night when Ivy and I rushed home, I was actually thinking that we had one last hangout this Tuesday before my flight. But it turned out that she needs to work. After one last hug, I watched as she left my house. God! How come tears didn't come out in my sleep? Was it because I'm too tired? =(

The previous days went well too. We didn't exactly went shopping. More like window shopping. I received tips of fashion from her, like I don't know layers? And mix n match. And colour blocking. It's like wearing your summer wardrobe for the fall.

Oh! We went to Sutera Harbour too! My little pain-in-the-neck sister Mona tagged along, but I didn't really mind anyway. We went for a swim, had drinks and snacks at Magellen's MacMuffins cafe, and sat in those wide bed-like seats down the seaside of Magellen resort. It was fun, though Mona had her blabbermouth engine on towards me and Ivy. I just need some peace please! XD

Well, here I am, longing heavy-heartedly at the screen. At least tonight I'll be having dinner with Teacher Florence! Let's see what will happen. I have saved one last gift for her.

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Once In A Lifetime Family Vacation

My summer vacation supposed to be staying back at home in Malaysia, soaking under the scorching sun, and see the friends from previous school. But instead, we're going on a family reunion in Sarawak and a trip to China, which cuts my time in spending more time with my friends.

It started on July 12, when Megan and I flew to Sibu, Sarawak to help with the preparation for Grandpa's 80th birthday party. Then the next day we flew to Kuching for a big family photo shoot at Jacky Studio. You never notice me wearing my only dress (black halter), white heels, and make-up on. The photographer was crazy. He gave orders and told us to say silly words like "ah moi" =.= He also gave me a phrase I'll never forget:" When your mind is empty, you will smile. When your mind has something, you won't smile."

Anyway, the photo shoot went brilliant! When it comes to individual photos, I was nervous. I strike a pose ordered by the photographer, and he loved it! XD
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3919782764341&set=o.124512874276995&type=1&theater
can you see me in this photo? =)

Then we head back to Sibu for the celebration. Guests were invited to dinner at our mansion while we grandchildren performed on the stage which was set at a far end. I was included, reciting a poem I wrote for my grandfather. It's simple, yet heartwarming (I guess XD). Everyone praised that the poem I wrote is good. I wonder whether Gong Gong himself like it as well?

A few days later, we headed off to FuZhou via Singapore and Xiamen. Unfortunately, yet slightly relieved XD, the flight from Changi Airport, Singapore, to FuZhou is delayed! TWICE! We stayed in Traders Hotel till the next day, and we switched flights to Xiamen instead. At FuZhou, the story of my grandfather was revealed to us like a real-life novel. When we arrived at his mansion where his father had built, we all were greeted warmly like VIP! Firecrackers popped like bombs. Two lines of musicians played cymbals and other Chinese instruments. The mansion was HUMONGOUS!!! Of course, it's ancient. It's built centuries ago. We're given a tour around the house, including great grandfather's room, the worship room where a sad story was hidden, the kitchen, the dining rooms, and more. We had lunch, an enormous lunch there. Then, we went to two churches, one where Grandpa got baptised, and another one where Grandpa donated money for the building of a new church. We also get to see a few remained mud houses! We passed by a long river where another story was hidden. We finally stopped by a house which stored the "Lau" ancestors' portraits. Guess who's in one of the rooms? Grandpa and Grandma's picture hung on a wall in a room of opened doors.

Then 2 days later, we had a flight to LiJiang. I wouldn't want to talk about the short flights to Kunming or whatsoever. I was too dazed! Anyway, LiJiang is more like a village. It has a higher altitude, so it's cold! I should have bring a jacket along! We followed a tour bus to YuLong Snow Mountains National Park, where  we get to see the unique YuLong glaciers. Unfortunately, it was raining. Drizzling at first, then cats and dogs. We watched a musical show at an open-space theatre. It was not bad though. It was about the ancient Chinese tribes, telling a story of nature and losing someone (I think). There's a scene when a man wailed of his sister leaving him. I'm confused by that. XD

Okay,back to the trip. Besides the show, we also saw posters of ancient pictorial symbols called "Dong Ba". It was an old language used in LiJiang before Chinese words were born! Cool,huh? I was totally lost by it! I wonder how do those ancient people create those pictures? 0.0 I'm into history??? Help, get this crap out of my head!

It's a pity that we missed the chance of seeing the glaciers.

That night, we watched another performance given by a Chinese orchestra in the concert hall. The music was of course, screechy and whiny and..stringy.The tour guide probably planned this for us just to make us sleepy. XD And I was right! Cause during the subsequent day, the tour guide took the words right out of my mouth. She took us to a better performance at a huge auditorium. The dances revealed blown us away and made us laughed our heads off. I liked the little scenes of a romantic story shown by the actors and actresses.

One thing I only liked about LiJiang was the paper store which was situated in a small village in LiJiang. I loved the notebooks made by colourful bamboo papers! And the dong ba writings on books just made me curious! I got my only China souvenir: a handbook with pink bamboo papers, perfect for notes and ideas of my stories/poems!

It was a good experience for me, and a once in a lifetime family gathering. Our flight back to kk got delayed once again, so we returned to kk 2 nights ago. >.< I'm tired of delays! We stayed in a run-down hotel that stormy night, but I got cheered up because of the hilarious mini concert performed by two cousins and my sister, Megan, with Titus playing his ukulele as background music. Still, the journey to our flight had been tragedic, because of an slightly accident caused by a taxi cab. Don't ask. I would be pissed off if I faced him just like Megan faced him.

This would be my first and last China trip! If there's another vacation, just switch to Paris or Europe XD.

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Missing Piece

The florets of a dandelion floats away,
Carried by the wind,
As I watch the flowery snow revealed,
I find myself in the place I once call home,
After being divorced temporarily from my old life back here,
I realized that I've changed,
Forgetting something incredibly, yet bitterly sweet, important feeling.

As I indulge myself into the intense scorching heat,
The humid environment,
I forget how in the world I am able to survive in such a temperature,
As I see the faces of the people I once care and love,
A lightning of nostalgic pain strikes in my heart,
Telling myself not to cry,
As I recall the memories I had back then,
I never know how time flies quickly,
Like an hourglass.

The new place I currently enjoy living in,
Is like a whole new dimension to me,
But here back home,
A vanishing fragment appears in my stoned, cold heart,
Like as if I'm rebelling against God,
Or as if I'm fighting against my will,
I never know how painful it was,
To see that I've left everything here for a new beginning of life.

Now,
The bonds are mended,
Giving little gifts of gratitude to my loyal friends and teachers,
Warms my heart,
Drop by drop,
This vacation of mine is not over yet,
There's still a whole lot more memories to be recovered,
A whole lot more people to encounter once again,
And looking back how I really was in the past.

This missing piece inside me,
Is still burning and churning in my chest,
Like as if  my heart is really aching,
The future,
Of course,
Awaits,
But now,
My goal is to heal my wounds of nostalgia,
Seeing those I miss very much,
And hold my true feelings till they flow away.


Within 10 to 15 minutes, I wrote this poem to spill out my pain of missing my beloved Malaysian friends. Seriously, my heart just went heavy. My heart really aches. Once I return here I realize that I forgot what I used to do here. And the teachers. How come I forget the great ways they teach English? I've spent time with Ivy yesterday and today. It was fun. Before I knew it, I was helping her out with some pharmacy work yesterday noon. And today, we went to our secondary school Lok Yuk to visit English teacher Pn.Chu Siew Mei and get my SPM certificate. I'm running out of gifts! I should have bought more! Anyway, I gave a Canada Maple Leaves key chain to Pn.Chu as a memory. Yeah, I definitely gained weight and I was called "chubby" and "cute". Seriously, this sickens me. And my Malay tongue just got tumbled up! XD

It was great to talk to some teachers back in the teachers' office though. And guess what? My poem "Memory" will be on the cover of 2012's Hornbill Magazine! =)

And then this afternoon, we had lunch at Sutera Harbour with Satya who came back from Australia. Plus, not to mention a glass of iced chocolate and a cup of warm mocha cappuccino at some sort of coffee shop. =.= Please don't tell me I won't get enough sleep again tonight! I woke up at 2am this morning!

Anyway, one more day left till my flight to Sibu, Sarawak. I would rather just skip to July 20/travel further in time to go back to k.k. XD  There's still more friends to see, and more things to do!