Bejeweled Obsidian (First sonnet of 2014!)

Diamonds that decorate the night,
their white glow outstands the dark.
Their centers lit up like fireflies.
Four thin edges stretched out like a ninja's shuriken.
They are scattered over the heaven
as if Iridessa has tossed her pixie dust in thousands of miles.
The complicated patterns they themselves design
creates a mystery that curious eyes can imagine.

Oh how I wish I can stop
and lie down on the roof
to admire such a postcard-like snapshot.
The constellations remain as mirthful as ever,
that I may trace your dots with one active finger
to seek the answer you have clued.

Behind The Rain is a Light of God ( Memoir chapter assignment 2014)

Behind The Rain Is a Light of God

Brief note: The three chapters of this memoir are basically about my experiences of being a Christian. I’ll include two of my experiences in college and one experience in secondary school. Before I came to Canada, I was a half-year student at Taylors' College (in Kuala Lumpur) for the Canadian Pre-University program. Canadian Pre-U (CPU) is kind of like a preparation/transition for Malaysian students to get accessible grades to enter Canadian universities. Living in my first college life at Taylors for six months was definitely an experience, including when I was with a group of church sisters in Subang Jaya (the town I lived). I lived in one of the row of houses just opposite the CPU building, and it was rented for church girls. We went to church together and we did spiritual, holy things like reading the bible and Christian books.

The fierce solar sphere shone radiantly at the city of Subang Jaya in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia. The streets outside the campus were scorching, but the classroom inside was cooling.Thick yellow curtains covered the glass windows from the blazing sun. The room was lit up by six white fluorescent lamps above the ceiling. As usual, the students in the Challenge and Change in Society class (a social science course) did their quiz paper before handing in to the instructor, Miss Shelley Smith Dale. She had blonde hair that reached down to her shoulders. Her blue eyes gleamed along with a white toothy smile. A little background I remembered about her was that she was a grandmother of a lovely family back in Toronto. Even though elderly wrinkles crawled on her skin, she still looked as beautiful as an enchantress.

            “All right, folks! Before we begin today’s lesson, I would like to pass this to you.” Miss Shelley announced. She had a stack of one-page documents in her hands. A wave of curiosity crawled in my head as I waited for a paper to be passed to me. I think I’ll pass the quiz. And then I will be focusing on the assignments these few weeks…including the Life of Pi essay for English class..and oh! The surveys for the research project! And what else…community service…wait what? Community service? COMMUNITY SERVICE??? I paused for a few

minutes. My eyes were glued to a form with the words “community service” on top. (I was not quite sure what the exact heading was because I was too shocked. Silently shocked.) I pleaded to God, Please don’t tell me we have to do community service! I have loads of assignments to do these few weeks! Plus I haven’t done such a thing before! Miss Shelley slipped her round-framed spectacles which hung down her chest by a long string which was tied firmly around the ends of the eyewear. She looked at the sheet through the lens of her spectacles

and explained, “Now as you all know, one of the requirements to graduate from the Canadian Pre-University is by participating in 10 hours of volunteer work. Now it’s the time for you to think about what you want to be involved in.” My inner voice groaned, Oh..just great! I wore a stoic mask on my physical face, but inside I was banging my head on an invisible wall. I didn’t really pay attention to her speaking after that for I was too anxious to remove the imaginary wax from my ears. I panicked for a week that I won’t be able to do it. Jesus knew what I was going

through, and he sneaked in a miracle for me.

It was a typical heavy rainstorm in Subang Jaya. The dark cotton puffs above shed a storm of tears down the earth. I rushed to campus with an umbrella in one hand and presentation materials in a bag in my other hand. I tried not to groan too much because of my wet sandals and soaked jeans which was drenched by the rain. I nearly slipped on the shiny tile floor of the CPU building. Luckily, I made it to the classroom in the nick of time. A classmate, Rimita and I had to do a presentation on AIDS in the Individuals and Families In a Diverse Society course (another social science course).  I settled on a chair in the freezing air-conditioned room before bringing

my pen drive to the instructor's laptop. While doing so, I silently wondered whether the rainstorm would cause more harm to the urban city. This thought slipped when I realized that it was my turn to speak. I was shivering, and it was not due to the frosty-like temperature. It was my speech. I remembered saying a line that made the entire class laughed like I was an alien from Mars. I couldn’t remember what I said exactly but it was something about AIDS that was caused by gay men who had sex (yes, call me stupid). Even my partner covered her right hand over her mouth to hide her chuckle. I had no idea where I got that information from. After the presentation, I was relieved when the instructor, Mr. Craig Hobin announced that class was over for that day. But as I spoke too soon, karma hit me once again when my still-shivering hands made me drop my yellow and white Kingston pen drive on the floor. I quickly picked it up, and I was sure that Mr. Hobin took a short glance at me with a goofy smile on his Irish countenance. I assumed that I would get a D because of what I said during the presentation…or maybe an F.  A friend of mine, Iwin Soosay came to me with a nonchalant smile. His pearly white teeth outshone his dark Indian skin. “I enjoy your presentation very much, Michele!” he said. I stared at him in disbelief, “Yeah right! I look like a joke in front of everybody.” “Well, look on the bright side! You entertain us from the dull weather outside. I’m sure that even Mr. Hobin finds your speech impressive.” he said before he bade goodbye. I made my way back home which was just opposite the campus building, hoping that everything would be fine with a simple dinner and Youtube videos on my laptop. The bottom of my jeans sagged heavier than before due to a small pothole of rainwater at the gates of my house. Thanks a lot, Mother Nature.

The home phone in the living room rang that made me jumped. I left my early dinner of Swiss rolls on a glass table in the living room and took the call. I couldn't quite understand what the person on the line was talking about, for I was rusty in Mandarin. I rushed upstairs to my room to get help with translation from my roommate Jasmine. The Cambridge Advanced Level student was studying at her desk as usual. Her straight silky hair (longer than mine, it reached almost to her waist) draped down and her red-rimmed spectacles revealed a little sheen under the white ray of her table lamp. She looked a little startled when I burst into the room without knocking on the door (Jasmine, if you’re reading this, please forgive me for my rudeness). I caught my breath and said, “Jasmine! A sister’s on the phone!”  She placed a pen she was holding and took the wireless home phone from my right hand with a small smile. Five minutes later, she hung up the phone and passed me the sister’s message. It turned out that the roof in the church we went to was leaking and stacks of Christian books which were stored in the attic were soaked with naughty rainwater. The guardian (we usually call him or her a "serving one") on the phone was looking for volunteers to help out with carrying and moving the books away from the attic. Most of us sisters in the house agreed to drop by. Jasmine remained in her study desk for she had a big test coming up. Sometimes I pitied her for not taking breaks.

We sprinted under the splattering storm, overcoming its droplets that attacked against our skin like bullets. We passed by a long row of bubble tea cafes and local restaurants. We then turned right to an opposite block and finally to the foot of a flight of stairs. A semicircle of saints crowded there; they were waiting for a few muscular brothers to climb down with big cardboard boxes of books in hands. They were like ants building an anthill. “Hello sisters! You’ve finally came!” a brother greeted us with a smile, “Do you mind helping us carry these boxes to the truck over there while we go up to the top floor to take down some more books? Thanks so much!” And the next thing I knew, he plopped a box the size of a 1990s television onto my hands. I didn’t know what the others were thinking but the books weighed like five kettlebells in a parcel. Due to weeks of delaying my priority of going to the gym, my muscles were wailing for a long break after carrying several bundles. We took turns carrying books passed by the brothers and stacked them in the wide-spaced trunk of a truck.  I had no idea how many books we had to carry. After the truck was completely loaded with collections of precious Christian writings, a couple of saints volunteered to drive the troubled books down to another church which was newly-built. This new church was for the church people to gather in the near future. It was the only place for us to store the books until the next day or so.

We continued carrying boxes to another truck that arrived a few minutes later. I volunteered to go up the stairs to the third floor where the small church was situated. I zigzagged my way up three flights of grey concrete stairs as I made way for a long line of muscular brothers to go down the building. They grabbed hold on the wrapped books like heavy dumbbells. It had been half an hour and I could see splats of sweat on their shirts like a child’s

watercolour painting. Speaking of sweat, I felt as if my energy meter had dropped to zero and I tried not to complain about the aching cramps from my thighs to my feet. Eventually, I made it to the third floor. As I walked through the open wooden door, a group of sisters sat on either green plastic chairs or on the cold, white, tile floor. They were tearing out large pieces of newspapers and wrapping bundles of books with them. I remembered that there was a wooden bookshelf with a couple of glass doors; it was placed a few feet away from the entrance. It stored a collection of reused Bibles and spiritual magazines for people to borrow. A couple of long white tables were at the back of the huge room. A medium-sized black and white clock was hung at the

top center of a wall on my left; its hour arrow showed 7:00pm. And lastly on my right was a vertical line of green plastic chairs stacked in five feet towers. I recognized some serving-ones and helped them out with the process. I could feel adrenaline rushing in my veins. I watched as the saint next to me dropped twenty notebook-size books on a square piece of newspaper like a rough parachute landing. She then closed the sides with brown tape and tied it with ropes (there were not enough boxes so we had to use lots of newspapers instead). We tried to finish off this task as much as possible. The books written by founders of the church brother Watchman Nee and brother Witness Lee were categorized into wet and dry, and we had to get them all packaged like elves in Santa’s factory. There were little chatters in Mandarin, but mostly what I remembered of hearing was the rustling of newspapers and the thumping of the godly materials. I took a good three-minutes glance at the window which was at the front of the room. The clouds were still bawling above the sky; their tears splotched the glass panes as if we were hiding from a Paintball attack. We were worried that the rain would get stronger and more books in the attic would be spoiled. It was like destroying God's Word. However, our mouths were silvered with encouraging, hopeful lines of prayer. The Lord soon strengthened us with his light. A tiny spark of luminescence glowed inside of me, telling me that everything would be okay. The circle of sisters around me smiled at me like they were reading my mind and suggested that we should pray together to make the rain subside. Each of our prayers were combined with strong, firm “Amen” into a harmonizing unison like an orchestra.

It was 10pm and there were several dozens of stacks left and a sign of luck was revealed through the fading rain from the windows. One of the serving-ones suggested that we should go for a break. I immediately realized that I hadn’t eaten dinner yet and my Swiss rolls which were covered with an overturned bowl was still on the table back home. I followed a group of sisters to the nearby food court called Asia Cafe. To my surprise, my energy level had aroused like a rocket and I found myself taking three big steps down the stairs like a child who doesn’t entirely grasp the concept of safety. My heart lifted once I felt the severe drizzle. God must have comforted the miserable clouds to be a little more positive. Our prayers had been answered! Kudos to the Father! The neighbourhood’s famous food court was just opposite the block and we could smell a mixture of local dishes from the foot of the stairs. Unlike the buildings around the area, the wide-spaced food court was made up of a roof supported by metal pillars. A large number of white rectangular tables with six to eight plastic chairs each were arranged all over the place, sandwiched by more than twenty stalls that were lined up on both left and right sides.

There were also about ten stalls in the middle of the food court. We were greeted by the buzzing voices from a big number of customers. The rows of bright fluorescent lamps above shone down the nearly-packed restaurant. Hawkers turned their voices loud and captivating to attract customers. Once you entered in this tourist-recommended venue, you would want to try every single dish from every stall here because the chefs were like so well-trained and your mouth would water over their proud variety of cuisines from Chinese to Italian.  And who wouldn’t want to enjoy their meals with a little entertainment? Night owls, especially men, fixed their eyes on a television screen, which was equipped above the very center of the ceiling, while watched football matches live. And strangely, there were also one or two video game stalls that I rarely check it out. We sat at a perfect empty table and ordered our desired dishes. I usually craved fo creamy Carbonara pasta or crunchy Japanese Tempura with thick yellowish-white Udon noodles, but that time I decided to go for something related to my ancestors’ specialties, Chinese wonton. In case you don’t know what the heck wonton is, it is a smaller version of Chinese dumplings with meat fillings the size of a table tennis ball and a pretty twist pattern on top. I added in yellow noodles just to satisfy my growling stomach. For half an hour, I listened to stories told by the church sisters as we enjoyed every single bite or sip of our orders. “So what time do you think we’ll be done with the books?” I asked, slurping in my last few strings of noodles into my mouth. One of them, Lydia, shrugged her shoulders, “I’m not sure. But according to the brothers’ assumption, we shall be done by midnight.” She then pushed her spectacles back up to the bridge of her nose and added, “I’m sure that we will finish moving the books away soon.” We  thanked the Lord by prayer for recharging us with the food before we went back to work. Shortly, I realized that it was past curfew (which was 11pm) and my eyelids were at their limit. They were drooping quickly that I hardly could keep myself awake for a little bit longer. A housemate of mine noticed this and decided to walk me home. Before I left, I scanned around with relief as the number of book piles began to decrease. After a ten minutes walk back to our house, I saw the plate of food that I had left four hours ago on the same spot. I decided to eat the cakes for breakfast the next day. But as I lifted up the overturned bowl, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Instead of its beautiful, pink, spongy texture, the Swiss rolls were conquered by a small army of brown ants. The miniscule yet mischievous creatures were crowding over my poor pastry. Damn it! There goes my eight bucks! I took a couple of minutes to calm myself down before dumping it into the thrash can. And that was when the idea hit me. I remembered reading the suggestions of community service in the form I received in class, and the word “church” was written near one of the bullets. The four-hours of helping out that night could be counted as community service!

I thought that there was no way I could find something for six hours of community service, but it turned out that I was wrong. The next day, a serving-one, Su Min, called me by phone to ask me for help, “Would you like to help us dry the books in the new church? We won’t be moving them back until all of the books are dry.”  I agreed since I wouldn’t mind helping the church again. That afternoon, Su Min drove me and a friend who was also a sister named Chieng Bing to the newly-built church. It was about twenty minutes from the city. If I could briefly recall, the new church was located near a farmland which was an ideal setting for a peaceful church. And yes, it was an independent building with its very own parking lot. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite remember the details outside of the church because of the scorching sun that I couldn’t stand under for five whole minutes. Su Min led us through a large main door and into a white-walled hall. A wooden stage overtook the front with a glass podium on the left. It was completely varnished like gold’s sheen. But what captured me the most was a gigantic sheet of books that were all over the newly-mopped square-tile floor. The opened books reminded me of a crowded Californian beach where people went sunbathing for hours. Five volunteers were in different spots of the room, fanning soaked pages with rectangular lids cut out from boxes. It was a pity that the electronic ceiling fans above couldn’t do all the magic of turning the books back their previous untouched states. Anyway, the three of us spent two hours going around the hall, fanning the publications. I had to be honest, this traditional way to drying the books was one of the most boring things I had ever done in my life, but it was for the sake of fulfilling another two hours of volunteer work.

            I was pretty sure that Satan was behind all this. He tried to ruin God's speaking by ruining the precious works from our fellow brothers, but he was missing something. God was there to help us. He never gave up on saving the books by encouraging us to transfer the books to the a safe place. Ha! Take that, Satan! We even learnt the power of teamwork. That afternoon, after we had done most of the drying, Su Min decided to take Chieng Bing and I back to the city. She also signed my form under the name of the church and wished me luck on finding the remaining four hours of volunteering with a smile that shone among her pale skin. Chieng Bing also cheered me on with a chubby smile, “I wish I can do community service like you do. You’re getting the benefit of helping people out, and that’s something valuable in life.” I have to admit, I guess I did.

<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br /><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" property="dct:title">Behind The Rain is a Light of God ( Memoir chapter assignment 2014) </span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="http://thetruemichelehii.blogspot.ca/2014/01/behind-rain-is-light-of-god-memoir.html" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Michele Hii</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.

Unexpectedly, A Perfection from Jason Chen

Back in my secondary school days, the song that stuck in my head was Crush by David Archuleta.
David Archuleta's "Crush" music video. Thumbs up if you still remember and love this song. =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J1-eYBbspA
And then came Youtube artist David Choi with "Underneath Your Love" and "Thinking About You".
David Choi's "Thinking About You" music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJoi-xf7rjs
David Choi's "Underneath Your Love" audio video (hope that he'll release a music video of this someday):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InwjkHygYXg

And now, I would like to share with you my current favourite song. And it's not a popular dubstep beat or an overrated R&B from major stars like Rihanna. I'm talking about this wonderful Youtube artist name Jason Chen. Yeap, I hear that you would say, "Jason who?" Jason Chen is one of the Asian American singers and musicians who posts sweet, innocent, beautiful music videos from his one-of-a-kind original songs. He did covers too, but honestly I prefer his originals. I recommend you to go and check out his Youtube channel (just type Jason Chen Music) because he has a golden voice and the lyrics in his songs are relatable to the average people like me. So my favourite song from him (and I'll never remove it away from my top song list) is "Unexpectedly". This song is basically about having a crush on a person and wanting to get attention from him/ her till that person reveals the same feeling.
Check out his lyric video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbeE6xDJR5I
I also would recommend you to watch his official music video to this amazing original right here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1_68euz30w
Every time I listen to "Unexpectedly" my heart would just melt and I always imagine myself being flirted by a secret admirer (you know, like a love story or a romantic movie). The piano chords and the background music is just soothing. The lyrics are just as expected as a true R&B artist should have, and everything that pull together into this final product is just perfect. Don't believe me? Listen to the song and you'll know why it brings me to an illusion of finding love. Help this Youtuber out by liking, commenting, and sharing his Unexpectedly music video to anyone you know that they'll love it too. I'm certain that one day this video will reach a million views.

This song is used in a new short film by Jubilee Project called "What's Inside" and to sum the story up, it's about a guy who finds the girl of his dreams as well as using a hint of luck to get the girl's attention. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkJB9SR0Tp4

So I hope you'll like this song as much as I do after you go through this post. I went through a silent tough time with my first brokenhearted moment last year, but thanks to this song, I'll never stop dreaming about finding my first love. Single ladies, you're not alone. We'll find that guy someday. I know we will. My best friend once told me that "he'll be sitting right in front of you". There's no wrong of sitting back and let the cupid do his magic of shooting arrows; one at you and one at that lucky person. =)

Jason Chen's Unexpectedly with one million views! I hope I can see that soon!

Kudos to Lizzie Velasquez!

I wonder if you guys have heard of Lizzie Velasquez? She was once called the World's Ugliest Woman due to a very rare disease since birth, but she is now saluted by many people because of her courage to stand before haters. I am inspired by her jovial and hopeful personality. Through these two Youtube videos (which I've posted the links below), she shares the audience in TED talks about her life of being bullied and how she overcame the obstacles she faced throughout her childhood.

Lizzie Velasquez's Youtube videos of her motivational speeches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohGDfNQV7M
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c62Aqdlzvqk

I agree with her a lot. Physical appearance is not to be judged too heavily; inner beauty (personality, attitude, will, dreams...) is more important. Face it! If a guy dates a woman who eats his heart by her physical beauty but secretly disgusts him due to her rudeness or any negative attitudes, then what's the big deal of hanging out with her?

I'm proud of what she has achieved so far. She really has made her dreams come true, like graduating from university and publishing her inspirational books about real definition of beauty. I'm thinking of buying one of her books someday. I love reading creative non-fiction as well as inspirational stories from people, so I'm looking forward of going to the nearest bookstore, maneuvering for books that interest me in getting to know more of interesting lives of various people. (But that doesn't mean I've lost my obsession in girly fairy magic and Disney fantasy because I still have my novel series waiting for me to finish.)

Lizzie and I are on the same boat; we both have experienced the pain of being bullied. And I'm happy that she ignore the negative comments from the haters because that's what a strong person would do, like Demi Lovato who proudly shows her motto "Stay Strong" on her tattooed wrist. I'm also glad that I'm alive as well, because without the love and support from my family and friends (especially the ones back home in Malaysia), I wouldn't be here in Canada chasing my dreams of becoming a writer. And yes, I'm still concerning of what would I be and journalism is still floating in a lake, waiting to be raised up by my hope-to-be-aroused confidence, but I have this desire in listening and writing about other people's personal stories about significant events they treasure. If only I can be a journalist, I would like to meet Lizzie and to write about her amazing contributions to public.

What I also like about Lizzie is that she has self confidence in her body. Yes, she is unable to gain weight but I'm jealous of her for eating delicious sugary food. And believe me I wish I can lose at least a few pounds and gain my skinny body back (back to when I was an elementary student). I don't know why but I wish I can be skinny once again. However, I guess I can't fulfill this dark desire because of my stressful late-night studying and craving for sugar. I even wish that there's a surgical way to remove all the unnecessary fat. I'm even disappointed in myself for not working harder in losing weight even though I do pilates and cardio workouts with Cassey Ho in her Blogilates Youtube channel every day. What is wrong with me? Maybe I don't have confidence in my physical flesh because I look fatter than my slim sisters. Lizzie stood up and advised her fans to love yourself, stay healthy, and be happy. I guess she's right, I shouldn't complain about my physical look but focus on what I want to do in the only life I live.

Lizzie Velasquez, if you're reading this, I just want to say thanks so much for inspiring me and the rest of your followers (probably the whole world) for not giving up in life. You are right that words from haters  are not to describe you, but to motivate you to blossom into a beautiful flower under the sunlight. You are indeed a beautiful lady inside and outside. Keep doing what you're doing. =)

Btw, check out her interview with Dr.Drew here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202512/Worlds-ugliest-woman-Lizzie-Velasquez-gives-courageous-interview.html

Disney's FROZEN: Everybody Needs A Touch of Winter Magic And Love

WARNING: This post contains spoilers of the movie. If you haven't watch this fantastic film, then I suggest you to watch it (hurry up! do it before the theaters erase it off their showtime menu!) before you read this post.

If you or your child cannot get the song "Let It Go" off their heads, it means you or your child makes the right choice of watching this film, even for ten times! Congratulations to this theme song for being nominated for best original song (even though I believe that this should won the award) and for winning as best animated feature film (Golden Globe Awards)!

So obviously "Let It Go" is my favourite song in this film. Reasons?
1. Idina Menzel is an amazing Broadway singer, and her voice fits Elsa (my favourite character) so perfectly!
2. The lyrics describes Elsa's situation clearly, and when she sings it, her movements and facial expressions matches the lyrics like a flowing waterfall.
3. The song matches Elsa's feelings of trying hard to control her snow and ice powers.
4. Hello??? It's Disney! Disney makes the best original songs in the entire history of mankind!
My favourite part of the "Let It Go" scene is when Elsa transforms herself into a lonely but free queen in a sparkling ice-blue dress, a snowflake cape that flows behind her, and her side braid down on her left shoulder. Seriously, this is one epic transformation since magical girl anime series are born (Cardcaptor Sakura and Heartcatch Pretty Cure for example)!
Here's the link to watch this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk
While watching this clip, observe as Elsa moves gracefully to the rhythm of the music. You'll never regret on how wonderful Elsa acts here.

Another song that gets me is "Do You Want To Build A Snowman", and this is sung when Anna knocks on Elsa's song throughout her childhood because she wants Elsa to play with her. Before this happens, Anna and Elsa were close sisters @ best buddies. Anna was fascinated by Elsa's powers that she had fun playing in her "winter wonderland". Suddenly, when Anna jumped on mountains of snow that grew bigger every time Elsa summoned, she accidentally slipped on the icy floor and shot a wave of sharp ice at Anna's right eye. It froze Anna unconsciously, causing a streak of her brown hair to turn white. And after a concerning conversation with her parents and the king of a pack of trolls, Elsa was forced to control her powers by locking herself up away from anyone else, including Anna. When little Anna sings this, she is begging and pleading desperately for Elsa to come out and play with her. However, as time passes, Elsa is still not convinced by Anna because she is bottled up by her worries of seeing her powers getting stronger than before. And in the second half of the song, viewers grab their tissue boxes and cry silently as they watch the parents of the two girls killed in a overturned ship which is caused by an extreme turbulence of the ocean and a rainstorm. Then, there's the funeral of the king and queen (16-years-old Anna is the only one who attends). The song ends with Anna in black knocks on Elsa's door, convincing her for one last time to open the door:                                      "Please I know you're in there,
                                    People are asking where have you been.
                                   They say have courage, and I'm trying to
                                    I'm right here for you, just let me in.
                                   We only have each other, just you and me.
                                   What are we gonna do, do you want to be build a snowman?"
Anna's voice (voiced by Kristen Bell, btw)  nearly shatters when she sings the last line, and I was in tears..like really bad. If you don't cry in this scene, then that means you don't have a heart. Anna faces such a heartbreaking situation, and she really pours her feelings into this song.

Okay, enough with the songs. Now let's talk about the story. As expected from Disney, the story line is just amazing. It just flows smoothly and each scene is shown in consistent timing. One of my favourite scenes is when Anna and the gang meets Olaf, an alive snowman who is built by Elsa. Yup, an alive snowman. He's just so, so, SOOO adorable that I want to hug him lots and take him home with me! And Josh Gad is the perfect Olaf because his voice and laugh matches the snowman's awesome klutzy behaviour and cheesy humour. Anyway, in this scene, Olaf at first scares the hell out of Anna that his face is kicked off and rugby-caught together with Kristoff (voiced by Jonathan Groff) , an ice worker. Kristoff has his steadfast, loyal reindeer named Sven, and he definitely looks funny in white ice chains that tangled round his antlers. I also love Olaf's scattered body. His head, small chest, and big bottom would make a perfect backup for a losing football match (I'm just kidding XD). But the way his body separates off like puzzle always got me laughing. And oh! You wouldn't want to miss him singing "In Summer" because this is seriously the cutest song ever! You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFatVn1hP3o
A snowman can dream of impossible things, can't he? =D And his dream of experiencing summer comes true. But it happens bit by bit. First, he sees heat for the first time when he lights up the fireplace in the Anna freezing scene. And then, he has his personal flurry in the ending as well as his first sneezing after sniffing his first sight of flowers. So, this is a good pace of time telling the viewers on how Olaf gets to make his dream come true.
Another scene that I love is the climax, that is when all of the main characters are in this frozen sea (where the ships are). Viewers definitely have a mixture of emotions: tension, sadness, horror, and joy. It's impressive that the characters are all in the same setting, and there's just so much going on, yet the film show each little scene well. The most intensive part is when Anna freezes into a statue while protecting Elsa from being killed by Hans. Honestly, I find Hans' sword being crashed and shattered by Anna's frozen hand is extraordinary. Anna's love for Elsa pushes Hans the surprising antagonist away. And I absolutely love the twist of the quote "An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart". It doesn't have to be a true love's kiss! And it doesn't have to be from a guy! True love can be family love, just like Anna who sacrifices herself for her beloved sister! Now that's what I call a twist! Way to go, Disney! So sister love breaks the spell from Anna successfully, and this gives an answer for Elsa to thaw the frozen kingdom of Arendelle. The twist helps the protagonist to solve the problem. That's epic as well!
Okay, this the last scene that I love, and that is the kiss between Anna and Kristoff. Cutest. Couple. Ever. Hehe... yup I'm a fan of final kisses =P.

The graphics are amazing too. Kuddos to this film, viewers go ooh and ahh as they gaze at the wonderfully, computer-animated, scenery. It's like as if the snowy mountains and ice caverns bring viewers to Norway for real! And the ice tower Elsa builds? Oh! Don't get me started! Because I can go on and on AND ON about how I wish I can live in it! The blue ice gleams in the sunlight and the structure is just gorgeous! And who would ever refuse to stand on the balcony of the ice castle???? It's like Simba who goes up Pride Rock! See the comparison??? Stepping onto a structure with pride and dignity!!!
As one of the critics says: "Disney's best since The Lion King".

I wish I can talk more about this film, but time tells me to stop here. I might write a second part of this review..maybe..we'll see. Overall, I would definitely rate this film five stars and describe this in one word, phenomenal.
By the way check out my drawing of Elsa and Olaf, two of my favourite characters in the movie. =)

<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br /><span xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" property="dct:title">Disney's FROZEN: Everybody Needs A Touch of Winter Magic And Love</span> by <a xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" href="http://thetruemichelehii.blogspot.ca/2014/01/disneys-frozen-everybody-needs-touch-of.html" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL">Michele Hii</a> is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.

Heart The Vancouver Lights (First poem in 2014!)

The tiny fairies retreat from the bushes,
activating their wands.
They shower waves of dust
that paints the fading evening pink canvas
into an obsidian sheet.
Remains of their magic form into twinkling stars
that makes the sky a masterpiece. 

Vancouver, the city
suddenly transforms into an alive atmosphere. 
Lamposts lit up their bulbs;
their rays overlap the streets.
Fluorescents and chandeliers from indoors
permeate through glass windows
that are welcomed by rows of string lights above the roads,
saying "Come and join the party!" 

Downtown,
glowing with bursts of colors.
Neon signboards illuminate in front of buildings
that summon red, blue, green, and gold ribbons 
around the busy streets. 
Oh! How I just love the atmosphere!
Nighters pace here and there;
their stomachs growling for the melting pot of cuisines
that are just a stone's throw from their parking spots.
Or their souls begging for entertainment,
the DJs blast their best beats that echo from clubs.
Boutiques may be closed,
but the eateries ain't stop celebrating
another birth of a clear night. 

Toot! Toot! TOOOOOOOT!
Did you hear that?
The steam clock in Gastown has rang the final hour.
But I wouldn't want to leave
this vibrant world.
I am not drunk, but I am energized
by the glorious lights that calls the city
home. 

Snowflake Palms (Portrait Poem -Elsa in Disney's Frozen)

You were once isolated in your room.
You were once afraid of the world.
You were once worried to the extreme
of your sister's safety
as well as the kingdom's peace.

In all those years,
you store your secret shut
in your two gloved hands,
surrounded by four frozen walls.
The coronation day
was the day you dropped the bombshell.
Your fate had changed
when you lost your patience,
summoning a wave of sharp ice in front of your royal guests.
Your automatic incantations were jagged and harmful
that forced you to retreat from civilization.

And here you are,
finding a solution to the depression and anxiety
you have held back in all those years.
Your mind warns you to keep your gloves,
but your heart tells you to toss them away.
This incredible power
flows and glides from your hands
in swirls of fluffy white in the air
and blocks of blue into a tower,
your new refuge.

Way to go, snow queen.
You've stood tall and proud.
You've conquered your fear
by becoming a rebel,
showing the gods above what you want to reveal.
Your frost fabric glistens and your translucent cape gleams
under the sunrise rays.
Yes, you know it.
The snowflakes are cheering with glee.
This is where you belong,
Elsa the Great.

Be A Diamond, Not A Talc (Poem dedicated to the victims of the Philippines' Typhoon Haiyan)'

Be a Diamond, Not Talc

A fierce vortex may carry a roof away.

A gigantic earth fault will clash and clutter the walls.

A sliding slope will drag houses down like a waterfall.

An extreme army of wind and rain will drown the innocent beings.

A furious conflagration might incinerate the mortals' fragile skin.

A flowing ribbon of lava will engulf a tree's beauty.

Yet we are still alive.

Who knows when a plane will crash against a skyscraper?

Who knows when a ship will overturn in the deep cold blue?

Who knows when a bus will skid towards a train?

Who knows when a young lad will get shot?

Who knows when death is cursed on a loved one?

Yet we are still alive.

We may live in a world weaved with catastrophes.

Poverty and prostitution still do exist.

One innocent mind will be harmed one day

by the awakening of reality’s rage.

Yet have no fear

that when faith knocks on your door,

Not even grenades of disaster will crash onto you.

We may lose our current plans.

Our shelters, together with our belongings

may be destroyed and no longer in use.

We may be devastated

to see earth turned to deadly black,

yet there is one tiny spark hidden beneath the soil

that will soon grows and glows with great glory,

a luminescence that will revive our hearts.

Dear people,

don't be a sectile, bendable talc.

Your heart may be twisted like its rubber-like body.

Your spirits may be shattered like its weak bonds.

Your soul may be torn like its easily-scratched surface.

But

do remember the spark that will illuminate

right before your eyes. 

It will help to rekindle your heart,

like a flame of hope that ignites in brilliant warmth.

Let the flame in you ablaze with wondrous power.

Let's stand up from the debris left on the ground

and lay hands on one another's shriveled wings.

Let's be diamonds that conquer misery,

strong and resistant.

Its surface cannot be damaged

but reflecting beams of bright silver

that an enemy's eyes be blinded. 

Don't let hypocrisy and sarcasm overcome your thoughts!

Get up on your feet now!

Fix the cracks and ruins

to create a renewed world. 

Keep in mind that you are not engulfed in isolation

for we hold you in our prayers

and God will lend you his mercy and grace.

So open your eyes now.

Be a diamond,

not talc. 

World Kindness Day 2013: Post a love message!

I don't know whether you are aware of this, but today is World Kindness Day. I don't have any money with me, except my debit card and countless pennies in my wallet so I can't buy gifts, but I would like to share this message with you all.

For those who can't find something to make someone's day better today, you can do this simple task on Facebook, twitter, or any other social sites (even email =P). So here's what you can do with your laptop in front of you. Post a short message of love as your status update OR as a special message to a friend or two. If possible, you can post your message to as many friends as you can think of. Here's an example:
"I just want to let you know that you're perfect just the way you are. You are the reason why I'm being myself and living here in this world with a smile. I love you, and I hope you'll never forget that you are always loved. Spread this to the people you care by (posting this as your Facbeook status/ tweeting this to your friends). Happy World Kindness Day!=)"

You can copy the example above as your own love message, but it would be better if you create your own love message and share it with your friends. Be creative, but simple, meaningful, and inspiring! Your message will make a person's day joyful. Compose a short poem, quote a portion of lyrics from a good song,share a bible verse...anything you want to make your love message perfect!

If you find this task a little cheesy, then you can grab your coat and start something bigger! One of my favourite Youtube artists, David Choi did a great example to show a random act of kindness. Check out his collaboration with Jubilee Project here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rSMRM9_TZo

In this video, he sang one of his singles "Can't Take This Away" in order to get some lunch money from passers-by. In the end, he ended up giving all the lunch money he earned to a beggar at the store. So, why can't you? Go and do a random act of kindness by donating a quarter, a toonie, or a dollar to a person in need! Just don't spare cash to those fake, lazy beggars! They are just trying to trick you! If you see someone who is desperately seeking help, let your heart to be softened and give a silver or a green to that person.

There are, of course, other ways to do something kind. If you don't feel like doing something nice, then I suggest you to start by doing the online task above. If this encourages you to do something more, post more of your love message, and eventually, you'll find yourselves walking down the aisle and help your family, friends, or even strangers with a good deed. You wouldn't want to miss out on this special day! Today is a practice for you to do something good for other people! So....what are you waiting for??? START NOW! =D As Ellen Degeneres always says: "Be kind to one another"!

God is Life

http://www.photoblip.com/pictures/98055/the-definition-a-good-person.html

A friend sent me this link yesterday and recommended me to incorporate this into something deeper, that is the true meaning of life. Being a child who is raised in a Christian family, I wondered why we went to church every Sunday,and I was called a "church kid" because I was taught about God and received God throughout my childhood. To be honest, I didn't truly understand all those teachings about Christ back home, but after living with a bunch of church sisters back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as well as being involved in conferences and retreats with the Canadian saints, I realized that, with God, life is full of meaning.

So, the picture above is the link I receive. Many Christians believe that they should do good in order to please God and to get closer to God. I agree that we should be good in the eyes of the Lord. However, there is one thing that a lot of them don't know. They have a little hole in their hearts, and they're finding the missing patch to sew it back on. The patch is God as life. Their true, real life. What I mean here is that they have to allow God to enter into their hearts and to guide them every day in every place and every minute. God is a real person, not just the Holy Spirit. If we open our hearts and listen to His speaking, He will tell us what to do. In this way, the things we do in life will not only satisfy ourselves, but also God Himself!

Now you probably know the story of Adam and Eve in the beginning of the Bible. God made them for a significant purpose, that is to express Him and to contain Him as a vessel. God gave them two types of tree: the "tree of life" and the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" (Lee, 104). "God's placing man in front of the tree of life [so that] men [can] receive Him as [life]"and to take him in as "food" (Lee, 110). He is our real food! He is found "in the Word", which is the Bible (Lee, 110). In fact, the tree of life represents God himself! Praise the Lord that He is life! We have to take Him as our "center" so that he can supply our empty hearts with his life. His life becomes our life which is real to us (Lee, 110). God also desires us to take Him as "food", as it says in John 6:48: "I am the bread of life" and John 6:57: "He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me." (Lee, 110-111). The fruits that grow in the tree of life are organic and fresh for us to eat and enjoy, and this will help us to experience God's life as well as his eternity. John 6:51 reminds us: "I am the living bread, which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread which I will give is my flesh, given for the life of the world". On the other hand, the tree of knowledge of good and evil is portrayed in the picture above. People who only believe in the matter of good and bad are dying. Genesis 2:17 says: "But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die". Eve ate a fruit from this tree and she experienced death, so did Adam. Same goes to us today. If we eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil, all we believe is morality and values, which causes us to fail in experiencing God's presence! Yes, you go to church but if you do not feel that God is knocking the walls of your heart and begging you to let him break through and reach you to breathe him in, then you are not satisfied with the way you live just like the woman in the picture. Ask yourself, dear reader. Do you want to eat the tree of life OR the tree of knowledge of good and evil? I would like to hear you say: "I want to eat the tree of life so that I can depend on God as the real life!"

Life is like flowing water that gushes out of a fresh, crystal clear river. John 4:14 says, "But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life". Many Christians take this as a doctrine, thinking that the fountain of living water is only a metaphor or an illusion of God. But here's what I learn from this precious verse. This specific type of water is a source that we as thirsty, desperate, empty human beings are seeking for to survive spiritually. It "[flows] within us", "[proceeding] out of the throne of God" (Lee, 153). "This river was made to water the garden [of Eden] that [it] might grow things of life" (Lee, 153). The world's first garden, the garden of Eden is introduced in the book of Genesis, and this symbolizes that today, the garden of Eden is in us! The greenery (trees and flowers and fruits and all you can find in this garden) depends on the amount of water flown from "the river of water of life" (Lee, 163). If a person's garden is dying, it means that he or she doesn't have the right amount of water from the river of life to water the garden. So what can we do to water the garden in us? Simple. We need to open ourselves to the Lord to allow the "fountain [to emerge] as a spring, and the spring flows out as a river" (Lee, 152)! We need the Lord to whoosh his waters of eternity all over our spirit, our soul, and even our body so that we can experience Him as our only life!
If you're interested, here are a couple of hymns about God as life.
"Christ Has Come To Be Life"
http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn.php/ns/149
"Take My Life and Let It Be"
http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn.php/h/445

Lee, Witness. Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of  

Genesis: Volume One. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 2013. Print.
Lee, Witness. Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of 

Genesis: Volume Two. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 2013. Print.

So..yeah...that's pretty much it! XD I've spent two hours writing this out, but it feels great to share this to you. Thanks to these two books as reference (as shown above), the points here are linked to the real matter of life. Only God's life is ideal and full of hope and glory, and with it, we can no longer suffer!

Oh! And as a special treat, this is a favourite video of mine about the Christian students at UBC (University of British Columbia) who sang a bible song from John 6:51.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d6pZ8CVQoE

What do you think of this post? Leave your comments below. ;) Thanks for reading!