The ondeh-ondeh was a horrible failed attempt.

Next time i wanna eat ondeh-ondeh, i'll just pop by Nyonya Colours.

End of domestic stories.

What on earth are you on earth for?

I really cannot tahan, seeing people bring posers and fakers, trying to be "cool", copying what the "cool" people do. Running their whole life round and round trying to get all these useless things, doing useless stuff and humans gladly revolve their lives around it. Its like closing your fist around sand or trying to grasp water. Practically useless. What's cool anyway?

What defines cool?
I tell you where your treasures are, there your heart is.
Where you put importance, where you give priority in your life, that's what "cool" is to you.
Who you look up to, the kind of people you're trying emulate, that's who you'll be.
So what is more important than making sure which "coolness" is the right "coolness" to follow?

So what is the RIGHT coolness?
Is it clubbing, partying, drinking, smoking, dressing like its too hot to have ANY clothes on, the labels you wear? The list could go on and on and on, but there's a reason why Vanity, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Envy and Pride take up 6 of the 7 Deadly Sins AND they're called the DEADLY sins for a reason too.

Isn't it a real waste of life?
You can't take these things with you when you die and they are seen as little to no value in the eyes of God. So why set store by earthly things when you should be store up for ourselves treasures in heaven?

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19-20).

I don't want to get to the end of my one and only life to realize that i've wasted it.
I mean, come on! Everyone wants their life to be of some importance, a life that counts, that MATTERS. But how do you live a life that counts?

It boils down to what on earth are you on earth for. Isaiah 43:6-7 makes it clear that God created us for this purpose : to glorify Him. We were designed to make much of God. In other words, you exist to point praise and glory to God.

So...
Do all the clothes in your closet help you in your life purpose to glorify God?
Does all that alcohol gather up worth in heaven?
Do you want to get to the end of your life and find that you've wasted it?
I don't want to, and hopefully, i won't.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

A really good topic to write a novel on.

The back cover reads:

In my first memory, I am three years old, and i am trying to kill my sister. Sometimes, the recollection is so clear i can remember the itch of the pillowcase under my hand, the sharp point of her nose pressing into my palm...

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and injections to help her sister, Kate, fight leukaemia. Anna was born for this purpose, her parents tell her, which is why they love her even more.

But now she can't help but wonder what her life would be like if it weren't tied to her sister's... and so she makes a decision that for most, at any age, would be too difficult to bear, and sues her parents for the rights to her own body.

---------


Jodi Picoult is really an excellent writer. Her latest novel, Nineteen Minutes, is based on bullying and school violence and her other novels employ various other heart tugging everyday life issues. This particular novel was a captivating story that just begged me to keep turning the pages, even though i've read this book two times over in the good few months i've owned it. The bitter end, a surprising twist that brings tears to my eyes. Don't take my word for it! Read it yourself.

Wicked the Musical

Seeing as i probably will not be going anywhere near a theater anytime soon, i decided to download an unfortunately not so clear copy of someone's home video *tsk tsk* of Wicked the Musical.

It all started when i caught a little clip off Youtube, a video of the song Defying Gravity from the musical, starring Idina Menzel. I loved the song so much, not surprisingly, soon after i was hooked.

I just finished watching it, and i must say it was worth every minutes wait for the download to complete? Haha i must get the book now, the book will always have more interesting details.

I've been very keen on these kind of underdog, you-never-know-what-really-happened kind of stories since i encountered one on Snow White's evil stepmother. I don't know where it went, i haven't been able to find it again.

Oh well. It's been interesting. Now i've got to get to sleep.

Fantasy Farm life...sigh

ToastandCupcakes

TinyHappy

SouleMama

Don't these look just yummy? I don't think all of them stay on farms per se, but its just the lifestyle that is sooooo encouraging for creative play. They make fun out of anything, garden soup, potato stamps, decorating food and all sorts of stuff. I mean, for instance their kids! They have SO much space for imagination. They play in the dirt, muck around with fuzzy animals, "help" mum grow or make things. It's not like us here, whose kids grow up mainly on tv, factory-made toys etc, where parents are so concerned that kids stay clean [Don't you go touching that dirty little dog, young man! You never know what germs they carry] and keep their children in a sterile bubble of lackluster BORING life. It seems like these things stifle imagination and creativity! Perhaps i won't have a television in my future home, gasp!

One of them, Soulemama, she embroiders really cute designs based on her kids' drawings! Isn't that so absolutely cute? Paper and colour will fade and get thrown away but these little things remain.

If i ever have kids, i think i'd like them to have just as much fun and play as these kids obviously do. I can only hope one day i'd be a mum who encourages all these little imaginations into great creative people. Perhaps all my kids toys will be lovingly handmade by me. Perhaps i'll spend hours drawing and writing up bedtime stories for my little ones. Haha, we'll see where God leads, yes?

Rush Hour 3

Don't bother rushing to the cinemas for Rush Hour 3.
Although very very funny and superbly done action scenes by Jackie Chan, the movie had lots of unnecessary sexy scenes thanks to Carter [Chris Tucker] the one man woman wanting machine, barely clad women and the usual Chris Tucker poking fun at every thing on earth. As for the female cast, the only few i was impressed with was Noemie Lenoir [Genevieve] and Youki Kudoh, whose character is unfortunately named Dragon Lady. Noemie, because she is absolutely gorgeous, an artist's dream face, and Youki, for her action scenes, ending in an implied revolting death.

The movie was quite predictable, of course, Rush Hour 3 is not exactly intelligent material. I could practically see the next scene coming. I found myself muttering, "ah i bet something's gonna happen now.. [boom crash bang] there it is."

The acting was pretty standard stuff, although i have to say Jackie Chan's English and acting is definitely improving. Chris Tucker is his usual self, but there was this one irritating Asian girl, who is cast as Soo Yung, the Ambassador's daughter. Please. Like you couldn't afford to hire an Asian girl that acted better. So fake, it's almost like they were paying her to open her big big teary eyes and expecting the audience to melt in them. What an insult.

Good movie to laugh at, but overall not good enough.
P.S. If you enjoy the end bloopers which are now signature with Jackie Chan movies, you will not be disappointed. Seafood, anyone?

Little ole domestic me

Thanks to my domestic moments emerging and a lack of anything else to do, i have been cooking.

Hah, the amount of ridicule i encountered.
All you unbelievers.
You wait.

Well, after a week now of cooking dinners for my family, nobody has died yet, or had indigestion. No piles of unwanted food in the waste basket either.
Haha, well you could say its all thanks to my dear granddad, who's been supervising, but he gives me free leave to put in whatever i want and i taste the food myself.

So after this very productive week and several rave reviews [although i have to admit the reviewers were biased, the club i was holding while they were eating sure did help them smile and say the food's great], i'm keen on learning how to make more things. Well, more than just the standard fare for dinner.

So my next project! Ondeh-ondeh!













Now doesn't that look yummy? I love ondeh - ondeh! Jann converted me after a little trip to Nyonya Colours in One Utama.

And mum says its pretty easy to make.
Got the recipe, got the stuff, next to the actual making of the ondeh-ondeh.

Abit worried about it though, cos previously when i tried making dessert stuff, i always burnt them.

Well, for those of you who still believe that i can, there might just be a couple of ondeh-ondeh for you =)

Hermeneutical Subjectivism

Gaha big word, i'm not totally sure of the whole meaning but i get the gist.

Whats up with it?
I've just been noticing things of late, people picking and choosing bits of what God teaches in the Bible to suit them and their lifestyles and discarding whatever doesn't gel with that.
Again, i have to say, i'm not perfect, but this is wrong. Don't mind me, i'm just wondering out loud.

Isn't it so hypocritical? Declaring certain things, saying things like oh thank God for this thank God for that, but turn your back on other parts of teaching? Isn't that sort of holding on to some parts of sinful life and not giving your whole life up to God? Like saying,"Yes thank you God for this that, i give my whole life up to You...EXCEPT THAT."

Don't know what to add to that but that it's wrong. Must study more before i say anything else.

--

On a separate note, i'm bored. Haha being bored is not a bad thing. It's like when your body is hungry, means you need to feed it. So when your mind is bored, you need to feed it too. And here's where its important. You need to feed it with good healthy food, same like your body. The occasional crunchies are okay though =D

So i'm extremely looking forward to the upcoming treasure hunt. Exercising the mind.

[whines] But thats a whole month away, Erin...

What to do now?

Any bright ideas?

Beauty

Written by Krista, from Musings of a Lady.

There once was a girl. She was of average stature and beauty. Just an ordinary girl. Not exactly drop-dead gorgeous according to the world's standards, but not ugly either. She was just in between. Somedays, she looked radiant and felt radiant. On others, she look all right and felt all right. And then on some days, she felt horrid and saw herself as hideous.

She was hideous. On her worst days, her attitude wasn't at its best. In fact, it was at its worst. But it wasn't a constant hideousness. One day it was a whining ugly thing, prone to pity parties. "Why would anyone love me?!" it cried.

The next it was angry and spiteful. "I detest this!"

It could also play depressed and resigned, a close kindred to the pity-partying sort. "No use of trying," it would sigh.

That bad, bad attitude.

Every day, the girl's eyes changed. It was as if she changed her glasses for a new pair every morning when she woke up. The view was different every time. But, the only change was in our non-heroine's attitude. However, just like her glasses, her attitude colored the view of her world - and of herself.

It was on the bad days that she looked ugly to herself. It was on her good days that she was pleased with her appearance. And on the days that weren't bad or wonderful, she was just in the middle.

When she was angry or frustrated, she would feel like tearing into the world. Every flaw and irritation stood out. Every blemish in her appearance was appearant as well. She had skinny wrists, hair that half waved and half frizzled, and awkward feet. She looked like a fourteen year old. Puddleglum had nothing compared to this girl in her worst moods.

When she was happy and joyful, the hair was still frizzy, her wrists still skinny, and her feet still huge. But she was more forgiving of them, less apt to rage and grouch over them.

Finally the connection hit. Ugly attitude equals feeling ugly.

Major breakthrough here for our heroine.

Why continue in such an unlovely atittude, when all that it breeds is more of a bad attitude? Why be ugly, when you know that it makes your behavior ugly to those who see you as well as to yourself?

This girl has now decided that as ugly attitudes are not beauty enhancing, but more importantly not honoring to God, that bad attitudes are out and good attitudes are in. It is true: true beauty is within; that beauty that is within shines out and transforms the outward appearance as well. Especially in the eyes of the one who bears the attitude. Perhaps this is a way that God is showing this girl how truly ugly sin is in His eyes? Hm.

What think you?

Genting

Words cannot explain what a fun time we had up there so i'll just let the very syok sendiri [i tried to convert that phrase to English but it doesn't sound the same : Self satisfying??] pictures tell the tale.

I have no idea what these two are doing, Jo seems to be reconsidering whether her decision to invite us all up to Genting with her was the wisest idea. Haha

Me and my shadow pictures

Supposed to be a poser moment, but it's kinda spoiled by that Bellatrix moment overwhelming the one in the middle. Me thinks she role plays too much. Hear that, RPG WOMAN?

Me thinks this is picture 374808560 out of i don't know how many, cos Jo was trying to capture the perfect picture lah, one where she smiles genuinely or at least appears to be. I just thought it was a nice pic of me =P

Oh yes yes, we all love the half pictures, half of me, half of Ash, half of CCY.

C(here's) to being brutal

I'm trying very hard not to start off this post with an, "I'm so sick of.."

So since i didn't start with an, "i'm so sick of...",
Haha what can i say, i could only be detained that long.

I am so sick of lying, being lied to and seeing lies in action.

Now that i'm done venting, here's a side note for all you very caring people [i'm being sarcastic here, in case you couldn't tell]:
Please don't flood my email or mobile inbox with curious questions like WHO was it that lied to me, WHAT actually happened and/or WAS it me.

---

Okay, done venting!
This long long break from school has really given me a whole lot more time to build up proper relationships with people, catch up on my reading and think. I am so so glad i took it, even though people have been concerned that i might just waste my time during.

Taking all these trips here there and everywhere, i really had fun! Thank you to all who participated in these things, i enjoyed every moment of getting to know you and being with you, having good clean fun with you. And for those yet to join me soon in my upcoming little joyrides, i'm sooo looking forward to being with you all.

You are all worthy of my time.

You are all worth my time.

[I know i know, proper English erin, but it just doesn't sound the same]

That's what i wanted to convey to you all today.
C(here's) to being brutal.
[If you didn't get that...sigh why WHY?]

As featured in Vanity Fair:

In Character : Michael Douglas
The actor transforms into a man whose daughter is missing, a boy at a carnival and a 14-year-old girl in a shocking situation.

written, directed, and photographed by Howard Schatz August 2007

Left: You're a man whose daughter has been missing for two months. You've been called in by the police to identify the body of a young murder victim. The sheet is pulled back … and the victim isn't your daughter.

Center: You're a boy at a freakish carnival, watching a pierced performer munch live cockroaches.

Right: You're a 14-year-old girl who's just opened her 18-year-old sister's bedroom door to find her having sex with her boyfriend.