Jolly Good Christmas!

It's my 2nd Christmas here in The States. I know it's a tad too late to wish people "Merry Christmas" since it's already Dec 27...LOL! So I shall wish all of you a "Blessed Belated Christmas!" I was really wrapped up with the hustle and bustle of getting last-minute Christmas gifts, wrapping them up, baking fruitcake and pecan cookies, and also pineapple tarts with my aunt for family, friends, and neighbors.

We had a Christmas Musical performed by the kids but we weren't allowed to take pictures because it might be a disturbance to the kids performing and also other people. But the kids were sooooo adorable with their cute outfits! Some forgot their lines, but nonetheless, it was a great performance after all! Kudos to Miss Amber Ferguson for organizing and directing this musical! She really did a superb job!

Here are some pictures taken at church during this Advent season:






























On Christmas morning, my family called me to wish me Merry Christmas. That was one of the best gifts, I must say. It's really great talking to them and realizing how much I miss them and everyone in Malaysia. For lunch, we were invited to a friend's house. She collects antiques and here's a picture of an antique Christmas tree that she has! Below that picture is her 'modern day' Christmas tree...notice that most of the ornaments are pink in color. Well, for those who do not know, pink symbolizes breast cancer awareness here. Yes, she's a breat cancer survivor. This explains the reason for the pinkish Christmas tree. She's a very nice lady and I thank God for the opportunity to have a friend like her.
































After lunch, we came home to prepare our Asian feast for some close friends. Since we already had American food for lunch (turkey, smoked ham, mashed potato, sweet potato salad, green beans, dinner rolls, and lots of pies!), we decided to have an Asian delight for dinner. Coincidentally, we were inviting some Asian friends as well. One is from Thailand and another friend is from Taiwan (I've mentioned her name on this blog before...her name is Yu Chen and she's my clsoe friend here). So we ate white rice, Mee Siam, sushi, mixed vegetables, fried eggs, char siu (BBQ pork...chinese style), fried seafood wantons, and more pies! Gosh, we were really stuffed on Christmas day!

After that, we exchanged presents among ourselves... Then Yu Chen asked me to check the showtime for Eragon at one of the cinemas. She gave me a movie treat and we went to watch Eragon at 9:30pm with her hubby, Jonathan. the movie was great and exciting and the main character, Eragon (the dragon rider in the movie) is so good-looking! *ahem*ahem* However, we thought that it was kinda short... oh well, I'm looking forward for the next sequel. You guys should watch it if you get a chance. It's something like Lord of The Rings... By the time I got home, it was already midnight.

Overall, it's been a jolly good Christmas for me. Let us not forget that the 'Reason for the Season' is God's precious gift to us, His one and only Son, Jesus. I was browsing through some Christmas e-cards as I saw this Christmas message:

"May the gifts we share this season be a reminder of God's precious gift to us. May your Christmas be filled with His love."


MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007 to everyone!!!

With God, All Things are Possible!

As I was reading other people's blogs, I came across Jason's blog and I found this story. This is a very inspirational and awakening story. It's a daily reminder that we all need.


Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. "Great", she thought, "here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry."

She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the Bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would do all of us some good to say, "God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Without God, I'm nothing, but with Him... I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

A sigh of relief!

PHEW!!! I love the feeling of satisfaction after exams!!! (especially since I did pretty well...keke!) Woohoo! I've got one more Calculus exam to go, then FINALS! After that....the long-awaited HOLIDAYSSSSS!!!! Yippie!

Oh and my close friend from Taiwan is coming back to the States tomorrow!!! Hurray!!! we get to go hang out, chill, and have sleepovers in her apartment! YAY!!! We would talk & talk & talk till dawn (our record was talking from 10pm when we went to bed till 4am the next day!!!)....You must be thinking, "What on earth were we chating about for about 6 hours??" Well, we talk about tonnes of stuff and that's our little secrets!!! so I can't tell you guys! hehe! 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!' (well, in this case, what we talk about in her bedroom stays there!) She has a car, so she would take me out shopping in the mall, catch a movie, grab a bite, cook together, and go do stuff together lar... LOL! I can't wait for her to come back!!! And the most important thing is that she's my Mandarin sifu/teacher! I get to practice my rotten Mandarin with her....it's really cool! Who would've thought that I would be speaking Mandarin here??? Maybe I should start learning how to read and write in Mandarin, too!

That's all for now! Y'all have a great day! Adios!

No excuse!

So SORRY to those who still drop by my blog and take a peek to see if I've updated....Busy life ain't an excuse for not updating for so long!!! But a lot of stuff have been happening and I hardly have time to breath, let alone update my blog!

Just a summary of wat's been goin' on with my 'busy life'...lolz!

~ TESTS!! one after another... This past week was chemistry (not doing too good in this class since I have the most strict and grumpy and demanding teacher... He doesn't allow us to bring formulas for chemistry... So we've gotta depend on our brains to memorize almost every fact and tiny detail in chemistry). Next week is Calculus! Imagine lar...In high school we only had about 4 exams in total (including finals, midterms, etc) and that's for the whole year. But this Calculus teacher is giving us 5 tests and also a Finals... So the total would be 6 exams in just 5 months (1 semester)! This upcoming one is Test 4. So we have one more test to go after this, and then the FINALS! Finally!!!

~ An October b'day party at a friend's house... We celebrated with 8 birthday boys and gals!!!

~ Worked at the Rolling Stones concert, 3 college football games, and 1 basketball game! Rolling Stones was okay to me since I'm not really a fan of theirs...But it was a full house! 42,000 tickets ranging from $60 to $300 were sold out! I did 'Pat Down' that day, meaning I had to search ppl's bags, pockets, and check to see if they're trying to sneak in prohibited stuff. Among the things I had to confiscate were the usual food and drinks, alcohol, weed/drugs (yes, this teenager was trying to bring in that too!), frisbies, banners, etc... For the other games, I did ushering.

~ Went for advising, and then registered for classes for the upcoming Spring semester. I'll be taking a full load again next semester. This time with more engineering classes, and two higher level math classes! Hopefully I'll survive it!

~ Lots of homework, lab reports, learning how to use MATLAB for engineering, and also a finals project for my EE class!!!


Events that I'm looking forward to:

1. Thanksgiving! We're invited to two close friends homes for lunch and dinner! Menu: Roasted Turkey (of course!), cranberry stuffing in the turkey, and others... For dessert: pumpkin, chocolate, apple, and peach pies! I know...That's a lot of pies! I'll have a small slice of 2 of 'em only lar... Hmm...which one should I eat eh??? lol!! Besides the glorious meals, the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving is to be thankful and eternally grateful to our Provider for all His blessings. We also thank God for our wonderful church, families and friends. (Did I mention that I'll get two days off because of Thanksgiving? hehe! That's another thing I'm very thankful for!)

2. In less than two months, we'll be celebrating Christmas! HoHoHo!!! And I'll be having my winter hols from Dec 9 to Jan 14!!! Hurray!!! Oh talking about Christmas, our Uni is having a Secret Santa Program whereby students and staff will get Christmas gifts for under privileged kids. The kids already requested their wish list and sent it to "Santa"! On Nov 28, we'll have a gift wrapping party at the Uni to wrap all the prezzies!! So all of us are "Santa"! Indeed, it's better to give than to receive!


One thing that I'm NOT really looking forward to is:

1. Final exams from Dec 1 to Dec 8! But I know I'll be really glad once it's OVER!!

Updates!

It has been exactly 3 weeks since the last time I blogged!!! As usual, I've been busy with stuff that keeps on piling up, mainly HOMEWORK (I can't seem to get rid of it...urrgh!)!

Here are the updates of things that had been going on during these 3 weeks:

1. UTEP lost in the first football game that I went to :( it was 35 vs. 38...so close, man! they even played OT but they still lost! During intermission, the UTEP Band performed and did a formation! It was so cool!! Brings back old memories of the times I used to be in the MGS band...hehe! But their band is definitely da BOMB! The have so many members and they even had some performers doing some tricks while waving the flags on the field... I'm thinking of joining their band...we'll see!

2. I went for a Career Expo at the uni...it was so cool coz we had to dress up professionally and bring tonnes of resumes. (My career counselor told me to bring 20 copies but I wasn't so kiasu lar...i brought 15 copies...lolZ). Anyway, I gave away 9 copies of my resume to potential employers... It was so exciting, man! The rep. from major companies like General Motors, Applied Materials, etc conducted a short interview with us on the spot! My goal is to get an internship/co-op... basically good working experience!

3. Finally, I got a part-time job on campus!!!! woohoo! they're paying me quite well..the minimum wage here in the US is $5.15 per hour, but this job is offering me $6.75 per hour! If I convert to RM, it'll be RM24.98!!! lol! But, that's excluding the other tax that they'll deduct from my paycheck lar... But it's cool! I'm so glad that I got a JOB! I'm working for the Special Events Dept on campus. So basically, i can no longer watch those football matches liao...Instead, I'll be working! Oh the surprise is that since I'm working for special events rite, I'll also be working during the Rolling Stones Concert in Oct too! It's gonna be held in our uni's stadium. The cheapest ticket is $60 but I get to go for free, but of course, I'll be busy working most of the time lar!

4. I'll be going for Michael W. Smith's Concert on Oct 5 at the Plaza Theater. Since it's a Christian singer, our church youth committee is sponsoring the youth and they'll be paying for the tickets! So I save $32!! Yippie!

5. I joined the UTEP PRAXIS. They are funded by the Wesley Foundation and their task is to help students to find agencies to volunteer in and then, they'll inform our professors once we've completed our 20 hours of volunteer work. So I chose to volunteer for UTEP Women's Resource Center. And my first project was the Clothesline Program. We hung T-shirts with different colors representing various kinds of victim abuse. Majority of the T-shirts we hung were white ones and they represented the victims that died because of the abuse they suffered. It was so touching and yet so sad to read what the family members of the victims wrote and drew on the T-shirts. Most of them mentioned the names of the victims and one even had a name of a woman together with the words "unborn child", meaning two lives were brutally murdered during the abuse. Why do we live in such an abusive world?? And some of the victims were very young children...sigh... Anyway, last Wednesday, we had "Take Back the Night" Rally, in conjunction with the Clothesline Program. Some of the victims of abuse came and testified about their horrid experiences as well as to encourage all of us to stand up and report any abuse acts. Most of us cried when we heard how their husbands/boyfriends abused them...But they are courageous and brave women! Some managed to escape from the abusers and got help from the authorities. One particular lady even spoke about her sister being shot by her sister's husband and she regretted not doing anything before that to prevent her sister from being killed.

6. Okay lar...I think it's getting rather depressing, talking about abuse, death and all...I better stop now before I ruin your day! Besides, I still have my pile of homework staring at me right now, as I'm blogging!!! Guess I gotta get back to my never-ending homework!!!

Have a great week, peeps!!! Ciao!

Here are some pictures I took at the football game and some from the "Take Back the Night" Rally:

Me? Camping in the Wilderness???

Hey people! Sorry for not updating the blog for more than 2 weeks but I've been really, really busy with university life and also the camping trip last weekend! Yupyup! I went for a camping trip with the church group and it was F.O.C.!!! (free of charge la...) lol! they had excess funds in church, so everything was paid for! Ain't that cool? I mean, this was the very first church camp where I don't have to pay a single penny...hahaha!

First things first, uni is huge compared to college but I'm getting used to it...got lost a couple of times in the uni but now, I bring along a map of the uni with me! kakakaka! uni life is pretty cool but rather torturing to me since I have an engineering class at 7.30am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays! Since I take the public bus, I have to get up at 5am, and catch the bus at 6am (I have to take two buses to get to the uni)! To make matters worse, the time of my classes are scattered around, and so, my last class only ends at 5.50pm on those particular days! So I only get back home around 7pm...sigh...I'm dreading it and I can hardly wait for this semester to be over!! But on Tues and Thurs, life is more relaxing since I only have a Matrix Algebra class at 1.30pm to 2.50pm...then, I head home! hurray! I love those two days!!!

Okay...enough of me whining and complaining...now, on a better note, I can't wait to go to my very first football game this Saturday at my uni....it's us, UTEP vs. Texas Tech Uni...And it's the first game of the season! I'll be going with my classmates and once again, I got the free tickets to the game! yay! I'm looking forward to it! I'll post pictures of the game next week!

Now, a report on the camping trip. We went to Camp Chimney in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Well, we actually went for a "modern" style of camping la...the 21st century kind..hehe! no tents and mosquito bites! We camped in cabins, fully equipped with all the basic necessities such as an air-condition, a fridge, a microwave, a stove with oven, a toaster, a coffee maker, pots and pans, kitchen utensils, a sink, a bathtub, and a toilet with flush and all lar!! woohoo! the beds even had comforters, man!




We brought food along and we cooked there since they have everything! We had sandwiches and chips for lunch. The weather was just great! It was very cooling, even cooler than Cameron Highlands! Shortly after lunch, we went hiking! unfortunately, it rained the night before, so it was muddy but nothing was gonna stop us! I just regretted bringing my new pair of shoes! it was white but became all muddy and brown! I had to wash my shoes there... Lesson #1: don't bring new shoes especially white ones for camping! But we did have fun hiking until it started to pour again! So, we had to hurry back to the cabins and for the next few hours, we were quarantined in our cabins...boring!

Anyway, then it was time for the children's program and we, ladies started cooking a storm! Boy, we had a feast fit for a king that night! We had Italian sausages, beef brisket, salad, toasted garlic bread, baked beans, and watermelon for dinner! It was delicious! After dinner, the adults lingered at the table to talk and have fellowship while the kids were up to something! They quietly sneaked out fo their parents watchful eyes and low and behold, one of the boys found a mud trail near the cabin. Before we knew it, all the kids were in the muddy trail, playing with mud and getting themselves all muddy! Yuck! But they had a jolly good time! Very adventurous, I must say. Later in the evening, we had a campfire, sang some songs and had devotional time. The kids toasted marshmallows and they enjoyed themselves.

One thing about the American culture is that they train their children to sleep early, so at 8pm, we went back to our respective cabins, and lights were out by 9pm! The next day, we had milk, hot chocolate, orange juice, yogurt, cereal, pancakes and bacons for breakfast. After that, we packed our stuff, checked out, and headed to town. We went to the United Methodist Church at Cloudcroft for Sunday Worship. Coincidentally, they were commemorating their members (about 28 couples) who were celebrating their 50 and more golden years together! Can you believe it? And the icing on the cake had to be these two couples who were celebrating their 65 years together! Wow! The ironic thing was that the pastor was preaching about divorces that day. Oh well, I guess these 28 couples are living examples that if they can stay married for such a long time, so can all the other married couples!

I think you guys had enough of me rambling on and on... Now, you guys can FINALLY feast your eyes on the more photos...lol!




Glorioussss foooood!!!


Swimming in the mud pool???


"Who's the muddiest kid?" Competition!


I believe we have a winner for the muddiest kid!! Way to go, gurl!



Campfire and fellowship time!


Our cabins




The magnificient view from our cabins


Goodbye, Camp Chimney! (Snapshots taken on the way downhill)








We reached downtown and here's a picture of a restaurant called Texas Pit Barbeque (even though it's not in Texas)


A cabin-style grocery downtown!


A picture of some of the couples who were celebrating their golden years at church

Bank Deposit

This is a forwarded message I got and I'm passing it on to y'all!

I HAVE JUST DEPOSITED
LOVE AND BLESSINGS
INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT

AND THE BEST PART IS THAT
IT WILL COST YOU NOTHING

I ASK THAT YOU JUST USE IT IN ABUNDANCE

YOUR PIN NUMBER IS: J-E-S-U-S

**IMPORTANT NOTICE**
IF YOU LOSE YOUR PIN, YOU LOSE EVERYTHING


MAKE A DEPOSIT IN SOMEONE ELSE'S ACCOUNT TODAY!!

Humble Pie, Anyone?

Last Sunday during Sunday School, our class teacher, Miss Georgette brought some cleaning tools and our task was to clean up our classroom. After all, we're in God's house. So we drew lots and some got to sweep, vacuum and pick-up/tidy stuff while I did the dusting...Anyway, after we were done, she brought out some towels and a basin filled with water and bubble bath...weird isn't it? She told us to read the Scriptures about Jesus washing his disciples' feet and guess what was our next acitvity???


We were to clean each others feet, just like our Lord Jesus Christ had done. And when she said clean each others feet, she really meant it (not just dipping our feet in the basin as a symbol). Our teacher started first by cleaning David's feet (as shown in the picture)...She scrubbed his feet thoroughly, in between the toes, the heels, and finally, wiping his feet dry. Then, we went around cleaning each others feet....humbleness? servanthood? I really don't know how I can possibly describe the feeling to you. All of us did it willingly, no questions asked and no complaining!

It was truly a once in a lifetime experience and indeed, it was the greatest lesson in my entire life! Learning to be as humble as Jesus. I was so touched when one of them cleaned my feet. Really, you have gotta experience it to know how it feels like! It was as if Jesus was cleaning mine. When it was my turn to clean another person's feet, all I can say is that I felt so honored and oh, I just can't think of the right words to describe it!

What an unforgettable and humbling experience!

P/S: Humble pie has nothing to do with this...lol. Just the word 'Humble'!

Flash flood

For the first time in history, we had to evacuate the college because of the flash flood warnings! Even though it's summer time, it rained non-stop since midnight yesterday. So the highways are all flooded and there's mudslides and rocks crumbling down from the mountains...it's really bad this time...Even the universities and the colleges nearby shut down!

Thank God I got a ride from a friend to send me home because the buses were out of service too! Or else, I would have been stranded in college. According to my friend's aunt who works at the college, this is the first time ever that the college closed because of a flood. Usually they would only close the college if it's snowing heavily and during holidays, of course...

Anyway, they told us that the college might be closed tomorrow as well, depending on the weather...sigh..it's kinda like mixed blessings because for us students, we might not have class (and final exams!) but I really sympathize with those who had to evacuate their homes and some who had accidents on the road while driving through the flood water. On the news, the firemen were canoeing boats on the highway to help those who are stuck in their vehicles in the middle of nowhere! I just hope that there is no fatality caused by this disastrous weather.

The El Paso City is also working to declare the 'state of emergency' as shelters are opening for those who were forced to evacuate their homes.. Right now, I'm so grateful because we're not affected because my aunt's house is sort of uphill. I just thank God that I came back home safely...I'll continue praying for those victims who are affected by this flood...Hope everything will be alrite! No matter what, I know that God always sends a rainbow after the rain!


Rainbow in the spray and mist of the waterfall at Takakkaw Falls, Canada from the wikipedia website

My First Year Anniversary!

I know what you guys are thinking about... Nope, it ain't my first year anniversary with a boyfriend or spouse la...sorry to disappoint you! Well, July 25 is the official date that I first came to the States!! hehehe!!!

I can't believe that a year has whizzed by so quickly! And next month, I'm gonna start another chapter of my life as a Sophomore at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)!!! Yippie! I'm no longer a Freshman! I hope it will be more a better environment there and I'm looking forward to expand my horizons and meet more new frenz there!

Besides that, I'm hoping to catch more games, plays, concerts, etc. at the university because it will be free of charge for UTEP students!! hahahah! FYI, it is not cheap going for those concerts and basketball games here! So thank God we get to watch and support our uni. team for free! Go Miners!!

Scavenger Hunt!!!

On Friday, I competed in a Scavenger Hunt at college. It was pretty fun running around the campus like a lunatic, trying to figure out the answers to the questions in a booklet ASAP!!! I learnt quite a bit with this experience too! All in all, I would like to sum it up with this verse:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." ~ 2 Timothy 4:7.

Guess what??? I won first prize!!! hehehehehe!!! I finished the rat race in 40 minutes, k? Do you see the clock in the picture below? We started at 10:00am and I finished at 10:40am. Then, we took the picture at 10:41am! The prize was a $25 Applebee's gift card! (Applebee's a restaurant here...it's equilvalent to Chilli's or TGI Friday's) Here, gift cards are very common gifts... I was really happy, man! Too bad you guys are not here, if not I'll bring you along for a meal! LOL!!!


Davette (the organizer of this event) and me after I won first prize! Don't you think that Davette's a cool name?? She happens to be a cool person too!

Chico's Tacos!

I'm pretty sure y'all haven't heard about this makan place before. Well, they only have it in El Paso, Texas where I'm at...hehe! There's one just around the corner of the street near where I live but I've never tried the food there even though I've been here for a year already. Two days ago, my classmates suggested that place for supper after our night class (that's their version of mamak lar...). What can I say? We were starving!!!

Well, their specialty were tacos, of course! Since it was my first time there, I decided to just try a single order of tacos (that's 3 tacos). That's what all the gurls in the group ordered. However, one guy had to act macho and order a single and a double serving of tacos! FYI, the double serving had 6 tacos! So altogether, we watched him sapu 9 tacos! We, gurls were stuffed with that single order but he managed to eat so much! And mind you, he's a slim lad! How can people eat so much and yet, look so good?? Yeah, I know...that's a stupid question..high metabolism rate and exercise will make anyone look great! By the way, he plays basketball for college. That's where he gets his daily dose of exercise...

I'm starting to love Mexican food as I indulge in it! Their salsa (I love the homemade ones with freshly chopped onions, tomatoes, green bell peppers, and other stuff) and the chile con queso (that's melted cheese with salsa mixed in it) are superb! We dip the colorful corn chips into those dips...(I didn't know that blue and red corn existed until I saw those chips...not artificial coloring, ok? I've even seen the corn fields and there are blue and read corns growing!!)

Oh and I think I better not get started with other Mexican cuisine such as the enchiladas, menudo soup, chiles rellenos, mexican rice, tamales, and tortillas!!! Yummy! However, nothing beats my mom's home-cooked Chinese dishes la! That's #1!!! hehehe!!!

USA Independence Day!

On the 4th of July, 2006, the US celebrated their 230 years of independence from the British...Now, I wonder why it took Malaysia 181 years later after US got their independence for us to be Merdeka??? Anyway, this year was the first time I'm celebrating their Independence Day! We were invited to a friend's house for BBQ. But I only remembered to take out my camera during dessert time...Ooops!! hehehe... so here's the only picture I got!



My uncle baked the chocolate cake while my aunt & I decorated it..it's so easy, guys! Some blueberries, strawberries, and vanilla frosting were all we needed to decorate it! Cool eh? Maybe you can try decorating a Malaysian flag, if you're patriotic enough...hahahah!!!!

Asian/Pacific Islander Extravaganza!

On June 28 2006, a bunch of us (students, teachers and faculty members) organized an Asian/Pacific Islander Extravaganza. It's the first time our college was having this extravaganza. Needless to say, I was in the committee and I chose to help out with the others in my group to bring a little piece of China's history, culture, and food to our college! After all, I am a Chinese right? After two whole months of careful planning and weekly meetings, we managed to come up with the menu, powerpoint presentation, showrooms, facts, etc. Altogether, we exhibited 6 Asian/Pacific Islander countries in this extravaganza. Enough said for the time being...Now, let me present you with some snapshots from this event:


Our showroom!


Tibet corner...


Our Chinese group...FYI, through this event, I met this bunch of people here! Some are from China, Taiwan, and I'm the only odd one from Malaysia...hahaha... It's amazing how one event like this can unite all of us. Now, I can practice my rotten Mandarin here as I can have more conversations with them! I'm telling you, they are so fluent in it, man! Oh, one of them even brought her laptop that has a Chinese software. With her laptop, they helped to translate the visitors names into Mandarin (obviously I can't do that since I can't read those chinese characters...). Then, I printed out the names and gave it as souvenirs to the visitors. One of the visitors was going to use the Chinese name printed out to make a tattoo on her arm! How cool is that??


Now, you maybe wondering why I'm posting this picture right? Well, it's not because I'm taking a picture of this guy sitting in the field (who happens to be cute but my friend's boyfriend!)... see the pile of dirt covered with a few palm leaves? At 12pm, they dug out that pile of dirt...guess what's beneath it???


The soldiers and some volunteers just finished digging out *something* from the pit hole...


It's the Kahlua Pig!!! It's one of the traditions of a Polynesian Island....It was my very first time witnessing the outcome of a 300lb pig being cooked in the ground for 24 hours! A chef hired by the school and some guys from the U.S. Army Reserve came to jaga the pig overnight just in case some stray dogs might wanna dig up the hole and have a bite of our main course...hehehe...

So there you have it! Cool eh? Oh, and the pig tasted so good!! It was cooked just right..succulent and tender! Yummy! We also had other dishes for the hungry crowd..the Mongolian Beef, Chinese fried rice, Chicken Adobo from Phillipines, Kimchi from South Korea, Sushi from Japan, some kind of soup from Vietnam, coconut pudding, and pineapple from the Polynesian Islands...

We were also entertained by a couple of performances and here are some random picture of it!



Lots of students, teachers, faculty staff, and their family members came to this event. All in all, I would say that this extravaganza was extravagant!!! I'm looking forward to the next one! Till then!

Four more days....

I'm counting down as my finals for this Summer course appproaches! Yippie! exactly 4 more days! I can hardly wait! I even made plans to go out on Friday itself! Phew! It'll be great to load off this heavy burden, not to mention the heavy textbooks that I have to carry to school every single day! It's a miracle taht it rained here today! Boy, it reminded me of the times in Malaysia where it would rain like cats and dogs, and the smell of the rain water is just breathtaking and so refreshing!!! I love it! What a drastic change from the triple digit heat to 82 F like today.

Summer Vacation

The long-awaited three months break is here. Sounds good? Not to me! Instead of enjoying that well deserved break, I chose to go back for summer classes. As if that's not bad enough, I enrolled for 4 classes (trying to be a heroine)!! It's killing me and I'm dreading every single minute of it but I have 6 more weeks to go! Then, I'm done!

To make matters worse, I got the worst teachers this time! One of them is Dr. X...She's my physics teacher and her English is so rotten because she's from Mexico... In fact, on the first day of class, she even gave up trying to speak English and she wanted to teach in Spanish instead. But of course me & another guy (african american) objected coz we don't speak Spanish! After all, our textbook is in English! How can she even think of teaching it in Spanish??? Here's some examples of her errors:

Smoot=smooth (she still doesn't realize that...)

Laws but she pronounce it as Laos...i'm serious!

Busy as bus-sie....

There's also my philosophy teacher, Ms. I-Know-It-All!!! Also originated from Mexico... Just because she's been to some countries, she assumes that she knows it all! This is one of the mistakes that she did:

"All MAN are dogs." It's supposed to be MEN but when we tell her, she kept on saying that we're all wrong. She claimed that she has seen it in books and heard it being said and written as that. Some people just live in denial. I guess she was too proud to admit her mistake...

Oh well, like I said earlier on, I have 6 more dreadful weeks for this course...Then I can put an end to this misery! hahahaha!