A few days ago I got back from one of the best camps (spiritually) I've attended. I gotta give alot of credit to the committee for emphising the Godly components of the camp rather than mere programs. It was a tactic which worked very well. Well executed! Now for some thoughts during the camp...
It was prayer time during the camp, everyones kinda lost cause we were allowed to "run free". So I did. I took a stroll around a field and found a nice spot to lie down. I looked into the sky and found myself below dark clouds threatening to rain.
Felt like what life is like at the moment - in the gloom, under the threat of misery. Many people don't know what hardships, heartaches and pure disappointments I had the past month. Like an "incident" today which has effectively destroyed my plans for the media ministry for OCF.. people letting me down and things just not going according to plan.
However, despite being under dark clouds, there are many clearings ahead. The troubled times will pass and great new day will come. Surely it's unnatural to assume it'll be 'nice and sunny' all the way through. Hard times will come again. But I took my time of reflection as God speaking to me, that things will get better but I must always prepare for hard times ahead.
Spiritual attacks are good. It can only mean that what I'm doing is right and that the enemy is desperately trying to prevent us from reaching the plans God has set out for us. The "incident" today, the devil told me my media efforts are gone. LIAR!!!!!! Nothing is going to hold back the glory of the Lord!
Sulwyn and I went for a nice drive along the Great Ocean Road on the 20th of March 2008, a day before Easter Camp. She was here visiting her sister Sulfya who's studing her first year commerce in Uni Melb. We had a blast of a time together.. covering Lorne, Apollo Bay, various other stops and of course the twelve apostles. Knowing Sulwyn's made my stint in HELP a little more worthwhile. I can't wait to see you again soon.. either in Sydney or Singapore next year!
Formula 1. A sport I enjoyed watching on TV since 1999 when I saw one of the greatest drivers in the world, Michael Schumacher, who tried so hard to "slow down" to allow his teammate to pull away in order to win the championship and still emerged in front of him despite his “speed reducing” efforts.. and that's after being away from the sport for a few months. My first real taste of Formula 1, witnessing the astounding skill of the worlds greatest driver made me fall in love with the sport. The sport has pretty much been an on screen thing for me.. almost something from fiction. It wasn’t until I got my first taste of the real thing in 2002 – Sepang, which also was the race where my other favourite driver, Kimi Raikkonen, won his first race victory. Seeing all this happen in front of my very own eyes was quite an experience.
Six years on, in Melbourne, I would once again get a taste of the real thing.
Tickets.. Ferrari Cap.. and all set for the Australian Grand Prix!
The 2008 ING Australian Grand Prix. It’s the opening race of the season and was to be the second last to be held in Australia. It’s a unique track, which is actually part of the park itself transformed into a race circuit specially for this event. All these reason are why I simply couldn’t resist coming and almost be a fool if I didn't!
I came to this race together with Richard, Joel and Bryan. It was a super hot day! I think temperatures touched 40 degrees. Well, my video commentary should be more interesting..
Of all the sports cars, I felt that this was the coolest
A prettier view of the Melbourne skyline!
We got there around 1pm. The local V8 touring cars were racing when we arrived. We got a quick glimpse of that and proceeded to an exhibition held nearby. While on it, Joel managed to take a picture with a hot pit babe. I was thinking of one too.. but nah. Why tempt the girl? We continued walking around, watching planes going by and just soaking in the heat.
The race begun at 3.30pm. Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) leads Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber). My favourite driver, Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) was down in 16th Place after suffering mechanical problem during yesterday’s qualifying. Watch the race itself below!
It was amazing seeing these cars racing at their top speeds so near to you. I was easily less than 10 meters away from them as they passed through the long straights! What was frustrating for me and Richard was as we w alked around, the corners we were at previously always had a crash. Gehh! We should’ve just stay there.
Well, I thought my grand prix was ruined after seeing Kimi slowing down in front of my own eyes (arghh… the pain!), but my fun wasn’t over yet. I got to do what I always seen on television – running on track to make it in time for the podium ceremony. Me and Richard were waiting at the final corner. When the gates open… gosh… did we RUN. And we made it!
Richard was laughing all the way through. It was something he always wanted to do too. Boy, were we satisfied. After the ceremony we spent some time taking pictures around the main straight and peeking into the pit lane. Our friend Richard was a die hard Fisi fan (Force India F1). Even made a shirt after him! Amazzzzingg..
Well, not my ideal result.. quite a nightmare result infact.. especially after paying $68 to hear Kimi engine turn from a V8 to a V6 and seeing him slowing down on the way to the pits … not to mention seeing Barrichello overtake him. Argghh! But it was an awesome experience. Something I definitely wanna do again.
Chris Dyer! Kimi's race engineer. Also Michaels before he retired
Yesterday I head to the city to collect my Formula 1 tickets and to update my inventory of clothes. I followed Aun Ling, Hwei Sing and two of their friends. There was a scare half way as Aun Ling drove into the back of a Hyundai.. but thank God her car was okay and the other driver was nice enough not to make a big fuss about it. My ride ended at Alfred Hospital, somewhere near the city. The girls went for the classes and my day was just getting started.
I couldn't ask for a more beautiful morning! The weather has been really hot lately.. but that day was just nice. My plan was to walk through two major parks along the way.. what I thought would be a nice scenic route. My destination - Southern Cross DFO.
(By the way - this entry's mostly about pictures and some of my random crap)
It was a nice walk with a few unexpected things along the way. I forgotten that there was a F1 free practice session in the morning. I realised upon seeing crowds of thousands streaming into Albert Park wearing tshirts, caps and mounting flags of the teams they support. Not that I could've entered anyway. My ticket's only meant for Sunday. I did walk to one of the gates, just to see what it's like.. but U-turned after noticing how pointless it was.. cannot see anything also.
Walking away from Albert Park, along St. Kilda Road, I stumbled upon the Shrine of Remembrance, Australians War memorial. Being a war historian... I just couldn't resist not visiting. My knowledge of the Australian military's sketchy... but I'm sure there's tonz of things there I wouldn't wanna miss out on.
The place itself? Beautiful. A piece of park land dedicated to remember Aussie soldiers who died in all the wars its been involved in. From Empire to Commonwealth (Empire in reference to the British). The shrine itself was officialised by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II.
".. All men know that this is Holy ground.."
The Flame of War Memorial (Right)
I have to admit that although the history is interesting, it was kinda creepy. The place was a crypt after all. Apparently it contains the names of ALL Australian servicemen from any point of time.
Although I'm not Australian, I did sense some level of patriotism of how the Aussies fought for their Queen and country. Also some sense of attachment. Malaya was part of the Empire too, especially during WWII when we were all fighting to protect the same flag. So we all had something in common.
A case in point, there was a British Flag somewhere below the depths of the shrine. It was last raise in Johor Bahru AFTER Singapore had fallen in defiance of the Japanese. But it has since been removed and protected by British Commonwealth POWs until after the war.
On the left are all the Australian Colours of Battalions, Regiments, Company's and Divisions of various units serving the British Empire.
After strolling around the insides of the Shrine I went to the top of the balcony. The engines of V8 Formula 1 cars were clearly audible where I stood. Didn't actually get to see the cars.. but the sounds of it was already enough to keep me estatic. Will get to have both sights and sounds in another day.
Gee. How can anyone not fall in love with Melbourne? It's so pretty.
Before continueing my march to Spencer Street I bumped into the statue of Sir John Monash. Thanks for an interesting surname from where my university's name is derived from bro!
Things can start getting a little better for Malaysia. Too long has the corrupt had their way. Too long has the bitterness of this unfair, one sided system haunted me (since Form 3 in reference to Najib's pro-Malay education policies which caused the closing down of all non-muslim/malay clubs and societies - closing down of the Boys' Brigade in SMK Desa Perdana).
May God guide our new leaders to higher goals for this country. May the good MPs who lost (ie. Dr Koh, Kayveas, Hwa Beng) not give up and remember that they did serve the people well unlike the losers in their party who cause all of them to stumble.
Perhaps there's now a chance for a truly better Malaysia. I can't wait to see it.
(And hopefully now at least there will be a traffic solution to Roadblock City aka Seri Kembangan)
Somehow this semester doesn't feel the same. It's officially my 5th semester (minus the two summers) and yet this feeling is new. The early semester enthusiasm isn't there.
Maybe it's the after effects working in the real world for two months.. life was so predictable. So fixed. Now life's charterable again. I am my own boss so to speak, not needing to suck up or enslave myself to someone else.
Maybe it's the new job I have at meeting point - knowing I can earn enough to cover my expenses. Again, feeling more in control of my life. Perhaps the start of full independence.
Perhaps it's the feeling of leading something great and doing something significant for God.. something you don't wanna fail, but not in the academic sense. It can either be a legacy or a bitter thorn. Yet still charterable, still unknown.
It also may be the effects of leaving home a second time. It's made me numb.
It's probably a combination of everything above. I really don't know what God has in store for me this year. It's just so unpredictable.
