anti virus software

my norton finally expired today, which created a fright and a sense of insecurity within me when i saw that message popping up again. i've been very "guai" and used norton (because my computer expert older sister seemed to always insist on the paid version of anti-virus to be more reliable ) but since i'm changing laptop soon (hopefully), i didn't see any point to renew my subscription (which can only be used for the computer that it registered for). so i decided to try out the "free" avast (which i think most people use)...

i am not sure if it's just my imagination, but my laptop seems to be running much faster after removing norton anti-virus after i installed avast. i've always heard that norton takes up a lot of memory space and avast doesn't.

well... still think i should listen to my sis... but then again... avast is free and my computer runs faster now.

(ok... prepare for bullet proof vest i'm ready, jie! shoot! )

living and the dead

was at dear friend mala's father's wake this afternoon
he passed away last night
they had struggled with his caner for the past two years or so

they only have one day of wake
tomorrow is the funeral
no casket, just a body lying in the living room
covered by a silk sheet with embroidery
with recorded hindu chanting playing over and over
flower pedals spread on and around his body
his lifeless, breathless body

wish i could have met him while he was still alive
mala said "i will miss him"
tears fell

i can't imagine what kind of laughter he had
the life he lived
surrounded by his children and grandchildren

there was incense burning
some offerings of coconuts and other fruits

i sat there
watching the women chattering away around the lifeless body
all in tamil
were they ignoring the fact that someone has passed?
or they simply believe that he is passing on to the next life?
i wasn't sure
while the men sat outside also talking to each other

somehow the sorrow, the smell of the incense, the recorded chanting
all were too much for me
i'm sure it's even more overwhelming to dear mala

just continue to pray that the living will be comforted
while tears continues, peace will come from above

start of the 2nd book

went to TTC library and borrowed the 2nd book that i need to read for the 10-page paper for fuller application...

the cover is very pretty. and the content is focusing on biblical view of missions or rather exergetical synthesis of the bible on the topic of missions.

hopefully i will be able to finish it much faster than the last one since i'm taking some time off to stay at home and read...

gambate to me!

back to Singapore

just came back to sg last night around 11pm. the plane was jammed packed and i ran into dr james huang and his wife. it was nice to catch up with them a bit and have some company on the plane. i think it was special providence from the Lord. i was also very fortunate to have my friend tracey pick me up at the airport.

this morning went back to NTU ESC since i've been away for 2 saturdays. felt a little guilty that i can't help as much as i can before i depart from here. we went around asking everyone for their best vacation or memories in life. i shared about my trip to taiwan. i sorta rushed thru the sharing and didn't think i did a very good job so want to recap and write out my experience on this trip.

1. it was nice to be re-acquainted to taiwan again after so many years. although i've gone back several times in the past few years (due to weddings and wedding dinners), somehow this trip brought a more complete pictures of where taiwan has progressed to today. the subway train system seems to have brought a lot of good to taipei. people are better mannered, line up to get into the trains, and the trains/train stations were very clean...

i thought the funniest thing is that people are so afraid to sit in the "priority seats" (seats reserved for the elderly, pregnant women, children, and those with physical disabilities). i heard at least two or three times that the teenagers joking about feeling very "paiseh" to sit in those seats.

2. good service. almost all the service staff everywhere were all very polite and nice and patient. they always greet you when you enter the store and try very hard to be helpful.

3. good food. there are just so many varieties of foods with a lot of japanese influence. ms G and i really loved all the beautiful and yummy cakes. as a result, i'm going on diet again in the coming weeks... (even my hairdresser commented that i've gained weight... )

4. more visible presence of Christianity. the church reaching out with creative ways and great emphasis on missions work around the world. the day before i came back, i was invited to a restaurant workers' fellowship meeting because a lady was being baptised. i just thought it was so wonderful to know that the Gospel is being spread to the common people. i also paid a visit to steve, an old friend from Wa. he was sharing with me of this project that his group has embarked on--"ark #1", which is a traveling truck that would allow their band to perform in the night markets in order to share the Gospel with the masses. pray that God will make their path smooth and go ahead of them so that many will come to His saving grace.

another two ways of evangelism are my godmother's old folks college and radio programs. i visited two Christian radio stations by chance and read one station's 30th anniversary magazine and realized that when i was young, some of the children from church were invited to record children's radio shows. so cool to be linked back to things that we've done in the past.

5. this is more on a personal side... family or familee. i was able to visit aunt milly's new home and stayed briefly. she looked really good despite the fact that she just had a big tumor removed and is going to go thru chemotherapy. i also went hiking with ken and terry... later went to their house for dinner. (terry cooked!) their little apartment looked fantastic with all the interesting storage spaces hidden (will post pix). i also sat thru a radio interview of ken at the goodnews station. i was very moved to hear stories of his life that i've never had the chance to hear of. i know that God has been really good to our familee and been using all of us in different corners and parts of the world.

this is longer than i would like to usually write but i guess i had a lot of thoughts after this 2-week trip.

actually... i am hoping that i'll have more chance to interact with all the people i've met. they've all blessed me A LOT.

caught in the craze %-)

i've only been in taiwan for a week and i've fallen in love with this new young mandarin pop singer--yang zong wei. (here's a link to this tw website that allows you to listen for 30 min worth of free songs if you register... not sure if it works outside of tw... http://web.ezpeer.com/cd/c31344s7665.html)

in the few interviews that i've seen, he seems to be a very plain, simple, straight forward, nice, and honest guy that you would trust letting your daughter go out alone with.

actually this is one of those "american idol", "project superstar", "britain's got talent" type of singing competition. this group, xin guan bang (star light gang), is the result of the competition.

i think i can listen to this guy sing all night long and not get bored.

death by taiwanese food

it's been 5 days since i came back to taiwan. it's amazing how much you can eat in 5 days and the variety of foods they offer here. funny girl G has been repeating herself with the phrase "i can die here" because of all the good foods. (will post pix later)

well, today finally had a chance to stop from serious eating and do some damage control. i went hiking with my cousin ken, his wife terry, and lilian (a family friend). we went to the famous "yan ming shan". somehow in all my years in taiwan, i've never been hiking there even once. maybe it's because i grew up with a dad who doesn't like to hike (so he said in the car tonight).

thank God that the weather was super nice. when i woke up in the morning and looked out the window, i thought.. "gosh.. it looks hot and humid and maybe it will rain... not sure how i am going to survive today's hike" but as i went out, there was this nice breeze. although i was already sweating by just walking around on the street, it felt good because of the breeze.

we met around 10:30 at the Bei Tou MRT station and waited for a bus while we caught up with one another's lives. took this small bus up the mountain and started off on this trial by a temple. it was all uphill!!! we must have climbed uphill for hours but we took short breaks in between and enjoyed some fruits and food they prepared. the majority of the hike was uphill which was nice (because i really hate how going downhill can be so slippery and scary... and it hurts my knees and thighs). we walked thru this place that used to be the opening of a volcano and there used to be a small lake but it's all dried up now. well, to cut the story short, it was a very hard hike but rewarding hike because i had a break from eating and could do some serious exercise to sweat off all the calories and oil from fried chicken chop, din tai feng's "real" meat little steamed bao, yummy taiwanese style tapanyaki, all the delicious and delicate cakes from any bakery in the city, shaved ice desserts, bubble tea, grass jelly milk tea, dan shui fish balls... etc...

the entire hike took us nearly 6 hours to complete. LOL but it was really worth it.

(warning: food pictures posted in a later time might turn friends to enemies. if you cannot tahan and still want to be my friend, please don't look at the pictures. )

if..., would you?

if you search deep into your heart
your intuition, your subconsciousness
would you find that you do love and care for me as i do for you?

if you look into the songs you sent to me before
would you see that there's a common theme and message?

if you think back of our time together tonight
would you realize that we belong together
just like how it was tonight?

if you ever gotten the courage
would you let me know of how you truly feel inside?

if you truly treasure me as who i am
would you abandon your fears and committ to me and me alone?

if we could start on a different note in a different time and space
would we end up happily ever after?

if you would examine how much time we also interact with each other
would you find that we have occupied much of each other's life?

if,
would you?

Happy Independence Day!

Just want to be a little patriotic here... Although there was no fireworks or hamburgers, I did go out tonight and had some brownies (without ice cream) with some friends. Although I didn't say anything about it, it was on my mind all day long.

Just want to say Happy Independence Day, America!

Although I only grew up partly in America, there have been much positive influence (and negative ) upon my life during those years. My high school and college days were very important in shaping who I am today. Having been away for so many years, I've also grown to treasure the freedom, the space, the abundance of everything, and some good values that I experienced there.

Just pray that the American people would turn back to the good Lord who has so richly blessed this amazing country and her people. Pray that the country and people will stand up for righteousness and justice and please God with our lives.