Goodbye Troy~

The non wavering barks at nothingness, that begins with passing vehicles, dogs and people or their shadows that have longed disappeared from the front of our porch. The opportunistic dash for the dustbin or his prance around the kitchen whenever the back door is left ajar and our watchful eyes have turned away. The constant terrorizing of visiting dogs that intrude into his territory; although in the later part of his life he relented and made peace with 2 feisty Jack Russells when he realized that they were here to stay. The attention seeking neighborhood piercing barks when he knows that someone is at home and wants some company. The occasional chases around the neighborhood when he manages to sneak out the front gate, keeping a constant lookout that we are near, but yet maintaining his distance, taunting us to catch him. The attentive 'down' position, with an ever watchful eye on the activities happening outside the gate. The big dog personality that he puts on but always picking the wrong fight with much larger dogs that needed him to get stitches one time. The resident cockroach and rat catcher, none get past him.

Troy was the Smooth Fox Terrier with an attitude. He spent almost a good 9 years with our family, in our home. He might have had a rough past which shaped his behavior, but we took him in and loved him nonetheless. He left us on 1st July 2016, hopefully a happier dog, around the age of 15, coincidentally on my Dad's birthday. We will miss this bad ass Smooth Fox Terrier. Goodbye Troy, goodbye old man, rest in peace.

                                               Troy in 2007                                          

Troy in 2014

The new journey

After years of familiarity traveling the same route almost every morning,  auto pilot kicks in almost in an unconscious manner. It is the familiar bend that when unraveled into a fork reminded me starkly that this is a different morning, one that demands taking the side less traveled , that I will be more and more acquainted with. Consciousness kicks in and with the flick of the signal, I manouvered through traffic to the left side of the fork, emerging the next bend to be greeted by the the recognizable polygonal structure that slowly becomes bigger. Alas, a new morning, a new journey awaits.

Healing and Deliverance

Time heals. God heals. He has been working in our lives and I feel his presence drawing near.  It is simply amazing what God can do but man cannot.  He is able to turn darkness into light and weaknesses into strengths. By putting out trust in him,  he will grant us the peace of mind and a lighter heart.

I sense that things are taking a turn for the better. We now have a better understanding of each other. The walls have fallen and the curtain is torn. It is time to start to build the foundation of relationships, to cultivate,  to nurture so that it will be stronger,  able to stand the test of time,  and of any evil forces that goes against it. 

Led bible study today on Romans 7, on the law and sin, and on the struggles of Paul with his sinful nature. It is good to know that in our struggles,  Jesus will deliver us from our sins and struggles,  that we won't be in this alone,  when he us with us. 

At the Cross - Chris Tomlin

. . . . REBOOT

I never thought I would be back here after 2 years and 7 months, well almost, Who writes anymore other than celebrity or food bloggers? Social media has reduced our thoughts to not more than 3 lines of words, and sometimes we don't even bother to write the lines, but prefer to just let the picture that speaks a thousand words, do the talking, in lieu of our mind. We simply have no time nor patience to read anything more than a paragraph these days, and all that multi tasking capabilities of our smart phones have made our attention span worse than a kid with ADHD. Very soon our phones will get smarter, and us, well, we will just let our smart phones take over our lives.

But the purpose of this post is not to rant on about technology or our phones or the way we write. It is about remembering that somewhere in this world, there's a server that stores my memories, and I pray to God that it continues to function, as long as I live, so that in times like these, I am able to come back to this place of solitude, of life lessons and experience, to find refuge, to find solace, and perhaps to find answers, to life's current predicament.

I am close to thinking I know how it feels like when an arrow pierces through one's heart. It is a pain so deep, so excruciating, you feel your insides turning, you want to speak but the words don't come out, and the tears flow from the pressure in your eyes. You stare blindly into blank space, petrified but yet alive. Trying to remove the arrow will only add to the already unbearable pain. The large wound takes a long time to heal, and we wonder, whether it will fully heal. Only time, and only time, will tell...

Technology

"Technology gives us the illusion of companionship without the means of friendship"

Recyling Water~

It is only in the recent week did I realize the true meaning of recycling water. Previously, the concept of recycling water was more on a macro scale, where imagination would take me to the water processing plants that purifies used water to make it clean and potable. At home, the concept was more of reduce, by taking shorter showers, cleaning the car with a pail of water rather than a hose, turning the tap off when brushing teeth etc.

Over the urbanization years, especially from a generation not exposed to communal taps, we have taken the convenience of water from the tap forgranted. If we can afford it, why switch the tap off? This I feel is the greatest challenge facing us today. Some people may be aware of ongoing environmental campaigns, but because we are paying for it, and sometimes paying a premium, why should we be concerned about saving water? I think only when we think about people who live in non developed areas, where getting clean water means walking a few kilometres a day, can we cherish and apply the 3Rs to our water consumption habits, and in our small and sometimes meager effort, help to save the environment.

To be anxious is to live in the future. To be depressed is to live in the past. To live in the present, is to live contented.

If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.

~Tom Hanks

Windows Live Beta Writer

Another one of Windows Live’s new programs that attempts to integrate what you do on the net with Windows 7. Pretty cool I must say. It mirros the template on my blog so I see the template as I am typing this post.Also, there is Windows Live Messenger Beta which is also quite cool. Integrating MSN with social networking sites like facebook and myspace etc. Will be looking forward to more awesome stuff like these from Windows. Maybe its time to take a look at Windows Mobile 7??..haha

The Mini Grad Trip~

And so we've conquered Mount Kinabalu, if you define conquering as climbing to the top of the peak. However, it was a common feeling that Mount Kinabalu has conquered us. It is safe to say that we have taken everything the mountain has to throw at us as a deterrence from scaling to it's peak.

We set our footprints on the Mesilou trail, the less beaten path because of its ascending and descending paths and its longer distance compared to its counterpart. 8km of uphill and downhill is a thigh ache-er man. Prior training sessions at Pinaccle@Duxton's and Bukit Timah hill paid off a little, but could not prepare us for the entire climb.

Altitude sickness was something that we could not prepare for, and this was a factor that affected most of us, and I the most, with splitting headaches at 3314m on top of the thin amount of oxygen in the air which kinda took our breaths away, literally.

Then there was the downpour midway during the climb which according to Robbie who said the people at the mountain told him, Mount Kinabalu hasn't seen since January. We were so "fortunate" to experience this showers of blessings, which totally took the dryness from our shoes and socks, the warm heat from our body, and our morales away. We were WET. Like, really wet. Drenched from head to toe. Not very fun especially when the temperatures were sub 10 degrees. The chicken and mushroom soup at the Laban Rata Resthouse was a life saver. REALLY.

What goes up must come down indeed. For all the joy and sense of achievement gained from reaching the top of Low's peak, there's still the full 8km worth of downward descend to the Timpahan gate, the end point which I would aptly describe it as knee breaking and ankle twisting. We definitely felt older than old men, especially with a few of them passing us like we were old men to them.

The climb up Mount Kinabalu was definitely my most shiong holiday yet, and although the sunrise at the peak was not the most fabulous, it was the most hard earned. Some people might not even qualify this as a holiday. The stars we saw during the night climb was just amazing. The camaraderie we shared, and the encouragement of each other to keep going, was something we could not experience in our daily lives. I guessed the 4 of us reached our physical and perhaps our mental limits during the trip. Next up, Mount Kilimanjaro? HAHAHAhahaha....

"What doesn't kill us will just make us stronger."

Here I come

"Whatever you do is unpopular. It doesn’t matter."

"The only way to avoid making mistakes is not to do anything. And that…will be the ultimate mistake."

Pleasantly Surprised~

All I asked for was a 2A 240V fuse, but I got a 30 mins conversation on Singapore issues, economic, social and political, and some advice from an ex electronic engineer at Sim Lim Square.

9 Months~

We tend to complain sometimes. But in retrospect, things may not be as bad as it seemed

iPhone~

Just last Friday, my mum suddenly decided to get me on the iPhone data plan. She called my mobile and I was half expecting one of those yakayak talk but nope. It was nice and I wanted to switch to a data plan anyway once I start working and start being REALLY financially free. I say that now because my parents somehow have a knack of giving me money when I keep reminding them I have enough money from the scholarship. I think they would only have a peace of mind when I start working, and really start to earn some money. Then its payback time.

Back to the point. I have been on the data plan for 5 days now, and I have to say, this is some powerful shit. I did not know the power of 3G and iPhone combined till after owning the phone for over a year now. For those people who are still contemplating whether to get an iPhone (or a blackberry for that matter), or for those who are on the iPhone without a 3G plan, I shall list down some of the things which I have found so useful over these 5 days.

Google Maps

The maps app on your iPhone does not only tell u where u are, or gives u directions to places you've never been b4, but it also tells u the traffic situation on the roads. LIVE. By having different colour codes such as green, orange and red, from being the clearest to the most jammed up roads, you can plan your trip effectively, save time, and petrol costs.

What's App

This is free SMS, over the 3G network, to other iPhone users. Say bye bye to 500 free SMS from Singtel. What's more, u can sms your friends who have iphones overseas, for FREE.

Al Jazeera

One of my favourite news sources, this app allows you to watch the TV channel LIVE. I once tried to watch it while driving, with the sounds of the newscaster broadcasting from my car stereo. How cool is that.

Facebook/Twitter

For facebook addicts like Yx. You can be on fb 24/7.

Hungrygowhere

Dunno where to eat? Hungrygowhere makes use of the iPhone's GPS service to pinpoint your location, and recommend food places for you within your vicinity from their databases. Will never go hungry again.

Interet Tethering

This is the coolest thing I've discovered. You can use your iPhone 3G network to provide internet to your laptop. With most service providers offering 12GB free of data per month, you'll never run out of data, even with tethering i guess, unless of course you are someone who downloads heavily from the net. I'm blogging using the tethered network as we speak.

Still thinking? Think no more. Its all about I.