Dangerous* - Roxette

I was seated on a little plastic stool (less than 1 feet high) by the side of the road.

OK - change that. It wasn't on the side of the road. It was in fact ON the road itself!!!!! The noodle stall was on the pavement.

I loved it! The atmosphere was lovely. Some African guys were enjoying their meal behind me while a local was eating what seemed to be a never ending plate of noodles! A barefooted man ambled past, looking lost. Later, another elderly gentleman walked pass in his pyjamas!

I was drenched with my own sweat due to the humidity. Cars, motorcycles and buses zoom pass by, some dangerously close, sounding their horns, all spewing exhaust fumes on me and on me food.

Drizzle was falling on to me like little drops of ice pins pricking me. Oh, it was also falling onto me food!!!!!

Me food? It was a plate of really nice fried noodles - with pork and beef. Yes, i was eating street food. Again!!!! And yes, me tummy doesn't feel fully recovered yet.

And yes, it was the second time today i was enjoying street food in Ho Chi Minh City!!!

Yes, i like to live life dangerously! ;-P Maybe i should just say i like to live life, period!

*My best memory of this song is working late in my office, dozing off on the sofa while my colleague happily whistles this song while she worked!

My own worse enemy* - Lit

I never liked Lleyton Hewitt. Nothing personal as i do not know him at all. Just find him unlikeable. But who knows - he may be a wonderful person. But i have gained new respect for him! Look at this screen-catch:-

He actually defeated himself!!!! Now, that must have been quite a feat! sometimes, the greatest battles we ever fight is against ourselves. People say that you are your own worst enemy. Lleyton Hewitt showed that he has won that battle!

*A hit way back in 1999.

Return to innocence* - Enigma

As i conclude the lectures on Criminal Law, i was telling my students that studying crime must have been an eye-opener to many of them! They actually learned what sado-masochists gay men do to each other, they found out that people do cause hurt and pain to each other in order to enjoy the pleasures of sex more, they learned what is the meaning of buggery, etc.

However, yesterday i was pleasantly reminded that some- if not all - of the girls in my class are still quite innocent!!! We were just chatting about committing crimes and going to jail - and i just casually mentioned to the guys that if they ever go to jail, when they are taking their showers, if they drop their soap, DON'T bend down to pick it up!

The guys understood wat i meant but i was so amused by some wide-eyed innocent girls asking why not!!! One even went so far to ask if the prison shower floors are sooooo dirty!!! She added that the soap can still be cleaned even if it was dropped onto the dirty floor!

I thought it was best to leave them in their ignorance. It is bliss, isn't it?

*One of their most popular hit single, this was released when i was in London during my undergraduate days.

The best of me* - David Foster & Olivia Newton John

Today's sermon was titled "Encounters with Jesus - Jesus and the Magi". My favourite slide in the entire presentation is this one:-

Yup, the Magi brought gifts of gold, myrrh and Frankenstein!!!
(pic taken from online)

Can i take credit as the only preacher ever in my church to put up such a lame slide during a sermon? I think i oredi take the honour for being the only preacher who has red-dyed hair! Hehe.

I confessed that i sat in the first service's sermon to listen to Andrew preach on the same topic first. And i realised that i missed out a very important point. The Magi presented to Jesus not just mere gifts. Verse 11 of the 2nd chapter of the gospel of Matthew makes it clear that they presented to Jesus their 'treasures'!!!

Yeah, they din just drop by the local gift shop and bought some cheap souvenirs. They gave of their best to the master!

Which got me thinking meself - do i give of my treasures to Jesus? Or does he get the 'leftovers' - whatever leftover time i have, whatever leftover money i have? Does he get cheap and lame gifts from me? Does he not deserve nothing less than the very best? Even pagan priests knew what to honour Jesus with. I should learn from them.

*I first heard the cover of this song by jass singer, Phil Perry.

All by myself* - Leona Lewis

Here's an excerpt of an e-mail i wrote earlier:-

i walked out just now to the place where u bought the ice cream. there's a nasi lemak stall there. my fav. i witnessed a heart-wrenching scene!!! be prepared with tissues...

actually i missed the first part. a kitten got ran over by some vehicle. by the time i got there, i was wondering wat the ppl were looking at. i looked and saw a dead kitten lying on the middle of the road. a man walked over to confirm tt it's dead.

now it's sibling - prolly brother or sister - was at the side of the road. it was meowing so loudly and so sadly at its dead sibling. tt was so so so sad. :-(

but it was too scared to run into the middle of the road. so it just stayed at the roadside, meowing sadly. like calling him/her to come back, come back, dun leave me alone. :-(

there was this lang looi who went to her car, took out some plastic bags and she carried the dead kitten away from the middle of the road and left it by the side.

i was so sad when i saw all that. i love cats. and here are 2 sad kittens, all alone in the whole world. and now, one os dead and the other is all alone.

sniff, sniff...

Be thankful - for parents, for siblings, for family, for frens.

*Never heard of her cover of this song before? She sang it during the finals of The X Factor (UK Series 3) where she emerged as the winner.

Lost* - Michael Bublé

This is one long overdue post. Was at Vietnam a couple of months ago. Saigon to be exact (Ho Chi Minh City to be more accurate!).

An interesting thing happened to me on the first night. I went a some students to the nearby night market. It wasn't very far from our hotel. I decided to go back early. No problem, i thought. It would not be difficult to find me way back. It was extremely easy, actually.

So i headed back into the direction of the hotel.

Wait a minute. The surroundings din look familiar at all. Did i really walk pass this way on the way there? I decided to trust my initial instincts. i have nothing else to rely on, really!!! I din bother to study any maps nor buy any guide books since the trip would be a busy one with the students.

I walked and walked... and guess what? I ended up at the night market again!!!!!!

Ok. Reset. Start all over again. No panic buttons pushed. I've wandered all alone in bigger cities before and i've always found me way back. Let's just retrace my steps. Easy-peasy!

However, it was just the beginning of my nightmare. It was like i was caught in a Bermuda Triangle on land! In some strange episode of The Twilight Zone. You see, i kept on trying new routes and yet i ended up at the night market. Again. And again. And again. And again!!!!!!

I started to panic a little. It was getting very late. I had ALL my US dollars with me. I was carrying my DSLR with me. I was stupid enuf to bring my hotel room key with me which meant that my room mate was locked out of the room!!!! I was wearing a Les Miserables t-shirt and everyone who saw me with my camera bag slinged over my shoulders knew i was a tourist.

I started taking chances and making detours - just thinking i'm heading the in the general right direction. Finally, i came to a road that leads to my hotel!!!! Woohoo!!!! But wait a minute. Do i go up the road or down the road? I had absolutely NO IDEA!!!! So i just made a call - it as a 50% chance of being right.

No surprises that i chose the wrong the direction. On top of that, it was not yr run of the mill road. It was a super duper extremely looooooooooooooooooong road!!!!! I kept trudging on. Finally, i reached the end of the road to discover that my hotel was at the other end!!!!! I really wanted to cry then. I had to back-track and cover back the same distance that i just did. And it was a long long one. On top of that, i had to cover more than what i just did to reach the other end of the road!!!!

It was way past 1 am when i finally trudged into the hotel. Besides being completed exhausted, the ego was hurt pretty badly. I had always prided meself with my good sense of direction. Now all that is thrown outta the window.

Anyways, there were bright sides to it all. First, i was safe and sound! Really, really thank God for that!!!! Being lost at midnight in a city that i've never been to before is a scary experience. Later, i have heard stories of how dangerous it can get - and some people who work there make it a point not to go out at night!!!!

Secondly, i actually had a nice tour of the city on the first night itself!!! :-) We were supposed to have a city tour on our 3rd day there. To cut the long story short, we missed that. So it was good that i had my own city tour! And it was a night city tour!!!

Finally - and connected to the previous point - i managed to take some nice night pics! :-)

*This song was inspired by the breakup with his former fiancée Debbie Timuss.

Anything but ordinary* - Avril Lavigne

Law students and Law lecturers are a special breed. We speak in our own language. Just like the other day when i went for lunch with some other law lecturers. Here are some excerpts from our conversation:-

J: Have you heard? Jaya Supermarket has collapsed!
H: Occupier liability!!!!!

M: I think i wanna order the 'Crispy Roast Goose'...
S: Let me warn you that it's not crispy at all!
M: Oh really? Then we can sue them under SOGA ('Sales of Goods Act')...
S: For what? It doesn't fit the description?
M: Exactly!

And this is lifted from a student's FB profile:-

"you know you're a law student when you tell people that you just watched monsters AND aliens in the theatres"

[Explanatory note: For civil cases eg Donoghue v. Stevenson [1932] AC 562 , Foakes v. Beer (1884) 9 App Cas 605 etc., the correct way to say it is to replace 'v' with 'and'. So it's said like 'Donoghue AND Stevenson', 'Foakes AND Beer' etc.]

Hate us or love, we lawyers are anything but ordinary! :-)

*Track 8 from her debut album.

Breathless* - The Corrs

Z: Are you panting???

I quickly sucked up a quick but deep breath, plasted a fake smile on my face and acted like it was a lovely evening stroll at the Kensington Park in early autumn.

Moi: What? Who? Me? Panting???

I tried to laugh it off.

But who was I kidding??? Such a simple short walk has left me breathless. These days, when i walk up the pedestrain bridge, i end up gasping for air!!!! I'm so out of shape!!!! Of perhaps, so IN shape!!!! Round is a shape, isn't it???

Less than 3 weeks to the Stan Chart Marathon. And i've oso signed meself up for the Ipoh marathon the week after that i.e. 5th July. I'm also eyeing the Shape Run (25th July) and the King of the Road (2nd August) runs. How in the world am i gonna be prepared for all those runs?????

Die, die, die...

*Their first and only UK no. 1 single.

The end is the beginning is the end* - Smashing Pumpkins

I guess you can call it the beginning of the end. I'm referring to D-Day - also known as the Normandy Landings. It was the start of the Western Allied operation to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.

Me visiting the beaches at Normandy in Autumn 2006

Perhaps in the modern times, D-Day IMHO has been best and most vividly depicted in the dizzying and harrowing opening scene of Saving Private Ryan.

Today marks the 65th anniversary of that fateful day where the Allied casualty figure is at 10,000 (casualty means killed, wounded or MIA). About a quarter of that are those who died. Many young men ran into their deaths on that day after suffering many hours of seasickness.

How does that affect us in South East Asia? Imagine what would have happened if Nazi Germany had won WWII and not the Allied forces. What kind of world would we be living in? Let's not forget the many men who gave their lives - and the many women who lost their husband or son.

I had the privilege to visit the beaches at Normandy back in 2006. Here are some photos, mostly taken at Pointe du Hoc (you can read more about that place here).

*Taken from the soundtrack of Batman & Robin

Who's That Guy?* – Maxwell Caulfield & Cast

Twenty years ago, this unknown man stopped a fleet of tanks. Today, he is still remembered. I pay my tribute to this gentleman by using his iconic photo as the header of my blog today.

No one can really say for sure who he was and what happened to him. Some say he was executed by firing squad. Others say he is still in hiding in China today. But we can say for sure that his simple act has made a great impact - and still does today.

I blogged about it previously here.

I like this portion taken from Wiki:-

The still and motion photography of the man standing alone before a line of tanks reached international audiences practically overnight. It headlined hundreds of major newspapers and news magazines and was the lead story on countless news broadcasts around the world.[1] In April 1998, Time magazine included the "Unknown Rebel" in its feature entitled Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.

Here is what one of me mates say about him:-

"Does anyone know if that guy was on his way home, or on his way to work, or just finished shopping? He must have decided to join the protest "just like that"...not knowing that his action defined a moment in the history!"

One of the most important people of the century!

*Taken from the soundtrack of Grease 2.

I'm still remembering* - The Cranberries

Comment made by a fren on my FB status:-

"I cannot believe it, it has really been 20 years..".

It has. 2 decades have come and gone. I am still remembering the incident and the students.

The following are photos taken from last year's candlelight vigil held in Hong Kong to remember 六四事件 (unlike in Malaysia where all of these people will probably be beaten up and detained for taking part in a peaceful demonstration).

Pics taken from online

*Track 10 from their 3rd album

...Baby one more time* - Britney Spears

June 18, 2010!!!!!! I've marked out my calender!



So looking forward!!!! :-)

*Her debut single.