It has been a while, hasn't it? Not the usual long break, though. Just a bit more than a month. But it has been a crazy month. So much has happened.
The highlights? Well, the youth camp was definitely one!
And then it was the Christmas celebrations!
And lots of eating!!!!
A short simple holiday to Ipoh.
There was also Star Wars, the biggest movie event of the year!
And the year ended with a most painful time of marking exam papers. Yes, marking exam papers are definitely the worst experience one can have as a lecturer - unless you have good students. And with all due respect, it has been quite a while since we have had good students.
New Year was simple, as usual. And then, we are in 2016!
Hope to be able to blog in greater detail... for this year!
*Her latest big hit - I only first heard the tune when i listened to the Star Wars parody of this song!!!
November has come to an end. It has been a crazy month for me. But it will also be remembered as a very wet month too.
When i was at Sydney earlier this month, rain greeted us and stayed with us for the first few days!!!
The view from our apartment
It almost felt like i was in the UK again - in wet London. So it felt quite nice, to be honest! And it while it was as wet as London can be at times, it wasn't as cold.
In any event, thankfully, it left and gave us a couple of dry days!
Coming back to Malaysia, it has been raining quite a lot too. But it's a good thing! One thing is that it is keeping the haze away. We have been having such wonderful haze-free days.
Also, it has given us nice bearable weather here - not too hot nor humid. I'm a person who prefers the cold to the hot and really loved it when i was in Sydney. But being back home now isn't too bad.
The view from our hotel window when we were at Malacca recently
The down side to it all is that i could not take Shona out for our usual walks. It has been forever!!! Since my surgery in August, i think. After that, i was recovering from the op - and then when i was alright, she fell ill. When she got better, the haze came. Now, the rain!!!
She has been singing "rain rain go away" for so many days. Thankfully, there has been some mornings in the past week that i could take her out - and the wife came along too as she wants to exercise. Nice family outing!
Besides it being a really wet month, it has been raining metaphorically too! Like how the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. November has been pouring in terms of work. At times, i feel like i'm drowning in the rain. I'm thankful to God that he has brought me through November - and although December does not look like it will stop pouring, i know he will bring me through it too.
It's October!!!!!! First of October! WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!
No, I've not been sleeping all this time - but i need to wake up from my blogging slumber! It's been more than 1 month since my last post. Not a single one in September!
No, September was not uneventful! But i just could not find the time - to actually post something that i can deem worthy to be on this blog, not a slipshod post which is up just for the sake of posting something (although this post feels like such a post...)
I even have so many posts in my draft folders as i did not want to post more than once a day in August.
Is life just too busy that blogging is out of the question? if i find it difficult now, how will it be when no. 2 comes?
Yes, no. 2 is on her way.
Yes, *her* way.
More about that another time... *This song was written by their frontman, Billie Joe, regarding the death of his father.
It has been a while since I've posted anything up. Well, compared to the flurry of posts after my surgery!
The reason is simple - I've finally moved back into my own house. It's been a week since that day when I came back home.
I wondered before my surgery how my daughter'so reaction will be. Is it going to be "absence makes the heart grow fonder" or "out of sight, out of mind". A part of me which feared that I may not make it through the surgery hoped it would have been the latter. After all, she is just barely over 2 years old. How much can she remembe? I cannot remember anything about what happened to me when I was two.
But thankfully, it was the former rather than latter. And although it has been a bit difficult, I have to admit it feels good to be missed and wanted, doesn't it?
It meant that she wanted me by her side ALL the time! And I'm not exaggerating. Even though she had been warned that I am not allowed to carry her and that I will only be holding her hand, she made sure that she held on to my finger almost all the time!
So I have to make sure that I get my rest whenever she is sleeping - for she will not allow me any sleep when she is awake! She will make sure that I am stuck to her by her side all the time!
Ok. Better go get some rest now! *Interestingly, this hit song of his marked his country music debut!
I went for my follow-up check yesterday. The results of the tests on the tumour was ready. Here it is:-
Basically, what it means is that everything is good!!!! The doctor said that this is the best result that could come out - that it is Grade 1. The lower the grade, the better it is as it is less dangerous. Mineis Grade 1. In fact, this tumour is even less aggressive than the one i used to have last time.
This is indeed wonderful news. Tumour removed, surgery successful, confirmed benign. I am thankful to God for this. *Song from her debut studio album and was also featured on the soundtrack of Sliding Doors.
Exactly one week ago (give or take about an hour or so), i was lying flat in a freezing unfriendly sterilised white room with tubes attached to various parts of a body while a man with a very sharp knife cut my head opened.
The night before, they placed markers so the surgeon knows where to cut
Time flies.
Tumour removed, new titanium plate put into place. ICU, HDU, normal ward, back home.
First real hearty meal was food from home!
Modern technology helped!
Friends came a visiting
Friends came bearing gifts
Give us this day our daily bread - and medication
Reunited and it feels so good!
So thankful to God for his gracious providence and care not only for me but for my loved ones. It's still a long road to full recovery but the worst should be over.
*Their first single from their 1998 album which made them famous.
It's day 6 since my surgery and I'm back home! Well, back to me mom's home. Have been here since day 4!!!
I've been feeling pretty good. As me wife drove me back from the hospital on Friday, i told her that i feel that i can deliver a lecture there and then! With a mic, tho.
Truly God has been very gracious to me. The recovery has been very very good! Much better than the last time! Although it didn't seem like it would be like that initially. My first memories post surgery was that i was feeling pretty bad. I had a headache, i felt like i had urinary tract infection and i was feeling pretty nauseous. The nausea stayed with me for the first two days. I also could feel the pain - albeit slight - on the stitches/staples on my head. I recall the last time round, i couldn't feel anything at all.
But slowly and surely, God helped me to recover and recuperate. The defining moment - actually it was close to 2 hours - was on Wednesday when they were getting ready to transfer me to the normal ward. I got "unplugged" - yay!!!! I felt like Ultron! or Pinnochio!!!
I recall from the last experience that when they finally wheeled me into the ward, i was so overcome by nausea that i went right into the toilet and threw up whatever little i had in me tummy!!!
So this time round, when they told me that the room was being cleaned, i decided to sit up on the bed and prepare meself for the nauseating journey up!
It wasn't easy. I still felt bad but made sure i sat up. Lying down for more than 50 hours can really mess with the head!
Thank God that after an hour passed, i was feeling much better. Soon, i was sitting there singing hymms and old Bible School songs quietly. I was having a mini worship session!
When they wheeled me to the ward, i continued sitting - on the chair next to the window drinking in the view of the world outside, the light blue skies and white clouds, especially, and whatever greenery there was to see.
My condition steadily improved and when i got home, i was quite surprised at how "normal" i felt!
When a fren came over to visit, he reported back to the rest of me mates saying that i look the same except with the patch on my head.
Sure, i don't feel 100% - but i feel quite good. Less than 1 week and i'm already blogging. I think the last time round, it was in week 3 when i started to blog again. And i would have been blogging earlier if i wasn't too busy watching TV!!!
When me wife came over to visit me last night, i think i was feeling much better than she did!
Last night also, i started singing this old chorus that we used to sing a lot during our secondary school days. We used to love this Praise and Worship album - Give Thanks. I still listen to it once in a while these days and the CD is in my car. The song that i was singing was "I am the God That Healeth Thee".
Truly, he is the one! I speak very well about my surgeon and he is probably the best neurosurgeon in the country (and the most expensive too) but at the end of the day, i acknowledge that it is God who used the surgeon and it is God who is healing me day by day. Although i am 5 years older compared to when i had the first surgery, i am recovering much faster. Much much faster. I walk down the stairs and i find myself surprised at how easy it is. I remember how i had to gingerly walk down slowly the last time round.
Well, it's still a long journey to full recovery. I can't see what is happening inside me - so i better take it easy and slowly and just leave it in his hands, the hands of the one who can heal me completely and perfectly!
*His cover version of this popular song written in the 60s.
3 days have come and gone since the day when she was suppose to come. Today does not seem like the day too... but then again, we won't be surprised if she decides to show up!
We've been preparing for this day for so long - and we've been expecting her since last week. Yet, she still seems to be comfortable where she is and is delaying her coming.
Well, to say that we've been preparing for so long may not be so accurate. Sure, we've been making the arrangements etc. but truth be told, i've been so busy lately that altho her coming has been on my mind a lot, i've not really been preparing myself very well.
So in that sense, it is a good thing that she is not here yet - the extra days have been used to prepare myself - mentally and physically (trying to get lots of rest!!!). The missus and i have also been spending a lot of time together knowing that times like these will not be easilly found when she's here.
So while the tension is high and the suspense is great, we are still enjoying ourselves and looking with great anticipation for her appearance! I hope it'll be sooner rather than later as i have to get back to work soon...
We may not always get what we want - but God will give us everything we need!
*Taken from his brilliant Listen without Prejudice album, this song is medley-ed with You can't always get what you want.
This is it! According to the doctors, it can happen anytime now!!!
There is about 2 more weeks before the due date - but who knows? She may want to enter this world sooner. Maybe she want to expereince the GE13!!! Maybe she wants her mommie to have a special Mother's Day and be able to celebrate it this year and not next.
We've been so busy so i guess it really have not sunk in yet. Not to its full extent. It helped when the doctor started explaning the beginning of the end - what the wife will be going thru and what we will have to do.
Truth be told, it all seems a little surreal at the moment. But the "sur" will be evaporating soon!
Anytime now...
The place where it all ends - and where it will begin...
*Aruguably their most popular song with the so familiar sythe intro.
It has been a pretty crazy past few weeks! Been so busy... I really hate seeing this blog neglected like this. =( In any event, who even notices what goes on here? Who blogs anymore? I asked my students the other day if anyone keeps a blog and they gave me the "look"! It's like so last decade, isn't it? Still, i dun blog for the sake of my "readers" - if there are still any left!!!! I do it for meself. An act of reflection. But these days, that seems like a luxury. So little time to just sit and think and reflect.
This is bad. So i'm not gonna give up on this blog. Not yet. I still see the good in blogging. And although i am very much restricted these days with what i blog, that still should not prevent me from blogging at all. Now if only i can find the time...
Last post - 30th July!!!!! Almost 2 and a half months!!!!
Since i started this blog in November 2006, i have at the very least blogged at least once a month! (the only exception was late in 2009 when my life was in a total mess due to the tumor in my head which was removed in January 2010). In fact, since i started blogging in October 2004, i have blogged at least once a month. So this long break is really something not usual. Thankfully, it is not attributed to something bad like back in 2009. Altho in a way, it could look like that. I have been really busy at work! But it's not just work - it is just a combination of many things together. Work is definitely one of the reasons. Been distracted by many things to. It's definitely not due to lack of things to blog about. Another reason is because no one really blogs very much these days - with FB statuses and Twitter taking a more prominent seat. Are we getting too lazy - that instead of writing a post on a blog, we just put up a sentence in our FB status? Altho some "frens" status looks almost like blog posts (and are longer than some of my posts in this blog!!!!! But i dowanna give up on this blog. After all, a big reason for this blog is not for my readers but for myself. To record what has been happening to me - and some MAJOR LIFE-CHANGING events have taken place which will lead to brand new experiences in the coming weeks/months. =) More about these things in the upcoming posts... hopefully, it will not take another 2 months plus for that! *I just found out today that the title of this song is this way and not "It's been a while"!!!
Yup, the circle is now complete. I started off with a Nokia on a DIGI line and now i'm back with a Nokia on a DIGI line!
Yes, my phone is finally here!!! :-) Actually, it was here a couple of days ago - but i haven't started using it yet!!! Too busy... well, more like too lazy! To learn how to use it. Since it's a Nokia, it shud be user frenly.
Anyways, which colour do u think is nicer? I really like the red one. but since i bought it via mail order, the colour was chosen for me.
Yeah, it wasN'T the red one. I got the blue one. Which isn't really bad!
And not the first time too! My Sony Erickson was blue. One of my old Nokia was blue too. And blue seems to be the colour for me at this point of time!
*One of her big hits, it was nominated for a Grammy in the early 80s!
I finally did it. I change service provider for my mobile phone. After so many years!!!!
Yes, i've GAVE UP ON MAXIS!!!!! I'm back with Digi.
I just could not take it anymore. Maxis is so bad IN my house. It is so frustrating - when i cannot use my mobile phone at home, in my room!!!! The worse thing is that it is not completely no service. There is just sufficient line for the call to come in or go out - but not strong enuf to have a conversation.
Yes, i admit that outside, i do not have any problems with Maxis. But enuf is enuf.
I realised that i have come a full circle! When i first started, i was using Digi. The reason i changed to Maxis was cuz at that time, during my practice days, i traveled around the land a lot. And i found that Digi was very lacking in a lot of other States. Maxis was really good!
Now, back with Digi, i am reminded at how inferior it is!!!! When i'm indoors on campus, the line is very weak. I have to step outdoors!!!! Sigh...
But when tGiF calls me when i'm at home, i can talk to her now! So yes, the change is good! :-)
I'm running out of songs to be post titles in this blog!!!! Believe you me when i tell ya a lot of posts never end up on this blog simply because i couldn't find a song to be the post title. Many a times, i've been tempted to re-use songs which i've used in the past before.
I have also been tempted to start a new blog. This has been my longest running blog ever! I tried once and use movie titles as post titles - but that idea failed.
Well, no point being a slave to 'traditions' and conventions! From this day on, from this moment on, i'll be reusing songs titles from previous posts. Yes! Not that anyone would notice it in the first place... oh well...
*One of the most often heard song in weddings at one point of time, this is her second biggest hit single.
Wonder if anyone still comes here? Perhaps all 3 faithful readers have given up hope after being greeted by the sounds of silence each time they drop by here.
It's not that i dun have things to post. No, far from it. I still have draft posts waiting to be edited and posted!!! I go thru the day composing posts - whenever interesting things happen. And in my life, there is never any shortage of such things! ;-)
But when i finally get in front of the laptop, i just dun feel like blogging! Why? Well, many reasons. One really stupid reason is i'm running out of ideas of post titles - and getting too lazy to figure out new ones! You have to take yr hat off to me for coming out with hundreds of songs as post titles - and not just random songs. It has to be songs that i know, and songs that relate directly to the post subject.
Another reason was that in view of the serious matter taking place in my beloved country - serious breaches of human rights - i just din think it was right for me to post about trivial matters. People's liberty were taking away and lives were being threatened. And here i am blogging about Mamma Mia? (no offence meant to those who have blogged about Mamma Mia in recent weeks) Or bragging about how i have passed Carina on Word Challenge? (It is a big deal to me!) Or complaining about how i miss life in the UK?
Yes, that's the other thing too - aren't you tired of reading about me whining on and on about how i miss life in the UK?
Besides that, there were so many things that i just could not make public. And altho i think only 3 people actually read this blog, it is still available to the masses and is linked on many others' blogs. So i have to be a little more discreet. And careful.
I've also been distracted - by Word Challenge!!!!! Sad, man.
Finally, i'm physically tired. All i wanna do when i get in front of the laptop at the end of the day is to just vegetate and watch House or Prison Break. Yes, blogging takes effort on me part - me not like some people who have a flair for writing and a way with words.
Classes have resumed this week. Am trying hard to readjust back. So much work to do... It's the end of the week now and i'm just taking a breather - and blog!
Maybe it'll be business back as usual. I have many blog posts in me head, waiting to be put onto the screen.
Maybe after i finish a movie. Laters!
*Paul Simon wrote this song after the assassination of John F Kennedy, trying to capture the emotional trauma of the Americans. It was this song that propelled them to popularity.
Finally, i step into class for the first time shortly after i publish this post. The journey of over 40 thousand kilometers has taken many years. But now, i have arrived. The door of the lecture hall marks the end of a most wonderful journey - and as i step over the threshold, a new one begins.
My prayer and hope is that in years to come, i can echo what Associate Prof Azmi Sharom said in his column recently regarding the lawyers who took part in the march for justice recently:-
...standing there in Putrajaya, first in the scorching sun and then the chilling rain, I could not have been prouder. Amongst the crowd were ex-students who came up and said hello.
To think that my colleagues and I had played a small role in the development of these men and women, who are willing to make their stand, means we must have done something right.
To look around and feel part of a larger group of people who work in the legal field and who appreciate justice; well it was a good time to be a law teacher.
(Azmi Sharom shares his views on the Judiciary and the March For Justice here)
In the classic words of Norma Desmond, "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up".
*The opening song of High School Musical. Yes, it was a duet but Zac couldn't reach the high parts so he "Milli Vanilli"ed it!!!
