Ever went caving before? Well, I did. In fact, it was just last Sunday I went for a caving trip to Dark Cave, situated at Batu Caves just below the Temple Cave.
Together with NSA(my fellow group of explorers), we were led by the guides from MNS (Malaysian Nautre Society) into the cave. We gathered up at 9am in front of Batu Caves..not wanting to miss out anyone behind. It was an experience not to be missed out after all.

"Gadgets!…Check!"

And of cause..there was a warm-up session before it actually begins - "The 272 Steps Rock Stairs". I started counting the steps "1,2,3…..10…..*wheezing…*wheezing…..11..10..4..29…!@#$%#$%!@#"

"I’m the one behind the camera…steady hands eh!"

Just before we reach the end of the stairs, we made a left turn to the route towards the Dark Cave. There was a reason it’s named Dark Cave…Yea, simply because it’s DARK.

"There were few groups of cavers on that day, inclusive of little Caver-lets as well"

"That’s Colin from MNS (Malaysian Nautre Society) in full gear…solid pro-caver and that’s me not solid pro-caver "

We entered the cave with a brief introductory given by our guide, Colin. The cave are devided and named into different Chambers: Chamber A, B, C and D. O..yea, and if you’re wondering what are some of them looking at on the ground(in the picture), they’re looking at a whole vilage of little roaches. so…BEWARE ROACH HATERS!!

We went further in from A to B

"no kidding..they don’t name it Dark Cave for nothing"

As we eplore the cave, we were fed with mouth-watering roaches detailed facts of the caves - "the formation of many-aged-old stalactite, stalacmite, structure formation,etcs", about the natural life-forms within the cave - "bats, cave-raiser(white snake), cave centipede" yea..we actually met them and even greeted "Hi!"

….  -_-’
"I can’t upload anymore pictures. It seems that friendster only limit me to upload 50 pictures a month. So i guess there is a part 2 to my Caving Post after all. Next week…I promise"

..to be continue

It’s my offday today and you’ll probably saying …"how nice. can sleep till late morning" but nope. Foolish-me went and sacrifice my long hours of sleep and registered for an IBM, "Lotusphere Comes to You", event in KLCC Convention Centre.

I woke up early so that i can take the early train to KLCC and register the moment the registration counter starts, hoping that they’ll gimme an early bird gift. Now, some of you might be starting to think, "this cheap fella..wake up darn early just to get free gifts". But i assured you i’m not cheap..nope. i Just go there to broaden my knowledge on current new techy, systems….softwares…erm..and…stuffs!! besides, i was not given any early-bird gifts.

It was a whole day event so i short listed to only a few sessions realated to my work field. What i like about such events is that they really provides knowledge on new systems that you not even heard of. And of cause they’re generous in giving you freebies for that many cards u throw in in exchange of one business card.

Another thing i like about events like this is, "Don’t worry, lunch are provided….tea break as well….so is afternoon teabreak and of cos buffet style".  So the whole day is like - session, session, BREAK, session, LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH, session, session, BREAK, session, session.

To let the pictures do the talking, here comes lunch…
For starters…

hmmmm…nice…

And one of the main dish…

I like this. This picture here is infact my 2nd round. It’s call the "Spicy Seafood Ragout". It has shrimps, fish, and clams….hmmm i like clams..

i didn’t take shots of all the dishes mainly because i’m too busy fighting for food with some other 200 over attendees.

o yea..not to forget. the tea breaks…

All 3, "Coffee Streusel tart, Samosa with Mint Yoghurt Dip, Barbecus Chicken Pao" are indeed yummy.

I’m suprise that food served for events are nice. usually they don’t. KLCC Convention Centre’s cheff –> GOOD!!

..all those food..hmmmm

…so anyway, back to the event. It last till 5:30pm. Most of the attendees stayed till the end waiting anxiously for the key highlight of the whole day there..the lucky draw. ooo…the gifts are very nice, but since i didn’t win any so i guess there’s no point mentioning, haha. besides, i came home not empty handed. i got one bag of filled with freebies and one belly filled with freefood. hoit! i’m not cheap! those event organisers made me do it.

 
"All things big and small …..

…..give praise"

I have been pondering over a common word for awhile.
“Name”… well, of cause everybody know what that word “Name” meant but what I’m
actually thinking is that how many different names are there now in the world
comparing to those days where it’s always common names like JOHN, PETER, SARAH
are use repeatedly. Or it’s questionable that how the name TOM, DICK and HARRY
got to be the general term for ‘anybody’.

Thinking about this topic really
made me felt silly of how could it be possible for me to know how many
different names are there and it got even more absurd that I started searching
for the meaning “NAME” in wikipedia.
“Of my goodness, what has got into me that I start pondering over such topic?
This is an issue, HELP!! I’m evolving into an encyclopedia”

…name is a label for a thing,
person, place, product(as in a brand name) and even an idea or concept,
normally to distinguish one from another…(wikipedia)

Names are given normally with a meaning but there are
occasions that names are created just for the sake of naming it. For example,
there’s this one time where I’m thinking of names for my hamsters (they’re in
the grave now). Hoping to get good ides from a friend I ask for his views and
he reply me this:

“Why bother giving them names? They’re stupid
animals. Will they even respond to you when you call them by names?”

At that time, I have to admit
that he do have a point there but in the end I ended calling my 2 hamsters
“Blue” and “Sky” just for the sake of naming them. At least they got a
classification, of which is which. Who knows, maybe in the future they’re
scientifically improved into intelligent animals where you can’t be calling
them “here hamsters, hamsters…” and the whole bunch of hamster coming after
you.

In a more comical way, names are
sometimes created as a form of joke or it can be called as “nick names”. Just
as I remembered there was this time where my chinese name, “Cheong Kheng Hoong”,
was pronounced differently, bringing a different meaning - translated to
English; “Long Neck Bear”. Not like I mind, but it does sounds like a Red
Indian name though. “HAO!! ME, CHIEF LONG NECK BEAR WISH TO BLOG WITH
SMOKE SIGNALS!!”

It can be so “kiasu” that humans
are starting to name everything they own. I came across people naming their
house as “Little Mozart” or their car as “Grease Lighting” and
some can even sound very human-like, like ‘Johny’ or ‘Monalisa’. Because of
that, sometimes when I join a conversation that involve names I have to guess
who or what is being referred to for “George” can be a cow or “Philip” can be a
screwdriver. And if you have the chance of visiting other places like Hong
Kong
you’ll realize that names can be even more unique and often
confusing. Instead of assets having human names like we do here, they have
humans having assets name. Just to point out a few examples, there are people
calling themselves “Apple” or there’s this name I came across…. “Mahjong”
(that’s the most unique so far). So you have to be extra careful with your
speech cause it might meant something else to other people when u say something
like “I’m eating APPLE” or “I’m playing MAHJONG” where both names might be
names of some girls.

Up to this point, I can’t imagine
how I crap-out so much with just the word “Name”. I can go on forever with
this, so just not look too far and just upon our own name. Ever wonder what
your name means or is it created just for the sake of having a classy name. Or
is it named after a famous actor-slash-actress. For all I know my name,
EMMANUEL is given to me and it’s gonna stay as it is till the day I’m buried.
Even if I’m given the option to change it…the answers still “no”. Why? Merely
just because of the fact that since young I learnt that EMMANUEL derive from Matthew 1:23
of the Holly Bible, which means “God With Us”………now isn’t that something nice to know and a meaning that’s
worth keeping. Find out about what’s behind a name @ www.behindthename.com.

There are many names and meanings
behind them, so the next time if you want to use names for the term ‘anybody’
instead of using ‘TOM, DICK and HARRY’ I guess we can just use any names like
‘EMMANUEL, JIT and MANIAM’, putting it into a sentence – “Any Emmanuel,
Jit and Maniam in the world can blog as well”

looks like someone is unhappy witht the cameraman

 

If u read the star papers 2 days back you’ll be able to stumble upon the write-up on Nick Vujicic. He’s been around  town during the easter week for motivational talks in churches. Here is his testimonial. Lenghty but worth reading.

From
Life Without Limbs 
To Life Without LIMITS! 

Born without limbs, Nick Vujicic proved that a man can
turn a life without limbs into a life without limits. If the size of a man’s
capacity lies in his heart and spirit, then Nick is a giant of a man! He is
persistent, captivating and enthralling. At age 15, he gave his life to Jesus
Christ and things have never been the same again. Nick is highly independent
and with only a seven-inch left foot, he is able to type 45 words a minute,
write, walk, swim, comb his hair, brush his teeth, and take care of personal
needs. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and
Accounting and is a financial counselor. As a public speaker today, Nick
travels the globe to challenge everyone to live a life of victory in spite of
any adverse circumstances. Grown men have wept after hearing his story. Young
people who had contemplated suicide repented after being challenged by Nick’s
enthusiasm for life.

Nick’s personal testimony

A Remarkable Story of God’s Grace

It says in James 1:2 - "Consider it pure joy, my
Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."

…To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure
joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church,
they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December
1982 in Melbourne (Australia), the last two words on the minds of my parents
was "Praise God!". Their firstborn son had been born without limbs!
There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors we
shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this
had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any
other baby.

The whole church mourned
over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked,
"if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen
to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?" My Dad thought I wouldn’t
survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with
a few limbs missing.

Understandably, my parents had strong concern and evident fears of
what kind of life I’d be able to lead. The first biggest hurdle was for my
parents to be at peace and trusting that God was in control. It took a number
of months of tears, questions and grief before that complete overtook their
hearts. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early
years and soon after that I was old enough to go to school.

There are a few people who assume that because of my physical
disability that it meant that I’d also be mentally disabled. The law in
Australia didn’t allow me to be integrated into a main-stream school because of
my physical disability. God did miracles and gave my Mom the strength to fight
for the law to be changed. I was one of the first disabled students to be
integrated into a main-stream school.

I liked going to school, and just try to
live life like everyone else, but it was in my early years of school where I
encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because
of my physical difference. It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the
support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped
me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the
inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low
that I wouldn’t go to school just so I didn’t have to face all the negative
attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start
making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that
I was just like them, and starting there God kept on blessing me with new
friends.

There were times when I felt depressed
and angry because I couldn’t change the way I was, or blame anyone for that
matter. I went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He
cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn’t
understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I
did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at
school, I’m the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me
and the sooner I go, the better it’d be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain
and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents
and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength.

Due to my emotional
struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has
implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope
with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a
blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential
and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.

As I grew older God continued to prepare
my heart and teach me to seek Him. One of the first lessons that I have learnt
was not to take things for granted. I had that wake up call around the age of
twelve and realised just how much I was blessed with. I take my foot for
granted, my family and the fact that I wasn’t born in a third world country all
blessings that God had freely given and I still complain? I came
across;

Romans 8:28 - "And we
know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him."

That verse spoke to my heart and
convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as
luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our
life. In;

James 1:3&4 - "…know
that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance
must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking
anything."

I had complete peace knowing that God
won’t let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it
all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading
John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the
works of God may be revealed through Him." I truly believed that God would
heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was
given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it’s God’s
will, it’ll happen in His time. If it’s not God’s will for it to happen, then I
know that He has something better. I now see that Glory revealed as He is using
me just the way I am and in ways others can’t be used.

I am now twenty-one years old and have
completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting.
I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and
testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to
relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today’s
teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.

In recent years, I have learnt to become
independent and can now take care of all my personal needs. I can do everything
from brushing my teeth, combing my hair, dressing up, taking care of my
personal hygiene and even shaving. I get around the house by jumpin’ around
and, outside the house, I get around in an electric wheelchair. I love to swim,
fish and play soccer. I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep
myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I
follow.

I have many dreams and goals that I have
set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God’s
Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as
a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become
financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to
modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the
"Oprah Winfrey Show"! Writing several best-selling books has been one
of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It
will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"

You might think these goals are too
far-fetched. However, I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do
something, and if it’s God’s will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans,
we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What’s worse is
putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box".
The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something
for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability
for we know that it is God through us and we can’t do anything without Him.
Once we make ourselves available for God’s work, guess whose capabilities we
rely on? God’s!

"I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

God has a Great Purpose for your life! As
far as your unanswered prayers, remember that God is Faithful. What are we to
do when we are seeking but not finding?

Jeremiah 29:12 - "Then
you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found
by you," declares the Lord…

Take courage my friend for the Battle is
the Lord’s and I urge you to keep striving for the truth. For it is the truth
that will set you free and the Peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will reign in your heart. May the Lord Bless you as you diligently seek Him and
grant you Godly Wisdom and Strength through your journey.

In Christ,
Nick Vujicic

To find out more about     Nick
and his ministry, visit www.lifewithoutlimbs.org

 

It’s easter and if this title attracted you, sorry i don’t know the answer of "Where’s my easter bunny and easter eggs?". I can only tell you that Easter is about the celebration of death and resurrection of Jesus. We all understand that resurrection is a good thing to celebrate but what is there to celebrate about death? The celebration here actually reffers to the good meaning behind "the death" which have took place on the cross with a prayer of forgiveness for all the sins of the peoples on earth.

Notice that the date for good friday and easter sunday are not fixed. So when exactly is easter? Theoratically Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the full moon after vernal equinox…No, i dunno what is "vernal equinox". There’s even a theory on how to count when is Easter Sunday. I won’t explain it here..the explanation is too complex for me to explain. However, the explanation to "when?" and "vernal equinox" can be found here.

Still haven’t give up on the bunny and eggs? Well, to me, they’re just like Santa Clause of Christmas  - a different believe. People kept on questioning me until i can’t help to ponder, what could have been the possibility of the existence of the "bunny and eggs" believe. The closest i can get to is that "maybe eggs signifies new life as of resurection?" and bunny….bunny…i don’t know…"bunny hiding behind some rock witnessing the resurection and found religion at that moment?" done again, they’re all just from my analytical mind. So, no hard feelings to all "bunny and eggs" stonge believers.


Happy Easter day everyone.

I learnt about Paul’s situation while i was reading Jit’s blog:

"….I came across this
blog when Euric told me about this kid from Taman Desa. He fell down while
playing basketball and suffered from severe head injuries. Since then, too many people from the
community flocked to the hospital to visit and support him. Therefore, the
hospital’s management set up a blog to update the people about his latest
condition….." - (Jit’s blog, 14/04/06)

To my friends and whoever which had read this, hear me as this is my prayer request for Paul to have a speedy recovery, and faith to be strong in him. Also for his family members to be at the best of health and strength as they give their care to him. Send your love to Paul @ YC Blogspot

Last night I was invited for this company’s anual dinner. It wasn’t my first time joining this comapny’s anual dinner, in fact it was my 2nd year. They had it held at a chinese restaurant in Federal Hotel. A very typical china-man kind of dinner where the environment is a nosiy one. At one corner you’ll hear one table yelling "YAaaaaaaaammmmmm…siiiNGGGG!!!" and at the front podium you’ll hear people yelling their throats out with karaoke.
There’s this granny that went up and sung oldies with a voice which can bring cracks to mirrors and glasses. Ahhh..at that moment i felt my brain vibrating with pain. I need panadols…..3 panadols = 1 for my headache and the other 2 for my ears.

She sang not 1, not 2 but 3 songs and i can tell that she’ll continue singing her forth if it wasn’t the emcee that cut her short. Well done emcee!! Good job!!! All praises to the emcee’s clever act.
Other than that the food is just alrite in overall. The glutinous rice and the desert was the most preffered ones on the table that night.

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It was lunch time when i was walking pass the IKEA roadshow at IKANO; I saw this big piece of picture where i found myself a good place to do the "sitting on air" kind of thing.