Bye!

Flying tomorrow. First time on a plane. Hope I don't do anything stupid, wahahaa. I know its going to be a logistical mess tomorrow. All the best to me. I'm in charge of taking attendances and the luggages of 24 people, most of whom I don't even know. Not because I'm a good soldier. But because my name appeared first on that paper.

All the best. Need to go airport earlier than most people (0900 compared to 0945), that's why I told my parents they don't have to send me off. Because it will be a mess tomorrow (since this is the army :), and I won't have time to talk much to them.

Once we reach there, we will have 3 days to prepare in camp. Then spend 14 days in the desert setting up and maintaining our communication links, and watch kangeroos. Then exercise cut on the 4th Dec, and we have 3 days 3 nights R and R. All together 21 days, 19 Nov to 10 Dec. I'll be returning late at night 10 Dec, if I am not wrong.

I may buy something back lah, if I have money left. Although Rockhampton is only a town, not a city...like Perth, like Melbourne, like Sydney.... Too bad I cannot stand the taste of beer. The beer there costs less than water and soft drinks.

I'll be back. To watch Full House. Way to go, Korea!

I'm almost done watching Goong...

Left two more episodes. Going to finish it before I fly on Sunday.

Why...do I... have this feeling? Deh?

I'm getting used to watching the show everyday. And to do without it suddenly is like breaking a habit.

At first I don't like it. But I'm falling in love with something I interact with everyday.

I don't feel lonely without it.

I feel empty without it.

Shit. I'm talking rubbish like Chaegyung and Shin Goon :X Haha...

Are you afraid to die?

Went to James' grandfather wake yesterday, and felt warm. It was the familiar white chairs, that familiar cross, that familiar verse ("I am the resurrection and the life"), the familiar songs, prayers, sermon. It was so familiar that it reminded me of my grandmother's wake last year.

The pastor taught in Chinese about how the Christian has hope in Christ, and that the dead does not die, but only sleeps in Christ, and one day shall wake up to find joy. There is so much hope to be in Christ. There is one thing, however, that is different from my grandmother's wake: the people there did not cry. And I think it is so beautiful for these people to understand such a tremendous truth!

A friend of mine remarked, that only Christians sing songs during their wake. I think it is so wonderful, and the reason we sing is because there is hope by the finished work of Christ on the cross. And I think by this, only by the finished work of Christ, all of us, James, and every Christian there, can find true peace.

Which brings me to the question: are you afraid to die? I'm not. And I wish that when I do, I don't wish to see anyone cry of sorrow or mourning, of parting, because there is no sorrow or mourning or tears where I am, there is no permanent parting where I am! But cry, because of eternal grace abundant, that brought me to my Lord.

So, if my plane to Australia crashes...or I met with an accident in my vehicle in the dangerous terrain there...don't cry for me.

Keep My Intellect

One of the key reasons why people write diaries, blogs, or keep photos, or videos, or any memories of themselves while they were young is because, simply, they wish to relive those memories. But the only way they can relive those precious memories is only when his mental intellectual faculty remains intact. But it is such a pity, because people may grow senile, or get into concussions, coma, or anything that will affect their capacity to even think about their past. Imagine waking up on the bed in the middle of the white hospital room, with unfamiliar faces staring at you. These strangers are claiming to know you. In fact, they said they love you, and you used to love them. Yet you can remember nothing, your mental capacity has been damaged. Or maybe, just naturally, you grow old and you go senile. You may even get some kind of cancer, and you start to hallucinate once your brain cells are affected. The things that are there mean nothing to you, instead you begin to see things that are not even there. Those memories which were once realities were forgotten. You forget the people, the place, the things, the breeze, the sunshine, the smiles on their faces, the songs of your era. And now all you can see are things which does not even exist. Your intellectual capacity has been damaged.

Does anyone realize how pitiful it is to be in such a state? It would be even better for him to have no memories at all beforehand, than to have such wonderful memories, only to find out he is now unable to enjoy those memories again. Even more unfortunate is that not only is he affected, but the people who were once involved and loved would no longer relive those experiences together anymore, be it his spouse, or family, or friends. These unfortunate events do not happen only in TV dramas. It happen in real life too.

My grandfather is going to be sent to the hospice tomorrow. I doubt he kept a diary, but if he had done so, does he still have the capacity to read, to think like he once used to, or even as he would have liked to? To be able to relive those memories? No, and I think it is a pity.

I dread that this would happen to me as well. It is too dreadful to even think about it. Too cruel. Not for myself, but for people around me.

The Prestige - "How far would you devote yourself for the sake of Art?"

4 out of 5 stars.

The Prestige gets my vote as one of the best movies I have seen in 2006. It has lots of twists, and again I admire such great storytelling. You are kept guessing til the end. The plot is mostly unpredictable. There is not a lot of hype to this movie, which is what makes watching such a movie even more fulflling. The director, Christopher Nolan, also directed Batman Begins. I actually caught this movie last Sunday, and its ending its run soon. Or maybe it has already ended by the time you see this.

The Prestige is about rivalry between two magicians, and in their competition, they lost things which are dear to them. Borden, it was revealed at the end, had a twin brother who played as a double and was forced to live the a parellel life together. When one of the brothers' fingers were chopped off, the other had to do the same, in order to keep up their magic performances. The other rival magician, Angier, played by Hugh Jackman, actually sacrificed his own life in the process to be a world class magician. At least this is how I interpreted the final performance. The clone is the one who carried on the magic show. The final "magic" actually involved pseudoscience and cloning which sounded and looked absurd, but if you are watching such a good show, I think one should forgive these shortcomings. There are other theories about whether it was the real Angier who drowned or the clone who drowned, but I guess thinking too much is not what the director wants us to do. The point is, Angier sacrificed something, and it makes sense that he actually sacrificed his life at the final performance.

It is a good show, not great though. It was made less powerful when the audience (meaning I and others watching the movie) is made to accept a magic act which was too ridiculous. If I'm the director, though, I would definitely make the end of the show more believable by real magic tricks, or at least more believable ones. The "magic that is really science" part at the end was kind of anti-climatic, and probably because they ran out of ideas.

Good Girls Like Bad Boys

Or at least that's what two shows seem to be telling me. Goong, and Lost. Why do I find myself supporting the 'underdogs'? Why am I rooting for conceited and rude Shin to fall in love with Chaegyung in Goong, and bad boy Sawyer with Kate in Lost? Those are the bad boys, and I am supporting them (even more so for girls)! What about squeaky clean Yul and serious and mature Jack? They seem so boring as the series go on. Too boring. That's why the girls don't fall in love with these good but boring men.

But don't worry, I am not detached from reality. Neither would I turn into a bad boy. Because thank God these things only happen in TV shows. I would like to think girls really like serious, mature and good guys. Pretty pretty please?

Rubbish aside. I am leaving for Ex Wallaby (Rockhampton, Australia) from 19 Nov (SUN) to 10 Dec (SUN). Will have lots of free time over there, so I have decided to read 3 books simultaneously over there:

1. True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer (read half of it already)
2. Why I am not a Christian by Bertrand Russell
3. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

and also bring along Ernest's ipod shuffle, complete with Goong OST. Hahaha. I like 'A Dancing Teddy' and 'Crystal Flower'. The dancing teddy soundtrack always comes on when something funny is going to happen.

My original blog is back!

Thank you, Blogger, for finally recognising that this is no spam blog. Thank you. Thank you very much. For recognising that I DID NOT type rubbish here. After one whole month of closing down my blog.
Kam Sia!
Xie Xie Ni!
Kamsahmidah! (sarcastically)

For a while I was so afraid I'm gonna lose all these entries... it's like a diary to me, except of course I don't really post serious or personal stuff here. But it's good if you could look back and see how your 18, 19-year old mind used to work, and what kind of rubbish you were thinking then, when you are, like, 35. Or 70.