It has been a quite a year. Though there is much to say but work beckons in an hour so I cant say much. But I want to thank everyone for the time and well wishes and I hope 2010 will be even better!
unlike any other,
Thern
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
I have been to VENICE! part 1, Italy
It was a couple months back during summer, I decided on going on a backpacking trip. Where else other to than Italy. :) I got one of my housemates to join me on this trip. We decided to do it on the tightest budget possible. We flew budget and stayed in hostels.
Being cheap however has its cost, 'is this worth it? will this blow my budget? could I do it for less? could I not do it at all? is there a cheaper alternative? all those questions.... there is so much more thinking involve and not to mention the mental calculations. We were 2 frugal accountants to be making 'financial decisions'.
There is also flight which were non better than a bus with wings and the timing of it at rooster hours. Perhaps the flight was for chickens. Our flight was at 6.30am, since there were no buses to the airport that suited our time, we went the night before. Even so all the good places to rest and to lay our heads were already taken, we walked up and down the airport in our never ending search for something remotely comfortable, unfortunately there was none.
The next best thing was the floor. It was cold, hard and cold. Nevertheless we made do with what we had, the floor as beds and our backpacks for pillows. We tugged in and soon fell asleep. It was the worst of sleeps, there was people moving around and in particular an European student group which weren't very discreet, seriously no decency at all! There was also the floor polish vehicle. He was at his duty at 3am. It is a good thing he was very skilled at manoeuvring his cleaning vehicle gingerly around us. Imagine having to wake up to find your face is as shinny as the floor. "I see my face in the floor and in my face that is in the floor I see the floor." Well perhaps some girls might like that idea, think about not having anymore facials for the rest of your life.
There is so much of waiting to do. Silly airline. Anyways were on the plane and on our flight to trevisio Italy which was an hours bus to Venice. It only cost us 15pounds that flight, I guess you pay up the rest in waiting time and in 'unpleasantness'.
We flew over the Swiss alps which was a sight to behold. I was too lazy to get the camera from my bag, since there was this guy next to me which smell like junk and that I wasn't exactly at the window seat. I honestly did regret not making an effort.
Well enough of talk and lets get to venice italy. It was hot, perhaps hotter than Malaysia and not so romantic as one would expect. Pictures vaguely tell the actual story and documentaries describe it a little too well. I am a pessimist so my story wouldnt be as good as a how sanguine would tell it. It was still however though nice. With practically unlimited storage space. I shall tell my story in picture.
We did buy a one day pass for the water taxi, but with my superb sence of direction and arm with a map. We decided to walk and in so doing took this photos.
Our destination was a bridge, Ponte di Rialto. On our way there we did get a little lost, we ended up at a dead end. No so good was the map. :p We had hoped on the water bus that took us direct to the famous bridge.
Ponte di Rialto
Ponte di Rialto
Shops upon the bridge
Being cheap however has its cost, 'is this worth it? will this blow my budget? could I do it for less? could I not do it at all? is there a cheaper alternative? all those questions.... there is so much more thinking involve and not to mention the mental calculations. We were 2 frugal accountants to be making 'financial decisions'.
There is also flight which were non better than a bus with wings and the timing of it at rooster hours. Perhaps the flight was for chickens. Our flight was at 6.30am, since there were no buses to the airport that suited our time, we went the night before. Even so all the good places to rest and to lay our heads were already taken, we walked up and down the airport in our never ending search for something remotely comfortable, unfortunately there was none.
The next best thing was the floor. It was cold, hard and cold. Nevertheless we made do with what we had, the floor as beds and our backpacks for pillows. We tugged in and soon fell asleep. It was the worst of sleeps, there was people moving around and in particular an European student group which weren't very discreet, seriously no decency at all! There was also the floor polish vehicle. He was at his duty at 3am. It is a good thing he was very skilled at manoeuvring his cleaning vehicle gingerly around us. Imagine having to wake up to find your face is as shinny as the floor. "I see my face in the floor and in my face that is in the floor I see the floor." Well perhaps some girls might like that idea, think about not having anymore facials for the rest of your life.
There is so much of waiting to do. Silly airline. Anyways were on the plane and on our flight to trevisio Italy which was an hours bus to Venice. It only cost us 15pounds that flight, I guess you pay up the rest in waiting time and in 'unpleasantness'.
We flew over the Swiss alps which was a sight to behold. I was too lazy to get the camera from my bag, since there was this guy next to me which smell like junk and that I wasn't exactly at the window seat. I honestly did regret not making an effort.
Well enough of talk and lets get to venice italy. It was hot, perhaps hotter than Malaysia and not so romantic as one would expect. Pictures vaguely tell the actual story and documentaries describe it a little too well. I am a pessimist so my story wouldnt be as good as a how sanguine would tell it. It was still however though nice. With practically unlimited storage space. I shall tell my story in picture.
My house mate, Kok Wei charting the places to visit
We did buy a one day pass for the water taxi, but with my superb sence of direction and arm with a map. We decided to walk and in so doing took this photos.
Our destination was a bridge, Ponte di Rialto. On our way there we did get a little lost, we ended up at a dead end. No so good was the map. :p We had hoped on the water bus that took us direct to the famous bridge.
Ponte di Rialto
Shops upon the bridge
Lunch
Pizza roll for lunch. If my memory serves me right, it was ham, mushrooms, tomato and cheese for its fillings.
Birds eye view from the bell tower
Murano Island, a glass making island. The glass has been a famous products of the venetian island of murano for centuries.
Spectacular buildings
Check out that door!
Backyards of Venetian homes, it was the stumble upon the unglamorous side of Venice.
Other miscellaneous pictures
That is all folks, I wish I could say more but time is not on my side. Pictures will have to do
Unlike any other,
Thern
Piazza San Marco (St. Marco's Square)
San Marco's Basilica( St. Mark's church)
Bell Tower
Birds eye view from the bell tower
Murano Island, a glass making island. The glass has been a famous products of the venetian island of murano for centuries.
Spectacular buildings
Check out that door!
Backyards of Venetian homes, it was the stumble upon the unglamorous side of Venice.
Other miscellaneous pictures
That is all folks, I wish I could say more but time is not on my side. Pictures will have to do
Unlike any other,
Thern
Monday, 16 November 2009
Dusk
The days are ever coming shorter. By half four its already dark. Church is at 5pm and my walk there takes me through kesington gardens. It takes a good 40mins to reach church, but I do love the walk in the park. I always try and bring my camera along wherever I go, especially just for this moments. :)
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Tag Cloud
The tag cloud I use for my labels is found at http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2008/08/blogumus-flash-animated-label-cloud-for.html
You basically have to edit the html code in your layout for it to work unlike the usual case of widgets. The instructions in that blog is comprehensive enough so it should work. :)
You basically have to edit the html code in your layout for it to work unlike the usual case of widgets. The instructions in that blog is comprehensive enough so it should work. :)
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Autumn
The subtle chill, the shorter days of darkness creeping swiftly, the death of life, the bareness that awakens, the phase of redness that sweeps across the horizon, the flood of brown which sits gingerly just above the ground and the sound crunching leaves beneath your feet. The of the becoming of a new season with the ending of one. A transitional stage and the birth of nothing really. Autumn...
Shots from Kesington Gardens
Shots from Kesington Gardens
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
The beach and summer's days out.
A six hour ride, a whole lot of strangers, a gathering of people with one God, a place of perspective and an awesome experience. A Summer Camp!! - click on pictures to enlarge.
Camp was held at fallmouth, its almost at the tip south west UK. It is a small town by the English Channel facing the shipping lanes which did ruin the almost perfect backdrop. Summer by far has been the best season to my reckoning, simply because its neither warm neither it is too cold. It is just nice but with the exception of the silly heat waves.
It all started with everyone meeting at Park Lane. It did take a while to sort everyone out since mobilising 400people into 8 buses is not an easy task. It took six grueling hours to get there. The bus ride wasn't all that bad, with then meadows and English country side passing on the left and right, what is there to complain. It it did feel strange however, sitting with a company of people who you are totally strangers with. But I reckon, most people felt that way too. So, its time to make new friends. The thing is I am not very good at it. I guess its just a character flaw but that didn't stop me from trying. Perhaps I'll get to meet some nice English ladies. Hehe . BUT the thing with Hillsong and London in gerneral is that there are not many british people. Most people I met came from somewhere else; South africa, New zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia. Anywhere really but except from Britain.
Once there it was straight to tribal wars. The four hundred of us was split into 4 teams. The conventional Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. The first challenge was to have 4 swimmers, one for each team to swim to a buoy roughly 80metres out from the beach. Mind you even though it was a good 20odd degrees celcius, the water temperature was very much colder. Out of the 4 swimmers who went out. Only 2 made it to the buoy. The other 2 were stuck half way. They were floating for dear life. Quickly the games master said to the teams to sent another 2 people on a kayak to rescue them.
Everything was happening at a frantic pace it was almost chaos. There was no leader to sort us out or to select who should represent the teams. So people just ran out, grab the kayaks and started paddling. In such frenzy and in the confusion some kayaks went out with only one person on board and without a paddle. However though despite not having a paddle, this guy with his surfer style lying on the board and using his hands to paddle was faster than those who had paddles. I must say he was from my team, the blue team. We were on top of the challenges.
Next up, was the raft building. The conditions were, you only had 5 minutes to build the raft and you had to get as many people as possible on it and go out to that buoy. Crazy uh. A raft in 5 minutes!! Well like it or not, you just have to do it. These was the material given; some platic barrels, pieces of wood and some string.
Well, whatever raft that was build was nolonger a raft once it went out ashore. This is what it look like soon after. Pieces of everything everywhere.
So that was it with the water fun for that day. Next up was the head to head challenges. First up was wrestling. Guys and girls included. The idea is you had to remove your opponents sock and not get yours remove. Just imagine the tussle. Whoever did it first wins. However though since I was on the outside of the crowd, I couldnt get much of a view. All I heard after was it was madness.
What I could see though was this;
This was the next challenge. An egg was broken and places in the middle of a plastic tube - something like your hose at home only shorter. Then at each end at the count of 3 you would have to blow the egg to you opponents mouth. I only can feel my lunch coming out at this time. Raw egg, the other persons saliver and not to say if the other person had bad breath or germs for that matter. Yuck!!
That pretty much concludes the day at the beach. At night we had dinner and revival session with Judah Smith. It was a good session and a good encounter. It was a good change to just be a regular participant. :)
Next day at the beach.
This day at the beach was more civilise. No ridiculous games or brainless fun. This time they had an obstacle course set up all along the beach. There was no more coloured teams and we had to find out our own members. Somehow naturally, the Asians being the minority I suppose gravitated to one another. Out of all the obstacles we had choose to build the raft. This time we had more time, proper materials and the brains too. HAHA. So this is the raft and the group who had built it.
I have to say, we did sabotage other teams. I think we had more rope then we were originally given. :) I guess it is just being opportunistic or just being Chinese. Anyway our turn came and had to get out into the water to that same buoy. Remarkably we got 12 people on board there and back. Here is a short clip of it.
The 3rd day - a tour around fallmouth town.
This day I decided to go into town instead. It was a small town which revolved around the port. There is nothing much to say really about the town besides it being picturesque. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Low tide
A collage of the town centre
Sail boats
4th day - Baptism
At camp a good number received Christ and received the gift of speaking in tongues. Those who wanted to be baptism were baptism by submersion with friends alike by friends in the cold waters of fallmouth beach. It was raining and the wind was blowing hard - it had spoilt my umbrella but this didn't stop them from getting into the water. Kudos you all and welcome to the family.
Baptism
Camp was held at fallmouth, its almost at the tip south west UK. It is a small town by the English Channel facing the shipping lanes which did ruin the almost perfect backdrop. Summer by far has been the best season to my reckoning, simply because its neither warm neither it is too cold. It is just nice but with the exception of the silly heat waves.It all started with everyone meeting at Park Lane. It did take a while to sort everyone out since mobilising 400people into 8 buses is not an easy task. It took six grueling hours to get there. The bus ride wasn't all that bad, with then meadows and English country side passing on the left and right, what is there to complain. It it did feel strange however, sitting with a company of people who you are totally strangers with. But I reckon, most people felt that way too. So, its time to make new friends. The thing is I am not very good at it. I guess its just a character flaw but that didn't stop me from trying. Perhaps I'll get to meet some nice English ladies. Hehe . BUT the thing with Hillsong and London in gerneral is that there are not many british people. Most people I met came from somewhere else; South africa, New zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia. Anywhere really but except from Britain.
Once there it was straight to tribal wars. The four hundred of us was split into 4 teams. The conventional Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. The first challenge was to have 4 swimmers, one for each team to swim to a buoy roughly 80metres out from the beach. Mind you even though it was a good 20odd degrees celcius, the water temperature was very much colder. Out of the 4 swimmers who went out. Only 2 made it to the buoy. The other 2 were stuck half way. They were floating for dear life. Quickly the games master said to the teams to sent another 2 people on a kayak to rescue them.
Everything was happening at a frantic pace it was almost chaos. There was no leader to sort us out or to select who should represent the teams. So people just ran out, grab the kayaks and started paddling. In such frenzy and in the confusion some kayaks went out with only one person on board and without a paddle. However though despite not having a paddle, this guy with his surfer style lying on the board and using his hands to paddle was faster than those who had paddles. I must say he was from my team, the blue team. We were on top of the challenges.Next up, was the raft building. The conditions were, you only had 5 minutes to build the raft and you had to get as many people as possible on it and go out to that buoy. Crazy uh. A raft in 5 minutes!! Well like it or not, you just have to do it. These was the material given; some platic barrels, pieces of wood and some string.
Well, whatever raft that was build was nolonger a raft once it went out ashore. This is what it look like soon after. Pieces of everything everywhere.
So that was it with the water fun for that day. Next up was the head to head challenges. First up was wrestling. Guys and girls included. The idea is you had to remove your opponents sock and not get yours remove. Just imagine the tussle. Whoever did it first wins. However though since I was on the outside of the crowd, I couldnt get much of a view. All I heard after was it was madness.What I could see though was this;
This was the next challenge. An egg was broken and places in the middle of a plastic tube - something like your hose at home only shorter. Then at each end at the count of 3 you would have to blow the egg to you opponents mouth. I only can feel my lunch coming out at this time. Raw egg, the other persons saliver and not to say if the other person had bad breath or germs for that matter. Yuck!!That pretty much concludes the day at the beach. At night we had dinner and revival session with Judah Smith. It was a good session and a good encounter. It was a good change to just be a regular participant. :)
Next day at the beach.
This day at the beach was more civilise. No ridiculous games or brainless fun. This time they had an obstacle course set up all along the beach. There was no more coloured teams and we had to find out our own members. Somehow naturally, the Asians being the minority I suppose gravitated to one another. Out of all the obstacles we had choose to build the raft. This time we had more time, proper materials and the brains too. HAHA. So this is the raft and the group who had built it.
I have to say, we did sabotage other teams. I think we had more rope then we were originally given. :) I guess it is just being opportunistic or just being Chinese. Anyway our turn came and had to get out into the water to that same buoy. Remarkably we got 12 people on board there and back. Here is a short clip of it.After drying up, I'd took a walk along around the place, this is what I'd found. Wild berries. Perfectly eatable only it was very sour. >.<
The 3rd day - a tour around fallmouth town.
This day I decided to go into town instead. It was a small town which revolved around the port. There is nothing much to say really about the town besides it being picturesque. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Low tide
A collage of the town centre
Sail boats
At camp a good number received Christ and received the gift of speaking in tongues. Those who wanted to be baptism were baptism by submersion with friends alike by friends in the cold waters of fallmouth beach. It was raining and the wind was blowing hard - it had spoilt my umbrella but this didn't stop them from getting into the water. Kudos you all and welcome to the family.
BaptismLike all good things, it must come to the end. It was definitely a different experience. One that is worth cherishing and would perhaps be the last of my camps as a student.
Unlike Any Other,
Thern
Unlike Any Other,
Thern
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