=)

Went to see TSO play tonight, Brahms Piano Concerto No.2 and Symphony No.4. Absolutely beautiful! So glad to have friends to enjoy it with.

The Presence of God

Sunday past, I was driving on my way to church, and the sun was shining brightly before me. Suddenly, the realization hit me how the sun's light was absolutely enveloping everything around me - and it was as if God was showing me a glimpse of His glory. And then, to imagine how amazing it would be when we stand before His throne and worship at His feet - that was a such a moment of worship.

I used to think, what fun would it be in heaven if all we do is worshipping Him? But I've come to realize that God's presence is the only thing that can satisfy. And on the day when we are fully before His presence, in the all-consuming light of His glory, we will be all the more fully and completely satisfied.

Amen.

Blah

I've been feeling so unmotivated last couple of months. This sucks.

Disobedience

It seems missions has been a central theme recently, with friends having come back from missions trips, friends going on missions, and countless sermons on putting your faith into action. I know it's no concidence, I know God is talking to me, but I've been trying to run away. I'm afraid that if I let God, my life will take a turn I've never imagined. And right now I'm too happy being comfortable where I am. Shame on me.

Thanks

... to those who have been child sponsors through World Vision, for you have inspired me. I will become one soon as I have signed up myself. I've been a skeptic, but was convinced at the praise and prayer nite tonite led by Jon Bauer, when he showed us pictures he received through his mail, and pictures of the actual child when he visited her! So I'm excited! I hope I will make a difference however small.

Adorable!

"Four white lions were born in a zoo in western France at the weekend, providing a welcome boost for the species whose population is teetering at about 30 worldwide, a zoo official said Wednesday."

My first 3D creation! If only I can actually build one...

12 More Days to Becoming a Bramptonite

The big move is drawing near. Yay for bigger house, bigger room, and my own washroom! Nay for mud and dust everywhere for months to come... ugh. Hope they put the grass in real soon.

Thankful

So I will try to recount my eventful Sunday nite at blue mountain. I was there for nite skiing with Cliff, Len, Chris, Dan, and a few others. During the 5th or 6th run, I was falling and my ski pole got caught in the snow, and the handle went right into my eye, or you could say I fell right onto the handle. Even telling this, it sounds pretty dumb, but everything happened in a flash, and I had no control at all. Anyway, the right lens on my glasses shattered into several pieces and came out of the frame, and is what probably gave me the cuts around my eye. But the nurses say the glasses may have taken the brunt of the force and saved my eyeball from damage.

After the hit, I sat down with my hand over my eye, not knowing how bad it was. It was when I removed my hand and saw it was full of blood, and blood was dripping from my face, I thought "what'd I do to myself?!" I was prepared for the worst, but I remembered the first thing I did was praise the Lord, ackowledging that all I have is from Him. Cliff's friend Len who was skiing behind me quickly stopped and made sure ski patrol was notified, and also made sure the other skiiers wouldn't run into us.

Ski patrol had a little mix-up, but they eventually arrived and put me on that little toboggan to get me to the bottom of the hill, where an ambulance was waiting. This was my first ever ambulance ride... always wondered as a kid what it was like :) They took very good care of me at Collingwood hospital, except for doing my x-rays where there was another mix-up and we had to wait an extra hour or two. Otherwise, I was impressed with the friendly service. Well the good news is that my eye is ok. I got 12-15 stitches and will end up with scars, but I'm really counting my blessings.

So I'll be home this week just to get a little more rest in. Can't go to work because I can't look at a computer screen for long periods of time, as the swelling puts pressure on my eye. Don't think I can drive yet either. Thanks to everyone for your get well wishes and prayers. Even my work sent me a goodies basket, which I thought was really nice. Special mention goes to Cliff and his friend Len, who stayed with me during the whole thing and didn't once show their impatience. Don't know if I could've done the same.

Just a little bit of rice... hehe.

Yes, finally, finally may be skiing tomorrow.

So pretty...

I had my first exposure to 24 on the weekend. I think I'll keep watching!

Drool

source: www.autoblog.com

I must have this... this is da sex! This better be at the Autoshow!

Please don't dismiss it and say "oh it's got 4 wheels... it's just a car", cuz that drives me up the wall. Car design is an art form, like architecture or even paintings. There's a lot of ugliness out there, but there are some real beauties. Seeing this really wet my appetite again for my dream of becoming a car designer. That was my dream ever since I was a kid, and I have stashes of hand sketches and doodles of my own designs to prove it. I must say looking back through them, alot of them aren't that pretty! Nevertheless, perhaps it's time for a career change... haha

Watch and Learn

This is what happens when you tow a car by the bumper

"I Learned to Play Piano With My Balls"

This guy right here... is my new hero... hehe

Saw my doctor today for a couple a things. I also asked him about this funny bone on my foot that I just started to notice like a month ago. I'm not sure if it was always there and just started to grow bigger. He told me it's an "accessory" bone and referred me to the x-ray clinic. Hmmm... at least I don't have a tailbone.

Casino Royale

Saw it Sunday with M & A. I liked the action... just 3 particulars:

1. Daniel Craig just isn't the Bond type
2. Since when does Bond want to settle down to a married life?
3. Where's all the cool cars? The Aston Martin was in all of 2 scenes?!

Loot from this Weekend

I picked up most of what I needed this weekend at Sq.1, and put quite a dent in my imaginary funds (aka credit card). Yeah, I was there Saturday & Sunday. Turns out it wasn't so difficult afterall... just had to actually put my mind to it and go and look.

Now, I'm overbroke and there's still Christmas shopping...

Snapshots from Montreal

(Above: Montreal skyline, restaurants adjacent to Jacques-Cartier square, Notre Dame cathedral)

Last weekend, I made a little roadtrip to Ottawa and Montreal. I don't think I'll be trying that again, or at least not with such a short time frame. At first I thought Ottawa and Montreal are close enough together, why not do both, right? Afterall, it saves me 2 trips. I hung out at Kel's place in Ottawa a little bit Friday nite and Sunday afternoon, but in the end, I spent most of my time in Montreal. Sorry Kel, next time, i'll make a trip just for you.

Montreal was alot of fun. Thanks N for showing me around. On the one hand, there were the bustling shopping malls that define any major urban center, and on the other hand, there was old montreal which, at this time of year, has an ironically small town charm to it. I wish my French was better, well, alot better... I envy people speaking the language, it has that sophisticated air to it. We had Schwartz's smoked meat, and man, there's nothing else like it in the world. Had to wait in line for like 15min., but it was well worth it, and we laughed at the tour bus that stopped and left because they couldn't afford to wait. Took a short walk in Chinatown because it was so tiny compared to Toronto's! Literally, it was all of a 2-block stretch on a single street! The food there was actually respectable.











In the evening, went to see N at her PT fashion show. It was very entertaining, they had a movie theme for the nite, so all the acts were somehow related to a movie. For example, there was a James bond one where there were 4 different Bonds dressed in tuxes posing with guns and fighting each other. Then the ladies came and reigned them in, and the act ended with the pairs dancing.

Next morning, attended church at Montreal Chinese Alliance. Very pretty, it was entirely stained-glass windows because it used to be a Catholic church. Then headed back to Ottawa, drove by the parliament buildings, museums, and downtown, and headed back to Kel's place for a bit, before C and I left for the long ride home. Which wasn't bad... Ottawa to Mississauga in 4 hours?

Next trip to the region: skating on the Rideau, and skiing at Tremblant. As long as I'm Canadian, a skate on the Rideau is one of my goals.

I have a new respect for my car now. I wasn't sure it would make the 1400km there and back, but it did. The car burns quite a bit of engine oil, but as I found out, it's much better with highway driving... didn't have to use any of the extra oil that I brought.

So... I still need new everything... shoes, pants, shirts, casual dress. Add to that a jacket too. It's so freakin' hard finding things my size, that i like :(

Stories from the ER

My friend in med-school from Vancouver visited in Toronto for 2 weeks. She told us some funny things she saw in the ER. One guy had an entire carrot stuck up his anus, which of course he couldn't get out. Another guy was in a similar situation, but instead it was a vibrator with the entire battery pack as well. Never even knew that was possible! Yeah, pretty wierd.

Had hot-pot at Shabu Shabu (Pac Mall) last night with my family for my mom's b-day. It was good, but it was the second time I was there this month, and it was one of those things where the sebsequent times will never be as good as the first one.

I need new everything... shoes, pants, shirts, casual dress. There are 2 things that prevent me from getting these:

1 - shopping malls make me feel sick (possibly the bright lighting, poor ventilation?)
2 - time?

Got a haircut at 8:45pm at Sheridan Mall yesterday (that place is so dead, by the way). Don't ask me why I went there. Anyway, the barber even told me, "I was going to go home early, but then this guy before you walked in... and then you walked in!"

Yay! Today the hole in my driveway was fixed! Well, the broken pipe, which is the most important part. This is the hole they dug to get to it (it's about 10 ft deep!) They fixed the pipe and backfilled it, but still have to come and repave the driveway. Finally, a step in the right direction. The weeks of persistence, and pestering the people responsible with emails and phone calls, finally paid off! To make a long story short, they were trying their best not to do anything about it. Thanks for all your advice and support, and thank God for answering my prayers.

I showed my co-worker pics of our 80's trash party, and he said "invite me to the next one" :)

Had a 5-hour nap after dinner and now i'm wide awake :( Just finished cleaning the fish tank.

Dilemma

The upcoming TSO concert is one I don't want to miss, featuring Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. I love romantic-period piano concertos! The dilemma - I may be heading to Ottawa/Montreal that weekend. Unless I can somehow skip band practise or choir practise... then I could go to the concert on a weeknite.