Reminiscence of a distant past...

Walking in the shopping centre, looking at children, their parents by their sides...
Reminds me of a time when I would rush mummy and daddy out of fear that we'll get locked in... (I wonder if they even have a name for such a fear? Oh well...)

Searching through websites, I found out that the Boys' Brigade in Canada was famous till the mid 1980s...
Reminds me of days where I would move in precise coordination, stand with undetered attention and walk in unmatched unison with a whole crowd of brothers and sisters... And never think I would ever miss BB as much as I do now...
And a handshake from a fellow Boy brought back deep pride from inside of me... I always will be proud to have been a Boy, spelt with a capital B...

Queueing up in line at the Bullring, staring at the menu and finally picking "curry"...
I realized how much, how far I have traversed, literally to the other end of the world... And yet, as Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz" says, and rightly so as she claps her slippers together, "There's no place like home... There's no place like home..."

Playing volleyball in the pouring rain...
Reminds me of a time when I never excelled and in fact was below par in any sport known to mankind... And a time when team Bismarck became the turning point of sports in my life... I remember squash, I remember class football games... I remember the goal posts... I remember managerial duties, and I remember, most of all... High School...

Hearing voices of family members over Skype...
I hear also the little quarrels and squabbles of Amanda and Koko, the noises that make home what it always is etched in my memory as... I hear the voice of Nothing... I hear the complains that Amanda always seem to have against Koko... And I hear the reason Amanda gets upset... I still think most of the time Koko actually asks for it too xD Indeed, it's as they say... Home... It's where the heart is =)

Learning about the Raya break in Malaysia...
I remember times when I would make a large hue and cry over having to write "ponteng letters" for Girlie, but without fail would draft the letter and make sure it was put onto our dining table before breakfast... And I remember Daddy trusting and signing it, whatever I wrote... I always joked that some day i'll write a letter saying that "Saya hanya tulis surat ini oleh kerana saya tau cikgu takde bace punyeeeee" in my worst possible Malay xD Or something to that effect anyway =)

Walking out for "makan" with my ang mo friends...
I remember the nights where Terence, Rui Heng, yes even Jun Zhang would walk out in search of food all around Casa... And I remember when Naiz and Yas eventually took over when RH and JZ became... Ummm... Occupied xD... I remember 79 cents... I remember late night jokes and trading stories with RH... I remember Terence stealing my faster internet line xD... I remember... "MU coach good ah?" (Well technically not...) xD... And I remember loving every moment of all these memories...

Lectures...
I remember days where senyuman serta tawaan yang tidak henti-henti terkeluar daripada sekalian liang rongga rakan-rakan sekelas melihat gelagat guru kelas Matematik kami yang tersayang =) I remember the fun times and all the jokes shared... Mostly with Iylia and Deedee... And I remember guru kami asyik mengenakan mereka... Akan tetapi tidak saya... Mengapakah demikian? Mungkin... Tidak akan saya tahu... Oh well... =P

And as I walk day-to-day...
I remember the One who's brought me so far, the One who has led me all the way here... And the One who has loved me right from day one, and has shown His favour upon me... Nowhere, nowhere I would be without Him... I'm sure of that...

And so as I think back on all these times...

If I had to it all over again...


I would =)




MAL
:-P

Agak Chaotic? Ntah la xD

Hmmmm...

"The more things change, the more they remain the same"... Koko once (okay more than once) told me that... Well, what can I say? It stuck =) (And I realize I would get a zero in this assignment for not quoting using the correct format, MLA or APA xD)

Guelph is beautiful =)

As i've asked many of my ang mo friends so far, "is all of Canada as beautiful as Guelph?" I guess "sometimes" so says Julia "I have to wake up and just remind myself that i'm in Canada!!!" *hands in the sky* (again i'll get zero xD)

Maple trees can be barely 100 metres from each other yet one can start to turn red and wilt already while another is still as green as the first day I stepped foot onto this University... I wonder... What causes this natural phenomena? God is great =)

It's amazing... "We haven't seen each other for over 4 months yet we still miss and want to see each other so much...", so says Yasmin (once more, another quote) Clearly we've formed more than just a simple friendship, Yas, Naiz, Terence, myself... Still missing a couple of lunch kaki though... *shoutout to Sasi, Ammy, and occasional guests Iyliaaaaaaaa and Keng xD*

Again it's interesting how it's warmer when it rains than when it does not... Unheard of in Malaysia... Daddy explains on how the clouds cause affect the wind and the temperature...

And the Ontario Science Centre is pretty cool... I'll go there again sometime =)

*ONTARIO SCIENCE CENTRE IS GIVING FREE ENTRY TO PUBLIC THIS WEEKEND, SATURDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 2009!!!* =O Yup, true true!!! Take advantage, Toronto-ians...

Man... That was chaotic and did not really have a progression... Ah well, that's life xD

MAL

:-P

P/S: Honestly though... Go check out Ontario Science Centre this Saturday... Free doh!!! =O

One-sided? Unconditional? Love =)

Yesterday and today as I walked the streets of Toronto, a thought and realization suddenly struck me...

I know it probably isn't as great a realization that would shock nations, and probably some might say it's been heard far too often...

But...

I realized again Father...

I thought, and was again shocked at Your love...

I realized that Your love is so great that You would show Your love to us, even before we even bothered to know You...

But the thing that hit me most is this fact...

You love us, knowing that this would probably never be returned...

You would give up everything for us, and most of the time we would not even notice, and if we did, we would not even care...

You would spend hours showing us the extent of Your love, how much You treasure us...

But we would not even spare the few minutes to read Your word and pray...

You would send Your Holy Spirit and friends to comfort us for hours, even days when we're down...

But we would not even spare a word or two when we succeed to thank You...

But Father, I think I get what it means to You... Probably not, but i'll try anyway...

To love those around me, and to those whom I love, unconditionally...

Unconditional acceptance, wether or not that love and acceptance would be returned...

To smile when those I love smile...

To be happy when those I love are happy...

To be sad when those I love are sad...

And to be glad when the ones I love are glad...

Wether or not love is returned is immaterial, ay Father?

Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. – Proverbs 10:12

I guess the thing I wanna say is thank You for Your love...

And teach me how to love the way You do =)

MAL

:-P

My Choice, Once Again

Hey guys!!! Sorry for not updating my blog in awhile!!! Gomenasai...

So anyway!!! Here goes!!! I'm in Canada!!! Woohoo!!! xD

And for those wondering, i'm doing great!!! Met a group of new close buddies... Met new pals, new family, new home...

And yet... As koko once said "the more things change, the more they remain the same" (dunno where he got THAT from xD)... I've come from a Batu Pahat to... A town where education is one of the main industries (check), A country in which the people have problems with the people in the country underneath it... (check X alot) xD... Sounds pretty much like home to me =)

Yeah, I guess I still miss mum, dad, koko and girlie (THANK GOD FOR SKYPE!!! WOOHOO!!! xD)

So yeah, i'm doing good =) God's been helping every step of the way... It's been super obvious =)

So yeah, back to the main post...

I realized one thing today...

It's like a feeling, a sense...

deja vu, people say?

more like some kind of a cycle, if you please...

When I first step foot into kindergarten, I was a nobody... All I had was the name of a son, and being the heir of dad, people would look and expect much of me...

All the rest was up to me...

When I first step foot into primary school, I was, again, a nobody... All I had was the name of a brother, and being as such, people looked, and expected more of me...

All the rest was up to me...

When I first step foot into secondary school, I was, once again, a nobody... All I had was the name of a brother, one before me, and being as such, people looked, and expected alot of me...

All the rest was up to me...

And then came Taylor's College... When I first got in, again, I was nobody... All I depended on was the fact that I was one of "the 6", and I depended on my scholarship, and people looked, and expected alot of me...

All the rest was up to me...

And now, i'm in University... And the only thing that I held on to... Once again was the fact that I was different... That I was a boy sent by his government halfway around the globe, from a country that had never seen snow to study here... And people looked, and once again, they expect...

And now...

I guess the rest is up to me...

Once again I am at crossroads...

Once again I choose whether to follow His word, or to be "just the guy over there"...

And once again I realize that the only reason i've ever gotten so far is because I made that right choice... And because He was there for me...

And so... Again...

I make that same choice...

Romans 12: 2 ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’

Today, I depend on You again Father... Help me to stand by You, and help me to follow You, not the world... I know that You have, and that You will continue to =)

MAL

:-P

Suddenly

I got a phone call this afternoon...

It was my sponsors...

Apparently, my flight is to be on the 3rd, the next day...

And suddenly...

Suddenly things started to move very quickly...

Suddenly Canada didn't seem as near on the map as it used to...

Suddenly "Tales of Legendia" didn't seem nearly as important as before...

Suddenly a dental checkup was imminent...

Suddenly a visit to the local barber "Uncle Robert" was in place...

Suddenly I didn't have enough stationery at home...

Suddenly I realized the love of an 80-year old grandmother who would rush down by bus to see me off...

Suddenly I realized I wouldn't be up to spend another weekend in KL...

Suddenly I realized the many friends which I would loved to have seen otherwise would probably not be seen...

Suddenly home once again turned into a variable location...

Suddenly I realized that I might be going to a place very much like where I came from...

Suddenly Pak Sitam's "Sup Kambing" was something I had to have...

Suddenly I had more stuff to bring than I ever had noticed...

Suddenly staying away from mummy, daddy, koko and girlie seemed like just another bad nightmare...

Suddenly mummy and daddy both feel very "sien"... (koko and Amanda do too...)

Suddenly leaving Malaysia for such a long time seems almost... Possible...

Suddenly 23 kilos isn't such a great amount of luggage space after all...

Suddenly I have a bank book and withdrawing all the money to put somewhere else is logical...

Suddenly the bedsheet + comforter + pillow set offered by the Uni doesn't look too bad...

Suddenly whoever turns up to send me off doesn't really matter anymore...

Suddenly KL seems like just next door...

Suddenly Skype becomes a very close buddy to me and thus my name will more often than not be malchong.1stbp

Suddenly I realized that all this while God's been behind the whole picture, leading and guiding me through everything...

Suddenly writing letters for Amanda doesn't feel so boring...

Suddenly arguing with koko over who gets to use the toilet becomes fun...

Suddenly not getting to hug mummy and daddy seems like something I dread the most...

Suddenly not being able to drive seems upsetting...

Suddenly giving hugs and kisses to mummy and daddy seems like something i'm gonna miss the most...

Suddenly I wish more than anything that AirAsia goes to Canada...

Suddenly...

Things happen to sudden...

Mummy, Daddy, Koko, Girlie... I know i'm gonna miss you all sooooooooo much... But know that as long as there's Skype and MSN, there'll always be me whenever you need to see me... I'm starting to miss you all even before I leave...

Daddy, I know that i'm gonna miss most the times I talk to you, the times I need advice, and the times I need to have someone to model after... Know that one of the reasons I mix around so well is that I got it from you... Know that the sole reason I can drive properly now is that you willingly sat beside me each and every time I drove, patiently telling me of my wrongs and teaching me the finer points of driving... Know that i'm so glad that you don't scold me while i'm driving, but rather wait for the event to pass and then let me know, so as not to distract me from my driving... Know that in all things mechanical, electronical, plumbing or electrical, I am basically a noob... But having a pro as a father made me very much a pro to pretty much anyone else =) Thanks for listening to our music, learning our lingo, teaching more than anything that "love covers over a multitude of sin"... Thanks for understanding and backing me up anytime I needed it, thanks for supporting me in anything I do, and thank you Daddy, for being the most practical but yet loving father anyone could ever wish for... Thank you, Daddy... And I know i've probably said this many many times but... I love you Daddy...

Mummy, thank you... I know that should they have instead said that "Malcolm, penerbangan anda adalah... MALAM INI!", the first person I would call is you... And I know that even so I would not be worried because you would leave everything and rush home immediately, and we would get everything packed and ready anyway... Mummy, I know that the person to most clearly express her "sien-ness" would be you... Yet Mummy, remember that the same Hands which kept me safe and well 19 years of my life would be the same Hands which will guide me through the rest of my years... Thank you Mummy for knowing EXACTLY what is happening to each and every one of us, and thank you for knowing exactly what to do to remedy each and every situation... Thank you for asking us do whatever you ask us to do... I know it is for our own good... Thank you for demanding hugs and kisses from each and every one of us, and thank you for always reminding us that we're special, and that we're greater than we'll ever dare to believe... Thank you for sleepless nights working on our clothes, sewing up buttons, sewing up our pockets (yes, I still remember) or just praying for us... And... I know i've said this time and time again but... I love you Mummy...

Koko, thanks for being the brother I always know I have to stay... Thanks for being the one to complain to whenever we face a problem involving certain issues and thank you for always looking out and caring for me, although sometimes you pretend that you never do... Thank you for explaining technical stuff to me when it comes to studies, and thank you for sharing your life with me... (Thanks for teaching me DOTA xD) Thanks for being such a good roommate to me for about as long as I can remember and thanks for all those Greek sessions where everyone else would go blur while we talked to each other =) Don't know if i've ever said this much, ko, but... I love you Koko =)

Girlie, thanks for being the sister in the family... Thanks for taking control and being the deciding factor, the veto power in many of the hard decisions we make as a family xD Thank you for acting as if you don't care, but quietly help out and show in your actions that you mean otherwise... Thank you for being a joy and happiness to our family and thank you for lighting up the mood whenever you are happy... Thank you for insisting on doing certain stuff that you think is absolutely neccessary and thank you for standing up for what you think is right... Thanks also for being our fashion advisor and the "green" one at home... Don't think i've told you this much either but... I love you Girlie =)

And suddenly I realize that my post is super-long...

And suddenly I realize...

I'm gonna miss you all sooooooooo much...

And suddenly...

Things happen too sudden...

And suddenly, signing off for probably the last in a looooooooong time from Malaysia is...

MAL

:-P