xmas gifts part 2
Friday, December 31, 2004
from Boon
6. Cute Japanese pencils from Kinokuniya. Oops.. sorry, I forgot!
xmas gifts.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
from mom
1. Pink chicken stuffed toy. I named him Ah Pey
(pronounced as ah bei) because he's a Chinese chicken. And that's the first name that came to my head.
2. Stretchable red with white ears pig stuffed toy. I named her Peeks. She has a cousin brother (a bigger version in white with red ears) called Benny from Boon.
Technically these presents were for my nephew and niece. But because of their 'destructive' nature, mom thought it best to give it to me instead.
to mom
Erm, I didn't give anything to my mom cause I dunno what to give to her.
from Boon
1. 9 stalks of white daisies.
2. Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.
3. Cuddly grey elephant with pink paws stuffed toy from Ty. I named her Wiggles because you can wiggle her tail.
4. Wooden photo frame from Ikea with a hand drawn picture of a little girl, little boy and little cat. This will have to do till we have a nice photo to put in.
5. Stickers - some furry cows with crazy eyes stickers and some handmade stickers.
to Boon
1. A wallet and belt.
from gift exchange during xmas lunch with friends.
A toothpick holder. Erm, useful.
my gift exchange during xmas lunch with friends.
A rednose reindeer cushion. I named her Momokie, and Alden was the lucky recipient.
to friends
Home made cards and mini CDs.
Stories I'd never forget
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
I first got to know about C&CF when I was in lower secondary form. Yes, a bit slow but better slow than never. (: A friend was reading and talking about the book. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the mouth watering candies she was talking about. I knew I just got to get that book. And that was how I stepped into the world of Roald Dahl. So far I've read quite a bit of his works and I enjoyed it all. Simple story telling sans big words yet effective. I'm currently reading
Boy and
Going Solo (single volume), an autobiographical sort of book about the author himself.
Hounds of the Mórrígan by Pat O'Shea
This book was first published back in the late 80s. I still have a copy of the book and the cover is held together with sticky tape. It's a story about good vs. evil based on Celtic folklore. The writer has such vast imagination vividly depicted in words alone. I've read it about five times since 10 years ago. A must have for those who like fantasy-like stories. Here's a short excerpt of the book ...
Pidge and Brigit's journey begins in Ireland...their destination is unknown. All true creatures help where they can, but ultimately, it is up to steadfast Pidge and courageous Brigit to find their own way.
When ten-year-old Pidge finds an ancient manuscript in a secondhand bookshop, he unwittingly sets into motion an epic battle between Good and Evil. In order to save the world from the Mórrígan, the Goddess of Death and Destruction, Pidge and his little sister, Brigit, go on a quest to find a stone that has been lost for countless years. And always at their heels are the terrible hellhounds – the hounds of the Mórrígan.
It's odd that a good book like this are no longer in bookstores. Fortunately
Amazon.com still has it. This book was rated 4 1/2 stars out of 5 in Amazon! If someone ever makes a movie out of it, I bet it'll be as great as the LotR saga.
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Before the movie LotR was released, I had no idea who J.R.R. Tolkien was. A good friend from the US introduced the book to me and insisted that I should read the book before watching the movie. He's right, the book is so much better than the movie version. The Hobbit and LotR are such classic stories. Odd that we didn't get to read these works in secondary school for literature. School would have been a much nicer experience then. I've yet to complete reading LotR though – for the fact that I lost the book my friend sent to me and there's just never enough time to sit down to have a good read. I cheated by reading the ending though when I was halfway through the book. The temptation was just too great. Next on my reading list will be Silmarillion which I'm told is a
must have since it complements LotR.
The Witch, the Lion and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
This is the first book I read in the Narnia Chronicles. Odd, but I can't seem to recollect anything about it. But it's just one of those stories that got stuck in my head, urging me to read it again. I'll borrow the complete
Chronicles from Boon and read it soon, really. (:
The Land of Far and Beyond by Enid Blyton
Ah.. one of my favourite books! A story similar to John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress, another classic story. Though I find Pilgrim a bit too difficult to understand, Beyond is otherwise. I remember borrowing this book from my primary school library. Back then, I wanted to read every book written by Blyton, my favourite author. And what a good thing that I found this book! Here's a short review on the book I got from Amazon.com...
The story opens up in the City of Turmoil, where a group of children decide to cause mischief that day. Some time later, they see a stranger. They are fascinated by him, for they have never met someone so beautiful kind. The Wanderer is horrified and disgusted by the evil in the city. He shows five of the children and five other adults, the 'burdens' of dishonesty, deceit and many other things that they carry. Suddenly they have heavy sacks on their backs that they can't remove. They have to journey to the City of Happiness in The Land of Far-Beyond to get rid of them. So begins the journey of ten people, who must face difficulties and challenges to get to their destination. They meet people like Mr. Doubt and Laziness who try to discourage them or tempt them. They also meet people like Content and Daring who help them along and get them out of trouble. They learnt a lot along the way and meet evil dwarves, angels, a cruel giant etc. Finally the remaining few who completed the journey had their burdens removed by the Prince of Peace, 'who carries the burdens of the whole world'. It is Jesus, and the land they are in, is Heaven.
This was my earliest encounter with Jesus. I remember I was eager to meet him too. Though I had no idea how. Well, now I do. (: And this story has stuck with me till today. This is also one of those books that you can't find in bookstores anymore.
It's amazing what books can do to you. You are what you read. Books shape our beliefs and character.
My 2005 new year's resolution... To start writing beautiful stories for children in the hopes that it'll inspire them in the way it did to me.
Lucky or Blessed?
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Lucky means Occurring by chance; fortuitous.
Blessed means To be conferred well-being or prosperity on.
So, are we
lucky to have a loving family or,
are we
blessedto have a loving family?
I doubt anything ever happens by chance. If luck governs our lives, then everything will either be a hit or miss. Uhm, that doesn't sound too good. Luck is perhaps something people invent when they cannot explain the good things that happen to them. Oh well, but I know better. (: Someone i.e. God blesses mankind with goodness. And God and luck doesn't coexist.
That's what Christmas is all about. God gave us his son Jesus so that we may live through him. What a blessing!
Have a blessed Christmas everyone.
As for me, I'll be spending time with friends and family. And of course, for the first time in my life, share Christmas with someone special – Boon. Nothing big, just sharing quality time together. Mm, bet it'll be fun. (:
Parroting lessons
Monday, December 13, 2004
All my years of memorising useless history facts and the 65 moral values during high school has finally proven useful. The training I had will enable me to memorise
all of Jay Chou's lyrics even though I hardly understand mandarin. Good eh? Hear me parrot-sync to his songs during his upcoming concert in January 2005.
heh heh
Oh btw...
Saturday, December 04, 2004
All cute nicknames mentioned here e.g. booboon refers to my mushylicious sweetheart.
*hee hee*
God, give us 'drive' but keep us from being 'driven'
There's a difference between 'drive' and 'driven' --
The one is selfish, the other God-given--
For the 'driven man' has but one goal,
Just worldly wealth and not 'riches of soul',
And daily he's spurred on to reach and attain
A higher position, more profit and gain,
Ambition and wealth become his great need
As daily he's 'driven' by avarice and greed...
But most blessed are they who use their 'drive'
To work with zeal so all men may survive,
For while they forfeit great personal gain
Their work and their zeal are never in vain...
For they contribute to the whole human race
And we cannot survive without growing in grace,
So help us, dear God, to choose between
The 'driving force' that rules our routine
So we may make our purpose and goal
Not power and wealth but the growth of our soul...
And give us strength and drive and desire
To raise our standards and ethics higher
So all of Us and not just a few
May live on earth...as You want us to.
By Helen Steiner Rice,
Excepted from "And the Greatest of These is Love"
Fish & Chip
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Yesterday, me and booboon adopted two polar bears. We named them, Fish and Chip. Coincidentally, both of their parents abandoned them a few days ago. Since all kid PBs in the Land of Eskimonia have parents, we didn't want Fish and Chip to feel left out.
It was late at night when we brought them home. Booboon was pretty excited over the whole thing and volunteered to prepare the milk. Inexperienced, he dropped the milk bottle twice and spilled milk all over the floor. Hmm, no worries, he'll be an expert baby sitter in time to come. *hee hee* The pups were hungry and each drank 2 bottles of warm milk. They fell fast asleep right after that.
Fish is a girl-bear and she's slightly built compared to Chip who's a he-bear. Fish has a slightly longer nose and big round eyes. Chip has a pert nose and squinty eyes. Fish appears to be more self-composed and Chip has that playful look in his eyes.
Sigh, they're both so comel. *hee hee*
Ooh!! They're both awake. Booboon... time to feed and bathe them.
