24-01-06

Ripcurl slippers, from Feli.

A tiny bottle of sand from Squeaky Beach Australia and a card, from Enid.

Levi's jeans, from big sis.

50 bucks, from mom.

Smses from Ash, Shar, Vincent and Nat.

I'm well contented.

20 sounds old. It sounds as if I should be responsible for something. And I am. As a Christian I am responsible for the spreading of the Word, which I haven't been doing. As a son I am responsible for taking care of my parents, and treating them well. As a brother I am responsible for looking after my 2 sisters, protecting and pampering them. As a friend I am responsible for lending a shoulder, providing an ear, and making others feel loved and cherished. As a citizen I am responsible for protecting the country, preserving our sovereignty. As a person I am responsible for my moral behavior.

Seems like 20 is a good age to start becoming more responsible.

{/2:35 PM}

me

I want a holiday.

With friends.

I think the first thing I'll do after I ORD is not to go find a job, but go on a holiday.

Seriously need to get away from it all and just breathe.

{/2:22 PM}

me

I debated with myself for quite a while before deciding to write this post. I am going to write about my date with Feli.

At first I wanted to wait and see whether she would write about it or not, and how long it would be, before writing about it myself. Because I don't want to appear to be too "excited" about it, or make it seem as if I see the date as of higher "importance" than she did. Finally, I decided - heck it. I was excited about the date. It was important to me. So I am going to write about it, for as long as I like it to be.

Feli: You watched ElizabethTown already? (probably in response to my msn nick)
cK: No, but I intend to!
Feli: Me too!
cK: Great! Watch with me!
Feli: Haha.. is that like a request?
cK: No.. it's more like asking you out for a date..haha
Feli: HAHA
Feli: You want to date me must PAY leh... haha..

(The above conversation is not exact, as my office msn does not keep message history)

Anyway, she paid me back in the end =)

To me, a friendship with somebody, boy or girl, is incomplete if you've never went out with him or her. Alone, one-on-one date, I mean. Because it's different when going out with a larger group of friends. It's not too difficult to notice that as the group gets larger, people's behavior gets weirder. Especially for guys, I think. Guys alone and guys in a group act quite differently.

Going out in a big group is the easy way out. But one-on-one dates are different. They are intimate. You can't run away when you run out of things to say. The security in numbers is missing. The whole thing is more real. And in the end you'll feel like you've known the person better.

But, back to the date.

I went down early to buy tickets. Then I did my usual - bought a book at Kino, and read at TCC while sipping coffee. She brought my birthday present along! They were nice slippers, and fit quite comfortably. Mega thanks, Feli!

Anyway, ElizabethTown was pretty so-so. It got a bit confusing at some parts, and there wasn't really a solid plot line throughout the whole show, but it was pretty solid acting. The romantic parts were there (the overnight call, the meeting in the middle to watch sunrise, the road-map), the funny bits were there (the suicide bike, the screaming kids), and it was longer than I expected (a solid 2 hours, I think). And the soundtrack was pretty good. 3.5 stars.

After exiting the cinema, and after the whole post-movie ritual (a.k.a the toilet trip), came the inevitable, non-spoken question: what's next? This, I think, is the most telling part of the date. Watching a movie together is easy enough, but what happens next is a true test of the relationship.

We went to Hereen to buy my Levi's jeans, but it was too crowded, so we went Taka instead. I finally bought my jeans there. It was sort of a weird reversal of roles, me the guy shopping and she the girl watching and holding my plastic bags (my book and my slippers) for me. The denim cost me $99.50, which my sister is suppose to pay for. Currently she's still ignoring the receipt nonchalently. Grrr..

So the rest of the day was spent walking here and there, looking at stuff and chatting. It was quite nice, and she's very easy-going. I sent her home and she didn't protest violently. I like that. I think it's only right to send your date home if it's late, say 10+. And the girl should just accept it nicely and not make a fuss about it. Guys, you don't have to be her boyfriend to send her home, you know. And girls, just because the guy send you home doesn't necessarily mean he's having designs on you. That said, I generally only send people home if I went out with them alone, or small group of close friends. In a large group, I don't, and I'm ashamed to say that it's because I want to avoid all the "woooo they are together because he sent her home" rumours.

Thanks for a great day Feli =)

Now, who wants to watch Memoirs of a Geisha with me? =D

{/4:35 PM}

me

Birthday

In 21 days' time I will officially depart from the world of teenagers. The big two-oh. 1/4 mark of my life (hopefully). Sob sob... I can already feel age catching up with me...

So here it is, The List:

1) Bible - NKJV
2) Bible - NKJV-NIV Parallel
3) Strong's Full Bible Concordance
4) Koine Greek for Dummies. Or any other similiar.
5) Audio bible, NIV
6) Bible software. Those cheap (sub $100) ones will do, definately not asking for those professional programs for scholars that costs upwards of $1000.
7) Eschatology-related analysis books. NOT the popular 'doomsday' kind. The serious kind. Particularly those dealing with preteristic views.
8) Piano, upright
9) iPod Nano, white
10) WoW gamecard
11) Starcraft BattleChest. Ahh, nostalgia.
12) Short-sleeved shirts
13) Berms
14) Slippers/sandals (mine broke recently =() TAKEN!
15) Levi's jeans (Da jie are you seeing this!!? =D)
16) Cross/Crucifix necklace
17) Wallet (mine is fraying more badly by the day) TAKEN!
18) Homebaked goodies (specifically, I am missing Cher's baking =()
19) Kinokuniya/Borders book vouchers
20) Well wishes (cards, letters, emails, smses, etc)

/list

{/12:34 PM}

me

Goals

I don't have any long term goals in my life. I just don't like making them. I think they are unrealistic. Seriously, who can know what will happen 10, 20 years down the road? God does, but he surely isn't sharing the information with me anything soon. I just don't have the motivation to sit down and thinking properly about the far future.

But, that doesn't stop me from having short term goals. It's already 2nd January, but surely it isn't too late to think about the near future. Say, for 2006.

1) Pass my driving test.
Nothing much to say about this. Although I still can't figure out the purpose of having a license when I don't own a car, I guess if anything it keeps my parents off my back nagging me to do it. It's quite fun, anyway. My driving coach has a little problem speaking properly though. He tends to mumble quite a bit, so I'm always not really sure whether he wants me to turn left or right or whatever. Anyway, just hoping to pass with less than 3 tries, which is what my sister needed. Haha.

2) Treat my family better.
This goes without saying, I think. I realise that at some point of time in the past, or rather, several points of time, I have talked about this. Too bad, action is slower than words. I'm not sure if anyone knows but I'm quite the disappointment around the family, and I'm not just talking among my immediate ones. Oh well. I fully intend to change that status quo, or at least try to. Family is important, you know. No matter how cliche that might be.

3) Treat my friends better.
Sort of like an extension of the previous one, no? Well. I've never been a very good friend to anyone, so 2006 seems like a good time to start. I'm not a social butterfly, so I'll be contented to just keep my old friends close.

4) To lose the ego.
In other words, less pride. Self-explanatory, I think.

5) Get a girlfriend.
No, seriously, not what you are thinking of. Not in that sense. I just want somebody to connect with on a deeper level, you know. Something like a "best friend". I've never had the honour to know a friend deeply, beyond the superficial level, into an intimate state of understanding and love. There have been a few hit-and-misses, I guess. Hopefully the right person will drop by my life.

6) Find a church.
Actually, as you may know, I'm not in a terrible hurry to find a church to attend. In fact I am beginning to think less and less of the importance of having a church to go to. I understand the advantages, but looking at the state of things it seems that the cons outweigh the pros. In fact it may even be counterproductive to spiritual growth. And, it's difficult to find a really suitable church. Especially with all the charismatic churches around.

7) Read more.
I should really read more different genre of books. If anyone has any recommendations, I'm listening.

That about covers it, I think.

{/2:38 AM}

me