I will probably start practicing on me drums very soon to get more skillz.

Sorry, neighbours. =P

It is raining right now. Hopefully there will be no more floods for the whole year. Our car porch was flooded the other day but thankfully the water didn't make it to the inside of our house.

It's pretty funny when it starts drizzling right after I put the laundry out. Slightly annoying but that's life.

Life has been good. I have been reading a couple chapters of books when I actually remember to. I've also been washing a lot of dishes. It is my life now. Saya anak mithali. ^^

With freedom comes responsibility. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Hey peeps :)

Just a half hour left till 2012.
Edit: ok, it's already the new year :P

Makes me wonder what I've accomplished in 2011. Or if I've accomplished anything worthwhile for that matter. BUT! I can safely say that I've had some wonderful (sorry for using an overused adjective, I just can't think of a better one at the moment) experiences.

They say that memories are valuable because they don't change even if people do. I tend to immortalize people in my head and pictures help a lot. That's why I try to get as many photos as I possibly can (which results in slightly annoyed photographers =P) because yes, they mean a lot to me. The people in the photos are pretty much all I have this year. And they are the people whom I will rarely get to see once 2012 starts. Or I may never see them again. Either way, memories (and photographs) are all I have for now. It's good enough and I'm grateful.

While I'm writing this awfully sentimental post, I might as well mention a couple worthy people I will miss (or maybe I won't, if we meet up often enough, which would be cool). Aaron Wong, I will miss your face the most because you are/were my best friend in high school. But thankfully, you're still gonna be around for the next many months so that's not too bad :D and then there are other people I miss too but they might puke or think I'm a creep or something so yeah, I think that's all for now. However if you actually cared enough to read my blog, you should know that I probably miss you too. Unless you're a creep.

God, thank you for this year. I am a very slow grower but I do desire to grow closer to you. I really hope that this new year will be a good one and that I'll be a better kid. Help me to understand your truth more and more each day. Thank you for the amazing people you've put in my life.

Oh and I just gotta let you all know that my dogs have survived distemper. I mean, they're still alive and I'm quite sure they've recovered but who knows, they might just drop dead suddenly and we'll just bury them under our mango tree and harvest many mangoes in remembrance of them. HAHAHAHAHA. But no, I do think they are quite well and as greedy as ever. Them dogs eat more than I do, it's ridiculous!

Well then, happy new year!

Well it sure has been quite some time since anything interesting has been written here so to entertain you for a little while, I shall whip up a blog post. This is also for my own entertainment because this long holiday seems to be rather uneventful. But then again that is not really true considering the fact that I have been doing things. Yeah. Some things I do are pretty useless and then there are some other things I do that are also pretty useless. Oh well, here goes something.

Driving lessons are quite fun AND funny. I definitely hate it when the car dies and I tend to blame my instructor for the times that they do because he wants me to let it die to KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE. I now know how it feels like. It is a terrible feeling really when the manual car sputters and diesssss. But when I am at fault, it dies a quiet death, now that's better than intentionally killing it. Whoa, wait a sec, let's now shift our focus to the more positive part of learning how to run a killing machine. I admit, I love stepping on the gas pedal. A lot. And my instructor has to tell me to slow down and standby on the brake, not the gas pedal. I guess he just doesn't want me to drive myself all the way to heaven. However, I came to know about a young man who got into an accident that killed 4 of his passengers except him and someone else. Therefore, children, drive carefully.

Click HERE to go to the news article.

Next up on the list of things Rene does that does not particularly affect anybody's life is watch House (the TV series, except I watch it on my computer so...) with her sister, May (who is actually more into the series than she is). They average on at least 4 episodes a day. You know, I don't really keep track of the number of episodes we watch but it's somewhere around there. We're in season 2 now, quite an achievement for sober people who are not addicted. Did you hear me?? I said we're not addicted!!! Even though House might be a slight waste of time, we have learnt so many things from him. How to handle a seizure, how to be sarcastic, how to say big words like 'tumour' and how to tell a patient they're going to die. I have learnt a lot from him and I'm sure May has too.

Moving on, (I'm starting to sound like a news reporter now) I am officially a college student. Meaning I've been accepted (more like I've paid the registration fee) and will start college-ing in February. I am excited and curious. And you're probably going to ask me where I'm going (unless you aren't or you already have) and maybe I'll tell you. ;) It's just that the question "what are you doing now?" gets old really fast and I've heard it asked to everyone older than me so it has gotten old before I ever became of age to answer it. Oh and you know what, they have no dress code! This is just so awesome because it means I can just jump out of bed in my pyjamas and head off to school. But I guess I'll only do that if I'm really late. Like, really. I reckon the good thing about this is that I need not get a wardrobe makeover. Everything's fine with the college. That's good. I like.

Ok so dad's chasing me off. CYA!

First driving lesson today.

It was not bad at all, haha. Though I had to wait an hour plus before my turn to learn came which was very annoying. Aside from that, I rocked that Kancil. Will wear proper shoes next time.

Clutch, baby, clutch (really reminds me of Jesse McCartney's song :P). And I gotta learn to be easy on the minyak. Didn't kill nobody...yet. But I really love stepping on the gas.

Gotta master the Kancil.

What can I say, SPM is REALLY over! =DDDDD

:'S

I just got back from Mission Possible - a programme on Logos Hope. The ship is pretty cool (I didn't get to walk around but it looks good from the outside) =P

So where do I begin? WOW.

Ok. We went into a room and had a little chit chat. Got to know some people and I have got to say that the people there are so hospitable and welcoming, I can hardly get over it! Their joy is absolutely contagious! And when they talk to you, it's like you've known them forever. Aaanyway, after we settled down, we had a short worship session and a guy (I don’t remember his name) from Germany spoke about how he got on board Logos Hope. As he was halfway through his testimony, the lights went out.

Boom.

Pirates/kidnappers (well, I’m not sure what you call them but they were ‘bad people’) came in and ‘roughed’ us up and made us kneel. They blindfolded us and made us get into some type of prison uniform/one piece suit. I was in a blue suit and they shuffled us out the room.

I was the first in the line that was led out.

Then I got questioned.

"What are you doing on the ship?"
"What did you come here for?"
"Who are your friends?"
"What are their names?"

And when I eventually figured we were getting questioned by 'persecutors of Christians', I stopped answering their questions. Zipped my mouth. They threw a bucket of water on my back and that totally opened my eyes to realise something. (Note: It was just a little splash though my hair and shirt got slightly wet because the water went through the suit)

It hit me that I may not be persecuted right now. But there is someone, there are people, out there in the world getting persecuted for their faith this very moment. From then onwards, I tried to take in every feeling to try to understand or catch a glimpse of what persecuted Christians go through. To know just one tiny bit of what it feels like to be questioned, threatened, tortured.

Our 'captors' yelled really loud and scolded us and did a pretty good job scaring some people with their "cut off his fingers" or "put 'em in the tank" lines. Of course, the actors/crew didn’t treat us roughly, much less torture us, but being led, pulled into unknown places in the ship and made to kneel with our hands behind our heads definitely showed us just a small part of what some of our brothers and sisters in Christ go through everyday.

Eventually the simulation ended and we were made to sit in a circle that turned out to be our discussion group.

I have brain knowledge about these things. I read books on how people are persecuted and killed for believing that Jesus is Lord. I read about how they are questioned and how they choose to not rat out their fellow believers despite getting beaten etc. But only today did I realise the fact that it is not easy at all to not deny Jesus! Without God’s strength, it is not possible! At this stage, I can honestly say that I THINK I am not ready yet. It is quite difficult (in my opinion) to not deny being a Christian if you know your fingers are going to get chopped off. But thank God, He is merciful. Like what the group discussion leader said, God gave us emotions and we are allowed to feel afraid because we are humans. We are not bad Christians because we feel scared. But I do pray that God will help us grow and mature so that if and when we are put into these situations, we will be able to go through it with His strength.

After the discussion, we had cookies and fellowship (the cookies were huge!) and later we had Jocelyn Poullaouec share. He kept repeating this sentence: God is always with you, always with us, always! And it is true! It's a good reminder because I personally tend to forget.

So that's about it. We talked some more till I had to leave and it was realllllyy a great experience, I'm not sure if my words managed to convey it properly but yeah.

Ima just leave you with a couple verses.

Luke 21:14-15
Make up your minds ahead of time not to worry about how you will defend yourselves, because I will give you such words and wisdom that none of your enemies will be able to refute or contradict what you say.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Oh, and don't forget to pray for the persecuted church! If you don't know where to start, Google the Open Doors World Watch list. God bless.