abridged

These are my thoughts, although so abridged it could almost be unjustified. Read them with an open heart and mind, like you so preach yourself.

One of the things I find so annoying about the world today is the way so many religious people act that is so far from the actual concept of the religion itself, which causes the birth of all these modernistic, new generation, 'anti-religion' people. Look at the both of you! Sneering at each other, judging each other, both claiming superiority over the other! You are as bad as the religious folk you so despise!

No wonder the anti-religious are so oppressed towards the simple, pure JOY of the gospel!! They branch into these self-absorbed, independent groups who think that whatever they do is entirely up to them because it is their lives to live, and will not affect the people around them. They become so arrogant and opinionated that they force everybody around them to accept them for who they "truly are" and spin all sorts of excuses for the people that are so morally twisted in today's society, casting whatever society they are in into a deeper downward spiral. The religious people spat acid into their own faces! I cannot stand this!

I agree - religion today is so corrupted till it has become its own antithesis, so focused on rigid practices, condescending thoughts, and looking down upon others in the superior air these religious people think they have.

I preach the 'gospel' - whose meaning is just 'good news' (in old english). I preach the good news of Jesus. That is all. He has done everything. There is nothing else for you to "achieve," unlike those religions where you have to accomplish a certain number of tasks in a certain level of depth before you can "achieve eternal bliss."
That is all. The gospel is not a "law," or a set of rules, or responsibilities and expectations that we must conform to. Be rid of our Pharisaic acts.

the dance of love and submission

Such a tough lesson - submission. The lines between so many pre-conceived good and bad traits have blurred into this helpless tangle of confusion. I can't distinguish anything anymore, so I'm just trying to smile instead.... (?)

Succumbing to reticence, incorrect reactions and improper communication. The pressure of your personal judgement is so overwhelming. Can't advice and opinions flow against the waves of age and hierarchy? I can't believe I spent my whole life pining after equality. The only things that seem to go this way are career paths and material wants. No wonder egocentrism prevails.

nimis, praepropere

Matthew 4:4 

Jesus answered, "It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

***

The hunger I feel is not one that can be satiated with perishables.

charger;

I feel like such a mean and callous person when I'm tired. I just wanna curl up in bed and sleep all day long and not care about anyone or anything. (but still feel bad for not helping seemingly homeless old ladies carry a million shopping bags and a pair of crutches on the bus *facepalm* you mean mean mean girl, Grace)

And then wake up and run many many many miles on the treadmill (but will probably die at 3.5, let's cap it there... Lauren does on average 7 miles everyday. Feel inferior?) and 14 slope on the elliptical, then fall asleep on the yoga mats while trying to do the most pathetic sit-ups/planks ever, followed by incredibly obscene stretching positions with feet 180degrees apart in mid air while wearing too-small wide-holed shorts. With the iPod in the ears and philosophy/chemistry reading by my side like sufficient, conscience-cushioning bodyguards.

And revel in all my sweaty glory. I could totally fall asleep in the gym all the time.

I love sweating. I miss sweating. I miss having a ridiculously palpitating heart. I miss panting and getting my face all flushed and bright red. Do you know what this means?

This means that I miss ballet. A LOT. How else do you explain missing the feeling of sticky sweat? (and endorphin levels, well that makes more sense)...



Then (a couple of hours later) have a wonderful turkey sandwich with olives and GREY POUPON.

Omg grey poupon. Bestttt.

And like, a liter of milk. Turkey and milk. Tryptophan madness. Which induces sleep.

No wonder.

Ganja cheesecake

Look, everybody! Everybody, look look! :D

New York Style, with blueberries!!! Totally, shamelessly requested for it. :D

My brother-in-law made me such a beautiful cheesecake for my 19th birthday! :D :D :D

Thank youuuu Alberttttt!!!! :D :D :D

Ohhh my gosh, he makes seriously LEGIT cheesecakes. It tasted exactly like Secret Recipe's New York cheesecake, which is my ultimate favorite - the one comfort food I always have. Have a slice of it before getting your exam results back and the world will NOT seem like it'll end. Lol.

Kyle gave the most awful groan and shouted NOOO!!! when I took this.
HAHAHA. He looks SOOO angry.

Us poking fun at Kyle, while Albert cuts the cheesy cloud of awesomeness.

Ganja cheesecake.

Yessss!!!

For the first time, Serena didn't want to share.

Turned out, I didn't either. :D

It was such a fun night. This was yesterday night, when we just came back from a 5 hour drive from Charlotte. :) Stayed at a uber fancy hotel (whose gym equipment had individual televisions, whaaaaat?!?! :D :D) and had a tonnnn of fun (sort of Urban Outfitters Black Friday shopping, fancy brunch at a local cafe, rock climbing, obnoxiously yelling and bouncing on tight-ropes in the "adventure obstacle courses," butchering dirty ribs and deep fried mushrooms, watching a classy Cirque de la Symphonie)... all of which was right after a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at Douglas' beautiful new fancy townhouse (with a gorgeous kitchen!!!). 

I guess more pictures will come soon. :) Studying chem now, (while eating a slice of cheesecake, yessss... I'm so glad to know I didn't put on weight since coming to the US, but I think after all this cake I probably have...) but I guess I could do with a break. :)

We made spicy fish last night! Sichuan something something.

Most peppery concoction ever. None of us could stop coughing.

Played Scout the Pig after (this super fun card game) and poked a massive amount of fun at Kyle's anal-retentive traits.

HAHA.

Fun night.

Okay need to study. I have three finals in one and a half weeks!!! Too much is happening all at once! D:

"and also with you"

Curious instance I had this morning! :)

I sat in my church this morning, halfway through Sunday school, contemplating previously unseen aspects of the prodigal son, with a (styrofoam) cup of steaming hot unsweetened lipton tea and a sister on each side of me (and my pretty awesome brother-in-law two seats away).

And that is all. :)

I looked up, looked around me, and felt soooo happy.

I am glad, and so thankful.

So, sooooo so thankful.

:)

:)

bagels, duct tape and the osm hangout

Honestly, such a gorgeous Saturday morning. Too perfect for a casual trip downtown to the farmers' market with Lauren! What a wonderful day you have provided for us, Lord! We were so thankful, cuz the weather in Charlottesville has an incredibly bipolar nature....

Bought only the best bagels on the face of planet Earth;
Picture taken by none other than the nice bagel guy who offered. :)

'Olive Rosemary' - fresh out the oven!
Will you believe me if I said Bodos is nothing compared to this
chewy, soft, fresh bit of herbed goodness?

Best eaten plain. This is doughy awesomenesssssss....
HANDS DOWN, better than Bodos!

Our mission was to buy Lauren's little sister a birthday present (happy 15th birthday, Allie!) hopefully a cute pair of earrings, but the stall that she was eyeing on wasn't open. We did find a stall selling colorful 'duct-tape' hair accessories, all made by a young 11-year-old girl! Lauren chose two pins with orchids made out of navy blue duct tape, and another UVa-colored bowed hairpiece. I should have taken a picture of them!

I am absolutely in love with the trees in this country. Only the brightest yellow leaves - so pure, they're golden...

:)

Squirrel!!

The trees almost look FAKE. Soooo gorgeous!!!!

Remember the crepe place I told you about? :) The one where Rachel, Albert and I split a rich, nutella crepe... I just had to bring Lauren there since she'd never heard of it.

Split a sugar and lemon crepe! Sweet, eggy and slightly tart. :)

Grabbed a trolley back to UVa after that. No more strange men randomly asking for spare change.. we encountered one on the way there....

Ever wonder what's the appropriate way to act in these circumstances?

The Gooch/Dillard labyrinth now filled with golden trees...

Sigh. :)

***

So, my childhood friends are all over the world it's crazyyyy....

It was so nice finally seeing all their faces!!! :) :)

ALTHOUGH THIS CLEARLY IS NOT CHEWY'S FACE. T.T

Weiken looks so cute zomg lol.

Turned into some kind of hat party. Just discovered I have absolutely NO hat.

Trying to be efficient... trying to finish
chemistry assignment with a scarf on my head while
hanging out on Google+ with four other people at freaking
8.30 a.m. on a Saturday morning...

***

Sigh, I absolutely love the weekends... :)

semper fidelis

Lord, I urgently beg for your touch upon me, for I am of illness. Before I touch anything oh Lord, I will consult you. I need to talk to you. Lord I plead of you, I need you. Let me reach out to touch just the end of your robe Jesus, I am desperate. I know these instances, and they are not normal. Teach me to fast for you. Guide me through my fast. I need to fast, God. Banish this demon out of my mind, for it makes me lose focus on You. I am not hungry for food, but I am famished for your word. Talk to me please, Lord. I need your guidance, strength, and touch of healing.

kai fan!

Rachel and I made 'kai fan' from scratch last Sunday night!!!

Pouring the chicken stock into the pot of stir fried raw rice....

Albert's 'seared' chicken...

After watching countless episodes of 'Chopped,' Albert refused to steam any kind of meat, unfairly categorizing them as bland and tasteless. We were going to steam them using Rachel's new industrial steamer (honestly, just an excuse to use it again!) but we were hungry and couldn't care less so Albert happily burned/caramelized the chicken skin....

RICE WAS YELLOW, FRAGRANT AND AWESOME.

I totally think it was way better than the store bought hainanese chicken rice paste! ^^

Although rice was not pillowy soft.. it had some sort of chewiness to it....IGNORE.. IGNORE...

IGNORE LACK OF VEGETABLES.
We had iceberg lettuce on the side.
(not that it helped on any nutritional value lol....)

I adore cooking. I can't wait to get off the meal plan!!

Cake of bread, and a jar of water

In our hour of darkness, it looks bleaker than it actually is.

***

1 Kings 19:3-8

"Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep."

"All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again."

"The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank (again). Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God."

***

Haha! Even God stressed in the Bible about how it's important to stay properly hydrated and sufficiently fed in order to complete tedious, colossal tasks. Without adequate nutrition, you will feel absolutely suicidal. Lol. The Bible tells you so!

Fyi, Elijah was one of the major prophets in the olden days, long before Jesus appeared on the earthly timeline...

Problem is, I'm probably feeding myself a little too much. Plus, I need to get over my 'abstract sequential' traits and just finish the darn essays, gosh. Nothing can be perfect, Grace! D':

Meow.

***

Is there reallyyy a difference between happiness and joy?

touchstone

Money is a peculiar issue. There's that (really) common story about how you work your ass off the whole day, to earn money to pay the rent of your house, which you hardly stay in anyway because you're too busy out at your office earning money. What's the point?

The (most common) thing that prevents you from living your dream is money, but it's funny how sometimes the dream is to acquire the money itself. Which really is your goal? What stirs a desire in you?

What is your "touchstone"?

1. Being rich for rich's sake.
2. Owning your own yacht.
3. Sailing around the world.

Which is it? I've been told that number 1 is the least common; when you interview rich people, they always have a purpose for their money - they use the money to carry out all the things they want to do, whether it's supporting their favorite charity organization, or paying for their kids' college tuition, or buying a brand new house to live comfortably in. It's always somewhat practical.
Is your goal really just to "own the yacht"? Or take another step back, and just "own the money"? Is your goal only just to be rich, and live a miserly life in order to obtain it? What is the definition of a life of quality?

Do you hang on to the money as a form of security; does the sheer number of possibilities thrill you?

I think the number 1s are just overloaded on practicality. You never know what will happen, if suddenly there's a huge medical bill to pay, or whatever extremity that might occur - kinda like the 'rainy day' mentality. There's no reason to think practicality's a bad thing - but should you just carry out your dream anyway and let the money take care of itself? Money is replaceable but opportunities aren't. People always look down on the number 1s because they seem like the deluded ones, the ones who lose the sight of the big picture. Regardless, yeah it's still true: money is made to be used.

But when? (!?!?!?!?!!?!??!!)

Lessons of value and worth......... it's so hard to remain thrifty in college, always having to explain yourself when you prefer to save money rather than, say, spend on a $5.00 cup of frozen yoghurt, without having people judge you or jump into conclusions about your background. 

essays and cocoa puffs

LOL. This totally made my day.
Found this on my ENGR lab assignment.
Whoever my TA is, you rock.

Sigh, I am so pooped out. Spent a week trying to 1) write (six) essays about my current views of faith and life (yup yup... and nowhere near done because I'm a perfectionist like that) and 2) get over my dilemma if I should go to Trinidad over the winter break.

Before you go wth so random go Trinidad, it's because I applied to some service organization and got accepted! Whee! Now debating if I should go.

An extremely well-fed, well-rested me staring at a laptop
screen full of disconnected, erratic paragraphs... D:

It's Saturday already!! Spent the previous week killing myself for a philosophy test only to bomb it again and... strangely... be perfectly okay about it. Probably the first time I ever had the feeling that I'd be perfectly fine with whatever grade I get, because I knew I put in SO much effort (and hours) into it. I'll probably expand more about this later.

In Runk trying to get essays done, but I need a break. I guess I'll just entertain you for a few minutes with outdated pictures then.

The strange (naked guy with wings) statue outside Clemons Library.

Alderman Library. (GORGEOUS RED TREE, DON'T YOU AGREE?)

Wheat bagel from Greenberry's.
And free jam.

By the way, I cannot believe Fiona (my beloved childhood friend since we were 10, when we formed such a lasting friendship by playing/throwing dead leaves down the drain at 4 p.m. after school) who has spent the last two years living in Canada, has never had a bagel before yesterday.

Fiona: OH yeah bagels are pretty awesome, you're right, they are sooo gooood......

T.T

THERE WERE SPCA PUPPIES ON THE LAWN!
SO CUTE SO CUTE SO CUTE. OMG OMG OMG.
A student council event, just for you to play with puppies while eating free pumpkin pie.
Lol.

This would be Old Cabell Hall...

This would be a slice of pumpkin pie...

Weekend before that, went to the downtown mall with Rachel and Albert to check out a PieFest...

Super chill atmosphere; young boy playing an organ for money...

PieFest poster!

Turned out you DON'T get to eat free pie.... it was an auction...

But you get free coffee!

Interesting brewing method, really simple and completely DIY worthy.

Super cute entrance to the church that held the PieFest...

"A fruity coffee, with hints of strawberry and chocolate..."

Since we didn't get free dessert, we headed off to the super cute crepe place Rachel kept telling me about! :)

"The Flat"

Attractive chalked menu! 

Attractive sister with attractive chalked menu!

GUESS GUESS GUESS

NUTELLA. YEAHHHHH!!!!!

Rushed back to dorm cuz I needed to study, boo...

Everybody, this is Lauren. :) By the way, I now know five Laurens....

Completely fascinated by the size of the banana she stole from Runk...

"Grace grace take a picture of me and my bananaaaaa!!!"

So pretty isn't she? :) She lives in the suite next to mine, and I got to know her more personally through our Chi Alpha core group. :)
Plusss she's in my Chem class, which was what we were mugging for in Alderman Library....

Went out with the Malaysian Student Association to Peter Chang's that night. It supposedly has the best chinese food in town.

Excited...

Bang bang shrimp and numbing dry beef wth

Food was okaaay, I still like Nihao better. :) Still kinda overloaded on sodium.

But this was GOOD. Fish and tofu in clear chili sauce.

MaSa! Whose president is from northern Virginia, lolol.

Okay, back to writing essays.

And gorging on Cocoa Puffs. I had two cups already. What is wrong with me. Cereal fetish.

Kyle's 28!!

Celebrated Kyle's birthday last Thursday night! :)

Traditional (and completely forced) cheesy shot!
"Woodchuck Cider; Guaranteed to make you smile!" -Albert

Albert stopped by the Splintered Light bookstore at the Centre of Christian Study to get him a fascinating biography of an influential philosopher/theologian, and because Rachel and I are NOT adults (plus we're younger than Kyle anyway :P), we spent the entire night laughing at the word 'hippo' (HAHA Augustine of HIPPO!!!) while gorging on awesome cheddar-topped popovers and delicioussss homemade pork tenderloin. Level of respect for the admirable Saint Augustine just fell flat instantaneously. How unfortunate.

^.^

Super moist pumpkin spice cake!

Blessed birthday Kyle! :)

and when she's walking

I thoroughly enjoy delving on Paul's books.

I want a break from everything to just focus on the bible with full clarity and peace in my mind.

I mean, I could do that now (not like it's a choice anyway) but then, it's nice for it to be my only "course" for the moment.

Maybe that's what I'm supposed to do during my J-term.

Maybe the winter break trip isn't really for me. Maybe it isn't worth that much money.

***

"The uptown girl has to be accommodating."

Kindness, joy, gentleness, self-control.

"What are the fruits of the spirit?"
"Uhhh I dunno.... Apple?"

my first halloween

So, my new American acquaintances. Other than being (somewhat) pleasantly surprised when I tell them about how hot and humid Malaysia is all year round (responses mainly summarized into one word/syllable: eww... >.<) they've also been interested to know that there's no Halloween back in my (sweaty) homeland.

I know it's unbelievably prudish/conservative/narrow-minded/rigid/no-fun of me to be wary of the concept of Halloween, all ghoulish and non-Christian (yeah yeah, Grace, yeah) but yeahhhh to some extent, fine, it's how you look at it I guess.... I was so against dressing up as anything scary, lol I absolutely refused to put on any garment/decorative item that was a least bit satanic.... (roll your eyes at me, go on, I don't mind)

Went for a MaSa halloween party in one of the upperclassman's apartments on JPA. I should be more creative, but I was tired so I just put on a random dress (uncreative I know, go on, chastise me) and walked to the place (freezing omg) and....

...totally squealed at the above when I found him at the bus stop. :D Turned out to be Jun Liang (or Ryan, if you don't want to challenge your brain to remember chinese names.... omg why am I so sarcastic today, shut up Grace) and it is MOST FUN to walk down a dark road and have this guy chasing you going yaaaahhhhhhh....!!!

HAHAHAHA! :D MOST FUN!!! That was actually scary! :P Haven't laughed that hard in ages!!!!

Extra set of gleaming teeth between the... gleaming teeth...

Jing Yong tried to dye his hair blond as icing to the cake of his Bieber outfit... didn't work. He bought the cheap non-permanent dye.

Mop of stubborn jet-black hair...

Sad Biebster.

Carlos, the expressive Guatemalan kid and Ashlie the pirate.
Ashlie's from Subang.

My 'MIX' mentor! HE'S A REESE PEANUT BUTTER CUP! ^^

***

So, the 31st of October fell on a Monday. Mugged for calc quiz in the Study Center with Nihao's pork dumplings (Maggieeee I love theseeeee!!!!!). Beautiful afternoon.

Spot the chili oil!

Apparently it's an age-old tradition for families all over Charlottesville to bring their young kids to the Lawn in UVa for trick-or-treating! As soon as I saw how the place was absolutely infested with furry little baby animals (a.k.a. young children), any harsh feelings I had towards Halloween immediately melted away.

Massive pile of leaves!!! I was SO tempted to jump in myself.

AAH SO CUTE.

This absolutely melted my heart.
The young mother was playing with her baby elephant... throwing it
into the air... catching him again...
OH COME ON, A BABY ELEPHANT!!

I see you, Buzz!

Mini pumpkin paintings!

A little piggy (haha literallyyy!) grabbing candy from the Comm students...

Bubbles!

Amphitheater! They gave out free Ben&Jerry's!

Had dinner with Margaret, my bubbly core group leader, in Runk that night before MNL, cuz they had a themed dinner. 

Runk was a madhouse. Way too many people.

Their gnocchi was absolutely heavenly though!

One out of two 'escaped criminals' that night!

"How was your first Halloween?"

I don't know. It was definitely interesting. :)