Arrived In Incheon

I've arrived! What a long flight. Almost didn't think I'd make it through it all. This is one of the things I hate about travel. And, I used to love flying. Not anymore. But, anyways, I survived it.

Maybe more later. Kinda feeling like I'm in the twilight zone right now.

We arrived at the airport at around 2:30 am local time. The bus did not pick us up for the drive to the hotel until around 7:00 am. Why they did it this way I will never know. In any case, the wait was not too bad and gave all of us the opportunity to stretch our legs for a while and to have something to eat, too. There were about 40 of us from the flight from Toronto. Not all of us were together as seen in the above photos as most people were scattered about the airport.

Flying Out Tonight

The time has finally arrived to leave. I head to the airport in a few hours. I've just checked out of the Hyatt an hour ago and I'm currently waiting to have dinner with friends and family for the final time before this happens. Time for a nap!

At The Hotel

I'm currently at the Hyatt Regency Toronto after moving out of the apartment. I figured I could get a few days rest here before the big flight over. This does not seem to be happening as too many friends/family want to get together last minute. Well, that's ok.

Now, why move out of the apartment a few days early? Well, to move encompasses a lot of running around with a lot of lose ends to tie up. To combine this with flying out the same day would be madness. It would be totally exhausting to the nth degree. If you've ever moved before, you know what I mean about moving and all that it entails.

The flight over to South Korea is no piece of cake either. It's thirteen and a half hours long. Plus, there are other complications involved as well. The flight leaves at ten minutes to midnight, assuming it leaves on time. It arrives at two twenty five in the morning local time. The bus does not pick us up until seven in the morning. That is a long wait. Time enough to get some money exchanged, call home, eat breakfast, and then some. Then, it will be a full day of orientation activities (mostly involving rest I am told) before going to sleep at a regular hour. I figure it is going to be anywhere from a thirty six to forty four hour day altogether. I'm not looking forward to this first day. Hopefully I can get some sleep on the plane, or at the airport, or sometime during the arrival day.

As for the rest of today, give me some rest!

The Dangerous Side of Beauty

I've always been in love with the beauty of the wide ocean; a scerene, sparkling blue, its' creatures and corals living below, the mystery and wonders it holds. The ocean is like a whole new different world that have not been discovered yet, and it has always been my dream to discover more about the ocean.

But, ever since the most dangerous and scariest experience in Pulau Pangkor last Thursday, I now realised that the ocean is beautiful yet, dangerous.

What happened in Pulau Pangkor?

It all started when my family and I decided to go fishing in Pulau Pangkor. We even brought two of my cousins, Samantha and Jonathan to come along with us. We were so excited! Little did we know that our fishing trip wasn't going to be like any typical fishing trip....

When we've finally reached Pulau Pangkor, we enjoyed ourslves immensely! We played at the beach while I flew my kite which I brought along. The people there are friendly and hospitable. The owner of the resort was a famous badminton player who used to represent Malaysia.

The weather, however, was not as hospitable as we had hoped. The sky was dark and at night, it rained heavily. The rain gave me hope that perhaps it'll clear up those clouds in the sky so that we could have a sunny day for our fishing trip the next day.

On the day of the fishing trip, we were accompanied by Mr. Tan, an experienced fisherman who has been fishing for years. We soon noticed that the clouds began to get darker, yet, we decided that we might as well enjoy ourselves, rain or shine.

As we headed out for our first site, it began to rain at the island. Slowly, the rain caught up with us, so, we had to endure the cold winds and rain. Luckily, it was light, hence, it wasn't so bad.

By the time we've reached our site, the sun came up, but the waves were a bit too rough, which made the boat rock to and fro repeatedly till for the first time in my life, I actually fell sea sick. While everybody started fishing, all I could do was sit still as I really did not feel like moving about because of the way the boat rocks to and fro and left and right.

After a while, some caught a few fishes, mostly Tau Foo fish, which is the right size for eating. My mom actually caught one of them, and as she began to reel it up, there was so much of struggling going on for a while, then, all of a sudden, there was no struggle. As she continued to reel the fish up, we had the shock of our lives! Instead of a whole fish, there was only half a fish, being cut neatly in half! (Plus, its alive!) We suspected that perhaps a Baracuda must've eated it on its way up.

As our fishing trip was about to end, everybody caught a fish (including me, I soon got over my sea sickness). We were about to head straight back to the island, but to our dismay, it began to rain heavily, the waves were extremely rough and we had no choice but to hide behind and island where its calmer.

We were stranded.

It was the worst storm that ever hit Pulau Pangkor in history! Even Mr. Tan, who has been out to sea for many years have never in his life experinced such a storm like that! We were battered down by the heavy rains as we endured the cold, howling winds and raging waters. The boat rocked furiously and we held on tight to whatever was firmly on the boat. The waters splashed against the boat, equipments were tossed about, parts of the roof of the boat flew out and chairs were being thrown about everywhere, hurting a few people.

For the first time in my life, I was afraid of the sea.

When we've finally thought the waters were calm enough, we headed off to another island to hide behind so that we were nearly closer towards P.Pangkor. As our journey began it was even rougher than before. Things began to fly out of the boat, and the boat moved about so violently that I was afraid that the boat might capsize as we battled the mighty waves which were almost 3m high! The scariest part was when I was sitting on one of the chairs, the boat jerked in such a way that I slided towards the edge of the boat where I could've fallen overboard if I had not used my legs to stop myself just in time.

As we've stopped at the island where we could hide again, we saw several fishing boats; they were afraid too.

During that time while we were being stranded -again-, I looked towards the island and started recalling what I've read from the story 'Robinson Crusoe' about how he survived the shipwreck and lived in the island for 24 years.

My imaginations began to grow wild as I started imagining ourselves living our lives on the island without civilization when I spotted a wild boar walking along the beach. I began to imagine how we'd follow the wild boar and eat it's offspring.... mmm.......

Well, there are the fishes we caught on the other hand, but, that sounds way too easy and too boring.

We've soon come to realise that the storm wouldn't calm down until dark, and that sounds a bit too risky to ride back, as we couldn't see the waves. On the other hand, the storm was still pretty bad, but at least we still got to see the waves so that we'd know where we're going.

It was a pretty tough choice, but in the end, we decided to head back while there's still daylight; we wouldn't want to take the risk of getting washed off at night.

Once again, we battled the raging waters as we held on for dear life. The ride was so rough that both Sam and Jon got seasick and vomited twice from the boat. Ewww........

In the end, we all got back safely and we showed everbody our catch:

Although it was the worst fishing trip ever, I thought it was the best experience at the same time; not only were we part of P. Pangkor's worst storm in history, we caught some yummy fish and I now realise that all this time, the good Lord has always been watching over us.

Moving Day Today

Does nothing ever go according to plan! Oki. Gotta get ready to leave the apartment and things always seem to change last minute. The bloody painters got scheduled to be here sooner rather than later. Who does these things?

More later when I get outta here.

Oki. I'm back. The move was not as bad as I originally thought it would be. The painters did not show up by the time I left. The only thing that happened out of all this was that I got out a few hours earlier than planned. All the other things of the day went along fine. I am now at the Hyatt and will try and rest up for the next couple of days.

The flight to Korea is in two days!

What Makes A Hero

Have you ever watched 'Heroes' or even 'Batman' and all kinds of heroic characters from the TV and wished that you could meet them in person?


Well, I have. In fact, I've met so many heroes last Sunday.

Unlike most heroes that you know of, these heroes can't fly, shoot lazers from their eyes or even wear flashy underwears on the outside. They are ordinary people just like you and me. Best of all, I actually got to see them in action; helping the poor.


Last Sunday, the Sg. Long BEC group representing Holy Family Church, Kajang visited 4 poor families who are in need of help and support. Heavly loaded with boxes upon boxes of food, neccesities and bundle of money, we set off to our 1st location in Sg. Chua.

Our first family was a chinese family, where both mother and son are suffering from cancer. The family consisted of a mother and father and a girl and boy. In order to contribute in supporting the family, the mother currently works in a canteen at a local primary school nearby from 6a.m til 5p.m. The father works in Klang, but I didn't get enough of information about him.

Unfortunately for them, the family had recently been robbed. So, it was a pretty difficult time for them.

As for the son who is 16 this year, he has throat cancer and because of this, he had to skip school for one and a half years starting from the middle of the year since form 1. He started school again in form 3, which was PMR year for him. Despite having cancer and being left behind in his studies, he scored 6A's in his exams, which is truly an inspiration for me as I am taking my exam this year.

His 18-year-old sister is not left out either. She scored 11A's for her SPM, which is very impressing. Unfortunately, as good as her results are, she still did not get a scholarship even though she really deserves it. So, she is now studying for Form 6.

We finally said our goodbyes to them and left for our next family who lives nearby as well.

Our next family was an indian family consisting of a middle aged woman with a son and daughter.

The father left the family a long time ago, leaving the mother to single-handedly raise the family. Now, this isn't a very easy task, especially when her son is brain damaged because of a high fever during his childhood times. The poor lady had to juggle her tasks by taking care of the house and kids as well as sending her children to school and taking her son to the hospital constantly. Furthermore, because of low incomes, the mother cannot afford her son's medicine as they are very expensive.

As a young boy, her son couldn't speak properly, had problems in studying and never had any friends. He also dislikes to eat, is quite hyper and mischevious. Now, a grown man of 18, he is quite well behaved when I saw him and his mother says that he can listen and understand and is perfectly normal.

Their house, however, is quite small and rundown and is desperately in need of repairs and maintainence. Their furnitures are old and unstable, some of them broken in fact.




As we continued to visit our third family, we headed off to Semenyih.


Yet another chinese family, where a grandmother had to take care of her 4 grandchildren. At a very young age, these children were abandoned by their own parents to their grandmother, leaving her to support them.






As you can see, this is where the children sleeps. Previously, from what I've heard, it was much more cramped before; there was no bed, so they all had to sleep on the floor.

Still, the house is quite small and cramped. The children's age ranges from 9-13 years old. The eldest boy in the family wasn't home that time as he has a part time job working in the market to earn a few ringgit extra to help support the family.

Not too long ago, their home was in a much worst condition than it is now; the place smelt of urine, it was dirty and the walls were cracked. But thanks to another group who visited them earlier, their house was painted, new furnitures were brought to them and a few repairs were made to the house as well.

We wished the family luck and said goodbye to them as we made our way to our last family who lives in a poor neighbourhood not too far away.






On the way to the house, I spotted a handicapped man with only 1 leg and soon discovered that he is the father of the house.


The children's age ranges from 5 to 14 years old. Don't be fooled by their looks though, there are only 2 boys and 4 girls. The eldest girl in the family is good at running and won a few medals in her school.


I soon learned that the father was involved in a lorry accident a few years back so he had to have his left leg removed, while his wife supports the family by working in a sofa factory nearby.







The house is very small and cramped. It is also quite smelly outside due to the poor drainage systems, the place is quite dirty and there were old and broken furnitures.


The father and sons had to sleep on the floor in the hall, and its barely even big enough for 2 people to sleep there. The children were delighted at the toys we've provided for them as they didn't have much to play with. Looking at the excited faces of these children made me realise how lucky I am to live such a comfortable life compared to them.






In the end, who is the real hero? The cancer stricken boy who scored good results? The mother who sacrificed so much for her children? An old lady who single handedly raised her 4 grandchildren? The family who are thankful for what they have, or the people who visited the poor families and did their best to make each family's life a little bit easier to bear?

To me they're all heroes. May God bless them all, for without them, I would have never realised all the good things the Lord has blessed me with.

A Week And A Bit To Go

A Family Reunion

It's coming down to the wire. I have a week and a few days left before the big day; the day I fly out to South Korea to start my new job, and my new life. And, it's going to be quite a day, too. The flight does not leave until almost midnight. It's thirteen and a half hours long. The arrival is at about two thirty in the morning with no pick up to the hotel for the week's orientation until seven in the morning. Then, of course, there will be no major sleeping until later that night. All in all I figure it will be about a thirty six to forty four hour "day". I don't even want to think about that right now!

The past month has gone by very quickly. I don't really know where the time goes anymore. If I do a 3d image on a day, there goes that day as the process is quite long and involved. Getting together with friends consumes another whole day. And, there have been quite a few of those this month for obvious reasons. Then, there is regular day to day stuff that has to be done as well. Time flies!

Earlier in the month, all my paperwork and documents finally finished. My visa, contract, etc., is now in hand as well as airplane ticket and the like. Oh, yeah. The airplane ticket. Sometimes it does not pay to be the early bird. I bought mine almost as soon as I received the notice of its availability. Then a few days after I paid, the price dropped by almost a few hundred dollars. It took over a month to get that refunded and straightened out. This happened only a few days ago. The stress of it all as time runs out is not fun. Sometimes being too good is not good for you!

I also recently saw "District 9", the latest sci-fi movie to hit the theaters. It's another must see for all sci-fi buffs and especially those who are not. Smartly done and gripping from start to finish, it never lets you go. You are drawn in and totally involved in the story. From the looks of things, it is destined to become a classic. Parallels to present day socio-political events make it even more dramatic and relevant. I don't think there is a message here other than how terrible the human condition really is in its intolerance to those who are different. Go see it. You won't be disappointed.

Well, my final week will be busy just like the ones leading up to it. Hopefully I can relax a bit before the big flight over. I move out of the apartment and check into the Hilton for my last two days in the city and all I want to do is relax at that time. Internet access might be a bit difficult during the transition phases of the move, but I will update this blog when I can. It will be my main source of communications at that time. And, until then, that's it for this update.

Random Readups #2

The whole week was total crap for me. Due to the stupid, stupid H1N1 outburst, my school closed for a whole week and what am I supposed to do during the whole week of nothingness? Nothing.

Today, however, I did do something...


Things I did during the whole crap week:

1. Got a cold.

2. The kids went back to Australia, so I'm FREE!


3. Made a crap lunch of burnt spaghetti soaked in mushroom powder and hot water with overcooked vegetables followed by undercooked eggs beacuse my parents was out and my brother was the unfortunate victim.


4. Dyed my mom's hair.


5. Since there's half a bottle of hair dye (brown), I dyed my hair.


6. Trashed (cleaned) my room.


7. Found a lot of interesting stuff while trashing my room.

8. Ruined an old christmas hat and turned it to my Teddy's jacket.




So here's the result of my Teddy's jacket!

BEFORE

Boring...

AFTER

Pimpin!

If you wern't paying attention to my previous post, my little niece, Madeline won herself a stuffed shark and she loved it! Unfortunately, because they had too much to bring to the Airport to Australia, her dad left it behind and I found it in their room. So here it is, the latest member of my bed family, Bruce (I named it after the shark from Finding Nemo)!

HAPPY FAMILY

From left: Bruce, Teddy, Tesco Bear, and Bear.

(Excuse me for not being creative with the name calling...)

Aquaria

Hey! Sorry I took so long to update my blog. Been feeling pretty lousy lately. But yeaterday was pretty intersting cause' I went to Aquaria in KL with my mom, cousin and his kids, Luke and Madeline. About time I've got a story for my blog.




The first thing we saw was the piranhas. The kids was so excited! Lucky for us, we made it just in time for their feeding session. They even had a competition on how fast can the piranhas eat the squid. In the end it took them about 26 seconds. Madeline was the closest (24 sec), another little girl was the second (20 sec), while Luke got third (1 min).


Apparently, Madeline won a stuffed shark. She loved it so much that she would bring it everywhere she goes. (Honestly, I thought she preffered girly toys like Barbie dolls, but, sharks are just as cool.) Luke got himself a glass cup shaped like a tiger.





Later on, we checked out the insects there. Madeline loved the Butterflies while Luke was rather fascinated with the giant beetles and lizards. *shivers*





Luke likes doing all kinds of Kung Fu poses on the camera.



It looks like as if you could just jump in there eh? Do you think the kids are good enough to feed them to the fish?


We were at the Amazon zone, where huge monsters from the fresh waters were displayed. Its pretty amazing to see how far they could grow. The saddest thing about it is that thousands, maybe millions of them are captured to be put in a smaller environmant just so that people could see them.





Just at the right time, this huge creature came towards the kids and opened is mouth wide! Its like as if its saying, "FOOD!" Hahaha!!


We saw this signboard on the way and decided to freak their mom out who's currently in Australia that we went to the beach without her!





Just a typical day at the beach, we just arrived at the jetty.






Luke's doing his yoga poses.

Hey mom! We just took a trip to the beach and had a great time! Love, Luke, Madeline and Kelvin.

The kids were so excited when we've reached the giant aquarium. Apparently, this aquarium is about 30% of the real environment. But, I think the ocean is A LOT bigger than that.

The first thing that greeted us was these amazing sharks. Most people would be afraid of sharks like these, but sharks are rather shy, maybe cowardly creatures. Although there are also vicious sharks like the Tiger sharks or the Great White, they should also be respected all the more, because not many people may be aware of this, but the ratio between human deaths from sharks and the death of sharks from humans are 1:250 000 !

Every year, millions of sharks are killed because of humans. Not only that, humans kill them cruelly, by cutting off their fins alive and throwing them back to the sea to struggle for their lives. At this rate, the number of sharks would decrease at such an alarming rate that they are close to extinction!

But, back to the subject. I just find that sharks are some of the most awesomest creatures ever.

Check out these shark eggs! Plus they're alive! You don't see that everyday. You'd probably find them stuck to a coral in the sea.

Also, we spotted some giant turtles!

Again, I feel so sorry that such amazing creatures like this would have to spend all their lives in such a small environment rather than in the wild. Even this turtle dosen't look too happy with his new home.

All in all, we still had a wonderful time, especially the kids. They had such splendid time and they were so happy so I'm happy. Unfortunately, after all those running and sigh seeing, those kids are still full of energy that they won't stay still or sleep in the car as I had hoped. Kids.



Oh, by the way, guess what I've found?

A Glimpse of History

"Anne! You gotta see this.", said my mom as she entered my bedroom. In her hands was a large album; a photo album. This must be our old photos from the good ol' days.

I've never laid hands on those albums for years, mainly because lizards would climb into the cupboard where its kept and also some embarassing photos of me back then. But looking back at those pictures really brings back memories.

As a kid, like any typical little girl, my favourite colour was pink, I love dressing up, and I like to pose to the camera. Guess which one of them am I?

When I was little, my parents would hire two maids to take care of us. When I think about it back then, I used to be a troublesome kid for the maids. Really.

I have a lot of cousins. Among all of them, I'm the eldest.

Ahh... yes, Bangkok, Thailand. I was afraid of that elephant.

No, this wasn't in China, I just can't remember....