It's not funny being poked at

After feeling the excruciating pinch for the third time in two days, that was the last straw. I turned it upside down. I squeezed it with all my might. I stomped it. I even got additional help from my flatmate. No avail. I was still being poked. Finally, today after some black magical luck, I found the damn culprit - a needle conveniently stuck in my Winnie-the-Pooh bedroom slippers. Nicely hidden, its sharp edge conveniently pointing upwards. I'm glad it's over and all that remains is three redish-needle-sized-poked holes on the sole of my left foot.

I knew I couldn't have been voodooed.

Two weddings, one funeral and a baby shower

Received a hand-delivered, hand-made wedding invitation card on Sunday. My beautiful Chilean girl friend to marry a shy local boy.

Got snail-mailed a card wrapped in nappy cloth, with edges pinned together with a nappy pin. How cute. That made my Tuesday.

The funeral service only lasted two days, very untypical of a Buddhist funeral. The coffin left for the graveyard on Wednesday morning.

Accompanying a violinist to perform a bridal march and a couple of happy songs at two strangers' wedding this Sunday.

Deaths, births, reunions. That's the circle of life.

My loss, His loss

It was going to be a blast - with vanilla ice-cream topped with mixed berries, big red juicy strawberries dipped in chocolate fondue, and sweet wine to complement the dessert. I had it all thought out while daydreaming again at work, and with some friends invited over for some card games, we would be celebrating Anzac Day our way. And while I was still stuck to my office chair, the mind kept zapping sparks of electricity through my neurons as a reminder I should be working, but the frail and tired body insisted in protest that it's only a few more hours before the end of Monday and the coming of Tuesday, a public holiday.

All the fun thoughts sizzled away when I received a text message around four. I felt the phone vibrating, twice, in my pockets but did not immediately attend to it as I was in a meeting. At half past, I checked only to realise my maternal grandfather had passed away and I was to call mum urgently.

His passing was pretty sudden. My uncle had checked on granddad at his hospital room yesterday morning and he seemed fine. Granddad was still recovering from a brain haemorrhage operation a few weeks ago. Recovery hadn't been going too smoothly but we all thought since being elderly he might take time. In the afternoon, the doc called, sighting granddad's critical condition, and all my relatives rushed to the hospital. Not long after, he was gone. Then, there was news about some growth in his pancreas, Cancer, apparently. Why it wasn't detected earlier, I hadn't got a clue. Mum hadn't been told too much since she's the only one of eight siblings not living in Ipoh.

It was tough, trying to find air tickets back to KL at quarter to five. Online ticket reservations refuse to allow bookings at such a short notice. Most travel agents had left for the day. Flight Centre promised to call back, but never did. One Indonesian/Singaporean run travel agency found a flight leaving this arvo but after considering reaching KL at night, then taking a three-and-a-half hour express coach ride to Ipoh, mum said don't bother.

I am glad I saw him in January during the Chinese festivities. He was fit, healthy, full of joy that both myself and my brother had returned from Australia to visit him. I hardly knew him, only that he was a carpenter, loved his job to bits, travelled around with his motorbike, and enjoyed morning teas with his mates. Communication was our biggest enemy.

I am okay, really.

So much more than this

I think I'm in for another non-writing period. The IGNITE Youth Conference is happening this Friday and Saturday, one of its first for the church. It's going to be something similar to that of the Hillsong Conference, with paid day sessions/workshops and free night rallies. Yeah it's gonna rock the house of God! The last couple of band practices for the conference will start tomorrow night. I am quite tired - with the Easter drama/musical involvement and playing host to a couple of Sydneysiders over the weekend. Lord, please grant me the strength! I have got to be careful not to burn out, but so far am enjoying doing what I do best - making M.U.S.I.C.

I have so much more to write, but let me find time to pen them down. I'll be back soon.

The case of the missing body

After numerous band and drama practices, which largely accounted for the non-blogging period, Friday night finally arrived. The church hall was fully transformed into a law court. The arrogant prosecutor tried to wreck havoc. The confident counsellor was ready to defend. The case of Jesus' resurrection unfolded in a dramatic manner.

These are the most common claims put forward to deny that Jesus rose from the dead. Evidence from historical writings, culture and the bible can prove that the only other possible reason for the missing body is the resurrection of Jesus. Amen to that!

Jesus was not dead. He was only unconscious and later woke up
The Roman soildiers came to check on Jesus while he was still hanging on the wooden cross. Realising that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, in which they would do to speed up the process. Instead, a spear was thrust into Jesus' side, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water, indicating that Jesus was, in fact, dead. A Roman soildier had also reported to the authorities that Jesus was already dead. Two members of the Jewish council were responsible for wrapping the lifeless body of Jesus and placing it in the tomb. Pretty sure they would know if there was still breath if it is claimed that Jesus was merely unconscious. Case out the window

Jesus' body was stolen by the disciples
How this can happen is totally unreal. The Roman soildiers guarding the tomb claimed the body was stolen while they were asleep. They can't possibly have known what really happened if they had snoozed off while on duty, let alone accuse the disciples, or anyone else for that matter, for stealing. In addition to that, the penalty for the Roman soildiers who neglected their post is death, of which the abovementioned guards were not put to death. Next case please

The women made a mistake and went to the wrong tomb
Two women, both with first names Mary, bought some spices to anoint the body. They saw the huge stone covering the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away. They were the first few to report about the empty tomb and the risen Jesus. Some said they were dilusional and got the location of the tomb all mixed up. However, they saw the process of Jesus being placed in that particular tomb first hand and knew fully well where the tomb was. On a separate occasion, a couple of men also saw the empty tomb. Case dismissed

Possibly many more debates can go on but would you believe, with child-like faith, that Jesus is risen? If you do, you will experience his greatness and amazing love for you. We serve a risen God. He came, so that you will have life to the fullest.

Drama aussies

Seven hours of travelling. That's almost equivalent to the time it takes to fly from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur.
Seven hours of travelling is no fun, especially when you're hungry, tired and not really looking forward to training.
Seven hours of travelling, just to get from Wolly to Western Port, Victoria.

But I certainly didn't mind the free trip to Melbourne, only I had to wait an agonising three days before the training at Hastings was finally over.

For those who are clueless where Hastings is, it's in Mornington Peninsular. Hastings is the main industrial area because of my company's many years of existence in Western Port. We put up at one of Peppers Resorts there, and not surprising, they have golf courses of which a couple of people took advantage of. They commented over dinner that the golf courses here are so much better than any of those they've played at Wolly. I'm like, dude, get real. You need to get out of Wolly more often and see the world. Okay, maybe that was a tad too ambitious. How about me just frankly telling you that everything, except the beaches, are better than Wolly in every sense? I kept those silent comments in my head and continued to enjoy my king prawns.

Training over the first two days was quite a bore. Lucky me has completed the same course a year ago, of which my department forked out AUD$1000 for. Now I'm attending a repeat, generously organised by the human resource department. The last day was dedicated for site tours - something I was interested to have a look at, mainly because I may be contemplating taking a position here in the future, if ever anybody still wants me by then.

Interestingly enough, there was a brawl over alcohol rights during this otherwise boring company-sponsored event. I would have thought those bloody aussies would be grateful over the free flow of alcohol after 6.30pm, which we normally have in our previous training getaways last year. They were upset that the bar would discontinue serving alcohol to them after 9.30pm. The waitresses were also instructed not to sell them alcohol. Rumour has it that we were being judged harshly because the previous group of graduates who had the same training course a week earlier had taken upon themself to purchase alcohol and consume them on the bus on their way to the premise. To top it all up, there was a confirmed report that the first year graduates recruited early this year got drunk and did silly stuff.

When the HR lady noticed the slabs of beer when that group alighted from the bus, she was furious, hence the alcohol curfew. So serious was the scuffle and dissatisfaction over alcohol cut-offs that a few of them verbally abused the poor HR coordinator. I do feel sorry for her but unfortunately, she didn't handle the situation professionally. I refuse to be involved in any part of this chaotic drama that had unfolded. Some wondered why I refuse to have beer chats or even stand up for them. In the name of alcohol? I'd like to keep my job, thank you very much.

When I finally arrived at Southern Cross station, previously Spencer St station, after a full-on development course, I was very much relieved. The station looks real funky now, but what's with the name Southern Cross? It's not anywhere south of Melbourne CBD, nor any cross-like features prominent within sight, unless my eyes are going bonkers.

Anyway, I spent the next couple of days in Phillip Island. Oh joy, I was travelling towards Mornington again where I had just returned less than 24 hours before, but the trip is another journal by itself. Next time!

Teng's FAQ

I got back into the habit of reading my fellow bloggers' site after a long while, and in the process, picked up a handy tip on how to avoid repeating myself with the same common questions I get asked time and time again. Thanks Soph, I just completed a R&D - Research & Duplicate!

Q1. So when are you and J getting married?
A1. Not anytime soon since we haven't had any discussions around the big M word.

Q2. How do you manage being in another state from your other half?
A2. I guess we just do. We are both pretty independent and still have our own personal agenda to pursue.

Q3. Didn't you say Wollongong was going to be a real boring place?
A4. That was my assumption. Not anymore. The beaches are beautiful, though the selection of restaurants suck. Church is the other thing that's keeping me sane here.

Q4. Which church are you attending? Are you active?
A4. It's an AOG church, five minutes away from home. I have cell group on Tuesday nights and worship band practice on Wednesday nights. I usually attend both the morning and evening services on Sunday.

Q4. How's the weather in Wollongong?
A4. Great. It's a hundred times better than Melbourne. I don't need to number the days we have warm weather as I previously did when I was still a Melbournite. These days are plentiful, even during the winter period. It's strange, I know.

Q5. How's your job? What do you do exactly?
A5. My job is good. I just closed off a five-month long project which I managed myself. Pretty cool. In essence, I manage a project, handle paperwork, conduct research, submit proposal to customer, carry out engineering design work, assign contractors to do the installation, and lastly, commission the work and pray hard that the damn thing works!

5 weeks of cyber inactivity

Gosh has it been that long since I last wrote? :)