God says, "Surprise"

Time just pass and fly by so fast....suddenly i'm already at the end of my first semester. Gosh never thought i will make it through 1 semester....but wait...i'm not officially done with my first semester yet...still in the midst of FINALS....gosh it has been abt 1 1/2 years since i sat for an examination...not really used to it....but coming to the 2nd week of my finals i'm getting the hang of it...many ups and downs during this examination period...but today God never fail to surprise me again....and when i think about it i feel that its funny...and ironic at the same time....thiss time He really SURPRISED me....was quite shocking to me...but yet i thank God for this surprise...it just teaches me yet again that nothing is impossible with God in the picture...talk to me about it if you readers wanna know about it...hhahaha..suspense...ooo

anyway about my final examination, i'm already done with 3 papers....only 2 more to go and yaaaaahoooooooo.....back to KL....oooppsss..first CF camp then only back to KL with my beloved family and friends...and some new guests in my house...hahaha...

don't want to write too much...just thought maybe u wanna see some "studying" pics, schedule of my finals and some others..haha..enjoy...

time table for my finals...scribbled in red means "Done"...this is after my first paper

After 3rd paper...gets very excited

Another killer subject....and a wrong choice of elective paper...but too bad..done it already..this is kononnye studying...pretend only

Recently, bonded closer with a few new hostel mates...since then we've been having most of our meals together...but occasionally we will all eat together to celebrate something or jst chilling out in a gang...so here are some pics of this muhibbah group....Truly 1 Malaysia

Indian, Malay, Sarawakian, Chinese all on one table...gosh i wish this happens everywhere with everyone...this was at KFC...

Another eating outing with the girls just before our stressful weeks..haha...loving it

Anyway thats all...see you all after my finals back in KL...

God surprised me today....how bout you??

muaks

Phew, what a weekend....

Over the weekend, my friends(hostel) and I manage to do some fun stuff...We waited a whole week for this weekend to arrive as we kind of planned it before we went home for our raya break. We had to work so hard on not eating too expensive food or do any shopping till we reach that day. Personally i found it so difficult as i was always hungry....gosh....

Anyway over the weekend, the CF in my uni @ PKA(Persaudaraan Kristian Agape) organized an inter CG(also known as CF) outing....it was suppose to be 2 CGs going but ended up the whole CF wanted to be part of it...hahah...we went to Batu Ferringgi to have a BBQ....and so i thought maybe my hostel friends would like to come along since they have never been to that place before since we reached USM. But the thing that is hesitating me was that i have a Malay girl in my group of friends. It took me quite a while to be able to ask her to come. It was easy to ask the others cause they would like to go there and at the same time celebrate Lantern Festival. But i didn't wanna leave this malay friend of mine all alone in the hostel. I was afraid that she may not like that idea because it was organized by a Christian organization and may be a no no to her. But God amazed me and reminded me of who is the greater one and that He was in control of things. She did not hesitate to agree on coming along with us. Ironically she was even more enthusiastic about going than me. So Saturday came and off we went to that place. But as we were travelling there the clouds became darker and darker. The worst part is the darkest cloud is over the place we were suppose to go. The rain did not hold itself and let go of the raindrops as we get nearer to the place. It did not drizzle but poured so hard. In the car we were discussing if there was plan B. But what do you know, faith and trust in the Lord by the CF members that there was no plan B. So as we journeyed there, i was questioning God why does it have to rain? How are my friends going to see how Christians are actually and how His name can be glorified? But as we reached the beach, the rain slowly stopped. So we got down the car and walked towards the beach. The view of the God's glory was shown in the sunset we saw. It reminds me again of God being in control. But throughout the night, the rain start and stop. So at the end of it, we still had our BBQ and fellowship. As the whole thing ended and we were on the way back to the car, my malay friend said something which amazed me. This was her comment, " Eh thanks ya ajak aku datang. Aku enjoy dan rasa seronok. I tak rasa di singkirkan. Saya ingat mereka akan tengok saya semacam tetapi tidak. Mereka accept saya dan suruh saya join mereka juga. Mereka juga cakap dengan saya macam biasa. Bestnya....thanks ya Monica." (Thanks for inviting me to come. I enjoyed myself and had lots oof fun. I did not feel left out or being looked at one kind. But they accepted me and in fact they asked me to join them. They also talked to me normally. That was nice. Thanks yah Monica) at that moment, i realized that even though the rain and many other hindrances came, God's name was still glorified. My malay girlfriend was touched by the kindness that the PKA members showed to her.They never left her out. HOWEVER, as one person was blessed I was dissapointed by what I saw. I saw a sight that i have seen before, a sight that i myself was in the wrong of doing it too, a sight that i wish would never happen. the word is CLIQUES. Sadly I also saw this even in a Christian setting. but i guess we're not in a perfect world (it's still not an excuse). but i would say that most of my CG members did make an effort to talk to them and try to make them feel welcome. I myself tried...anyway that was Saturday

On Sunday, we went out to Gurney Plaza to celebrate the September Babies b'day. So happen most of the girls in my grp are all Sept babies. hahah...so being students, we couldn't simply give each one a b'day celebration but we decided to combine and go to Secret Recipe to celebrate it. It was worth every cent we saved the past 1 month. I know Chillis or TGIF use to be a norm for b'day celebrations for me but ever since i became a student, and ever since i became friends with them i had to be conciderate and also be a bit stingy. But it doesn't matter where we celebrate it. The most important thing was the fellowship and the company of each other. I think being able to enjoy their company was more meaningful to me than the food(even though i ate so much..hahaha)...was more meaningful than the big shopping mall...the laughter and talk with one another was more fun than the many inviting shops around...well below are some pictures...

more pics as soon as i got the pictures from a friend...hehe

Thunder, lightning and rain

Some pictures from USM

Since i got a new laptop, i managed to upload some pictures from my phone to the laptop(all thanks to the wonderful technology of built in bluetooth)....this first grp of pictures will be how my hostel looks like...not very posh(malaysian hostel) neither bad....its sufficient for me

This is how my room looks like....actually the furnitures are very new and still in a good condition...and God blessed me with such a nice room...many other hostels are already very old and it looks like its in a bad shape...there's even 1 hostel block where they caged the ceiling fan....u wonder why they would do such thing....anyway the room that i live in is super cooling and breezy...too cooling till the 1st week of orientation my room flooded...hehe...rained too heavily...notice the last picture...some clothes are hanging on it...this happens when my roommate and i would like our clothes to dry during the rainy days....so we pull our chairs under the fan and hang the clothes there....

This is the veiw from my window...nice green field and the boys dorm(not something nice to see)....thank God for the nice green field...owh...i am also able to see my lecturers cars from my room(especially my professor advisor)...heheh

This is where we hang our clothes..if u look closely, there is a plastic sheet on one of the railings...this is to protect our clothes from getting drips of water from the floor above...

The next batch of pictures are pictures of my hostel mates (who happen to be people i hang out with a lot)...normally people would always hang out with their coursemates...but not for me...maybe because of my age...somehow not so ngam with my coursemates....so almost every meal is spent with this bunch of ppl...i would clasify our group as the "yang lain-lain" or in english its called "the others"....the reason being is coz we have a few things in common....we are older than the rest of the 1st yr students, we don't really like to mix with our race groups(for me lah), we come from different races and lastly we just clique lah....hahaha...i would call it the muhibbah group...heheh(so merdeka man)

My roommie....Jeslyn....well thats a name she gave herself....but i'm cool with it...easier to remember...but yeah she's one special girl...been through a lot and is still strong as a person...i've never had a roommate b4 in my life(not counting camps)...i think she really set a very high standard if i were to have another roommate(i hope not)...btw she's Chinese

This is my immediate neighbour...Her name is Aznira but we call her YA....don't know why..but its cool....neway she's one of the most open Kelantan malay girl...the first week of uni, she came in without her scarf on her head...and because of that, many looked weirdly at her (sad right)...therefore she was pressured...but i think her true self is beyond the scarf on her head....someone really crazy and fun....hahaha....i think she's the joker in our group...love hanging out with her...

This is Quan....she comes from Miri...a chinese girl from Miri(just like Lydia)...she's one smart girl...she came into uni with a rather high pointer....and she seems to know lots of things....even if its not her field of study...and i find her hair extreamly straight...i am still wondering if it is natural or she did something to her hair....she's also quite fascinating....once all of us went to a mamak(ppl in Sabah and Sarawak don't experience mamak life) to have dinner and she asked a really cute question...."what is Naan?"....so we ordered and let shared...her expression after eating it looks as if she went for some "ho chiak" food hunting show....so funny...can't express how funny it is here..

Look at the girl with white glassess(the one in purple..can ignore the rest)...She's Claire...She is also a Sarawakian but she is really Iban....b4 i went to USM, i kinda told God that i wanted to meet with the East Malaysian ppl and maybe be friends with them...and TADA!!! on the day i arrived in USM, she was the first person i met......i think its nice to see how God was slowly answering my prayer....hehehe.....when it comes to camera , she's the expert too...when i look at her, and her camera, i'm reminded of ppl back home who have nice DSLR Cameras...and she's engaged...so maybe we'll get to witness her wedding one day....hehehe

Some events that i experience in USM....International Day....we had different kinds of culture from all over the world...so we manage to see the different kinds of food(and taste too), costumes, and language...quite a fun day...but not for our pockets..haha

Last one is something random i did for my hostel...played futsal(all girls team..woohoo!!!)....but lost lah..heheh...but was fun

Will update more when i get some sort of internet to my laptop...cherios

Thanks for reading

USM so far....

Being a student again is so worth it....i'm sure those of you who just started working knows what i'm talking about...however i still love teaching....but being a student again is also great...

So far USM has been good...i love the fact that nobody thinks i'm older and everyone thinks i'm from east malaysia...and the fact that the ppl i mix with are quite muhibbah....chinese, indian, malay and sarawakian...loving the fact that i'm able to join basketball again and playing again....so far have been playing with a bunch of strangers and a lot of China students.....they are more friendly than those malaysian chinese guys....at least they allow me to play....hopefully my chinese language will improve after 3 years

some reflection as i stepped into USM, i just realized how terrible chinese ppl can be(malaysian)....especially when they gather together....they just forget about the people around them...they somehow just brush off everyone around them....thats why i have made it a point to mix with other races....sad sad...so typical....i beh ta han (cannot stand it)....

Well my Bahasa Malaysia has definately improved.....thats why people think that i'm east Malaysian...hehehe...

Well would just like to share some lessons i have learnt so far...

1) God has been good....

He has provided me with a good roomate. She's a chinese who speaks mandarin well and a lil English...so one thing good from this is that we will be able to help each other out in our languages. We help each other out a lot. For example, she helped me with translating what the chinese waiters say and i help her with some of the explainations in her books or the words i say....we also help each other out in our daily chores...

God has also been with me throughout my orientation week and 1st week of class. It was quite foreign when it came to registration of courses. I was virtually lost until some friends came by to help explain then i understood. The 1st class was about Literature and i only knew 2 names in the whole list of authors....that was quite sad...it was quite discouraging.....and so i paniced and really tried to look for other ways of escaping literature. So i decided to try to look around and try to change course to something that i'm well versed with. But after all the effort, i was let down. USM decided to stop the Early Childhood education course to 1st year students due to goverments strict order. Was quite down after that....but thank God for providing good technology where i could express it to my brother and gg....they helped me to think differently ....to put things into the right perspective...

2) God is calling me to obey...

Well i believe that this is a God given course and university for me....and throughout the time i was down, as i was reading the reflection from Purpose Driven Life book, obedience is all i could remember reading from that book...i think it was God's perfect timing for me to read that chapter....so it is still a difficult jouney but i have to humble myself and obey....

Right now, i'm back in KL(going back tomorrow though ) and it feels good to be back to surprise some friends and to be eating good home cook food.....great to be pampered for a lil while (especially with the washing of my clothes hehehe )

Well thats my thoughts so far...my life as a STUDENT in USM...a life following God's call....

 God bless ppl...