GSC at Tropicana Mall

I somehow had the idea that the new GSC cinema at Tropicana Mall would be less popular but possibly more confortable. I was right that it was still possible to get tickets for Transformers but the hall was terrible. Hall 5 was a smaller hall but never would I thought they would make the seats so near to the screen. At 5th row of the 10 rows in the hall, it was straining. Yup, this is nothing like the one in 1Utama. So, forget the movie if is it in this smaller hall. Not worth it unless you got the row against the wall.

The movie is great in many ways but my experience was spoilt by mutiple vertical lines for a long period of time!

Another irritating note was the censorship. It was so bad a short part of a scene actually repeated. Someone needs to go for editing class 101. Wonder who filem negara hires to do this.

Michael Jackson

His music continues to live on.
1958-2009

Vision for life

It is 2 years now that I am specs and contacts free. I'm so thankful for the surgery. It made climbing Mt K easier since my eyes get dry very easily with contacts. I didn't have to worry about them falling out during water rafting - a girl's contacts did came off when her raft overturned. :-p

Went for my annual check today. I thought my vision was not as sharp as it was last year. From the test, there is a very slight power on eye and very slight astigmatism as well. It could go back down since our eyes power can change slightly if our eyes are tired. So glad the conclusion is just tired and dry eyes. Must rest my eyes more.

Really don't want to go back to specs or contacts anytime soon. Neither do I want to go through the procedure again if possible. (As long as I got my eyes checked annual, Optimax will correct any shortsightedness for free).

I found out that up to today, Optimax is still the only Lasik centre in Malaysia with ISO certification. I guess it is important with more and more different outlets offering this service. Hey, it's our eyes! What if the centre is run by people who are not exactly qualified or equipment that are not well maintained?

Bobbi Brown Workshop

I have been following Yvonne's blog in the recent few months. She recently organised a contest for a free workshop at Bobbi Brown. I thought it would be very helpful for me since I don't know much about skin care and make up. I have a great interest in how BB is branded to make people look clean, fresh and modern (basically to still look yourself but better...get it?). Glad that I won a space for it. :)

Syaz, Tammy, Hanna and myself met Yvonne at Pavilion, Bobbi Brown stand alone store earlier today. There, we were all given a booklet to note down steps and the products used. They prepared for each one of us a whole set of brushes. I had the privilege to learn from Simone, the Retail Manager at that outlet. It was a real good learning experience for me since I'm quite clueless plus I get to try hands on (on half my own face) one step at a time - Simone will apply and I'll attempt to replicate.

There were a lot of emphasis on pre-makeup/skincare - getting it right allows the make up to last longer. Other than the basic 101 make up methods and choosing the best colour tones for ourselves (I didn't take down that much note since I was the demo :-p, but do check out more details on Yvonne's post), I got a few extra tips from Simone that is interestingly new to me.

1. Always apply eye cream 1st. If you apply other creams around your face and then apply eye cream, the left overs on your fingers will go on your eye and this can cause oil seeds around the eye.


2. If you have combination of oily and dry skin, always apply moisturiser on your dry skin area first.


3. Only apply foundation and powder around the area on your face that you want to cover. Not your whole face. (this is interesting, I always thought we should apply our whole face in case it looks like patches everywhere. BB concept is that the foundation/powder are suppose to blend in like our actual skin...Ohhhh)


4. If you have very dry lips, try applying lip balm before going to bed.

I didn't left empty handed. *sigh* I told myself I won't be buying anything! I bought the latest Sheer Colour Cheek Tint (because it is uniquely convenient) and Long Wear Cream Shadow (because it lasts long - there justified). Both so tiny and both cost so much :-p They also came with a tiny-ier free gift.

A big thank you to Yvonne for organising this for all of us. Really appreciate it. The counter photo was shot by Yvonne and here's a group photo from Syaz. I will get a camera...one day.

The Life You’ve Always Wanted

This is one of my reading assignment that I drag on for a little too long. Below is my personal summary of this book by John Ortberg.

SPIRITUAL
Our spiritual life is not measured by the regularity of our journal entries. God can use it to lead us into life but with that but our spiritual life is measured by our growing love for God and people. Spiritual discipline is any activity that can help me gain power to live life as Jesus taught and modelled it. Ortberg gave the example of a lady who sees “quiet time” as spiritual devotion but does not count time spend caring for her children as a spiritual act.

One of the basic laws of life is rhythm – night/day, winter/summer, wake/sleep, time of consolation/time of desolation. Both season are inevitable and can bring unique growth. Holiday = holy day.

Knowledge does not equal to spiritual transformation. A person whose knowledge of the bible can be 10 times greater than an average unchurched person but is that person 10 times more loving, patient and more joyful? When we read the bible, the goal is not for us to get through the Scripture but to get the Scripture through us. Sometimes that means sticking to one psalm or even one word long enough to learn what we need to learn.

HURRY
We should ruthlessly eliminate hurry from my life. Life is cluttered when we are weighed down by things that we have failed to say no to. Perhaps Abraham Lincoln achieved the depth of thought he did because he grew up with so little to read. William Herndon, his biographer claimed that Lincoln read less and thought more than any man in his sphere in America. Today, we have largely traded wisdom for information, depth for breath. We want to "microwave" maturity.

PRAYER
Prayer is learned behaviour. Nobody is born an expert at it. No one ever masters prayer. “Lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.” -C.S. Lewis. Our minds may wander during prayer but it may be the very thing our heart most needs to speak to God about. Some things may not seem spiritual but no point praying about things that are noble but not really in our hearts. Nothing kills prayers faster than pretending to be noble.

SERVANTHOOD
One of the hardest things in the world is to stop being the prodigal son without turning into the elder brother. It is easier to hear about serving than to actually serve: Ortberg gave the example of a person who gave excuse not to do something by going for a rally to teach and inspire to that very thing.

Stupid Malaysians

Reading that many object to making English a must pass subject for SPM is really sad. Read it here.

I do not understand what the general Malaysian (who are responding) are thinking. Are we so stupid? English is the very single most important subject to secure a job! Why isn't it necessary to pass it?

And the more terrible fact is, the current English syllabus is already way too simple. An easy way to compare is the 1119 marks and the normal SPM marks based on the same paper. For someone who scored an A1, their 1119 marks can vary from A1 to C5 (possibly even lower). But that's not the main issue here.

Let Malaysian continue to fail the simple English. Goodbye Malaysia. Very soon, the population will no longer understand what English is.

Sharing from an average guy

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to hear from Pastor Chris Hodges from Church of the Highlands. He was in town for the 13th MCCC.

He shared how God has used him, someone who is average of the below average (he was kind of exaggerating the whole below average kind of person he is) He never scored a "B" as a student because he usually scored lower. He also shared his first experience preaching and how he was corrected and learned. It was difficult but God used him to start what is today the fastest growing church in US.

Jesus' disciples didn't have the most glorifying jobs and they are probably young and inexperience as well. Yet, they were give the opportunity to learn by following Him.

Pastor Chris mentioned how he multiply himself but training others and guiding them in the things that he do. He always have someone with him to watch and learn. Eventually, he will allow them to try. He believes that when a leader demonstrates, his followers can learn best. People see, people do.

God can use anyone. Just allow Him to and be teachable. :)

Be thankful!

Recently I have been maybe a little concern over my savings. There are quite a few things that Iwould love to get for myself. And all that requires $. As I look at my bank statement, the column that indicates amount going in is a consistent amount (which I know I should be thankful for) but the amount that is withdrawn is occasionally more la. As I list the reason for my withdrawal, I know that sometimes some things are not avoidable. Maybe I'm frustrated at myself for not doing anything about it.

I think it has been a little too long since I last went for a mission trip. I have been going every year until last year. But God reminded me yesterday that there are endless things to worry about. Not that I should not be planning my future but getting frustrated is pointless. He reminded me of those people I have met in my past trips. They much more needs than I do. Yet, they live their lives trusting God to provide each meal for them. I think they live a happier and simpler life than most of us in the city.

Today, I want to be thankful that I am alive, healthy and have a paying job. There is only so much I can do today. God can take care of everything else for now.