The Ideal Guy for me

I am writing this post as a response from a friend’s challenge. We were poking fun with each other and she said I should list down the characteristics and qualities of my ideal guy…I thought it would be fun, so here it is…

1. He is wise

Money-wise, knowledge-wise, etc basically this guy should be wiser and responsible. It helps if he has a degree or higher than that because I believe that the guy should be wiser than me in other aspects so we can complement each other…

2. He is employed

Yes, he must have a job. Enough said.

3. He is loyal and caring

To me being loyal and caring is important, I really like these qualities in my boyfriend

4. He is a good listener

I love a guy who would listen but then again this creature is quite rare…

5. He is protective not possessive

I’ve dated and had casual flings with several guys who are protective AND possessive. Their possessiveness started off quite flattering to me, however after several dates (or two dates the most) it started to bug me. Hey, I like you but you turn me off with your penchant of possessiveness dressed as protectiveness. I like the way some men would hold the small of my back or my shoulders guiding me to cross the roads, but maybe before we say COMMIT, let’s just stick with the hands’ holding, kay?

6. He encourages my dreams…and pursue his as well

When a guy has ambition and passion, I find his level of sexiness and attractiveness increase to the MAXXXX! Now, I watched once in Oprah about finding a soulmate…the speaker (i forgot her name) said that your soulmate made you to be better than you are – in other words, the said man helps you be a better person. Being an occasional pessimist, I’d love my guy to encourage me to pursue my dreams and shares his with me.

Well, that’s the 6 traits of an ideal guy for me. If this guy exist, wow…i’ll be the luckiest girl in the world. If he doesn’t, i guess that’s reality. But whatever comes or may be…i’ll keep my eyes open for him.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

I have a prayer answered through the means of this prayer…try it! it works

Holy Spirit, Thou who make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideal. You who give me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires my be. I want to be with You and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. Amen.

Person must pray this 3 consecutive days without stating one’s wish.

After 3rd day your wish will be granted no matter how difficult it may be. promise to publish this soon as your favor has been granted . N.S.

The Reluctant Pilgrim

If life is a pilgrimage, then I am its reluctant pilgrim. If life is an adventure, then I’ll be a lost tracker. To be frank, I don’t have the slightest clue on how to begin my story, hey I don’t even get the quotes I’m trying to quote. I am clueless on what is a pilgrimage, what do I do as a pilgrim and why did I embarked on this trip at the first place.

When my parents promised me a trip as my birthday present, I was elated. I’m particularly excited with this trip because, though I hate to admit it, this is my first trip “overseas”. All I could think of was shopping, shopping and shopping. Before I embarked on this journey, my father had warned me that this is not going to be an ordinary trip. I accepted his advise casually because in my head, I was already counting the millions of rupiah I was going to bring to Medan, not to mention the list of things to bargain and buy there! My journey as a pilgrim began accidentally, and as I began to slowly shed the image of an excited tourist to a repentant pilgrim, I began to understand that the true essence of the trip lies not in the destination, rather it was the journey itself.

One of the places we visited in Medan was the Mary Annai Velankanni Church, situated in Tanjung Selamat, approximately half an hour’s drive from Bandar Polonia. The Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni (or Our Lady of Good Health) is a symbolically beautiful church, with statues and ceiling paintings that depicts a somewhat unusual look for a typical church.

Like almost most young adults I’ve known, we are at a stage where religious affairs come in second to our material world. Earlier before we depart for Annai Velankanni Church, I found myself “bullied” into being a photographer for some “aunties”. Despite my annoyance and invisible reluctance, I let myself being bullied – perhaps, that’s the least I could do. However, upon arrival at the church’s compound, I was met with a feeling of empty excitement not to mention sceptical. I don’t see any magic nor miracles here…I want to go shopping! Not here, definitely. But I don’t know what came into me as we joined in the sunset mass at the church’s Community Hall (situated at the ground floor)…I was suddenly spellbounded, no, stupefied by the beauty of the mass, unable to be exactly comprehended through writing. It’s like being given a fresh, cool glass of water in the midst of a hot afternoon…it was mysteriously refreshing. I guess, the grace was not supposed to be permanent, I was rudely awakened by my mum’s incessant call to look after our bags.

One of the miracles at Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni was its natural spring just underneath Maria Annai Velangkanni statue’s feet. Since one of the main “attractions” is the spring water, I decided to drink it myself. I found myself longing for the water- it makes me feel “alive”. It is sweet, clear and refreshing to drink the spring water. I even prayed for my asthma to be healed as I drank the water. It did not healed as I emptied the mineral water bottle I used to put the water in, yet I find my breathing problems became tolerable. Perhaps, God will heal my asthma in His own time…

What does this story had to do with being a pilgrim? I don’t know myself…but what I can tell you is there is more to this church than just its miracle spring. It makes you feel at peace with yourself, with the world surrounding you, with all the world has to offer. And take this, not only Catholics can go and visit, people from all religious backgrounds, nationality, regardless of colour and creed can come and seek for spiritual healing here, or whatever it is they are looking. “Like the woman at the well, I was seeking for things that could not satisfy…” so the hymn goes. The results will vary of course, it depends on how you are willing to allow yourself to experience the mysterious, yet profound power of healing. I can’t assure you that you’ll find everything there, but what I am definite is you’ll find a quiet strength to help you face the world.

“As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow” A.C. Benson.

For further information on Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni, do contact :

email: shrine annaivelangkanni@hotmail.com

website: www.medanannaivelankannishrine.com

address: Jl. Sakura III No.10 (before Taman Sakura Indah), Tanjung Selamat, Medan, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

Just a Thought…

I don’t know why I was practically in a bad mood last Friday. Perhaps I was annoyed with my neighbour’s guest who simply parked his vehicle inside our compound. Yea, yea…I know, Love thy neighbour but obviously this person has no respect for us. I know-lah your “saudara” is a Datuk (and the Datuk happens to be our neighbour) but that does not mean you can bully us middle-class neighbours. Since I was so pissed, I closed our gate with his vehicle inside and let him beg to get his car out…HAHAHAHA!!! Imagine, the driver saw me outside of the door and yet he stared at me as if he wanted to challenge me to ask him to move his car. Nah, baru kau tau!!!

Then at night, after tuition I was in for another shock. The road to our house was narrow and next to my neighbour’s house was an empty and large lot. But her guests, go and park sesuka hati ja…as if there was no house next to theirs. Then, there were Kancil bullies (big cars who thinks Kancil and any small cars not fit for the road) who refused to let me and my poor Kancil in to our house. I also refused to budge HAHAHAHA..I’m tired of all this bullying..no more Miss Nice Neighbour!!

I guess, even though you have the VIP status and the title, it does not mean you can take advantage of us poor citizens. Come on-lah, as leaders you are supposed to serve, not to be worshipped! Puh-lease, at this moment my respect toward that VIP neighbour is gone. I wonder why do they like to bully us…this time…I lock the gate and just give them a piece of my mind…

It’s my life!!

Lovin’ Life as a teacher

Can’t believe that the three months practicum is almost over. As predicted (how boring can I be   ) I felt a mixture of emotions, both sad and glad. Sad for leaving a wonderful school with its friendly teachers and most of all the students that I’ve taught. I could never forget the day when Ian and Alex went to the staffroom and grabbed my stuffs for our second English class; or the light moments with 1AM2 with Jay trying to speak English; my final class with 2AM1 where we had the funnest lesson! I never knew that being a teacher can be so rewarding after a hard day’s work. Nor can I forget the moment I lost my cool on the students, but then again…I hope I didn’t lose my dignity as a teacher as well. I just can’t believe the dreaded and never ending lesson planning is about to come to an end, nor can I ever erase from my memory the sporting students I had during my three observations…thank God for giving me naughty yet brilliant students.

For 2AM1, our farewell last Tuesday was so short yet when I read the comments you gave me about me and my teaching, it brings a smile to my face. All of you are tremendously gifted and intelligent, sporting, kind-hearted although most of you guys are naughty!! To tell the truth I am going to miss all of you so much…I actually wished I didn’t have to leave…there’s so many things I wanted to show you, to teach you, to make you see how life can be wonderful even though we are all sitting in the dreary hot classroom. To the girls of 2AM1, always be the responsible and obedient girls that I always know…to Ottey, thanks for making my lessons with your class smooth and keep on being responsible To Karen, Jessica and the rest, thanks for all the cooperation you gave to me and to Natalia even though you can be a handful, you have so many talents…keep on shining like a star! All of you…I may not be teaching you in the near future, be in mind that you will always be inside my heart

 Take care and keep in touch!

Sabah’s recent apparition – what’s next?

Last June, the whole state was taken in a whirlwind buzz about the recent apparitions happened in Kampung Masak. Now that the buzz is already almost buried into the past, what is next for the people of Sabah? I guess most of them who had made the trip to see the phenomenon with their own eyes had now gone back to their daily life…perhaps life does go on after all.

But what has the phenomenon done us? Has it inspired repentence? Has it made the people who saw the “miracle” change their lives into something better? What about the “owner” of the coconut tree? Will the coconut tree ends up like the one in Palembang?

As for me, the recent apparitions had made clear how gullible some people are. But maybe being gullible stems from a deep feeling of insecurity…a sense of nothingness and insatiable hunger for God. In this modern world, we so quickly overwhelmed by the demands of the world that sometimes we need a sign that God is there. Perhaps instead of looking for external signs, maybe what we could do look within us and see our own relationship with God…Have we prayed enough? Have we read the Bible enough?

I don’t know what will happen next, yet I do hope that all of us will be enriched and blessed in many ways…Amen.

Pre-practicum jitters

Tomorrow’s D-Day, and I’m still worried about my hair.

Tomorrow is a new beginning, the end of the advent of holidays, the day where we finally gather at the institution and be prepared to face the real classroom. Like Spartan’s 300 (although we are actually 22) the anticipation for a battle in the classroom is real, not to mention the upcoming seige of endless mind-boggling seminars and test of skill. Will I ever be a great teacher? Will I ever be a revered educator? I don’t know, I could only say, “Pass me the BK double cheeseburgers…” Or make it the mushroom cheese…

The thing is I am not ready to go out! I still want to hang inside the comfort of a lecture room where everything is simulated and written in black and white. I am not ready to be among students whom I have heard from the grapevine are “maliscious”. I am not the person who can stand in front of forty other students not sweating and stumbling on every word I say. I am not the one who can write lesson plans with ink…make that a pen’s ink not a printer’s.

Will I ever emerge alive and well in the practicum battle? A nightmare for trainee teachers in pursuit of the Holy Grail called a “B.Ed”?

God, help me.

On being an EFL teacher

What does it like being a teacher? So far, I am loving it despite the mental tiredness and the endless paperworks. Today I am embarking on a new journey in my career…I am going to tutor a Korean child.

I’ve started tutoring another Korean friend and so far she is doing well. Probably because she already has the basic for English. But this one is different. He is an eleven years old boy, who was very reluctant in seeing me, furthermore teaching him. His mother told me that he was very stressed because he could not speak English to his friends. When I looked at him, I suspect that he might be another example for “silent period” because when I told him to write his name, he could understand. I get excited over the thought of teaching this kid because I don’t know…maybe he is a force to be reckoned with. Anyhow, there’s another problem…I don’t speak Korean and I’ve learnt that first language do have an influence in foreign language learning.

To be continued…

Go put your records on…

Whenever I hear Corrine Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On”, I am instantly lifted. Not only it’s catchy, it’s also meaningful…well, at least to me. The message I get from the song is not to worry over trivial things or the complexities of life, rather just “put your records on” and dance to the beat of the music of life.

Of course there will be times when we were perplexed with life and sometimes we doubt our own identity, these are part and parcels of life. I guess, maybe why we seldom put our hair down is because we are afraid of being judged and afraid of risks.

Whatever is holding us, it ain’t good…so why not, just put our record on and dance…