God's plans vs my plans

I'm a funny person. I believe in a prayer answering God and yet sometimes say prayers that I don't wish God would answer but say it anyway. Like how I told God that I surrender my plans and dreams to Him and that I want to do His will.

I know this is a bit confusing. I'm not sure how should I put this situation that I'm in, in words.

I shall start with my plans. My plans is to work overseas for a few years to gain exposure and experience then return to my home country with the hope that I could contribute better. Then somewhere along the way, in my quiet time I told God, I surrender my plans to Him. I want to do His will because based on my experience, following God's will actually turned out well for me.

These past few weeks, I sense God wanting me to work in my home country. Every time I talk to friends, I mentioned my plans now that I'm graduating soon and would very soon join the workforce and the reply I got from them were that their company has vacancies in accounting and if I'm interested I could pass my resume to them because it would be easier for me to get the job when I'm internally recommended by them or something along that line. I wondered, how come they never hear the part where I want to work overseas? I mean, won't they encourage me to work overseas? Aren't they sick of the hot weather here? This is not from one person but a few so I get the message. Loud and clear now.

Therefore, my future plans are going to be like this after completing my degree in UK this year, I'm going to look for a job in Malaysia. Afterall, "in their hearts human plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps" (Proverbs 16:9, NIV).

Passed my exams

Got my exams results today. I passed everything. Praise the Lord. Thank You Jesus for Your grace. This means that I'll be sitting for my CIMA exams in May, 3 papers and I'll be going to study in UK in June.

So to all my juniors, the final semester is manageable. I was busy completing my assignments and did not have much time to study for my exams. I only started preparing towards the end of my semester and there wasn't sufficient time to prepare myself.

I had an agonizing time while waiting for my results because while studying for my CIMA exams I realised many mistakes I made in my exams. So I'm glad I passed everything.

Vicky

Study all day, play all night

I just finished my exams but I'm still in nerd mode because I have to prepare for my CIMA exams in May. Currently studying online instead of attending classes at a tuition centre. Studying online has it's pros and cons but as long as I have the discipline I think I should be able to do it. Right now, my study timetable is pretty hectic as I have to prepare for 3 papers in May and May isn't very far away. I study in the morning and afternoon from Monday to Saturday.

All work and no play makes me a dull person so I do set aside time to relax. While I study during the day, I don't touch my textbooks or past year questions at night and on Sundays. Here's what I do when I'm not studying

• watching movies ( I recently watched "21" and "Dark Knight" both good movies)
• reading (I'm currently reading "Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis)
• playing boardgames with friends
• attending talks, seminars or Toastmasters meeting.
• meeting up with friends just to catch up
• CG meetings, church

This list is not exhaustive so if you have anything interesting going on just hit me up.

Happy Chinese New Year in advance, Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Vicky

Day trip: KL

Last Saturday, I went out with some of my course mates to KL. We were in KL from 10am - 10pm and I reached home really late. This is like the longest trip I've ever went out with friends within Klang Valley.

Anyway, KL is accessible by various public transport like the monorail, LRT, buses so there is no worries about not being able to get there. Usually, people don't drive to KL. The traffic jam can drive you mad and the parking rates is crazy. After all, it's cheaper to just take the public transport.

We met at KLCC. Walked around the park and took lots of pictures. After that while walking through KLCC Convention Centre, we noticed a dental exhibition going on so we asked if we can go in to have a look. They said yes and gave us visitor passes. One of my secondary schoolmate was working there. She recognised me. We tried out some new stuff like a new anti-bacterial hand sanitizer. The first of its kind in Malaysia. I like how it's foamy, which means if I use it while in a train, at least it won't spill all over the floor and cause a mess. Another new product that we tried is Listerine's latest product which was just launched that day. It's less spicy than the other products and I like the colour. It's purple in colour. We also watched a new technology where dentists can use that software to explain to customers the procedure involving certain treatments and the results after a few years as well as comparison between different procedures. I think dentists who have more capital to spare could consider investing in this software as it helps patients make more informed decisions. The benefits will also exceed the costs as it won't cost a bomb to upgrade the software.

Time passed really fast, and soon it was lunch time. Since we wanted to have lunch at Lot 10, we all walked from the convention centre to Pavilion and from Pavilion to Lot 10. Not very far, walking distance, provided it doesn't rain. If not we can sprint our way there.

There's this food court in Lot 10 where almost all the famous "makan" places in Klang Valley are there. It's like the branch of those famous places there like Hon Kee porridge, Kayu Nasi Kandar and so. We each ordered one type and tried each other food. It was all very delicious and I felt really full after eating all that food. Now, we don't have to travel all over KL looking for those places, we can just go to Lot 10 and it's there.

Oh, other random things we did before having lunch was taking pictures with people we don't know and since Crocs was giving out balloons, we took those balloons and gave out to kids we saw along the way.

Back to Lot 10. After eating, we went to the top floor just to see what's there. Since I've never been to Lot 10 before. You can't blame me. I live in PJ and everything I want or need is nearby, I don't go down to KL unless there's a good reason to, like a trip with friends. On the top of Lot 10. There's a gym, Actor's studio (where you can watch plays. Yoshida Brothers will be performing there but tickets are sold out), there's a restaurant there too with a nice green lawn. We took more pictures up there.

After that, we went to National Geographic store on the 3rd floor. Took more pictures and admire their pictures and wished we could take pictures like them.

Once we're done with Lot 1o, we went to Pavilion. Received sweets from a guy who dressed up as the God of Prosperity. Beat the drums on display since they allowed us to do so and yeah, took more pictures.

Then we decided to go to Berjaya Times Square which is within walking distance from Pavilion but we had to pass through Sungai Wang where a few of my friends registered as voters. Yay!

Did some shopping at Berjaya Times Square and had dinner at Sweet Chat cafe. Were planning to have either to have karaoke/movie/bowling session together but it was kind of late, by the time we finished dinner, it was already 8.30pm and I felt very full. Not to worry, I still have time to lose 10kg by the end of 2011.

We decided to take the bus instead of taking the monorail back but didn't realise it was raining. Thank God it wasn't raining heavily if not I'm going to see a lot of "I'm sick" status updates on Facebook the next day.

In order to take the bus, we had to walked from Berjaya Times Square to outside McD where we saw a few Metro buses waiting there. We boarded one heading to our destination and that the end of our KL day trip.

This was a fun and memorable trip with my friends and I hope we can go on more trips together in the future which would be harder to plan since we're all graduating and going different directions but we can certainly make time for each other.

Vicky

2011 resolutions

I make a list of resolutions almost every year since I first heard of the term and found out what it is about. I find that having goals gives us something to strive towards to in life, just my opinion. I need a direction, something to work towards to in life, a deadline, discipline.

This year, I decided to list my 2011 resolution differently. I decided to list it on 43things.com and decided to have only 3 items on the list. Well, I can have more but I think it's more achievable if I just focus on 3 instead of, say, 10.

Listing it on 43things.com also allows me to see who else have the same resolution as me so that I won't feel so alone in trying to achieve it. Reading their entry regarding their efforts towards achieving those resolutions will also sort of encourage me. Furthermore, it is connected to my Facebook so my friends who read that post will hopefully keep me accountable. The reason why I didn't achieve some of my resolutions in the past is because there is no accountability.

Anyway, here's my 3 resolutions for 2011.

1. Lose 10KG by year end.
2. Pass my exams, specifically internal exams as I would require more than a year to complete all my CIMA papers.
3. Learn a new recipe every month.

Happy new year in advance!

Vicky

How to kill a snake

I was reading the Bible this morning and the passage is Genesis 3 and as I was reading this passage aloud (I usually read the Bible aloud), I came across verse 15 which gives us a hint on how to kill a snake and if snakes could read, how a snake could kill a human, considering how dangerous a snake can be, and a bite by a snake could kill a person.

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." - Genesis 3:15, NIV.

If you're wondering who's the you in this verse, it refers to the serpent or the snake. I have never been attacked by a snake before, though I've seen many and touched some, mostly at zoos. But if I ever see a snake in the wild, I try to crush its head. Easier said than done.

Hope we never have to kill a snake,
Vicky

Langkawi: In Words

Last weekend, I went with my family to Langkawi. It's an island in Malaysia. We went there by Firefly. The plane left on time and I had a comfortable ride. The muffins served on the plane was really fresh and tasty.

The hotel we stayed in was Hotel Bahagia, a new hotel but with aggressive advertising as I see pamphlets of the hotel almost everywhere. The room was rather not too big, not too small. Anyway, I won't be expecting too much from a budget hotel. Service was excellent.

On the second day, we rented a car and drove around Langkawi. We went to a number of places such as Durian Perangin waterfalls (nice place to hike and take pictures); went to a few beaches such as black rice beach, Tanjong Rhu, Pantai Cenang; We also went to Galeri Perdana which has a collection of gifts and awards given to the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahatir Mohamad; we also went to Handicraft Cultural Complex where you can buy batik and watch a glass-blowing demonstration. After watching that demonstration, you would see the price tag on those glasses as expensive anymore. Real hard work; we also went shopping as Langkawi is a duty-free zone. Bought mostly chocolates.

On our last day there, we went for a private half-day tour organised by the hotel as part of the package we bought at Matta Fair. Since we went to most places already, the tour guide took us to some places we had not gone before like Cable Car and Canopy Walk, Mahsuri Tomb and Burnt Rice field.

Had a lot of seafood there. Food is cheap at the town area.

Hope to go to Langkawi again in the future, wish to go island hopping
Vicky