Dark Knight

I'd been debating with my friend Anna for days since Revenge of the Sith was released, that Batman would be no match in a one on one battle with a Jedi. She's a huge Batman fan. I'm not a die hard Batman fan, though I like the dude. Although I didn't get into a mosh pit or elbow anyone in line to watch the movie, I was pretty psyched to go watch it with a bunch of guys today.

DB's been having a rough couple of weeks due to his back op, so Pastor Sivin wanted to take him to watch the movie, as he really wanted to. Since me and the boys wanted to as well, I thought "what the heck", let us all men and boys go watch it together! DB, Pastor Sivin, Eric, Bubba, Benny and myself enjoyed a great afternoon of movie fun, watching the origins of the Dark Knight himself. Good movie, very nicely done and Liam Neeson is such a good actor for mentor/teacher roles, whether good or evil. Excellent actor. Great on screen persona and charisma.

I don't write movie reviews here on my blog. But...I got myself a nice link with biblical references from Sivin right here :)

I still think a Jedi would take Batman down though ;)

Past Midlife

It's my birthday today, and I'm 26 officially. Hooray. Yeah. But I'm feeling a little sad and, I don't know, I'm just not all jumpy and excited, and it has nothing to do with being 26. But I also do not get shit feelings during birthdays that some people do. Oh well...

I sometimes wish I could stay 18 or 21. I never could believe I would be where I am today. But in saying that, I just want to embrace life to the fullest as it comes right at me. I'm 26, and although it feels old, I'm not going to sulk. Heck, I might be 36 before I know it if I waste time sulking.

I'm sure and I hope there'll be nicer things to put up about my birthday by tomorrow...



Earlier in the evening, on my way to church for dinner with Pastor Sivin and worship practice, a bus was on fire by the roadside along Old Klang Road. I believe the fire had just occurred shortly before I passed through the area. The traffic was beginning to pile up, as the smoke got thicker and higher, and as the fire became more fierce. The firefighters got to the scene within minutes as I approached. There was even a mild sound of explosion. I was just concerned if everyone got out of the bus safely before the fire consumed the bus. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. I just pray that everyone got out safely and I thank God for firefighters and the jobs they do.



Looking forward to today. I hope it's a nice day...

Lil Monsters

Adorable aren't they? The sight of children sleeping remains one of the more beautiful sights in the world. Well, till they get up that is!

These 2 beautiful children sure are adorable when they are fast asleep or when they are laughing and gurgling (love that sound =)), but they sure are hyper and disobedient.

I was down in Singapore for 3 days with James for the Broadcast Asia expo, as well as taking time off to look out for a few things and meet up with a couple of friends. We took a 3.30pm bus back on Thursday and I found myself seated on a single seater, next to the father and these 2 children; separated by the walking aisle on the bus.

The kids were super-hyper, especially the boy! The girl, 'meimei' was actually far better in her demeanour and personality but you could tell that her activeness was influenced strongly by her hyper-active little brother. They climbed on the seats non-stop, meddled with things constantly, would not stop yapping away, asking questions (mostly redundant and annoying ones), screaming, jumping and pestering.

The father, for some parts, must have been the most tolerant person in the world. For only SOME PARTS. He hit them most of the time, well...every 2 minutes at least! That's how naughty they were! He's smack them every time they stood up on the seat, every time they tugged at the curtain, every time they fought and every time they pestered. He didn't only smack them on the butt, or the thigh. I even saw him smack them in the face! Safe to say, the kids, although sometimes responsive to the beatings, were mostly immune to the punishments. That's only expected when a parent over-hits the children.

The boy was at times just too much to handle. He must have annoyed the rest of the bus with his barrage of questions. He had like a set of 10-15 questions, which he repeatedly asked in a random cycle!

Some parts of their conversations were just downright HILARIOUS, but some of the things that came out of their father's mouth is just totally wrong for a father to say to a child. I can understand the frustrations of handling 2 monsters without your wife, but the choice of language is still a key learning point that the children will pick up from their parents.

Let me try to share some of the conversations they had:

Son: Daddy, are we going to 'ku ma' (aunty)'s house?

Dad: Yes.

Son: Daddy, I want to go 'ku ma's house to sleep. Can I go to 'ku ma''s house to sleep? Can I? Can I?

Dad: Ok...sit down.

During this time, the son would proceed to pester more and start climbing up and down the seat. His sister, who takes after him, begins to fidget also. The father smacks the boy.

Dad: I said SIT DOWN!

Daughter: Daddy, I want to drink water.

Son: No! No you cannot drink! It's mine!

The kids then fight over the stupid mineral water bottle. Father smacks them both.

Dad: SIT DOWN!

Son: Daddy, are we going to 'ku ma''s house? Are we there yet?

The father is visibly annoyed with his gazillion questions.

Dad: Just shut up. Sit down and shut up. Aren't you sleepy yet?

Daughter: Daddy...(she asks a bunch of questions)

Son: Daddy...(he also asks a bunch of questions)

They both continue to pester and climb up and down.

Dad: Can you all SHUT UP?! I said SHUT THE HELL UP!

He smacks them really hard and they cry for...urm...20 seconds? =S They begin to ask questions and pester again soon after.

Dad: I told you to SHUT THE HELL UP! Why can't you listen to me??

We're at a petrol stop and the dad walks down for something.

Son: Daddy, where are you going?

Dad: (believe it or not) Hell.

Me and James refrain from laughing.

Son: Daddy, where are you going? Are we at 'ku ma''s house yet?


Well, that is a summary and a paraphrased version of the amount of torture the children put on their father. It was pretty much that way till we alighted from the bus at Pudu Bus Station. Safe to say, we were not short of entertainment on the 5 and a half hour journey home.

Wobbly

A long wait

I'm among 20 odd guys who grew up in Taman Desa playing basketball 'illegally' at the Taman Desa secondary school down the road, climbing the fence and breaking through bardwires and playing an average 8 hours of ball during school holidays.

Those were the days.

Today, after 26 years of the Taman Desa recreational park existing in front of my house, it FINALLY has a basketball court! None of us could ever understand why we never had a public basketball court in the neighbourhood. Well, we could easily have been mistaken for being biased, as we loved playing the game but any initial reaction towards us being biased would easily be brushed aside if the fact that Taman Desa, for a good 20 years, has been a dominantly Chinese neighbourhood, be taken into account.

We could never understand why our recreational park, beautiful as it is, convenient as it is, going through quite a few makeovers as it did; never had a basketball court. Instead, we had 3 tennis courts that also served as volleyball courts and occassionally netball courts, 3 badminton courts, a run down soccer field, a walking/jogging path and some other things. But tennis/volleyball courts?? I mean, ok fine, who really plays tennis in a Chinese area? No basketball court? You have got to be joking.

Whoever finally decided on there being a basketball court in the area is a genius! However, one sure isn't going to do the trick. Too many basketball enthusiasts but only one court, 2 halves. It's going to be really crowded!

Went down to the court this evening to check it out, and to see if there were anyone I knew from the old days and sure enough, there were a few old boys there. Most of the people on the court were new faces, young punks and one or two standouts who really seemed to have game. Got to shoot some hoops on the other half of the court from 7pm till nightfall. It's been a while...

Too bad I can't play competitive basketball anymore. Well, not at least till I permanently fix that niggling dislocated shoulder problem of mine =)