Grace has MOVED!

Hey fellow readers:

I have moved to http://grace-ious.blogspot.com/ :D

See you there!

-Gracie-

Something to think about

Behind the corpse in the reservoir, behind the ghosts in the links,
Behind the lady who dances and the man who madly drinks,
Under the look of fatique, the attack of migraine and the sigh
There is always another story, there is more than meets the eye.

W.H. Auden


I love it. I loved it once I saw it and I love it more right now.

It's so easy for us to judge someone and yet so hard for us to be as quickly to love. This, is an amazing reminder that hey, you have your reasons, your story on why you are the way you are - and it's so important for us to be reminded that other people do too...you're not the only one who has gone through some hard time.

I'm guilty of the judging as well - sometimes, when I see those who throw themselves madly into work (which includes me, ironically), I somehow believe that "hey, I won't be like that next time".

There's always a reason why people are the way they are.
There's always a reason why they choose to live life the way they're living it now.

I would love to hear the stories, if only they would tell them to me.

The jogoya trip

Critics Note: the food was good :) but sadly not great.

Grace moment: I loved the coconut (pic/photo above) and went around hunting for it - I asked the cook and he pointed to where the bathroom area was (I, not knowing the coconuts are actually really situated on the way to the washroom) thought he didn't know english and ignored him. =.="

Oh wells, it was this great experience since I was given directions by **eh hem** a guy who led me to anywhere else but the restaurant. My lack of direction sense really didn't help the matter.

We got there thanks to Amanda! (my wonderful gps system that breathes) :D

Being Random

LoL.

A nice pic of me and my MGT group members @ the curve.

=)

(we were supposed to be observing logos - we finished early and observed the logos even closer! (the logos of the restaurants on the napkins) =>)

Have a great week!

The Present

I’ve been working for 12 hours a day from Monday to Thursday – and rewarded myself with ‘Jogoya’ yesterday :D - will be posting up some pics soon...honestly, I'm a bit too lazy at the moment.



Having been reading a fascinating book by Michael Koh, I can’t help but agree on his views concerning time – something that I myself am guilty of at times – not living the moment.

I think it was the worst last week – somehow, I just wasn’t into the present – my mind was at work when I was at home or having heart to hearts with my friends and family and my mind was distracted while I was working.

It’s refreshing to be reminded that the present – now, this moment, this day, this minute – is not called a gift for nothing  and living life simply means embracing it to the fullest (and being thankful that it’s given to you!)

A thousand miles away

The KLIA lights have long fadded away from my sight. I remember the sound of laughter, the joy and excitement of a new chapter in life mingled with possible apprehension about what would come. I was never the one who was holding a boarding pass and carrying 3 luggages and numerous hand carries but it was always written on their faces - and my turn would soon be coming when I would be the one frazzled and nervous and excited and...perhaps one can never be fully ready for the goodbyes and farewells.


I miss you already.

It's amazing how missing someone makes you feel and how constant it can be. I know so many people that I simply never stop missing - the feeling is always there - thank God for technology nowadays but it's still not the same.

I hate farewells.

Thankful

I had so many topics on my mind to post about (i.e. I wanted to write a review on '27 dresses' as well as 'P.S. I love you', I wanted to blog about something totally random) but now that I'm in front of my computer (having been down with fever and flu), I feel too thankful to talk about anything else than how totally awesome He has been to me.

It had happened like any other internship search I had been on - some companies will call you back and some don't - but my internship/part time job search was different than all the others I had been on - because this time, it was personal.

I wanted an internship with a company (which I will not name due to obvious reasons of how easy it is for blog entries to come up on Google search), I'll call it Company B. I wanted an internship with this really reputable company because of so many reasons:

1. The company’s name would look awesome on my resume
2. It was a short distance from my house (relatively short, anyway)
3. I really respected the values on which the company stood for….and the list goes on…

When things started going wrong with someone of certain authority in the company, I was so hopping around, annoyed (you might or have not heard my incessant ranting on the subject – if you have, I offer my sincere apologies – I was really acting like a child). While I was extremely frustrated with Company B as well as being in the middle of my exams, I placed in an application for Company A – a half-hearted effort at most, unmotivated by the fact that this company was much less reputable than the previous company I had once had the blessing of interning for.

Company A incessantly contacted me and with a telephone interview by my now-manager, I was in – I got the internship – and the pay was…awesome.

It goes to show how shallow my thinking can be – I kept thinking that Company B had everything to offer me, but I am having a blast at Company A. I’m so thankful to God for simply knowing what I wanted more than I ever will. He truly knows what my heart's desires.

Sometimes I just forget.

I’m glad that He never fails to remind me that He loves me.

Him

She knew she had committed an unforgivable act, even as she lay upon the bed next to the man she had spent the night with. A man she was with more than her own husband. ‘Unforgivable’. She felt a chill run through her body. The sun had begun its assent but she only felt certain emptiness in her soul. This was not the first time she had committed this very act, but dread never felt as real as it did to her now. She started as she heard loud and harsh banging on the door.

The men shouted to be let in. Beside her, he stirred and his eyes opened as the shouting ensued. “They’re here, the Pharisees, they’re here” he began rambling frantically, at that moment and the Pharisees and scribes barged into the room, their eyes fell upon the pair on the bed.

The men looked at her with such judgment and malice, but she hardly felt any shame.

They spat insult upon insult at her as they dragged her through the streets, barely clothed except for the linen on her bed which she successfully grabbed and wrapped around her body before they had seized her like a criminal. “She will die today” she heard one of the men say to another, “it was just a matter of time before she was caught in this despicable act”.

She welcomed the thought of death though it frightened her. She deserved it; she deserved the stones that would be hurled at her.

They brought her to the temple and she saw a man, in the midst of thousands – that the Pharisees and scribes were now dragging her to. They set her in the midst of the crowd and she felt the heat from the eyes of the people who saw her – some of whom she knew and some of who she didn’t. She held the cloth closer to her body, she realized that death by stoning by these thousands of people would indeed be the punishment that she would face – and die from, she didn’t want to imagine what it would feel like – she had seen it being done before and the blood and piercing of stones into flesh was ingrained into her mind.

“Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?”

She did not dare to look at the man they Pharisees spoke to; He had a presence about him that caused her to feel so saddened by her own indiscretions that her eyes remained on the temple floor. She had long forgotten what shame felt like till now.

The crowds looked at Him expectedly, awaiting his approval.

He remained silent.

He had now stooped down on the ground. She could barely see what he was doing but he acted as if he did not hear the men who were now getting more and more impatient with his silence. The crowds were now slowly turning into an angry mob, thirsty for her death. Caught. In. The. Act. She was unforgivable.

She expected the man to spit at her like the others, or look at her with distain, but when she lifted her eyes a fraction she saw something in His that would remain with her till the day she died.

When the Pharisees and scribes continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

His words resonated in the air with power and authority; He had stooped down and was writing on the ground again. The temple fell as silent as a tomb, the words seemingly having frozen everyone in their place.

She felt a stir inside of her, she knew what she saw in the man’s eyes – it was pure love, he was the only person in the room who did not see her as an adulterer, a cheater, a liar, a sinner – but he saw…he saw her. It was a feeling so overpowering she wanted to kneel down and cry. He saw her. Who was this man that He felt for her, even when she was utterly unworthy of any love, any form of compassion?

She braced herself for the first stones that would be hurled at her.

Then, she noticed movement – the men, they Pharisees, the scribes, the angry mob, they had all begun to leave one by one– soon, they had all gone from the temple.

He raised Himself up and saw no one but her.

“Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” He asked, there wasn’t an ounce of sarcasm, anger, or judgment, in His voice.

“No one, Lord” she managed to choke out, feeling the well of tears that would explode from her at any moment now. ‘Forgiven’, she was forgiven.

“Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” It was at that very moment that she knew who He was and it was that moment that changed her forever.

(Taken and adapted from John 8:1-11, NKJV)

The Jane Austen Book Club Review :)

Having watched many, many, many romantic movies, I found ‘the Jane Austen book club’ rather refreshing and sweet. I have to admit that I’m a big fan of Jane Austen and although the movie can never, in my opinion, rival ‘Pride and Prejudice’, it was a movie of it’s own kind – and reminds me very much of ‘Love Actually’.

I adored how the movie was segregated into months and in total, was a span of a year instead of a day or a month (don’t worry, I won’t spoil the movie for you…too much), it made the romances so much sweeter – from my point of view  because seriously, I don’t believe in absolute ‘love at first sight’. The timing was perfect to form solid friendships and gave the development of the plot of the movie enough time to expand to its full potential.

I love analyzing movies like this simply because there’s so much to talk about. I wish I could be able to ‘spill the beans’ in order to convey how wonderful it was to watch such a movie after many disappointments, especially, in looking for a good romance movie.

I think I have a thing for ‘Griggs’, he’s so charming throughout the movie that it’s almost impossible not to be drawn in by is quirkiness. I really likes how his character played out and I don’t think I liked Hugh Dancy as much as I do now!

My exams are coming up next Monday and here I am ranting and raving about a certain black haired charmer in a movie…I’m glad it was a wonderful diversion from Accounting (which I have been slogging though revising the whole day). Perhaps my opinion of the movie has escalated seeing as it was compared to… numbers… Oh well, I hope you guys go and watch this movie – and let me know if you found it was delightful as I did.

-Going back to numbers and formats again- tata!

Amazing ...simply amazing

This video - which is only about 5 minutes, moves me everytime I see it - enjoy! :)

To be absolutely honest...

I wonder if I'll ever be the person who I aspire to be...I know it's a process - to become better, wiser, stronger, more independent, more loving, more patient...but really - is it a circle where we start at one point and end up at the exact same place when we think "finally, I'm at my destination".

Just a thought.

*Something Random*

Here is one of the coolest pic I've taken =) (Yes, I do feel very proud of myself!)
Look at the lighting! It was mainly due to the camera but it gave the photo such a cool effect.

Photography captivates my attention at times - so do tons of other things but there's something so amazingly true about a picture being worth a thousand words, isn't there?
I was really intrigued when I read a story which (was written on Fictionpress.com) stated that a photo (of people and from what I gather, anything at all - even objects) isn't just about the subject(s) but it is also about the photographer :). I guess it relates more to abstract photography or photographs that are taken with certain...interest? intention? passion? I can't find the right word or the right way to say it, but I simply mean to say - not the kind of photos you take because it is required of you.

You can call me easily amused...cause I am! How I envy those of you who have the knowledge and skills to take awesome and breathtaking photographs...

Lol, thanks for sending me this, Tien Wen - and thanks for letting me use your camera!