Update from Penang

I'm back in Penang. And it's great. You'd think it'd be easy to come back home, but returning home after having lived on your own, not just at college, but also in Paris, and traveling... returning home is challenging in its own way. Still, true to the adage: there is really no place like home. Here's an update in a nutshell of some of the things that's been going on since Paris.

When blessings overtake you...

Coming home from London, my grandaunt and I got upgraded to Business Class! What a dream come true! Nothing like riding in business class with the airlines that has the Best Cabin Crew in the world!

Look at that leg room! I'm not going to be able to go back to Economy after this. Even more so on Northwest. Sigh.

And video on-demand. 200 CDs on demand. Oh man. I SO didn't want to sleep. But I did.

Of family...

It was like a belated Chinese New Year celebration, which was great for me because I haven't celebrated Chinese New Year for two years in a row already! But my mom's sisters and their families from Perth, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand came home for a holiday. So together with my mom's brother's family, we had a big "lean lor" (steamboat)... a reunion dinner of sorts!

True to Penang culture, there was a durian feast that ensued thereafter...

And when I say feast, I mean feast. Look at that. Too bad I don't like durians all too much.

This is my uncle and the youngest cousin on my mom's side of the family, his daughter, Alyssa. Isn't she a cutie?

And while the grown-ups feasted, the kids... played Nintendo.

And a certain aunt let loose on the drums! Heh heh.

...and friends

Meeting up with friends was also very fulfilling! Had a superb seafood meal with some of my closest friends. It was great!! The crabs, fish, mantis prawns, squid, satay, chee lay... oh yes, and the company wasn't too bad either! hehe. Here are Mace and Pin..

Fran was there too. But he has his own blog. So I won't post his picture here. Haha. Just kidding. This was the view we got to enjoy while feasting. Yup, dinner ON the beach. What more could one ask for?

The Malaysian reply to the French escargot... chee lay! Yum.

Of birthday celebrations...

We celebrated Aun Nar's birthday at Edelweiss, a Swiss restaurant that wasn't really Swiss at all. But oh well. Here's the happy birthday girl.

And her friends, Yee Ting and Mandy.

And we celebrated my birthday. First with a bunch of friends... at a Japanese restaurant. I was sick unfortunately. But I'm all better now :) Had Sukiyaki! MMm.

Then we hung out at Coffee Bean. Ran into an ex school mate. Here are Cheryl, Pin and Mace.

And Praeme, Eunice, Yee Ling, Fran and Cheryl's twin sister, Cheryl.

Then I celebrated with my parents. And took Fran out to make it a sort of double celebration since I'm never around for his birthday. Went to E & O for a yummilicious buffet.

This place is the coolest! It's so echo-y.

And it had great gardens!

Then the "real" celebration. Had a great celebration with friends and family and a wonderful bbq... thanks to my brother the chef! :) Here are Ian, Euodia, Sarah, Rachel and Bboy!

And my long time school buddies Sui Lay and Sue Ann...

And the birthday boy... man... hey I AM 21!!

Happy birthday to meeee...

And after the party. It was picture time. Because my aunties were leaving the next day... at 5 in the morning! Haha. So we took some great shots. Here are two of my cutest cousins haha.. Zac and Daniel. Both wannabe Human Torches. :) Er.. apparently Francis wants to be the Human Torch too. Sorry, there can only be one: me.

So Zac decided to be Batman instead. Oh yeah that was pretty cool... the whole bunch of us also went to watch Batman Begins and the Fantastic Four. It was great! Going to the movies with all the kids hehe.

And here's Grandma Lucy with all her grandchildren except Koo Koo's and Ee Ee Doris' kids.

And the three sisters. Ee Ee Christine, my mom and Ee Ee Diana. Cha cham booong!

Adam, the swimmer cousin, and my bro... who is smiling for once!

And finally, a big dinner feast at the seafood place before Ee Ee Christine and Ee Poh Margaret left for New Zealand and England. It's been great!! Thank God for family and friends.  

Odds and ends

Other things that Josh is up to:

• Lai Lau Juak: A Peranakan Experience. Celebration Sunday on the 7th of August at Fort Cornwallis! I'm so excited. The choir sounds awesome. So do the musicians. It's going to be a lot of fun.
  
• Leading worship this Sunday at church. Church is so fun. Church is great! :) I love FGAC.
  
• Apparently, some cranky pastor of a small church in Penang has predicted Thursday to be "doomsday" for Penang. We're all going to be wiped out by a gigantic tsunami. Well. All my bags are packed. Bye bye world. Hahaha. Sheesh.
  
• I want to go to Lakewood Church! Wow.
  
• Going to visit Fran in Singapore. Hopefully will meet up with Vin and Alex and... whoever else is in Singapore.
  
• Gotta go down to KL at some point too...
  
• Have to prepare for our trip to the US! Woohoo. We're going to Niagara Falls. And Cape Cod. Can't wait to have my friends meet my parents. It'll be sweet.
  
• Have to start shopping. :)
  
• iPod!!
  

From Paris, with love

Finally, the one you've all been waiting for. This update will bring you updates right up till before I came back to Penang. Since then, a lot of other things have happened, but to bring closure to my sojourn in Europe, I'm dedicating this entry to my time in Europe. So following is a pictorial recollection of my last moments in Paris and in Europe. :) Enjoy!

Au revoir, Paris. A la prochaine fois!

I said goodbye to Paris in style... when Erica came to visit! What a wonderful week. Erica was pretty adventurous with food I have to admit! :) Here she is trying out the yummy French frog legs!

Saying goodbye Paris. Enjoying it's sunsets.

We did all the touristy things. The Louvre was one of them. Here I am with Dan Brown's Holy Grail! :)

Last week at Paris was a week of farewells. I thank God for the relationships and friendships I made while I was there. Sebastien, Damien, Rebecca and Sarah are some of the people I got to know at Hillsongs Paris!

Saying goodbye to the guys was difficult! But I'll remember to "buy-a-donkey".

Michael and Christelle were another couple I had the privilege of getting to know. We are great friends now! They had us over for a wonderful evening of yummy French food... and TopSpin on their xbox!!

Last night in Paris. To say goodbye in style and to celebrate our ahem five-month, Erica and I went on a dinner cruise down the Seine. Turned out to be not only romantic, but also an adventure! Talk about meshing of genres haha. Steven Speilberg would have had a field day. Would love to tell you the story but I'll do it in person. It really is very interesting!! :)

And goofy!

Then up the Eiffel Tower.

Yup. It was a beautiful night.

So many fond memories...

I will miss you, Paris. You've been kind to me. Adieu for now!

Back to driving on the left (right) side of the road

It was strange reading / hearing in English again for sure. Ee Poh picked me up from the airport. Stayed with them a day. Then went to Cambridge to visit Joel! Cambridge is GORGEOUS. Went punting. Hello Joel.

I punted too!!

Hello, Ireland

Then it was across the straits to Ireland to visit Tyler. I got to captain a boat. No I'm kidding. :)

Made some Irish friends...

ALMOST visited the Guinness factory. Yeah, we arrived at 5. It closed at 5.

So we had to settle for my first pint of Guinness being elsewhere... thanks for being a great host Tyler.

Cheers!

Of course we had to have the greasy fish and chips too. No more after this though. Ugh.

But the Ireland that I came to see wasn't to be found in Dublin. I found it as close by as Howth! What a beautiful day it was too!

No, not me..

But walking up on the cliffs... all I could say was "God must be so beautiful!"

Dangerous too!! HAha

Back to Jolly Old England

Came back. Ee Poh and I had a yummy dinner at the Longbridge Mill.

Yeah... not exactly French food. But hearty fare ya?

Went to London over the weekend. Spent a great Saturday with Sheryl. Met her boy, Tim. Here we are on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

At St James park. It was good to catch up with Sheryl again!

Me, giving the Royal Wave!

That night, I stayed with strangers. Haha. Yup. Long story. But they were people from Hillsong London! It was a great time.

And going to Hillsong the next day was fantastic!!

And then of course came the QUEUE. Part of the whole English experience. :) Sha and I queued for WIMBLEDON!

My ticket to center court!!!!

Malaysia Boleh!! Too bad no Malaysian players ya!

Another blessing. Erica came to meet us and chill out. She just came from Brussels! :)

Yup. I paid many pounds for that!

Paid even more for those red bands... CENTER COURT BABY!

Got to see him.

And her!

Him!

AND HIM!!!! After that... it was goodbye Europe. Hello Malaysia. This has been... From Paris, with love! :) Thank you for your prayers and for all your encouragement!!