Of exciting things ahead

It's midterm week. I had a history test on Monday. I had a final exam today (for a 5-week stats class). I have a counseling midterm tomorrow. It is well with my soul!

But there are so many things to be thankful for:

• No more stats! Forever and ever amen.
• Not getting VERY sick. I'm at that point where I'm trying not to get sick. My throat was feeling kind of sore the past couple of days. Sniffling a little. But still relatively healthy. Lots of people on campus are down with some form of cold. Or allergies. Allergies suck. I'm glad pollen doesn't hate me.
• An internship this summer! This has been in the works for some time, but I finally heard from the state health department today. The PENANG state health department. I was wondering why it was taking them forever to get back to me. Turns out, they were SNAIL MAIL-ing me. Who does that anymore?? But yes, Josh will be interning with a child psychologist at Hospital Pulau Pinang in July and August! Exciting!!
• Heard back from the Write Place too, and I got the job as a writing consultant next year! What better job than one that allows you to pick at others' writing AND get paid for it at the same time?? Lol.
• My history midterm got pushed back a week! I think I'll need a week to get up to speed with the past. Merovingian and Carolingian and Northumbians and Arians. Oh dear.
• I had a great dinner with Sam today. We ate outside and the day was GORGEOUS. Very Smallville! Haha. We're Smallville buddies. And then Alex Lim came along and we tossed the disc for some time before going to Applebee's for dessert. The server, a... mature lady, greeted us with "How are you boys doing today? Not causing any trouble I hope?", to which Alex replied "It's him" (pointing at me). See, if Alex wasn't dressed in his soccer kit and looked like a 17 year old, I'm sure we wouldn't have been addressed the way we were. :)
• I am $114.59 poorer. But it's all good. I bought a plane ticket. I'm going to be flying out to CT to visit a bud of mine, Aaron, before flying home to Malaysia! His hometown is... much smaller than Northfield. Northfield is actually big to him. This should be an experience! Heh heh.
• Midterm break is around the corner!! Erica is coming down to visit!! And a bunch of us are going up to the cities to see Shawn McDonald in concert! I am so psyched. And Dave Barnes is opening for him. He's such a great musician! WHEE.

But before that, I have one more midterm tomorrow. So I should get to bed. Good night all!!

Of French cooking?

Who wants to come over for dinner then? :)

You Are an Excellent Cook

You're a top cook, but you weren't born that way. It's taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It's likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire...

Are You A Good Cook?

You Belong in Paris

You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris. You're the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Of the reason He died

Good Friday. Thank You, Jesus. For the power of the cross. For the perfect sacrifice. For the pain you bore, for the suffering you endured. For dying.

Easter. Thank You, Jesus. For conquering sin. For defeating death. For the power of Your resurrection. Thank You, Jesus, for your gift of life.

BRING ME HOME
Joshua Yeoh

How I’ve wandered, how I’ve strayed
From the path that You laid down
Time and time again
I’ve lost sight of, focused my eyes on
My circumstances, searching for my answers
When all I really needed to do
Was open up my eyes to see
That You were always there
Ready to

Bring me back
Bring me near to the grace that forgives
And the love that finds me here
Bring me home
Bring me close to Your heart
Because I never want to be apart again

Promises broken, words that were spoken
That wounded Your heart
Time and time again
I’d forgotten what it meant to
Be a child, wrapped within Your arms
But all I really needed to do
Was open up my eyes to see
That You were always there
Ready to

I was so lost, lost in my sin
Then Your love entered in
And called me by my name
Now here I am, a broken man
I’m down on my knees
Crying, crying out

© 2006 Joshua Yeoh

Of being tagged

Ok, Anna, here goes.

My earliest memory:
Being found behind a dumpster by my parents. Oh, you mean a REAL memory? Coming in 1st at a baby beauty pageant. Ok, ok, for real... how do you remember so far back anyway? I mean, memories aren't even real.
At school:
What about school? Earliest memory at school? Well when I went to first grade, my teacher exhausted my Malay vocabulary in the first line of the "satu, dua, tiga, empat; anak ikan sudah lompat" poem. And then I cried.
My first relationship:
I had a girlfriend named Peggy Sue Bojangles.
I wish I never had worn:
The soles of my shoes out. Now I have to get a new pair.
I wish I had:
A dollar for everytime someone tells me: "But you speak English so well! You don't even have an accent!"
I wish I hadn't:
Had seconds at dinner. Now I feel bloated.
At home I cook:
Yes, I do.
When I was a child, I wanted to:
Grow up.
The book that changed my life is:
Has been translated in part or in whole into over 1200 languages and dialects.
If only I would:
Spend less time thinking "If only I would", then I'd live life with fewer regrets.
Friends say that I am:
able, bold, dependable, energetic, giving, happy, idealistic, independent, knowledgeable, logical, loving, mature, organised, patient, powerful, religious, responsive, sentimental, silly, spontaneous, trustworthy, warm, wise. --taken from my Johari window. Friends also say I'm a liar! :)
What I don't find amusing is:
People not flushing after going.

Tagging: Erica, King Pui, Mace, Lynn

Of leaving the wilderness

After a prolonged drought, I wrote (and completed) a new song today.

Of being animated

Animated Director

Of deserts and desserts (Spring Break!!)

Good bye snow, hello sun... maybe?

Spring Break!! You'd think "Goodbye cold weather" right? But no... the day that we leave for Arizona, the skies open up and dump inches and inches of snow upon us. Hello spring. But no matter. Because after a few hours of flying, we are in sunny Arizona. And happy Macy comes to meet Erica and I at the airport... in her CONVERTIBLE! It was so good to see Mace again! Hello, Mace!

Like true Penangnites, we hit up all the yummy spots in and around Chandler... our first dinner was at Sakana. Omigosh. Sushi heaven!

And like true Penangnites, we ordered the grossest thing we could find. This is us eating... I think it was sea urchin roe? Or something like that. The texture was kind of... mushy. It was like eating brain.

Then that night we rented Rent. Ha ha. Get it? We RENTED RENT! And oh my gosh! It is the BEST MUSICAL EVER. I went out and bought the soundtrack and we listened to it and sang to it incessantly.

Desert..ed Downtown Phoenix

We spent the next afternoon in downtown Phoenix because Mace was at work. After getting lost, riding the bus with the angriest woman I have ever seen in my life, getting yelled at by a "sheriff" (very sketchy) for running across the road to catch our bus, we finally made it to downtown Phoenix. After a light lunch, we set off on our adventure... the Basilica was our first stop.

This is me and my bestestbud, Francis. Ok... his namesake at least. St Francis of Assisi. He's really ... bronze. And he had poop on his head.

Erica took some time out to pray with Mother Teresa...

Sad to say, downtown Phoenix was pretty deserted. We went on a self-guided walking tour and Erica got really excited about the "last department store in downtown Phoenix". So we made our way there. And it really WAS the last department store... it was boarded up and everything.

So we did what anyone would do... we went to Starbucks. Had coffee and banana nut muffins. And took pictures.

Luckily Mace came to our rescue... and we headed to...

Scotsdale

Looks like a cowboy town.

It was St Patty's day... everyone was getting into it. Even the horses. I forgot to wear green. So I pulled a leaf and stuck it on my shirt.

We tasted cactus. It was prickly.

And I almost got trampled on by a crazy horse!!

After all that excitement, we went to this really yummy Spanish place for dinner. I think it was Spanish. They had sangrias anyway. Oh notice anything different about me?

Hawaii in the desert

The next day, we went back to Phoenix for a ALOHAfest! A Hawaiian luau in the middle of the desert. It was great. Great food, music, things to see and buy... it actually felt a lot like home. Minus the humidity.

If you haven't noticed by now, this trip was filled with lots of good food. Mmmm...

And the hula... er... girls.

And the best part? I FOUND JIU HOO!!! (Cuttle fish) It was the spicy kind too. It made me so happy! hahaha.

After that we headed out.. in search of the Botanical Gardens. We ended up at a park instead. Mace has the amazing ability of not using a map... and getting lost... but eventually finding the place. Or somewhere cooler. Haha.

So we took pictures. And I hid behind the bushes so nobody can see me. Look. Can you spot me? Nope. That's why Mace and Erica drove off without me.

Then we drove to somewhere where Mace couldn't possibly get lost. I think. :) Her alma mater - Arizona State U. It's a pretty campus! Very very different from Carleton. Not that Carleton isn't pretty. But different.

And we stopped for Boba. That's bubble tea.

And we capped off the day with yummy Korean food. Bulgogi! Yeah!!

Ancient Ruins

The next day we visited Montezuma Castle.

We got bored of looking at ruins and decided that this would be a great spot for a photo shoot! haha.

My glamor shot.

Mace tried to camouflage herself. This is a sycamore tree. And Zacchaeus lived in it.

Sedona

Then it was off to Sedona. Where all the rocks were red. Iron. Oxidization. That kind of thing.

But it was so beautiful.

And...

... this was where it even started to snow! Yeah. Who would have thought? In Arizona! Yeah, we brought the snow from Minnesota.

And as we drove towards the Grand Canyon and climbed up the mountains... it snowed even more.

And more...

The very Grand Canyon

This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Arizona. I had been to the Canyon many years ago... but really all I remembered about it was chasing a squirrel. Or maybe it was a chipmunk. I forget. But this time around, we stayed just outside the park, and woke up before dawn to catch the sun rise. It was well worth it. Even with our extremities starting to hurt because of the cold!

God's handiwork was simply breathtaking!

We went back to the hotel to take a nap before coming back to see the Canyon again. We took a tram that took us along the west side of the Canyon. We stopped at almost every stop. It was just too beautiful. A picture speaks a thousand words. And you all know I can speak more than a few thousand words. So I shall restrain myself... and show you pictures instead.

Can anyone tell me what animal this is? 10000 points.

Back to the Canyon...

It looks sooooo fantastic.

Almost... surreal.

Look at the years and years of erosion.

Of course, Mace decided to claim Grand Canyon for herself.

Oh I even got a chance to speak French. I asked a French speaker to take this photo for us. She then spoke to me in English. Oh well.

I was in awe.

But that didn't last too long. KUNG FU HUSTLE!

As the girls took more glamor shots at the Canyon, I sat like a good boyfriend, holding on to Erica's bag. Laugh all you want. At least I don't have a MANBAG! :)

It was really cold, although you can't tell from the photos. So Erica let me use her... uhm... I don't even know what you call it.

Bear!!!

Spot the squirrel!

Yes... the Grand Canyon... in all its splendor.

What a blessing to be able to go there. And see God's handiwork. Thanks Mace for an AMAZING time! You are the best! :) See you back in Penang.

I forgot... one more picture. :) This is our BBQ. Mace had two of her friends over... and we grilled. Salmon. Chicken. Asparagus. Salad. Mmmm... ok. I'm done now. Good night! A few more days and then I'm back at Carleton. And then SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN. Crazy!