Today's Lesson.

I stopped my car right in front of a factory and waited for the security guard to open the gate. It was half opened so I just waited a while for it to open fully. Then, he showed his hand signal to which I understand that he wants me to drive my car towards that side lorong.

There was a STOP word on the tar road but I didn't stop BECAUSE I don't want to be blocking other cars to go in that lorong. It's common sense what right?

So, I drove further inside and parked my car on the left side then only go down the register.

I saw him walking towards my car from his little guardhouse which is quite a distance.

I turned off my engine and opened my door.

I turned to look at him and he started shouting something in BM. I didn't understand at first so I huh-ed him. Maybe that got him even angrier.

"Siapa suruh you park sini?"

"Siapa!"

"You panggil I masuk.."

*angrily points at the STOP word* "Tak nampak ni ka?!"

"I ingat.."

"You ingat apa? Pandai sangat! Skarang, u reverse balik. I tak peduli!"

He didn't even let me finish my explanation. He seriously doesn't care if I have a very good excuse to why I drove further inside. If he had allowed me to explain, this is what I would have said..

"I ingat nanti lain kereta datang, I block mereka so I park at the side dulu.."

Yep. I was trying to have some common sense.

So, this fella was super upset with me right. He purposely wants to me to reverse my car back to that STOP word. Did I also mention that he gave me one good long stare before that? This guy is furious I tell you. Oh and there was this one guy outside the factory looking at our little 'drama'. Embarrassed I was.

So, I went into my car again. Before I switch my gear from P to D, I swallowed hard and took a really long deep breath and I whispered, "Thank You God for this situation!"

It was hard to do that. I was upset inside that he wrongly accused me of something that isn't that big of a deal also. I WAS TRYING TO HAVE SOME COMMON SENSE!

Anyways, I reversed my car and stopped right in front of the STOP word. I turned off my engine and came out. I walked towards the guardhouse and I politely told him that I have an appointment with Ms. Somebody.

This is where it gets interesting!

He looked at me and asked me to register my details on a book in front of him IN THE NICEST TONE EVERRR! Like I just saved his life, got him a brand new house or something.

I'm not kidding! I was shocked that I gave him the confused look. After that, I asked him if he was going to give me a visitor's tag and he answered in the nicest tone AGAIN. He even pointed at the lobby and said, "Naik tingkat 1"

I don't know what happened. Maybe an angel spoke to him while I was reversing my car or something, but he was like a completely different person in the span of 5 minutes. I'm not even exaggerating. I was shocked. I thought today I made an enemy because I chose not to stop at the STOP word. 

Ohhh! And the best part?

There was no visitor parking space inside the factory. So he asked me to park at the VIP space right in front of the gate. I said VIP cos that space is usually guarded by an orange cone. He walked outside and helped me with the parking. 

Can you see him sitting inside his not-so-cosy-super-hot mini house? Don't mind my hair, please. Bangs out of control. Heh.

I'm not sure what really happened but what I do know is God can turn horrible situations around even when you are being wrongly accused of something that you didn't do or have good intentions of.

I have been wrongly accused of something for so many times at work but God is faithful and God sees and God knows everything. I think I'll leave this to another update next time. 

Have a great week ahead everyone and if it's not going well so far, remember to: 

KEEP CALM

USE 10 SECONDS

TAKE REALLY LONG DEEP BREATH

UTTER THESE WORDS "God, thank You for today!"

And that spells out... KUTU!

You're welcome :)

Remember, tough situations don't last. TOUGH PEOPLE DO.

Victor, Rama and Arya.

I was at the original North Zone Church of FGA Centre on a fine Sunday. I was standing right in front of the notice board where updates on church missionaries are all posted up there. There was one particular guy who stood out among all other missionaries.

I was looking at his photo. He was sitting on top of a water tank, topless and smiling at the photographer. I saw all kinds of tattoos on his body and suddenly, I felt that I needed to meet this man. I want to meet him and hear his stories. From what I have heard earlier, he was a drug addict and God changed his life and now he became who he is today.

Those were just stories that I hear from people.

So, there and then, I poked the photo (I have no idea why I poked it at that time) and I prayed (I was a brand new Christian). 

"God, I want to meet him in person and hear his stories"

That was 12 years ago.

I'm not gonna go into details because it'll be too long.

He came back from India one day and was working with FGA Centre.

I DID MEET HIM and I DID HEAR HIS STORIES from the person himself. I was instantly reminded of that prayer that I made many years ago. So, I was super thankful.

Then, he was appointed to be the Youth Pastor of fireBRANDS.

Like whatttttt?

I did'n't only get to meet him, become his friend.. I was super blessed to work alongside him for few years. Those years were one of the best years in fireBRANDS for me. 

He was an answered prayer and God did not only gave me what I prayed for but more. He was a blessing that moved me into tears and left me in silence.

Yes, I was really sad when he left fireBRANDS. I've loved working with him and always will. For sure got opportunity again in the future, I believe. 

I love this beautiful family. Victor, Rama and Arya.

We went for dinner together last night and we talked till 12:15am at the balcony overseeing the beach. What can be better? Nothing.

Seriously nothing.

Just for fun, three of us are wearing braces now! Heh.

Thank you Mr Tesco, Rama and Arya for being a part of my life. We love you guys! :)

Ohhh and I want my babies to be like Arya. She's the easiest and nicest baby to be around with. COME LET CHE CHE SARAH BABYSIT YOU FOR ONE DAY, ARYA! :)

p.s excuse the photo quality. It was taken with the Samsung, not iPhone. Heh. Oh by the way, it felt good not having a phone by my side throughout the night. So good. 

How To Be A Man 101.

"I'm not going to do it"

"Cause she's a girl and I can't do it"

"Because you're not supposed to hit girls"

"I don't want to hurt her"

"Jesus doesn't want us to hit others"

"First of all, I can't hit her because she's pretty, and she's a girl"

"Because I'm against violence"

"Girls shouldn't be hit, not even with a flower.. or a bouquet of flowers"

"Because it's bad"

"CAUSE I'M A MAN"

With Love.

One more spontaneous night with Muthu.

Right after dinner, he went inside my room for a while and came out to the dining area and..

"Okay, this is what we gonna do tonight. We gonna clean your room!"

"No we're not. Don't be crazy lah. Ain't nobody got time to clean room now lah"

"Yes we are. You don't need rest lah. Everyday also want to rest"

"What you mean clean the room?"

"Everything except the cupboard"

"Errr, okay.." *looking super reluctant*

"I will clean for you and you do whatever I ask you to do, okay?"

"I don't think I have a choice yes?"

*walks into my room and starts throwing everything out*

This is prolly one of the sweetest thing he has ever done in our almost-3-years relationship. He always claims that he's not the romantic type and he doesn't believe in spending money on fine dining etc. What he fails to realize is that all the things he does is very romantic in its own ways already. 

Never in my wildest dream I've ever imagined that I'd be so blessed with someone like Muthu.

He loves cooking, washing dishes, do the laundry and clean the house. The only thing he hates is the ironing, which I love doing! Your perception of 'blessing' may be very different from mine but this? This is just one of the best blessing everrr.

It's a known fact that I'm a lazy person. I HATE DOING HOUSE CHORES. Maybe because I do them quite a lot when I was much younger, I think. Heh. And for him to LOVE doing all that is just superb! No arguments whatsoever of who should do or having roster or something. Heh. 

Last night, when he decided to clean my room, he knew what he was getting himself into. I only clean my room like once a year or something. I also must be like mentally prepared to do it and it's not like a last-minute kind of thing. So this one, I totally not prepared. 

While he takes everything out and wipes every corner, I sat on my bed, going through all the papers and 'treasures' to see if I want to keep them or not.

Then, I found this.

A decade ago, from Koko UY.

I miss you, UY. It's been ten years. 

Let me tell you of how I got my nickname 'Kutu' (It's supposed to be spelled as Khoo2). The person who started it was UY. He thought of it very randomly because I'm the second child in Khoo Family so one day he decided I shall be named Khoo2 then.

As time goes by, people just started spelling it as Kutu. Heh.

Crazy huh how time flies? I didn't even realized that it has been 10 years. It has always been nice to have an older brother, literally. He used to take me/us (sometimes with Judson and Daniel) to lunch after school and I remember having so much fun whenever he's around because he's just so.. so Eu Wye. Miss ya, Koko UY! :)

Anyways, I took quite a while to decide whether to throw some of the things or not and Muthu was very patient with me of course. 

Ohh! He also found a lot of hidden handbags so there goes my attempt trying to get myself another Sometime bag. The 'I don't have any other bags I can use' and 'My bags all spoil d' excuses are now invalid. Haha. Oh wellz.

He bought the lights sometime ago and now it's being put to good use. The photos all falling out. Ahhhh. Susah ni. 

Muthu, thank you for cleaning up my room. That was a lot of trash thrown out. Probably one quarter of the one quarter of my life or something. You even made my dad thanked you for doing it. Hah. You crazy fella. Okay bye.

Okay thanks for reading :)

First Friday of 2015.

He leaves the office at 5:30pm. 

He heads over to Subway and buys two Sub of the day, a piece of chocolate chip cookie, and one drink. 

He drives to my house and waits in the car. 

He didn't mind if my meeting was going to be longer and ends later than 6pm. 

He waits a bit more for me to change into comfortable shorts and a t-shirt even though he knows that he's going to be late for his friendly match with the guys from Finland. 

He smiles at me as I enter his white Ferrari and passes me my surprise dinner. 

He stopped at the place where we are going to have our year three dating time. 

He parks the car. 

He joins his team and he plays with his new sports shoes on. 

My first Friday of the year is great!  

I'm thanking God for every moment. 

Blessed beyond words. 

Highlights of 2014.

This is going to be the usual blog post where I will list down some of moments that have made a difference in my life, one way or another. Good times and bad times, both made me who I am today and who I will be next year, and the many years to come.

This is for me to look back and know that 2014 has been a blessed year. God has blessed me in ways that I never could imagine, be it a happy situation or a heartbreaking one. 

With this, I'm entering 2015 with a bigger heart to love people, especially people who are tough. 

'Love others without expecting them to love you back'

Here goes!

Turning 26 was easy and 'heartache-less'

Company's first ever company trip to Cameron Highlands.

Experienced SNOW for the first time ever.

Visited Seoul.

Sha Lynn turned one.

Started an event company with my sister, called RK Events & Such.

Koay getting his first car.

First time missing out on family's short vacation to East Malaysia.

Painted three quarter of an old church up on the hill of Santisuk, Chiangmai

Sleeping on the floor of KLIA 2.

having to say goodbye to a friend who's moving to the States for good.

Corneal Ulcer happened. Thank you for always keeping Vanessa in your prayers. Will update on her condition when I'm ready to blog about the details.

Visited one of the worse zoo ever in Malacca.

Celebrated our second year of dating.

Found a local designer handbag called Sometime.

Had my first onsen experience and immediately fell in love with it.

visited Osaka.

Went to Universal Studio Japan for the first time WITH EXPRESS PASSES!

Realized that travelling alone is such a fun and addictive thing to do.

Worked with a team for Freedom Fest, celebrating Malaysia.

Finally found a cross necklace that I love and sister got them for my graduation gift.

Mom got admitted into hospital twice. First was too weak and second was dengue.

WhatTwoEatHere was paid to do a blog post for the first time ever.

Penang won CHAMPION in Merdeka Cup's Challenge.

enjoyed Club Med Bali.

Koay went through the water baptism and proclaimed that he's following Jesus. No turning back :)

Camped outdoor for the first time and definitely not going to be last.

Hiked Malaysia's 15th highest mountain with just socks.

Having muscle/ligament tension along my spine for two months straight. First time for sure.

Fast & Prayer up on that hill. So much laughter.

Family vacation to Malacca and found the best place to stay, Guli Residence.

inTUNE with 80 young people for five days straight. 

Attended quite a handful of weddings.

Wrapped up great with a fireBRANDS' New Year's Party and Victor's message.

Most importantly,

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I didn't forget to laugh.

I'm ready for you, 2015 :)

Christmas and New Year's Dinner.

Well, hello there everyone!

First of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you. I know it's four days late but then again, better late than NEVER, right?

I hope you had a memorable Christmas celebration, whether you have them with your family or your friends or even with a big bunch of strangers who happen to be at the same place with you. 

Other than the fact that Christmas was during a weekday, squeezed between Wednesday and Friday and yes both of those days were working days, I still managed to have loads of fun.

The entire week was filled with feasting and feasting and more feasting. I don't remember having rice as any of the main meals last week. It was all meat and ham and more meat. So yummy I can't even.

Because New Year is just six days away after Christmas, most of these dinners are also held to celebrate the ushering in of 2015. Surprisingly, it didn't feel weird wishing people, "Happy New Year!" since twenty-fifth of December. Somehow, the mood is already lingering around.

All the dates for these dinners were booked months ahead so that we don't have any clashing of dates and having to sacrifice one and attend the other one. I never liked choosing between two dinners. ALL DINNERS ARE FUN AND MEMORABLE!

There is one lunch though that was not planned to celebrate Christmas or the New Year. It was Adrian's after-baptism-celebration! He has decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back :)

The photos are all in random orders because I'm too lazy to have them according to which dinner/party comes first. Heh.

Oh can I also say that one of the most exciting event that I look forward to is the Gift Exchange Time. I love getting gifts that are random and for me to not open them immediately when my hands touch them, that is one temptation that I can't resist. LOVE EXCHANGING GIFTS WITH HUMANS!

Holiday Tours & Travel Penang's Celebration Dinner at G Hotel.

Dinner with Koay's Family :)

The Khoo Clan Dinner Party :)

Koay's Baptism Day. Welcome on board, babe! :)

Christmas/New Year Dinner Party at Josh's Crib :)

fireBRANDS' New Year Party IN THE POOL, literally. Photo taken from Benjamin Yeoh's Twitter :)

With few days left to this year, I thanked God big time for all these people who matters. Please, if you are not in any of the photos, it's not because you're not important, you definitely are. Who ask you to NOT BE THERE when people take photos? Heh. KIDDING.

Love you all lots. 

This is for me to carry forward to 2015: LOVE OTHERS WITHOUT EXPECTING THEM TO LOVE YOU BACK.