The EJ

iKnow!

2009-02-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share something I found recently.

If you've always wanted to learn Japanese or Mandarin, now there's a free way to do it -- http://www.iknow.co.jp. They started out as a site to help Japanese people learn English. Now its expanded.

I've always wanted to learn mandarin so I tried it out. I've been thru 4 sessions of the beginner's (Level 1) mandarin course, and i've found it to be pretty intuitive. I know i'll be sticking to it for a good bit.

If you haven't gotten yourself enrolled in any courses, try this out now! What do you have to lose? :D

My Marriage Proposal

2009-01-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

The brewing of ideas began during a casual conversation with Irwin and Vanessa. It wasn't long before we arrived at the idea of proposing to her with the help of our cell group. The cell was going to be singing at Cava and Opus Bistro in Bangsar on the 19th. Initially I was going to propose to her on 25th (Christmas Day and also my birthday), but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

So the basic idea was to invite her, her closest schoolmates, and her closest friends from her cell group for dinner and a carolling session after which I would sing a song and then propose to her.

Well, turns out that she decided to invite her mom, and there was no way I could say no. And then she asked why I didn't invite my parents, and I couldn't say no to that either, and that wasn't even the end of it. The person I invited from her cell group decided to open the invitation to the entire cell group. Thus, it became a little bigger than I expected.

I took half a day of leave on the proposal day to prepare the materials and also to prepare myself. I got quite nervous and was beginning to think that I might forget my lines. I rehearsed my lines everywhere! In my head, the office, the house, the car, the bathroom, and even on the royal throne.

Evening came and I arrived at Opus early to pass some of the materials to my cell group. We sat down, and waited for the other guests to arrive, and proceeded to have dinner.

My cell group was supposed to start carolling by 8.30pm, and the clock was almost 9pm. On the outside, I looked calm, but on the inside, there must've been a storm going on. I thought I could've died from an anxiety attack.

5 mins past 9 and the group finally arrived. They did their thing and gave out gifts. After that, Vanessa announced that I had a special item to present. So I went out, and began singing Everything by Michael Buble. When we came to the chorus, the group sang together with me and began holding up the placards.

While they repeated the chorus, I walked towards Jaclyn, knelt down, pulled out the ring, and asked her to marry me. (I think she was nodding her head before I finished my question. :P)

And that...was the proposal.

Some of you asked how our pictures got into The Star. One of the persons invited to the proposal dinner works for The Star, and thought it would be a great idea to have the photos posted up. She ran the idea through her editor, and then later asked us to submit the pictures. It came out in the Happy Moments page in the Metro section on 3rd Jan and 10th Jan.

*note: original photos were pasted onto the article scans, because i found that picture quality from scanning a newspaper is really lousy*

Before I end the post, I must say a word of thanks to:

Irwin and Vanessa - for taking the time to plan and organise with me and also supporting and helping me believe I could pull this off

My cell group (PJEFC - DI) - for participating in my proposal and helping out with Jac's birthday surprise!

The owner of Opus Bistro - for allowing us to do this at the restaurant (and the two bottles of champagne was a real treat! THANKS!)

Leon Lai - for taking the photos. Do visit his website!

Chriselle - for organizing the group from Jac's cell group

Miss Anonymous (I don't know if I should be mentioning her name) - for getting us a spot in The Star. now we're famous! haha!

Everyone else who attended the wedding proposal dinner - you made Jac a very happy woman!

Resolutions for 2009...

2008-12-26T07:16:00.000-08:00

Big Goals

Watch my tongue
Spend carefully
Lose 15kg

Small Goals

Keep tabs on friend's birthdays

2008 was...

2008-12-25T00:49:00.000-08:00

Its time to make a comeback, after being away for abit. Given the events in 2008, I feel that I am ready to share my life again.

2008 was...

Challenging. There was new management in the workplace.
Upsetting. There were many situations that irked me.
Painful. I had to accept things that I didn't want to accept.

But 2008 was also...

Filled with love. I got a girlfriend. She's wonderful.
Filled with joy. I've learnt about friends who do care and do love me.
I grew in God. My love for him grew stronger.
I am a little humbler. I learnt what it is to be humble.
My perspectives changed. I learnt how to see many things differently.
My heart changed. I want to be more like Jesus.

And last but not least, I proposed to my girlfriend, who is now my fiancee.

Looking back at the events in 2008, I can say that i've enjoyed this section of my journey immensely. Even more than that, I know I will enjoy every year to come, because of how i've understood my identity in God and how I can truly rely on Him.