South Parade Baptist Church

Alfred (杨划) and Michelle （奘静） and myself walked 15 minutes to the South Parade Baptist Church in Headingly this evening and met up with Calvin (小龙）at the gate of the church. Mike came by and met with us and invited us in. It was then just 18:35 and we were just in time for worship.

The interior of the church is beautiful and well-litted. There is a huge pipe organ against the altar, and windows are colorfully tinted. Marvelous!

Although I haven't been to church for already quite some time now, I still have not forgotten how to sing the songs during praise and worship session. They're mostly Hillsongs' praise & worship, which are great! I felt very comfortable and at home. The musicians are mostly young people and they are awesome! There, Alfred, Michelle, and Calvin witness baptism (洗礼)for the first time and as for me, the short and perhaps humorous (because the pastor is funny) served to remind me who was/is my first love and my commitment to Christ Jesus.

After the service, Sophie (of Nottinghom) tapped my right shoulder from behind and we had a good chat. We've met many times from Global Cafè, on Fridays, gatherings of international students.

Tonight, my soul has been fed. I'm satisfied. Next week, and the following weeks to come, I think that will be the dining place for my soul. Finally, I've found a church!

Bargains.exe

Bargains.exe is a direct breach of privacy and internet users should be aware of this. Whenever you get pop-ups on advertisments, you can be sure that there is one or more spywares already in your harddisk (usually within c:\ ).

Yahoo.com and Geocities.com websites are one of the many websites that, when visited, triggers the download of "bargains.exe" and all its related files WITHOUT your knowledge.

I would advise those who are spywares-phobe to stay away from those two websites. Whatever you do and wherever websites (new) you visited, do check for running processes in the Task Manager, (Ctrl+Alt+Del) to open. There will be recurrences even after successul removal of such wares especially when you revist the site where you got the ware AND you're not protected by firewall (ZoneAlarm is effective to some extent).

Bargains.exe is highly annoying.

A red thread of luck

Today, Cherie (郑欣), her classmate Samson (HKG>Manchester), and went downtown to settle a problem regarding Cherie's phone bills. It was merely a misunderstanding caused by the sales person (from Malaysia) to her. He failed to mention specifically which numbers are UK Landlines and UK numbers as he generalized both of them as "...that 'all numbers' may be called and are free on weekends and evenings". This has led Cherie to rely on his statement and therefore 'took as' a good plan and duly made the purchase of the phone and the plan the sales person was selling. Six weeks later, she discovered that the numbers she has been calling (a calling card number) does not fall under the "free weekends and evening calls" and was expected to pay up to £250 for all the calls. In her reliance to his "selling statement" that "all numbers...are free", she felt she has been cheated.

Finally, we argued through the manager and the manager has agreed to pay half of her bill, about 35 quids. It turned out that her bill did not amount up to the initial figure. That's fortunate! I had to convince her to be contend with this outcome or she'll have nothing.

At the market later, I bought a red thread of luck. In the past weeks, as I have mentioned before, things were not going as planned as they were suppose to be. Many unfortunate events befell her and if something was not done, she might not be contend and happy with her new life here. This red thread is suppose to comfort and probably console herself that she has been very lucky, in fact, more fortunate that others who have to live through miseries being homeless every day of their lives. I said that to her in her kitchen of her flat while gently tying up the red thread of luck around her left wrist. Then I was speechless because I was already nervous thinking the words I spoke may be too sentimental or may cause her to misunderstand my intentions.

She's really sweet!

I abruptly said I had to leave and clumsily I stood up and walked away from the kitchen. She obligingly followed to send me off to the door of her flat. When the door closes behind me, I felt really stupid and shitty for doing and feeling such unreasonable thing. I could have spent a bit more time with her... but, sigh!

*sniggers!* That was fun!

The entire history of the world with the focus of England and her development thereafter. A must read!! 

The Chase... to what end?

Weeks have passed and now, reflecting back to SWZ's chase, it was a chase for the winds. However, we made friends rather than couples engaged in a romantic relationship. This outcome is the best.

I have learned more about her and I have realized there are a lot of things that won't fit together being couples. She's a pure romanticist, who disregard almost all else but depend heavily on feelings or emotions, romantic idealisms, and fantasy. I practically would shy away from all of these qualities not only because I do not adopt such impractical beliefs, but also consequently, they can be very tiring to a man. 就是，对男人来说这种女人肯定会让男人很累很累！ 不值得！她有时候说话对方来说很不老实而且故意让别人认为她是个完美的公主。其实也不。今天，他说的：

君平：哦！今天你和你的朋友一块儿出去了呀？
SWZ: 对呀！玩儿还不错！
君平：是跟男的还是女的？
SWZ: 当然是女的。我不敢跟难得在一起。我怕"绯闻"
君平：*安安静静地没说话*
SWZ: ...

这儿“ 诽闻“ 的意思就是代表一个说法--怕被别人误会到她了。或，像好多好多男生正在追她。

其实她这么说也不对的。可能有为了她追不上我就这么说吧。这只是我的意见。

他们说男人不可靠； 我说，又一中的女人就靠不过！那种的女人就是她，SWZ. 我不怕伤痛心疼失恋自卑，我只怕被她累死了!

我想经经神神不累地去爱一个女人！！ (I hope I said it correctly!)

现在，我是有一点儿喜欢一个香港女孩儿。她挺好的！

Shot by: Jiang -- Warthogs in Banff, Canada. I've been there twice but during the winters and perhaps that's why I did not get to see these creatures. Below are the cuter version of these beasts-- a singing one too. 

Pumbaa of the Lion King. 

The same warthog, Pumbaa, as spotted by Jiang in Banff, Canada, singing Hakuna Matada, in The Lion King. 

Shot by: Jiang Li -- A scene in Banff, Alberta, Canada; spotted by Jiang. The cute animal looks like a Bessethound (dog). It's so adorable! 

Shot by: Jiang Li -- Ssooo cuuuute!! What pity to be locked up with a hole big enough only for its head to stick out. This is against animal rights! 

SZYW

Screen shot while playing checkers with Sally Zhao. It's her first time playing this game but she won the game even though I did pull some tricks. Lesson is: Never cheat! 

One of the most useful tool I've been using. 

Joke of the day, click here

"After 10 years of marriage, sex with my wife is down to three times a year."
"Same here pal. As a matter of fact, if mine wouldn't sleep with her mouth open, I'd have none at all." 

Why do they call it "ejacuLATE" when for most guys, it's actually early? 

Chemistry Exam

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase unt! il all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it! is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A"

The Fengshui master

Almost two months ago, Dorothy (君平) and friends have heard of the success of my little furniture arranging know-how that is no uncommon in Chinese culture especially in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia... China also-- the art of Fengshui (风水).

It has really worked for me during my stay in Canada. I did not suppose my little success story would turn into something that others would rely on.

Recently, things didn't go too well for her. I have another friend, Cherie, from Hong Kong, who suffers the same fate. Within short period of time, there were many unfortunate events took place in their lives and I turned out to be their blessing in disguise. Indirectly, I hinted them to try Fengshui and claimed that I have a fair knowledge of it, somewhat like that of Lilian Too.

Last night, I was invited by Dorothy especially to think out of the 'master plan'. Rearranging her room to look like mine (I did my Fengshui in my own room already, by the way).

Asked her how she felt this morning... if there was any difference in her sleep, feelings, physique, mental, and soul. She thanked me with a grin...

I thought I must have done a great job! Cheers to the Fengshui master!

Leeds unusual weather

It's snowing!
Looks more like sleets and/or flurries.

What is a Lawyer?

The title "Lawyer" is reserved for those who have achieved the special status of membership of the "legal profession. It is not a straightforward matter, since many people perform legal tasks even though they rae not lawyers. For example, accountants may specialise in revenue law, trade union officials may appear regualrly before employment tribunals on behalf of their members, and solicitors may delegate work to legal executives and other para-legals. Conversely, many of the tasks performed by lawyers are not strictly "legal". Membership of the legal profession in England and Wales involves qualification as either a barrister or a solicitor. It is usual to speak of two branches of he profession, although historically it si more accurate to speak of two professions.

It is significant that it is accepted that lawyers are members of a "profession". Much has been written about the supposedly distinctive attributes of professions, and how and why occupational group seek such status. Medicine and law have been regarded as classic models, although there are important differences between them. A particularly significant difference is that, in medicine, discipline and representation of the profession lie with very different bodies, whereas the Bar Council, for barristers, and the Law Society, for solicitors, exercise both functions increasingly uneasily. The Office of Fair Trading has recently considered what is a profession and some of the consequences which may flow from professional recognition in a challenging statement:

The professions are entrusted with the delivery of services of considerable public importance. They work within a framework of law, but within that framework their governing bodies have imporant degrees of freedom to control rights to enter and practise the relevant profession. The exercies of these powers can have a significant impact on the economy, on the interest of consumers, and on society generally, especially where the professions concerned have exclusive rights to supply certain services. Restrictions on supply in the case of professional services, just as with other goods and services, will tend to drive up costs and prices, limit access and choice and cause customers to receive poorer value for money than they would under properly competitive conditions. Such restrictions will tend also to inhibit innovation in the supply of services, again to the ultimate detriment of the public.

Restrictions may be justified under competition law if they are in the public interest, if they serve economic progress, if the benefits are shared with consumers and if the restrictions do not go further than is necessary or eliminate competition. However, where they go beyond those boundaries, it is important that the competition authorities should be able to take action to free the forces of competition.

The Royal Commission on Legal Services had recognized... extracted from Smith, Bailey, & Gunn: page 139-140

Today's reflection

I have begun think think this period of my life could have been the worst. I thought adaptation and assimilation should not be something to be concerned about as I have not encountered any difficulities during my first few months in Canada. I have had much problems and depression is certainly a new one. Being in the ligth of all these problems, I just want to go back to where I feel more belong, to where things are relatively more normal, to where people are much nicer? to where roads are much broader, to where I won't get killed when I look left for cars, to where it snows 35cm overnight, to where it gets -40 centigrade by February, etc.

There have been too much complaints about my life here that I think I'd be better off not being here. I had a nightmare last night about me not wanting to study law because law books are filled with gossips and i was the character who hates gossips. I got up and my mind kept pounding in the question: "Should I continue?? doing law!?"

A warm shower drains the nightmare off, but the complianing-dirts still adhere. Somehow, somewhere in me I have sort-of benchmarked Canada as the best place to live.

---
Received news today that the Law Department has plans to move from the current Beckett Park to the City Campus in July 2005 as ordered by the Vice Chancellor. If it does, that means I will have to find a new accomodation in downtown. Bad news for me... I hate moving around. We'll have to wait and see.

Slept for 18.5 hours and got up at 12:30noon earlier. that's my 2.5 days of sleep. thank goodnes I have no classes on tuesdays.

The doggie has migrated from a nice warm home to live with polar bears in igloos

Shot by: me -- Catherine Wong, my cousin from Montreal, Canada, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before departure. Her family and herself spent 2 weeks in KL and they had to leave for home too soon when things were just getting started. If only there was more time to get to know her and little William more. Nice people! :) That doggie she's hugging... my mom miss it a lot. 

Shot by: me -- This is Alfred Yanghwa from Kunming. He is a very nice guy who is partially blind but has many, many blessings. I am blessed by him too. 

Shot by: me -- Jessie from Chengdu and myself looking very, very silly with such a big smile. Happily dancing, i guess. ;) hehe 

Shot by: Alfred YH -- Oh, I forgot to mention we're in a Deewali's (Deepavali) party at LMU's Events hall in downtown. Me and Viv... lovely doll! hehe! 

丁丁

Shot by: Alfred Yanghwa -- Me and Nicole Ding, from Chengdu China, the place where Chinese beauties are produced. 在照片儿上我觉得她没有比本人好看！ 

Shot by: me -- This is Vivian Huang Feifei looking very surprised. She's an exhibitionist from Shanghai who specialises in Chinese calligraphy art; not that kind of exchibitionist you're thinking. hehe! Cool lass! 

Recalling Wednesday (10th)

SWZ had suggested a dinner on Wednesday the 10th with us all at Dorothy's flat. I wasn't interested initially but was sorta obliged because Dorothy & her flatmates never seem to stop pestering me. Plus, they have to rub it in that she has made something special... etc. cooked for you, bla, bla, bla.

There I was in the flat and Dorothy pulled me into her room whispering into my ear. She revealed to my SWZ's motive for tonight, that it's my birthday today... on the Chinese calendar. I Was Exasperated and I could not do anything to stop it without offending someone.

Dinner was good and I was just being normal and a little retarded trying to be as oblivion as I can be. The cake was a box of 12 sponge rolls creamy flavor. Marco (Germany) walked into the kitchen and we invited him to sing a song. He did the "National Anthem" song for October Fest. Silly!

The whole event was good but I can't help feeling odd about everything she does. *shudders!*

The truth behind all those lies

...before and after the Iraq war, one should ask oneself again, "Where is the weapons of mass destruction?".

I recommend you to do a search in Google for "Weapons of Mass Destruction". This time you click on the "I'm feeling lucky" button.

Pretty basic. Enjoy. (Do read what seems to be an error page)

Solving problems without war: War veterans

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month...

The chase

Remember Sara SWZ (SSWZ)?
Never have I seen any girl who is ever so aggressive & persistent in the pursuit of her man.

Not that I look at myself as being the victim of her pursuit but rather that I can't really tolerate her behaviors in resorting to smoking and drinking (or at least she intended to do such things) when she knows that I am not totally interested in taking her as girlfriend.

Reverse psychology is her current tactics to get to me but I really couldn't be bothered especially when she blabs all about the number of guys who went after her, how desireable she is, how she loved him back, etc. I'm like "WTF!??!". All these just adds to my "turn offs" list of girls, which is her best way for me to NOT entertain her more.

I'm not sure what she wants or what is interesting in me that she is interested in so much?? She said I'm very nice to people and to her as well. You have to be nice in order to afford a place to walk tall in society. Even right now, I am confused as I do not want to mislead her by being nice... I thought I have explained everything crystal clear to her but it seems that she's still holding on to faith and hope I'd catch the bait. Too bad I'm the fish that knows which bait to bite.

It's her chase. This reminds me of a Chinese idiom that goes like,
落花有意，留水无情 (luo4 hua1 you3 yi4, liu2 shui3 wu2 qing2).
Literal translation would be:
The falling flowers [by the river] have [their] intentions,
[but] the flowing waters has not any feelings.

It's not all that hard to see that I am the flowing river/waters. The idiom depicts of an analogy that flowers from trees falls down during autumn purposefully into the river as oppose to elsewhere. The flow of the river carries on without looking back nor having any strings attached to where a flower first touched the water. It's like "Life still goes on [with/without the flower]".

Self portrait of what I would really want to look like. Unfortunately, I have inherited the dominant side of genes in my family that are NOT hairy...(on the face, well... chest would do too, y'know?) I mean, look at that... cool-eh?! *winks!* 

The weekend in brief

We left for Wales at about half past seven or was it eight? I couldn't remember too well but arrived almost a quarter to eleven.

One thing I noticed among all Europeans is that they're very disorganized in everything they do including agenda or activities planning, kitchen stuffs, etc. EXCEPT booze!! The long table was not soon filled with kitchen stuffs, walking apparels and kits, first aid kits, etc. but with all different kinds of beers, drinks, mainly alcoholics. The variety of drinks that people consume are all on displayed on the table and that is sufficient for astonishment.

The weather for the next day wasn't all that beautiful. As England is known for its popular spitting weather -- wet and foggy --, I didn't think many of us enjoyed the 4 hours walk up to the summit of Snowdon, 1586m above sea level, the highest in Wales and England. I didn't go up as my tighs were not fit -- muscle aches -- so I stayed back and rested in the cafè for 10hours waiting for them to come back and pick me up. I wasn't properly attired and I didn't want to end up looking like the poster I saw where the was victim strapped in a stretcher carried away by 4 paramedics; its heading: STOP!! Are you fit to go up? ... If not, TURN BACK NOW!! I guess I did the right thing.

Sunday; since I didn't walk the big walk, so I did myself a small walk around were we lived for 2 nights. I saw a mountain goat for the first time and it shied away. It was beautiful. Coated in white generally with few black patches. I tried to follow it but I was lured away by this splendid fable-like garden with a high rocky waterfall. Let the pictures (below) do the description/explanation.

Overall, I'm contended and that was a longed-for break. Everything in England doesn't seem right and I've got tonnes of things to complain about. Fortunate a getaway trip like this one has given me a peace of mind. I hate to say this, however, sooner or later, England's things-not-right will get back at me. This is the only time I would really, really wish to go back to Canada and continue my law degree. It's definitely cheaper than here plus everything else over there is far more efficient and sensible.

Shot by: me -- 180 degrees panoramic view of Bryn Dinas overlooking Snowdon Mountain at dawn. Just before the mountain is a farm for sheeps... or Snowdon is shepherd's paradise if you may so call it. Click on image to enlarge. 

Shot by: me -- This is to show you that I've breached a private compound to get a panoramic shot of the lake (next pic). hehe! Only the sheeps know. 

Shot by: me -- Panoramic view of one of the lakes in Bryn Dinas, 4 pictures stitched up using Photoshop. Click on picture for larger view. On the other side of the river is yet another sheep's farmland 

Shot by: me -- The day was no longer bright. The weather was awfully wet. Visibilty has been reduced dramatically and I stayed indoor observing things. People came and left in their drenched attires. People sipping coffee and chatting about how impossible it was to be out there...etc. 

Shot by: me -- Memory lane of the development of Snowdon, with picture plates like those hung in all 4 corners of their walls. 

Shot by: me -- In Snowdon's Cafè waiting for my friends who went up to the summit while I stayed behind resting. The cafè closes at 4:45pm and I had to wait outside in the rain. 

Shot by: me -- Waited, and waited... this bus arrived but I still waited for them to return. Apparently, that was the last bus scheduled. Alas, I was rescued 3 hours later. 

Shot by: Marco -- We're in a place called Cygyn, I think. The entire place resembles a lot like The Hobbits Village in the first part of the movie of The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship. I'm a hobbit giant in this place.