..my battle stance..

I was thinking about Mary suddenly. Jesus' mom. Her life.. it was quite incredible, isn't it? No wonder that some of our friends would look up to her in such a special way. Think about it. From Genesis to Revelation.. has any woman ever conceived in such a way? by the Holy Spirit? which literally means.. God? I can't even imagine what that really, really means. If you watch anime, you probably know this show 'Beelzebub'. Well that baby was totally not normal. Only the characters in the show would believe he was human. But Jesus? He was born a baby. Human. I suppose Mary would have expected a glow in the dark baby at least. But there he was.. warm and tiny, in her embrace. Baby Jesus. And I suppose baby Jesus needed breastfeeding as well. So their relationship would've been truly.. that of a mother and child from day one. to try imagining Mary.. on one hand a normal mother, and yet on the other hand, doing her best to grasp this grand p...

so this song returns..

Hosea 3:5 They’ll come back chastened to reverence      before God and his good gifts, ready for the End of the story of his love. (MSG) they will come trembling to Adonai and his goodness in the acharit-hayamim . (CJB) and they shall come in [anxious] fear to the Lord and to His goodness and His good things in the latter days. (AMP)   I pray that God will help me each morning.. to start the day with bended knees and humble heart. That I will start the day in the fear of the Lord. And before anything else.. that I may come to His goodness with reverence and awe.

Watched Man of Steel 3D in Jakarta over the weekend. I must say that some of the effect were cool. But for me.. 2.5 hours is way too long for anything except les miserables. And LOTR Return of the King! We had quite a headache by the time the movie ended. Lotsa fighting, brute force fighting.. So much so that I forgot whether or not the man of steel got wear his trademark red underwear. and having checked the poster again, I realised that he betrayed his underwear #$#@%@#$ this is blasphemy. how could he forsake the very thing that makes Superman, Superman? speak of identity crisis @_@ No wonder I felt that something was missing. Oh yeah.. Bistro Baron at Plaza Indonesia.. turned out nicer than my expectation. We loveee their mash potato. Soo... gooddd...With truffle I suspect its gonna be even better. We are sucker for truffle+potato combo. The roast chicken also good! And will end the post today with this clip (Yeah I know we all know this song..) beyond roma...

for the uninitiated.. we have a neighbor next door. a nice lady called michelle. she would have been one of the pretty girls when she was younger. quite incidental that we got to know her name around the time we watched that life-changing movie.. "you are the apple of my eye". she could have been andreas' fallback plan if it doesn't work out with michelle chen. well.. been almost 3 yrs. with probably less than 2 hour total of chatting time between us. only occasional hi, have a nice day, and bye.  so.. one day.. just recently.. she knocked my door. (the last time she did that was to borrow my chairs). looking for me. ehem.. and told me that life changing news... "I am pregnant". ..... In case you wonder..  she wasn't asking me to be responsible for this. Of course I am not the father. So why was she telling me this? Coz she was thinking of looking for new place to rent. Well life changing for her lah.. I mean. so far we only know ...

Well.. he got her "maybe" reply on twitter. Not sure if she really meant it when she said she would check her schedule.. She never went with him. But Nina Agdal went. I dunno what it takes to court an American swimsuit model like Kate Upton. But apparently this kind of video works. Maybe it's his "Jew card", as someone pointed out. But it's worth a try.

For whatever reason, I find my interest in movie rather unpredictable lately. Iron Man 3 to me is.. good.. but not fantastic. But simple low key movie such as Silver Lining Playbook left deeper impression. Furious 6.. it was a fun ride. But.. too 'unreal' to me. I mean.. yeah.. no one expect 'reality' in this kind of movie.  *spoiler alert but still..  I can't accept that part where Vin Diesel jumps and catch the girl midair and somehow.. still manage enough momentum to fall where he fall. You know.. from Physics point of view..  and I can't accept that the scriptwriter has to kill the Israeli chick. Remind me of GI Joe. Is it the trend now to kill off the most good looking character in the movie? But I must say that the movie is memorable. Why? Next to me were an Indian couple. the guy was heavily tattooed, with solid build. Almost like Vin Diesel feel.. but shorter, and uglier. There was this part where the movie reveal the 'traitor...

This is taken solely from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby "First published by Scribner's in April 1925, The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews and sold poorly; in its first year, the book only sold 20,000 copies. Fitzgerald died in 1940, believing himself to be a failure and his work forgotten. His work, spearheaded by The Great Gatsby, experienced a revival during World War II , and the novel became a part of high school curriculum in the following decades. The book has remained popular since, leading to numerous stage and film adaptations. The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary classic and a contender for the title " Great American Novel ". The book is consistently ranked among the greatest works of American literature ." Pardon my ignorance but for a moment when I saw the preview I thought, "Could this be the story of the guy behind that hair wax brand?" I mean.. look at di caprio's well-o...

Do you know that oolong tea (without sugar, milk, and bubble of course).. can increase your metabolism? And thus.. helping you to slim down? Thanks to brother John who generously shared this tips. No wonder I would feel hungry after drinking 1-2 big cup of oolong tea at night. I knew that oolong tea kinda neutralise the fatty stuff that I am eating. But I didn't know it increases metabolism. If you only eat fruits + drink oolong tea.. you gonna slim down like.. fast and furious. But I assume that's as good as killing yourself so.. maybe just for the dinner? Either way.. oolong is good. Pokka oolong is great (I am not paid to say this). So.. stock some at home.

If you've seen enough anime or j-dorama, you will definitely be familiar with this riverbank scene. Usually it's sunset. And I always wondered.. would I see such place when I visit Japan. Apparently.. these places do exist. And I think.. it's part of what makes Japan charming. So I always wish that one fine day.. these two persons will eventually lie down together.. basking in the warm embrace of the setting sun. under that orenji sky that makes them dream. where there is no agenda or rules to follow. only two free hearts that love freely. and two pair of eyes that have become soul mates. sharing a pair of earplug that sings their song of covenant.

woh.. finally.. it's that time again to look back. and to look ahead. and be grateful above all. looking back i just can't imagine.. this journey.. been a long one. for someone who once imagined that he would live a life like Chairil Anwar.. it's been way past the due date. looking ahead, I will remember the verse my mum always remember from Stephen Tong's KKR in Medan.. longg longg time ago.. before I was born. He said, "Forget(ting) the past and look(ing) forward to what lies ahead". (Phil 3 NLT) And what lies ahead? Probably there will be more twists and turns and wounds and tears.. but also.. more and more of His glory. and at the end of all those.. the glorious return of our Lord. may our eyes be ceaselessly fixed on that eternity that awaits us.

for so many times I tried to post something. but all I could think of is a negative feeling. Not that my life has been THAT miserable, good things happens.. here and there. And God is good.. always. But you know.. when certain incidents give you that overwhelming feeling that you seem incapable of writing anything but that. Which makes me wonder.. these successful people who are capable of maintaining optimistic thought at all times.. (which is probably only 10% of those who seem to be capable of such feat) how the heck did they do it?

Well.. whatever this is.. it is apparently.. famous hah. And of course... there is this!

At some point.. I can only sigh. I can offer nothing else and nothing more. Not to a bottomless pit of doubt. If all that I've given  means nothing more than the opinion of those naysayers.. At this point.. I can only sigh. :)

The week has been anything but ordinary, nothing but grace. I have never worked on so many cases at one time before. And none of those cases were result of my own creativity or hard work. God's generosity.. it's amazing. And in the Batu preacher's (the way brother John put it) word, it's restful. Don't get it yet.. but maybe I don't need to really get it. I just need to believe it. The mystery of the Father's heart. He is good. He is good. And after such a high.. you will wonder whether you are in for some lows. But God reminds me that simple prayer. Jesus teaches us to ask the Father for our daily bread. He is a Father who does not  come to meet us this morning with merely yesterday's leftovers. Nor does he come to us with tomorrow's promises. He, first and foremost, comes to us with today's portion. A fresh, new portion of his love, his grace, his mercy. A fresh new revelation of Christ, the daily bread himself. the living w...

In today's era of plastic surgery, photoshop, and NLP.. sincerity is a rare commodity. or obsolete.. for some. those who are still sincere with their words and acts.. they are either one of those friends who don't seem to get too much attention on his fb page.. or.. those people found on Silver Lining Playbook. The other day I spoke to my brother about one of his SMU friends. my brother described this guy as a 'true blue SMU' man. I met this boy. I pointed out to something that he said in our previous phone conversation. Basically I was trying to tell him that he has not been honoring his words. He said, "oh maybe you have over-expectation on the subject.." I was like.. Dude.. don't play this game with me. Anyway so I just gave that are-you-kidding-me-smile hearing those words. Well he is actually a decent chap :) Afterwards he quickly admitted that he had underestimated the matter. That's better. You know.. why can't peopl...

Another ted talk. the guy was kind of a legend as UCLA basketball coach. Born 1910. Signed off 2010. Quite a life! :) Well I think that's what being 'coach' should really mean. And here's the Coach's pyramid of success btw.

things have come full circle (or cycle? my English skill is getting worse). the first property sales that I transacted was dated 2009. the client was one my precious batch 5 friends. now some of them have moved on to buy their second or third properties. some are about to sell the property they first bought. there is this.. dunno-how-to-describe feeling.. when I think of that. how the same property that they bought thru me is now going to be marketed for sale. some old birds may have gotten used to such things. but for me.. I still find it.. you know... And I am glad knowing that they could make good profit out of it. i went into property not because i am talented or passionate about sales. but i love.. the idea of... finding and buying houses. it's like the holy grail for my family for many, many years. there is this newly renovated house in front of our beloved stroberi road apartment. i just loovee looking at that cozy house. and i thot.. one of these days i...

one day.. you will run out of excuses. and i will run out of reasons. one day.. we will run out of theories and words to quote. one day.. only honesty will do.