Don't Panik!!! - Eugene's Delicious Blog - Life

Hurricane or just plain monsoon rains?

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:38:33 -0400

This is where you love it that your under-powered, turbo-diesel guzzler is pure mechanical. No fancy ECUs, no electronic fuel-injection, no funky stuff. Just mechanical goodness. Everybody knows - electronics and water don't mix. An air intake sitting three feet off the ground also helps. Sorry about the blurry photos - it's hard to be fording a two-foot deep raging river with swift currents, err, I mean Jalanraya and take good photos at the same time. Safety first!

About to go left

iPhone and Alpine meet

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:18:00 -0400

Tuesday for me felt very much like a Monday since I worked from home on the Monday which was good thing too since there was a massive police cordon around the Parliment area that caused an unprecedented KL-wide gridlock. I drove off to work, leaving my iPod at home so of course I missed my morning worship songs. Never mind that, my iPhone came to the rescue... I hooked up the over-priced iPod cable from my Alpine and was greeted with the following screens. No one called me in the morning anyway so I don't know if the phone will still ring but I'll try it out some day. Kudos to Apple for making the compatibility degrade gracefully -- manufacturers cannot anticipate the future but software should degrade to the common denominator gracefully when future devices show up.

Friday Worship

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:00:33 -0400

As I drove out this morning, my trusty iPod mini hooked up to my Alpine CDE-9873 played Somewhere in the Middle by Casting Crowns The Altar and the Door CD. As is my habit nowadays, due to the lack of time and workload, I begin my morning with Worship in traffic. It calms my heart, and helps me re-focus the start of each new day on our Lord, God and Creator. The days feel much more bearable and I find strength to carry-on when I do this compared to a few days where I did not.

Of course today was a bit different as I was heading to the KWSP or EPF to withdraw some much needed cash for my new house & studio! This particular song caught on to me and I replayed it a couple of times. It really made me think and somehow I think it accurately describes me and where I am right now. It's trying to decide if I should plan and calculate all probabilities or to trust in God's supreme providence and faithfulness. To rely on my steady income or jump into my passion for photography. To pursue my personal goals and ambitions or who God wants me to be. To having everything to giving everything. No easy answers and not something one can decide or even do overnight or over a year.

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle
© Casting Crowns

Stock broking and Fishing?

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:44:00 -0400

Well, when the Market stinks, you find other kinds of stinky projects to do... like rearing edible fish for the market

Weekend activities

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:59:00 -0400

Well, this weekend has been much more restful than the last but still packed with little chores and things to do. Was up early on a Saturday to send my wife's car in for servicing and then it's off to the market for groceries. The hardware shop came next to replace my leaky faucet. That took quite a large amount of effort and back-breaking labor -- I wonder who screwed the original faucet in, but heck, it was so tight I had to use a wrench and hammer at the same time!

Then while we had to cook dinner for a pot-luck birthday dinner we were to attend later, I figured I might as well do some gardening. On the 12th floor that is and it was really a strange feeling. I mean here I am potting plants and getting my hands dirty with soil but it's 12 floors up and I've tiles for the floor. I can't wait to get my feet back onto the ground!

Ouch!

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:42:17 -0400

It doesn't usually hurt this much. And I'm sick and tired of politicians, several "knowledge-able" people and one elderly British couple saying that you know, our fuel prices are still cheap. Those Singaporeans, do you know how much it costs per liter over there? Oh, by the way, the Brits are paying RM8 per liter. And those Americans in their huge SUVs pay more than RM3 per liter. Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't mind those prices if my salary was in Singapore Dollars, British Pound Sterling or US Dollars. Get real. I earn in Ringgit so compared to someone in Singapore, US or UK, those numbers don't wash. Plus, do you know how much import duties are imposed on cars here? How can a RM120,000 Prius incur a RM117,000 import duty? Drop the import duty and I'll gladly drop the fuel subsidies. Get rid of our road tax too, an annual fee for the basic license plate plus registration (no more than RM100) should suffice.

Blood, sweat and toil - for a good cause!

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 07:59:35 -0400

Stay tuned for more info... or go here for the details (not yet but give me a day or two!)

Time & time...

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:42:55 -0400

How time flies. It's middle of May already and I'm still sleep deprived. Work is piling up on all fronts and there seems to be no let-up. New old House renovation plans are still being drawn and finalized while I'm hoping I won't need to sell all my stuff to finance it. Then again, I also can't wait to move out of the 12th floor. Condo living may suit some people but I think I prefer my feet on solid ground and no elevators to ride home. Makes going on vacations and photo shoots difficult too - imagine all the stuff you need to carry out and down and all that! I also seriously miss my two dogs and while I won't be taking them from my parents, I can't wait to have my own! Hopefully I can have a larger work area than my current space, cozy though as it is, there's not enough desk space for my wacom tablet and other stuff.

The May photoshoot got postponed into June and I think I'll try some with my cousin and his new bride if we have time. He's flying in end of this month with my iPhone and I'm wondering whether I should go quad-core on my PC and all that. Ah, but I have to save money for the house. My to-buy list is getting longer and longer. Delayed gratification indeed!

Hope you like my messy desk... hope to have a new workspace for 2009!

Expedition XI

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Sat, 10 May 2008 22:45:14 -0400

Just got back this evening from an all day outing with the team from our Chinese Church. We led them to show them our OA Ministry efforts at Sang Lee. They helped conduct a two-hour mandarin tuition session. Why mandarin you ask? Well, the local Chinese school was helpful enough to let them attend class and offer them extra classes after school. Anyways, we also took them to see the interior villages. The Sungai Dalam track was in great shape and we were flying in at rally speeds. We also found a great coffee and roti bakar place at Bentong town.

Anyways, while tuition was being conducted, KW and myself took some time to head into Sinai Baru just to check up on them. That trail has always been tough and I managed to put a second dent in the front skid plate under my left tire. Anyways, since there was only two of us, we got some great action sequences. Only got time to do three, need to wake up early tomorrow for airport shuttle service!

Zoom & snap method - no Photoshop!

OMF Bungalow

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:00:31 -0400

Sorry, I got back at 8:30pm, worked on two proposals, one pricing and eight emails. Cooked dinner and did the laundry. Still lagged from the activities of the past two weeks. More photos will be posted in due time. I still have SEMOA Pastor Edwin's wedding PhotoBook to do!

To see a full screen version, click here.
Yes, it's a panoramic view of the Bungalow stitched from four separate frames.

Sunset at Casa

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:00:00 -0400

Magnificent sunsets at Casa. Hopefully a sign of things to come, that is, I won't be able to see them any more cos I have my feet on the ground and not in a box in the sky.

Hope, Faith and Love

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:38:04 -0500

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
~ Psalm 36:5

On a Friday

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:33:00 -0500

Christ died for men precisely because Men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it.
~ CS Lewis

Why?

We rode into town the other day, just me and my
Daddy. He said Id finally reached that age, and I
could ride next to him on a horse that of course
was not quite as wide We heard a crowd of people
shouting and so we stopped to find out why There
was that man that my dad said he loved, but today
there was fear in his eyes

So I said Daddy why are they screaming? Why are
the faces of some of them beaming? Why is he
dressed in that bright purple robe? I bet that
crown hurts him more than he shows Daddy please
cant you do something? He looks as though hes
gonna cry You said he is stronger than all of
those guys-Daddy please tell me why, why does
everyone want him to die?

Later that day the sky grew cloudy and daddy said
I should go inside Some how he knew things would
get stormy, boy was he right But I could not keep
from wondering if there was something he had
to hide So after he left I had to find out, I was
not afraid of getting lost So I followed the
crowds to a hill where I knew men had been killed
And I heard a voice come from a cross:

And it said : Father why are they screaming. Why
are the faces of some of them beaming? Why are
they casting their lots for my robes?? This crown
of thorns hurts me more than it shows. Father
please cant you do something? I know that you
must hear my cry. I thought I could handle a cross
of this size, Father remind me why, why does
everyone want me to die. When will I understand
why?

My precious Son, I hear them screaming. Im
watching the face of the enemy beaming but soon I
will clothe you in robes of my own. Jesus this
hurts me much more than you know, but this dark
hour I must do nothing. Though Ive heard your unbearable
cry the power in your blood destroys all the
lies, soon youll see past their unmerciful eyes.
Look there below see the child trembling by her
fathers side. Now I can tell you why, she is why
you must die.
- Nicole Nordeman

Wallow like a Hippo!

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:55:31 -0500

Off for training

nospam@example.com (Eugene Khoo) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:12:00 -0500

Will be blogging less the next couple of days as I'll be away from the office for a few days of training.