You're Beautiful.. James Blunt

Day 2 of me Great Musical Experiment..must see previous post to understand..

and documenting of Day 2 of Jono's Great Tioman Adventure..well, we got up at 7.30am the next morning and had breakfast at Hamdan's Cafe near the beach and packed lunch for the day on the boat at sea..i remember wat i had, Nasi Pattaya..

Day 2 was great for fishin really..all bright sunny skies and calm waters..and the first stop was garupa or Garupo as Awang, our elderly Malay boatman called it..near the west side of the resort, near some rocky reefs we let down our fishin reels and fishin rods..and promptly caught a few mid sized Garupo..promptly applies to Dad and Pastor Kitham, not me...i waited for almost an hour before getting any bite..and reeled up only to lose the little bugger...took my bait with 'im too..cunning fella..

we went to 4 or 5 spots before i caught anything..a small Garupo..sigh..den of course we broke for lunch..the other Malay boatman (whom we later learnt was from Indonesia) was darn good at fishin man..he kept catching so many small to mid-sized Garupo and snappers and Greasies and yellow tails..Dad and Pastor Kitham din do so bad as well..at least 10 teach between them before lunch..

after lunch we headed out to the open sea as the weather was good enough and it was there that i caught my largest fish in the last 5 years..i dunno what it was but it sure looked like a cross between a barramundi and shark..at least 55 cm long..that truly rekindled my interest in fishin which has been simmerin on the back burner the last 2 years..we stayed out at sea till around 6.30pm before heading back to shore..it was a very very rewarding day..i like the feel of working hard for a good catch under the sun with good honest sweat down one's back..never tried it before? you should some time..

and we had our washing up, first of the rods, reels and equipment then ourselves before bringing 8 of the fish to the nearby Chinese restaurant to cook sweet and sour, with other dishes of course..even now, the thought makes me mouth water..yum..i was pretty dead beat after that so it was back to the room and a good sleep around 10.30 pm...but not before taking my back, shoulders and neck pain relief medication..dislike that problem man..keeps coming back to plague me on and off..

tell everyone more about Day 3 soon..

Again, Not my image but thats the kinda boat we took out to sea..not identical but very similar..actually the one we took was a bit more run down..this image is from the Net and shows Tioman in the background

You Remind Me, Usher

Lets do a little bit of experimentation, or X-perimentation as i call it..you all know how i love Class 95 back home in Singapore rite? so, i've decided to name my posts in Singapore by the name of watever song is playing on Class 95 at the time i begin each blog post (it'll probably wear off in a couple of weeks but you never know if you never try, eh?)



Ok. this post is about my recent trip to Tioman, Malaysia with family and Pastor Kitham, the Myanmar pastor from Charis Full Gospel Centre who pastors our Burmese/Myanmar congregation..before i begin, i really envy you Malaysian friends of mine when it comes to possible holiday destinations. You guys have such cool places as Tioman, Redang, Johore Bahru (even though security is sometimes an issue), Rawa, Aur, Pangkor, Penang, Langkawi, Maldives(eh, salah, that one not counted) and you can go there anytime without needing to bring passport or fill in forms about how much money you're bringing into Malaysia(must be under RM 2000, don't play play, ok?)



we took 2.5 hours to drive up from Singapore to Mersing and let me tell you, navigating to and from the new customs checkpoint in JB is no joke ok..follow road sign happy happy then eh! "TA BOLEh JALAn! OR*** ****!Machiam Mana PErGi?!" thats quoting some of the inhabitants of the car who jiakup Melayu fluently..then from Mersing we took the ferry to Tioman after a wait of about an hour..ferry took 2.5 hours..and then, of course, father cleverly never book transport from Tekek Village(our stop) to Juara Beach so have to find local transport..thankfully, this guy offered to give us a lift there for RM 140..which was daylight robbery, so we said no, then he said he'll find one more person to share with us and that was how we met Alicia, a back-packer from New Zealand who had come to Singapore as the Physio for the NZ Under-21 National Hockey Team but was staying on for a week to do travelling after the competition ended..she's a christian going to Green Lane Church in Auckland and it was really good for us to get to know her over the next few days..back to my story..the guy said 4 Wheel Drive by which i think he meant a car with 4 wheels because he brought a Perodua Kancil to bring us up and down many hills and valleys to Mutiara Resort at Juara Beach..the suspension was creaking like nobody's business and at several points i really thought that must get out and push the bullock cart, sorry, Kancil already..good thing arrive there in one piece and not in body bags..



Father of course forget to confirm our booking on the day before coming so there was a bit of a fiasco..good thing we were placed in a pretty nice chalet for RM 120 a night and when i saw the BEACH i went crazy man.. went straight to the room and changed into my trunks and literally ran to the beach and ran in for a darn good swim in warm, crystal clear waters with visibility of at least 12 m i swear..forget Australian beaches man..this one is to die for ok!!too bad it was already 530pm when we arrived, so did not have much time with my beloved salty sea....



and then, dad being dad, said that we should go explore..and his ulterior motive was to find Gunung (Mount) Durian behind the resort, full of Durian trees and pick up some free kampung durian..which we did..4 wild, kampung durians, no fertilisers or human intervention..except in their digestion..Alicia met us while we were "exploring" so we invited her to join us for kampung durian at the beach cafe..and she actually tried and did not mind the taste of durian..i told her that she definitely put to shame many of my white Aussie friends man..



and that basically sums up the first day of my Great Tioman Adventure..tell ya more about Day 2, 3 and 4 over the next few posts..stay tuned ;->

Not my picture but this is the exact type of chalet we stayed in (photo of Mutiara Resort chalet, Juara Beach, taken from internet)

Live High

Jason Mraz does Live High in Paris, with the Centre Georges Pompidou by Renzo Piano in the background and nobody recognizes him. Whats it with the French? can't appreciate good architecture and good music? nothing to live for then..well i'd Live High any day..

Book Review Time!

its time to do another book review for a book that most people would probably rather not read..so hang in there those of you readers who are intellectually challenged by some of these posts

Prisoner of the State, The Secret Journal of Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang is a fascinating read for those of us Sino-Soviet history buffs..the rivetting insider story of Zhao Ziyang's appointment as General Secretary of the Peoples' Republic of China and head of the Politburo Standing Committee and eventual fall from grace during the internal power struggles of June 1989 when the Tiananmen Incident broke out, all told from his point of view for once..

I always thought that Zhao Ziyang was a capable man, much maligned by his peers and rivals..but now i seem to have found a new respect for the guy who, during the upheavals of June 1989, proved to be the true "good and honourable man" who refused to be coerced into sending troops into Tiananmen and refused to go down in history as the Premier who ordered Chinese troops to spill Chinese blood..

For this of course, he spent the rest of his life under house arrest and hidden from the world. The story of how this secret journal came about is a gripping tale in itself. Apparently, from about 1992, Zhao began taping over audio cassettes of songs and children's stories with sections of his reflections. These were then distributed separately to different trusted friends and family members, who, on his death, covertly began to compile the tapes and smuggle them out of the country. Thats how the world first came to know of his secret journal and heard his voice for the first time since 1989.

the most interesting part of this book is the close look we get of different leaders of the CCP and the other sides to their charcter than that commonly played before the world's media, from Deng to Jiang Zemin..and of course the behind-the-scenes account of how China reformed her economy from centrally planned, 5 Year Plan style socialist models to free market economy within the space of 10 years under Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, when the foundations were laid for the explosive and uncontainable growth after 1992 till today. Most intriguing of all is Zhao's final chapter on the way forward for China where a CCP member (he was never expelled even under arrest), experienced in the politics of the Politburo and Central Committee and a veteran of the Cultural Revolution states that only western style parliamentary democracy, with free elections, the rule of law and separation of Legislature, Executive and Judiciary will be able to curb the rampant corruption, excess and inequality in China today.

Agree with him or not, Zhao speaks from the grave and refuses to be put down, suppressed or silenced. He may have said to the students of Tiananmen, "we're old and what we say doesn't matter anymore. But you are young and should not throw your lives away so foolishly." In reality, Zhao is more current and up-to-date on China than we think.

Thats all folks,
Jono Chua
Closet Sino Analyst

Timbre part 2

Timbre

it feels great being home again.. Kian and Richard met with me earlier for some beef brisket noodles, pork congee and fried wonton dumplings at Crystal Jade (Plaza Singapura, Dhoby Ghaut )and we proceeded to Timbre Old School at Mount Sophia (near Dhoby Ghaut) after that..the live music is fantastic and kudos again to the entrepreneuring people who thought of a place for local Singaporean bands to play while customers chill out with some beer..

of course, if you're talking about charm, ambience and idyllic(some say decadent) settings, nothing beats Dempsey Road at the converted former British colonial Baracks..now that place is the perfect haunt of expatriates and those of us with a sense of taste and finese, if i do say so myself..muahaha

one of the songs sung tonight by the band was Lady Gaga's Pokerface... Acoustic and unplugged..and i couldnt help laughing to myself and thinking about my friends in Newcastle who've seen me go crazy over this song and Lady Gaga's other musical ensembles..my my my my pokerface, my pokerface..this song is for you guys..and of course, the other memorable song that brought tears to my eyes (because i was laughing so hard) had to be..you guessed it, Jason Mraz and Colbie Cailat's Lucky...now that song is for you Dene and Emmerie..hahahahaha

and by God's grace i did have the opportunity before this to meet Ian while i was at the Cityhall Starbucks..which was completely unplanned and random..and we had a great time talking about his counselling work at St Francis School in Bukit Timah and work with Christian youth the past 6 months, while i told him about my past 6 months and the great academic trials i always face every sem..

and after that, i was having some late night supper at the Macas (aka Macdonalds) near my home..and i heard Reo Speedwagon on the radio..and promptly fell in love with Class 95 all over again..that was the radio station that saw me through the years 18 to 22 so i love you guys! Before that it was Perfect 10, 98.7 FM between 14 and 18 of course..buts its too bubble gum pop for me now..oh well..will keep everyone updated..See ya soon

The group

This is my growth group from unichurch..and i do love them..Lachlan Wetherall our group leader, Sam Barnes, in the second row, myself, DJ, Kate, Ellen, Lianna, Pip, Linda Wetherall who's Lachy's wife, Dave and in the last row, Alyssa and Tim Arnold

i've learnt so much from them espcially Lachy and Tim, who've been like my Christian mentors..from Lachy i've learnt the value of humble, quiet service that doesnt get talked about much or hyped up a lot, from Tim i learnt what a Christian husband looks like (especially a young Christian husband who's just starting out in life) and i've learnt from Sam Barnes who's the real philosopher in the group and who always offers a fresh philosophical perspective..or throws light on our thought processes..and Linda has taught me a great deal of what qualities to look for in a Christian wife and what really is valuable..and the younger members of our group remind me that i'm not that old after all..you guys invigorate me with the freshness of life at 20 all over again, before i even left the Army..i feel so alive around you people..great job! haha..

Speaking about youth..i watched Zhongyu's performance on Facebook earlier..i wish i'd been there last October to hear her rendition of Sarach Lachlan's Angel live with her band..now, that woman can sing i tell ya..you know what they say that when some people sing Magic happens? Well, Zhongyu's one of those who works magic when she sings..i feel young again, and i like that..

Man, thats the one thing i hate most about Newcastle Uni..it makes me feel so drained and it saps my energy at the end of every semester..thats why i need a change of environment at the end of each sem..and as a FOCUS helper it sometimes takes its toll with the constant battles between uni work and FOCUS responsibilities and wanting to encourage Christians rather than go off and do what i please..and when i hear friends like Zhongyu, Alvin Tay or Yap, Jonathan Tsang with their bands doing what they really enjoy without a care in the world i really wanna just ditch everything and go do something i like, such as Snorkel and Scuba Dive around the world..and to hell with the rest..i do like feeling young, i do like feeling that the world is my oyster, i do like the feeling of doing everything i enjoy whenever i please..

as i think about what i want to do with my future, i must thank Zhongyu for her performance..cos it has got me thinking and re-evaluating my choices.

Excerpts

"hey guys,

i dunno if you guys share the same concern for the environment, energy conservation and the poor as I do, but an idea just popped into my mind for a business/charity based on those causes.

I thought I'd like to attempt to help people convert waste heat to do something useful around the house like dry clothes.

An initial attempt would be to channel the coolant from a fridge to a larger area that can be maintained and cleaned so that the clothes can be dried on it.

I reckon this idea will not be immediately attractive as the cost savings will be quite little - maybe under $100 a year? and the initial cost of labor and raw materials to set it up may be way above that order of magnitude (some survey will have to go into this).

There are also several technical and aesthetic/design issues to concern oneself with - whether we can come up with designs for each situation that is functional and simple enough to be of casual utility, and that will be the thing which determines if this idea takes off.

In this climate of tightening belts and of people looking for something worthwhile to do, we can take otherwise unemployed people (ourselves) and apply them to helping the poor whom a few dollars in savings would matter to.

It could serve as a springboard/source of experience to implementing ideas that involve higher tech, more complication and more cost e.g. I envision solar powered windows to absorb energy from the sunlight to power air conditioners, or an external system to aid in cooling the computer, which is becoming the central problem with computing these days (incorporating the home server with the home water heating system). It has the scope of utilizing some of our trainings - varun's business skills, chua's design training, and perhaps shamir could help us market the product using videos - getting the message across to the our target audience."

To Gabriel:
applaud your thinking that went into this. Am greatly encouraged that friends like you remind me of where i came from. Without people just trying to do something worthwhile in this life like yourself, we'd all be screwed (for want of a better term). Note to self: do something small but worthwhile this week and stop screwing around with selfish ambitions.

Cheers
Chua aka The Creature

Change and Sian-ness

This photo says so much about my mood at the time..around Day 14 of my Japan mission trip last year..actually i think it says so much about everyone of the team at the time..

Ian has been talking a lot about change on his blog and i feel that it is an issue that does tug at my own heartstrings this year. I do believe that certain aspects of my character have changed significantly from last year while other aspects have been, shall we say, re-defined. Take for instance my left wing radicalism. That has mellowed so much. And my skepticism? i think that this year it isn't the in your face variety that it was before..i'm still deeply skeptical of people's motives and hidden agendas..but i believe i would say that i try not to be so hasty to judge..

it could simply be that i'm sian aka tired as in the Japan Mission pic and i'm growing out of my youthful "i can change the world" idealism..or just simply that being more engaged with individuals around me and being more in tune with their personal stories has made me a more practical human being who is much more useful to God than an idealistic hothead..or on a slightly less optimistic note, i'm more selfish in protecting myself by saying polite and moderate things rather than stuff that could ruin my friendships..

Just a few nites back i was at Joyce's place for some dinner and to check out her cool new fish tank (which i must say is pretty impressive but lacks a piranha) and ended up playing Wii with Jeram, Brendan, Joyce and Brandon..we all took turns and Josephine, Serene and Roger Jonas were up next..and i enjoyed it completely..and i felt that i was really engaging with true friends and caring for them..i wouldnt have been so at ease a year back probably as i'd have been more uptight. Its liberating really, being more laidback and sporting.

Its great to change to be a more easy going person i think..you noe, the next time you're over at Barahineban, give me a buzz or drop by my room and say hi..maybe we could have a beer and a nice chat about anything from uni work to life, God and the nature of the universe...except when i'm stressed by architecture maybe..*laughz*