childhood memories...

i spent the whole of yesterday at a mechanic in Pandan Indah, Cheras. t'was my second time there, and i really didn't notice anything unusual the first time. but on this occasion, it was different.

i stepped into the shop, and was assailed with a particular smell from childhood.

the smell/odour/perfume/mywrist was the smell of new tyres.

yes, tyres, the round typr you put on rims and drive around (geddit?). before you think me weird (mostlikelydoalready) let me explain.

the earliest memories i have are all in the same area, my gramma's house off Titiwangsa. my uncles have a business in rethreading tyres, thus, the aforementioned smells. the house died (ask me another time), but i am pretty sure up until it passed on, the smell was still there.

which brings me to my point. i have a list of stuff, see, and there's loads of random ones, like what songs remind me of whom and what occasion, list of places to go before i die, roads to drive in, etcetc.

this is a list of 10 things that remind me of my childhood.

1. the smell of tyres

2. pacifiers (ok, every kids uses it but i was pretty fond of mine)

3. the sound of cicadas in the heat of afternoon (it reminds me of hot, hot days)

 4. grammas chasing the children asking them to eat their food.

5. raw egg on boiled rice
6. the odour of chickens and their s***

7. single storied wooden houses.

8. a whole kampung of half naked doods sitting outside someones house smoking and talking (i swear, only dudes do this O.O)

9. tamiya cars

10. cheery trees.

-jing-

hardest thing about writing...

if you didn't already know, i am currently writing a book, and am in my 3rd er, incarnation? draft? well, 3rd one, the other 2 i threw away, and praise God, this i think is going somewhere. of course, it is nowhere near perfection, but, it is a learning curve. i am learning to see things in a broader picture, to look at situations in a more 3D kind of view.

so anyways, the hardest part is :

coming up with names.

names of people, names of places, names of every sort of thing under the sun.

period.

so please please, if you have a good name for people, or places, or you know, names, just write it down on my chatbox. or i.m me. or comment. i promise you i will try to find a use for it.

thx a bunch

-jing-

lovely weekend...

this is a happy post. don't know why everytime i do this i must qualify it..ocd..

last saturday, Youth HC went to help out in Jinjang for the annual Kids Christmas Party.

we had a small skit, in which i directed, and it happens to be my first. it was a fun fun learning experience.

see the smiles on the kids, wow. it's all worth it. when we gave out gifts to everyone, all 1.2k of them, half came by and wished me merry christmas in a funny malay accent. really warming.

in the afternoon, my family went to a close friend's wedding. the dude is a malay, and this is probably, the 3rd? malay wedding i've went to. and i love their way so much more. it was a buffet, anytime you can come and leave. O.O how cool is that. they are our ex-neighbours from selayang, you can say i've known them all my life. and then, wham, i say more old ex-neighbours. and this guys are THE oldest friends i have, the people i grew up playing catching with, the people i've had first-fights with. it was awesome.

just when i thought sunday can't be better, it did. i sang for service, and i LOVE it when i sing for guy-worship leaders. the ladies sing way too low, though i love it as well (gulp, disclaimer). the key was perfect, and i think it went great.

after church, 4 of us, mum dad sis myself, went up to cameron highlands to visit a relative. awesome people, so down to earth. had awesome awesome steamboat there (what's with steamboat and cold places?) then went for teh tarik. i swear, teh there is so delicious, it sent shivers up and down spines. the tea place was on a slope facing the plantation. when i used the toilet, the stunning vista can be seen through the window. i used the cubicle with a window, and was so preoccupied with the view i didn't notice i had finished lol.

came down at 7-8, it was pitch dark then and i drove. that was fun. the whole way i was thinking what would happen if i had a better car doing this, maybe a CTR or a Megane R26. it was too fun, and not something i get to enjoy often, sharpish corners and long sweeping ones......wow.. and all IN THE DARK...wow...

then, disaster. after Tapah toll, we went for about, 5k? and the rear left tyre decided enough was enough, and promptly blew out. when i say blew, i really mean shredded. it was crazy, on a highway going 140kph, suddenly, kkrrrssshepaaawwwwzzzzkkrrzhakklk....after a few calls, the 'helpful' PLUS guys came, took me to Slim River to get a spare tyre and after two hours, we were back on the road. reached home at 12.

damn tiring, but was great family time, with 2/3 of us lol.

on the other hand, this song has been stuck in my head the whole weekend.

The Invisible Man by 98 Degrees.

kinda gay, but i think i can relate.

longest post ever in awhile. i guess if one has time, this is how one spends it.

later

-jing-

20 random facts you didn't know about me...

to start off, i realise i blog in the morning most of the time, that's due to the traffic at night. it's crazy laggy, thus i normally am online only in the morning.

i did 8k this morning! yes, again, very proud of myself. it's been a tough week, and i needed the release. though i had a few kinks in my sides and shoulder by the time i finished.

Agnes called this morning! woohoo!! she stayed up till 1 just to talk to me after reading the last post, which was sweet, and thank God she didn't call at 2 in the morning, my time. don't worry i will be fine. yes i miss you ;)

thank God for great friends.

__

i was running just now, and i thought of this post. random, i know, but running clears my head especially in the morning's cool and crisp air. too bad there was not much sun. here goes.

1. my last name in Chinese means hero, Xiong, but on my i.c it says Shern, no idea what that means. it changed some time ago when i was sick and not yet a Christian, a sifu asked that i change it, along with other requirements to heal my ailment. i remember drinking some burnt paper, YECK. at the same time, i changed my doctor, and i 'miraculously' recovered. =.='

2. i am a very simple person, if you make fish for dinner, i would eat it, if celery, i would too. no complains there.

3. i am an optimist. i believe in the good in people, it's not naivete.

4. i like fashioning things with my hands, like wood and stone, though i lack the proper instruction.

5. i love all things furry, but cats more than dogs, just a little.

6. i am alot like my dad. i don't express feelings in words.

7. i really, really like the english language, writing and reading it both, though the french and italian call it a bastard tongue.

8. i have a very vivid imagination.

9. i am of the 'grow old but never up' school.

10. i have alot of baby hair at my hairline (lol, random)

11. and i have 10 (yes 10) moles on my left arm. (yes i counted, yes you can as well)

12. i am definitely a second child, what this means, ask me another time. too long to elaborate.

13. i speak bm with a 'proper' malay accent, and oft have been asked 'eh you orang melayu eh? kenapa cakap bahasa bagus ah?' to which i reply 'bukan, cina, tapi dulu banyak kawan melayu'

14. i have stayed in 4 houses, this is the fourth

15. and i like staying in high rises, preferably a pent-house with two stories.

16. i realise my ambition is to get rich while travelling the world, means, to be paid for doing that.

17. i have a list of places to go before i die.

18. i laugh easily.

19. i like a musically inclined girl, preferably piano or violin (lol, picky much)

20. i love beauty, in her very essence, like, the beauty of the rain of an open field, like the sun setting and lights sparkling over the waves, like the quite serenity of a baby at sleep, like a smile that is enchanting as it is sweet, lovely to behold, lovely to receive.

i though i could not possibly have 20 random things to write about, but now i find i have more. maybe next time.

worse week ever..

for real.

so last week, something happened. and that something resulted in my losing something i really need, which now results in me being perpetually broke. i have, for the rest of the month, 68 ringgit to my name. while my erstwhile friend will suggest i do something with my bottom, i don't think i am that broke..i am really really embarassed by what happened. thus the ambiguity. and here i thought on my blog i can write about anything i want. :S

and then ytd, i received another piece of bad news.  the bad news resulted in my using my last 60, thus, 8 left. it's not so much as the loss of the money, hell, i'll make it back one day, but..again, the shame. sigh. and thus, morale is at an all time low. i did what i could to rectify the situation, and i believe i did my best. not that it'll go away. you may earn forgiveness, but the consequences one will still have to face. god why have i been so stupid? what was i thinking? evidently, i wasn't.

so now, here we go again.

i gave God a list. not like, demands or anythin. just that, when i pray, i tell Him that if this and this happens, then i will take it as a sign that this or that would be m path. thus far, He has not failed, and He won't, and thus my current path. i read over two years ago a book.

Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

it is a christian book, a 40 day devotional title. i remember one thing only after this two years, i am not quoting, but it goes something like this:

It is unimportant (this part sounds wrong, but that's how i remembered it) that God show you a path for your life. More important is that in your current path, you walk a Godly walk.

i can't dumb it down further, but i have to say, i did not. i did not in my a-levs, i did not in my relationship with Esther, i did not in my foundations, and i still do not in my life. it is human to be fallible, of course, but to succumb to temptation when so obviously it is sin, is beyond reckoning.

sometimes, i wonder, about the bridge of the song Hosanna by Hillsongs Aus.

heal my heart and make it clean

open up my eyes to the things unseen

show me how to love like You have loved me

break my heart for what breaks Yours

everything i am for your kingdom's cause

as i walk from earth into...eternity...

break mine for what breaks Yours...break mine for what breaks Yours...break mine...

-jing-

doom and gloom...

not my life, the weather. i know i often said i want it to rain, and i still do, but, i like it sunny in the morning and evening when i exercise. gives a nice tan, and i really think i run longer and faster under the sun. must be solar powered.

and i went for a run again this morning, 6k (veryproudthx), under the semi-sunshine, and felt very contented with the world, how life sometimes can't be better, or it could, but i was not sure how...then it occured to me.

have you ever watched The O.C? you know how Ryan likes to run whenever he's stressed? i am somewhat like that, but the only difference is, i don't run next to a beach! to wake up every morning to the sound of waves lapping the shore and the smell of the sea in your home, now that's the life.

i am moving to..lets see..Hawaii, yes i am, and i will send you a postcard. :)

~

i love my kitty very much. and i normally enjoy playing with her with bits of string or my fingers. normally when she goes for the string, she'd never get it cos i would jerk it out (lolol, pun intended) of her reach. two days ago, she finally smarted up it, when i was using my fingers.

i was like OWWWW!!! though it was but a scratch, it was fairly deep. it's not like she never caught my fingers before, it's just when she did, she usually sheathed her claws. guess i did deserve it. i kicked her outta my room then. she stood outside meowing, and being the forgiving person that i am, i let her back in and continued playing tormenting her.

-jing-

Ashtar Command - Into Dust

great beginning to a new day...

so, i woke up today, and ran 6k.

it's a new achievement, and a heck of a way to start a day.

and i am now currently writing again. it gets better.

jing

one-oh-one

the first post! i actually experimented with wordpress.com, but after two days of trial run, discovered that to express myself, blogger seems to be the way to go.

why change you ask? well. i am not sure. when i first started carsmusiclifeheartaches i was heartbroken from a break up, and it was kinda immature, the blog, not the breakup.

thus, i have been thinking, well, it's time for change. and this is it then. i've got a few new things i want to try out, but it'll more or less be the same, music, random thoughts, books, life,

the only thing different now is, God. i will write about Him more.

i'll be seeing you.

-jing-