Hershey and around

This is one of the experience which I think it will stay with me for a long time to come. First of all, this is the longest plane ride I have ever been on and the topping to that I arrived in New York minus my luggage bag. When I arrive in NYC, only then my luggage 'decided to board' the plane!

 

Now that I am here in Hershey, Pennsylvania, I don't have my luggage with me. I have to be careful with the clothes so that I don't run out before my luggage reaches me...

I have been here for a day but I am loving it! However, I might find the life here a bit slow when I stay here. Wherever you go, you will find farmland surrounding you! Though they have the Hershey Park and ride, how many times can you go to that?

Anyway, for the last couples of days, it has been raining non stop. It's not like pouring but it's quite wet. You will realise that most of my picture taken is covered with the raindrop.

Ohh.. today it's the first time I step into the lab. It's nothing impressive but they do a lot of stuff in this lab. I get to choose my seat and I have my facing the windows. It has a great view from the 7th floor. I think I will be enjoying this more.

Above is my seat and below is what I get to see from the window! Amazing huh!

Well, tomorrow will be Saturday and I am going to stay at home to wait for my luggage to arrive. After that, I hope I can take more picture of the town and do some get to know the town thingy too... and better not rain!

US here I come

I am on my way to US now for three weeks. It will be a hectic schedule right from the start. I have to take a flight from KLIA - Singapore-Frankfurt-JFK. Upon arriving at JFK, I have to take a bus to Penn Station which is 1 hour ride away and then board a train to Harrisburg which is a journey of 3 hours.

The train ride will take me through New Jersey & Philadelphia. Ah...Hershey's chocolate...here I come!

What I am up to now...

Well, I have recovered from dengue. I must say the effect of dengue last for more than 2 weeks.

Immediately after that, I am up and running. Don't really have much to rest. Here are some pictures of what I have been doing lately. Mostly fieldwork for research.

Below are some pictures taken in Mardi, Kepala Batas.

Just ignore the date. I am using a replacement camera as my faithful Canon S5IS is in the service centre. I forget to switch the date off. I send my Canon for servicing as the flash  stop working  a year after I bought it. Again, about Canon, their service is so bad that after 26 days, I have not received it back....

Here are more pictures taken at Penang Jetty also for my fieldwork and research.

These pictures were taken at the Chew clan Jetty and also the Tan clan jetty. These are the earliest Chinese settlement in Penang. Most of the people lives here are of the 7th generations Chinese. All their house are built on stilts and on the sea.

You can find more information at MyChewJetty.com.

First A (H1N1) case in Malaysia

Today, Malaysia confirmed it's first H1N1 case in Malaysia.

According to the source, the patient is a 21 year old male returned from the States.

The government has also urged all to postpone their travel to the US, Mexico, Canada, Spain and Britain following reported cases of H1N1 flu in those countries.

I have just received my visa this morning from the embassy and expected to be in the States in early June... now I am in dilemma.

Should I still go to the States? 

10 things you ought to know about dengue

1. Fever will last for about 5-7 days

2. Nausea, sweat, giddy, joint pain, vomit are some of the common symptoms.

3. Platelet count below 150 are only counted dengue.

4. Drink 100 plus, more 100 plus and more 100 plus.

5. No medication other than to be put on Sodium Chloride drips and your won antibodies

6. Fever will come on and off, ranging from 37.5 to 39oC.

7. Your platelet will only drop on the 3rd day of fever

8.If you have 2nd round of dengue, the platelet count will drop further and lower than before

9. Its very boring just to lie down in hospital to be monitored.

10. It's just simply plain costly to have your blood check every day!

An unwanted rest...

Rest. Who don't want to have a break and a rest? I would love to have a break too. But not the type of rest that I am having now.

I have been admitted to hospital for dengue. Since Tuesday, I am having fever and joint pain. Fever have been on and off, ranging from 37.5 to 39oC.

Now, I am admitted and taking the rest, to recover but only to find hospital is just plain. stiff. bored. to. the. max.

Thank God I have my notebook with me and I can do some stuff. Everyday, I still have to wake up about 6am to withdraw blood for the daily platelet count. 

GLN Singapore

Our church back home adopted the Trinity Christian Centre carecell model a couple of years back. Now we are in full swing implementing this carecell model and I am glad that our home church is investing in us by sending us down south to Singapore to learn. This is my third trip here to learn about from TCC.

I must says that every time that I am here, I am blessed, both spiritually and also 'physically'. They never fails to feed us with good food and up to five time a day! Well, feed the soldier well before they go for war! :)

However, I believe coming down for this conference is more than just learning about the model, techniques and tools but the spirit behind serving and ministry is very important. I asked myself, why this model works? Is this the only carecell model? Can't I learn all this back at home?

However, the whole 3 days that I had spend here change the way how I look at ministry. I believe, we are in ministry because it's a privilege to partner with God and serve Him! Do I want to miss out this opportunity to serve and partner with Him in the ministry of reconciliation that He has entrusted us?

I also asked myself other countless questions such as how should I serve as a servant leader yet I leave a good impact and lasting impression among my member? How can I do thing differently if I am given a choice to change things? Where do I picture myself to be in 5 years time? What else can I serve Him?

For those who read this, I leave this thought with you, how can you serve Him differently using all the give that He has given you? Our blessing comes by releasing and using things that He has blessed us with and equipped us!

P1 WIGGY

After the initial trial pack was distributed to us, I went back to the HQ to have it change. There are some problem with the initial batch. However, I must say that the P1 staff really work fast to sort out the technical problem faced.

The second batch of WIGGY was in better package. I love the metal box and it nicely decorated too.

Once I received the latest WIGGY, I tried to go online, but I can't. Later, when I called them, they informed me that I can't do it around the P1 Paddock area because they are testing out two frequencies for the WiMax broadband. Thus this explain the problem for the modem to locate the right IP address.

I manage to connect the modem after moving away from the HQ. So, with my wife in the car with me, we decided to have a trial test drive with WIGGY. We drove from P1 WiMax HQ all the way back to Kajang.

The modem is built to have seamless connection as your travel but we soon realise that it wasn't so. We get disconnected about 10 times. Each time, it takes about a minute to two to be connected again. I was told it did not disconnect when they try driving with the modem around.

Anyway, currently, P1 is having their promotion for WIGGY. They had not sell it at their HQ but only through PC Fair

So, do go the the PC Fair fast to get this promotion. Buy a WIGGY and get the notebook free. 

2009 Easter March, Kajang

Biannually Easter march was held on Saturday itself.

The march was earlier on publish in The Star newspaper.

Easter March in Kajang

By GEETHA KRISHNAN

A CROWD of 2,000 is expected to participate in the 2009 Easter March in Kajang on Saturday.

The march is a combined effort of 23 main and independent churches of various denominations around the Hulu Langat district. The aim is to seek God’s blessings, protection and provision for the district, the state of Selangor and the nation as a whole, with emphasis on unity and good governance.

Themed “One Body, One Spirit, One Lord”, the march will start at 3pm at the Holy Family Church on Jalan Gereja after an opening prayer. It will end at 6pm following one hour of prayer, worship and fellowship at the Holy Family Hall.

For a good cause: Around 1,900 people participated in the 2007 Easter March around Kajang.

Organising committee chairman pastor V. Ravichandran said the route would cover Jalan Gereja, Jalan Bukit, Jalan Semenyih, Jalan Mendaling and the town centre with the crowd stopping at various spots to pray.

He also said priests, pastors and church elders would lead the march, which was open to all, young and old. The colour code for the afternoon will be red T-shirts.

“In the past marches, we were grateful for the police support we received to help control the crowd and to march in an orderly manner without disrupting traffic. We hope for similar support this year and would like to thank the force in advance,” he added.

The 2009 Easter March will be the 14th of its kind. It was held annually but since 2005, the march has been held biennially. The march was initiated by the Kajang Assembly of God (KAOG).

However, come on that day the turned out wasn't as expected in the newspaper but non-the-less disappointing. We had a turn out 1, 240 people from 26 participating churches around Hulu Langat.

The Easter march had started annually aimed to pray for the town of Kajang and also for the state of Selangor and the nation. We believe we have to pray for our town and nation, for peace and also for prosperity .

As usual, we started the march with a time of worship in the Church of Holy Family in Kajang. After that, we start to march about 3.45pm with the help of the Kajang Police to control the traffic.

In the beginning, it was scorching hot, but when we started to march, there were clouds and the weather was just so good. The rain did not come as how many expected but just a few drops toward the end of the march.  

We sang and pray along the way throughout the march around Kajang town. It was just such an awesome experience and time. The march also bring some euphoria to many people and this is what you get too...

Anyway, during the Easter march, we literally and physically paint town red! 

P1 Wimax WIGGY Sneak Preview

I travelled so much lately and with my work, it's essential to get connected.

I simply need to be connected all the time, either to check my mail or even to chat and obviously to get my data uploaded every time I do my research.

Yesterday, P1 Wimax decided to lauch its latest product, the WIGGY! It's a matchbox size modem. One wonderful thing about P1 is that they invited the bloggers to cover the event.

I am curious about the name...sound like wiggle to me at the same time, reminds of waffle....so WIGGY!

Well, as usual, when you attend this event, there will be some slide presentation and also introduction to the product. very tech..gy.

USB modem has been around for a while and there are a few companies that has been providing this services. And I think this is definitely a great service to have, especially for people who are so mobile.

Looking at the modem, it's just simply so nice to hold and compact, just the right size for pocket and for travelling. No wonder its light.powerful.sexy.in your pocket.

After the event, the bloggers took some time to test the product.

Too bad, the coverage for wimax has not reach Kajang as its only up to Mahkota Cheras now. I am hoping it will reach Kajang soon, if not, the free 3 months trail that I received will be a waste! Anyway, tomorrow, I will take it with me for a ride to Banting, Klang and PJ for my work. I guess I will be able to test it out. Come this Friday, I will be in Cheras, and I hope I can use it too...because, I know the place I am going don't have cellphone network coverage!

I am happy for now, I don't need to borrow my boss' wiggy. I have my OWN!

For your information, WIGGY will be officially launch this coming Friday, 10 April 2009! Watch out for it!