lomantik's Xanga

Switch Switch?

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:13:43 GMT

Hey y'all...

Kinda tired of the look of my unsavaeble Xanga blog. I find it hard to read myself!

Trying lomantik.wordpress.com these couple a days.

Tell me what you think, yeah?

God bless!

10th April 2006

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 13:31:47 GMT

Hey all!!!

What do you guys seriously think of my font size and font? I personally think its pretty hard to read and my posts do look longer... .

Anyway, the weekends were not bad at all. Spent Friday at Revolution at The Roundhouse at UNSW. Forgettable event save the UK DJ Andy Hunter. Unless you're a hardcore clubber and soundtrack meister, you wouldn't even have heard of him I guess. He mixed a couple of beats for films like Tomb Raider, Aliens and Matrix. Which specific tracks, I don't know, but if you were an expert in these things, again, you WOULD (care to) know.

Saturday was better though. Went to help this widow out (at Blakehurst!) with tidying her place up and all. She is actually a practicing Christian minister and lawyer! And she had two little dogs! Ahh... animals... just can't live without 'em! She talked to us about mentorship and how important it is to get a mentor in life.

And guess what? Pastor Brian (Houston) spoke about mentorship on Sunday morning itself! I was like... oh my goodness... is this a wakeup call or is this a wakeup call? I would call a few people in my life my mentors. I respect them, listen to them and in turn they inspire me and show me that certain things can be done... that certain things aren't impossible at all! But of course, I have so much more to learn (to allow myself to be mentored and to follow after my mentors)...

I want to hear from my readers... Long time no hear peeps! . Do you guys/girls have mentors? What would you have done without them? Would you get one now (if you don't already have one)?

Annndddd... training at Starbucks has officially ended. Now its into the stores! Did my first espresso shot today. It was perfect the first time around. Try as I may, I couldn't repeat the feat... . And steaming milk is just not my forte... Ah well... here's to learning!

God bless!

WordPress...

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 07:42:24 GMT

Hello peeps!

Since two of my readers have introduced WordPress to me... I've decided to give it a try at lomantik.wordpress.com...

Dunno though. I kinda am comfortable with Xanga and how things work here. Like smilies and all... . Does WordPress have smilies?

And it doesn't have 'Now Playing'! How can I live without it! haha .

Dunnoleh... I still am not convinced WordPress is that good... Leave comments, dude and dudettes!

God bless!

Changes...

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 23:15:47 GMT

So what do you think? Is my blog easier to read now? It looks like a newspaper hey? hehe

I'm seriously getting quite bored with my blog layout already but I seriously don't have the time and dedication to edit it and play around with it. Maybe soon... when I get a really good picture to put as my background .

So yeah, major changes are happening in my life in Sydney at the moment; now that I've got a job and all. Already I had to move my classes around to fit my training schedule. Hopefully they'll not do that for the actual shifts.

Starbucks is the top 20 employers to work for in the world. Rubbing shoulders with Donald Trump's CBS and the rest; info from Fortune magazine. And it shows in their training sessions. We are never called employees, only partners. We are taught (brainwashed) to be morally sound and nice people to other 'partners' and customers also.

We tasted 6 different coffees in a space of 4 hours. At the end of that particular session, everyone was smiling, bouncing around, yellow teeth and all... haha nah, the last bit was thought up. It was very intricate, it was like wine tasting... My fave session by far.

Anyway, it was really cool. The training sessions are really fun and informal (maybe cause I was there? ) and everyone's pretty much local; which cuts out all the bullcrap questions like, "So, where are you from?". I hate that question... but if people come up to you with an accent, you have no choice but to launch that ugly, ugly question... Right? Right? Right? bleah!

So yeah, tomorrow's another 6 hour training session with the same group of people. The title of the session is "Simply Service". Flashes of 'employees' getting fired over their blog come to mind... . But at StarBucks, "...our stores are our billboards and our partners, the media..."

God bless!

Hannibal is sick...

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 11:32:36 GMT

Well, indeed, Hannibal IS sick but this time around, he was apparently too sick to come for the interview with Enough Rope's Andrew Denton. . So I didn't get to meet Sir Anthony Hopkins.

However, I did get to meet cartoonist Michael Leunig (I'm impressed that both Darrell and Marvin knew him!) and Diane Cilento; ex-wife of Sean Connery (during around the period bond-craze hit the UK). (as pictured below).

But well, she apparently didn't feel safe with him cause of all the ruckus the Bond films were creating and left him; heading back to OZ Land instead.

Michael Leunig was interesting. He seemed to be in a world of his own most of the time. Ah well, the two recordings lasted about four hours. SokLeng and I were butt-tired by the time the thing ended. But it was fun; sitting in a room with people who are just so big is very inspiring. Indeed, these are people who are been there and seriously done that. Amazing... Diane Cilento even rubbed shoulders with Alfred Hitchcock! Sir Alfred Hitchcock. And of course Sean Connery and her gave birth to Jason Connery...

Anyway, I should stop being so starstruck. But its just amazing to know that behind Hollywood and the fame and the drama are really people who are learning about life just as much as we are. We would never really know what their lives are gonna be like. I'm not idolising them, I'm just thinking, you know, it's so different. The world was literally... at their feet. And they live to tell tales of such fame... and such fortune...

We watched "V for Vendetta" as well last night straight after.

It's an alright movie. I liked "Tristan & Isolde" better. It's adopted from a DC comics action hero but I have no idea if the movie is an accurate enough replica of the cartoon or not. But who cares, print and film are so different anyway. The mask was a great way of sifting the good from the best and rumours have it that Hugo Weaving was called in to replace some other actor because the former actor just couldn't pull it off with a mask over his face; decapitating his acting skills. Hugo Weaving was splendid (although we'll never know if it really is Hugo behind the mask) and Natalie Portman was alright.

Have been telling some people that the movie lacked good cinematography though. Like any viewer with an IQ higher than 10 would know that the entire movie had only like 10-15 'sets'. MAX. The camera angles are seriously not that impressive; they just reuse the sets over and over and over again. For two whole hours... Tell me man... I want to be transported! I don't want a mirror of my own life! .

Maybe that was it. I didn't get 'transported' in the movie. Hence, I couldn't really immerse myself in the movie and feel the characters and plot. It seems a bit rushed at times and a bit too draggy at times. Do not expect "Matrix" cult followings from this movie. You have had ample warning .

Oh yeah, Starbucks training has started today. But I'll leave it till tomorrow to blog. Hehe

God bless!

Another day out...

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 11:16:58 GMT

Hello all!

Today has been quite relaxing and fun actually. Save the last few hours, where I had to fill in tax forms and all as 'part-time barista'. Already the training sessions, starting next Tuesday, are forcing me to re-schedule my classes. At least for the training weeks.

Anyway, before that, it was shopping and hunting for my job-related attire at Bondi Junction. SokLeng needed a new vacuum cleaner but I kinda 'forgot' that K-Mart wasn't one of the anchors there. We exited the carpark and saw the blue and red K-Mart sign, it was in another shopping complex, 5 minutes walk away. But anyway, we got the vacuum cleaner at another K-Mart to cut the story short.

Was at the Myer Big Brand Sale as well, hunting for the black and white polo needed as my work uniform but decided to wait it out till things got a bit clearer. But came home to the employment 'pack' and it looks like I need to wear my 'workclothes' to training come Tuesday. So things might have to be sped up at this moment in time. Heh... .

So anyway, it's good being so busy I guess. Tomorrow's Sunday. Yay! .

Take care all!
God bless!

P.S. Daylight savings end today. If you're in Australia's east coast, set your clocks back one hour!!! Spring forward, fall back. Easy to remember... So now its back to the 2 hour difference between Malaysia and Sydney.

My first OZ media brush...

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 10:05:21 GMT

Just got a confirmation email from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)...

...You are now confirmed for 2 seats in the studio audience of ENOUGH ROPE
with Andrew Denton on Monday 3 April. Our guests include a rare interview with Academy Award Winner Anthony Hopkins and one of Australia's leading cartoonists Michael Leunig....

Is that cool or is that cool?

God bless!

It's Public...

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 08:54:45 GMT

So it's public... the secret I've been keeping for the past two days is finally out...
Well, it was official on Monday... but things have been... busy... hehe

Kudos to AlexC for catalysing this burst of information...

So, what's this secret that's public I hear you cry in anguish...

haha

Psalms 8:4.
I am employed.

God bless!

Things I Learnt During Colour

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:22:00 GMT

Hey peeps!

I don't know who reads this and how relevant this would be to you but in Hillsong church, we have the Hillsong College closely attached to the church. Students from all over the world come and get educated/wised up in the riles of the Christian ministry. Maybe somewhat like the old Antioch. Again forgive me if you don't know what I'm talking about, I just want to release something, so bear with me.

But this week, we have the "Colour Your World" Conference; which in itself is entirely incredible. Its basically a conference especially for women. Seminars and talks include everything that's gotta to do with how to become a stronger and better Christian woman and "placing value on womanhood" (Hoo-rah!). This year, we have 3 conferences, as opposed to 2 and 1 throughout the years; totalling to about 11,500 women. The 3rd conference was added out of pressure, as the 1st and 2nd conferences were already bursting at the seams.

So, Hillsong college students are "out at Colour" (in classic Hillsong language) helping out, serving, etc and non-Hillsong college students have to hold the fort in other ministries, so to speak. Which brings me to the Hillsong Campus ministry fort. We had "The Spot" today.

SokLeng and I (both totally new to this) spent one hour last night at church scurrying around and checking this and that. Packing up the van, loading tables, and other what nots; doing what was normally headed up by say, a Hillsong College student (!).

In conclusion, I just want to say two things. Kudos and well done for College students which make Hillsong church so, so possible. And for us non-College students, (especially the men) I seriously think we should buck up. I look in disgust at some of us... So lazy, void of purpose, filled with the pride of life and the lust of the world. Come on! I can say this frankly, if Hillsong college were to shutdown today, Hillsong as a church would suffer tremendously.

Indeed, the harvest is plenty, the workers few.

God bless!

The Weekend...

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 11:29:26 GMT

YoZ!!!

MeiYun : I watched "Crash"! heh heh

It IS so so good! Maybe cause it talks about real life issues. Maybe cause it pulls at my heart strings and maybe cause reality is perceived as such by the general public. And in the movie's case, the scriptwriters and producers. Maybe real life is not LIKE that... It's just a perception I reckon. Real life is much much worse definitely... But all in all, a good film, it was a film well made.

SokLeng and I went to Wagamama last night for a *special* occasion. Food was not bad... Service was excellent (e.g. they tell you where the toilets are right after you order) The chefs were Indian though... MmMmMm...

Spent the morning at church. Hung out with the Kids people. Awesome group I tell ya. We all get so stoned after serving for Kids that we just manage to laugh and chat about anything and everything. At the same time. Its just so crazy. From my perspective anyway... lOl Don't know if they can take my twilight zone antics any longer haha You know that feeling? That a bit high, a bit tired, a bit stoned twilight zone and thoughts just cross your mind like crazy and before you know it, your mouth starts to move and your mind and crazy thoughts come shooting out verbally...

Oh yeah. This info ain't public yet. But praise God for this thing!
I was so so so happy... man... He is amazing I tell ya. Psalms 8:4. Seriously Psalms 8:4.
Will update when the info becomes public. .

Till then,
In awe...
God bless!