Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola

Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Separated from Thee let me never be
From the malignant enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with thy saints I may praise Thee
Forever and ever
Amen

The author of this traditional prayer from the Roman Missal is unknown. It has often been attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), for it was indeed a favorite of his and it appears at the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises. However, he could not have been its author for a copy of the prayer appears in a document from 1334, a good century and a half before St. Ignatius was born. Others have attributed it to Blessed Bernadine of Feltre (1439-1494), but again the prayer was around for at least a century before his time as well. The prayer is also known as the Prayer of St. Patrick and some scholars formerly placed the prayer's composition in seventh century Ireland. This too seems unlikely, since no copy that early is known to exist. The prayer carries a partial indulgence.

[An indulgence of 300 days. An indulgence of 7 years, if recited after Holy Communion]

copyrighted by Michael Martin.

Little Rock

This Wednesday evening begins five lectures by Fr. Ambrose Vaz in the letters of Paul to the Corinthians. What never fails to impress me is how fresh scripture is every time I glance over it... and even more when I study it. What it does for me is to remind me of how little I know and how small I am. And the really neat thing about it is the more I study, the more I realise how much I do not know! I use the word 'neat' because this keeps me thirsting... I know it's a good thing and I pray that it happens for the rest of my life! :O)

Only a few chapters into the session and I was already reflecting on how powerful and rich Paul's pastoral letters are! It got to a point where I almost teared because I knew the messages were written to speak to me. O how more personal can that get? ;P

One such verse that hit me hard is from 1 Cor 2:4-5:
"My speech and proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom, but on the power of God." As explained by Fr Vaz, I am reminded again of not carrying out tasks because of the good feelings it exudes, but because I know and believe it's God's wonderfully-never-go-wrong recipes! For example, I forgive so as not to be commended by others, but because God teaches so. Period. So what if I get negative responses from the person I forgave and the people around for thinking what a stupid thing to do? Do I still rely on God's recipes? Of course this can be verified over time, but when placed in a pressured situation, how will I act?

This is just one of the many verses from the evening's session.
Thank you, St Paul, pray for us!

Half-Blood Prince

What a fun movie! There were a couple of funny lines too! Ron to Harry "Did you both do it?" ;O) Silly! A visual eye-candy especially Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and now I wanna know what Butterbeer taste like! I wonder if it's similar to the butterscotch and buttergin from Charlie's Chocolate Factory! Ummmmmmm...

20 July 1969

Today, the world celebrates the 40th anniversary of Man landing on the moon. I once wrote a paper at school that began with "25 years ago when man first landed on the moon..." Time does really fly! And the strange thing is that I will be a full-time student... again. I guess learning is a lifelong experience... Definitely a giant leap for me, to make this one seemingly small step.

Excited and ready to roll were probably what Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin felt as the lunar module Eagle made contact with the moon's surface. I bet there was a tinge of uneasiness as they were locating for a smooth enough surface to land on, but it was probably the adrenaline from wanting to make history that pushed them to make their first moonwalk! For those of you younger readers who think that Michael Jackson invented the Moonwalk... sorry to burst your bubble! :O)

It's been four decades and we still enjoy watching footage of the landing! In a way, it keeps us dreaming and inspiring us to reach greater heights. But for now, it's time for me to take that first step...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMINSD7MmT4

Back to School

Today was simply fantastic! Everything from Mass, to Art Min, to the work at SPI, and friends I spoke too. Today I decide to go back to school! The homily was just too darn loud and clear! :O) Trusting in God's Providence. Period.

Just at the beginning of the week, I revisited going back to school because of the possibility of getting a full scholarship. It means nearly zero income for the next two years. The whole entire week was spent praying and discerning the pros and cons. Who's gonna foot all the other bills? Who's gonna provide the meals on the table? But hey, what makes me think I can actually control whether I breathe tomorrow? I have no control over that or with anything else. I would like to think that I can tell God "Wanna hear my plans for the next two years and then after that?" It'd probably crack Him up. :O)

Yes, it's another phase in my life. And I'm so excited to see it unfold! I'm more eager to see what will happen after 2 years, but let's focus on these 2 years first. Imaginative stays as long as I can find time and energy! Next up... Animation School!

I am glad that I am second.

Break fast

I was on a 5-day detox programme for the whole week. Just fruit. Nothing more. What was interesting and that it wasn't planned was that I was invited to a perankan dinner the evening before I went on the detox programme. At the end of the week long fast, it ended back at the same person's home for a peranakan laksa and popiah meal.


What a way to begin and end the week! The awesome chef behind the scene is Mrs June Koh Ai Geok. Thank you for sharing your special culinary gift!! Sedap siah! (deee-leee-cious!) :p

Chicken Rice Balls

So I popped by Malacca again last Saturday just for a day trip. Went there to capture some shots for some food contest. Morning breakfast stop was at Anthony's Fishball at Yong Peng. It's OK only, so don't bother stopping especially if your destination is Malacca.

I made it this time to Chop Chung Wah Chicken Rice Balls at the edge of Jonker Street. It was a crowded Saturday noon with herds of tourists and huge bus loads meandering around the little streets of historical Malacca.

Even though the line was long, I stood there patiently with the others in line for my turn... well worth the wait!! Not too oily, and super soft!! Yummilicous!

Thanks mom and dad for the company! :O)

Cool!

Blue Sky Studios has done it again! Thoroughly entertaining! :O)

A Night at the Museum... not!

Last Saturday's wacky weather conditions made it virtually impossible for me to head down to SMU's Campus Green for the 10.30pm Loop of Fortune programme. Was looking forward to the aerial performance involving pyrotechnics! The weather and I were like in a love-hate relationship!

9.50pm - Pouring rain.
10.08pm - Drizzle. So I thought "Great, let's go!"
10.23pm - Passing by Middle Road, it started to pour again.
10.30pm - Stuck in a jam at Middle Road.
10.40pm - Decided to head home.
10.47pm - Rain decided to slow down. I did contemplate briefly on turning around.
10.50pm - Arrived home. Rain started pouring again.

Krispy Kreme - Revisited

Did I ever mention the time while cruising at around 35,000 ft on one of those budget airplanes that scheduled itself to fly right around dinner time? Having an earlier dinner was not an option, because then I would have just had a full lunch. So I donned one of those paper hats from a 50's diner and whipped out my box of Kripsy Kreme and started selling them at black market prices. The result? I made a profit that covered the cost of the entire trip! :O) Yeah, it was a Krispy Kreme paper diner hat. ;p

Vhat're they?

I might set-up a food blog...?

So anyways, on Jalan Gasing, off Janlan Chantek in Petalling Jaya, is Restoran Sri Paandi. I had Thosai and Roti Chennai (background on the left) for breakfast. What a great way to start the day! :O) For those of you who have never had these before, this is better than the finger-licking good KFC. But what caught my sight was the Vadai man. Haven't seen one in ages! He even combed his hair and put on his cap for the shot! How sporting! :O)


Sedap!