IT'S BACK!

~ "To Infinity and Beyond!" ~

Be Kind, Rewind

Breathe, Relax

Breathe, relax
There's no rush
Breathe, relax
Enjoy the moment
Breathe, relax
As brief as it is
Breathe, relax.


Copyright by Blind Romance. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission.

__________________________________________________________________________________


Alrighty! It's been awhile since I've written a proper post. This one's pretty long but let's pause for a moment and rewind to two weeks ago, shall we?

*Pause* *Rewind* *Play*
___________________________________________________________________________________

Two weeks earlier

Sunday
3 more weeks to exams. Hmmm, gonna have to worry about my assignments first. Let's see, 2 big assignments due by Friday and 3 the following week. I think I can manage.

So here's the plan:
church, lunch, library

simple, effective and produc - "Hey, Julian! Wanna go watch Star Trek!?"

-tive.......

Attempt to Study 1 FAIL!


(Star Trek is awesome. A stellar cast indeed. Sylar ftw, oops I meant Spock ftw!)
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Last week

Monday
And the forecast is sunny all week =)

*Pause*

Who ever said that the weather in Melbourne is depressing must be some kid from Kuching who is an ex-Lodgian currently studying Architecture in Curtin, Perth with bad taste in music, a funny hair-do, a green Tweety T-shirt and a barbie doll named, Jennifer.


I'm not pointing any fingers.

*Play*

2 new assignments due next week. 2 + 3 = 5.

No problemo~

Thursday
The melody has been fine tuned, an apocalyptic image has been envisioned. Hmmm, gonna need to polish up on that some more.

Sunday again
Early start. Drumming on a Sunday morning is something I look forward to, always. To be able to worship and praise God side-by-side with a bunch of friends - love it!

2 more weeks to exams. But before that, assignments.

The plan?
Study party with Mr Lawrence, Boo and Kiss kiss Lau.

Was it productive?



It sure was ;P (cerdits to Ian for putting the video together)

Attempt to study 2 PASSED!

*Pause*

I'm not kidding you. It seriously was productive. Maybe for my standards anyways hahahaXD
The down side, my mouth felt funny after having all those snacks.

*Play*
_______________________________________________________________________________________

4 days ago

1st day of the last week
And the forecast is cold and rainy.

*Pause*

Fine, the weather isn't good all year round but Melbourne still rocks!

*Play*
______________________________________________________________________________________

2 days ago

3rd day of the last week
4 down, just 1 assignment left.

This is a long one. Since I've got a day off tomorrow, why not do an all-nighter? And so the clock ticks.

between the 3rd day and yesterday
Decided to watch the Man U and Barcelona match. Might as well since I was still up. Assignment, 50% done. Now to talk about soccer.

Barcelona won 2 - 0.

The highlights includes:

Park Ji Sung's front flip


Messi's header


and Puyol vs the entire Man U team


What a sad guy. But he won in the end.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday

After 4 hours of sleep, it's back to the assignment. 14.5 hours and 350 songs later, it is finished.

Time commence: 12pm
Time end: 2.30am

Had the opportunity to take a break in between for housechurch.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Final Day of the Semester

14 hours ago
The sun's up, that's good =)
Had some technical difficulties printing out my assignment but it all worked out in the end.

7 hours ago
Handed it the last of my assignments this sem! Woo-hoo! Gotta love that feeling~

What I saw at Melbourne Central:


24.06.09. definitely something to look forward to after exams.

Well, with assignments out of the way, it's time to study. But before that, a nice refreshing sleep~

Over and out.

*Stop*


~ and so, time move onwards ~

Make Or Break

BIG week ahead! 5 assignments due and a test.

2 and a half down, 2 and a half more to go.

Thanks for illustrator, Greg! You're a real life-saver!

Let's continue inspiring and cheering each other on.
_________________________________________________________________________________
UPDATE! Wed, May 27, 2009

4 down, 1 to go!

Don't slow down now. Sleep can wait. Probably. XD

at 1:50 AM
____________________________________________________________________________________


I'm going for broke.


~ Don't let your guard down and move on! ~

The Forecast

The sun's up, the sky's blue and the breeze is cool.

Nothing beats having the sun's warmth on your back and a cool breeze blowing gently against your face.

Bliss.

Came home from uni just to have an argument with mum about honey. How sweet~

The weather's beautiful. Things are normal. Life is good.


~ Thinking out loud ~

Meri Kurisumasu~

Kotaro Oshio's interpretation and arrangement of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence".



This song was originally a piano piece composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto for a movie of the same title.

It's definitely worth listening to. So go and listen to it now and be awe by its awesomeness!


~ Happy Birthday, Lawrence ~

Blind Romance

What is this feeling inside?
Oh how mysterious its power is
Surrounding me, consuming me

Formless, intangible
Like an unstructured poetry
Read only in a peculiar manner

Crossed-arm, clenched-fist and closed eyes
The heart beats, to a rhythm unknown
As the mind wonder, wonders

What is this feeling inside?
Oh so violent, yet so soothing
Questioning me, baffling me

Formless, intangible
Unlike the letters, written by you
Echoes love love love

Love, patient and kind
Love, selfless and true
Love, eternal and blind

Love is this feeling inside

Love.


Copyright by Blind Romance. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission.

______________________________________________________________________________________________


First time penning a poetry and I gotta say, it's pretty fun. Feel free to interpret it how ever you like!

Oh, and some feedback would be awesome. Cheers~

My inspiration?


Cadbury.


~ Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes, shades and spices! ~

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
EDIT:

Whoa so cool! If you put the title of this post together with the previous one, you'll get...

"I am Blind Romance".

hahaha A-W-E-SOME!!

I Am

Yesterday's service helped me to realized a few things.

All my life I've been living in the shadow of my brother.
In the shadow of his achievements,
In the shadow of his accomplishments,
In the shadow of his successes.

Was I jealous? envious?

No. I admire my brother and I still do.

Strange, even though I wasn't jealous, I felt bitter.

My brother, whether he knows it or not, has been a major influence in my life. Since young I've been striving to be just like him. Listening to the same music, having the same wardrobe, sharing the same opinions. As I grew older, I began to develop my own identity and opinions. However, I was still living in his shadow.

I was still "Kelvin Tay's brother".

I was just "Kelvin Tay's brother".

And you know what the funny thing is?

I am "Kelvin Tay's brother".

I guess that's why I felt so bitter. It's because my identity has been "overshadowed" by someone else and has been reduced to something I find to be lesser.

Despite all that I have said, I believe that God has created each and everyone of us to be unique and special. He has blessed us with different talents and characteristics. He has given all of us a name of our own.

So for those of you who are jealous,
So for those of you who feel bitter,
So for those of you who are able to related with me,
lemme tell you a little secret.

You are special.

and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. God loves you the way you are and that's all that matters.

heheh, pretty heavy stuff no?

There are still some other things that I've come to realized but I'll have to save that for a later time.

Well then, I guess this is step number two!

Hi, I'm Julian


and I'm Kel's bro.

~ I surrender this bitterness to you God. AMEN! ~

Simple Kind of Lovely

Slack, Soccer, Shopping and Surprise.

Slack, was my week. Study wise that is. It's been quite awhile since I got the chance to just unwind and do things that I enjoy doing and wanted to do for a while now. So the things I did?

Breakdance, jammed, fellowship and steal things (no, I'm just kidding).

It was great being able to catch up with some friends at breakdance and just pop, lock and drop it, yo! Although it was pretty tiring, I had fun. By the way, my instructor's name is D-Flex. How cool is that? I should probably get a B-boy name too.

Hmmm maybe something like J-dog or Jul.i.an. No you say? haha guess not.

On Wednesday night, met up with a couple of friends for dinner and worship at our secret base - ment. Thanks for the invite Chris and hope we get to do it more often! Oh, and the pasta was al dente.

Housechurch was on the following night. Pretty relaxing and chilled after a long day of looking at trees, powerpoles, land and more trees. Yes, looking at trees is a vital part of my course (no kidding). After housechurch we had a mini-jamming session!

I'll add the video of it later. Internet is crappy right now.

Edit:
Wee ~ finally up! Don't mind the horrible scat-singing and video quality :P

I find it amusing how comfortable I am at being a goof. Hmmm that's a thought for another day.

After five days of goofing around, it's today. Played soccer in the morning, had ice-chocolate, owned Winston's high score on Chris' phone (yes Wince, you have a new challenger! plus Ann that makes two), had ramen for lunch, bumped into some zombies, bought party stuffs for church tomorrow, collected newspapers, when bongo hunting (unfortunately the Music Swap Shop was closed by the time we got there) and now, I'm updating my blog.


Yup, it's been an eventful day. And just to make today a little more interesting was a little surprise.

.

.

.

.

I have white hair.....*sulks*

Oh yea, and Kel's mother is coming to Melbourne. In 2 hours.

~ First time writing a post like this and I gotta say, it feels pretty feminine ~

Mayday

Exam timetables are out!

Which means exam's in a month time.

Which means no more lazy afternoons.

Which means quality time with Survey, Carto, Maths and Sci Comm.

Which means sleepless nights.

Which means HDssss babeh!



....I wish.

Feeling blue? Here's a video to cheer you up!



~ HDssss? Hey, it could happen. Could. ~

Reminisce

Watch as this music video of a girl washing dishes transform into an acoustic, orchestral and piano masterpiece!

Utada Hikaru - Hikari



Utada Hikaru - Simple and Clean



Yoko Shimomura - Hikari (Orchestra version)



Some random youtuber - Hikari (Piano version)



~ If I had to choose, this would probably be my high school life theme song hahaha ~

I'll Face Myself

SOAP, 101 and more SOAPs.

After taking time out to just read and study the word, so so many questions started bombarding and tugging at me. What really got me thinking however didn't come from doing my own SOAP but by reading the SOAP of others.

By the way, for those of you unfamiliar with the term SOAP, it's a technique used while doing your devotion (reading the bible). So basically SOAP stands for:

S - Scripture (pick a verse which spoke to you)
O - Observation (your thoughts)
A - Application (how it applies to you)
P - Prayer (simple enough)

Hopefully that cleared things up cause SOAP's pretty new to me too.

The question was, "What is my level of openness?"

How open I am not just to myself but to people and God. Honestly speaking, I have no problem (most of the time) being honest with God. But when it comes to people, my friends and family, and I don't think I can say the same.

Since young, I have been brought up in an household where we were hardly (or never) taught to be open with one another. My parents, siblings and myself would usually keep to ourselves and we would be content with that. It's a pity really, that even now we still pretty much keep to ourselves even though we've been through so much together.

Fortunately, I have friends who I can trust and be open to about almost anything. But it would be great if I were able to be more open towards my own family. Funny how some of my friends know more about me than my parents or siblings ever will.

It was pretty cool how SOAP and Life* 101 (bible study course) this week focused on the same chapter in the bible (Ephesians for those of you who are interested). Also the topic we discussed about the most was, you guessed it, openness!

So was this all just a coincidence or something predestined by a certain Someone?

Whatever it may be, I'm glad in happened. Openness is something which I lack but hope to achieve (at least to a certain degree).

When I think about it, this is exactly what this blog is all about. A place for me to practice my openness, honesty and integrity. A place for me to face myself.

Now that I have identified this stronghold, it's about time to break it down, no? Well don't expect me to do a complete 180 by tomorrow but I pray that God will give me the courage to take the baby steps. Slowly but surely, weakening satan's grip over me.

So for those you reading this post, take note! This is my first step towards being open to you and myself.

Let me start here:
(Not sure if I'm doing this right, but hey, I've got nothing to lose but everything to gain)

Hi, I'm Julian


and I'm single and available.

~ If I ever told you that I had 12 girlfriends (all at the same time), I lied ~

It's A F-O-O-D Post

This time with more pictures!

Ingredients:

• 3 slices of Helga's soy & linseed bread (or your choice of bread)
• 2 sausages
• an egg
• cheese
• hash brown
• lettuce
• butter
• mayo
• tomato sauce

omelette with a pinch of salt and black pepper
reminds me of my drum pad haha (and again matches my blog's template)

observe the arrangement (exactly the way Oporto does it! maybe)

slice and dice! Santoku style!

the foundation

second level

And now presenting....*deep breath*

The Super Ultra Great Delicious Mega-Crazy Gonna Make You Sick Of Bread For An Entire Week Double Decker Sandwich!!
(try saying it out loud and super-duper fast! for fun hor fun)


Only available at Tay's residence.

Well, there's always McDonald's.


~ I will have a bright future.....making sandwiches ~

"Take It *BEEP*ing Easy"

What started out as a decision made at the spurt of the moment became a wonderful memory.

Two nights ago, a bunch of friends and I when to watch Jason Mraz Live at Festival Hall.

Joining him were special guests Lisa Mitchell and Eric Hutchinson.


At the age of 19 (same age as me!), Lisa Mitchell put on a solid performance. Cute how some of her songs were about animals. A great way to start the night.

Next up was Eric Hutchinson.


Eric Hutchinson is one of those artists that you oughta know! He's simply brilliant, both as a musician and performer. Check out his song "Oh!" in my playlist (right at the bottom of the page).


Finally, the moment everyone's been waiting for.

This man needs no introduction.

He's a man with much charisma, good looks and a killer vocal.

He's the one and only


CHICHI !! haha who else were you expecting?


oh yea and accompanying CHICHI was funny man, straw-hat Jason Mraz.

Songs performed:

1. Song for a Friend
   
2. Make It Mine
3. Only Human
4. The Dynamo of Volition
5. Did you get my message?
6. Mr. Curiosity (Take it *BEEP*ing easy, opera style baby!)
   
7. A Beautiful Mess
8. I'm Yours
   
9. Butterfly
10. 3 other songs (Never heard 'em before but still awesome!)
    

Other highlights of the show includes the Big Band Segment and the Introductory to Jason Mraz's band members. It was all good fun and good music.

Other aspects that I loved were the lighting and volume of the concert. The lighting was simple and sweet. Also the volume wasn't dreadfully loud but just nice.


Wanna see more photos? Check out Facebook.

So the next time Jason Mraz stops by wherever you may be, don't be a cheapo and think that it's not worth your money or time but just go ahead and buy a ticket to awesomeness!

So take it from me when I say, "It's worth it!"

and take it from MR. A-Z, when he says, "Take it *BEEP*ing Easy".

~If you're still wondering what *BEEP* is, it starts with an F and ends with a K. And no, it's not Facebook~

FF Sweetness

Watch in HD to get the most out of it!

Final Fantasy XIII


Final Fantasy versus XIII


Looks good, sounds good, definitely gonna be good.

I want a PS3. *stares at Jon*

~ Unleashing the gamer within ~

Photos!

What for? For fun hor fun.

Kel's Siew Yuk

Ann caught in the act!

Taboo time!

Welcome to the Velvet room (hmm but it's blue?)

Trampoline fun!

Kamehameha vs Gomu Gomu No

Bunny! Rawrrrrrrrrr!

~ Facebook, the ultimate source for photos ~

Acceptance

Just to follow up on the previous post, last Thursday we had a potluck dinner and a few rounds of Taboo for housechurch.

For those of you who don't know what Taboo is, it is a word guessing game. The objective of the game is for the player to have his team guess the word on the card without using the word itself and five additional words listed on the card.

For example, word to guess =Baseball, taboo words = bat, play, home run, hit, catch.

Who knew playing a word game would be so much fun. Overall, it was a night filled with fun, food and friends.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Ah, Easter Camp. The first time God spoke to me was during last year's Easter Camp. What did He say?

"You're not ready."

Hmm. Not the most encouraging thing to hear, no? But hey, it's the truth and boy does it hurt. So what do you do when God speaks to you?

a) ignore it
b) accept it as unchangeable
c) let it put you down for an entire year
d) thank God and work to better prepare yourself

What I did was:
e) all of the above

Unfortunately, during that time frame I allowed options a, b and c to govern me more than d. I felt unworthy, broken and undeserving of God. I was hungry for God, desperate for Him but at the same time, I was too afraid to take the next step forward, to get out of my boat. During the past 12 months I was trying to get God's approval. I was in need of being accepted. This blinded me.

In my foolish attempts to please God, I did the total opposite. I retreated to my secret stash, I allowed idolatry to take control of me and I built up strongholds. Thinking about it makes me cringe as these are actions just disgusting in God's eyes.

Friends, there is no need for you to fight for acceptance from your creator. He already has. And this Easter Camp helped me realized that.

I know that there are many things that I am still struggling with and stopping me from making God my only priority but you know what, I'm not alone on this journey. I have friends with me.

Friends who laughs with me,
Friends who prays with me,
Friends who inspires me,
Friends who teaches me,
Friends who shares Life* with me.

When I made the decision to seriously pursuit God last year, I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Hey, He even warned me that I was gonna be in for one heck of a ride! And you know you what? I'm holding on.

Just like how I'm holding onto this rope.


~ I'll sing a new song for You ~

Kiss kiss, G-Strings & Moisturizer

Don't worry guys. You're in the right blog (hopefully). So, what exactly is this post about?
.
.
.
.
.

Stay tune for my next update! But before that, here's a sneak peek:

~ Off to Easter Camp ~

Splurge Spree

After a year of procrastinating, I finally bought myself a practice pad. And a pretty good one too. Introducing, Vater's *drumroll*

Chop Builder 12 Inch Soft Single Side Practice Pad!!


It's slick, portable, and best of all, it suits my blog's template! The response and rebound is also accurate and ease to motion. This means that it feels and plays like a real snare drum, whilst remaining quiet. In conclusion, it's a good buy.

So buy, a practice pad today and say no more to air-drumming!

Or in my case.....


trash-head-drumming.

Other things, I bought? A table lamp, a kid's size sleeping bag, and a fisherman's hat! cheap cheap


~ I thank God for my parents' money in my bank account, Amen! ~

Super Size Mee

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of Indomee ( 2 when 1 isn't enough)
• an egg (garnished with black pepper & chives)
• 3 buffalo wings ( add more to emphasize Super Size effect!)

Bon Appétit !

~ Did you know that RMIT students get a free upsize at Hungry Jack's and Oporto? ~

A Little Breather

Last week was probably the busiest I've been in a long time. Assignments to do, tutorials to prepare for and datelines to meet. I guess everyone's pretty much the same, eh? Lucky for me, I handed in the last of my assignments (for now) today. Hence, the title of today's post.

Just a few random pics (not recent):

It's been more than a month since I've been in Melbourne and I must say, I'm enjoying most of my time here. It's hard to believe just two years ago I left Kuching for Perth and this year, Perth for Melbourne. I always get this funny feeling whenever I think about. It's not exactly a surreal feeling but something more, indescribable. Do you guys feel the same way or is it just me? Anyways, now two years down the road I've leveled up from being a high school kid to an undergraduate.

The difference?

You tell me.

sigh...how time flies... I wonder how fast my four years in uni will be.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward, eagerly anticipating what God has in store for me and I pray that He will be there to guide my every step and to give me a good smack to the head if I were to stray away from Him. I may not know what the future holds but I can be sure of one thing, and that is, I'm gonna be in for one heck of a ride.

So, things to look forward to? Easter break, housechurch, breakdancing class?, Jason Mraz and a nice refreshing goodnight sleep.

~ 2009, so far so good ~