The Doors to the Future Lay Before me...

Matt is officially a degree holder.
*applause*
It's been a long time coming, and I never thought I'd say this...
But, I miss the life of a college student.

Those times when all you gotta worry about is where you gotta go for lunch.
Times when laughter abounds and jokes are thrown all over the place (and at literally anyone).
Times when classes were canceled, and 1 Utama was the default location to head for a movie.

Now that the chapter is behind me, here are the pictures taken on that day.
Picture credits go to Dad, Nic, and whoever else that snapped. = )

KBU Convocation 24th October 2009


Graduation Ceremony 2009.


Pre-convocation. From L-R: Larsson, Matt, Danial, and Dines.


From L-R: Adam, Matt, Dines, and Danial.


Matt & Dines.


From L-R: Dines, Lingz, Matt and, Danial.


From L-R: Adam, Lingz, Dines, & Matt. What's wrong with Adam? We'll never know.


The academic dean.


Rawr!


The flower among the thorns they say.


Our next conquest: to take the world by storm.


To new beginnings and ever-green friendships.


The people that kept me going everyday, my crazy bunch of friends. = )


*snap snap*


Random.


Random #2.


Random #3.


Candid shot, with mummy.


Nic getting caught in the crossfire of a random shot.


With the parents.


With the parents; take 2.


Could not have done it without their support.


So here's to you, dearest dad and mum.


My icing on the cake.


Nic & Matt.


Meet my better other half.


Caught on candid.


A shot on the steps.


A shot on the steps; take 2.


A family portrait with the girlfriend.


The people I love. <3


At the end of a chapter, and the beginning of more exciting chapters ahead.


With the flowers presented by Nic.

A HUGE thank you to my parents for being there with me all the way, and my crazy bunch of friends that made college life all the more meaningful.
A special thanks for you for sharing in the moment with me. <3

A new chapter begins, and one can only wonder what the future has in store.
But one thing's for sure, that with God in it...it is secured.
Moving onwards to greater things!

Keep Those Fingers Crossed...

Of the sands of time ticking to the fragments of every second that goes by...
As history casts its silhouette over the vast plains of life...
Moved by the momentum set in motion by the repercussions of our actions...
Purposeless as it seems, wealth to gain, but seemingly without meaning...

I choose to find my purpose in my Creator.

What a way to start my post.
To be honest, I don't know how I got inspired that way.
But I guess it's an outflow of the current situation I'm in.
Faith, faith, faith...for God will work all things out for good.

But, lets have some movie reviews shall we?


Bruce Almighty!

Laugh at me, but I just got updated.
I expected more, but I was a lil disappointed by how the whole movie unfolded.

Verdict: 5/10 Not good enough to be registered in my hall of fame of comedies. Though you'll get the expected dose of facial expressions from Jim Carrey, the man with a million faces. God is God, and no man can be God. That's the lesson I picked up at the end of the movie.


G-Force.

Again, it looked pretty funny on the trailers...but it was nothing to shout about.
A typical movie (more suited for families and kids) about a bunch of guinea pigs who are just good at doing what they do; government work in taking down the baddies.
No shock there in terms of plot.

Verdict: 5.5/10 Pretty much average in terms of content and laughter. Buy the DVD or download it.


Public Enemies.

I heard some apparently good reviews about this movie, but I guess that again was the disappointing factor.
With a cast boasting the likes of Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, one might expect a thick plot with a tinge of political twists and romance.
Though there were a little bit of the elements mentioned, I still thought it failed to live up to its expectations.

A typical gangsta' movie set in the 1930's depicting the life of Johnny Dillinger (Depp) who's a professional bank robber.
Hunted down by FBI agent Purvis (Bale), the movie pretty much revolves around those two mostly.
Picture a cat and mouse scenario, and you'll understand my point.

Verdict: 5.5/10 Looked promising, but failed to shine as anticipated.


Surrogates.

Again, I thought this would have been a pretty good action movie.
But I've seen way better action movies that have been released this year.
Compared with the likes of Transformers, I guess the bar has been set.

In a world where humans are literally living their lives through cyborgs custom made according to the user.
When a weapon is on the loose which ultimately fries both the cyborg and its user, the hunt is on as a whole vendetta ensues and unfolds revealing an even bigger and darker plan behind the murders.

Verdict: 6/10 It was pretty alright, though not the best action movie to catch. Bruce Willis I thought was pretty mellow in this movie. I thought the plot was average.


The Taking of Pelham 123.

This is the typical bad guys take hostage movie//demands a random//escapes with it (or so they think)//gets hunted down//the villain dies in the end.
I can't recall a movie where Travolta acted as the villain though.
This might have been the first.

Verdict: 6/10 Points to Denzel and Travolta. Again, go buy the DVD or download it. Not worth the big screens if you ask me.



I guess that's about it.
I was scrolling through some blogs, and I realized I've been missing from action.
There's so much to catch up on, and it really is impossible to get updated all at once.

The year end is about to arrive, and preparations for Christmas and all is ongoing.
Things are gonna get really busy soon, but I know that it's gonna be an awesome ending to a great year, and a start to an even better year.
Once the pictures from the camera are uploaded, I shall update on my convocation that took place recently.
Yes, I'm officially a degree holder. *beams*

Till then, have a great week ahead.

Bridging the Gap Slowly but Surely...

Before progressing any further, this will be a very long post.
No, not all due to one post but multiple posts combined into a single post.
This may seem unorganized, but it's organized according to the order in which they've happened.

If you've got the time to spare, read on then.

Random College Meet Up
Dines finally managed to spare some time to come down to PJ to meet up and chill.
Though it was a short lunch, but it was good seeing them peeps and catching up.
College life played a huge part in life, and I've missed my college buddies a lot.
So, we had lunch at Pizza Milano in 1 Utama which was priced rather reasonable considering we were ordering pasta.


My mixed veggie spaghetti with tomato paste. Was on a veggie diet for the day.


Lingz & Dines a.k.a. The lovebirds.


Dines & Adam.


From L-R: Matt, Dines, & Adam.


The friendships I want to hold for life, no matter how corny that sounds.

Random Outing With High School Friends
As always, when the 3-4 are on the same holiday break, we go on a gaming spree.
Of course this includes catch-up and the likes of such talk.
Charng Rhui was back from Kampar, and Elvin was back from Cyberjaya.
So, we had 2 weeks of gaming sessions on the weekends, just to catch up. = )


Charng Rhui.


Elvin Van Schoonbeck, future Dutch president. xD

Random Outing With Churchmates (18/10/2009)
After church, the few of them wanted to head off to Sunway Pyramid to spend their Sunday nights.
Some of them headed off for ice-skating, while some of us headed off to play pool.
Post-dinner at McD's, and we walked around and did window shopping before ending the weekends on a high.


Nicole with her strawberry.


From L-R: Eu Jin, Jenny, & Carmen.


Barney & Matt. Picture credits to Deborah.


I kinda like this picture. Credit pictures to Barney.


Eu Jin trying his hand at pool. Notice a snippet of my lil brother on the right. Rare....


Here he is again.


This face either looks concentrated, or constipated. Your pick. Picture credits to Andrew.


Blurred effect of Andrew at pool.


Brandon, going for goal...or trying to. xD


Who says guys aren't vain?


At McD's.


Jenny & Carmen.


Claudia, Jenny & Carmen.

Global Leadership Summit (19th-20th October 2009)
Last minute parents informed me of my participation due to the fact that one of the committee members could not make it.
Hence, I was in Seremban for 2 days in a row.
Have to say though, not only did I learn awesome leadership skills from top people (which included a guy who served in the white house under 4 different presidents) and top Christian leaders, but God really spoke.


Agape Gospel Church.


Hello!


Opening flag dancers.


A clearer picture.


Pastor Benjamin Yeoh, senior pastor of AGC.


They even had a timer between sessions. Latecomers were locked out, at least till the next session. Haha!


Part of the participants.


The dude from Tasmania, Australia. Uber violin skills.


Lunch time.


Met Danny Tan. Met with a few other peeps, but didn't take pictures. Ugh...


Inter-session skit.


The band.


Stageview upfront.


Ah, my love! Almost full Pearl set, I think.


Inter-session group discussions.

I learned a whole lot and I'm glad I managed to attend all the sessions.
No doubt I'm called to be a leader, as God has already spoken.
I don't know what the future holds, but I know it's in His hands.
And I'm gonna go all out and give my utmost best to impact the world.

But before that, I have to learn to be a better leader...to always strive to improve and be the best.



Now, before I end this post...
I'd like you to meet...


Mr. All-Smiles.


And Ranger...with a ball between his legs. xD



On another note, a lot of stuff has been going on in my head.
There's just so much nonsense and stuff going in, that the thoughts are not even filtered now.
It's been hard to think straight, but I'm thankful God knows my heart's desires.

I've seen some glimmer of light somewhat, and I'm hoping within the next days I'll settle what's gonna happen in the next 2 months.
And also, I hope to complete all the scholarship applications within this month.

God, I know You hold my tomorrows in Your hands.
Because of that, I know that You will provide and take care of every single detail of what lies ahead of me.
Never has there been a time where my faith has been tested to the maximum.
I guess when you reach that junction where uncertainty is around, and sometimes worry and fear creeps in.

But, He is faithful and not once has He disappointed me.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us... ~ Ephesians 3:20

PS: Till I see you again...I'll wait.