Calm Before A Storm

It has been some time now that I have been lazing around, having obtained my results and applying for any suitable scholarships and education institutions available. Now that I have exhausted all applications that I have thought of, now comes a lull where I basically sit back with nothing to do, waiting for the next application to come, before the madness begins anew. This is, in effect, the calm before the storm. (For those that are ready to accuse me of not working during this few months, I would have you know that I have, to an extent, run out of tasks to do as an office boy : apparently I have taken care of work that has lasted the regular staff 2 years, in only 2 weeks. =p)

Now perhaps it is time to set to pondering and being thoroughly philosophical as to my situation. In a former post, I have mentioned a few things that could have been termed the biggest storm and 'aftershocks' of my life, to date. Well, at least I have time to catch my breath before the next wave comes.

This puts me in mind of many books I have read that mentioned storms during sea travel. During the storms, the captain is always shouting orders everywhere, the first mate is whipping up the crew and all aboard are holding on for their lives. During these times, the ship is tossed, masts are broken, sails are ripped and all objects not 'battened down' become extremely dangerous, flying to and fro at terrifying speeds. Storms also have a way of trying to break the whole ship in two by slamming the ship against the waves. After the storm, however, is a different story altogether. That is when the true extent of damage to the ship is revealed. However, that is also when the crew begins to busy themselves, fixing the mast as best as they can, putting up spare sails, repair damange to the hull and securing the cargo. The captain and the navigator are also hard at work, determining how far the ship was blown off-course and planning the next step.

In two different scenarios, a few things are clear : the ship cannot survive without some certain people. The crew, for example. Without the crew attempting to protect the ship, the ship's chances of survival will be severely limited, to the extent of being non-existent. The crew is important, for without hard work and cooperation, the ship is as good as done for. That goes the same way for the calm, if the ship is not repaired during the calm, the next storm will finish what the last one started. More importantly : the captain. A ship without a captain is a piece of driftwood. The captain is the symbol of discipline and order of the ship. Minus the captain, the crew will be running into each other, putting input into places that are not important, forgetting the important areas of the ship and generally causing confusion, bringing the ship to an early death. The captain is in charge of giving orders beneficial to the ship and its crew, and to ensure the ship stays on course as far as possible. It is said that a good captain goes down together with the ship, which is in effect saying that a good captain puts his heart and soul into making sure his ship stays afloat.

Now, there are many who have been excellent captains, such as Admiral Horatio Nelson of England, who was instrumental in England's navy defense a long time ago, but all pale in comparison to the great Captain of all creation, God. Our lives are a vessel, the crew is our values and beliefs, and God is our captain. In letting Him take over the wheel, we can rest assured, for God's navigational skills are beyond compare. Steering the ship to the right course is His joy. Though sometimes there may be storms, He will lead you through it, and He never will be lost on foreign waters, for He made them all. He will prepare you for the next storm, and will look after you until you reach the bright harbour of Heaven.

And that is where I am, sailing in the calm right now, with my beloved Captain at the helm, trusting in Him to guide me and to direct my heart and movements in such a way that no storms will be able to overcome my life. No matter how many times I face a storm, God is there to help me break through, till I anchor fast upon the heavenly shore, with the storms all past forevermore.

Kingdom Hearts II

Hi all, this is one of the first many posts concerning my hobbies, which includes reading and of course, video games. Alright, this is a post of the very first game I completed when I got my Playstation 2, that is, Kingdom Hearts II.

For those who have not heard of it, and are wondering whether it REALLY is Mickey Mouse and his friends there, I can tell you that yes, it IS him. This game was made through a collaboration between Square-Enix, of Final Fantasy fame AND Disney, thus the presence of 'King Mickey' there. The first game, Kingdom Hearts for the PS2 as well, was so popular that both companies decided on more games together, thus the creation of Kingdom Hearts : Chain of Memories for the Gameboy Advance and Kingdom Hearts II, all set in chronological order.

I shall try to summarize the story from the other two games as much as possible, for context sake. WARNING! THESE ARE SPOILERS FOR KH AND KH:CoM. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ALL THESE, SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH COMPLETELY!

Sora, a boy from an island (known as the Sunset Islands if I am not wrong) opened a door into another 'world' where he finds beings, born of ill feelings and bitterness called 'Heartless' are stealing hearts from people as an ingrained reflex, and in the process creating new Heartless. To prevent the Heartless from destroying the worlds, Sora, as a chosen person to wield a Keyblade that can unlock the worlds must journey to defeat the Heartless together with Donald Duck and Goofy, who are searching for King Mickey who has disappeared. They defeat Ansem, a Heartless with tremendous power and foil his plan of obtaining Kingdom Hearts, the largest and most important heart of all, thus joining all worlds together again.Then they end up in a place called Castle Oblivion in KH:CoM where floors are made based on past memories of Sora. He slowly forgets certain memories, in place for renewed memories of a girl he has all but forgotten, Kairi. In the end, they reach Kairi, held by a secret organization called Organization XIII but are frozen in time and space, for whatever the Organization has in mind...

And then comes KH2, where Sora wakes up and learns about the Organization and a new enemy: the Nobodies. It is another race to protect Kingdom Hearts again, and to reveal the truth behind the mysteries encountered thus far...

Anyway, enough of conspiracy theories and boring stories, let us go into the game. As you can see, the graphics are superb, as expected of Square-Enix (those who have seen Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children can testify to that). The gamestyle is in real-time, which means if you press jump, he jumps. You press attack, and he attacks. The items used as support for the characters in terms of equipment and healing consumables are also reminiscent of Final Fantasy games, where hardcore gamers will be very comfortable with. There are also abilities that supplement the characters' powers with more powerful or useful effects. New to the game is the addition of Forms, where you 'sacrifice' the help of an ally (the two characters fighting alongside you, you will only be able to control Sora for 98% of the game) to power up Sora's abilities to another level. As you progress, you will obtain more forms that 'sacrifice' differerent allies, or even both at once. As a sidenote, the Final Form is gorgeous, both in style and attack power, though I do wish it has the continuous float-air-skating movements of the Wisdom Form. XD

The presence of many sidequests and mini-games also add to the gameplay experience without compromising the storyline. I particularly enjoyed hunting down certain ingredients to create rare, powerful items through Moogle Synthesis. The worlds opened in the game are also superbly done, though I do miss visiting Traverse Town and hearing its background music =<. Most of the worlds are based on Disney's creations, such at Atlantica from The Little mermaid, Agrabah from Aladdin, and The Land Of Dragons from Mulan. This might be nostalgic for those who grow up watching those movies =>. As with the previous KH, Sora and friends will change costumes in certain worlds, and even their forms, as in Atlantica where they become mermen and in the Pridelands, where they become animals! For FF fans, there are also characters from the Final Fantasy world thrown into the mix, such as Leon (Squall Leonhart from FF8), Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie (FF7 all), and even the Yu-Ri-Pa combination (from FFX-2).

All in all, a truly enjoyable game, with rich artwork, superb animation (never get tired of seeing the slow-mo capture that kicks in when you defeat a boss) and compelling storyline. In my opinion, a classic that is not to be missed!

The Love of God

Yes, amazing grace that saved my soul and placed me where God's blessings, love and mercy has been poured upon me like a raging river, cut loose from the floodgate of Heaven. This post is made in honour of the Lord and His divine mercy and workings in my life.

Perhaps it is proper to put in a bit of background story for those who do not know me well. The year was 2005, and it was around this time of that year that I received my SPM (O-Level for non-Malaysian readers) results. I can still remember that as I opened the results slip, incredulity and anger started to well up within me. I had only managed 11A1s (besides the A1 for the GCE 'O' Level English Paper, 1119) and... of all things, a B3 in EST (English For Science And Technology). In that very moment, my expectations were completely shattered. EST was, in my opinion, a piece of cake, something I could pass even if I had been blindfolded and had my right hand tied behind my back. I immediately appealed for a remarking for that paper, but my head was swimming. In a part of my mind, I guess that I started to question God and wanted to know just WHY did He did this to me.

A few months later, I attended an interview for a JPA (Public Service Department) scholarship that would help me study as a doctor. Perhaps my results, which still stood after the Ministry of Education informed me that the original grading of my EST paper was staying, made my application fall through the cracks. On top of that, being a 'banana' (in Chinese context, a Chinese that is poor in Mandarin and other dialects but good in English, therefore being 'yellow outside and white inside'), I was not informed till much later that the MCA (the main Chinese political party) were helping students with 10 As and above to appeal to the JPA for scholarships.
After much deliberation, I decided to enter Form 6 at my original school, Highschool Batu Pahat. I thought that it wasn't so bad, since a fair number of my friends were going to enter Form 6 as well. For the uninformed, it is not that Form 6 per se is a second-rate way to get into the universities, it is just a route not often taken. At the end of Upper 6, students face the STPM examinations, which is roughly equivalent to the A-Level examinations. HOWEVER, it is much more than just another exam. Its previous 'version', the High School Certificate (HSC) was once one of the top three most DIFFICULT examinations in the world. As far as I know, it has become ever so slightly easier, but it is still fearsome, so much so that students go into universities after SPM to avoid it, thus setting the 'leaving after Form 5' trend.

As the months passed, God began to show me His purpose in giving me those results. I matured, learning to depend more on grace, rather than self, learning to see things in different ways, and to deal with matters concerning other people, due to certain friendship problems with some people around me. Then, God showed His Hand. Just last week, I received a straight A result for my STPM, a result truly heaven-sent. Ask any family member of mine, and they will tell you that I am quite lazy where studying is concerned, as I use most f my time on the computer and books, science fiction and fantasy books that is. It is through pure grace and mercy that I have got this far, and I know that if God hadn't been there, I would most certainly have been derailed right from the start. Through it all, the pain and anguish, God has been there comforting me, and at the end, I look back and thank Him for His perfect timing and plan for me.

Permit me to finish this post with a verse from one of my favorite hymns, one less well known then Amazing Grace, but full of meaning and emotion:

The Love Of God

Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky

O love of God how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong
It shall forevermore endure
The saints and angels song