Happy Halloween Day

Hi, Here are some of the pictures that I have taken today: These are the pictures taken at One Utama New Wing in conjunction with the Halloween celebrations. Happy Halloween Day to all who celebrate Halloween. More pictures will be coming soon. I have my own groupings of my pictures. That's all.

Pictures at IBM Plaza & KPMG Tower

Here are some pictures at IBM Plaza & KPMG Tower: That's all.

Save and Invest

Hi Everyone,

I have submitted some tips to save money at Save & Invest. It is a website dedicated to saving and invest tips for Malaysians. People would be able to share their tips / comments on saving and investing money. Please go to Save & Invest website to look for my tips and for more information.

Thanks.

1 Kings & 2 Kings, Oil may fall to USD$48 if it falls breaks below USD$58

Hi, 1 Kings and 2 Kings I have finished reading 1 Kings and 2 Kings. This is the summary of these two books. Please note that I am focusing the summary on the kings mentioned on these two books. I will omit the part where Elijah and Elisha showed their skills and prophesied certain things. Almost all the kings in these two books did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They have built a lot of idols for the Isrealites and the people in Judah to worship. These kings were not fully devoted to the Lord. They also worship the gods of other religions such as Baal, Asthoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians and Molech, the detestable God of Ammonites. (1 Kings 11:5). These are found in:

1. Golden Calves at Bethel & Dan (1 Kings 13:28)
2. Shrines on high places (1 Kings 13:31)
3. Jehoboam set up high places, sacred stones & Asherah poles, Male shrine prostitutes (1 Kings 15:23-24, 16:26, 16:31)
4. Baal (1 Kings 16:32)
5. Asherah Pole (1 Kings 16:33, 22:53)

Frequently Appeared Phrases

For Baal & Asherah poles, it is mentioned again and again in 2 Kings. We can know this by looking at these phrases which frequently appear in both 1 Kings and 2 Kings:

• He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he has caused Istarel to commit
• He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father(s) had done
• He did evil in the eyes of the Lord

Good Kings

However, there are some kings who followed the ways of the Lord but most of them did not really destroy everything completely.

King Solomon

A lot of us have heard of King Solomon. He was a good King and he was very intelligent. He has a lot of wisdom. He was very rich as well.  There were plenty of merchants and traders in the City of David. It generated a lot of revenues. In 2 Kings 10:23, the Bible says King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom thanl all the other kings of the earth. In 2 Kings 10:24, the Bible stated that the whole world sought audience with King Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart.

However, King Soloman loved many foreign woman and he has 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. (2 Kings 11:1-3) . He married the women whom God has told him 'You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods' (2 Kings 11:2b).  These women were from Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites , Sidonians and Hitties. King Solomon did turn away from God. He followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians and Molech, the detestable God of the Ammonites. (2 Kings 11:5). God then punishes King Solomon by tearing King Solomon all of his kingdom except one.

Other Kings Who Did Good

Most of the kings in 2 Kings who did good in the eyes of the Lord but they did not remove the high places that were built to worship idols. These kings include:

1. King Asa
2. King Jehosaphat
3. King Joash
4. King Amaziah
5. King Azariah (but God afflicted him with leprosy until he died)
6. Jotham

King Hezekiah

King Hezekiah did everything good in the eyes of the Lord. When Sennacherib was trying to attack Jerusalem, King Hezekiah prayed to the Lord praising him and asking if God could deliver him from the Assyrians led by Sennacherib. (2 Kings 19:14). Isaiah then replied that God would surely deliver him from the Assyrians and he did. (2 Kings 19:20-37) He also fell ill during his reign. This time, King Hezekiah prayed to God and ask if he could heal him. God then responded that he will live an extra 15 years. (2 Kings 20:1-11) However, at that time as well, Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah some letters and a gift, because he has heard of Hezekiah's illness. Hezekiah then showed them all the treasures that he had and everything in his storehouses. King Hezekiah fell and committed a sin here. (2 Kings: 20-14). After this incident, God then punished King Hezekiah by saying that '17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 18And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon' (Biblegateway.com, 2 Kings 20:17-18, NIV).

King Josiah

King Josiah is the best of all. He did everything which were right in God's eyes. During his reign, he found the Book of the Law (2 Kings 22:8-9 ) , realised that the previous kings has sinned (2 Kings 22:13-20). Later, he renewed the Lord's covenant (2 Kings 23:1-2) and proceed to destroy all the altars and high places, articles made for Baal and Asherah and burnt all to ashes. He also slaughtered all the preists of high places. At the same time, he got rid of all the mediums, spiritists, the household gods, idols and all detestable things in his country.  (2 Kings 23:4-15, 19-24). However, he did not destroy the tombstone which marked the man of God who come from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it. (2 Kings 23:16-18)

God was so pleased with King Josiah that it is written that '25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.' (Biblegateway.com, 2 Kings 23:25, NIV)

All the bible verses stated are taken the NIV version of the Bible.

We can see that the kings have committed a lot of sins. They worshipped idols and other gods and did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Jesus Christ, on our behalf, has died for our sins and transgressions and he rose again on the third day after his death. This event symbolises victory our sin and death. He has died once and for all. So, let us change our mindsets that everything that we do or we say, it is for God's glory. Let us try our best not to sin. I pray that we will be able to worship God, doing things which glorifies him regardless of who we are, and praise him. How Great Is Our God.

Oil may fall to USD$48 if it falls breaks below USD$58

This is a news that I have seen from CNBC Top News and Analysis through RSS feeds. Oil price may go as low as USD$48 a barrel. It is a video. Please click on the title to watch the video.

That's all for now.

This Week

Hi,

These are some pictures that I have taken in front of KPMG Tower & IBM Plaza:

I have almost finished reading Duma Key now. But still about more than 100 pages to go. It is getting very exciting now. Stephen King is good.

I am using my Motorola L72 now for about 9 months now. It is a good mobile phone. I have not seen a lot of people who are using this phone though. I do not know why. It is not as popular compared to Motorola L6 & Motorola L7. Sometimes, I thought I've seen the same model but it is actually a L7. Have a look at the website for more details.

Heroes Season 3 will be starting soon on Star World. Looking forward to this season. Season 2 is a bit boring. Did not watch Season 2 that much. Now I am following CSI:New York, CSI:Miami, 24 and both Amazing Race & Amazing Race Asia. 

I have finished reading 1 Kings and 2 Kings finally. I have read the first two chapters of 1 Chronicles. More information will be posted soon about 1 Kings & 2 Kings. Stay tuned.

Quantum of Solace

Duma Key

Hi, Duma Key As mentioned in my previous post, the book that I am reading is Duma Key written by Stephen King. I have started reading it since last week now. It is a very good book. Highly recommended. The genre of this book is Mystery / Thriller. Duma Key is a fiction novel, which tells the life of Edgar Freemantle who was involved in a freak accident. His suffered some brain damage and lost his right arm. His psychologists suggested to him to go to Duma Key to recuperate and a place which may give him a fresh new start. When he is at Duma Key, he discovers that he has the ability of painting pictures which later proved to be true. There is also a mystery surrounding the remote Duma Key island which he will slowly discover later. The painting of the pictures reminds me of the Heroes series. The character, Issac in the first season is able to paint pictures when he is high on drugs which can predict the future. We found out the events does happen. The novel has the elements which allows me to keep on reading further until the end. It has the thrill and a suspense which lets me to want to find out more about the island's mystery. Stephen King has a done a good job in this novel.

Quantum of Solace

The new James Bond, Quantum of Solace will be on the cinemas soon. Just 3 1/2 weeks to November 6th. It will be good movie I think. May plan to see it with my friends. Daniel Craig has done a great job in Casino Royale. He will be good this time too.

Favourite Books

Agatha Christie:

1. Hercule Poirot: Complete Short Stories
2. Miss Marple: Complete Short Stories
3. Murder in the Library
4. Murder on the Links

John Grisham:

1. The Appeal
2. The Last Juror

Michael Connelly:

1. The Closers
2. The Narrows
3. The Overlook
4. The Poet

Michael Crichton:

1. Next
2. Prey

Rick Warren:

1. The Purpose Driven Life

Stephen King:

1. Duma Key

Favourite Songs of the Week

Avril Lavigne:

1. Complicated
2. When You're Gone

Chris Tomlin:

1. How Great is Our God 
2. Unfailing Love

Christian Songs & Hymns: 

1. At the Cross, 
2. Be Thou My Vision
3. Before the Throne of God 
4. Come Thou Fount 
5. Everlasting God 
6. I Know Whom I Have Believed
7. In Christ Alone (My Hope is Found) & In Christ Alone (I Place My Trust)
8. Mighty to Save
9. My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

Leona Lewis: 

1. Better in Time
2. Bleeding Love 
3. Footprints in the Sand

Matt Reidman: 

1. You'll Never Let Go

One Republic: 

1. Stop and Stare

Westlife: 

1. Us Against The World
2. Something Right

Favourite TV Series

1. 24 (May want to get the 24 Season 6 DVD Box Set :P)
2. American Idol, Australian Idol
3. Are You Smater Than A Fifth Grader
4. Battlestar Galatica
5. CSI, CSI:NY, CSI:Miami
6. Deal or No Deal (Gameshow)
7. Heroes
8. House M.D
9. Monk
10. Numbers
11. Supernatural
12. The Amazing Race Asia Season 3, The Amazing Race (Latest Season)
13. Ugly Betty
14. Who Wants to be A Millonnaire

Cars and Birthday Celebration!

Hi,

The new MyVi SE has been launched on Friday. I went to the website to look before and after it was launched, it is a nice car. The dashborad of the new MyVi SE is sleek with red. The leather seats as well. The new tangerine orange for the MyVi SE makes it look good. Please visit the Perodua MyVi SE homepage.

I also went to Ikano Power Centre on Saturday. There were Volvo cars on display. I also saw them in 1 Utama New Wing last week or the last week ago. Saw the Volvo S80, Volvo S40, C30, C70, XC90 and V50. All are nice and sophisticated. And Volvo is well known for its safety features.

Celebrated my birthday yesterday. Went to have dinner with my family yesterday night. I have finished reading The Appeal by John Grisham. It is a good book. I don't quite like the ending though but John Grisham has a lesson in mind there. It is very thrilling towards the end. It reached the climax at around the middle of the story. I have another new book to read. It is entitled Duma Key written by Stephen King. It is a thriller.

Favourite Songs of the Week

Avril Lavigne: When You're Gone, Complicated

Christian Songs: You Never Let Go, How Great Is Our God, Everlasting God, Forever, Be Thou My Vision, In Christ Alone, Come Thou Fount, I Know Whom I Have Believed, Unfaling Love, Holy is The Lord

Chris Daughtry: What About Now

Il Divo: Una Noche, Caruso, Come Primavera

Justin Timberlake: What Goes Around Comes Around, Cry Me A River

Kelly Clarkson: Because of You, Breakaway

Leona Lewis: Bleeding Love, Better in Time, Footprints in the Sand, Take a Bow

Natalie Bedingfield: A Pocketful of Sunshine

Rihanna: Take a Bow

Westlife: Seasons In The Sun, Flying Without Wings

Mamma Mia!

Hi,

I went to watch Mamma Mia! The Movie yesterday at GSC 1 Utama New Wing. There are numerous ABBA songs which the actors sing during the movie. Storyline is ok. I will give an overall rating of 7 for this movie. Certain parts of the movie are funny.

Went to church today, slept a while after lunch, had my haircut today. The holiday period has ended. Was on leave on Friday so I had 5 days break. I will start working again tomorrow. Back to work time.

That's all.

Turtles at Taman Tasik Permaisuri

Hi, These are some picture taken during my jog at Taman Tasik Permaisuri on Thursday evening. Saw some turtles at Taman Puteri Iskandar lake:

Reading is one of my hobbies

Hi,

Reading is one of my hobbies. I like to read. Yes, I like to read books since I went to college. When I am at Melbourne Central, I like to go to Borders. In Malaysia, when I go to Mid Valley or 1 Utama New Wing, I will go to MPH. I bought quite a number of books already these few years.

My favourite genre of books are mystery/crime, thrillers, science fiction and legal. Mystery and crime books includes Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes and Michael Connelly. I also read John Grisham books as mentioned in the previous post. Another favourite author is Michael Crichton. I read two of the books written by him, Prey and Next. 

Besides these, I also read Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of The Rings, The Shipping News, As The Crow Flies and Life of Pi. I also read Christian books as well which include The Purpose Driven Life, The Call of Spiritual Reformation and The Heavenly Man.

Reading is fun. All of these books are exciting and nice to read. I find it enjoyable. I will keep reading most of these books again even after I have finished them. It is a good way to relax  by reading.

To catch up with the latest news on the Internet, you can use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feed Services such as Google Reader or Rocket Reader.  Just be a member in these sites and add your favourite articles there from newspapers to technology news. The latest articles will be sent through the RSS feeds automatically and quickly. Visit them today.

To read more about RSS, please visit these websites:

How Stuff Works - RSS

Wikipedia - RSS

What is RSS

BBC

That's all for today

Hari Raya Aidilfitri Wishes

I would like to wish Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all readers. Maaf Zahir Batin.

Enjoy the holidays.