2008: The Best Year That Was

2008 has easily…and I really mean EASILY been the best year ever for me. I don’t say this because everything has been smooth sailing for me and that it has been all positives, but rather it has been a really unique year, filled with experiences and little journeys which I will never forget. Ever.

I knew that I would write this post the day I knew that 2008 was going to be over. And I didn’t want it just to be another meet-the-deadline-before-the-new-year post of what has happened in my life last year. I want it to be one that lifts the name of Jesus high because He is the reason why I can write this post today :)

So here I am, 1.11 a.m. in the morning, back in my wonderful hometown of Kota Kinabalu, sitting in my room in which my brother and I have grown up in, making an attempt to put into words how 2008 has truly meant to me.

My Best Moments of 2008:

1. Passing my Final Exam Year as a medical student. Trust me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without God’s grace and wisdom!!

2. Receiving the news that my Study Loan got approved. An extra lift of burden from Papa and Mama’s shoulders :)

3. Village Life Group. Words fail me in saying how grateful and honoured Christine and I are to lead such an awesome (I use this word a LOT), young, energetic and full of potential bunch whose hearts are so tender for God. You guys rock and I am looking forward to an even greater 2009 with you guys :)

It is the first time actually Christine and I have been in a leadership role together as a couple, and boy, have I learnt so much from this wonderful girl! She is the master of multitasking, baking, listening, just to list a few! She rocks! :)

4. Higher level of passion for Basketball, meeting new basketball friends. You guys know what I mean :). Thank you for the steals, blocks and school-bussing sessions you guys have unselfishly given :D. I shall be back for more, with more!

5. Confirmed my career path choice. As in what I will specialize in after graduation :)

6. Modelling for the first time. Eek!

7. Opening the boxes to my iPhone and MacBook! Some of you all must be going, “oh here he goes again”..but I DON’T care! I am a very, very happy and satisfied Mac user. No more Vista blues. Sadly it is also the year Microsoft has decided to say bye bye to Windows XP. Maybe I will consider Windows 7.

8. Sydney trip in July. Loved Sydney. Despite the hustle and bustle most people dislike about Sydney, the beauty of its landmarks and its special vibe more than make up for it.

9. Melbourne trip in November/December. Went to watch WICKED with dear which was awesome! The best musical I have ever watched. We actually arrived in Melbourne on my birthday. And I got sick on my birthday night! So I spent my birthday night in a budget YMCA bed, covered up in blanket, sleeping after two paracetamol tablets -_-”. Thank you dear for taking care of me that night! 

10. My God-given vision for a hospital has been reconfirmed. Ps Mark prophesied over me during a Sunday service and it was in line with the vision. He did not know about the vision before this. I was and still am refreshed by it and I am going all the way to make the vision happen! Thank you Ps Mark and Ps Nina for your constant encouragement and the positive environment you bring to me :)

Ending this post and to wrap up 2008, I want to specially thank:

God for His grace and unconditional love. Everything is possible through Jesus!

Christine dear for your constant support, for being my stake, for being what I am not and doing what I cannot do :) 

Dad and Mum for always being there for me. You are always in my thoughts and you will always have a special place in my heart.

Ps Mike and Auntie Chiew-Har for being such amazing leaders who lead by example. Thank you for always feeding us both Word and FOOD when we needed it the most!

Ps Mark and Nina for the positive attitude you have instilled in me through Paradise City Church. Thank you for your constant encouragement and I will always remember the short conversations we had together.

The ministry team especially Andrew, Jia Ching, Ernestine, Zie, Don and Yong Ling for being there for me through thick and thin.

Wen Hao and Sze Liang for constantly being my best proxy buddies! (proxy buddies, sounds cool eh? :D)

All my tutors and seniors and peers alike for adding so much more into my life.

My basketball buddies. Thursday nights and weekends have never been dull with all of you around!

With this I end another chapter in my life, a great one!

Propel 2008 by God’s grace, has truly come to past!

New iPod Nano, iPod Touch and iTunes 8.0

Picture from mactalk.com.au

I happened to stay up late because I needed to finish up an article entitled ‘Contrast in Medical Imaging’ (which is not too exciting) and was able to read live-blog updates regarding Apple’s September Event (more exciting) which had just finished 10 minutes ago. Here are the exciting round ups:

1. New iPod Nanos! And they come in 9 different colours (3 new colours) – Similar design to the 2nd Generation iPod Nanos but with a wider screen and also significant improvement in its interface. One interesting feature is its ability to Shuffle songs when you shake it! AU$199 for 8GB and AU$279 for 16GB.They ship with a new pair of headphones, very similar to the iPhone, which have audio control functions (play/pause, volume) and a microphone that can be used for voice recording.

2. New iPod Touches – looks like the iPhone but slimmer and with a metal back. A major upgrade is that now Nike + is built in, you only need to get the shoes ;). Other new features include a built in speaker and side volume controls. 8GB for AU$329, 16GB for AU$419, and 32GB for AU$549.

3, New iTunes 8.0 – main new feature is Genius, a supposedly smart function which recommends songs to you from your playlist and also from the iTunes Store (and hence encouraging you to buy more songs ;) )

4. iPhone Software 2.1 – “Fewer dropped calls, big battery life improvements. No crashes with Apps. Backing up is faster.” according to Steve. It will be out on Friday (Saturday in Australia). Can’t wait to update!

5. The iPod Classic is now limited only to a single 120GB model. AU$339. Same thickness as the previous 80GB model. It seems like Apple is pushing towards iPod Nano being the mainstream iPods now.

6. iPod Shuffles get a colour change too. Still AUS$65 for 1GB and AUS$89 for 2GB.

Gosh it’s 4.25 a.m. now. I should sleep. Exciting day ahead :)

3 on Unlocked iPhone

I’ve managed to get my iPhone unlocked in 5 days time after calling Optus up (yay!). Not too long after I did a restore on iTunes and popped my 3 sim card in :). Everything worked except the sms function :(, however, a clean restore again without putting back the backup data from iTunes did the trick and now my iPhone works perfectly on the ever-amazing 3 Network :)

Put on the Invisible Shield as well from Zagg which happened to arrive on the same day the iPhone was unlocked. The videos on their website were really convincing but I was actually a bit disappointed on the end result on my phone. It was not that easy to install it perfectly (without bubbles and trapped fluid) especially on the back! The guys who did it on the videos were obviously pros and have done them for a zillion times. Anyway, at least I am well assured that my iPhone will not be scratched for a good long while :)

Now I am (still) a happy 3 user on an iPhone!

Update: Recently Optus has secretly increased their pricing for handset repayments per month to $2 more per month! (Old subscribers will not be affected) How sneaky! This is apparently due to a significant surge in their sales for the past months due to iPhones. Trying to make more profit from an increase in demand??

Advice: Dump Optus, stick to Three. Well that’s my take. Sorry Optus users :)

The Arrival

It is here! My iPhone has arrived, 7 days earlier than expected!! *does 100x backflips* Following is a short synopsis of my journey to collect it from Optus, Rundle Mall.

First Christine and I decided to have breakfast at East Terrace Continental. We've always wanted to try the breakfast there!

She is such a gem! My faithful companion. Thanks for accompanying me again dear!

Me and my ol' ye faithful Motorola RAZR V3i. It contained my Optus 3G sim card for three days.

ETC Works. The best Big Breakfast we've tried to date.

Not too long later the moment draws near...

..nearer...

...and it's here! Safely back in my room!

The Moment of Truth

XD

*roar*

iPhone up and running! http://chriskia.wordpress.com on the iPhone!

The whole journey was one to be remembered :D. The whole experience was a pleasant one, except for the service I’ve received from the Optus store. I had to wait for soooo long before being served, and the lady was quite rude as well :(, which is why I am glad to be on Three(3) :)

I called up to unlock the iPhone straight away after getting it to work. All I need to do now is to wait for 10 days before it is officially unlocked and I’ll be able to use it on my Three(3) network. More on iPhone and the Three(3) network on days to come!

Credits to Christine dear for taking such awesome pictures!

The Mac Revolution Has Begun

It is official. I have joined the revolution!

Went to sign up for an iPhone from Optus today with Christine dear.

However, it will be a week and a half (shipping) before I can get my hands on it :( !!! Counting down the days!