...

The past few days, Saddam Hussein's death sentence has been pasted all over Yahoo top news (which i feel is a great way of keeping ppl who only surf the net, updated on current world news!). I've been so disturbed by the upholding of his death sentence., regardless of his crimes. I concede i don't know squat about the suffering torment and agony he put his people and his enemies through, nor would i know the gravity of what he did, but i personally feel that it's not in our meek human hands to take it upon ourselves to execute and take the life of another human being. We're merely sinking to their low levels and that makes us no better... but what can i do, and would have even made a difference? Thankfully the Vatican has reiterated its stand on the death penalty and how it's sticking to and standing by it!


Vatican cleric hopes for clemency for Saddam
1 hour, 54 minutes ago
A senior Catholic cleric has said he hopes former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will be spared execution, citing the Church's opposition to the death penalty.

Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's Justice and Peace department, was quoted in Italy's Repubblica newspaper on Thursday saying there was a chance for last-minute clemency for Saddam after an appeals court upheld his death sentence.

"There's still a period of 30 days (before the death sentence must be carried out), the president's signature is required, things can happen," Martino was reported as saying.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has also condemned the decision to impose the death penalty.

Martino criticized the U.S. authorities at the time of Saddam's capture in December 2003 for releasing TV pictures of soldiers checking his teeth "as if he were a cow," images that he said needlessly humiliated the man.

The former papal envoy to the United Nations said there was "no doubt" that Saddam was responsible for mass murders, but that did not change the Church's opposition to capital punishment.

"You can't think of compensating for one crime with another one," he said. Saddam was sentenced in November for crimes against humanity and the death penalty was upheld on Tuesday.

Martino said he backed the idea of holding a peace conference aimed at solving all the major conflicts in the Middle East and reiterated the Vatican's position that invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led coalition was wrong.

"(Pope) John Paul II did his duty. He said it would be an adventure from which there was no return. Now that is what we are seeing."

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
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i whiled away 3 whole hours

my baby brother can now drive!!!

woo hoo! hehe

hehe studying konon...

i wanted to experiment to show everyone what i really look like when im studying and not trying to act all cool and glam. haha well, it was supposed to be a collection of photos of my studying, upon waking up. now, if only i spend as much time studying as i do photographing it.... :-)

:-)

don't really have much to do today since i've bestowed a holiday unto myself. hehe well, with my prominent eyebags, dont u think i deserve a break?? and i'm waiting to skype with my sister and Gracie's taking so long with dinner...
hehe oh and do note, the Pope wasn't in Dublin. i curi-ed that pic from Yahoo!
so... My Room...




The bathroom

Kitchen

Hall

The adorable one...

"Pax vobis" ("Peace be with you) -Pope Benedict XVI

as the events unfolded itself, through an unexpected turn and twists and a tiring day, i found myself stranded in good ol' Dublin this Christmas. it's a good thing i set my mind to not celebrate christmas. Gracie called and one by one my relatives came on the line to wish me a Merry Christmas and they broke through my emotional barrier and tears were shed. :-) but it's all all right now. i couldn't sleep much throughout the night so i decided to make it for an early Mass. who better to celebrate Christmas with than the celebrated Birthday Boy right?
so i headed to church to top off my Advent with Christmas and to bask in the true feeling of Christmas. i knew i was missing so many parties back home, but visiting Jesus in Our Lord's house was like having a piece of my home Christmas!

What i saw on Christmas morning
Dawn Mass- there's this lady who was sitting two rows behind me, once a few weeks back, when i left to go to the altar for Holy Communion, i left my groceries in the pew and when i returned, she was sitting in my seat. i put it down as amnesia or senile dementia and thought it was a one-off occurrence. the same lady did it again today. hehe it was quite amusing...

True love at work- i really respect and am in awe of such love. i don't know if im capable of such love, to care for someone 24/7, especially if what's left is merely a shell of the person i love. that's why these kind of public displays of affection really tug at my heart strings...

Finally, the candles of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love are joined by the Christmas candle.

even the bulletins are cause for joy

probably THE most beautiful crib i've ever seen!


After i was done with Mass, i really wanted to snap a shot of River Liffey, a shot that completes almost every tourist-y collection of Dublin photos i've seen. so i rushed there before the rain would start to pour.
Things i saw along the way
Baby Dunnes on George's Street

New Charlie's Four! with Nasi Lemak too

River Liffey on Christmas morning




I had to practically run to the River cause my camera battery was in danger of dying. but on the way back, i stopped right in the middle of Dame Street and took this shot!

Will update more about the rest of the day. I love this shot. It's truly my Christmas in Dublin-me, a bulletin of the Nativity of the Lord and with the background of River Liffey. :-) practically captures the entire essence of my post!

Merry Christmas everyone!

tears and christmas don't go together!!!

right at this very moment, my mother's at the airport, picking up my sister, Gracie who's back from Mangalore for her christmas break. that means, the commencement of the christmas celebrations back home.
Michael Buble's "Home" just started playing, from the random shuffle on my iTunes.
and i'm bawling like a spoilt kid, like the spoilt kid i am.

I told myself rather than to feebly attempt to recreate Christmas for myself here, as i've tried and failed to recreate other events like my birthday and all, i'm not going to celebrate Christmas this year. It'd be just a holiday season which i'm going to enjoy, but not Christmas per se. i figured i am not going to settle for the best, of a tradition that's been alive in my family since ages ago. A Eurasian Catholic family is rich in traditions they concocted up and gathered through the years. Like my Mi's pineapple tarts that melt in your mouth, her pork roast that's just divine, enuff to abolish ANY diet and break any anorexia, my Mummy's moist chocolate cake and butter cookies, roast chicken, the presents, the grand feeling that accompanies the toiling bells that herald in the birth of Jesus... Parties that are followed by subsequent and more spontaneous parties. my Family. i think a feeble attempt would make me even sadder!

it's only the 17th. and this is already the 2nd time im crying...

Hand Me Down - Matchbox 20

Alex first put this video up on his blog and i've officially fallen head over heels in love with this video!! Gracie, can you view ar?

:-) totally random...

it's 3 am!
and i'm as alert as ever. hehe
it's very interesting how a washing machine had me squatting in front of it, and even the normal usage of the thing took me hours to figure out! :-) it's becoming less of a wonderment as to how the process of driving escapes me.
i vacuumed my room and the hallway.
i wish the gym was opened, i have so much pent up energy to release.
i'm actually very happy these days.
only thing that taints my mood is the cold and rain.
overdrive has kicked in and i so know im running on adrenaline.
just scared if i sleep, it'd be ages before im hardworking enough to wake up!

Serious stuff, for a change

:-) well, i decided my blog needed some serious stuff or else not only will ppl think i'm a bimbo who doesn't study at all, i myself might begin to believe my brain has ceased to function. :-)

i was reading the newspaper yesterday (well, truthfully, i was browsing for offers for my dream phone and stuff to do over the christmas season), and i came across the headline "Is there a Doctor in the house? We don't need one" or something along those lines. I tried finding the article online to no avail. But the gist of it was that a group of biomedical researchers (i know a lot of my friends in this field, ppl whom i believe would get the chance to study medicine if it wasn't so expensive cause they really do have the brains... instead a lot of them would be stuck doing laboratory work. a real waste of brain-age i feel). Anyways, in this one university in Ireland, this team of researchers are developing (or have developed) a home diagnostic kit that can take samples of saliva, or prick your skin painlessly for blood samples, or other body fluids and obtain the necessary information from the FBC or other counts and beam it via satelite to the laboratory for further analysis, thus successfully eliminating the need of a middle man. This cost-effective and resources-savvy move, which would normally be applauded by tax payers, has doctors now bearing the brunt of being phased out! kinda fizzes out my zest to study la...

Secondly, there's this forward being circulated about how if (touch wood and pray it doesnt happen to any of you), a robber abducts you and forces you to enter your pin at the atm to draw out money, all you have to do is enter it in reverse, and unbeknown to the unassuming robber, the security authorities and necessary parties would be alerted, though your money would be issued per normal! isn't this wonderful? the end of the email forward had a bit about how not many ppl knew, so robbers wont know better, but i think it won't be for long, what with the incessant email forwarding and my blogging it here... who knows who else would be blogging about it too!

Merriam Webster defines it as...

Main Entry: 1wish
Pronunciation: 'wish
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English wisshen, from Old English wyscan; akin to Old High German wunsken to wish, Sanskrit vAñchati he wishes, vanoti he strives for -- more at WIN
transitive verb
1 : to have a desire for (as something unattainable)...........

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/wish

Edited christmas list ;-)

8. a body to fit into this--->

http://www.dresses.com/evening3.html
and
9. enough money to buy this!

http://www.dresses.com/order/9045.html

10. the height to pull this off!

http://www.dresses.com/order/1138.html

My grown up christmas wish... ;-)

Olympus FE-180
2816 x 2112 Max Resolution, 6.0 megapixel Image Sensor, 3x Optical Zoom, 4x Digital Zoom, xD Picture Card Storage, USB Connectivity, Movie Capture, built-in Flash (whatever that means... :-))



Nokia 6111 in Frosted Pink
Compact, chic design
Comfortable fit in the hand
Megapixel camera with full-screen landscape camera mode and camera flash
Nokia Xpress audio messaging
Media player, MP3/AAC ringing tones, and FM radio
Video streaming and recording (up to 1 hour)
Push to talk


Ghost Perfume
Blends of floral and citrus-based fragrances are recommended for casual and daywear. Spicy, woody or warm amber-based fragrances are traditionally favorites for evening and special occasions.

4. tight pencil skirt
5. a nice clutch-under-arm black bonia bag
6. a nice gown ( i went into Julien in Stephen's Green Mall and almost cried with longing!)



7. to be with my family come christmas(but u know, being with my best friend in London is the next best thing! :-))

Countdown to Christmas!

:-) it's so fun. Ravi told me about how easy the new blogger is, and he's right! i can even link all my friends without having to learn html! :-)

Today for the first time in a long long time, it didn't and hasn't rained! YET. :-)

Gracie and my two cousins will be back home next weekend. It really kills me that i can't be home with them and my family. i see the Irish ppl shop and prepare for Christmas. i see the brightly lit Christmas trees. i really miss home...

Christmas carols ring through the malls. Oddly, i don't feel like actually buying anything. i must be really depressed!!

But im loving this new Blog layout. It's so userfriendly for such an internet doofus like myself! :-)

Oh Alex put the youtube music video of Hand Me Down by Matchbox 20 and it's amazing!!

the perfect christmas carol

so advent has dawned, bringing with it the joy, peace, hope and love that christmas is upon us.
A whole new christian calendar.

Every year, i wait and wait...
As christmas draws nearer i start panicking too...
What is i dont get that christmas feeling?
Actually being away from home makes it even worse! There no family gatherings to trigger it. No christmas tree to decorate, or presents to buy and wrap. No loved ones to love!
Usually it's christmas carol that will make my insides warm with the love of christmas.
Among the carols from previous years are - When A Child is Born, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Feliz Navidad....

This year, i feel like Silent Night is my song. So now, i've been hunting for the perfect version of Silent Night, but to no avail.
HELP!

happiness...

This is me, happy...


This is one of the things that make me happy... seeing how Gracie is radiant with happiness...
(hehe sorry i posted this u, gracie. but i love it!)



And also my mom passed her Masters, with flying colours!! i'm so proud of her. it's smooth sailing to her doctorate next year... :-) and Blooming.com.my is amazingly efficient. they allowed me to send flowers that were delivered on the same day i placed the order! Two thumbs and two big toes up to Malaysian eagerness to please with efficient service! and Shops that don't close at 6pm every day!