*WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD - TWILIGHT*

After my female retail therapy in One Utama, I caught up with Chip in MPH. The bookstore is a good place to let him wander off free and willingly while I fan through racks of garments. While waiting for him to be done, I grabbed the most talked about novel this year, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I tried hard to find reasons to enjoy 'Fantasy' genre novels and I thought I did when I was quite excited with the Dragon Lance series. That excitement didn't last very long when my reading lapsed after half of the 2nd book.

Vampires too, have never been in my list of must reads. Even when I was dragged to watch Underworld 3, I went ahead any way. It was NOT to compensate on the times that I had to drag Chip to get tickets for Chick Flicks (romantic-comedies, to be exact), but I had to open my eyes to NEW discoveries.

Back to my little corner of MPH, I grabbed whatever within my reach and it happened to be Twilight. After reading the first few pages, I was hooked and I knew I had to get it. I was convinced that I would enjoy the novel because romance was involved. Ah, yes I know, I'm a sucker for lovey dovey romance. Sigh.

Hooked, I was. I finished it the book in a day and I absolutely had to get the 2nd book AND DVD no matter what. The DVD was much easier to obtain so we had movie night last night.

It is true what they say that the book is always better than the movie. I have to agree with that. Edward as a vampire should have been more scary. Edward's angst to ward off the 'baddies' was not ferocious enough. He didn't scare me. While reading the part where Laurent, James and Victoria was about to attack, I imagined him to crouch like a tiger, hiss like a snake and that his pale face would turn ghostly white and that the dark circles under his eyes promiment as he stood protecting Bella. I tried to explain to Chip what I meant so I acted it out. Unfortunately it was a bad portrayal because he said I looked like a cat. Reeoowr!!!

Point #2: The obsession that Bella had on Edward could have been more intensed. The built-up was rather jumpy and you will never grasp why Bella was so intrigued with Edward when in the beginning, he didn't seem interested in her. There was one vital part which I felt should have been included was when both Bella and Edward were sitting next to each other in Biology. It was the first time Edward greeted her with Bella and not Isabella. In the book, Bella was shocked that Edward would know the name she preferred to be addressed. The movie, none. If they have included that part in, then we would know that Edward has actually been interested in her right from the start. It is his attention to details that made Bella realize that he did notice her after all.

I did actually hoped that the built-up on their love/obsession was alot stronger so that you can understand why Bella would end her life to be an immortal just like Edward. And why Edward, a handsome and ravishing vampire would risk his life and his family to be with a mortal.

Point #3: What I got from the book, Edward is actually a very possessive and jealous boyfriend. It is his quiet confidence that masks his chauvinistic side.

Anyway.. I am still looking forward to the sequel AND I'll hop over to the bookstore to get New Moon this weekend! Hmmm.. perhaps, I should just get all three?

This is a little late but let's all wish Chip, the creator of the Wordpress-Joomla Converter, a Happy Belated Birthday! YaY! We celebrated with friends and family at Bangsar Seafood. But I thought I'd do something special. This year, on one of those nights, I cooked! We are on a 40-day adstinence on meat (except for seafood), so for starters, we had garlic bread and pumpkin/carrot soup (which I cheated and got straight from Heinz!), my infamous cold potato salad and pan-fried salmon and steamed brocolli. To top it off, a chilled Sauv Blanc.

Hope you enjoyed your meal, hun No stomach-ache the next day right?!

It will be just a month away until I promote myself from an 'Elect' to a 'Catholic'. On Easter, I will be baptized. Time sure flies. I wished I had written about my 10th month journey as an enquirer, a cathecumen, an elect (I know, all the jargons!), my months of struggle to search for a confirmation name (i.e. a middle name if you already have an English one) and my growing faith in Him. Every time I think back about how I was 'found', it leaves a smile on my face. All along, it was in His plans that I would be where I am today. The path I chose before was never a straight road. It had plenty of bumps and obstacles and I have always taken the longer route rather than the expressway. But perhaps it was meant to be that way; the blueprint He has for me.

Last Saturday, me and my other 'classmates' attended the Rites of Election ceremony in St. Ignatius. It was a short ceremony where our names were called out infront of the congregation to witness our signing of the 'agreement'. The next day, we were joined by other RCIA groups from other Catholic churches from the Central region at the St. John's Cathedral. The ceremony was headed by the Archbishop of Malaysia. If you are wondering what this ceremony is all about, here's a short description from Wiki:

...The Rite of Election or Enrolment of Names for those who are unbaptized. This is a very significant and important step in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It is usually celebrated on the First Sunday of Lent at the local Diocesan Cathedral, led by the local Bishop. All of the Catechumens and Candidates, their Godparents (for Catechumens) and Sponsors (for Catechumens and Candidates) gather together on this day. It often involves hundreds of people coming together for this occasion. The Church formally ratifies the Catechumens' readiness for the Sacraments of Initiation, and the Candidates' readiness to be received into full Communion with the Catholic Church. In turn the Catechumens - from now on known as the Elect - publicly acknowledge their desire to receive the Sacraments of Initiation, and the Candidates' their desire to be received into full Communion with the Catholic Church.

There must have been a couple of hundreds at the Cathedral. I like that the ceremony was conducted in four languages!  During the homily, the Archbishop spoke in English and then in Tamil. Then an Indian priest delivered the same speech but in Mandarin and BM!

How amazing is that?! It is also the first time I sang hymns in BM and had to listen to prayer recitals in the other vernacular languages. Definitely an eye opener to me! This is truly all God's work. His love have no boundaries.

It was unbelievably stuffy because the church does not have any air-conditioning. The wall fan were of no help too since we were all packed like sardines. Here we are with the Archbishop after the ceremony. I'm so glad Chip came along to capture these special moments for me.