INTEC's Anatomy Part 1: Food

I can see a surging demand for food nowadays. Coffee shops and restaurants are booming exponentially and though the competition is extremely strong, all these stalls and restaurants still manage to survive. The same goes to INTEC. All right, I am sure that those who will be coming in to INTEC will find this fairly informative.

Food place #1
AUSMAT Cafe
It reigns as the best cafe that INTEC has to boast about. It is an indoor cafe, fully equipped with air-conditioners around it, and also around 20 tables outside the cafe.

Top 10 Best Things About AUSMAT Cafe
10. It is a stone's away from all the AUSMAT blocks and most of the science labs.
9. It is located extremely near to a computer lab, so you can hang out in the computer lab after food.
8. It has regular workers who clean the tables in the cafe, pushing a trolley around collecting rubbish in the cafe.
7. It has it's own "Today's Special". Therefore, you can still get a variety of food choice there.
6. Ala Carte ordering is available during lunch hours. It is the only cafe that takes Ala Carte ordering during lunch hours.
5. It also has a small waffle stall just outside the cafe itself. More choices of food.
4. It also has the most choices of food and drinks in a cafe compare to the other cafes in INTEC.
3. The average price of the food is the most reasonable ones compare to the other cafes.
2. It has the best fried chicken in INTEC.
1. It is AIR-CONDITIONED.

Top 5 Worst Things About AUSMAT Cafe
5. Though the tables are clean regularly, sometimes they still feel sticky.
4. Food supply run out extremely fast especially during lunch hours.
3. The workers can be quite snobbish at times, when you ask them for favors.
2. The air-conditioner in the cafe makes your shirt feels like the smell of the cafe if you stay in the cafe for too long.
1, It is hard to access by other students except from AUSMAT students. Its location is far away from ALG blocks, ADFP/ACTP blocks, Music & Education blocks, Russian Program blocks, Korean/Japan Program blocks, ALM Blocks, and ALED blocks.

Leen's personal view on AUSMAT Cafe: Why does an egg have to cost 60cents when all other cafes only charge 50cents per egg? = (

Food Place #2
ADFP/ALG/ACTP Cafe
This has to be the second best cafe available in INTEC after AUSMAT cafe. Even though it is not as big and as lavish as AUSMAT cafe, at least this cafe still provides decent food with decent price.

Top 10 Good Points About ADFP/ALG/ACTP Cafe
10. It is widely accessible to everyone from various programs. It normally caters to the need of ADFP/ACTP students, UiTM students, Short Program students, ALG students and Middle East Program students.
9. It is located just in front of the library. Therefore, you can always enjoy food easily after doing your homework in the library.
8. You will always get to listen to some guitars once in a while because the music department students will normally gather in this cafe.
7. It sells the most local delicacies in INTEC. No other cafe sells as much local kuih-muih as this cafe sells. (3 pieces of delicacies for RM1.00)
6. It starts operating very early in the morning. I used to arrive at college at 0700 and they already have their food on the tables.
5. It is quite easy to get a 10cents or 20cents discount from the cashiers.
4. It uses only disposable materials for cutleries and plates. Hence, you don't have to fear about the cleanliness of your spoon or fork.
3. For those who want to get to know people, this is also the cafe where people interact a lot with others. To simply put it, it is a better melting pot than AUSMAT cafe.
2. The workers speak Bahasa kelate. XD (You'll get to learn a word or two from them.)
1. The eggs only cost 50cents per egg.

Top 10 Worst Things About ADFP/ACTP/ALG Cafe
10. It is too small.
9. It is open-air type cafe. If it rains, then you will be in some kind of inconvenience.
8. The male workers can be quite irritating sometimes.
7. The food choices are limited and same most of the time.
6. The noodles are simply too spicy (for chinese) most of the time.
5. The cashiers keep an eye on you all the time so that you don't take extra nuts in your nasi lemak, or they will charge you more.
4. You can only take a certain amount of food(noodles and fried rice for breakfast). If you take more, they will charge you more. It isn't the case in AUSMAT cafe.
3. There is only one water pipe for you to wash your hands before/after your meal.
2. The service is quite slow because there are not enough workers around.
1. The vegetables taste like poison.

Leen's personal view: They can and should provide more tables and chairs. And don't make everything so oily.

Food Place#3
ALM Cafe
It is ranks last in almost everyone's ranking due to its pricing, mostly. Some ALM students will rather walk some distance to AUSMAT cafe to enjoy a proper meal rather than eating in ALM Cafe.

Top 10 Worst Things About ALM Cafe
10. It has limited space for people to walk around.
9. It is the only cafe that doesn't sell ice-creams.
8. It has a roof on top of you but when it rains, it can still get a little troublesome.
7. You can't get your own drink because the machine is not within your reach.
6. They look at you all the time when you are taking your food from the counters.
5. They are often closed during holiday season. Other cafes still operate during holiday because certain students from certain programs will still be around.
4. It does not offer much choices of food, nor do they taste exceptionally well.
3. It is not recommended by seniors. Well, they know better, don't they?
2. You can hardly get any discount from the cashiers.
1. The price!! They are just TOO expensive.

Leen's personal comment: I once ate a plate of fried rice that cost me RM3.20 when I can easily get the price of RM2.00 in ADFP cafe and RM2.20 in AUSMAT cafe. That's a huge difference in pricing.

Of course, it is not THAT bad at all to eat there. It does offer something special there, like burgers and hotdogs. It looks quite nice too, with some greeneries around you, not to mention the clean look of the cafe.

All in all, all three cafes offer similar food, with AUSMAT cafe having slightly more choices than the rest. You can also get free sky juice in all three cafes. Tissue papers are also there and free of charge. In addition to the cafes, there is also a little convenience shop in INTEC selling test pads, daily products, food, and so on. I don't have a camera with me, so it's hard to display their pictures so excuse me for that part. =D Now you know how to make your way to the right cafe that suits your personal preferences best. If you want ice-creams, never go to ALM cafe. If you crave for waffle, you can try AUSMAT cafe. That's about it for food in INTEC.

Craving for eggs,
Leen

Church & Movie: An Experience Retold

It’s Sunday and it only means one thing; church day. Well, my friends and I went to church as usual and listened to a powerful service, as always. I’m not going to elaborate a lot on the sermon itself but rather what happened after the service. We went to watch a movie.

Somehow, I was also joining them for a movie despite my reluctance. I got a free ticket, so I figured I'll just follow. Plus, it might be the last movie that I would watch with these people for the time being. We had to go all the way a shopping complex some 10 minutes ride away from our church to watch that movie. Since it was a newly released movie, everyone filled up the whole cinema. Throughout the entire movie, I enjoyed myself as I watched through the battle scenes as they were similar to one of my all time favorite movie: LOTR: Return of the King. I also took delight in watching how the heroes cracked some funny jokes that kept me alive for around three hours in that cold room.

After the movie, I couldn’t help but noticing how swarms of people began to leave the theatre hall and they walked out of the cinema with all kinds of expression on their faces. I could see how some looked tired, some looked dull, some looked normal, but surprisingly no one actually smiled or laughed. “If the movie was such a good one, then why didn’t people actually smile when they walk out? Why are some rushing to leave the theatre hall once the movie is finished?”

All these thoughts that run through my mind just made me conclude one thing: watching a good blockbuster movie in a cinema is the same as going to church every Sunday.

In a cinema, you get to watch a good movie. There are also a lot of people around you who are watching the same movie as you are. There are laughter all over the theater when the hero made some funny comments, there are also people crying if the message of the movie touches their heart. Some people enjoy the movie, some don’t. It is exactly the same as going to church. We get to meet other people who are also attending church on that day, though the number might be smaller than the people going to cinema. We also get to sit on our chairs listening to a speaker speaking on a topic. Sometimes we laugh at the speaker’s jokes, other times we sniffed silently when the topic touches our heart and make us cry. Sometimes, we enjoy the message. Sometimes, we don’t.

So what is the difference between watching a good, meaningful movie and going to church? It’s the joy of the Lord that makes a difference. People get out of movie theater and go back to their life as usual as quick as a lightning. However, people getting out of a church after a powerful service will feel refreshed and joyful. Even though some might still feel the same, it is only normal to see people get touched in a service, and going out of a church smiling, walking proudly, and laughing to one another. I did not get that sense of joy after I watched the movie, even though it was a good movie.

Conclusion:

If I have to choose between one of them, I will pick church hands down. Though movie offers the exact same laughter, tears, excitement, or even dullness as a church offers, at the end of the day, it is the presence of God that makes a difference. Going to a cinema makes you laugh for two hours, going to church makes you laugh for a long long long time…………because in God, we find everlasting joy that a movie cannot provides.

God bless.
Leen

Mission Trips

Just two days ago, I bumped into two friends while I was heading back from school. It never crossed my mind that the meeting would later prove to be an insightful one. We had our normal brunch in one of the restaurants available within our vicinity and we talked about a lot of random stuff. However, none was significant enough for me to take note of. After the pleasant meal, we went to a nearby shop to shop for a gift. My friend wanted to buy a gift for her other friend but girl being girl, she just couldn't make up her mind. She asked for assurance again and again that the black one was indeed better than the red one. Finally, she made up her mind and bought the black one.

You might be wondering what does that whole little shopping trip have anything to do with mission trips at all? Well, this following sentence might be worthwhile to be ponder upon.

"Christians going to mission trips are just like girls going on shopping trips. They already have their mind fixed on the things that they want to do (or buy) but they just need assurance time and again from the everyone around them to be pleased with their choices."

When my friend told me, "Just ignore her. She already know what she wants to buy. She just want us to support her, that's all," I found it very true in our everyday life as well. Aren't we all looking for assurance and opinions all the time? We know that we can get A in our tests, but we just whine and whine until someone pats on our back and say, "Hey gal, you can do it. Just go for it."

This post goes out to whoever that will be going on mission trips. You know who you are. Be assured. You are God's ambassador. Do His will with a cheerful mind and a focused spirit. He will guide you through in whatever circumstances that you will be facing in that mission trips.

You have made your choice, we(CA) are all supporting you. So just go..........

God be with you all during these mission trips.

Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. ~Matthew 28:16-20 NLT

Peace,
Leen

Malachi 3 : 3

Malachi 3:3 says "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, How do you know when the silver is fully refined? He smiled at her and answered, Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it.

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

My friend forwarded this article to me few seconds ago and it's encouraging to know that God's always there, keeping an eye on us, watching over us, and never take His eyes off us in the process of refining us.

Have a blessed day.

Love,
* yuwan *

NEW CA SHIRT COMING UP!!!

Finally!!!!!! After years of planning and preparations, Campus Alive will have its very own shirt. It's available in 2 colours, white and navy blue (due to some unexplainable reasons). The sizes vary from kidies, SS, S, M, L, XL. Guess what!!! It only costs about 16 bucks per shirt. Come on people!!! Where can u get a shirt wonderfully inspired by God, designed specially by our own Leen. With its unique and eloquent designs of a CA logo, a treasure chest and a surprise abstract motif (which is really interesting, trust me). Just keep your fingers all crossed for it!!! Please do spread the words around. Anyone interested please contact someone you know from CA and they will happily pass the words to either Erin or Leen. Be excited!!

-Pat-

Welcome to Campus Alive Blog

With technology fast-pacing our world, Pat and I decided that we had to catch up as well. After a few hours of thinking (and perhaps asking God), we finally decided to establish this blog. It is named Campus Alive for obvious reasons. It took us two days to get the banners, page elements, and other miscellaneous aspects of the blog done before we start spreading the words around.

So, you might be wondering, what does this blog function as?

1. This blog will act as a place where CA reports come in and everyone has a chance to view at it. For example, if there was a CA service last week, someone (anyone) can just email me the report that he(or she) wanted to give, and I will post it in the blog. That way, others can recall the message that Pastor preached easily, or if they missed the CA service, they could just read the blog to get a glimpse of what the previous CA was all about. Some complimentary pictures can also be placed in the blog to enhance the post.

2. This blog will also be a primary tool to connect all the previous CA members, the current CA members, and the future CA members. The previous CA members can get themselves updated with the latest happenings in INTEC and CA equally, the present CA members can comment and recall the events that had happen in INTEC and CA, while the future CA members can view CA's activities and get to know more about CA.

3. Besides, this blog will also be a place where all the future juniors in INTEC learns about INTEC. There will be posts on food in INTEC, accommodations in INTEC, programs in INTEC, transport in INTEC, and so much more. Anyone who can contribute to providing this informations are welcomed to email me. I will be more than happy to post them up for you. By doing so, this blog will not only act as a Christian blog, but it will also be relevant to everyone in INTEC. Prospective INTEC students can easily observe the curriculum in INTEC, tips to apply to universities, numbers of cafes in INTEC, and so on and so forth.

4. This blog also functions as a place where you get the latest updates on CA. If you have an internet connection and you want to know if there is CA next week, here's the place to get yourself updated with the latest happenings in Campus Alive. There is a small column of "updates" on the left side of the blog where you can view the latest updates and perhaps, announcements in CA. Well, if you need any prayer requests, we will update your requests too. That way, everyone can pray with you and for you.

5. Equally important, this place can also be the place where you just hang out with your fellow CA friends, read some useful (or wacky) posts, posts a few comments, and to kill time.

6. This blog will also be a channel to spread God's words. If you are an author who likes to write sermons(or testimonies), feel free to contact me as well. Testimonies is always one of the best things to be shared to others, and in Campus Alive, we welcome all testimonies. Sermons or words of wisdom are mostly encouraged as well.

There are just some of the functions that this blog will play for now. Of course, as it expands, we might have more functions and additional things added to the blog. For now, just enjoy this blog and have fun.

God bless and have a nice day.


In His service,
Leen