Sunday, November 07, 2010

October update

Ahhhh... as I am typing this post, the rain pitter patters outside my window. No one should be allowed to work on such nice rainy weather. It's illegal and so not productive anyway. Lol.

October was an eventful month. It was my best friend's (J's) birthday, my husband's birthday, my godbrother in London's birthday, my brother-in-law's birthday... SO MANY!!! It's also a month where I have to watch my waistline as people and friends treat my husband to a birthday meal, I am also invited. Hehehe.

Went to Seoul in October as well.. yes, Seoul AGAIN... I will return to Seoul anytime (if someone sponsors me.. hehe). Never think I would like Seoul this much. I used to think that my all time favourite place is Kyoto, Japan and nothing else beats it.

I suppose in shopping, Seoul wins Japan hands down anytime. Simply because the cutting of the clothes are not short. (Well, hellooooo!!! Not all Asian women are petite and skinny as most Japanese are). Hardly bought clothes in Japan since the cutting is mostly too short to my liking. But when it comes to scenic places, I will still prefer Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto gives me a surreal feeling, that you can't believe that you're seeing certain things, certain sights that are so lovely and can't believe that it exist.

Ohohoh..part of my trip to Seoul was to attend a Korean wedding. Didn't know that weddings can be so efficient and short! 2 hours including the dinner and it was all over! It wasn't a traditional Korean wedding but it was definitely efficient - an eye opener considering that weddings this side of the globe where I'm from takes at least an ENTIRE DAY. So here are some of my photos from my Korean trip (not much as compared to the trip I had last year cos I was there mainly for shopping. And one can't take photos when their hands are busy grabbing things to bring to the changing room to try):-

Us in Myeongdong. My (shopping) Mecca. Move over Far East Plaza or anywhere else in Singapore!

This was a picture I took in Samcheongdong. An up and coming place in Seoul. Love this pic.


Hubby took this pic of me with my favourite tea place in Seoul - O'Sulloc. And with my favourite and oh-so-delicious Black Tea Roll cake. *Power dessert* Nothing beats this. Not tiramisu, not some avant garde looking cake that alot of cafes try to create these days. Not the seriously common yet all time favourite of most ppl - Molten Lava Chocolate Cake (the one that oozes warm chocolate in it).


And yes, the Korean wedding of our friend, Jae. She looks like she's a princess!


Just came back from a short but really good trip to Bangkok with my Mum. It was just the two of us bonding through shopping, Thai foot reflexology and massages and more shopping. Hey, we women bond that way like how men bond through talking about Army stuff, cars, computer parts and the latest gadgets!!

It was a much needed bonding time. My Mum have not travelled for many years to be able to raise us up. So thank God we could arrange for this trip. The most touching moment was when I asked her when we were onboard the flight to Bangkok: "So how are you feeling, Mum?" and she replied with a sparkle in her eye "I'm very excited, considering I have not travelled for so long".

That sparkle in her eye .. that image of her registered in my head. I won't forget how excited and happy she looked. Serene, but bubbling inside. Though it was only a short 4 days in Bangkok, I came back missing her more than before when I returned home. I remember how as I was unpacking my bag I had a sudden irrational fear of losing her and tears started welling up my eyes. Yeah, like I said. It was irrational. Not sure about most people but sometimes I do get such fears.

I think as I get older I begin to understand and realise how real mortality can be especially with my love ones. Like seeing how my Mum's knee will hurt if we climbed too long a flight of stairs, using the overhead bridge to cross to the other side. I seriously don't like how real mortality can be in my face but yet I know it's this that also makes me treasure every moment with them.

Ok, it must be the rain that's bringing out the "emo" side in me. Hehehe. I shall end here and go search for my SD card where memories and photos of my vacation with Mum are in it. Why the search? As an eager beaver, I like to unpack STRAIGHT away after a trip. While unpacking, I even took out the SD card from my camera knowing that I will load it onto the comp. As I continue unpacking... for the life of me, CANNOT recall where I put the SD card. So yeah.. wish me luck and pray that I can find it!!!



Sunday, September 12, 2010

Year of the Porridge

Yes, the year ain't over but it feels like I have had more porridge than any of my years since I was born. Except maybe the year where I had chickenpox during CNY and could only have porridge for all my meals and was not allowed to touch any of the Chinese New Year goodies as most had eggs as its ingredients. The Chinese (at least the Singaporean Chinese) believe that when one is having CHICKENpox, one cannot touch anything related to (yes, that's right) CHICKEN and beans (cos you're having pox = in mandarin translation sounds like beans). Now, looking back at the year of my chickenpox where I was only primary 3/4? I had such perseverance as a kid. I didn't touch any of the CNY goodies for a good 6 months and stuck to my grandma's porridge with minced pork with nothing else. The minced pork weren't even marinated ok. And 6 months ain't a joke or a short period for a primary school kid.

Ok, before I digress to my perservering childhood... I was saying that this is the year of the porridge for me. Here's why:-

Operation in late April (Hospitalisation leave for 2 weeks):- It was porridge for my 3 meals for 2 weeks.

After going back to work from my op:- I continued to have porridge as my breakfast and lunch for another 2 weeks.

Sick few months ago:- It was porridge for my 3 meals for that one day.

Today I am down with stomach flu:- And I am having porridge since yesterday for my 3 meals.

So yeah.. ain't complaining since at least there's still something to eat. As for stomach flu... I only lost a miserable 0.6kg! I mean c'monnnnnn!! If it's stomach flu, just give it to me so I can lose the weight (even if it's water weight only .. heheh) easily within a couple of days!! Why isn't it making my pain and my body aches "worth" it?! Urgh.

Monday, September 06, 2010

The God of How Much More...

Went to IDMC recently and felt like it was an annual Mecca. Each time I attend this session, I whined about having to take a usual annual leave for a day or two and still having to wake up early in the morning to attend the conference instead of sleeping in like I usually would on my leave days.

But each time when I reach there, I get a fresh insight of the God who send His one and only son who died for me, the God who love me immensely beyond my imagination, a God who pursues me with His love and patience and a God who is ever so faithful despite when I am faith-less.

One of the many things that I learnt was the God of how much more...

Matthew 6:30 "30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"
Matthew 7:11 "11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
Often we misunderstand and perceive our Father in heaven as someone that gives as a man or human gives - with a limit. Yet, it is written in His word that He is a God of How Much More!! It's not about the gifts or resources that He is able to provide. The How Much More stems from how deep is His love for me such that He will not withold from me simply because of His love for me.
I don't want to miss out on knowing more about my heavenly Father of the how much more!

Friday, August 20, 2010

It's Been A Long Time Since I Felt This Way....

It's been a long time since I felt this way. My eyes opened really wide and my fingers ran through every detail. My head began to be filled with ideas... I was impressed. Very impressed. Alot of thought was behind the tiniest of details. As I walked further in, there was an increasing air of excitement ... I was frothing with enthusiasm.

Alas... such is my fate that I am unable to bring home the entire Zara collection for this season! URGGGGHHHHH. Hehehe. Yes, I was referring to clothes mind you. It's really been a while since I get such enthusiasm about an entire collection or about almost everything I saw in a retail shop. Being a speedy gonzales shopper, usually I will go in to shops to only come out either dissatisfied with how the designs in the shop are so bleah that nothing caught my fancy or I barely find something that I really like.

But this season's Zara is mindblowing. The autumn collection was mainly in different hues of brown, grey, blue, black and some whites thrown in. YET, the entire collection looked SO preppy, so fresh and every detailing was fascinating, very nicely put together YET looks so effortless and classy. Here are some photos from the Z
ara website itself:-


This just seems so effortless and yet classy. Different shades of brown can look great too!

This outfit is so lovely that I can't put my finger on what exactly is so nice of this attire. Is it the flowy ribbony sort-of-thing? The flowy top and bottom? It gives a lady a nice shape yet seems comfortable enough! Ohohoh.. I just simply love white and dark navy blue. So nautical! I am uber pro anything nautical.


I saw this brown suede-like material jacket in zara and had to pluck myself away from it literally. Yeah, I know Singapore's weather doesn't permit us locals to wear like there is any possibility of snow. BbbbUt, if you work at where I work... you'll probably wear such attires Mondays to Fridays through the entire work week.
YESSS.. my office is that cold and I ain't exaggerating. The Germans, the Caucasians in my office find it cold too. I love how the grey turtleneck brings out the brown and is in contrast to the white. Ohohoh.. and it seems like double breasted jackets are returning to the shelves by storm. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Note to self:- To avoid entering Zara anytime soon to save save save save save! Or wait until sale.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Poly-Me, Poly-You, Polyvore...


The above is my lack of inspiration, anyhow whack together collage / polyvore...or something that I wouldn't mind wearing to work. I like it cos it makes me feel a little non-conventional from the typical black and white working attire yet with hints of being artsy fartsy with the brown prints at the side of the blouse and gold accessories without looking too dress down. At least that's how it makes me feel lah!

Playing with Polyvore again after a couple of years of not playing with it. I suppose it helps me to feel like I am creating something while "shopping" or hunting for the items to create the look I want.

I think playing with Polyvore helps me to save money as it gives me a pseudo feel as though I am shopping. Lol!! It also shows from my bank account that I have more of my last month's salary leftover in my bank...mmmMmmmm.. that's a good sign.

For those of you who are not familiar with Polyvore, check out the description on the website:-
"Mix & match products from your favourite
stores to create outfits or any kind of collage!"


Needs lotsa touch ups to make it look even better like how some of the folks who are also into polyvore does it... something like this I suppose:-


Never thought arranging items to make'em look good can be hard on a clean canvas! Makes me appreciate my magazines more insteas of just browsing through the pages.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Mesmerized...

Chanced upon Lookbook.Nu and was immediately hooked. Lookbook.Nu is a collective fashion website of people from all walks of life and from all over the world. It fascinates me cos now I no longer need to depend on magazines for fashion inspiration! WoOohOOoO!

The very fact that I can access fashion all over the world from the touch of my fingertips and from the comfort of my home just makes this a brilliant website! High fashion, quirky, simple, classic, weird, totally cannot make it, wannabes, romantic, geek, fun fashion, whatever you can coin it, I can browse from this website and best of all it is from real people (not just fashion models) like you and me.

Another plus point that got me hooked to this site is the photography in each photo. Some are as simple as a plain background with just a mod looking clock and a polka dotted dress just spice up the whole picture:-


Source:- http://lookbook.nu/look/910093-dots-theworldlooksred-blogspot-com, http://theworldlooksred.blogspot.com/

The one that got me mesmerized:-

Source:- http://lookbook.nu/look/906323-little-vanilla, http://perventina.livejournal.com/

The colour, texture of the dress and how she accessorize it with brown and white and her nude beige shoes and matching dark brown straps on her shoes and the stockings (?) and bangles and the lighting and setting in this (what seems like) simple yet dreamy kindof pic, the what seems like au-natural messy wavy hair... justjustjust..*sigh* mesmerizes... she looks like a modern fairy without wings and a wand.

This website makes me wana dig out all my clothes to try on and snap myself in different poses and angles just for the fun of it while learning and improving on both my photography and my mix'n'match of my limited wardrobe!


Saturday, May 08, 2010

It's Funny How...

- People impose their preferences on your life, they make their preferences known, they tell you what you should and not do (and I'm not even referring to people who are giving genunine sound constructive advice) AND gets pissed off when they realised you do not heed their preferences.

It's even funnier (to me at least) how the same bunch of people come complaining that they cannot stand so and so imposing their opinions onto them. ?????

I think it's also funny how the same people often do not realise that they tell you what you shouldn't do, not realising that they have done what they themselves tell others not to do in the past. Ah... the double standards of life! -.-!!! Ah... I suppose what goes around comes around?


Sometimes I imagine in my head (think Ally Mcbeal) that I'll be saying: "Hah! Now you know how I feel when you said blah blah blah to me the other time and imposed your preferences onto me!" OR "You can impose and say what you want but it won't change my mind... so deal with it!" OR "What gives you the right to impose and police your preference onto me or be pissed with others who does it to you when you've been doing that to me ?".

But like in the show "You've got mail", Meg Ryans' character in that movie is not capable of saying something nasty and meaning it without feeling any twinge of guilt. Not boasting or anything but I know and I know that I am like that because I've said nasty things in the past and try to mean it but always feeling bad about it for days on end.

It's such people that constantly reminds me that we are fallen. We've fallen short of His glory and we are all in need of His grace and every one can do with more grace...including myself! So though I am at the brunt of it, the reminder to myself is to show grace to others and not impose my opinions or preferences on another person as much as I can.


- People tell me that they have thought it through long and hard and though its not the appropriate time ... they still tell you the news?!?!?! What gives??

Cannot wait until later on then tell me? If one have thought it THROUGH and thought it through long and hard somemore AND also know ITS NOT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, then why even bother telling me now? Cannot wait another 1 day, 2 days, 1 week or 1 month later to tell me? If it's not life and death, save it!

- People just call you to "catch up with you" when all they really want to do is tell you to "catch up on them" and update you on their latest life stories and hang up when they are done with "catching up with you".

In such circumstances, I really thank God for free incoming calls.

- People try to comfort you and encourage you, they end up saying all the wrong things because they don't really know what to say yet in their good nature they still want to say something to cheer you up and at the end of the conversation, they may or may not realise they have said the wrong things to you (From my observations, often they do not realise it) and they felt that they have done their bit to cheer you up without realising that they have left you puzzled and more discouraged than before.

I learned to take a pinch of salt in such situations and sometimes to not even take a pinch of salt in the things people say. It's in such situations, I appreciate people who are sincerely honest with themselves (e.g. "I don't know what to say to you") or the golden silence. Also, I learn to see beyond their words and actions that the truly good natured people truly means well.

It's through such scenarios that I am reminded of the special someone in my life that never imposes His preference, His choice, His opinions on me even though He is the only credible person that does not live a double standard life.

I am reminded of how He has shown grace unto me. I am reminded of how He doesn't say much sometimes but just waits there patiently for me to be ready to talk and yet I know He is there for me all the time.

Through all these, I am reminded that He is the only one who created me and died for me and has every right to speak into my life and impose His opinions and preferences in any fashion that He likes to. As such, I live for no one but my God, my saviour, my comforter and friend.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Mysterious...

April has been a month of ups and downs and many of you whom are close to my heart will know the downs. Ups, there have been plentiful too despite the downs. Went to Spain and Portugal with my husband and had a really splendid vacation (as do all our vacations except I didn't enjoyed HK too much the other time cos I went there half recovering from a flu and I simply cannot order food from solely mandarin menus with no pictures in a typical cantonese joint). I figure HK folks must have a very vivid imagination to be able to know what it taste or looks like just by looking at a bunch of mandarin words. OR they really know the menus at the back of their minds!

Now on the title mysterious. I was just uploading my pictures from my Europe vacation onto FB and just relooking at past albums from previous trips with Oonie. Was looking through the Taiwan album on FB in particular and stumbled upon 2 captions that I wrote on 2 different photos.

One of which I said something along the lines of "Yeah, the food and shopping's great but heard its better in Seoul, Korea. But I wouldn't know cos I've never been there". And lo and behold, our next trip was to Seoul. The other caption from also from the Taiwan photo album and went like "Oh look, it feels like we're in Europe and it looks like Spain or something". And yeah.. you got it... I just came back from Spain. TOTALLY not realising or not remembering what I said in my photo captions at all until I was glancing them through a year later. How uncanny is that? And mind you our travel destinations are seldom planned. What I mean when I said plan is that we're not the kind that will go "ok, let's go to XXXX in November, let's start saving from now on and book our tickets by latest dd/mm". We belong to the "shall we go somewhere this quarter? ok how about this? or how about that place? or this place? Mmm... shall we set aside a budget? but where shall we go then?" and it takes awhile for us to decide on a destination but once that's settled, usually the rest of the "planning" is relatively fast from there (maybe also cos my husband like to research on everything and he does the accommodation booking, etc very well).

I told my husband of the mysterious factor and he said "Quick, now say you wanna go to Vienna, Austria, Prague, etc". It kindda stirred my senses to realise how sometimes one can "self-prophesy" or proclaim certain things out of say fun or something and without realising the power behind what we say or proclaim. I suppose that's why there are many bible verses about the tongue:-

Proverbs 12:18, "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Ephesians 4:29, "29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
Psalm 141:3, "Set a guard over my mouth O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."
Proverbs 15:1-4, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit."
Matthew 12:37, "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."


I think the last verse is a good reminder to myself that sometimes certain things are better left unsaid if I don't want to be condemned. And whoever said "Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me" oughtta think twice and carefully if words can never hurt people. On contrary, words pierce deeper than the physical hurt from sticks and stones. At least, this is how I feel.

Friday, March 26, 2010

U-R-Y I Live...

In His presence, I am refreshed.
Refreshed by His presence, I find strength.
With His voice, I find assurance.
With His voice, I get directions.
With His voice, I get new perspectives.
In His assurance, I find comfort.
In His assurance, I find renewed hope.
With His directions, I see a goal.
With His guidance, I gain confidence.
When He comforts me, I find peace.
When He renews my hope, I can face tomorrows.
Where His hands are involved, I know He is in control.
What can I do without You?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Procrastination ....

Procrastination is my worst enemy. Followed by myself or was it when I have to drag myself to bathe? Ok, I cannot decide between the latter two. So yeah, procrastination is THE enemy right now. There is a CG teaching that I have to research on and I am oh-so-lazy right now.



Procrastination is asking me to spend time observing the difference between all of my toes than to get cracking on what I need to do. Googled the definition of procrastination (see, I much rather google the definition to find out than to google on my research..) and here goes:-



"Procrastination is putting off or delaying or defering an action to a later time"...



Hmmm, maybe I am not procrastinating at all since I am feeling like I want to defer it for good (not even to a later time like the definition above). Anyway, before I log off from my blog and get down to doing some real work here, thought I'll paste what I thought might be a strange (at least to me) article that happened in the news recently.





In summary, a killer whale killed it's trainer recently at SeaWorld and alot of visitors to the park were stunned as it happened during a performance. And even SeaWorld employees are freaking out and came out of the "wood work" (quote as per article).

A couple of liners in the article evoked my ????. For starters, why are people shock when a KILLER whale (yes, I repeat a KILLER whale) starts killing? That's why the name Killer whale, duh. Just because it looks like a bloated monochrome dolphin doesn't mean it is not aggressive.

Another line in the article goes something like:-

"We're in the process of investigating all of the people and the animals,"

Sorry, I am no animal expert. My animal knowledge is limited to those that I know from the TV channel 'Animal Planet'. One thousand and one reasons come to my mind when they say they are in the process of investigating all of the people AND THE ANIMALS? I can't help but picture a reporter interviewing an Emperor Penguin in SeaWorld "How long have you known the Killer Whale? Do you know why it reacted that way?".

Next, the killer whale's name is called "Tilikum", whose name means "friend" in the Chinook Jargon language spoken among native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. Hmmm.. (I repeat) KILLER whale not much of a "Tilikum" now eh? The name is simply ironic.

And last but not least, the article ended with these last two paragraphs:-

[Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a statement saying the death was a "tragedy that didn't have to happen."
"For years, PETA has been calling on SeaWorld to stop confining oceangoing mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub, and we have also been asking the park to stop forcing the animals to perform silly tricks over and over again," it said.]

It's kindof a 'no wonder' Tilikum went ballistic. Imagine years of being in the same tub and performing tricks while people (who may look very yummy actually) looked on in glee. For the full article click on the link:> http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100225/tts-entertainment-us-animal-accident-972e412.html

Ohohoh... the last ? I had on the article above is that the weblink address is "blahblahblahblah/blahblah/tts-ENTERTAINMENT-us-animal-accident-blahblahblah.

Alright, time for real work now.

Monday, February 15, 2010

And so... shame on you!!

What a 'memorable' 2nd day of the Lunar New Year I had!
So hubby & I checked ourselves into Sentosa Resort & Spa Hotel for a mini getaway this Lunar New Year + Valentine's day holidays to relax and all.

And since Sentosa was very near to Vivo City, naturally we booked a movie show in the evening of the 2nd day of LNY, went to Vivo for dinner before the movie.

After dinner as we still had some time, we went wandering around and decided to get some toiletries at Guardian Pharmacy. When we were at Guardian, we went our own ways to find the toiletries we need. I was walking up and down the aisles just browsing and reading new products, product descriptions, etc (That's how girls can spend 1 hour in a toiletries shop!!!).

And so I walked myself to the aisle for what seems like "taboo adult things" (note:- condoms, lubricants, pregnancy test kits, ovulation thermometers), my curiosity got the better of me and I picked up a pack of pregnancy test kit and stood there reading the instructions on how those things work. [And yes, I am not pregnant... just plain curious, that's all].

Ok, the condoms and lubricants were on the top shelves and the pregnancy test kits were waaaayyyy at the bottom of the shelf, I ended up - kindda squatting down while reading the instructions. (I think I was being convenient - like since it's at the bottom, I might as well pick it up, read it while I was still squatting & put it back without having to stand up and squat down twice just to put it back after reading).

Along came Mr. & Miss juvenile (whom by the way were much older than me or my hubby in age) who walked down the same aisle, stood behind me and made lewd remarks. The guy said to his partner (they were obviously not married since I noted that they both had no wedding bands on their wedding fingers later) in a cocky manner "Oh, should have thought of protection (very blatantly hinting to me who was squatting there reading the pregnancy test kit) now that someone's knocked up" (with his equally annoying partner giggling away at his comment). And he continued saying something along the lines of "might as well get some of those on top [the condoms] and the lubricants now that it's too late for any prevention".

At first I totally ignored these pair of idiots who were obviously made perfect for each other. I didn't bother to lift my head up to take a look at them at all and continued reading the kit. When I was done. I stood up and looked around for my husband in the pharmacy to see if he is done. THEN in front of me (imagine the image being zoomed up 3x to the idiotic pair), I saw the dynamic duo face to face. The guy didn't see me as he was glancing at the products.. the lady who was clinging to him like her life depended on his shoulders saw me and said this in what she thought was a whisper but too bad for her it was audible enough that I heard EVERY SINGLE WORD "Oh look, that's the girl who was checking out the pregnancy test kit and probably got knocked up".

*GRRRRROOOOWWLLLLLss* At that, she awoke the sleeping tigress. I saw my husband, told him about it. We went to the cashier to pay for some items. Bananas in pyjamas were in front of us and she continued to give me that sneer as she didn't really see me holding my husband's hand. Until when Tweedle-Dee saw hubby & I and before she turned her back on me to rejoin her Tweedle-Dum, I said in a calm matter of factly tone "Arhhh, OBVIOUSLY some people are inconsiderate in their remarks as they speak so loudly".

Hubby & I saw her cowering under her partner's arms when she heard what I said. She whispered something to him and he turned around, pretended to look past his shoulder at my hubby & I and gave the "oh dear" look as he stretched his lower lip downwards. SCORE!!!

I found such people really rude. I totally do not know them at all and even if I do, I don't think it was the nicest thing anyone could say to someone, moreover strangers! It was a classic case of judging someone before knowing the full picture (not that one can judge even when they know the full picture) or commenting before thinking it through. Just because they saw me alone in the aisle reading a pregnancy test kit means I am knocked up? (I was squatting, mind you.. so they can't see if I had a tummy or NOT if some of you do think I looked pregnant).

It was plain rude. Ashamed after seeing me with my husband with wedding bands on our fingers and cowering after hearing my retort? Yes, I think they should be! Dynamic duo not so dynamic now eh?

This may be far fetched but imagine if someone is knocked up or raped (or any other scenarios for that matter) and is checking out the pregnancy test kit out of fear that they are really pregnant? Don't people know that words do hurt others too? Moreover, they had no association with me - a total stranger! Further more, I can't believe that both bananas in pyjammas are much older than me and yet they can behave worst off than a 3 year old. I think a 3year old might have better manners and more sensability!!

And so... shame on them! *And my kitty claws glistened*

Monday, January 18, 2010

Some Resolutions ...

Ah.... into 2010 and to date I have not made any resolutions as yet. Tsktsk! After thinking about it and reading that almost every blog entry had blog owners making resolutions, I decided I shall be like everyone else and make some resolutions too.

So here they are:-

(1) To finish all existing toiletries and make up before I buy something new. (Of which I have a number of toiletries bought from Taiwan and Korea and erm... ok, this may sound gross from my Japan honeymoon too.)

(2) To be intentional to walk up the escalator towards people standing on the wrong side and stand close to them so that they can move to the correct side or walk right up the escalator. I figure it will give me and them some workout in a way and also make them stand on the correct side.

(3) To cut down on caffeine. It includes - coffee (urgh!!!! what have I done?!), tea (yes, green tea is still tea!!! Which also includes bubble tea!!! URGHHHH!! What have I done again?!!) and *drumrolls* this obviously includes soft drinks especially coke zero andandand...CHOCOLATES! Yes, unfortunately chocolates though my favourites (note:- that's milk chocolates for you.) do contain some amount of caffeine. Why do you think it makes you feel good and fuzzy other than the endorphins it releases? Hehe.

(4) To moisturise my thirsty skin regularly. Trust me, getting me to the bathroom is already hard enough and lazy me here did not grow up with the habit of lathering my body with moisturriser. I think this would probably be the second hardest thing I'll have to carry out. First of cos is... as most of you know ... getting me to the bathroom for my shower. Don't get me wrong, I love to bathe. I love the smell of clean skin and floral smelling hair. BUT the notion of being ever ready to bathe is really not natural to me like it is to most. Just imagine with me a farmer pulling an animal to the slaughter house. Yup, that's the same feeling I get when I have to go to the bathroom to bathe.

That's all for now. So far for the last 18 days of the New Year, I have been making progress with all four pointers above. *Pats own back* but we'll see how it goes by June 2010.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

2009 Flashback

2009 flashback! 2009 was a year full of many firsts! It was also a year where God truely opened my eyes and be convicted in my heart that nothing is impossible for God!!!


As we all know pictures speak a thousand words, I have compiled my 2009 here with some pictures through the year.


New Year's day of 2009, we celebrated this new chapter in 2009 at YR's place. Had a potluck and everyone guitar heroed with much laughter and lotsa food. This was my first attempt at cooking Pineapple Fried Rice for the potluck. To my delight, the bowl of pineapple fried rice was cleaned out! *Pats my own back... lol*




And then my world class (hehe) hubby surprised me with a trip to Lombok, Indonesia. It was our first time there. It was meant to be a one year anniversary surprise but I discovered about it early and so it became our retreat instead! Hehehe. When we arrived there, we were informed that we have been upgraded to a 3bedroom villa to ourselves. It was a sweet surprise though there were only two of us. Lol.



This was my first Chinese New Year as Mr. & Mrs. Chris Goh. After hosting CNY at our place, my hubby & I decide that if possible, we will try to run away during CNY to avoid history repeating itself. Heheh. Playing hosts during CNY is seriously NO JOKE especially when there are many, MANY (yes, MANY!!) screaming children, crying children, annoying adults, hungry ppl that seem to be extraordinarily hungry during this time of the year. ALSO, annoying neighbours who brought their WHOLE GANG of their EXTENDED family members to our place without informing us. AND what's worst was they came solely for the food, took alot of the food and left without much socialising. Yes, that's why we're hoping to run away from it all this CNY in 2010 if possible. Otherwise, CNY with our own nucleous family is actually very nice.



2009 I turned 3* hehehe. And my (have I mentioned world class? hehe) hubby together with Reina organised a secret surprise birthday party at Macdonald's. I think it was my first birthday party at Macdonald's with my adult friends. It was touching that they came at such short notice and I had a blast of a time playing kiddy games! Felt like a rockstar! Thanks again, u guys!

Of cos, my lovely husband also planned for a personal birthday surprise with just the two of us. He brought me to Dozo - a Japanese French fusion restaurant and the waiter made him posed with a kiss for me. Usually he (or rather us!) are quite camera shy with such poses. Heheh.
Nonetheless, the food, the ambience, the service at Dozo was excellet and I kindda like this pic! Of cos the company I had was the best!



Then came my family members' water baptism! It's always exciting to see people having a new spiritual birth, moreover my own family members! Praise God!




And to celebrate our one year anniversary, my hubby & I booked ourselves tickets to Taiwan. This is a picture I took of Ximending. It was my first time in Taiwan.


My first pair of Crocs - in Mary Jane style! My husband bought his pair of crocs and bought me a pair too as a first year anniversary present. My husband is an ardent fan of Crocs cos they are comfy! He has I think 5-6 pairs now. In hindsight, I have 3 pairs of Crocs now and they are all bought by my husband. Sweet!!! =)



Us happy in Danshui, Taipei. Happy One Year Anniversary to us!


One of the times that my husband dated me out for a special dinner. He researched and brought me to this place - Okinawa Restaurant. It was our first time there. The food was spectacular and unlike the typical Japanese food such as tonkatsu, japanese curry rice, sushi or ramen.

The food was unique, very fresh & tasty. It had a retro feel and we both love the food there.


Lol. The pic below depicts us playing with the props at Chinatown Heritage Centre. This was also my first time there though my husband has been there a couple of times. Together with my uncle at the background of the picture, we posed as though we worked in this retro tailor shop back in those good old days in Chinatown.



And mid year of 2009, alot of us usually get very excited for church camp. This year, we went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and had a wonderful time playing "red devils" in our 5-10mins showcase of Red Devils Vs. Jesus United. The showcase theme was saving the world. We came up with a soccer match of good vs. evil with the globe as the soccer ball. And of cos at the end of the showcase soccer match, Jesus saves the world by preventing the devils from winning at free kick time. Lol.






This is soccer Jesus. Cool right? And he sure does a pretty good job of saving the goals! Lol.



Having fun with a number of props during church camp.


Then after dinner one night with my family and cos we were soO full from the delicious dinner. We decided to go to Macritchie at that crazy hour of 9+10pm to walk our bloated tummies away.


Thankfully my torch/flash light crazy hubby has like 6 or slightly more torch lights? So we all carried our own torch (lol...) and walked in almost pitch darkness through Macritchie. There was absolutely no one at the park already but it was cool evening and oh-so-fun to have our first night walk as a family! See how dark it is even with flash? Nothing can be seen at the background though its all trees and plants and more trees.



The Singapore national day long weekend, Chris and I with a bunch of our friends drove up to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our first road trip with Mabel, Thomas and Alan. Pretty easy going and we had lotsa good food and shopped a fair bit. =) This is us with sweaty brows and foreheads and me looking uber tired from a long walk to get to the monorail to take us back to our hotel.




We had a gathering at Stanley's house for the first time. MustardSeeds had lotsa fun playing charades. It was a guys vs. girls event and the guys won - can you believe it?! A lovely group pic together... shortly after this pic it was an almost all out war of guys against gals in charades.

After church service one Sunday, we had our lunch at Kushingin Jap restaurant. It was my first time eating in this restaurant which is just few floors below my church auditorium. Having been in church for 5 years, this was my first time visiting this restaurant that serves pretty authentic grilled Jap skewer food. The prices are also very reasonable. This bento set cost me only SGD 15 if I recalled correctly. And look at how filled to the brim the bento set was? Worth the visit!


I took this pic of the coreteam during one of the meetings. It was our first time there as core team. I think it will also be our last. Hahahahaha. That's cos the cafe has since closed down. Not because the food or service or prices were bad. Quite like this pic and of cos this cafe since it was quite tucked away in a shopping mall with not many ppl in it. Which explains why they closed down I suppose.


We attended our first Intentional Disciple Making Conference (IDMC) together as a cg.



Alot of us learned alot from this conference and it was renewing our mind with new insights to the word of God.


The girls posing for the camera before the conference begins again. Lol.


And Korea happened. My husband asked me if I wanted to go to Korea in September and I thought he was joking. I told him the trip may cost us a bomb since we didn't plan or set aside finances for this trip. Lo and behold, God provided. Somehow additional income came in and our air tickets and lodging (which is the main cost of the trip) were all covered without touching our savings at all! Praise God for His providence and blessing!


This is us in A Twosome Cafe in Pusan. My first time in Korea with my husband with an almost all paid for trip sponsored by my Father in heaven. =)


Our first all vegetarian meal in Sanchon, Insadong in Seoul.


They had 20+ dishes. FYI - we didn't order that many okayyyyyy! Hehehe. There is only one menu and the price is fixed. This is what the menu consist of. Although the thought of vegetarian may put a number of ppl off, but these dishes were carefully prepared using the freshest of mountain vegetables and the taste is just superb! Never in my lifetime had I enjoyed an entire vegetarian meal tremendously. AND it was really filling too!




The first time we took a Viking together and enjoyed a Theme Park together. *Bliss*

Then Penang happened too in October. This time it was planned. Planned by me! It was a surprise birthday treat to my husband. He has not return to Penang for a good 20+ years now. He used to visit Penang regularly since his mum is from Penang. Again, this was my first time in Penang.




Us at Cheong Fatt Tse Blue Mansion in Penang.


Our first family board game together! We played Risk that night at my Aunt's place. Risk brings out the challenger in all of us. It was a night where everyone was instigating everyone to go to war to conquer new land. Hehehe.

In November we also had our department's first Amazing Race teambuilding event. Again here I must give kudos to God for blessing us with cool weather and holding the rain clouds back on the actual day of the event. Also, everyone commented that this was one of the best teambuilding events they had in a long while. Praise God! When He is in charge, I'm assured it will be a smooth event. This is a pic of the committee of the event.

The entire department after completing the entire Amazing Race.


In November, Chris and I also cooked for the first time for my best friend Joan and Chris. Yes, both Chris-es! =) Since it was an early birthday celebration for Chris and Chris likes cheesy stuff, we planned our dishes around this theme - Cheese!
So we had a summer salad (top left pic) - Watermelon with feta cheese. Then we made portobello mushrooms with (real) bacon bits and baked it with mozarella cheese (next to summer salad pic). Bottom left pic I cooked Mussels with Sweet Leeks (where's the cheese u say? It was cooked with cream sauce - cream is a cousin of cheese!! hehehehe). And Chris' special request to us was Nachos with melted cheese and shaved honey baked ham. For dessert, we bought a tiramisu cake from Cold Storage (which is so yummy!!! It is those Christmas collection cakes that are usually featured only during this festive season) and topped it off with Rum and Raisin and Cookies and Cream ice cream. =)

My best friend and Chris at our place for the first time.


Mustardseeds went to Batam together for the first time as a caregroup. We were so thankful that out of the blue, we spotted a tour guide that had brought one of the girls around Batam before. He brought us to have our Thai/Traditional massage at a dirt cheap price! SGD 20 for one and a half hours of massage (90 mins worth)!! Our initial arrangement with the hotel for massage was actually $50 and above for a 1 hour massage!! Ripofffff!!!
This is a pic of hungry us waiting for our complementary dinner. Zann arranged alot of the logistics and travel for our trip to happen and we are so thankful to have her too!!



The girls gather in in the room for a pic at batam! Lurve this pic!


Hubby & I played scrabble for the first time (with Japanese cookies from my bro and sis-in-law for our christmas present) and he beat me with 20 points more! I shall not concede defeat... HUUMMMPPPHHH. Hehehehe.


Christmas day itself we had a party for the first time in eons with the rest of my family at my Aunt's place. Posing for my hubby in reindeer hat. Lol.


Hubby & I on Christmas night itself at our family gathering.


That's not all to my 2009! Christmas eve service itself we were amazed that there were so many visitors - 13 in total from our cg. We weren't expecting many but all visitors came in full force. Out of these 13, 5 of them came to accept Christ and we were so happy and thankful to God for them.
Looking back at 2009, He has been consistently faithful and awesome. There were ups and downs in 2009 of cos but overall the year was great simply because He was in it and He was so involved in my life. It's touching to me because sometimes the human me still cannot believe that someone up there loves me so much and is crazy about me. And for 2010, I tell myself that I want to glorify Him even more and not let emotions especially during down times get the better of me knowing that my Creator is in control of everything! So for 2010, I wish all of you good health, lotsa love and joy and more importantly a positive perception for the New Year. =)