My kickass journey

October update

2010-11-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

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!!!

Year of the Porridge

2010-09-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

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.

The God of How Much More...

2010-09-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

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!

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

2010-08-20T07:01:00.001-07:00

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 Zara 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.

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

2010-08-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

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.

Mesmerized...

2010-07-24T00:16:00.000-07:00

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!

It's Funny How...

2010-05-08T20:54:00.001-07:00

- 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.

Mysterious...

2010-04-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

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.

U-R-Y I Live...

2010-03-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

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?

Procrastination ....

2010-02-25T05:08:00.001-08:00

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.

And so... shame on you!!

2010-02-15T22:57:00.000-08:00

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*

Some Resolutions ...

2010-01-18T05:05:00.000-08:00

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.

2009 Flashback

2010-01-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

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. =)

Funny Things I've Been Hearing

2009-12-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

Not sure if its cos of the pretty high amount of work I'm getting in the office that causes me to hear funny things or simply just cos people tend to say the funniest things.

Here's some stuff I've been picking up from conversations with people, from the radio, from hearing how strangers talk amongst each other (er... they were talking really loudly.. not that I was keen in their conversation).

(i) The runners are running. (Hmmm.. I wonder why they're called runners then.)
(ii) This is where the performers perform. ?!?!?!?!?!?!?
(iii) The fire fighters are fighting the fire.
(iv) The hills are very hilly (I heard this from a tour guide on a family tour to the States and it stuck in my head until now! For real!).

Any of u encountering any of such stuff being said above? Hehehe. It kindda tickles me when I hear ppl say it. Hehe.

My Seoul's Delight

2009-10-15T02:32:00.000-07:00

So I didn't blog for the entire September and now it's HelllOooo October.

What busy months September and October were.. though October isn't over yet. My schedules are like super packed already.

Went to Seoul in September and enjoyed the time away from my own country to be with my husband alone. Holding hands while exploring new places together is bliss for me. Knowing and discovering a new culture always seem to enlighten the mind...at least for me that is.

One of the pics I like best in Seoul with my husband is this pic I snapped of us at Krispy Kremes, MyeongDong:-

(yeahyeah.. my hand and my reflecting image can be seen... but that's ok. I still like it. Hehehe).

My husband had his first Krispy Kreme in Pusan, Korea and got hooked. He now blames me for introducing good food to him.

When I came back from Seoul, I kinda felt that I was hit by reality. There were so many things that wanted a piece of me or that I had to attend to that I felt that I never really left the country at all or had a vacation in the first place. Amidst the hecticness, one piece of good news and blessing from God was that I got promoted at work. It wasn't simply just the promotion that made me elated.

It was simply knowing that I have a faithful friend in Him - constantly encouraging me, assuring me that His blessing that will come. I know this was all possible because His words came to pass. Also, I know many ppl like my caregroup, my friends and my husband prayed for me and encouraged me too. It's the ppl that walked with me in this journey leading to my promotion that touched my heart the most.

As for the promotion? Well, it's awesome yeah but what I meant to say is.. someone once said for good work done is more work. Lol! There's plenty of truth in that saying.

Anyway, despite the many issues which I have to address at work, at ministry, etc.. I found strength in Him. He made me realise one day being back from Seoul that this is life. This is the reality of life. Ppl do have issues, ppl do have problems, ppl do have needs. But I am focusing on the wrong things. He reminded me that I should place my focus on seeing the joy of ppl experiencing breakthroughs in their situations, issues and not on the problems or the no. of problems or issues I have to address. Almost immediately I felt that He has shed light and shifted my perspective towards the positive end of things.

Though September and October continue to be busy for me... I also realise that living a totally hunky dory life day in day out can be boring and mundane. Hehehe.

So what am I doing here since I am supposedly busy? Well I've been given 2 days medical leave by my doctor today. I'm diagnosed with stomach flu, colic stomach and mild fever. And the doctor said (in his exact words): "You are now contagious. Pls do not share food, drinks, use common plates and bowls and cutlery or cups with your family members and friends". Somehow, his comment made me feel as though I am radioactive and covered with glowing green slime.

Though its stomach flu and the toilet bowl has been my good friend since last night. The ironic thing is there is NOT MUCH CHANGE in my weight. Drats. I shall leave you with a picture I took in Penang. A trip treat to my husband to celebrate his birthday in advance.

(Penang Char Kway Teow. Malaysian Ringgit 6 bucks with 6 big prawns. Something u'll never get in Singapore.. the 6 big prawns at that kind of price I mean.)

Those That Should Be Banned...

2009-08-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

Went to the cinema recently and I found myself totally annoyed with some folks. Here are some peeps that I think should not visit the cinema at all and stay home to rent a DVD instead. Hehehe. I know it sounds mean but watching the show with such people can really cause World War III.

Those that should be banned (in no particular order):-

1. Those who crunch their nachos and chips really loudly during the impregnated pause of the show.
2. Those that open their bags of chips and snacks and plastic bags during the impregnated pause of the show.
3. Those that start telling their friends/partners what will happen next during the impregnated pause of the show.
4. Those that stand up in the middle of where they sit to go to the toilet during the impregnated pause of the show.
5. Those that read the subtitles out loudly throughout the entire show.
6. Those that sit near you and keep using their mobile phone to text someone, make a call, answer a call throughout the entire show and the light from their mobile phone is sooO bright in the pitch dark cinema.
7. Those that answer their mobile phone and talk like there's no one else around.
8. Coconut trees - Those who are so tall and yet they sit upright through the show & they block midgets like me from getting the full view of the screen. Hehe. Not their fault.. but I guess too bad? Heee.
9. Those who verbalise everything they see on screen loudly.
>For instance:-
[Screen shows Thai scary preview movie with Thai ghosts speaking in Thai language and with English subtitles]
Loudspeaker to fellow friend:- "A Thai Scary Movie"
[Screen shows preview of animation movie that will be shown in 3D coming soon in Dec'09]
Loudspeaker to fellow friend:- "It's a 3D animation coming in Dec'09] Urgh.... we can read for ourselves, hello!!!
10. Those that keep kicking your seat through the entire show.

Or maybe I should rent DVDs and stay home instead. Hahahahhaa. Hopefully all of you have better encounters at the cinemas than me recently.

Happy National Day, Singapore!

2009-08-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

We're 44! And where was I? I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ... lol. I am patriotic mind you! I pay my income taxes okay!! And I support the government's campaign for a more gracious society in Singapore! I do.. I really do.. I hold myself back until I turn green or a shade of blue and not scold or curse the typical Singaporean who cuts in on me when I am queueing up properly while waiting for trains, buses, anything! See.. that's me supporting the government in it's campaign by being gracious. Lol. =)

Hehehe... I enjoyed myself in K.L recently. Got to know Thomas, Alan much better and caught up with Cara and Mabes. Most of all, I always enjoy time away from Singapore with my hubby. Half of this trip however, the girls and the guys split from each other so that we can 'divide and conquer' the places we want to go. Men = food, drinks, foot massage and more foot massage! Women = Shopping, shopping, more shopping and even more shopping. Hehehe.

Here are some of my fave. pics from the short road trip:-

This is the fountain attraction at Pavilion Mall (K.L's newest mall to date) . It changes colours. very pretty!

This is us at the Pavilion Mall.

Us at the Petronas Twin Towers, K.L. Lurve this pic that Thomas took for us.

Another view of the Petronas Twin Towers.

Okok, enough of Malaysia whilest my blog title is Happy National Day, Singapore! Lol. Well, when I was in Kuala Lumpur, though I enjoyed myself... I must say that I didn't felt it was relatively safe there. I had to make sure that my handbag was not next to the side of the road whenever I walked on the streets. We saw dried blood (not just in drips.. but drips and then led to a small dried pool of it) on our way when we switch trains. Not a pleasant sight indeed.

It's things like these that makes me appreciate the cleanliness, the greenery of Singapore and definitely how safe Singapore can be especially for women. From it's history of being a fishing village to a renowned dot on the map to being able to host F1 racing (first night racing in the world too!) ... I thought it's a pretty big feat that we have achieved thus far in a short span of 44 years. So.. I wanna say.. Majulah Singapura (progress Singapore! in malay). =)

July

2009-07-26T01:30:00.000-07:00

July - So many weddings. Our first MustardSeeds' wedding - Mr & Mrs. Loke! And then my colleague's. Ok 2 isn't exactly alot but it felt like it was when it was one week after another. Hehehe. But overall I thoroughly enjoyed both weddings especially Priscilla Gan and Andrew's.

In the month of July, I want to specially thank God for the mini breakthough at work.
Also, I had the first hand priviledge of seeing and experiencing God moved. After the meeting with my UL, the number commited was 5 for outreach for the next half of this year. After I told her 5, I was telling myself I must be crazy!!!! Hehehehe. Somehow or rather, I have no idea why I felt convicted to give the no. 5 then. But I strongly believe that the more impossible for me ... the more possible it is for God and the more it will be a good testimony to God.

I shared that number with my cg and I was very touched that they caught the urgency and started reaching out to their folks. We saw Zann's cousin, also known as Priscilla (there are 3 now in the cg! hahahaha) came to service for the first time last week after hearing so much from Zann.

Prior to the ESS S1aN service which was today, we received that a number of visitors were coming. Though eventually only 1 came, I was still happy because I saw and experienced how God moved and mobilise the cg and cleared the way for even that 1 visitor to come today! Also, Stacy joined us for Cg and service this week. She's a cool chick and it was like a God answered prayer that she joined our cg from AWAM. Now Stanley is no longer the youngest in the group, we have a new "mustardseed". Hehehe. Very thankful for how God moved this week.

Also after service today, we all had a great time catching up over at Macdonald's. Even though after that it was only Stan, JY and Shuping left, we continued to chat and I had a good time talking to them and laughing and all. I would like to think its the effect of Macdonald's reinstating their garlic chilli that might cause this effect. BUT I seriously doubt so and think most likely is the good company that matters! =)

As July comes to a close, I look forward to August, September, and October! I really want to see more of God moving the months to come. It boosted my faith to believe and claim the impossible when our God of all possibilities is moving on our behalf! =) God is moving so swiftly, I want to ride on His wings and enoy that wind!

Happy Anniversary MustardSeeds!!!!!!

2009-07-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary MustardSeeds!!!!!!

Okay, this post is a tad late considering that our cg was formed in June last year and its 1st of July 2009 today.

Looking back from where we started and where we are now... I am really left in awe of how God bond and gel all of us who are so diversified together as one family. I looked at each and everyone of mustardseeds and I know I've had the pleasure and the first hand privilege of seeing each and everyone grow in their walk with God. For that, I am grateful to God for putting us not by chance or fate or luck but by His wonderful plan together as one family. I hope God will take us deeper and closer to one another as we draw nearer to Him in the next half of 2009.

On a totally separate note now... recently I came across some baby article (before u think otherwise.. pls note that this was really by CHANCE that I came across this short article on babies.. =.=) it was said that if both parents participate actively together in looking after the child, the success rate of the child being confident, happy, filial (something along these lines la.. cannot rem) would be very high.

I told that info to my husband and guess what was his reply? "Oh really? Okay, I will look after our child actively with you too. Next time, I hold the child, you hose it down to bathe it ya?".
=.= After that, I was struggling between being serious and yet I can't help laughing at what he said.

Ever wonder why we aren't having children yet? That's why. Hehehehe.

When Darth Vader Meets Hello Kitty...

2009-06-07T01:49:00.001-07:00

My husband and most folks know I have a thing for Hello Kitty... as for him, he has a thing for Star Wars (Most men do anyway.. hehe). So one morning he sent me this...

*source: unknown.. got this from my husband who got it from the web*

The Little Lessons In Life....

2009-05-04T07:13:00.001-07:00

March and April went by in a whizz. No wonder I keep hearing older folks say each year passes faster than the previous. I never felt that way until now that I have to agree that saying is true. March was a marvellous month... Birthday surprise after surprise by my husband, my cg mates, my colleagues, my best bud Joan... and most of all by God himself. Reminding me time and again that I am loved by Him. And then there was Taipei - where we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. Taipei in short was splendid. Time away and alone with my husband always refreshes both of us. Always when I am travelling.. I think about God even more. Strange. Lol.

So came April. And to be honest.. I can't recall anything much for April except the fact that I was involved in the Image Team for the Easter service doing make-up for alot of people. I think that marks the most pairs of eyes that I applied eye liner and mascara on in my lifetime. Lol. The chance to testify God's goodness on stage in church - nerve wrecking! Ohohoh.. and then I was surrounded by my managers one fine day at work (yes, I am not kidding. They came to my desk in a group.. giving me a shock) and the next thing I know, I was coordinating Big Boss' birthday party. I joked to my manager in charge that if only I could have this on my performance appraisal. Lol. =)

Now that we've come to the month of May. Almost half of 2009 is gone. As I was on leave today.. I pondered on the recent things on my mind. And I have decided to blog this entry down again as a reminder to myself of the little lessons in life that I have learned thus far and also to blog down the many swirling thoughts on my mind recently:-

The most precious commodity

Time. Speaks for itself yet often taken for granted by most. It's amusing and amazing when I read somewhere previously that the average man (and women of cos.. ) spends 5 years waiting. Yes... 5 years. That includes waiting for taxis, waiting for ur friends, waiting for your internet pages to load, waiting to be served at an eatery, waiting in a queue for things, etc. *Gulps* That is quite a lot of waiting time.

The Past, the Present and the Future

Too many times.. we looked at the past and remininsce the past for too long. We worry about our future and we forgot how to appreciate the present. Too many times (even I myself fall into that) we keep asking the "If Only... " or "What If"... but truly forgot to enjoy the now.

Pricked by a single rose

One time my colleague sent me a powerpoint and what caught my eye on one of the slides which I remember up until today is this lesson:- "It's crazy. We get pricked by one rose and we stopped loving roses altogether." I thought that was a very meaningful message. How often in an attempt to protect ourselves from being hurt again we end up losing our compassion/passion.

Of expectations and standards

I learned throughout the last few years (especially in the recent years) of how people easily have a set of expectations and standard of how one should live, behave, react, etc. Often when they imposed such expectations and standards on others... I find it very strange that too often the same people who imposed such 'benchmarks' cannot reach these expectations/standards that they set themselves. OR they really hate it when ppl imposed the same on them OR they cannot wait to dish out these expectations and standards YET when it comes to themselves it seems the situations have changed in such that it is okay for them to react differently from the same standards and expectations they imposed cos theirs is an exception case. Through the years, I find that I come across more of such ppl and wonder what gives?! Hehe.

Happiness is a state of emotion ... whereas joy is a daily decision

At least the above statement/little lesson is applicable to me. Being joyful in the Lord, being grateful to the Lord for the things we have and the things that we've already been blessed with is a decision. When I say this.. I speak for myself. I learned recently that happiness is different from that of joy.. especially inner joy. It is a daily decision that I have to make - to be joyful in the Lord regardless how my day will end. I find that when I make that decision my day is already a much better one already despite how it will unfold. The fact that I am breathing and able... is already a joy that my God has blessed me with.

Turning deaf to negativity

You may find it strange but I was listening to Gwen Stefani's "Whatcha waiting for?" song and I was inspired by that one sentence sung in her song "Tick tock tick tock.. Look at ur watch now.. u're still a super hot female... ". I know its kinda lame.. BUT I am not saying I am a super hot female. What I am driving at is that sometimes I think it is good to turn a deaf ear to negativities (is there such a word? oh well if not.. I just made up a new word!! *pats my own back* heeeee) that are really bad for us. For instance, after some observations I realised that ppl have this mentality that "oh I am getting older, I better not do this for fear of my bones will crack ... I injure myself... I get hurt... and the list goes on". I'm not talking about serious strenous exercises that will injure our bodies. But I am talking about allowing fear and the "negativities" grip us such that we don't live a fuller life than we should be truly living! I look at Joshua in the bible and in his old age he still wants to fight! How amazing is his positive mind and attitude! I want to have that kind of attitude even as I age! Even George W. Bush senior did an amazing sky diving feat at the age of 80!!! http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-06-13-bush-jump_x.htm

So yes, these are just my little lessons in my life. Things that I have learned and things that are on my mind even mroe in the recent years. =) Okay then.. until next year! Wahhahaha just kiddin.

>>P/S: Special kudos to Shuping who always chases me to blog because without her.. I wouldn't be blogging this entry. So this is just for you. =)

This Is What Doing Life Means...

2009-02-27T22:13:00.000-08:00

I am blogging this down as a sweet memory and again to make an altar in my life to remind me of God's goodness.

Last Thursday we had our cg. During P&W, I thought Esmond led well and for me I felt God's presence strong amidst us. After that Shuping & Reina led discussion and thought they did well too considering it is their first time. It was a short but sweet lesson.

But as I read the notes again ... HS brought about a revelation to the notes on intercession, a lot of thoughts and examples came into my mind all of a sudden. He gave me the examples of Jesus at Garden of Gethsmane, He reminded me of Abraham interceding for Sodom, etc. It happened on the spot. After I shared about it, I went home and went .. "Did I just say this???"... God you're amazing.

Afterwich we prayed for each other and Shuping's sharing for me was spot on (Thanks, Shuping! I needed that!).

What was also amazing was that we came together as one on our knees to intercede for others in our cg. It's not about the kneeling down part that was amazing. It's the resonance that everyone had and shared - that everyone was willing and ready to intercede, to stand in the gap for another that was amazing. While praying, I heard the Lord say "This is what doing life means... this is what cg is all about and I am well pleased". I am touched...

God, You brought us this far from being a new cg last year.. bring us deeper to where You want us to be. Bring us closer to Your heartbeat and thank you for showing me time and again that this is what caregroup means.. what doing life together in your Kingdom means.

The Little Things That Mean So Much...

2009-02-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

Been meaning to blog about this way before I went to Lombok and cleanly forgot about it.

About a month back, I wasn't feeling exactly enthusiastic towards my life in general. Not sure why and also can't remember why too.

As I was dragging my sorry feet and body home after work one evening, I came back to my lil' lovenest and saw this:-

I noticed that my hubby have been packing the bed and even to the extent of folding our PJs neatly. A smile came on and when he came home that night, I asked him why he even folded our PJs and he said 'to make it feel like hotel so baby (yes, that's madame~ here for u) can enjoy when she comes home from work mah' and he grinned at me.

It's really true.. it's the little things that mean so much.. Thank you, Oonie-chan!! I am blessed to have you and I am spoilt by you!

The silver lining

2009-01-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

Recently my husband and I were in the car and we were on our way to somewhere. The skies loomed with dark clouds and the last bits of the sun that was peering out from the surrounding gloomy clouds could still be seen.

It was then, I exclaimed to my husband "Look! Silver lining in the dark clouds!". It was one of the most shiny silver linings I have seen. In fact, I don't recall myself really paying attention to the silver lining which was shining so brightly as the dark clouds continue to block out the sun.

The melancholic in me begin to ponder about life. As I think about my life in general, I discovered that I had the same attitude towards life in certain situations. What I meant to say is that it is also during dark times of my life that I dont pay attention to the silver lining that is still shining ever so brightly in my troubled and sad times.

Perhaps because like the clouds and sky that are so dark during heavy rains and that these dark clouds sprawl fast over the sun, problems and difficult situations too seem to spread out quickly, blocking the good and happy times in my life. Maybe my eyes have been so affixed on the problems and hard times that my eyes cannot see or pay attention to the silver lining in these times.

While I was thinking about all these, it started to rain. The smell of rain always stirs my senses. It was not too long that the rain clouds were blown away by the wind and the sun emerged again. I suppose like flowers, they need both the rain and the sun to be able to grow and I need these ("rainy") times to appreciate the good times, to treasure the happy moments and to be able to grow - well.. spiritually and mentally in these aspects at least.

More importantly, to recognise that my God is sovereign and to press forward and wait for the sun to come forth again in rainy days in my life. It can't rain forever.

Lately, whenever I see dark clouds looming again, the first thing I try to look out for is where is the silver lining. When I spot it, it still is as beautiful. I hope in 2009, I continue to look to God - my silver lining, come what may.

4 years ago...

2008-12-07T23:37:00.000-08:00

4 years ago - Someone broke my heart and my life was in shambles.
4 years ago - I was not in Your house and I knew You but felt You were distant.
4 years ago - I was estranged from my family and my life lost its colour when my heart was broken.

4 years ago - I wanted to further my studies for a degree but didn't know how.
4 years ago - I didn't think I could believe in love again.
4 years ago - I didn't think I could even trust men (even as friends) again.
4 years ago - I didn't think I would excel in my job.
4 years ago - Most of my friends then were his friends, my own set of friends had their own lives or were overseas.

4 years ago - Bitterness, Cynicism, Distrust, engulfed me.
4 years ago - I was self-driven but empty.

Since coming back to His house, He has changed all that.

During this Sunday's praise and worship, the Lord reminded me where I was 4 years ago and where I am now and how He brought about that transformation in my life. My heart was filled with gratefulness and thanks. I thanked Him for what He has done and is about to do.

Looking back at that past 4 years, I don't expect to be in His house.
But things started to change when the prodigal daughter came back to the Father's house...

I didn't expect to make many friends, brothers and sisters whom I now called my extended family. And a number of these people who were once total strangers and I didn't know of their existence... I have grown to love them.

I didn't expect my family members to become closer than before and to have the honor of worshipping Him in the same house.

I didn't think I could work full time and study my bachelor's part time, sponsored myself, stayed sane amongst the busy schedule and most of all, to graduate with a degree with honors.

I didn't think that while studying part-time, I was promoted twice consecutively in my job.

I didn't expect my poly best friend, Joan and I to rekindle and yet our love for each other remained strong and intact.

I didn't expect to be married to a fantastic husband who is also now one of my best friends.

I didn't expect Him to use whatever experience I had in my life, good and well the not so good to help and bring His hope to others who are in the same situations I was previously.

I didn't expect myself to be filled again with His hope and His love so much so that the colours in my life are more vibrant than before.

I didn't expect I could have the courage to believe in myself and believe in others too.

I didn't think I could pick myself up from a fall but He came down into the pit to carry me up and out of it... helped me stand on my feet and showed me how to walk again.

During worship today, He told me that where I am now is only a fraction of what He is going to do in my life. My mind was blown away when I heard that.

I want to pen this down as an 'altar' in my life of what He has done in my life since 4 years ago, to thank Him for His deliverance, His hand upon me and what He is going to do still in my years to come. Whatever it is...I know He has given me meaning and reason to my existence.

I pray some day next time, I will look back at this entry and be grateful to Him of what He has done in my life lest I become forgetful of His goodness and faithfulness and troubles seem too overbearing.

What about you? Where were you few years ago? =)

There is more

2008-12-01T04:24:00.000-08:00

Arh... how fast November has parted with us. November seem like a whirlwind of events happening. It seems like I just blogged about November earlier about my relatives receiving Christ into their lives and then winning the inter-department company DnD cup.

Looking back, November was eventful indeed. Chris' good friend in good ol' Brisbane days, Puji was in town and I finally met him after hearing so much from Chris. It was amazing how a just acquainted friend like Puji could make people feel so comfortable to talk to him and it felt as though I have known him as long as Chris has! =) Talking, sharing and listening to Puji made me realise that we are definitely created for a bigger purpose than my own inhibitions, desires, wants, needs, worries, troubles, etc.. etc.. etc.

Adding on to this realisation from talking to Puji, recently I have been listening to Edmund Chan's audio sermons and as I was listening to one of his sermons on running with horses, the delivery in gist was that we are to run with horses with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and with God on our side! Yet when we run with men (small, daily routine challenges), already we are complaining about everything about how weary we are, how we can never outrun them...no time... blah blah blah. How can we run with horses when we can't even handle running with men?

While listening to the sermon, I was thinking to myself... Here I am in comfy Singapore... worrying what should I wear to work tomorrow when there are others who only have one single set of clothings to wear until goodness knows when.

Here I am whining to God about my problems and complaining why He is so slow to act and why God sometimes can't be reached by say sms or something more convenient? And here I am complaining to God why He can't talk louder when the answer is pretty clear. The problem lies with myself.. busy with schedules, busy with activities, busy with appointments, busy blogging, busy even to some extent baking.. always tiring myself out BUT seldom a proper hour or two for God everyday. How can I be still before my God and know deep down He is God and to let Him speak when I am tired out from everything that I "created" (appointments, activities, rarara.. the whole works of a typical Singapore city life) with my own hands?

The last few days.. God brought me back to realising once more that I am made by Him for something more.. for something bigger than my own wants, needs, desires, worries, complaints, etc. And more importantly, to feast on His word, to feed myself with spiritual food and to sit in His lap and have intimate time with Him and know Him more than I ever known.

One morning I woke up with a thought... 2000 years ago, He was calling His people back to Him. 2000 years later, He is STILL calling His people back to Him. How faithful is my heavenly Father! This morning I woke up... and I heard one praise song lyric that goes something along the lines of "Your beloved for me.. still You made a way... ". That line struck me... I think no one in their sanity would send their own son to die for unappreciative people or to put it simply, specks of dusts who are too concern with themselves! But my God did that to free me and to give this speck of dust (me) a purpose!

To me... it simply doesn't make any sense. Yet I am left awe struck that He not only loves me a lot, He won't give up on a speck of dust, He takes time out to listen to this speck of dust whine, He assures this speck of dust. He faithfully waits for a speck of dust to spend time with Him and talk to Him. It's bizarre yet it's unbeliveably true!!

There is more of Him that I have not seek.. there is more of Him that I don't know. I don't want December and 2008 to pass me by without having more of Him. There is definitely more that He wishes to tell me, to reveal, to listen to.. and there is surely more of His character that I desire to know. There is more of His heartbeat that I long to hear and be familiar with....

November 2008 - Month of celebrations

2008-11-10T06:58:00.000-08:00

1st November 2008 - Our department won the annual Dinner and Dance inter-department's performance competition. Praise God!!! While the results were being announced.. I was praying for God to move and claiming victory in Jesus name! So thankful to God! Also, I want to take this opportunity to thank my husband for contributing wonderful ideas to help us in our DnD performance script and also for fetching me to and fro on the actual day of DnD and more! Thanks, Oonie! Wuff Juuuu!!

Sweet victory

9th November 2008 - My Aunt Sharon and her husband, John came to receive Christ! Hallelujah!!!

November has not end as yet.. but I know that I am already so in awe of my sovereign God. I want to align my priorities and make God my priority!!!!

Short Stories...

2008-10-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

Short Story 1:- He is moving...

He is moving, this I know.
It's evident from the recent blessings He bestow.

I've seen it, I've felt it.
And I can't deny it.

He is amazing.

And I can't help but to praise Him.

Short Story 2:-

Celebrated Oonie's birthday on 13th October.

Brought him to have his favourite rack of lamb.

The birthday boy is very pleased with the present that all his friends, family and me of cos (hehe) pen to him. I compiled it into a book and presented to him cos his language of love is words of affirmation. =) Read his blog.. hehe

Thanks to everyone who prayed, encouraged, affirmed, wished Oonie on his birthday for this book, he loves it... more than the rack of lamb.. trust me. =)

And also special mention to Chris Koh and Joan for being so sweet to order his favourite minty eye drops and air flown it ALLLLL DA WAY from NIPPON!!

Short Story 3:-

October was a month full of birthdays. Let me name the folks I know and you will agree with me.

Cousin Ian - 5th Oct. My ex-supervisor, Lien - 6th Oct. Me best bud, Joan - 10th Oct. My god brother (didi) Khanh in London - 10th Oct.

My bro-in-law, Hannes - 12th Oct. Oonie - 13th Oct. Alot right?

Anyway it was fun celebrating Joan's birthday together with Oonie and Chris Koh. Chris Koh and I planned for many weeks on how to celebrate both Joan & Oonie's birthday as a surprise. End up? The weather foiled our plans for a picnic and we had to revealed to the birthday babies that we are meeting to celebrate together and contingency plan was meeting & lunching at Canopy. Still, it was enjoyable. Here's a pic:-

And Oonie celebrating his birthday (again) together with Hannes.

This is us in an MPV cab on the way to enjoy our ride up on the Singapore explorer, courtesy of Charlotte my sis-in-law.

Short Story 4:- Many Firsts

There's been many firsts recently.

Our first time in a fish spa. I was squirming left right center. Check out those gimongus fishies:-
Our first time up on the Singapore Explorer:-

My first time cooking mussels. Hehehe... see earlier entry below.

My first time cooking this dish:- Roasted Fish Wrapped with Streaky Bacon (to be eaten w Rocket, Parmesan, Lemon Pesto sauce that we bought.)

Short Story 5:- Recent Good News!

No, I am NOT expecting. Sorry to disappoint u bunch of "like to play with other people's babies maniacs and dump them back with the parents when they cry" people!! Actually.... I am one of such. Hahahahha.

My primary 6 cousin came to receive Christ into her life in our youth service. PTL!!!

My sis-in-law, Grace says she wants to go for the next water bap. God's amazing!

My aunt Sharon and her husband Uncle John, came to church today for the first time! Hallelujah!

We shared more about Jesus last night with my grandma and we hope to be able to bring her to a Hokkien service church soon. Keep us in your prayers! =)

God is moving.. see short story 1. Hehehe.

1st October 2008: More than just a day...

2008-10-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, we all know that 1st October is Children's Day!! Well, being children of God (hehe.. clear symptom of a kid in me that refuses to grow up.. lol) we all come together on a public holiday - Hari Raya Puasa to cook and simply enjoy the food and the company of cos.

So I searched for recipes and decided that I'll have a go to cook mussels with sweet leeks. Never cooked mussels before and was hoping that I won't end up poisoning my friends.

My ever-encouraging hubby, Oonie, decided that this time round he will just sit and watch me cook so that I can have more practice in cooking. (He's a fab cook and usually when we cook together, he will naturally take over - think cos I look at him with helpless eyes... wahha and I'll end up complaining that I didn't get to improve my cooking skills).

After buying the ingredients on the eve of Hari Raya which was awfully crowded in Orchard Road especially with the heavy downpour, the next morning I woke up before my alarm rang with excitement to have a go at cooking these mussels.

Whipping out the recipe, we rinsed the mussels over and over to make sure its clean. We washed the leeks and parsley and had it all chopped up. Then we realise that we ran out of garlic cloves at home. Oonie dearest drove to the nearest supermarket and came back half an hour later with the garlic. Life saver (or rather mussels saver) that Oonie! heheh.

Then the cooking began and Oonie sat near the stove to watch me cook. When the dish was almost done, we tasted it and somehow the full flavour is not released. We turned up the heat a bit and simmered the mussels.

This time... voila! Aromatic smell of sherry together with the garlic essence soaked up by soft leeks accompanied the mussels. Tasted the sauce... nice! I was delighted. First time cooking mussels and it was not bad I thought. Well, the final results would always be from other folks.

Oonie said it was good and when he says its good.. I'm happy!

Here's a pic of the Mussels with Sweet Leeks:-

Afterwhich we made a speedy gonzales preparing ourselves to head down to Mengchong & Sarah's where the rest were also preparing their dishes there.

Elaine cooked too. =) From the photo below, she had her eyes on her tasty chicken wings that she marinated. Thankfully, she brought bread over and cooked garlic bread. The garlic bread accompanied the sauce of the mussels very well. =)

Sarah cooked vietnamese rice rolls and taught everyone how to wrap it up. I think she's excellent! She can conduct her own cooking class already.. clear instructions yet helpful. Hehe. This is evidence of her non-official cooking class photo. =)

Busy hands moving about, be it to roll up a vietnamese roll or taking food to feed their hungry faces.. obviously from the photo there was quite a lot of food!

Oh yes, Oonie made this. He bought a pack of cheesy nachos, mozarella cheese, salsa sauce, thick shaves of honey baked ham and microwave them together. Ta-dah! Oonie's version of "Nacho Libre~!" Hahah. He said this is pretty common in the Australian cafes and tried this when he was studying in Australia previously. Yummy!!! Merv likes this dish.. hahah. He took a few bites of it, came back for more and each time he would mutter "this is really nice.. " hahahaha. Either that or he is very hungry.

And finally.... my mussels with leeks!!!! I'm glad the folks liked it. Thank God!!!

So why is 1st October 2008 more than just a day? Well, recently I felt a little down in my Christian walk and I started questioning myself and questioning God about some stuff. However, I had a reminder lesson today while preparing the mussels. Basically, to release the full flavour of the dish, heat has to be turned up and the dish has to simmer "in darkness under the lid" before the essence of the dish can be released.

It just reminds me of this verse when I find things get harder sometimes in my walk with Him 2 Corinthians 4-8 "8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;". It just reminds me of coffee beans.. it needs to be crushed for it to release its taste and its aroma. Likewise, I need to be refined by the fire so that He can transform me to grow in His likeness. I need to simmer in His presence!!

As I was pondering on this thought while we drove from MC & Sarah's place to Emma & Geoffrey's place for another gathering, my sweet husband said to me "Baby, it's been 2 years since I first told you I liked you on this day!!!" (Check out this link to our wedding site on the meaning of 1st October to us)

Awww......definitely, 1st October is more than just a day to me.

Wah Liaozzz...

2008-09-17T02:52:00.000-07:00

This week (when it's barely over).. I've had people asking me this "ARE YOU PREGNANT?".

Whenever they say that I will question "Why? My tummy very big huh?" and they go "NoNoNo.. because..." (Check out the following responses:-

1. You eating sour plums mah ...

[Wah Liaozzzz.. that was given to me by my colleague who went to K.L recently & she knows I eat her sour plums to stay awake during 3pm at work!!]

2. You are wearing flat shoes which we have not seen you wore to work before.. especially consecutively for 2 days!

[Wah Liaozzz... I injured my toe once.. so I started wearing flats.. and I went to HK and bought 3 pairs of flats la... so I'm wearing it!!]

3. You looked thinner (their assumption of morning sickness & all that jazz that an expectant mother can't eat], you are eating sour plums..

[Wah Liaozzzz... I looked thinner (which I obviously don't think so) cos I just recovered from a bad bout of flu mah]

Win reh lor... Hehe.

It makes my hands itch to wanna post up this statement on facebook -> "Priscilla is expecting.....the weekend to arrive soon" or something along those lines to just see how many will throw tomatoes at me for being cheeky.

When I came back from my honeymoon, my Mum asked me "So how? Wu bo? (Have or not?).." I was like HUH? And she went on saying "Grandma also asked leh.. Grandma say cousin SO&SO married liao now expecting you know.. ".

I just rolled my eyes to China, sighed and walked away.

When I say something to the CG or my friends these days like "Guess what?" or "Good news!!!" their response is all the same. "You're expecting?". =.=!!!

Folks, fyi... babies do not come cheap. They consume more than an aeroplane for fuel, they can be noiser than sitting next to the wing on an aeroplane. They wail through the night and they crap on you just when you think they are cute.

Besides... no babies for the next 1 to 2 years for me eventhough the 4 months maternity from work may be nice BUT STILL, I'll have to work by looking after my child. So Hello!!! I JUST got married about 5+ months back! No babies for NOW...

Besides, like I always say "a kid.. (me) can't have another kid.."

I have a feeling alot of people would be bombarding me after this. Now, why can't I just order babies online via Amazon or something.. then it would be less painful!!!!! The thought of going into labour is like yikes!!!!

I'm Falling On My Knees...

2008-08-31T07:14:00.000-07:00

*Hungry, I come to You for I know You satisfy

I am empty but I know Your love does not run dry

So I wait for You, so I wait for You

I'm falling on my knees

Offering all of me.

Jesus, You're all this heart is living for

Broken I run to You for Your arms are open wide

I am weary but I know Your touch restores my life

So I wait for You, so I wait for You*

This song describes me to the point recently.

During worship today, I fell on my knees and balled my eyes out in front of my God.

Not sure why, I started confessing all of my sins and asking God to help me and cleanse me through & through. I felt so small before a mighty and powerful God.

Yet... the first words I heard from my mighty and powerful God were loving words "Do not give up on me just like I have never given up on you". It was there... I started crying like a broken tap. It's been a looooooooong while since I was broken, since I was not holding back, since I experienced Him at such expanse.

I know for sure at that moment, when I am broken & with a contrite heart before Him, He will be able to do a new work in me, He will be able to 'shape' me as to how He wants my heart to be, now that it is broken. A good friend once told me 'when life gets down hard on you until you are on your knees, that's the best position to start praying'. That phrase got stuck on my head. =)

It's true like the song 'Hungry (I'm falling on my knees)' when the lyrics say

"I am weary but I know Your touch restores my life..."

How can I do without You God, the lover of my soul?

I'm falling... in love.. all over again ..

and I wait for Him to do a deep and new work in me.

Summary of recent events...

2008-08-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Let the pictures do the talking... lol..

From the most recent events:- latest...

Having fun at the uber fun HPL Premier League Finals + Game On Carnival .. Ink took this shot of me floating! Ha!

and...

recently, after CG one night, had fun photo shots @Inky's uber cool home studio

I'm luvin it!! Excellent shots there, bro! Heee.. I am excited for our outdoor shoot!

Then there was our CG, MustardSeeds' first SOW event at the Southern Ridges walk! Pris G. & Andrew organised an exciting walk with games & prizes and handled all logistics too for our CG. It was fun & we had a great time this National Day. Well done again, dynamic duo Pris G. & Andrew!!! Here are some pics:-

Group shot of MustardSeeds & our friends!

Henderson Wave walk... really interesting and amazing how using wood the structure can turn out like this!

Then we walked further and went to Canopy Park... Many interesting things to see here. There is the wizard of Oz garden. Look at the lion behind us! In the pic below, 2 Priscillas are enjoying themselves here! Actually, if I use my husband's surname as an initial.. I will also be Pris G. Hahaha. The pretty Priscilla beside me is Priscilla Gan... the really capable sister who organised this amazing event with her beau Andrew! =)

This is supposed to be Dorothy of Wizard of Oz.. not a witch ok.. Look carefully at her skirt, and see if you can spot anything unusual?

Close up on Dorothy's skirt... (It's Chanel lor.. don't play play ok.. no wonder the wizard of Oz was afraid of her.. and the lion, the tin man and scarecrow were all following her!!!)

Bubbly Vanessa in green, me in the middle & the one with the lovely smile is Reina in white

Oonie & I taking a rest (Eh, 9km walk leh... no joke can!!! heheh) at sortof a 'garden day bed'.

Interesting colours of plants used as a wall deco...

This is Hort Park

Couple ponds?

All the ladies of the day!!! We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!!

Next event, the day before was Marsli & Albert's Wedding, so here are some pics of Oonie & I after the wedding when we had nothing to do and were also waiting for a cab to head home.. lol:-

Oonie & I @the wedding banquet (all shots were taken using his mobile)
While waiting for cab, Oonie whipped our his mobile again to snap pics.. lol

(See my manga shine hair under the light? wahahahhaha)

NEXT!! Yes, more events... hehehe... we had a fabulous time at Austin Hills Golf Resort where we had a unit retreat in J.B. So again, let the pictures do the talking:-

I like this pic of Reina & I ... =) We've both come a long way.. thank God for binding us in His love!

Luv this group shot... hehehe..

We had a series of jumping stunts ... here are just some pictures... hehehe... it's good to be jumpingfor the fun of it... Adults can jump too okayyyyyy! Lol..

Ok, the "don't know how to pose already but still wanna pose" shots... hahaha

Prior to the unit retreat, Chris & I met up with Wansheng for dinner (Joo chiat Char Kway Teow!!) & our long postponed durian feast.

The boys bonding and giving their grins as a sign of approval for the char kway teow.

As for the durians, well we read Ps. Jeff's blog recently about 'Cat Mountain King' durians and went exploring.. So.. this is the supposedly infamous 'Cat Mountain King' durians. Rumoured to be extremely creamy and once you taken this, you won't want other types of durians... and some internet ppl blogged that its from Pahang apparently.

I must say that the Cat Mountain Durians are pretty good. BUT.. there is a catch..

Although we finished the entire 3 durians ourselves except for the 'freebie'... it was kindof a "bittersweet" experience. Not just the taste of the durians that were bittersweet... I'll tell you why.
The durians were bitter sweet... but we paid a WHOPPING 200 BUCKAROOS for these spikey things as we were obviously doped by the seller.. (He was carrying his 'parang' of a knife when he told the boys who picked the durians that they can't back out after opening the durians to try.. - which was also at his suggestion that they open the durians to try...) Oh well.
After this.. we had our fill with durians.. but we all left our arms and legs behind at the durian stall and had to crawl back to our car to get home. When we left the crime scene, apparently.. other victims were eagerly taking their seats at the table, awaiting for their arms and legs to be chopped off too. No wonder they say after you eat Cat Mountain King (literal translation from it's mandarin name) durians.. u won't eat other types of durians.. firstly no more $$ to eat other types and after being amputated of your hands and legs... u can't eat any other types anymore. Hahaha..lesson learnt.. bring yourmothers who does regular marketing to buy durians.. We are pretty sure that they will be the ones 'amputating' the durian sellers and still be able to walk away with more than they bargained for. *MEOWWW*

The Nerd & His Treasure

2008-08-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

I read Germs' blog entry few days back about her recent encounter on nose nuggets.

TODAY, I am gonna blog my own personal encounter too. Speak about coincidence!!!

After work, I decided I will make a mini trip down to Vivo City to get some stuff and also buy the Kolo mee for my parents to try since I am going back to visit my parents tonight. So I boarded a bus from my work place and I was happy to note that the bus was relatively empty. Yay!! I get to sit mostly wherever I want. So I sat near to the exit and sat on the aisle seat of the bus.

Few stops later, while I was fiddling with my ipod... a nerd came on the bus and when there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO many seats he could choose from, he chose to sit next to me and squeeze in to the window... HELLO???!!!! I repeat .. SOOOOOOOOOOOO (count the 'Os' can!!) many seats, he sat next to me. Aku tak tawu man ...

Don't be mistaken, usually I won't bother who sits next to me that much. BUT when he started to use his finger and dig for 'gold' in a disgusting fashion where the jaw is open and he is digging as though the booger is stuck up near the brains and like its legal and oh-so-cool... urgggghhhh... I could feel my tongue foaming.

As I am typing this my insides are churning just recollecting the scene earlier... bleah...
So after what seem like eternity, Mr. Nerd finally nail that booger (literally...hahahaha) and got it out. If you think my ordeal was over, think again. To my bewilderment, he started twiddling his booger in between his fingers as though he is trying to feel or decipher the texture of it. ARGHHHHHHHHH...... *help*

At this time I decided I should really change to another seat in case he flicks his booger and it landed on me. *SHUDDER* Just when I was contemplating to do so (cos I am about to alight already), the nerd went for another treasure hunt and this time in less time than the first, he got his treasure, added onto his previous collection and started twiddling BOTH boogers in his finger. *SHUDDER*SHUDDER*

At this point, I reached my stop and I reached out for the handle bar that was near the exit to tap my EX link card. Suddenly... I was being paranoid and thought to myself that perhaps another treasure hunter had committed the same act and smeared it onto the pole. *Puke*

For those of you out there who wanna nail ur booger, PLSPLSPLSPLSPLS.... use a tissue or at least do it discreetly and just throw the darn thing away ... NOT flick it away but onto a tissue and dispose the tissue. PLS DON'T FONDLE IT AS THOUGH IT IS REALLY GOLD!!!!

Obedience is better...

2008-07-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

(Warning.. long entry)

It's been interesting the last two weeks. Let's just say that almost everyday starting last Friday, I had to make certain decisions about certain things.

Yes, we do make decisions everyday of our lives and maybe it's not something big. But the last 1 week plus or so, the Lord reminded me how some of our decisions border on fine thin lines and even a tiny decision can cause a whirlwind result if decided wrongly.

The decision making process is always gruelling. My uni good friend, Serene tells me so and I totally agree. The last few days, I had to make certain decisions and like I said earlier, making a decision about something is not easy. So I pondered and I quizzled my close friends, I talked to my loving husband who is ever so supportive and I prayed and talked to God about all these things. Still, there was no peace about some things.

I had no peace because I think my mind doesn't tally with what the spirit of God tells me.

Y'know how the human side of you wants to take certain actions to set things right? Well, that was me this week.

I watched a lot of movies this week. Hellboy on Thursday and just last night it was The Dark Knight-[side note: Heath Ledger was really excellent as a joker. In fact I thought even Christian Bale was a really good batman and so was Michael Caine as ALFRED the BUTLER (Oonie, I got it right this time ok!!)]

Both movies kinda spoke to me especially Batman..(What?! Some of you maybe rolling your eyes to China going how can a movie like Batman and especially Hellboy speaks to you?!). Again, the Lord showed me how our decisions border on fine thin lines.

To shed some light on how the movies spoke to me... well, for Hellboy, he's a demon.. yeah and in the movie he made a decision to protect the humans eventhough the humans scorn his looks and rejected him cos he isn't human. As for Batman, it showed me that there is always the good and bad in people but its what side do we wanna choose to believe? The good or the bad that makes a difference. It doesn't take alot of effort to choose to believe the bad in people to be honest.

Prior to watching Batman last night, we attended the Go Forth Missions Conference and again the Lord spoke to me through Rev. Dr. Loren Cunningham's sermon about the character Joseph in the bible. In short, I didn't realised that the bible never indicates that God is the Father of Joseph eventhough he was from the lineage of Abraham and that God always say He is the father of Abraham and Jacob. In our eyes or rather in mine, Joseph has always been a smart and successful bloke, able to handle the entire Egypt well in his duties as second in charge. Yet God never says He is father of Joseph cos Joseph's one decision of making his boss, Pharaoh into the wealthiest country then, actually turned God's dream for Joseph into a nightmare for the Israelites years later.

This morning, I was listening to some music and basically chilling out while I vegetate. After one music track ended, it went onto the next track and instead of a nice soothing soundtrack, it was a sermon from John Bevere and again it spoke to me. Coincidence? I don't think so. Things have been happening so aptly of late.

As I began to listen to the sermon, I realised that with the latest decisions I need to make, I have not come to God with an obedient heart. It's more of "Ok, I have a situation here God, what do You want me to do about it? What?! Okaaayyyy... Riiiight... Thanks, but no thanks" And I should be coming to God with "God, I have a situation here, despite my own emotions, my thoughts and my plans, etc. I will obey what You want me to do about it.." Ouch.. my flesh hurts and tugs. Heheh.

Again, I'm reminded obedience to God is better than sacrifices. And I rather obey for the long run than to make the wrong decisions that border on fine thin lines in my shortsightedness. Obedience is not exactly easy or erm even joyful sometimes, and many a times the test of obedience comes very subtlely without us knowing. But I know one thing for sure.. (Philippinas 4:7)"7the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Once more, I've fallen deeper for Him.

Summer 2008

2008-07-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Summer 2008

Rising oil and food prices seem to be occupying the news these days. The increase of oil prices leads to of course, several things increasing as well such as our electricity bills. So this summer... to save electricity... I decided to chop off my hair. HUH?! Hahaha. Well, lame excuse. Truth be told is that I've looooong wanted to cut my hair but cos I permed it in Japan I tried to make the best of my SGD 45 worth for as long as I can. =P

Not too bad, considering that I kept it for a good 3 months when the stylist in Japan said the curls would only last max 2 months. So I went for my haircut and came out prolly half a kg lighter with my hair all chopped off. No more curls... no more long hair which = less maintenance, save time, save shampoo, save conditioner, save water, save electricity, save $$$ money on shampoo and conditioner, can wake up later. Hehehehe. See? The instant benefits that came along with me short hair. So here's a couple of pics of me short summer 2008 hairdo:-

Ta-Dah!!

I'm luvin it... (Ba-da-da-da-da... )

On a slightly separate topic, summer weekends seem to zoom past me and it's like when I am just about to enjoy the weekend, it's over. I think what I really dislike about going to work as a working female is...what should i wear to work... Well, in a few hours that question's gonna hit me again.. I beta crawl into bed now.

What's New?

2008-07-04T23:42:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... it's been sometime since I last blogged. Trying to blog again like right now seems kinda weird. Weird because there's so much to say about what happened the last few months from March'08 yet my mind is lost for words and I'm not sure where I should start.

Ok, I'll pick up from where I trail off in March then. Hehe.

So yeah, what's new?

1. I got married to a fabulous bloke. He's funny, smart, loving and most of all, a treasured gift from God. =) I shan't say anymore in case it becomes bias.

2. I got my hair permed in Japan (I lurve Kyoto... for SGD 45!) Did I say I love Kyoto? hehe.

3. I shifted out from my parents' and moved in together with my in-laws, into our little lovenest.

4. I have to take a new route to work and to town ...and a new route back from work to home too. Hehe. Which also means I have a new wake up time since I live further away now from the office. My husband drags me out of our bed every morning when it's time for me to prepare for work. When I say drag.. picture this.. him literally dragging my lifeless body out of the bed while I clinged on to the bedsheets..

5. I eat breakfast regularly now because my lovely mother-in-law prepares breakfast for my husband and I. Hehehe... I know... very blessed!! And I don't deny it. =)

6. I am getting used to people calling me or acknowledging me as "Mrs., Mrs. Goh, Mrs. Chris Goh, Mdm Tham (On second thought I don't think I'll ever get used to Mdm Tham..STOP SINGGERING PPL!!!)".

7. IslandHope has become 2 groups now and our group is now called Mustard Seeds! We have a new vision for our caregroup and I believe that God is already at work in our new caregroup!! Hallelujah for the very sweet spirited people in my caregroup too. =)

8. Just last week on the Sunday of June 29th 2008, my sis-in-law accepted Christ into her life!! Praise the Lord for her salvation!! I'm so glad God moved her heart and she made the decision to cross the line!! So that's one 'new' Christian in the Kingdom of God. Indeed He is faithful!

9. Intimacy with God recently has taken on a new level... in short I would say its knowing He is there and He is faithful and gracious eventhough I don't feel He is there sometimes. There's a new excitement bubbling within my spirit eventhough my old woman's body agonises at the excitement of what the Lord is going to do in my life, in our cg, in 2008. I think the verse "Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" is aptly just that in my case.. the flesh is also old. Heee..

10. If you haven't noticed... yeah.. it's a new blogskin ... The girl in the cactus suit is Sabochan, a character from Tokidoki. A latest craze of my best bud Joan who with some of her colleagues created the website for all the Tokidoki fans and she infected me with this craze too. Simone Legno who created Tokidoki and characters like Sabochan, put children into cactus suit because he thinks that it is a good way for kids to protect themselves from being hurt since they are very innocent. I quite like Sabochan so I used her as an icon in my blog. Also, cos she is in pink!! Lol.

11. I added 'Learning, Changing, Becoming' across Sabochan as a reminder to myself that I need to learn, I need to change and become the person God created me to be. Hehehe. =)

Well I think 11 points quite summarised the last few months of things going on in my life. Right now... it's already July and I cannot wait for our trip to H.K soon for the LC!! Hehehe. Ok, I gotta get OFF the comp now cos I have been sitting here the last 3 hours playing with the comp for my new blogskin. =) One thing that is not new and instead getting old... MY BODY!!! Lol...

Until then...

17 Days To Our Big Day

2008-03-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Blog,

It is about 17 days to my wedding day as of today. So many things to do and so many things on my mind. We've both made really good progress the last few weekends, catching up on the outstanding things for our wedding and with our little love nest. More importantly, God moved greatly on our behalf when it comes to making arrangements for our honeymoon.

As it is the Sakura or Hanami Festival during our intended honeymoon dates, it is really tough to get accommodation in most parts of Japan and even arranging our tickets was not smooth sailing. But praise God! He moved and before we know it.. voila! We're going to Japan for our honeymoon!! Hurray!

As each day closes and draws me nearer to our wedding day I can't help feeling a little uncertain of the unknown, a little anxious for the actual day, a little (well it's more than a little in fact) excitement dancing inside me that we'll be going for our first travel together as Mr & Mrs. Heee.. Amidst all these feelings, I need to be level headed as there are other aspects of my life that still needs to go on - such as adults' camp, family, work, etc.

Speaking of family, I cannot help but feel that I will miss my Mum very much when I am married. I do intend to make an effort to spend time with her to catch up even after my marriage. It's just that deep down I know that I will really miss her and I suppose that is good cos to me.. it means despite me being a rebellious daughter since young, deep down I know that I love her very much. I am not sure if other brides-to-be feels this way too and hopefully this is normal, not because my period is drawing near and I am feeling emotional.. hehehe. =)

A number of people told me that I should just smile and be a radiant bride on my actual day and not be bothered about any hiccups if any. I'll heed that advice. =) I know I am not seeking or asking for a perfect, flawless wedding... but I do hope (ok, don't laugh!!) that the Lord will be there on my wedding day, as if He too is on the other side of me when my Dad walks me down the aisle and 'gives me away' as He too is my Father, my heavenly Father. =)

Some other things I really hope for is for my friends, family, helpers, etc to all have a good and fun time too. I believe their smiles will also bring a smile to my face too and add on to my happiness, just knowing that they enjoyed themselves. I mean, there is only so much perfection or a flawless wedding can do...other than pleasing me.. and perhaps only me and a few others... it can't make everyone have a good time and I know that not everything is under control at all times. I commit this aspect unto the Lord's mighty hands!! =) Only He can create perfection!

As I continue to make through each day, I pray that the Lord grant me strength and cheerfulness for the days left, leading to my wedding day, to have the wisdom to run and operate other aspects of my life like work and adults camp. In addition, I want to make it a point to praise Him at all times regardless of the circumstances simply because He's awesome and He loves me. Hehehe.... and also.. I am so so SO blessed by many of my friends and family who showered me with love and support through this period of preparing for my wedding. I really appreciate every single thing they have done for me, for Chris & I and for our wedding.

For now.... it's bedtime... to be a radiant bride.. hahaha.

Bride-to-be,

Consolidation of events...

2008-02-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

**Consolidation of events...**

Oh wow! It's 2008 now. Hehehe. Oh well, here's a consolidation of events through pictures. Let the pictures do the talking...hehe. Here are some pictures that I took recently (except those of myself...which are taken by Oonie...=) ) that I like pretty much, esp those at the Museum.

Last Sat 26th Jan'08, we went to the National Museum to catch the Greek Masterpieces from the Louvre. =) Oonie's idea. Swell notion I think. =)

We were hungry, so we went to this uber cool place at the museum call 'Muse' for our brunch. Here's some pics I took while waiting for my food!

Pretty chic ya?

I like this pic below very much...

All day breakfast anyone?

Moi..taken by Oonie of cos... =)

Oonie!

I'll post up some of the Greek masterpieces on the blog... if I manage to get down to it.. hahah.

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Last year, I bought a new cake mixer out of a spur of a moment... hehe... and Oonie and I baked our Oreo cheesecake... and a blueberry cheesecake. Very very yummy I must say.. Hehe. Here's the Oreo cheesecake.

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One of the gown fitting sessions with Martini G for our upcoming wedding...

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While checking out a place for our wedding photoshoot last year, we came across these... I like!

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One of the pics I took during Oonie's birthday celebration last year... hehe.. again while waiting for our food to arrive.

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Christmas teambuilding event for our department... squeeze balls!

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Oonie with one of my Christmas gifts - speech bubble! Cute!

That's all for now...see... one blog entry consolidating and depicting my previous months activities ... hehehe...

Wedding Photoshoot!

2007-12-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

Wedding Photoshoot!

This is us after our outdoor wedding photoshoot.
Oonie & I had lotsa fun today and we truly wanna thank God for the weather and for being at the photoshoot with us. =)

Here's some pics of us playing with the camera after our photoshoot...hehehe..
We celebrated the end of our photoshoot with...ROTI PRATA! WoohoOO!

We Have A Wed Site!!

2007-10-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

We Have A Wed Site!!

Announcing... the arrival of our Wed Site! Heee...

www.mywedding.com/chrispris

Check it out!!

And the 1st Prize Goes To.....

2007-09-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

***And the 1st Prize Goes To.....***

This is going to be a long entry. There's just so much I wanna thank God for but yet even typing this blog entry I can't help but be in reverend awe of my God, my unseen partner in my life.

So please be patient with me as I jot down every thing that God has done for Chris and I since we started planning our wedding. I wanna write somethng down so that as time passes, I can always look back at this entry and know that I serve a faithful God. After Chris proposed, we started making plans for our wedding. Before we begin, we asked God to be our wedding coordinator and to use our wedding as to how He would like our wedding be. We want Him to be in charge of everything since afterall, He was the one who brought us together. Here's the details of why at every stage of our wedding, God never fails to surprise us and is ever so faithful and proactive in being our wedding coordinator:-

1. The wedding venue: We searched for many places for an outdoor wedding and a few places came to mind. Asian Civilisation Museum, Chjimes, Armenian Church and Fort Canning. I rang them up and somehow or rather it was either the capacity of the location that could not fit our requirement or it was totally off our budget. The formula for two people (II) to get married in Singapore (S) is this -> S+II = $$$. So we called up Fort Canning and they told us about their Marquee and the prices and the capacity it could hold. It was prefect! Budget, capacity, location seems brilliant. So we made an appointment to head down there to check it out. Here are some pics of the Marquee.

We thought hmm.... it's not too bad.. quite close to what we both have in mind as our ideal wedding. Met up with the wedding coordinator, Sophia Beh to discuss what services do they provide and it seems good. When we were about to make a reservation, she told us that another couple have reserved the place for their wedding on the same date already. Sophia said she'll check with the other couple since they have not place a deposit as yet if they were willing to let go of their reservation for us and she will revert to let us know. We continued to pray after that meeting with Sophia for God to act on our behalf and sure enough, few weeks later, Chris called Sophia up to check on the status of that reservation and Sophia said that the previous couple had given up the reservation for us. Yay! Praise God! =)

2. Lobangs (a.k.a good connections in Singlish meaning) - God sent a number of friends with brilliant suggestions and ideas to share with us and how to have a stylish wedding without breaking your bank! =) I knew an ex-colleague who owns a floral shop and he was the perfect person to approach to decorate our wedding venue for our actual day. Jason can work magic I tell ya! He gave sound advice to help us cut cost and I mean which florist will do that?! There were many people who gave us good advice as well, TY & Ink, Karen & Soo Guan, Evelyn, Nicole & Wilfred, my bro & sis-in-law, my mum, Mabel, Joan etc. We can't thank everyone enough for all their advice and their help!

3. Reina & Miriam - These 2 sisters prayed for my Mum to relent on 28th March 2008 cos my Mum wanted some auspicious date and said 28th March 2008 was not a good date rarara... and I was having rather difficult time trying to convince her. These 2 sisters interceded for me and voila, my Mum turned from being against the date to focusing on helping us with the wedding. Hallelujah! Thank God for these 2 sisters! They were really good support considering that I was also facing some stress from work as well as from some friends pertaining to wedding arrangements.

4. Chris and I thought that it would be nice to have a semi-real cake rather than an entire dummy cake for our wedding. Yes! You can say that we want to have our cake and eat it! Hahaha. We were toying with the idea of having cupcakes in replacement of a wedding tier cake but realised that it is really expensive to order them from some bakeries. And its truly not possible to bake it on my own... I think I will go into a panic attack just thinking that on my actual day I still don't have enough cupcakes made or my guests complaining that the cupcakes taste awful. So I rather spare myself that unneccesary nightmare. We continued searching for a less costly baker and on 3rd August 2007, when we went down to Fort Canning to place our deposit to secure the Marquee for our wedding, we got to know from Sophia that they have included cupcakes as an option in the wedding package with a minimum top up fee which was still relatively cheaper than most bakeries we went to. Isn't God amazing?!

5. Fairy lights - We thought that the Marquee though was nice (at least to us) but sortof lacked something. So we thought hard and figure that it would add to the atmosphere if we added in fairy lights underneath and at the sides of the Marquee and when we asked one of the wedding coordinators at Fort Canning, he said that this could be done at the cost of a whopping $2000. WHAT?! Just for fairy lights? He explained that if we want it up, they would need to hire people to put it up as well as take it down from the Marquee since it is not a permanent fixture. Oh well.. we thought... we just have to stick to our budget and see what else can we do within our budget to spruce up the Marquee. We thought to ourselves that we probably have to work with Jason our florist on that to see if he can help us in anyway and still not exceed the budget we set.

Guess what? On 29th September 2007, we went for a wedding show at Fort Canning and this is what we saw:

Fairy Lights at the side of the Marquee! It really does add atmosphere to the place afterall!!

I thought maybe they put up the fairy lights cos of the wedding show today.... ye of little faith! We saw Sophia and asked her if the fairy lights were just for the show and she said no its a permanent fixture! Goodness! At this point in time, I was very touched by what God have done for our wedding. It's like Chris & I just talk about our ideas, our dreams for the wedding and God just acts on it. Some people may say its coincidence but I know it is our God moving on our behalf and getting our wedding ready step by step.. little by little... with all these surprises!

6. 2 weeks before the wedding show on 29th September 2007 at Fort Canning, I had my first fitting at my bridal studio - Di Gio. The evening gown that was made to measure turned out nicer than I imagined and it was a total relief to know that I didn't cringe my face cos the entire design was suggested by the designer and we just went along with it but kept praying about it in hope that it won't turn out to be something totally different from the drawing the designer drew to show us. I tried on the wedding gown again and though it was nice..somehow I don't know why I did not feel confident in it. I told Chris I feel fat in it and I am not sure if I can pull it off to be able to look radiant in it though the gown was truly lovely... but I just didn't feel as confident as the first time I tried it and we both liked it....Not sure why. I began to worry... "Cham! What if I still don't feel confident in that gown and I can't find anything else I like and the deposit has been made for the wedding package already!". I told myself... not to fret and perhaps its my insecurities as a bride to be that's acting up.

So on 29th September 2007, I woke up and did my quiet time with God and told him my fears of the wedding gown (again!) and I told him I'll be going to the wedding show later.. there's a lucky draw... can we win some jewellry or something? Heheh... Honestly... when I said that to God... I was just being myself - plain cheeky and didn't had any other notions in mind. Strangely, I thought I heard Him say "You'll walk away with something at tonight's wedding show..." I teased God and said "heheh..yah.. door gift!" But I didn't think much about it yet throughout the whole day and even at the wedding show... I had a strange feeling that something's gonna happen.(Chris and I @the Legends Fort Canning Wedding Show)

At the wedding show, we were waiting for things to start and Chris and I were chatting. I didn't mention to him anything about what I heard during quiet time earlier and he said "There's 18 prizes to be won tonight.. I wonder if we'll win anything." I was like "U reckon?" and he responded with a "Yeah, I think we'll walk away with something tonight...". At that juncture, I told Chris about what I heard from God that morning. Before we could continue our conversation further, the wedding show started. Here's a few pics of what we took at the wedding show. This is our first wedding show... (prolly our last too! hahaha... we went for this one to get a feel of how is it like holding a wedding at the Marquee at Fort Canning, the Legends).

(decoration before the models strut their stuff on the catwalk)

(Pretty nice wedding gowns, suits and quite chic cheong sams I would say)

At the end of the wedding show was the lucky draw where they announced all the prizes. Our draw number was 8132. A number of times they nearly called out our number but missed by the last digit. So all 17 prizes were all dished out and we weren't called as yet. We were about to leave thinking that it can't be us already as there were a good number of couples there as well who have not won when they announced "And the first prize goes to..... 8......1.........3............2!". Chris and I looked at each other in disbelief and realised that "Hey! That's us!!!".

We went up to collect the grand prize of a bridal package worth $9,888 that includes 1 made to measure (MTM) wedding gown. 1 MTM evening gown. Both to rent. 1 MTM cheong sam to keep. 1 MTM man's suit to keep. 30pics bridal album with things like free this picture, that album, plus outdoor and indoor shoot with hair and makeup styling... free actual day hand bouquet, etc. We were totally dumbfounded I tell ya!

We wanted to sell the package away since we already have a package and the evening gown was already made. But somehow or rather.. we both felt it is really God's blessing for us and we much prefer to utilize the prize and it sort of solves the "problem" of me being worried that I will not be able to find a gown I like since I can make to measure my wedding gown now with this package. I went home that night... tired but very touched by God. I mean, we don't deserve this at all and we weren't expecting anything. To be honest, if I had no choice but to end up with only the gown I don't feel 100% confident in it.. I would still stick to it cos I mean it's still a pretty gown but there's so much to making a wedding perfect because deep down Chris and I both know that it's knowing that our guests enjoyed themselves and us enjoying ourselves celebrating our matrimony that makes a wedding special...at least to the both of us. I mean as a girl I would like to fantasize about my wedding but I am not that unrealistic either... (really.. believe it or not.. heheh). And knowing about the fairy lights alone was more than touching already.

So I just wanna say to God that we can't thank Him enough for playing such an active role not just as our wedding coordinator and in our lives. Though He is our unseen partner... yet His presence, His actions, His surprises of what He did for us shows us how real He is! I must say that throughout this entire wedding planning and all, we've both drawn closer to Him and that itself already made our wedding sososo special... and we know that it is going to be special even if we didn't win anything, we didn't had fairy lights, cupcakes, all the fancy razzle dazzle to a wedding... simply because He is going to be there!

Lamb-tatouille!

2007-09-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Lamb-tatouille!

22nd Sept'07 - After MengChong and Sarah's wedding earlier in the day, Chris and I went back to his place to cook our dinner. The night before, he bought a whole load of groceries and herbs and all and we marinated the leg of lamb overnight to be able to cook it on 22nd Sept'07.

So after the wedding, we put the leg of lamb to roast in the oven along with the vegetables after dicing them and putting Italian Herbs on the vege.

So while waiting for the lamb and the vege to roast. I saw some birds on the TV antenna next door and the colour of the sky made me feel as though I am overseas... like in US or something while bird watching...literally.

Yay! After a while, the vege were done. I called it Lamb-tatouille since it's roasted next to a Lamb and the animation Ratatouille was going on in the movies recently. Hehehe. So here's my lamb-tatouille - roasted with Italian Herbs, a touch of Extra Virgin Olive Oil together with Zucchini, Brocoli and tomatoe cherries to add colour to this green dish. I lurve zucchini!

While I was cutting and dicing the vege earlier, I saw a tree outside Chris' house that looked like a broccoli to me. Check it out! It really does, trust me! It's a broccoli tree! Hehehe.

Besides the Roasted leg of lamb which Chris marinated with lotsa chopped garlice, rosemary, thyme, lemon juice, salt & pepper and the lamb-tatouille, we made mushroom soup from scratch as well and Chris added in Bay leaves to the soup to give it some punch. =)

So that was our dinner that night, downed with orange and lemonade. Splendid! =)

@@@HopeTots Attachment Time@@@

2007-09-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

@@@HopeTots Attachment Time@@@

Part of our Marriage Preparation Course entails being attached to either our church (Hope) kids or toddlers section for a (gruelling) 4 weeks.

Today is our first session!!! We choose to be attached to Hope toddlers or also known as Hope Tots.

Guess who is the tot? I think the adult is drinking milk... hehehe..

Conclusion: All I can say is..... I survived (bruised, wounded, battered and totally defeated...) Next session, I am bringing an AK47 along with me... hehehe.

Travel...Travel...Travel...

2007-08-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

Travel...Travel...Travel...

The long awaited Bangkok trip for us three! Chris, Mabel and I...

The happy trio on our way to shopping paradise!

Ahhhhhh! Bangkok here we come!

Right away we attempted to assimilate and blend into the local culture! =)

One of our numerous watering stops...Black Canyon coffee, served with yummy biccies and a refreshing glass of jasmine tea to wash your pallette there after!

No, its not Cinderella's glass Timberland boot...

The face of satisfaction...caffeinated and ready to go again!

And while the coffee-holics filled their bellies with the black brew, others indulged in an escapade of a creamy kind...(sadly, there was no Ben & Jerry's!)

The happy couple after caffeine and cream! (noticed the glazed look in the eyes...its a caffeine / sugar high! hehehe!)

Mabel at the entrance to Siam Square! Actually it was made of fibreeglass...but still betcha wouldn't have known that till i mentioned it!

I like this pic....looks like an ad for DHL or something. Its actually Mabes making reservations for our seafood buffet dinner!

A moment of solace and contemplation...it was posed...=)

Baiyoke Sky...our shopping HQ as well as our hotel!

Chris says "Sawadeekup"!! We were having fun with all the Thai artefacts around our hotel viewing gallery.

And all too soon, it was time to fly home...the happy trio about to board the return flight. Note the plastic bags of last min. buys. Hehe..

****************PHILIPPINES********************

Sometime in July this year I was given the opportunity to make a business trip to Makati City, Philippines. The hotel we put up was Renaissance Hotel near Greenbelt shopping mall.

Note: Look at the bath tub in this pic below. It's so low... I am almost sitting on the floor. Think if I were to go in with the water filled, the water would all overflow and leave me in an empty tub again.

There is always time for shopping... hehehe.. Greenbelt shopping mall! =)

Pretty nice concept of Greenbelt.

My colleague, Daniel and I soon got hungry and ate at this place below. The food and prices were fantabulous! They used oyster shells to decorate the place... cool.. It's located at Greenbelt 3.. I can't remember the restaurant name but I think its something rockefeller.

This meal is totally unforgettable. It's called Boneless Bourbon Ribs. American portions at Philippines prices. I can never forget the taste of the ribs... Tony Roma's eat your heart out! And no bones! So you won't get your fingers dirty. Hehehe.

:::The Proposal:::

2007-06-28T01:47:00.000-07:00

:::The Proposal:::

The unsuspecting victim. (Taken using Oonie's mobile camera). We were up in a cable car having dinner in it while enjoying the scenery. =) He told me it was going to be a simple dinner. Riiiiiight.. (How gullible of me? Trapped in a cable car? I had to agree... just kiddin!)

The Culprit with his signature grin. Alas!! Little did I know what was up his sleeves... or rather pockets since it was hidden there!!!

And the next thing I know... I'm engaged!!!! Hehehhe.. And noooo... mind you, this is NOT an advertisement. I used my canon to capture this shot. Hehehe. *Can I pat my own back and claim credit and boast of the shot below? hehe...** In reality, I was playing with my own camera and was really a fluke shot of my engagement ring below). =) I lurve it!

Colour Accented the proposal bouquet. Leaving only the red roses in colour. It's boootiiiful! I've never received a 50roses bouquet in my life! *sigh*.... I must say it's very very sweet of Oonie!

And so... I'm engaged!

:::Church Camp'07 An An Apprentice:::

2007-06-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

:::Church Camp'07 An An Apprentice:::

Last year in 2006, I attended church camp for the first time after being in church for almost say 2-3 years? Church camp was so fun and becos I was Holy Spirit Baptised at church camp, I decided that I want to be a part of the church camp committee so that others too will experience what I experienced in 2006. =)

So I signed up to be a church camp committee and was assigned to be an apprentice in the Publicity Department; where I learned how to advertise and create awareness for the camp.
This is one of the job scope of being an apprentice. You have to depart for camp earlier than the rest of the people to get the place ready and suitable for camp. Exciting!

I'll share with you about what being an apprentice in church camp entails:-

1. You'll have to stop by this delicious Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib soup) place at JB (Courtesy of Meng Chong who fetched us to church camp and brought us to this place). See the steaming Bak Kut Teh Soup? Meng Chong added pacific clams into this soup making it even more slurrrppzzz.. So, this is job duty one. Try the local food while travelling up for church camp. =P

2. Upon arriving at Malacca where our church camp is held this year. It was near to lunch time. We drove to Jonker Street and it was here that again we were given another job to accomplish. This is the place where they had supposedly famous chicken rice balls. I think it's called Famosa if my selective memory didn't fail me. I didn't take a pic of the rice balls because we were busy eating when it arrived. So I took a pic of the place since it seems to be quaint in its decoration.

3. The next task awaits. I tell you... being a par t of church camp committee is sheer hard work! We were pretty full from accomplishing the previous task but had to pry our mouths open to finish the superbly mouth-watering chendol dessert found at Jonker Street as well. It is diagonally opposite the chicken rice store . The chendol below is dangerous... it can caused fights if you're sharing a bowl. My advice is to get your own serving. Some things in life you just can't share. Heheheheh. Chendol rating: Best I have ever ever tried. Even better than the chendol from the "Mangosteen" lookalike store in Malacca. Mind you, church camp hasn't even started. Heeee... **Side note: My lovely bear named "Zip" says hello to all! =) Well, Oonie bought this for me from the "Blessing Point" at church camp. It was the only one and I asked him to name the bear and one glance and he named the bear Zip for obvious reasons... duh..hehe**

4. Arh... finally church camp commences and these are my church mates. Being church camp committee... there will be a number of times you won't get to be near your care group mates since you would need to run a number of tasks for the camp and so ... these are precious moments to me. =)

5. Me & my church mates.

6. Miriam & I (Told ya every moment is precious!)

Having fun with the church camp deco.

7. Oonie and I. Hey, we're both serving in church camp mind you! heeee...

8. Finally, before the camp ends for good... a picture with both my camp commandants- Eugene Phang is stripes and Teck Keong in orange. Really fun and smashing working along side and serving in the camp with them. They're excellent leaders and I must say its good synergy.

Well, that's all for camp this year as an apprentice. I'll be back next year! *Gulp* Running the publicity as an in-charge.. *double gulps* and may God be with me next year to lead me in the Publicity department for church camp! =)

Birthday 2007

2007-03-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

**Birthday 2007**

Hehhe... after disappearing for eons... I have decided to blog pictures with single comments (it's also called lazy ya? hahaha) to at least tell my oveseas friends that I am still alive. hheheh..

Oonie's pressies for me! He's soO sweet! I lurve the lilies!

Super slurpzzz birthday cake from Oonie!

Me! Birthday girl!

This year's birthday was special. I was celebrating it with Oonie and I must say that he's really good at surprising me. I've never received a bouquet of lilies before and was quite touched when he gave me this! =) I really thank God for Oonie! Heee.. *blush*

..Lunar New Year 2007..

2007-02-18T03:38:00.000-08:00

*.*.*Lunar New Year 2007*.*.*

Oh great! It is now February 2007 and I have not blogged a single entry for 2007...Boy am I on schedule..Hahahaha. It is the first day of the Lunar New Year today and since it is such an auspicious occasion, I thought it would be nice to start the first blog entry of 2007 on this auspicious day.... riiiight. hehe.

I just paid a CNY visit to my grandma's place, it is also known as the H.Q to me, as that's where all my relatives gather there every CNY and we get to catch up with each other. This year's CNY is rather unique. Pastor Jeff spoke to us last Friday during the CNY service that we should make a deliberate effort to go beyond just knowing our relatives and catching up with them, but to bring Jesus and God into our conversations. I made a mental note to myself last Friday that I will try to do so as difficult as it may be for my family as most of my relatives were Taoists believers.

Surprisingly, I would say that God gave me the perfect opportunity when Uncle Billy talked about religions and I brought in the topic of not just knowing Jesus and believing that He exists, but to have a personal relationship with Jesus is important as well. Uncle Billy listened and took it in pretty positively. I'm glad and am thankful for this opportunity that I can share something wonderful to my loved ones. I just hope that someday soon my relatives would all come to know Jesus and accept Him as Lord and saviour. =)

Now, the other unique part of this Lunar New Year is that I brought a special someone to meet my relatives and most importantly my most beloved grandma. *Gulps* Hehe. I love my grandma very much...so her opinions are very important to me. Heee... I was a little nervous wondering how both parties would react to each other. Anxious if everything would go well or both would be hurling pots and pans at each other instead! I mean Grandma's a really cool and easy-going lady actually (I really mean she's cool cos which Grandma would sit the "Viking ship" with us at some carnival when we travelled to Australia and not flinch at all when the ride took off and only complained it messed up her hair after the ride? Note: Gramps was like 60ish 70 when she took that ride with us. Don't ya think its cool? Well, at least I think so.) so I admit...that's just my imagination at play and I guess the anxiety just stems from my own paranoia.. Hehe.

Well, I would say that my imagination was disappointed and that God is a good God. Everything went well and grandma only has good things to say. Phew! Hehe..I still feel kindof awkward and shy about this *ahem* important aspect of my life.. heheh.. but I do know that things have taken an interesting twist and I'm just going to enjoy this journey that God has brought me to.

So before I end off and do another disappearing act... hahahaha... (You guys have to get used to this ya? I'm a busy girl. Heeee... =P) I wish all of you a prosperous and happy new year..."Gong Hei Fatt Choy"!!

Houdini's Christmas

2006-12-25T22:15:00.000-08:00

And so I did a 'houdini' and disappeared from the blogging world for close to 2 months. Everyone's been asking me wassup with my sudden disappearance. Thanks to my temperamental internet connection, I was disconnected from this aspect of my life.

I'm @Aunt Sharon's place now for a family Christmas celebration and thought I'll just escape awhile from the family gathering to catch up a bit on this aspect of my life. Hehe.

Let's see.... I last left you guys in October with a sore bum due to the fall I had from trying to glimpse at a celebrity while roller blading and up to today I have no idea who he/she is still! Lol. Well, the bum has recovered since that day (hehe... it better!), there's been a whole chain of activities (i.e. Singapore Biennale - somehow all I remembered from that outing was that it was an exceptionally humid day to view art exhibits @Tanglin Camp..hehe...) lined up in my life that took time away from blogging as well. There's also been alot of changes. Like, having my hair cropped to near chin length into a bob style. One of the changes that I embraced, since it saves maintenance time as well as shampoo and conditioner costs. Hahah. Lazy girl here...

Speaking of changes, I have had a number of changes just this last quarter of the year that whenever I think back, I am just so grateful that something's just don't change as there's only a limit to how much change one (Or in this case, I can take) can take within a quarter! Other than my hairstyle, I had a change in the populations I handled at work, our office just shifted to Raffles' Place from Tanjong Pagar and being in the business district, there's been some changes to my cost of living as well...hehe.

Amidst all these changes, I am thankful that the lover of my soul doesn't change. It may sound cliche or cheesy... but I really do feel this way. He's always there for me no matter what changes I go through and he's always there even when I'm so caught up in whirlwind activities. He's patiently waiting for me to speak to Him and to draw near to Him and yet, in any condition that I am in (be it in angst, in joy, etc), I never fail to seek an audience with Him.

The one change that I'm so happy about in this last quarter of 2006 is that I know that the degree of intimacy with Him has deepened and brought to new heights. I so do not want to lose this and am trying hard to make an effort to maintain or draw even nearer to Him, eventhough I admit that lethargy, tiredness, a couch potato's distraction and all that does make me spend less time with Him. Yet, He's still crazy about me despite all that...

This Christmas, I'm reminded of all the things He has blessed me with, His wonderful love and His grace that many a times I feel I so do not deserve. Most of all, as I looked at my family's love for me, my lovely relatives having a jolly good time bonding, my 'foul-weathered' friends that have stood by me all these while, my wonderful caregroup brothers and sisters whom I have grown so fondly of, my hilarious and ever happening colleagues, I'm so thankful for God just being God! I see His love through all these people and I know that it is with His birthday on Christmas that I can come to have all these. So before I head back to join my bubbly and oh-so-noisy relatives (hehe..I'm not complaining mind you... ) I just wanna tell the lover of my soul, Happy Birthday and thank You so much for being just You!

P/s: I may just do a 'houdini' again..... hehehe.... until then, here's wishing you all and your family a Christmas filled with love and joy and a New Year with all your heart's desires being fulfilled.

The Day I Fell For A Celebrity...

2006-10-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

The Day I Fell For A Celebrity...

Yes, I did. I fell hard.

I turned my head round to try to see a celebrity that passed me by while on my roller blades and fell hard on my bum. *Ouch*

Worst part is......I didn't even get to see a glimpse of who is the celebrity! GGrrrr...

Ok, end of story. Now, stop laughing you unsympathetic people! Hehe...

Mid Autumn Festival

2006-10-06T23:28:00.000-07:00

Mid Autumn Festival

Every year, our loving neighbour never fails to send us a lovely gift of haze. This year, our loving neighbour decided that it's about time they double the portion of their gift to us and sent us a huge dose of haze instead...sending some of our healths and our lungs into a frenzy. Hehe. We celebrated our Mid Autumn Festival this year together with haze. The air was pretty bad but that did not deter many Singaporeans and tourists from visiting the Chinese Gardens to look at the display of lanterns.

Bro Meng Chong was very nice! Heeehee.. he gave me a lift from home (I went back home to change cos I figure it would be warm and humid if I were to go straight to Chinese Gardens in my office attire) to Chinese Garden where the rest of the CG folks would be meeting as well. Thanks, Meng Chong! =)

To my horror, half of Singapore seems to be at Chinese Garden as well! Urgh!! Anyway, as much as I have an adversion to crowds and humidity...(Trust me, I can get reallllllly grouchy with humidity.. hehe) I told myself that I should just enjoy and make the best of it. Hehehe.

Here are some pics courtesy of MC's super pro camera:

Us @ the leaning tower of plates & bowls!

We met another CG here as well! The generous folks shared some mooncakes they brought with us!

I like the next pic. Heee... not becos I am in it la!! Cos everyone seems to have not noticed the 'kirin' tree and when I first spotted it, I didn't realise it was shaped into a Kirin. I saw the red ribbon first and wondered why the ribbon was tied in such a special manner like as if it was a collar. When I saw the "eyes".. then I realised it was shaped into a kirin. Cute ain't it?

My colleague, Adelyn said I looked like a small girl in this pic when she saw this picture. -.-!! Heheh.

We were about to leave the Chinese Garden and head off for supper at somewhere air-conditioned when we took this last pic together. I like it! Gives me a feel that we're in Taiwan or China or something! Hahahah..

Doesn't it? Heheheh... Hopefully, most of us can get to travel to Taiwan next year as a CG if possible... am sure it'd be fun! Anyway, that was Mid Autumn Festival 2006 for me! I guess this is also perhaps the last time the CG folks saw me in my long hair. Hee hee...

Curry Favour Me!!

2006-10-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

Curry Favour Me!!

Yes!! You read the title right. You see, I'm so lovable (*vomits*) that upon my conferment ceremony, the CG brothers (Ming was nice to wanna treat me and the rest of the brothers kindly chipped in! The sisters couldn't make it as they were busy though..) wanted to curry favour me as well as celebrate this occasion! So as per Ming's blog, I was the only rose that night. Hahah. (All pics are courtesy of kind Ming's camera...as I forgot to bring mine. hehe)

Seeeeee.... I wasn't boasting when I said they wanted to curry favour me! Heee... Ming brought us to this place and they served wonderful Japanese curry meals!

While waiting for Gab & our food to arrive, as usual we were jesting around with the camera. Oh.. and in case some of you can't recognise me.. Yes, I'm the female geek over there with my new glasses. Hehe..

The Kwok brothers relaxing ....

Me enjoying the conversations we're having... heheh

It's been a while since we caught up on each other's lives and it was pretty enjoyable just chatting and laughing away on a weeknight like this. Then our appetiser arrived and if I recall correctly its fried prawn & mushroom & scallop balls. *Droolz* This was pretty yummy..

Our dinners arrived shortly and so did Gab. We took pics with our food... I'm so lazy that I lumped the pics into 1. Hehehe... If not I would have to post the pics 5 times on blogspot just to depict each of us with our food. Quite like what I did to the pic as seen below. Hehe

I remember that when I was a little girl, my mum used to say strictly to me that little girls like me (back then la!) do not play with their food. Well, I obeyed that commandment all the way and so now that I am no longer a little girl... I play with my food! Heeeee...

Presenting.........my work of art... Curry Pris Tonkatsu Meal! Hehehe... I wonder if my Mum would be proud of me or would continue to tell me not to play with my food. Hmmm...I think let's not take the risk here... hehehe... I don't wish to sit through parliament with my mum. Heheheh. Oh and by the way... this was reallllly good!

After dinner, we had some drinks to wash down all that delicious curry and I had a nice warm almond milk tea (never tried warm almond milk tea before) and it made me all warm & fuzzy inside.. Heeehhee.. And guess who celebrated October Fest that night as well with an Asahi? Heheheh..Gab & Ming both ordered smoothies and Ming ended up slurping Gab's smoothie instead as it arrived first and we all thought that was Ming's order...Hehehe

After a wonderful weeknight dinner and catching up, we retreated back to our homes and I was really touched by my CG folks.. it is very sweet of them to set aside time to celebrate this occasion for me. Thank you very much, you guys!!! =)

An Assortment of Farms

2006-09-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

::An Assortment of Farms::

The weather was rather kind to us this Sunday. Not too warm, brilliant for an excursion. Hehe. A bunch of us met up at Kranji MRT to visit an assortment of farms today.

So the dudes and dudettes got into their vehicles and followed the organiser of the day; K.C, as he introduced us to the 1st programe on his farm itinerary (K.C even had an itinerary all done up! Awesome!)

I stucked to my CG brothers and was in Ming's car. Hehe. A pic of us before we set off. Me with my superbly fake smile. Hahahah. Attempt to be a morning person - fail! Am so not a morning person. Heheh. Ming busy reading map so he didnt glanced up to pose. Haha.

1st farm: Aero Green Tech and here are the pics -

It's a .....*drumrolls* Zucchini! Also known as courgette especially in Europe. Hehe. Or as a summer squash. Heee...

I have no idea what this is... winter melon? Bitter gourd? There were no signs (or I did not spot it).. so go figure!

Lime!!! Shift ur eyes to look for the dark greens in this pic and you should be able to spot the limes... =)

2nd farm: Nyee Phoe Nursery pics-

(Don't ask me what flowers are these. Am totally clueless... just took a pic of them cos they look pretty... heheh)

And next! I switch my cam to "colour accent" mode to retain the colour of the flower and everything else will be monochromed. My fave. pic of the entire farm visit!!! Ta-dah!!

=) I lurve it!! Thought this corner looked quite cosy. Oops... forgot to switch my cam back to normal mode. Still in colour accent. But ... hee... quite nice also I thought.

People on rocking chairs by the pond.

As per Ming's blog entry, Dreamfish Inc wasn't open so we went to Max Koi Farm. I like this farm best. Heee... Though I don't like fishes (nothing to do with eating ok... I like to eat fish.. but I just don't like anything scaly, don't like reptiles and also amphibians...and don't ask me why! Haha)

Looks like a resort here. Heee..

Elaine & I...

There you go .. The Kois @the koi farm. Haha..

There was this air-conditioned dark room that some of the others spotted and signalled us to follow them in (we were all scattered over the koi farm). The room was pretty cool as they had a few aquariums with some (i think) expensive and exotic fishes in it. I was trying to get some clear pics in here without much success. Mr. catfish below did not wanna pose and smile for me. Heee... so this was the best that I could do.

Then I spotted this spotted stingray (pun intended). Wahahaha. It was so dark and it was at an obscure corner of the aquarium that I almost mistook it as a sucker fish. Hahahaha. But memories from my primary school science class taught me that suckerfish are not ROUND in shape (or at least those that I've seen) and I went closer to peer into the aquarium. Unlike Mr. catfish, Mr. stingray was rather obliging, haha. I asked it to smile and it just posed perfectly still for me with a cute smile. (Really! Check out the curl of its flap!Heeeeee..) Brilliant!

So after bidding Mr. stingray farewell, we left the dark room and somehow the weather seems to have turned brighter. So I took another snapshot of the resort-like house. Okie, from this angle it looks more like a kelong. Hee...

Took a pic of some lotus (I suppose its lotus...hurhurhur) in monochrome before I left for the next stop.

Ming was right when he blogged that the next farm stop was a dreaded visit for me. It's the Jurong FROG farm. *Shudderx10* I believe I have mentioned above of my dislikes for amphibians, reptiles, scaly animals/fishes. (Note: Although Mr. Stingray was quite cute, but looking at its skin for too long sent shivers down my spine as well... ). We reached the frog farm and I was telling my CG brothers "Can I stay in the car instead???" hehhe.

The instant I set foot on the frog farm, can hear the frogs croaking non-stop. My lower lip curled. Am I up for this? I thought I should not be such a scaredy cat. So I followed the guys as they bravely trooped off in front of me down a flight of stairs. There were some bags on the floor that I couldn't see from my position what was inside. (Check out Ming's blog for a pic of those bags). Ambiguous looking bags. Hmmm....lots of thoughts flashed across my mind and my instinct told me not to go down. Suddenly to my horror, one of the bags JUMPED. Arhhhhhhhhh!!!! Ambiguous amphibians were in those bags!!! Alot of them!!! That was the deciding factor that I should NOT risk it and just observe the frogs from afar....VERY FAR to be safe. Hee hee...

At Ming's suggestion, he said I should still take a pic to at least have some memories that I've been to a frog farm. Hmmm..Do I really want such memories? Hehehe.. But he is right, just for memento's sake. Me trying to smile with Fredos behind me.

Gab captured a pic of me viewing the frogs from a relatively safe distance. Almost everyone went downstairs to view the frogs..er.. except me. Hehehe.

It doesn't mean that I missed out on the froggy action viewing them from afar ok!! Thank goodness for digital & optical zoom. I still captured some froggy pics. There were so many frogs there that I just felt queasy. Don't believe me? See for yourself!

Queasy right? Unless some of you only think of frog legs and see them as delicacies... then I guess it's not queasy but yummy for you.

*GASP*!!!! I was zooming around with my cam and I saw these 4! They were away from the rest, in a corner by themselves. What in the world are they doing?! CAUGHT ON CAMERA!! hahahaha..and smiling somemore...
Tadpole to frog process.

After frogland, we went to a goat farm. The goats' smell came to greet and welcomed us when we arrived. Hehehe. The batt on my cam was low and I only managed to capture a pic of 2 kids sleeping before my cam switched off on me. SooooO cute!!

Courtesy of Ming's cam, he took a shot of me with the kids. Heee... Grinning cos I don't dare to touch them. heee..

So after that we went to Poison Ivy/Bollywood Veggies for lunch and that wrapped up the day's visit to a variety of farms!

Hope's 15th Anniversary

2006-09-16T03:56:00.000-07:00

Hope's 15th Anniversary:

It's Hope Singapore's 15th Anniversary. I only took this pic below with Jerilee on my camera, would you believe it? Amazing huh? Hahaha... I think it was a hassle to whip out my baby all the time when my other CG mates had their cameras ready to snap. Heee...

Pic quite blur though. Oh well... it's just the two of us. Hahahah.

Snippets of P.D, K.L Recce Trip

2006-09-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

Snippets of P.D, K.L Recce Trip

Friday, 8th Sept 2006: After work, a bunch of the church camp committee including myself travelled to Port Dickson & Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to recce the hotels to see if they were suitable for next year's church camp.

Passed Johore Bahru and the tour guides that was with us brought us to a chinese restaurant for dinner/supper. 4 or 5 course meals at about close to midnight.... Sinful! Heee...The guides treated us... so sweet of them.

After eating, we went back to our mini van to continue our journey to Port Dickson. Most of us slept in the van. It was an ardous journey... eat then sleep for 3-4hours. Sigh.... I'm beginning to feel that it's not "easy" being camp committee. Ha!

We finally reached Tiara Resort, Port Dickson close to 2am. This is a pic of our rooms. Beds are big but I felt the room was a tad claustrophobic in my opinion. That aside, my body was glad that it can sleep horizontally and not 90 degrees like when in the van.

I was so exhausted... I didn't even know that I fell asleep. Hee...

We turned in at about 2ish-3am, had to wake up at 830am to meet the resort's manager for a tour of the place to see if it is suitable for church camp next year. Maybe because I'm not a morning person so I didn't feel inspired at all to take any pics of the place. Heee...*Gomenasai*..not much pics of Tiara Resort, P.D!

After leaving P.D, we travelled to Kuala Lumpur next to meet up with the manager of Palace of the Golden Horses. Exhaustion lingered, once more most of us fell asleep while travelling there. It's tough being the committee. Sigh... hehe..

We arrived and it was here that my senses got invigorated and made me more awake than before. Get this...what seems like strawberry scent at the hotel's TOILET made me refreshed and more alive. Hahahhah. Now I know why I'm sensitive to smells. Hee. This is supposed to be a 6stars hotel I think. Almost everything in this hotel is linked to horses. Spot the horses in the next few pics..Ha!

Ceiling pic..

Think this is concierge section

Huge revolving fountain in the middle of one of their restaurants.

The bedroom.

The toilet (I lurve it! It's so bright.... Yes... for those of you who know... I am VERY particular about hotel toilets... especially those where 1. the lighting is dim 2. the bathtub is directly OPPOSITE the huge mirror. And how huge mirrors get fogged up after a warm shower and it's just facing you when you come out of the shower. Hehe.. when you grow up watching too much horror flicks and B grade scary movies and have a vivid imagination... you'll understand why I end up being particular about such.. I suppose. Ha)

I didn't take pics of the towels in the toilet but if I did... you would be able to see that the towels had horses embossed on it.

More horses!! Quite a nice concept I thought. To use carousel horses to create this in one of the restaurants.

After all that tour, the committe were rather hungry. The manager of Palace of the Golden Horses (this is beginning to be a mouthful.) brought us to this Japanese Restaurant in the hotel to have our lunch. One of the private rooms in the Jap Restaurant, but we didn't eat inside, sat outside.

Sarah & I while waiting for our food.

Peikey asked us to pose a different pose... so okie... we decided to do a vainpot pose. Hahaha..

Ok, enough of us... here comes the real torture. 6stars Japanese food. I told you ..it wasn't easy being camp committee. I had to put up with succulent and oh-so-tender beef bites that had a delightful grilled taste. I had to put up with crispy tempura prawns, fish, and oh yes...lady's finger (For the record, this is the first time in my life I tried a lady's finger. I didn't know it was a lady's finger and thought it was an asparagus or something and popped it in my mouth..until much later..)

As if that wasn't bad enough, I had to force myself to finish the lightly sweetened beancurd with shitake mushrooms that seemed to make me want more! Urgh! What a torture! And the salmon sashimi..... I tell you... I have not tasted such fresh and sweeeeeet sashimi in Malaysia before. And my bento was really huge and I was struggling to finish it.

Prior to that the hotel treated us as well to a platter of Jap raw food like Maguro (Raw Tuna I think).. and usually I don't take raw tuna. Raw salmon was still acceptable. Raw tuna looked too red in its colour to me to be ingested. Anyway I thought, what the heck... just try. And I sOOooOO regretted that move. It was mmmmmmMMmmmmmmMmmMmm!!! It's truly horrible I tell you! The benchmark for raw Maguro has been raised SOOOO high now I don't know if I can find something comparable in Singapore to that piece I tried in the hotel.

Before we left for the next hotel, we were walking past the corridor and I have no idea why I was quite captivated by the scenery outside of the window of this plant & the hotel exterior. Thought it was quite nice so took pic of it for my memory. Heheh.

Our last stop to recce was Grand Seasons, K.L. Here's a pic of their bedroom. Not bad actually. =)

This is one of their ballrooms. Hmmm... pillars seems to be blocking the view of the mainstage eventhough there's TV...Hmmm..

Anyway, tat was our last stop before we made our way back to Singapore. There was a traffic accident on the way back and it caused a traffic congestion of up to 2 hours! We arrived in J.B and stopped at the same place that we did (I can't rem the name!!) when we went up for church camp this year for some dinner.

Sarah spotted this. Thousand Island Egg (porridge) instead of Century Egg. Thought it was quite farnie. Hahah. And that was that for the sacrifices the committee made for the greater good of others. Heheheheheh. There are still other hotels in other parts (e.g. Melaka) of Malaysia as well that are being checked out for church camp next year, but I didn't go for that recce trip though. Anyways, soon we'll know where are we going for church camp next year!

Fer Turns 30!!

2006-09-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

Fer Turns 30!!

Fer turns 30 today... *Shudder*shudder* Hahahah...

Grace organised a birthday celebration @her place. Grace cooked as well as ordered ALOT of food. Grace's mum cooked too. It was really enjoyable getting to know Grace's family even better.

Pic of Grace & Fer with Grace's sisters, mum, sister's bf, cousin and close friends - The 2 kids with enormous eyes are kids tat Grace's mum used to look after. They remind me of Tweety Bird. Eyes bigger than face..but very cute.

2 families coming together to have fun... it's call doubling the fun! =)

~Conferment Ceremony~

2006-08-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

~*Conferment Ceremony*~

Not going to say much here.... lazy... hee! Just glad that this long awaited event puts a tick on one of my life goals attained!

So here's a pic of me to begin with...rolling up a booklet to pass of as my certificate first... hahahahah.

(Daddykins took this quite blur pic...hehe..sis-in-law, Grace said I looked like a lil girl in this...ha!)

Not a clear bright shot as Daddykins and my family were sitting quite far back. Going upstage to collect my certificate.

Got my certificate! Whooopeee! Fer took this. I think Fer's photography is better than Daddykins...Heeee.

Fer & I... From sibling rivalry since young to this..we've grown so much! =)

Mummy dearest and I next! Daddykins have to rush off cos of IMF event.

More of Mummy dearest & I.

From project mates to friends(L-R): Cheryl (She's the exception...I've known her since Secondary school days..hehe), Shirley, Me, Vasa. This pic is courtesy of Vasa's camera. Taken by her hubby Rosli (I'm putting it down on my blog so that I won't forget his name the next time we catch up again...it could be some time from now..hehe)

Annie & me..Kawaii!!! Hahahah...riiight. (Pic courtesy of Annie's camera).

Shirley & I

Coming up...me, myself and I pics. Heeeee....
Me

Myself

And I...Hee... Fer was my photographer for that day!

No celebration is complete without food. So my family went to Ichiban Boshi @Novena Square to continue celebrating this joyous occassion. =) Daddykins rejoined us when he was done with IMF.

Me feeling bliss after the ceremony....=)

Grace & Fer...they surprised me with a prezzie to celebrate my graduation. Awww...

It's SoOoooO pretty!!!! And the packaging is soOoOoO bootiful!!! It's a lovely pen! I call it the "gold strawberry pen" as the studs on the gold pen reminds me of a strawberry somehow. =) Awww....thanks Grace & Fer!!

My family! I'm touched that they all took leave from work to share my joy & celebrate this occassion together. =)

Operation: Land & Conquer

2006-08-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

Operation: Land & Conquer

4 days, 3 nights, 2 girls, 1 goal - to take on the streets of Bangkok by storm. Hehe.

Yup, Hui Boon and I certainly did. Determine to shop until we achieve diminishing marginal returns on shopping!

So one fine Friday night, we two shopaholics set off for Bangkok on 25th August 2006.

(Our flight via Finnair. AY98 Departing for Helsinki via Bangkok @2150)

We had some time before our boarding. We checked in and started our operation earlier. We went to DFS. Hehe. But we only browse through the items to pass time... we didn't buy anything. REALLY!

(Hui Boon and I @Boarding Area.... )

Finally, we boarded the plane and are off!!! WoOooHooOoO!! Watch out, Bangkok... here we come!!! Hehe.

(Eager troopers onboard AY98)

(What I usually take onboard my flights when I'm on vacation...it's true if you refer back to my archived posts! =P)

It was about 2 hours flight from Singapore to Bangkok. AY98 didn't feature any movies, all they played for that 2 hours was these 2 bears grazing in the forest. That 2 hours felt like eternity to me. I mean how interesting can 2 bears in a forest be for passengers who are eager to land and shop until they drop?! Bleah.....

Watching bears graze was so interestingly boring that the only thing it did to me was made me hungry. Hehe...

Luckily for a hungry me... they served dinner onboard our flight. Hehe...Would you believe that this was the only thai meal I had for my trip to Bangkok? Surprisingly, airplane food was not too bad. Green Curry Chicken.

And check out the exorbitant snack prices in Euro that they sell onboard the plane. 2 euro dollars for instant noodle?! Rip Offfff!!

Finally, the pilot announced that we are arriving in Bangkok .... BUT due to heavy traffic, the plane cannot land for another 10mins. Urghhhhh.............*faint* Our plane had to taxi in the sky for some time and actually circulated 3 times around the same area. Grrrr...... FASTER!!!! hehe... How I wish the plane would land right smack in Suan Lum Night Market so I can shop immediately upon touchdown. Hehehe.

So I whipped out my baby and started taking pictures from my window thinking that perhaps I can spot Suan Lum Night Market this way.. Hahaha. Like real. This was what I got:

Half way through my snapshots, the pilot announced we would be landing soon. Yay.... it's about time!! After customs and all, We arrived at Asia hotel and was told that they no longer have any non-smoking rooms left (I was thinking.... Oh dear!!! I'm gonna breathe smoke even when I sleep?) and they gave us a deluxe smoking room. When we checked into our room....Thank God.. it had a lovely floral scent and no smoky smell. I'm VERY sensitive to smells ok....that's why I'm so particular...heheh. So this is our room.

Huiboon said my hotel pic of the beds can be sold to the hotel to help them advertise. Hehehe. =) To me the rooms are ok... not too bad as what I've heard or researched on the internet on Asia Hotel. Maybe cos our room is a deluxe... not sure. Anyway, who cares!! It's good enough!!! And we won't be using the room much!!! Hehehe...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Operation in Active Day 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early in the morning, we trooped off to the tailors Joyce recommended at Sukhonvit (?) and had a ball of a time deciding what material to tailor our stuff. Okokokok... I HAD A BALL of a time deciding what material for my office pants, shirts, skirts. For those of you who wanna tailor made ur stuff in BKK, lemme know..I'vegot the contacts. Hehehe.. The tailors told us to head back that evening for fitting... WOW!! They're like flash gordons on sewing up our stuff man!!! We... Ok... I mean I ordered a number of office attires.. since CHEAP MAH!

Next target: MBK!! On the way there, we had to pass by a few shopping malls that were linked to MBK and I saw this "sign". I thought it was interesting ...a change to the usual toilet signs.

(NO...I was NOT using my camera to zoom into the little boys room fyi.....I just happen to only see the gents and not passby the ladies...and I have no time to locate the ladies given my mission!!)

MBK!!!! Found & Conquered!!!

HB and I just shopped... and shopped and shopped... and shopped... and shopped. If you're not convinced of how much we 2 shopaholics can shop... lemme just illustrate further.... hehehe.

I was wearing my super comfy and trusty Havaianas slippers with me... as I knew that there would be alot of walking. I shopped SOOOOO much without resting that.....even with my super comfy and trusty slippers (I'm almost embarrassed to say this..)BOTH MY FEET CRAMPED as I was trying out some shoes in MBK!!! (Okie... U can stop laughing or sniggering at me now you unsympathetic people!!!) hahahah.

To emphasize further on how much we shopped..from 945am we went out of our hotel... went tailors.. blah blah blah... and then I think we reached MBK at about say 12pm? Determined to meet our goal.. we didn't stop to rest or sit or take even a pee break.... and oh yes... no lunch as well. There's a greater calling.... Shopping. Hehehe. And we only sat down for dinner at about 845pm I think. We went to this Ramen place and the portion was pretty huge (to me la... and I couldn't finish ...HB say I eat very little.. but I think it's a lot!!) .. all for ?? 60 Baht (199 baht is roughly SGD 8.... go figure!!!!).

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel as MBK is like 5mins away from our stay. Reached hotel at about 10pm, put our "victories" aside.. washed up.. pee break. Then instantaneously... we looked at each other and with shopaholics' telepathy... we just nodded to each other to set off for the night market - Suan Lum Night Market. Hehehe..You think we had enough?! You so underestimated us! hehehe...

Took a cab to Suan Lum and we shopped until the market closed at about 1ish 2am I think. And cos my camera batt was flat I couldn't take any pics. Went back to hotel, bathed and plonked into beds. When my body was lying on the bed... I thought I couldnt feel my legs ... hehehe...

Therefore verdict for operation day 1: Tailors - conquered! MBK - conquered! Suan lum Night Market - conquered!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Operation in Active Day 2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a hearty breakfast, we continued our mission. Chatuchat was next on our list. We arrived there at about 10isham I think. And here's a pic of Moi~ at Chatuchat. I've heard numerous horror stories of Chatuchat; of how humid it can be, how people can get lost, how packed it can be, that its like a maze and how people end up in the wrong sections of the market (e.g. pets), ra ra ra... but finally! Here I am to experience the horror myself. Hehe.

Me... before we went into the legendary Chatuchat... hahaha.

After what seem like forever, I screamed to Huiboon that I admit defeat!!! All the horrors were true except that we didn't get lost and end up in the wrong segment of the market. I surrendered because of humidity. The weather for that day itself was pretty good actually. Although Chatuchat had lots to see as compared to MBK and Suan Lum.... I truly loathed the humidity... I hated being touched or smeared by what feels like a thousand sweaty people there when I already feel so icky!!! I was dodging here and there to avoid being touched. Obviously I wasn't successful.

We left Chatuchat after approximately 3 odd hours there, I think. You have no idea how relieved I was of leaving that wind forsaken place! Decided to go to Siam Square to pamper our bodies after what we did to it the day before. Hahaha. Took a snap of this from the train ride to Siam Square while recuperating from Chatuchat. We looked high and low for the massage place that Yilin Tan recommended. With sign language and caveman English, we managed to get some directions from the locals on where the massage place was. Found!Marble House Massage @Siam Square. Due to time constraint, (we made dinner reservations at Fuji Jap Restaurant at MBK at 7pm), we opted for an hour's traditional Thai massage for 300baht each.

Oh.. yeah... before we went to Marble House... Huiboon spotted this sign below.... EEeeeeeeeeeee....
The traditional thai massage eased all tension and bodyaches we had. It was really good! When the lady started massaging my left leg first ...I could really feel my right leg growing jealous while awaiting its turn. Hehe.... Although I felt a little squirmish and ticklish here and there.... but overall the massage was wonderful after so much shopping!

Recharged, we continued our mission with a vengeance! Manicure and pedicure up next! We searched for the manicure & pedicure place that Joyce recommended and with rather little time left to our dinner reservation, we finally found the place, had all our nails done and rushed to MBK to have our dinner.

Inside Fuji restaurant, we two trigger happy ladies were taking pics here and there while waiting for our food to arrive. The decor of the place is brilliant! They did up the place in such a way it feels as though you are eating in a bamboo forest.

Wooooo.....Check out my food!! So much for 210baht!!! (Note: the side dish of straw mushrooms wrapped with bacon cost 85 baht (?) separately..) I so need to retire in Thailand!! hahaha...

Once more... I couldn't finish my bento set so I shared my food with Hb. I think the bento set can serve 2 people easily.

And yup, when we were done with indulging our tastebuds & stomachs, we went back to the hotel, refreshed ourselves before heading to Suan Lum Night Bazaar again! hahhaa.

As I couldn't take pics of Suan Lum the night before, I took some on our return trip back there and took a lovely pic of the ferris wheel. I like this pic.

I think I have something for ferris wheels without me realising. I was blogging and posting this pic and realise that I have pics of ferris wheels from most of my trips..

(Amsterdam & London.. pic in London is not really a ferris wheel but London eye). And now Bangkok to add on to the collection.. ha!

A shop that sells lightings...=) pic blurred though... hehe.

Pink taxi fetched us home! hehehe... One of our goals in thailand..hahaha.. to sit the pink taxi! The taxi driver was sooO sweet... we told him we wanted to take a pic of his cab and he didn't just rushed off, he waited for us to snap our pics well before he took off.

When we arrived back in our hotel, our tailor made clothes were already there at the concierge. Cool! That was the end of day 2. Verdict: Operation Chatuchat failed. But conquered Siam Square and Suan Lum (AGAIN!) ...hehe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Last Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With 1.5 hours to go before our transport picked us up to transfer to the airport, HB and I made a speedy gonzales trip to MBK (5 mins brisk walk from our hotel) to try to accomplish our last goal from our operation; stock up on undergarments!!!! hahha... MUCHHHHH cheaper than Singapore mah... So we did all that in like a span of about an hour 10mins, brisk walked back to hotel, chucked our purchases into our bags, checked the room and checked out of the hotel.

Arrived at airport and I took this pic before we boarded the plane. Wanted to create a monochrome retro feel... hehehe...

So its bubbai bangkok from here and home sweet home. Don't ask me how much I spent in Bangkok please... hehehe.. I don't wish to face reality. :PPPP

On recovering....

2006-08-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

On recovering....

After countless toilet rolls, 2 and a half boxes of kleenex, many glasses of water and a number of flu medication, I thank God that I'm getting better. =)

I went to work yesterday as per normal. At work I continued to wheeze and was still not feeling too well. There was a slight throbbing pain at my right hand, from my wrist onwards to my elbow. Pretty unusual since I have never experience pain on my right hand only (usually its just bodyaches) when I'm down with flu. With my colleague's advice, I went to the doctor's again to get medical leave for today so I can rest and hopefully recover before I depart for Bangkok this Friday night.

At home, the pain on my right hand seems to be escalating. From a bearable stage it became a torture. The pain made my right hand weak, I couldn't grasp things properly as it only worsen the pain. It felt as though the veins on my right hand were all tied up in knots. It seems as though the pain was concentrated on just one area! Even when I first took up tennis lessons, my arms did not ache that badly as this. Was nearly in tears. How to shop in Bangkok like dat?! Hehe... I was nearly in tears not from that, cos the pain was truly excruciating.

Bearing the pain was tiring... I decided I should get more rest and turned in early. Prayed and went to sleep, that was about 8ish pm. Being a light sleeper, I woke up when Mum came into the room to check if I was having a fever. When I woke up, so did the pain in my right hand. I looked at the clock and it was close to midnight. A little disheartened but I continued to pray but this time with more faith that I know my Lord will restore my health before this Friday. After that I went back to sleep.

Voila! This morning when I woke up, my right hand felt a little weak but the pain was gone. My nose was much better too. Hallelujah, thank God! And thank you to those who prayed for me as well! =)

I felt muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhh better as compared to the last few days. I think this must have been one of the worst bout of flu I've gotten. In fact, I think of all the times that I was sick... other than the one and first time I had a very bad stomach flu which I was puking everyday for 2 weeks straight, this can go down 2nd in my history of being sick.

Was typing this entry and having a light lunch while watching telly too. It feels good to be feeling good once more. Hehe. THEN, channel 8 on TV showed a documentary about these 2 Singaporean ladies giving birth. Yes, the whole entire process was captured on the camera live. How the baby came out was not shown of cos... the camera focus on the mothers trying to er.. "squeeze" (??) out the babies. And... it's HORRIFYING I tell you!!!!!!!! I should have switched channels but my eyes were glued to the telly while my hands refused to cooperate with my brain.

I lost my appetite and yeah ... I feel sick again...I can feel my stomach churn... urghhhh...
I think if someday I ever have kids... I'll order mine online ... delivered via storck express. Hehe. What was realllllly sweet was after one of the mothers popped, the father carried his baby and said to it (I dun know if the baby was a boy or a girl.. so thus an it!) "You're fearfully and wonderfully made"..Awwwwwwwwwww.... *melts*. But I think I'll still order mine online... child bearing? *shudder*

Splendid Weekend... But...

2006-08-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Splendid Weekend... But....

Friday, 18th August 2006:

Prior to Friday, I was on medical leave on Thursday, 17th August 2006 cos of my nose. I was sneezing non-stop on Wednesday, August 16th. Those who know me, know that this is a common thing that occurs every now and then. Sensitive nose and also sinus. Sigh.. poor me.

Anyway, I slept throughout Thursday and felt better on Friday. After work, I met up with Merv for dinner to just catch up with this brother. Merv accompanied me until 11ish as I was watching a movie with Junming, Junming (yes, it's not a typo... its 2 Junmings), Benedict (?) and Esther near to midnight.

So the 4 twin towers came and I felt like the hobbit Frodo amongst 4 very tall people. Nonetheless, I enjoyed myself with the bit of arcade games we played before the movie and I enjoyed the movie 'Click' too.

Somehow, I found myself becoming an Adam Sandler fan gradually. The movie Click sortof touched my heart and made me realise that I do not have much time left with the people I love (e.g. Gramps) who have not come to know and accept Jesus as yet. Went back that night pretty tired but with a heavy impression on my heart to spend more time and reach out to Gramps. Tried as I may but I couldn't get much sleep.

*****************************************************************************************

Saturday, 19th August 2006:

I finally fell asleep but the birds have started to chirp. Brilliant..-.-!!! I continued to laze on my bed but a few psychotic pigeons kept flying to my window and kept on coo-ing. A few times, I shoo-ed them away but they just keep coming back! I mean c'mon... there are like 16 floors of windows to choose from... why do they have to come to mine when I'm dead tired? Murphy's law at work. Usually, I'm not against animals. But that morning, I wished I had a catapult in my hands. For you pigeon lovers... please note that I did nothing to them. Although I can't say likewise of what they did to me....and my window.

Crawled out of bed.. washed up... had a slice of bread and watched some telly, cleaned my window. Went back to my bed and did some quiet time. Read my daily devotional guide and Acts 27:25 was like calling out to me, especially the part where it says "it will happen just as he told me". Hmm... pondered about that and smiled to myself knowing that I've been assured. =) Prepared for Saturday service and the sermon by Ps. Jeff was ministering to me. Cos I was just thinking about family and stuff along those lines.

After service, I bid the girls farewell as I was feeling the aftermath of not having enough sleep. Also, I thought I should just spend time with Mummy dearest. Bought a rice dumpling cos I was very hungry (My stomach growled during service..hehe and the girls heard it. That was how hungry I was!) Had a nice slow stroll back home while munching my dinner and slurping my Barley drink.

Tried to sleep but found myself tossing and turning. My nose was acting up again. But I managed to catch more sleep than the night before. Thank God.

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Sunday, 20th August 2006:

Woke up, changed and went to church for some meetings. There's a number of meetings today. Met up with the cg for lunch and Gab passed me the church invite for the church anniversary event. I glanced at the invite and saw that my mandarin name was written on it. Hmmmm!!! I wondered who was the joker. Well, I have a slight adversion to my mandarin name. I think it's not nice la... heheh... Andrew picked up my invite that was on the table and asked all the guys from cg if they were XXX XXXX. He thought it was a guy. Hhmmpph.

To add insult to injury, Weeleong said he thinks that my mandarin name is nicer than my English name. I told him that I will feedback what he just told me to my mother and my father, since they were the ones who chose both Priscilla and XXX XXXX for me. Hehehe.

After the 1st meeting was done, there was the Family Ties meeting. Once more, I'm not involved this year in this activity. Last year was cos of my uni-project meetings and this year... I'll be away in Bangkok. It's not pre-arranged ok!! Lol. So while everyone was in the auditorium listening to the instructions for the Family Ties event, I was outside glancing at the colourful

"thank God"messages written by many people on a board, in conjunction with the upcoming church anniversary, while waiting for the Family Ties meeting to end (There was another meeting after that which I was attending).

Teck Keong saw me and we had a brief chat about Camp com stuff and went back into the auditorium when I thought I head that the Family Ties Meeting was over. Anyway, in the auditorium while waiting for the Regional Team Meeting to start, we were just gathered amongst ourselves and as usual we were talking and laughing.

For some reason that I'm totally clueless about, my mandarin name was mentioned once more by dunnoe who. Ggggrrr.... So I tried to 'C.S.I' and find out who in the world wrote my mandarin name on the church invite. I failed miserably. And somehow... more people got to know about my mandarin name. Ok, for those of you who already know... SHUT UP!!!! Hehehhe. Just kiddin... keep it to urself ya? I much prefer to be called Pris or Priscilla, thank you.

After the meeting, some of us went downstairs to play pool and How Joo joined us as well. When pool ended, Merv, Gab and I went for dinner. We had chicken rice at Lucky Plaza ... It was good. So good that I had to walk home after that to help digest the chicken in me.

Came home and little did I know that the nightware was about to happen. I went to bed and my nose was badly clogged. Keep blowing my nose to clear the nasal passage. Couldn't. Few seconds later... it was blocked again. This entire process repeated until Monday morning. Sigh..I didn't even catch a wink of sleep. *Sob*Sob*Poor me...I had a splendid weekend but am oh so exhausted thanks to my nose.

I think I'm about to come down with flu or something. Urrrgh... not when I'm heading for BKK this Friday!! This does not feel like the sinus thingy that usually happens for a day or two only. Doc's medication didn't help much ... urgh... my nose is still pretty much blocked. I need to get well soon to be able to take on the streets of Bangkok by storm!