Splendid Weekend... But...

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.

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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!

Of Milk Tea & Delayed Posting of Pics

Milk Tea:
Mine Shine Milk Tea gets 2 thumbs up from me!! It's not too sweet and it's easy on the throat!

Those sold in 7-11s are usually plastered with mandarin words instead of the English packaging you see in the pic below.

SGD $1.70 per bottle and nope... I'm not their agent. Just that I went to Japan and tried the milk tea there... it's splendid! And this is the closest I can find to the milk teas from Japan!

GO TRY!!!!

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Delayed Posting of Pics:

Home internet has been rather erratic so didn't post these pics earlier. Here's some pics of HuiBoon's last day with us. We went to New Harbour for lunch and that's me with HB with our fave pose! Hahaha..^.^v

Top pic in Green Background: Joel Tan & HB in HB's fave pose. ^.^v haha. Next pic in office: Liz with HB in HB's fave pose. ^.^v and bottom pic is Patrick with HB and HB doing her fave pose ^.^v! hahaha. okokok I shall spare all of you with the repeated phrase.

Office seems a little strange without HB. Since I worked with her in the same account before and enjoyed working with her thoroughly....let's just say its synergy. Hehehe. Anyway, I can't wait to go to Bangkok with her!

A Hog & A Wild Boar

A Hog & A Wild Boar

My team went to Hog's Breathe at Chjimes for a farewell lunch for LayHoon today.

(painted wall...cute)

(the team..)

(Prime Ribs which I shared with Cally... Yum...)

So while we were happily chomping away on our food... somehow the conversation led to the question of "What's the difference between a hog & a wild boar?". Some of us were guessing that wild boar had tusks beside the nose while hogs didn't, whereas some of us shook our heads and disagreed.

Anyone wanna make a guess? Before you HIGHLIGHT the answer in pink below... make some guesses!! (Note: Heyheyhey!! No cheating!! :D) My colleague Liz found out the difference from the Australian Oxford Paperback Dictionary that was lying around on my manager, Ms. Cheang's desk (Ms. Cheang has gone for maternity leave so we helped ourselves to her dictionary..hehe)...

When I read the definitions... I laughed. I thought the defintions were pretty farnie.

Answer: A hog is a male castrated pig reared for meat. A boar is 1. a wild pig 2. an uncastrated domesticated pig.

Tze Yee's Birthday

Tze Yee:

Dearest Tze Yee,

Time really flies! It's been 2 great years since I first know you and everyday I thank the Lord for a wonderful friend, sister and shepherd like you!

It's your birthday and I thought I'd dedicate a blog entry to you and affirm you as well. =)

Although its been only 2+ years, it does not feel like so. It seems like I've known you all my life. Or rather, you have known me all my life. =)

I don't know if I told you this before... but I appreciate and treasure the fact that I need not say much to you, yet you are able to sense and know what I'm thinking. It seems there is a mysterious affinity between us despite knowing each other for only 2+ years. I guess this mysterious affinity is God. =) To me, the unspoken means so much more. =)

I can tell you about anything under the sun and have the assurance that I won't be judged and that is something I feel you've blessed me with tremendously. You never fail to open your house to us girls for anything, be it shepherding, girls' hen parties, trial and error cooking/baking sessions, etc. It's really generous and sweet of you to do so, especially when you're a new mother and you could have easily spent the time and effort with Ashley. But you didn't. =)

As I always chant that sharing is caring (hehe), you've demonstrated this really well not just by opening your house to us, but you're ever ready to impart knowledge (spiritual as well as secular!), information, share beauty tips, share your experience and more importantly, you share my joys and troubles. You're a good example of Galatians 6:2 -(2Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.)

You never fail to affirm and encourage me and my relationship with God is where it is today cos you played an active part in it. =) Therefore, thank you for all that you've done for me. Thank you for the time and effort you spent on and with me. I appreciate it.

I've grown to love you as my friend and sister and I thank God for you! You made a difference in my life and I look forward to more years of serving in God's kingdom with you!

Love,

Pris

Falling In Love?

Falling in Love?

It has been an interesting two weeks thus far. Nearly every other day for the last 2 weeks, I have had someone teasing/disturbing/interrogating me about my love life or marriage or linking me up with someone else. I have no idea what caused a variety of my friends from different walks of my life to actually teased me in such a synchronised fashion..

I'm amazed that I'm still alive after what my friends, I mean "foes" (lol!) put me through. I've come to realise that avoidance, trying to laugh it off, blushing, giving my friends the beady eyes as in -.- would not put a stop to their teasing. It only heightens their excitement at my expense of course. So yeah...if you can't beat them... I suppose I could just let them be. Haha.

Unfortunately to my dismay, these naughty imps didn't let me off. So the conversations and the emails go something like these:

Conversation in office:

Me: Hey, where's D? I don't see him around.

Colleagues: He's overseas, why? You miss him?

Me: Riiiiiight...

Colleagues: We know you miss him.. that's why you're asking...

Me: Noo... Riiiight...whatever..

Colleagues: *Snigger*snigger*

Email from best friends:

K: So what's up with you ladies?

Me: Nothing much... usual.. busy with stuff... what about you gals?

C: Just came back from Tokyo... blah blah blah...

K: I see... so Pri..what stuff are you busy with? Why so tight lipped? Spill the beans..

Me: Huh? Busy with work and some church stuff ...

K: You do know that C and I don't believe you right? C'mon... are you seeing anyone? Interested in anyone? Out with it.. What church stuff huh? What about office?

Me: I think you gals have gone ballistic... Anyway, it's nice to receive your email finally, K, and know that you're still alive.

K: Don't even try to change the topic, Pri. Out with it.

Me: I think you people are horrible...

Another conversation in office:

S: How come you're still in office, Pris? Leaving soon?

Me: Yeah... in awhile... still too early for my lesson.

S: Lesson? I thought you completed ur uni last year?

Me: Yeah, I was done with uni last year... it's a church course I'm attending tonight...

S: Oh I see.... What course you attending... Marriage Course? Who's going with you, huh?

Me o.O???: NOooOoo.... It's not a marriage course laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....

S laughing: So, are you in love?

Me: HUH?! Say what?!

S laughing: I thought you looked like you're in love of late.

Me -.-!!!: What're you talking about? I look the same everyday!!!

S: *snigger*snigger* that's what u think!

Me: Hmmm... I think I should leave the office now... hehe..

Overseas call from a friend:

M: Yo woman, when you coming to visit me huh?

Me: When I feel like it... hehehe... so how's everything down under?

M: Everything's ok... what about you? How's it going, huh?

Me: I'm good too...

M: Are you dating anyone?

Me: Not you toooooo!!!!

(More... as of 17 Aug 06) MSN Conversation 1:

Me seeing RY's nick, msned him: I like the drink Calpis Grape too! After you recommended it to me for my Japan trip la.

RY: Yeah, nice right?

Me: Yup! =)

RY on seeing my MSN pic: Wah... what a kawaii pic..

Me: Haha... issit? thought of changing pic liao..

RY: Why? nice what...Wah... ur pic like u beaming with radiance.

Me: Issit? No la.. Lighting I bet.

RY: Usually only one reason explains such beaming radiance. Falling in love...

Me: Yeah right... lighting la!!!

You wouldn't believe this.. neither did I.. Msn Conversation 2 at the same time with RY:

S: *Nudge*Nudge*

Me: Yo.. wassssup!!! =)

S: How come never reply to my email?

Me: What email?

S: The other time I mass send out to everyone in office wan..

Me: I see...you already say its attentioned to mass what... hehe.

S: So how Pris, got bf not? Is anyone chasing you?

Me: Huh? Where did that come from?

Sigh.... if only my friends can understand that falling in love isn't part of a plan. Or at least change their target to poke fun at... hehehe. There's a season and time for everything and I guess the season now I have to face is their teasing... hehe.

Of Long Walks...and appreciation

Of Long Walks...and appreciation..

I love to take long walks. Taking in the beautiful sights, observing how people interact with one another... strolling at my own pace and with my mini ipod playing my favourite tracks... to me, it's rejuvenating. Such strolls help me to clear my thoughts, reorganise my thinking, gives me ideas and solutions (sometimes) and helps me to stay focus on my priorities.

I can still remember how enjoyable these long walks were when I was in Europe last year on vacation with my colleagues. We walked in the cool summer breeze to some sidewalk cafes for our breakfast or lunch or tea break or dinner (or all of the above on some days.. hahah)... without any cares at all about work or anything else. After meals we would walk to some museums nearby, some nearby market place to buy fresh fruits to savour while walking or to bring back to the apartment, pay tributes to some shopping malls (we can't resist shopping...) or some tourist attractions. And we would walk back to Annie & Thomas' apartment at the end of the day. It was truly relaxing and I missed that!

So yesterday, after watching Pirates of the Carribean (Part 2) with Jonaphine, Gabriel and Junming, (Btw... side note: I thought Johnny Depp was very quirky & charming!! haha) I decided that I would walk to Lucky Plaza, replenish my toiletries and walk back home from there. While walking to Lucky Plaza from Cineleisure, the sun was a tad scorching but it was pretty shady so I thought... perhaps it's not as warm as I thought. When I was done with Lucky Plaza... I started my walk home.

Obviously, I thought wrong. With every step I took, I thought that I was about to faint with the sun beating down on me. I paused at Far East Plaza for a second and wondered if I should take a bus instead... at least it's air-conditioned.. at least in less than 10mins I would be home sweet home in such frying weather. Tempting...but I decided that I should continue walking anyway. The walk could do some (minimal) wonders to my physique as well as help me unwind. And so I did.

As I continued my journey with humidity as my main companion, out of the blue, the words of one of my HR clients that I work with came into my mind.. "Thank you very much on this complicated case. Appreciated". I shan't go into long details about the complicated expatriate case but it was really nice to have someone appreciate what you are doing. I wasn't expecting a thank you from her as it was my role afterall. But I would say her thank you to me was an incentive / bonus. There and then..it reminded me to always appreciate and thank people too for the things that they have done for me or just simply for just being a friend to me! Somehow, this reminded me of the parable of the 10 lepers where only one came back to thank Jesus for curing him. As I reflected on my relationship with the Lord, I thank the Lord for just being Him as I walked. Everyday, I revel in His unconditional love for me. Amazing what humidity can do! hahah..

Alas, I reached home. Probably lost 200grams of water weight from walking in that kindof weather ... cooled down... washed up and started to pamper myself with the toiletries I bought earlier... and felt... soOo good... Refreshed and had a sense of accomplishment from keeping to walking back home in sahara desert weather (singapore version) and more appreciative of the Lord as well as the people around me.

Constipated Thoughts

Constipated Thoughts

When tiny thoughts start to swirl in a restless mind..

When ignored, they begin to snowball over time..

The Lord said "Come lay them all down at my feet.."

"Rejuvenate from the water of Life... have more than a sip.."

And so I did, just as I was told...

Lo & behold.. my constipated thoughts... He took control.

That night, we talked longer than usual.

The more we converse... depleted energy seem to refuel.

It was a tad late but I didn't wanna stop.

It was delightful to have such intimate moments with the Lord.

Until alas... my eyelids began to weigh like a ton.

I thanked Him for everything He has done.

And so..that night as I went to bed...

Of constipated thoughts.... they were no longer in my head.

I'm So Proud of You!!!!!

I'm So Proud of You!!!!!

I received a surprise email today. It was from my uni mate, Apple, who relocated to Shanghai with her husband, Kafoon more than a year ago as Kafoon took up an assignment in China.

"Dear Prisc,
I've delivered on 19July afternoon and have just came home last weekend.
It's forceps assisted natural birth, really a tough experience for me but thank god that baby and me are both fine. My baby is 3.2kg and 50cm long at birth, and his name is Henry SHi Thu He. Attached some photos for you.
Will write again soon!"

And here's a pic of baby Henry:

He's a cutey!!!

Are all babies this cute? Hehe. It's the best news of the day and I'm so thankful to God for keeping both mother and son safe and healthy! Apple, you have no idea how proud I am of you! Once more, congratulations to both you and Kafoon on the arrival of little Henry!!!

Reliving Sesame Street

(Overdued post but I'll post it for memory sake anyway... lol)

Reliving Sesame Street
[Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away.

On my way to where the air is sweet.

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Streeeeeet!]

I finally know how to get to Sesame Street! For real! Hehe.

Depending on where you are that is... I was at Somerset after church one Sunday

And along with my chums like Jerilee and Merv, we three troopers set off to get to Sesame Street! Oh yes! Before we set off, here are some pics. Dorcas, Me and Jerilee in the same colour! What a coincidence!

Meng chong = "Daddy" potential in training. Haha. He's the first male in our caregroup that can make baby Ashley sleep so soundly in public! Hehehe.

As I was saying we were in Somerset area, so we took the train down to Pasir Ris where the Sesame Street live performance would be (It's not free if that notion flew across your mind... we paid a WHOOPING 40 buckaroos to relive our childhood...). Hehe.

Upon our arrival at Pasir Ris train station, we had to take a shuttle bus 354 from the Pasir Ris bus interchange area (btw, here's a trivial pursuit: anybody knows whats the diff between shuttle bus or feeder bus?) to where the performance was held in Downtown East. I was telling some folks that I have no idea why Downtown East is called Downtown East cos it sure isn't downtown at all!!!!! Even if it is supposed to be in downtown of the east area!!

(waiting for bus)


Finally........ *drum rolls* Ladies and Gentlemen.. boys and girls...

I present to you..... Sesame Street .. (found!!!) hehehe..

So while walking in to where the performance was held... we took a lot of cheesy but fun pictures together...

I liked this picture. It looks as though Jerilee and I are holding Elmo's hand.

Now... it's time for the performance!!!

Jerilee and I sang along to many of the Sesame street songs and all of us had a ball of a time reliving our memories.

There was Big Bird (lots of kids were screaming they like big bird), Elmo, Zoey, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, The martians that always go "yipyipyipyip" (If you grew up with Sesame street you'll know what I mean), Bert & Ernie, The count, 1 Honker, Telly Monster, Grover, etc. Can't recall all. That was how far we were from the stage. And as you can see from the pic below, the number of that day was......2!

(The different names of Sesame Street in other countries)

There was a 15mins intermission. (I think the people in the sesame street suits need a break too.. heheheh) and Jerilee spotted this lil' rugrat that was soooOooooo cute! See her photo below!!! We tried to ask her over but she didn't budge(smart lass!) so I had to zoomed my camera all the way to try to snap a pic of her. I wanna play with her chubby cheeks!!!

And that was how to get to Sesame Street! Hehe. Anyone wanna make a guess on who my favourite Sesame Street Character is? If you get it right... you'll win my *drum rolls* Sesame Street ticket stub!! Wahahahahah... just kiddin... (Disclaimer: Merv & Jerilee, you're barred from this ... haha).

I wanna comPrain

I wanna comPrain:

Hehe... these are some trivial everyday peeves that sometimes drives us nuts. See if you will find yourself in similar situations as I did.

1. 25,000-29,000 cabs in Singapore and I could not even flag down one available cab at 1020pm at Bugis Junction last Thursday.

2. When I finally flagged down an available cab, the taxi driver asked me if I am going to Changi Airport as he is going there, I said no and he drove off. I think Singapore is one of the few countries in the world that there are a number (I'm not saying all but there are more than a handful) of taxi drivers that actually chooses the destination for the passengers. *I think it's ok if they are changing shift, are "on-call" and shows the on-call sign or heading home. BUT NOT WHEN ITS NONE OF SUCH SITUATIONS!!* Amazing, huh?

3. Some pint size women always like to touch, push and then shove my back when the train is about to stop but have not come to a complete halt to open the doors.

4. Some pint size women (I believe they are probably the same group from point 3 above)would end up stepping on my shoes somehow while making our way to the mrt gantries.

5. Once more, some pint size women (I believe its the same group as points 3 & 4...AGAIN) would "Tssssssk" pretty loudly at me when I turned around to see who stepped on my shoes, eventhough I was the victim.

6. People who jammed up the queue every morning at the MRT gantry when the gantry could not capture their EZ-link card in their bag to let them pass through. And they rather try their luck by placing their bags on all 360 degree angles instead of taking the card out of the bag to tap the system sensor.

7. People who halt in the middle of the right lane of the MRT escalator and caused a queue by answering a call/sms on their mobile phone. I wonder which part of having a MOBILE phone do they not understand?

8. People who come into the lift on the 17th floor to press the lift to the 18th floor or come in at the 24th floor to press the lift for the 25th floor when I am supposedly alone in the lift and my office is 26th floor!! For this reason, my lift ride becomes 5mins and I have to factor that into my waking up and travelling time to the office!!

9. Some people dry their hands off me (literally) by flicking their wet hands vigorously after a wash at the lavatory basin.

10. Some people do not dry their hands off victims like me but they dry it off by opening the toilet door. And guess who comes along to open the SAME DOOR with the SAME DOOR HANDLE? And we wonder how germs are spread?

11. Taxi auto-doors that I have to open manually, cos most cab drivers don't open it for you.

12. Reaching out to open the taxi auto-doors thinking that most cab drivers don't open for you and it opens automatically and slams into your thigh.

13. Friends of mine who renamed scary trailer videos and files as "beautiful scenery" and send them to unsuspecting, scaredy cat victims like me.

Can you think of anymore daily life peeves? Feel free to add on.

30th June 2006 - Sherlene's wedding

30th June 2006 - Sherlene's wedding

Okie, the last time that my department had wedding bells ringing, it was when Weeslee got married to her husband, Tong Boon. The camera so-not-shy Assignment Services department (that includes me of cos! Hehe.) went wild at snapping pictures together; before the wedding, during the wedding, after the wedding... we are always camera-ready folks. I don't recall a single occassion where we weren't ready for the camera. Haha. And that seems like many eons ago.

Last Friday, 30th June 2006, we rushed through our work in the day to be able to leave office and be on time for Sherlene's wedding. We were so successful in rushing our work that some of us decide to celebrate that success at Marina Square's Zara sale before going for Sherlene's wedding. Hehe. Make use of your time what! Hehe.

So after a fruitful trip, we made our way down to Swissotel where the wedding dinner would be held. There were like 4 weddings held on the same day in Swissotel when we made our way up to the ballrooms, can!! Gosh... this would mean .... 4times of guests at the lavatory, 4 times of guests waiting at taxi stands at the end of the weddings too!! Boy, was I right when I said that.

Anyway, with Hui Boon's camera being available and while waiting for the wedding emcees to open the wedding ceremony officially, as usual assignment services had a great time in front of the camera.

Here are some pics (Courtesy of Hui Boon's cam):

Me, Hui Boon & Yilin.

The Frowneys (trying to be farnie as usual...hehe): Joel Tan & Liz. The Smileys: Joyce (back row), Patrick, Me, Yilin

Back row from L-R: Joel Tan (a.k.a Fido Dido), Liz (a.k.a elow cos of her lotus notes abbreviations), Joyce (a.k.a Joy-C, supposedly hong kong way of calling Joy-ce), Yan (a.k.a Beeeebob, Tze Shin Yan, previously known as Fatso Dodgy termed by Patrick as Yan's supposedly DJ wannabe name), Hui Boon (a.k.a HB, Ah-Boon, Hui Boon Lim by Patrick too).

Front row from L-R: Patrick (a.k.a Lil P termed by my boss, P, Patricko), Me (a.k.a Girly P termed by my boss, Pris Tham, Ah-Pui termed by Yilin Tan, Pui-si-le termed by Yan) Yilin (a.k.a Elin Dior Oraca Tan - long story not gonna explain here, Yilin Tan, Junyang fan), Daniel (a.k.a Chua Pak Chong - his mandarin name... you'll have to say his name like 2x faster than usual as that's how Yan & Yilin calls him).

What's left of the previous "D" team. Hehehe. HB, Me and Joel!

And last of all..... me! Hehehe.. Btw, Daniel Chua... I am NOT in all the pictures okie!! Take that back.. I resent that!! Hahahaha... Tssk... Sour grapes... hehehehhe...

My Testimony of My First Church Camp

My Testimony of My First Church Camp

"24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." (Genesis 32: 24-26 NIV)

Hmmmm.... Now that 3 verses struck me real hard. Perhaps some of you are aware that I have been praying for a spiritual breakthrough; to be Holy Spirit baptised, for the longest time ever. I think since the mid of last year and somehow to no avail.

This is my testimony of my first church camp with Hope church and I have decided to blog this entry down to remind me of God's goodness...

As mentioned above, I have been asking God every now and then when would I ever be Holy Spirit Bap. I questioned Him many times asking was it because I am not qualified and unworthy? And to be honest, in the beginning, I felt inadequate and spiritually retarded (it's true!) whenever I had to attend meetings in church and I could not speak in tongues and could only wonder and try to fathom what was it like to speak and communicate with my Heavenly Father in a different language altogether.

If I recalled correctly, one time after one of such meetings last year. I was vex with despair that I went home with a burden in my heart and cried to God. I wasn't raising my voice at God. I broke down and cried. Maybe this sounds silly but I guess, to want to experience something so much yet not be able to experience it was a real torture to me. All of a sudden, I felt the Holy Spirit swaying me and felt my heart calmed down with serenity. I knew it was Him. He told me not to despair and that in due time I would be able to speak in tongues. Being a curious kid since young, I pressed on asking Him if I could speak in tongues now. Tried with my own strength as I may, I could not and don't know how as well. But having His presence beside me, all despair and frustrations seeped away although I could not speak in tongues. So since that incident, whenever I prayed, I would feel the Holy Spirit swaying me... sometimes strongly, sometimes gently but always assuring and comforting me. It was wonderful to feel His assurance always...but I know deep down that I wanted more.

As church camp draws near, the 3 verses above that I read in Genesis pressed on further in my heart. I prayed to God and well ... sortof demanded in my prayer to God "I don't care anymore, if I had to wrestle with You like Jacob did to get a blessing, I will!!! [Note: the 3 !!! marks hehe] Just don't dislocate my hip like You did with Jacob yeah? I still need it!!! Amen!!". Hahaha.... silly... I know. I'm not kidding though when I said I told God that.

We arrived in Malacca safe and sound and at the beginning of the camp, we were told to write down our expectations from this camp on pieces of paper that were taped against the wall. The joy of finally arriving in Malacca, in addition with the excitement of my first church camp, I soon forgot that I wanted to be Holy Spirit Bap! I was expecting to make new friends and build better friendships. Well, I forgot but God didn't. As I was walking towards the walls to crayon down my expectations, someone wrote "BREAKTHROUGH" on it and seeing that, it spoke to me and reminded me that I wanted a spiritual breakthrough! I still crayon down that I wanted to make new friends and build better friendships but the word "breakthrough" was etched deep in my heart now.

So we had our praise and worship sessions on the first day which I thoroughly enjoyed and after an entire day of hype of arriving in Malacca, I crawled into my bed and was soon in lala land.

Next day, I woke up early to freshen up and saw the beautiful sunrise from our room's Tv area. Along with Jerilee, we were both cooing with delight about how lovely the sunrise was while snapping our fingers away at our digital cameras....trying to capture this moment. She went to freshen up and I went to blowdry my hair. While drying my hair... I asked God in my heart, "So, will it be today, huh?". I heard Him say audibly despite the noise made by the blowdryer "By the end of this church camp, you would be able to speak in tongues". Wow! That was literally mind (and hair) blowing! Hehe.

During the second day's praise and worship session, afterwhich everyone was praying, I prayed as well and tried to speak in tongues (as I was given a word to speak prior to church camp but never got down to uttering it). I was just repeating the word given to me but nothing happened. Zilch. Nada. Zero. Basically... nothing. And that was the 2nd day. Hmm... God, did You say end of this church camp? It's already the 2nd day.... Or You meant the next church camp?

Anyway, the third day of church camp arrived hastily and during another of the praise and worship session, there was an altar call for people who want to know what ministry in church they want to serve in. Was thinking to myself "oh... not me, I already (sortof) know what ministry I wanna serve, just that I have yet to decide on the final choice among the two." Suddenly, I felt a tug on my chest. It was pulling me towards the altar call. I thought to myself "Huh?! I already know what ministry I wanna serve!!! What's this?!". I didn't budge from where I stood but the tug got stronger and stronger until I was gasping for breathe. I thought my childhood asthma had caught up with me once more.

Ming who was beside me, saw me clutching at my chest and looking as though I was about to launch into a seizure, asked me what was wrong. I told him I felt something pulling me to the front and I simply can't breathe. He said "Then what you waiting for?" and pushed me to the side of the row of seats for me to make my way to the front of the altar. Now looking back, I thank God for Ming's alertness as well as the push he gave me. Perhaps like a stubborn mule, I needed that. Hehe.

I made my way to the front of the altar like a frighten little girl... still gasping for breathe and a wee wee bit petrified (going up to altar call by myself in a foreign land...well, I was in Malaysia wasn't I? Hehe. And was worried if my childhood asthma's gonna relapse? And why can't I breathe properly?!) As I reached the front, strangely, I could breathe normally again. I was assigned to Yan Xuan (?) and she asked me what I would like to pray for and I said I want to speak in tongues. She laid her hand on me and told me that she could feel the Holy Spirit in me already just that I need to exercise faith to speak out the word given to me, she also explained to me further about what is baptism of the Holy Spirit all about.

As both of us started to pray, I just uttered the word that I had in mind continuously and after about 5mins or less, Yan Xuan spoke to me about a prophesy that God had for me which touched me so deep that I ended up tearing. (Mind you, I only know the lady by name and face!!) I didn't confide in anybody about this but I guess my shepherd and my CL probably can guessed what was truly on my mind from the many times when they asked me to step out in faith and be bold for God, though I never told them about it. God told me to stop asking Him if I qualify, and that He told me He knew me even before I was in my mother's womb. He said He loves me alot but the question is...... "What about you, Priscilla?". That pierced through me.

I was tearing when I was done with the prophesy. I was about to walk back to my seat at the back of the rows when I saw Ming and Irving sitting there. They seem to be waiting for the Cg folks who have answered for altar call to be done to give them moral support. As I made my way towards them with mixed feelings. Feelings of being glad to see familar faces just behind me, feelings of appreciation of how caring and sweet-spirited my Cg brothers are, feelings of being touched by God's prophesy for me, I began to cry buckets. I think the Cg guys like Ming and Irving were probably flabbergasted when they saw that I started to cry. I cried because there and then, when God's prophesy rang once more in my head, I couldn't believe that God would love me so much.

I mean I know that He loves all of us very much but I was overwhelmed that He knew my deepest thoughts, He knew everything about me and yet He choose to love me despite me taking Him for granted sometimes, and He will continue to love me no matter who I am, what shape I am, what state I am, what I do or did not do for that matter, He will still love me! With that new found assurance, my life seems to have taken on a whole new perspective. Everything else seems to pale in comparison to just His assurance and love alone, I felt that everything else was secondary. Now, I truly know the meaning when people say "sometimes, words alone cannot describe how wonderful the feeling is".

Back at my seat, I felt like a kid who had cried too much and was breatheless. It's been a loooooooooOoong while since I cried or was touched. The last bit of ice in me... it melted. As praise and worship resumed, I thanked Him for His word and was singing and jumping with bubbling joy eventhough I was breatheless! After praise and worship, we prayed a bit more and as I was praying or saying the word I had in mind once more. Then....I heard myself spoke a foreign language so fast I could not understand. Immediately, I paused and went "Woah... what was that?!". I wanted to resume praying but the lights went on full and everyone made their way towards the exit for the next program. Urgh! Drats. Quickly, I made my way out of the hall (as I couldn't stand the post-crying feel of tears stuck on my face.. I know.. I'm hiao!!! Hahaha) and ran up to my room, washed up and changed for our unit's captain ball activity by the beach. Afterwhich we all washed up and got into our "aloha night" gear and made our way down for dinner at Mezzanine.

There, I went to talk to Clarence (I was his secret buddy) and Tobias (my secret buddy) and we exchanged contacts and took some kodak moments together. Tobias wrote me a thank you note for the gift I bought for him and I thought that was really nice and sweet of him (the note is filed together with my Kawan camp file as momento!). And that... was the 3rd day of our church camp. Little did I know that God's words to me in the morning of the 2nd day had already come true. I admit, my enzymes were a little slow to react. Hehe.

On the last day of church camp, at the last Praise and Worship session, we were praising God and when we prayed, once more I started to speak in a foreign language which I thought sounded Japanese. Hehe. Again, I went "Woah... Woah.. woah.. hang on.. what's that?". At that very moment, I was awe strucked. Though astonished.... I continued to give thanks to Him (in English though).

Back in Singapore, I was still on leave the next day after church camp. (I know.... I'm smart! Wahahaha... just kiddin...) I was happy that I made new friends and built better friendships from the camp. As I couldn't get enough of being in His presence, I quickly set my mind and heart aside to do some quiet time with Him. Was reading the passage on John 15:14-16 (NIV)

"14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."


Alright... I thought to myself. Jesus, You said ask in Your name since You call me friend and God will give unto me. So I asked Him again, "Hey God, You said I could speak in tongues at the end of church camp. It's the end of it now. Can I speak in tongues today?" I heard an audible and friendly "Sure!" and as I prayed and continued saying the word I had for 5mins or more, then I broke out speaking in tongues. I was definitely ... astounded.

I'm very thankful to Him for this gift and I enjoy talking to Him in tongues more than I ever had before in limited English. I enjoyed the church camp thoroughly as I made new friends and got to know some friends better. I'm grateful for all the love, care and concern my Cg sisters and brothers have shown me. I have grown to love each and everyone of them very much and look forward to more years of serving the Lord as well as growing together with them. I shared with most of them about my spiritual breakthrough and they were thrilled too. I'm glad for this extended family of mine! I have had my spiritual breakthrough! So.... this is my testimony of my first church camp......and the best part of it all? My hip is still intact. Hehe..Praise God!

X-Men Profiles (My version)

X-Men Profiles (My version)

Name: Joan Lee
Friends with me since: 1997
Met: In the second year of our tertiary days.
Primary Powers: Ability to eat huge quantities of food without absorbing any drop of fat into the body system. Understanding business laws and jargons at lightning speed. Generating radical out of the world ideas and statements. Megawatt smile. Chao gengness (hehe).
Secondary Powers: Nobody-can-resist-me pout. Daily chameleon finger-nail colours. Online games. Asking out-of-the-blue questions in out-of-the-blue-situations (E.g. "So are you seeing anyone now?" half way thru a song while we are both singing in a karaoke. E.g. 2 "So what do you think is underneath the island of Singapore?" in the middle of a superbly dull accounts tutorial.)

Weaknesses: Tv. And more Tv. Oh... and of late... warcraft.

When 2 super powers meet and have synergy, we are good for:

-Hogging the karaoke microphones.
-Croaking to our hearts' contents in karaoke.
-Skipping lectures during most of our tertiary days and yet still have 100% accuracy in spotting exam questions (It's true!!).
-IRC trivia questions.
-90+% in accuracy & teamspirit when partnered in playing shooting games (such as Jurassic Park) in the arcade.
-**Proactive roleplay & presentation queens in tertiary (Cos' never do tutorials, LoL).
-Watching senseless tv and laughing non-stop.
-Talking about anything under the sun.
-Super chao geng duo; with my poker face and Joan's megawatt smile or nobody-can-resist-me pout (depending on situations, the powers switch instantly).
-Rarely found without the other in school. We come in a pack. Even lecturers can't separate us though most of them love us to bits (**Refer to above point about being proactive in roleplays).
-Usually found sitting at Bedok reservoir back in tertiary while lectures are being conducted.
-Need not speak a word with each other yet are comfortable with the silence. (If there is silence even to begin with in the first place. hahaha.)




Partnership: 100% & more!!!
Synergy level: We rock!!

Name: Serene Ang
Friends with me since: 2005
Met: In uni last year when working on the same project(s).
Primary Powers: Never say die attitude. Extraordinary rationalising skills when it comes to answering examination questions that she didn't study much. Even more extraordinary luck in scoring distinctions for things she didn't study much. Asking questions until one hits the dead end and begs for mercy. Ability to smoke people with her innocent looks and petite stature but shocks people with her powerful and gutsy comments and questions. Expert contingency planner. Top notch analytical brain.
Secondary Powers: High metabollic rate. Sweet voice (don't be fooled!!!hehe). Positive attitude. High self-evaluating skills. Appreciative and kindhearted in nature. Gutsy. Usually found with small packs of food or snacks in her bag.

Weakness: Her son, Kang. (Babe, it's true! hahahaa...)

(I don't have a picture of us together!! =( Urgh!)When 2 super powers meet and have synergy, we are good for:

-Doodling on notes during lectures. Hahah.
-Knowledge sharing and brainstorming of ideas as well as sharing of her food stash/snacks.
-Talking & laughing about relationships and our past... as well as present.... and future. Lol.
-Laughing & emulating our lecturers' idiosyncrasies.... (E.g. Let's "voodoo whack" this topic!! hahah).
-Encouraging each other to hang on, esp in the midst of our mugging for our final examinations.
-Outconvincing project leader, Annie to adapt to our ideas and solutions (By asking alot of questions until Annie gave up.. I think! Hahaha).
-Following up on each other's life and spurring each other on in our goals.
-Need not tell her in detail and she already reads my mind and know my thoughts. (It can be quite freaky y'know!! hahaha)
-Another 100% accuracy in spotting examination questions!

Partnership: 100% & more too!
Synergy Level: Excellent!!!

Name: Kirsten Koh

Friends with me since: The beginning of time ... lol...

Met: In primary school allllllllll the way until secondary school and now. We lasted longer than some marriages... hahahaha.

Primary Powers: Ability to out-run, out-sport, out-marathon, out-biathlon, out-triathlon (you get the picture) any man, woman or animal. (I know, I exaggerrated...on the man part... hahahha..) So adaptable to environment that she has the ability to sleep anywhere when she is tired. An all terrain sleeper. Epitome of all optimism. Mother of all positivity.

Secondary Powers: Energiser bunny 2. (Bunny 1 is Serene above). Super objective. Rarely takes sides. Smokes people with her deceptive "young" i-am-still-in-JC look. Ability to bore and scold me with health talks and lectures but would still accept a piece of chocolate when offered (after a lecture on how many rounds of the field I have to run with that 1 pc of chocolate).

Weakness: Ironically... sports.. (E.g. continues to run and go for marathons when injured.) Oh and National Geographic/Discovery Channel/Animal Planet. And animals.

When 2 super powers meet and have synergy, we are good for:

-Actually more like her training me in my stamina or fitness than its bothways. Lol.

-Seriously talking about our present and how to improve or go about our tough situations.

-Literally inseparable... she's in Tasmania now but yet we update each other on our lives.

-Understanding each other through watching National Geographic or discovery channel together. Hahahahha. I don't know how...but somehow we do.. don't ask me.

-Rollerblading together. Swimming together.

-Laughing and reminiscing about our primary and secondary school years.

-Having spur of the moment action plans being carried out (E.g. Celebrating our 20years anniversary of knowing each other overnight in a hotel room filled with the rest of our gal mates from secondary school). Hehe.

-Inspiring each other to exercise more and to rest more.. (guess who inspires who to exercise and rest more? No prizes!!)

Partnership: 99% Sometimes we do have our tiffs where she tells me off and I tell her off .. but we know its for the better of the other.

Synergy Level: Overall, we're still a powerhouse!! Hehe.

Name: Christine Yap

Friends with me since: Secondary school days. So not telling you the year if not you would start calculating my age. Lol.

Met: In secondary school.. duh. Heheh.

Primary Powers: Opportunist in suaning people. Powerful suanning remarks. Class 1 suanning skills. Ability to crack me up big time. Always up to mischief (If you think I am a prankster .. wait until you meet her.. hahahah). Ability to use big "innocent" looking eyes to get away with murder. Ability to annoy Kirsten and yet get away with murder once more. Supersonic wits at work.

Secondary Powers: Colouring hair for people. Cutting fringe for people. Peeling prawns and chicken for me. (I know.. what will I do without her right? hahaha.. She spoils me rotten.) Independent and super bo chap in most things. Gutsy in the wrong way (E.g. Draw thick eyebrows on one of the classmates toy in school.. hahaha.) Cheeky.

Weakness: Ah Belle (her dog whom most people come to fear), more dogs.

When 2 super powers meet and have synergy, we are good for:

-Her dragging me to the supermarket to try out on samples. hahaha.

-Disturbing others with our pranks.

-People watching at some cafes.

-Long talks over long walks together.

-Beauty tips exchange.

-Sometimes being a tad too protective over each other's life ...hehe.

-Erm....did I mention about her peeling prawns and chicken for me? colouring my hair and cutting my fringe? Hehehe.... I'm useless with prawns especially!

-Intensive shopping!!

- Her shedding light and insights on stuff and issues I share with her that bogs my mind.

-Ability to read each other's minds and act on our "devious" plans simultaneously..hehe.

Partnership: 99% The 1% is lacking because we barely have time to meet each other cos of her work schedule. Her shift work starts at 3pm whereas I start at 830am! Oh well.... we'll soon be in the same office building come end of this year.

Synergy Level: Fantabulous!!!