What Makes Me.

:: Casa Clementi ::

2011-12-08T12:38:00.003+08:00

Hee.. feel motivated to post about our HDB flat application after reading a few blogs.

We applied for Clementi 3-room Standard/4-room flats the day the Sale of Balance Flats Sep Exercise was announced, and got our balloted queue number on 25 Oct this year. Out of 295 available flats, our number is 280! That gives us 15 units left if everybody before us chose theirs. =X

That also gave me very mixed feelings. What if we get a lousy unit facing trees or rubbish chute? Mine at Punggol is already quite bad. I still feel lousy everyday facing the carpark. Now the tree in front of my window has grown to cover up whatever view I have. That makes me resolve to get a higher floor unit possible.

Theodore and I went for a recce around the construction site on 28 Nov. I don't have good photos to show :( but the flats are really almost completed. My cell group friends have been telling me the flats look almost completed. My colleagues were teasing me that I might have to get married by this Christmas, just extend the Christmas service a little longer and announce to all the church members to stay back to witness my wedding LOL.

Every day as I check the HDB website to see which units have been taken I'd be praying that we can get our best unit most suitable for our needs, other people can get theirs, so we won't clash.

I still have many uncertainties. What if we can't afford a 4-room flat? Would we be forced to forgo this application? We still have a choice to apply for 3-room because thank God He knows we are (or I am) indecisive. One moment I'd be hoping for 3-room, the next moment 4-room. I'm pretty fine that for the first few months we would be sleeping in our sleeping bags, no tv, no furniture.. work hard to bring all these in slowly lor.

I was also worried initially about getting the flat so soon. Seems like date of completion might be early next year. That means we have to get married to show marriage certificate by then!! *gasp* Feels like shot-gun, but of a different kind.

Meanwhile I'm doing whatever research I can about wedding, housing... Still have lots of questions. Forums can't seem to address my questions because our situation is unique. Really relying on God every day for His assurance of providence and trusting in Him that He has already prepared each step for us. Indeed getting a queue number on our first try has already been a sign. So there's no looking back already.

:: Big Deal ::

2011-07-22T18:21:00.002+08:00

Been receiving emails from lot of "deals" companies. They will send daily offers for various products ranging from restaurant vouchers, tourist attraction vouchers, beauty services vouchers to travel vouchers...

A lot of them are indeed very tempting. Like for example a 2-digit sum for a trip to Batam or $3xx for flight to Hongkong, $30+ for chiropractic consultation session (I would like to correct my posture before it's too late, many of my colleagues complain of backpain.)

Some of these companies have a smart marketing strategy, the condition they lay for the vouchers is that there must be enough people buying it before it's valid. And customers have to recommend a few friends to earn more credits for vouchers.

Okay la, after describing these deals and the up-and-coming companies (Theodore was even considering to venture into starting a ..online thing like this), actually I haven't bought anything. Only contemplated.

If you are thinking of buying these vouchers, especially for beauty services like "91% off *****. Only $38 instead of $430." sounds so attractive right! What a saving! Just a friendly reminder(s): 1. Do you really need the service? 2. Usually the beauty salons will ask you to sign a package. And, the biggest clue given is that its usual price is $430!! One session is definitely not enough to see results. If you think it's usual price is reasonable then go ahead.

I might buy a voucher one day... Just being very careful with my expenditure now.

:: Trends for this half of the year ::

2010-09-08T16:00:00.001+08:00

Many of my friends got engaged this year: Jeremy, Tricia, Uncle John, Evelyn, Irene, Hiong Yee, Brenda, Hao, ... and some getting married this 2nd half of 2010, some 1st half of 2011.

Some of my friends got attached... :)

2 couples i know broke up...

I am struggling because I happened to come across a horoscope at the beginning of this year, saying those born in the year of the tiger will experience a cheating in the relationship at the 2nd half of the year. As much as I don't believe in horoscopes, such "predictions" simply stay in the minds of people and keep haunting until something happens and we will link it to what was "predicted". I'm definitely praying it won't happen to me, and that God will protect our relationship. *faith wavers*

Thai Festival @ the Royal Thai Embassy

2010-09-05T16:09:00.001+08:00

I'm at the thai embassy now! Some carnival going on.. Bought 3 ceramic pendants and lemongrass drink! :)

:: Dad's birthday celebration ::

2010-07-20T12:08:00.003+08:00

Had dinner at Pan Pacific Hotel Global Kitchen with mom, dad and Theodore. It's honestly not fantastic at all. We were there only because it has a 1-for-1 offer. We all felt full pretty fast ...dunno why. I'm blaming it on the carbo. heh. Especially on the dim sum... such thick skin.. disappointing.

The better stuff are the desserts. =)

But the most unique is the variety of tea they have. You can make teapots, free flow!

Other than that... it won't make me go back again.

My gift for daddy is a 2-piece anti-lost device. The receiver will beep when the transmitter is within range. So that he won't have to search high and low for his phone/keys/wallet whenever he is about to leave the house. (He did it again this morning, without using the device though.)

:: Central World Bangkok ::

2010-05-24T16:55:00.004+08:00

I miss Bangkok totally! Really long to return there even in the midst of chaos.

Here are some of my memories of Central World.

First time I've been there was in 2007

The first cafe I ever patronised from there

Zen is a huge department store! I recycled my batteries there before

When it was still under construction

In my 3 months missions stint in 2008, I've been there a few times too.

Earth from Above Photography exhibition

LCD tvs hung up together with glass bottles! Super heavy exhibition!

Huge sushi! Ate with Guorong at Sushi Tei.

:: My Tj Balai Experience 2009 ::

2010-01-06T12:07:00.005+08:00

ohh... here's an update about my balai experience in 2009! haha..

Persis and I wanted to visit our friends in the Balai church since the beginning of 2009, but haven't been able to find time to do so. Managed to free up one weekend in Nov, so I contacted Phei Phei, Uncle Subas, Rev Lee KK to make sure the slot is available for us to go there. We were open to serve in the Sunday School.

Persis teaching dance for the children's Christmas outreach

Surprised to see them use projector and Opensong software!

Saw uncle Daniel there, he was preaching for Sunday Service.

After service, Persis and I almost walked to the jetty, but she decided that she wanted to go shopping at the supermarket, so we took oplik to Indo A Yani to shop.

And then, tragedy happened. As we reached the jetty and almost checked in at the customs, the officers told us that the jetty has closed. The last ferry back to Singapore has been cancelled. we were as helpless as other Singaporeans. But thank God we have friends here. So we changed our ferry tickets to the next morning's first trip and called PP to inform her what has happened, and Asun gu-gu came to fetch us to his house. He came in his motorbike which can only take one other adult as pillion rider, so he actually waited to see if he could bump into a friend to give us a ride.

Watching the coast guards and the ambulances waiting at the jetty to bring survivors and dead bodies to the hospital.

Uncle Daniel was due to return to singapore the next morning, so we planned to make a trip down in the morning to try to see if we could take the first ferry back. Since we had nothing planned for the evening, we had dinner at Asun gugu's place and went to visit a church member to chitchat. That's the national pasttime for Indonesians.

While we were chitchatting at a church member's house, which is right in front of the main road, we heard ambulances driving by many times. That meant that there were still survivors found.

Aimei's now in primary school! Persis and I actually watched her grow up.

Since Persis and I didn't plan to stay overnight at all, we didn't have change of clothes, toothbrush and stuff. It was gross enough that we perspired alot in the hot Indonesian weather... we wore the same clothes for an extra day thinking we should just tahan till we get home! But thank God, Persis and I actually brought more than usual singapore dollars for other reasons, but it came in handy. So we spent our last rupiahs on gifts to thank Asun gu-gu for taking care of us the extra day.

The next morning, we boarded the first ferry. But alas, while waiting for it to leave the jetty, which was a longer wait than usual, we were told to alight. The ferry trip was cancelled again.

All the ferries lined up, none of them could leave the Indonesian waters.

All the irritating DOMs panicking, dunno how to explain to their wives about their trip to Balai. Crowded around the ferry ticketing booth.

My passport was stamped, that means we have "left" Indonesia, so our white cards were returned to us as proof.

On board the first ferry on 25 Nov, 3 days after our scheduled return. Thank God we made it back to Singapore! What an experience! I should have bought travel insurance to cover my expenses like handphone bill... :(

Now u know!

:: uninvited guest at SFC Retreat ::

2010-01-06T12:03:00.003+08:00

5 Jan 2010
No la, i'm not referring to any of the J3s. I'm referring to this 25cm long centipede!! It invited itself to our BBQ pit and parked right there. Brave Samuel picked it up with charcoal tongs and flung it over the fence! Hopefully it didn't land on any lovebirds behind the fence.

:: deformed ball ::

2010-01-06T11:59:00.002+08:00

2 Jan 2010
Buahaha... Matt's deformed volleyball! Kel kept it in his carboot during cell group... wanted to bring it to SFC Retreat the next day, unfortunately.... But at least it happened before it was too late and we could still arrange to bring another ball.
Brought it to the Thanksgiving BBQ at our youth camp site in the evening.
Overeat again!! (and Vurger right before the BBQ!)

:: NYE ::

2010-01-06T11:55:00.002+08:00

31 Dec 2009
Lunch at Cathay Billy Bomber's with Kel and Matt.
Been eating lots during this festive season!! But NYE's an excuse to eat a bit more expensive ;)

:: Youth camp site ::

2010-01-06T11:52:00.002+08:00

21 Dec 2009 3am
This is our campsite for Mustard Seed Camp 2009! Nice colours in the sky. That was taken at 3am okay! Was playing Bridge all the way until ...6am? muahahaha...

:: Peperoni Pizzeria @ Greenwood ::

2010-01-06T11:47:00.001+08:00

16 Dec 2009
Ooh! Check out the sheer size of the pizza!
My first time here in this area.... makes me go "woah..." like a suakubao!
And Lana chocolate cake for dessert... :P

:: Ooh! Shopping on board Doulos! ::

2010-01-06T11:42:00.004+08:00

15 Dec 2009
Wanted to look for Vincent and Clara's Christmas presents (and Vincent's belated bday present), chanced upon MV Doulos. Shopped $50 worth of items! Including... Cover to Cover (my new year's resolution), Captivating (limited edition wor!), journals, etc. Proud buy!

:: Sabo-ing the newly wed! ::

2010-01-06T11:40:00.002+08:00

12 Dec 2009
After the guests left at Jeff & Jac's wedding dinner...

Wicked! ;)

:: Fireworks at Vivocity ::

2010-01-06T11:36:00.004+08:00

2 Dec 2009 8pm
Pre-fireworks setup at Vivocity at the...area facing Sentosa... Played Plants Vs Zombies while waiting for Theodore to arrive. =P

:: My Murtabak! ::

2010-01-06T11:34:00.004+08:00

Mutton Murtabak for lunch at Casuarina with Pastor Chi Shyan, Matthew, Andrea on 1st December 2009. ;)

:: Hong Kong Summer 2009 ::

2009-10-17T19:02:00.016+08:00

Supposed to update this VERY long time ago!! But have been VERY busy too.

Here's the photos from my Hong Kong trip this Summer!

Day 1 - 24th July Friday
Photo 1: Stitch went along with me, as a substitution for Theodore, whom I couldn't bring along with me on this trip.

Photo 2: My dear boyfriend surprised me at the airport by being there! Apparently he slept there after sending me home the night before. My flight was in the odd hours of the morning, so it was very sweet of him to send me off...

Photo 3: Arrived at Hong Kong International Airport! Was 1-2 hours early so I went to Hui Lau San to have snacks.

Photo 4: Chi man and her family arrived, met her cousin who drove us to their grandparents' place. Stitch's first time in Hong Kong~

Photo 5: This is where her grandparents live. Looks familiar? Like featured in HK dramas before.

Photo 6: Went out for afternoon tea with her family, checked out this place, i think in Kwun Tong, called Megabox. The carpark goes all the way even to level 15! Woah! Kinda interesting to keep going round and round. Found this open ice skating rink in the middle of the shopping mall... Singapore doesn't even have ice skating rink anymore, except at Kallang Leisure Park!

Photo 7: This whole holiday seems to be about Stitch..... u'll find out why in a while!

Photo 8: First time taking taxi in Hong Kong for Stitch as well as for me!

Photo 9: Ate gai-dan-zai aka little-egg, actually it's just egg cake, at a roadside stall. Chi Man says that's not the nicest she's eaten.

Photo 10: APM! Wanted to visit this mall for very long time already. Heard that it opens till late. But actually... it still closes around 11pm. Not very different from Singapore la.

Photo 11: Chi Man's grandparents' home. Very spacious compared to my expectations as what I've watched on dramas.

Photo 12: Had supper on the first day.... hungry and must try HK food!

Photo 13: View from one of the rooms. Nice!~ Kwun Tong is Very very heartlander. Hidden from tourists.

Day 2 - 25th July Saturday
Photo 14: Somehow we managed to find out way to this ferry terminal to take a ferry to Ma Wan Park Island.

Photo 15: Found the Noah's Ark Park!

Photo 16: So cool... The Fruits of the Spirit painted under a flyover!

Photo 17: Queuing for tickets at the entrance

Photo 18: There were rooms inside the life-sized Ark, each a specific theme related to "life". Sorta like a Science Museum. This girl stuffed Stitch into the mannequin!

Photo 19: There were "tasks" in each room too. This one's for people to draw a message of encouragement on one another. =)

Photo 20: Darling, this one's for you! =*

Photo 21: This room is for people to "scale" the wall, checking out messages at random areas. Also for encouragement. One of them goes something like, "Can you touch your face with your palm? Be thankful for you are abled!"

Photo 22: These mirrors too, pasted on top are messages like, "No matter how fat, or slim you are, it is okay as long as you are healthy"

Photo 23: Exterior of the Ark. Supposed to be built according to the dimensions God gave Noah. Could all the animals at that time fit in?

Photo 24: Tsing Ma bridge! We're very near the airport.

Photo 25: All the animals exiting the Ark...

Photo 26: So are we... taking bus back to mainland.

Photo 27: Hungry! Didn't eat lunch... Time for afternoon tea!~

Photo 28: Taking Minibus to Saikung to find Chi Man's dad's friends.

Photo 29: Mr Softee! Must be a lot of Hongkongers' childhood favourite. Plays a background music as it serves ice cream. =)

Photo 30: Dogs sniffing at each other, saying "hello". Lots of people bring their dogs here... saw many big and small dogs.

Photo 31: I love the idea of a cafe by the beach/seaside... =)

Photo 32: Here's the pier at Saikung... sometimes featured in HK dramas.

Photo 33: Many boats and private yachts... (there was news the following day that someone drown off the coast =S)

Photo 34: Famous seafood!

Photo 35: Haha.. crabs on the ground for display. Huge!~ Hmm... what kind of crabs are these...? Hairy crabs?

Photo 36: Here's where we're eating for dinner.

Photo 37: Inside it's VERY noisy!!! Everyone's talking loudly. =(

Photo 38: Had dessert here! Though we were VERY full after dinner, i didn't want to miss out! There was a nice (and cute?? can't rem) waiter who served me (yes, only me!) water though I didn't ask for it. Hehe... Oh don't worry, I didn't flirt with him.

Photo 39: I ordered mango mochi. Interesting... but not as worth it as desserts like Mango Ice / Beancurd / Almond Milk etc. cuz it's simply taken from a packet!

Day 3 - 26th July Sunday
Photo 40: Can see the shopping mall's exterior? Took train from Kwun Tong MTR station to Jordan to attend Sunday Service at St Andrew's Church with Chi Man. It's my third time there. =)

Photo 41: After service we went to Tung Chung, wanted to check out the cable car ride on Lantau Island. Expensive!! And also since it was going to rain, it was not very safe to take the cable car ride.

Photo 42: At the Factory Outlet shopping mall, waiting for the rain to stop. Didn't buy anything though. Wanted to buy Crocs, but the designs and sizes were very limited.

Photo 43: After waiting and not knowing when the rain will stop we decided to head down to Mongkok for some shopping. Bought a few pieces of clothings, not more than 5. Not much shopping this trip. Had tea while Chi Man asked her cousin where to find the Christian bookstore around the area. (Not many Christian bookstores in HK =x) Bought many many stuff!! Happy. =) Cuz now I believe in buying souvenirs that are meaningful.

Day 4 - 27th July Monday
Photo 44: On the Disney train to Disneyland!! Thank God for Chi Man's cousin who works in Disneyland. She could give us free entry passes!

Photo 45: Why so many Stitch around? ...because it's Stitch fest in Hongkong Disneyland this summer!!

Photo 46: Queued to take photo with Mr. Stitch. So not cute!!! Head's too small!

Photo 47: Took the tram to Fantasyland and took this dizzy cup ride. I like it!! Safer than rollercoaster, with a similar effect!! Wanted to have my own cup so i could spin it as hard as I want, but then a family climbed in with me and the mom was so reluctant to let her son spin the cup... =x

Photo 48: Ooops! Didn't realise Stitch was facing the back. =x There were 5 (or 7?) Stitch statues around in Disneyland, Chi Man and I set out to the challenge to find all of them and take photos.

Photo 49: Taking the river cruise ride. Quite... alright la, not too exciting.

Photo 50: I didn't know Stitch's girlfriend is called Angel!! So interesting! Hahhaa... maybe it's meant to be :P

Photo 51: Watched fireworks in the evening. Tried very hard not to get pissed over all those ... people trying to squeeze into a space in front of those who came early to wait. Oh well.. nice fireworks! People went "awwwww...." when there were nice effects. Took train back home and then packed up and rested.

Next morning I was supposed to be at the airport at 9am to check in my luggage. Chi Man and her parents left for China for a short holiday already. It was arranged for her grandfather to walk me to the bus stop to take the bus to the airport. But he didn't know what time I was flying and so he went out for breakfast and was only back at 9am. Lol... He bought breakfast for me... nice custard buns! Very heartlander. =) Managed to board the bus after frantically waiting for 10 minutes... was trying very hard to tell myself, it's okay, it's okay... but i was mentally planning how else to return to Singapore if i missed my flight. =P Smsed theodore to pray for me... and thank God! Managed to check in my luggage with other people still queuing too. But it was still rush cuz i HAD to buy some dried goods for my mom and some wife's biscuits as souvenirs. Was short of money at the cashier though i already withdrew some money at an ATM. Had to end up using my debit cards, which were also short of money. =( My pay came in, but was in another bank account! haha..haiz.

Thank God I made it back home though. My dad came to pick me up. Not many luggage cuz i didn't shop much. Went to meet Theodore in the evening and had Jap food at Liang Court cuz i had craving for Japanese curry... =P

:: Katong too ::

2009-04-28T21:56:00.002+08:00

Before... and After.
Photo taken 17th April 2009.

Katong - dad's stall

2009-04-07T13:06:00.001+08:00

Found this in a library book of historical singapore. :)

Ting's dessert stall

2009-03-24T09:55:00.001+08:00

It's at Ayer Rajah Food Centre, stall no. 42! So happy when i visited her yesterday, cuz i didn't bring my phone. And thank God cuz they're not open today, it's like random. :) had glutinous rice balls in cheng tng soup. My childhood fav! Hope they continue to do well, and everyone, do visit them if u're eating there!

Reflective walk at Botanic Gardens

2009-03-18T14:36:00.001+08:00

Hardly reflective as mosquitoes were feeding on me!

:: Frailty of Life ::

2009-03-10T20:52:00.000+08:00

Many people nowadays work as though they can live forever, planning things so long term, like what, year 2070??

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'" Luke 12:20

I am once again reminded of the fragility of life. Last week I've been working late nights for several nights in a row. I was so tired that, there was one day on the way home as I was walking by the road my body felt so weak it could just collapse anywhere. I almost immediately imagined a car knocking me down. Boom! There goes Angeline. One moment working so hard on a project, the next moment gone. I even imagined that my colleagues had to work doubly hard due to my demise that they couldn't even attend my funeral.

Sigh. Thank God for life as the way He meant it to be.

Morbid, but hey, think about it man. No one lives forever.

:: Credits ::

2009-03-09T09:35:00.002+08:00

"I've stopped taking photographs of nature, as if to give myself credit for taking them. It's not as if my skills are good enough, but that precisely doesn't do justice to the Almighty God who created that original artwork. To just gasp in awe and wonder at the beautiful sight gives God glory for two things, one is the magnificent beauty of nature, the other is His gift of sight to us." - djgemz

My dad gave me a lift on his motorbike yesterday evening and I saw the whole sky stretched limitlessly with some orange clouds on the way from Potong Pasir to Serangoon. I think Serangoon simply has the best sunset view in Singapore. Yes, sunset! East Coast Park is crap. By the time the sun almost reaches the horizon there's always a thick layer of dark cloud covering it.

I started wishing I had brought my camera and that I could just stop at the flyover to take photos.... but I think of how lousy the photos would turn out and I think of past experiences where I've been too caught up trying to catch a beautiful photo I missed the moment of enjoying it.

I give up. Just admire. That's the best thing you can do to thank God for His creation.

Rainbow

2009-03-02T18:01:00.001+08:00

Coffee with boss

2009-02-23T15:54:00.001+08:00

:-P

:: On work and God's providence ::

2009-01-26T21:57:00.002+08:00

Started a new job this new year, and it has been good. Was exposed to new responsibilities. It was simply God's good timing - despite I can see it or not. ohh Oh just in case you still don't know, I'm working in church as a SAJC Mentor! =) I have quite a few close friends who studied there. And yup that was my first choice actually, just that I didn't manage to get in.

People ask about the pay, and sometimes, even Christians ask me, "Are you sure you can survive on that?" But I've heard of many many testimonies of how God provided besides the basic pay. And I have seen how trusting God in finance is a very practical way to get by. For me, in my first month here I was blessed by the way God provided. One way was, I haven't heard of phone allowance until I was called to claim it. Haha.. that day my boss just called me to say Rachel, the admin "lao ban niang" wants to see me, Theodore and Vincent, without giving more details. I freaked out man. Vincent guessed that it could be about phone allowance...I was still in a "huh?" mode. So in my ignorance and lack of expectation, God has actually given me more. And I have to say that this allowance is really important to me, because in my planning of my own finances, based on what I THOUGHT I would have got, I would only have $25 for food and own expenses. Anyway I thought the phone allowance figure was quite funny...as in, it wasn't a round number, but aiya you got my point.

Another way God provided was in my red packet from my mom this year.. Haa... I used to receive only 1 from both my parents. This year they give separate... and this year both packets got 2 pieces of notes! (Different colour by the way) Hmmm don't really want to talk abt CNY now. Feels not really CNY, maybe because Christmas passed by too fast. Yeah I've been complaining about the lack of 'feel' during Christmas, because I was stuck in Singapore...... kk I ought to give thanks and stop complaining abt that anymore.

And some other ways were like, getting treats from people etc. May God bless all those who blessed me, even if it were not a considerable amount to you!

:: The Old Rugged Cross ::

2009-01-16T23:12:00.002+08:00

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some day for a crown

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true
Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then He'll call me someday to my home far away
where His glory forever I'll share

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some day for a crown

In the old rugged cross stained with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see
For t'was on that old cross
Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctify me

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some day for a crown.

This is where i am right now.

2008-12-12T17:52:00.001+08:00

:: StanChart Marathon 2008 ::

2008-12-09T23:01:00.002+08:00

I finished the 10km run in 1:49:25!! =D Found my photos but so not glam. =( LOL

:: reflective mood ::

2008-12-05T09:39:00.002+08:00

Haa long time no update.

Nothing much. Just a bit depressed over the past few weeks. Partly because a few of the dramas I've been catching have ended around the same time. LOL. I've been catching a Thai drama called Koo Poun Ollawon - on Youtube now that I'm back in Singapore. It's about 2 couples who end up exchanging partners, the original couples drifted apart due to misunderstandings and incidents caused by an evil girl who likes one of the guys, and also because of parental objections. I was pretty impressed that they didn't really bother to clear things up, but the misunderstandings would end up getting cleared by themselves. Hmmm... that was probably why I've been thinking, is it necessary to clear up misunderstandings, or just let the truth surface by itself?

And then the passage on the Beattitudes came to mind - "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." Mathew 5:11

"Woe to you when all men speak well of you..." Luke 6:26

"...Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?" 1 Corinthians 6:7

How dangerous is it to be in the place where you are very approved by people! After all, God sees the heart.

Mmm... and then I've been at home trying to cook different styles of macaroni. I missed my cheese pasta when I was in Bangkok... I managed to cook it once there! =)

And... a few days after I returned I went to Comfort Driving Centre to terminate my membership. I AM FREE!!!! I've got 1½ yr to regret this decision though. LOL.

Some more random thoughts... Christmas is coming........ and I MISS HONG KONG!!!!! *sniff* I've got this impulse to book an air ticket right now, but I've already submitted my 2008 budget (to myself) and it didn't include a Hong Kong trip. =( nvm, 2009 is coming soon!

:: solitary ::

2008-11-25T23:21:00.003+08:00

In Your presence, that's where I am strong
In Your presence, O Lord my God
In Your presence, that's where I belong
Seeking Your face, touching Your grace
In the cleft of the Rock
In Your presence O God

I want to go where the rivers cannot overflow me
Where my feet are on the rock
I want to hide where the blazing fire cannot burn me
In Your presence O God

I want to hide where the flood of evil cannot reach me
Where I'm covered by the blood
I want to be where the schemes of darkness cannot touch me
In Your presence O God

You are the peace that guards my heart
My help in time of need
You are the hope that leads me on
And brings me to my knees

For there I find You waiting
And there I find release
So with all my heart I worship
And unto You I sing

For You alone deserve all glory
For You alone deserve all praise
Father, I worship and adore You
Father, I long to see Your face

For You alone deserve all glory
For You alone deserve all praise
Father, I love You
And I worship You this day

Jesus Christ, I think upon Your sacrifice
You became nothing, poured out to death
Many times I've wondered at Your gift of life
And I'm in that place once again
I'm in that place once again

And once again I look upon the cross where You died
I'm humbled by Your mercy and I'm broken inside
Once again I thank You
Once again I pour out my life

Now You are exalted to the highest place
King of the heavens, where one day I'll bow
But for now, I marvel at Your saving grace
And I'm full of praise once again
I'm full of praise once again

:: Sabbatical ::

2008-11-19T11:09:00.001+08:00

Hmm it didn't occur to me that I'm taking a Sabbatical. It just dawned on me last night. =) Years ago Esther lent me a book on Sabbath, says something like, Sabbath is of course about God, but also, taking time to do what you've always wanted to do, not rushing to get something accomplished... eg. spending time with family, pick up a hobby

from dictionary.com:
Sab⋅bat⋅i⋅cal /səˈbætɪkəl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [suh-bat-i-kuhl] Show IPA Pronunciation

–adjective 1. of or pertaining or appropriate to the Sabbath.
2. (lowercase) of or pertaining to a sabbatical year.
3. (lowercase) bringing a period of rest.
–noun 4. (lowercase) sabbatical year.
5. (lowercase) any extended period of leave from one's customary work, esp. for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.

Been meeting up with friends, and yesterday I went fishing!! With my brothers.. hoho.. Praise God for the wonderful weather!! Didn't rain, but was cloudy so it wasn't hot at all. Although we didn't catch any fish, we learnt many stuff. For them, it was their first time assembling a fishing rod, and casting the line. Jimmy thought he had never been there, but he learnt that the familiar place is called Labrador Park. For me, I've learnt that the bus from Harbourfront to Labrador Park only operates on weekends. We learnt that...

1. It is the experience that counts. It didn't matter we didn't catch any fish.
2. Labrador Park is not a good place to fish. We shall go elsewhere next time.
3. You must look at things at different perspectives, at some angles the water look very clean, but when you reach the beach it's different.
4. And time will tell. At certain times when the tide is high you cannot see how dirty the beach is, but when the tide is low you realise.

hahaha can tell that we had a good time there la. =)

I really dunno what's next. Keeping options open, and picking up design jobs to feed myself.

:: Fervency ::

2008-11-11T10:10:00.000+08:00

Last night I was pondering on children's ministry in general. I'm not sure is it deception or not, but I think it's a useless ministry.

I myself grew up in a Christian environment, and I feel that I don't have a conversion story that I could share with pre-Christians, that they can relate to. Converted Christians have a before-and-after testimony which is more convincing and real to other pre-believers.

I was having dinner with Franza and Maple, both of them are converted Christians. So we asked each other about our testimony. There's just this gap between us (them and I), as we were brought up in a different way. I can never understand how it felt to bow down before idols. They say you can sense the difference, the peace, the first time you hear about Jesus, such that you want to come back again. Of course there are also people who have heard of Jesus and felt nothing. But those who did, those whose lives have been changed ever since, boy, they make such powerful witnesses.

And I think that the young people who were brought up like me, we are just too... stuck up? We think we know the word of God already, having Bible verses drilled in at Sunday School, but we grow up with less interest and fervency in truly understanding the Word of God. But people who hear about the Bible for the first time (at the age they start to think and question things), how they hunger and thirst for more!

Perhaps I'm being too critical, but I feel that I need more fervency and I question myself why there's such a lack.

:: US Election ::

2008-11-05T10:49:00.000+08:00

The world's focus is on America now, as they have their election day.

One American-born HK artiste I admire very much discussed American politics a lot on his blog. He's totally in support for Obama. It kinds of influence me too... because I think this artiste is really wise, you can tell from the way he explains in details.

Yesterday I read a news article about Sarah Palin receiving a prank call a day before the election day. She was duped into discussing politics and family with comedian posing as French president. I'm not sure about the full content of the phone call, but i think she held her integrity in the conversation, as in she didn't reveal anything that would possibly damage her reputation. I'm pretty impressed about that. (I'm just not sure if it's because the conversation was about irrelevant stuff)

At the end of the news article, it goes: "Obama campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs, commenting on the prank, said: 'I'm glad we check out our calls before we hand the phone to Barack Obama.'"

I wonder if that implies that IF Obama had been pranked-call as well, would he reveal something ... damaging to his reputation?

:: The Pursuit of Happyness ::

2008-11-04T10:11:00.002+08:00

YAY I've finally caught The Pursuit of Happyness... And it's so worth it to catch it on DVD because of the special features and behind-the-scenes!

I wasn't so happy about the ending because it ends describing the success of Chris Gardner's career, as though that is the source of happiness. I was expecting his wife to come back to him, or he'd find another woman who is willing to take care of his son. Of course his wife was not right to walk out of him during the toughest time of his life.

But I realise that this is a true story, and things do not happen as perfectly as I wished. And I realise that this is a story of a single father working hard to provide for his son, not about a family sticking through thick and thin.

Through the behind-the-scenes, I learnt that the man who passed by Will Smith at the ending was Chris Gardner himself. And that making this movie, walking through all the places where he suffered, was like re-living his past. It hurt damn a lot, but it also helped to heal his soul. Sometimes I think we should do that often. What we have become today, we ought to attribute to the pains we suffered in the past. Every thing in the past has caused us to become what we are today. Like for me, my dad's teachings, the time I was so poor I wore the same seriously-undersized school shoes until it wore out, and many many experiences, has caused me to feel for the poor and want to do something for them.

But I'm missing home now. I want my own room, my own space, so much that I cannot hear where God is calling me next. Having to be asked to move out so many times has made me unwilling to stay here any longer. I've learnt that I'm not so adaptable after all. I've been very pampered at home after all. Suddenly I feel like I'm not cut out for the field after all.

:: mama ::

2008-10-29T17:46:00.005+08:00

hohohoho i feel like i'm ready to be a mama...

RCDC reopened on Monday, and i went to babysit on Tuesday at the nursery class. Full of crying babies!!

Fed some of them during lunch and tucked some to sleep after that. Felt so accomplished when they finish their bowl of rice + soup, and when they finally fall asleep!

One of them kept crying "har jee-jee gon, har jee-jee gon" i thought she wanted to pee, but another teacher translated that she wants to find her elder sister. Owww...

Went back again today and did the same thing. =D I'm starting to love these kids!

Naa-rak maak maak!!!

:: Coke Festival ::

2008-10-25T17:30:00.004+08:00

Fon asked me whether i wanna go Ban Chang with her over the weekend or not... but i decided not to. Have been missing children's church and English lessons for 3 weeks... and also because.....

I saw this truck advertising something, but wasn't sure about the details. One word caught my ear ...

So i went to Centralworld again the next day after work ...

I went closer to take a look ...

POTATO !!!

I managed to get a 4th standing row position. Fans went crazy... i almost went deaf! (I screamed along actually)

Handsome... Win!!! =D

The MCs played a game... then i left.

:: back in Bangkok! ::

2008-10-24T13:13:00.005+08:00

Back from Sawang Daen Din! I missed Bangkok!

But here's some photos taken previously.

Interesting cake! Don't need to cut! Green tea, chocolate and orange flavours. Can't find in Singapore eh!

Fon and I at the Church of Christ in Thailand during the CCEA

Flood on the expressway!!!! Jammed the whole stretch

Sleeping at the airport. I counted 5 people.

Chilling by the beach at Bang Saen... Fried crabs! Be careful of the pincers though.

I can't remember the name of this kind of crab.

Fisherman

Statue

Good catch!

Chinatown - my first time there for this trip!

Democracy Monument - i was actually quite scared to walk there alone that evening cuz i heard that was where the protests were held

Aloysius doing his braid

Revolving restaurant at the Grand China Princess Hotel

Ladies, here's a useful piece of advice if you ever need to attend a Thai wedding - wear an all-white dress with sleeves. I wore a purple spaghetti top and Fon advised me to cover up with a scarf. =( Most of the guests wore all white and so did the couple. So they looked like the same theme, except me. Sigh. Some guests wore traditional tailor-made silk suits. I feel interested to tailor-make a set for myself too. It makes you look more senior. LOL. Anyway the wedding ceremony wasn't very traditional, it was a Christian-style one. But the dinner was. There was karaoke!! Guests could go up the stage to sing and receive tips from the couple's parents!! And the dinner started quite early, about 5.30pm, and ended about 8+pm. Some guests left already, and the rest proceeded together to the couple's home to bless them. Very meaningful ceremony!

Had stomach cramps from before the wedding ceremony, not sure why, but Fon said it could be spiritual attack, because she wasn't feeling well too. She stretched the area around her operation wound since the missions conference when she carried heavy stuff and it was very painful for her. Our other roommate also came sick, so our room was really like a sick bay.

On the wedding day itself the stage was still not set up!

Throwing the bouquet....who will get it??

Achan Pranee!!!

With the couple

Ooohh! Creamy cake!

Fon and Mam joining in the karaoke

The next day we attended the church service there. Wooo.... the electric guitarist is a girl!

A team from Singapore came, I was surprised that all of them are youths. I think I got to know more Singaporean Christians in Thailand than back in Singapore.

There was a wedding celebration again, they even slaughtered a cow for the feast. There was barbeque-style, stir-fried style, minced, etc, together with sticky rice. Fon described the harmful effects from eating beef, especially since she recovered from cancer she has to watch her diet, and I felt a bit uneasy to eat it. So we abstained and waited for the last course - fried omelette. :P (I still ate a bit of the beef la, I'm less fearful of the harmful effects) There was karaoke again. Thai country songs. We were all encouraged to dance along. LOL.

Then the couple asked us to go to their home again as it was the bride's brother's birthday, there was another celebration there. There we watched the video of the wedding ceremony.

Next day, another spiritual attack. I lost my toothbrush. No one knew where it was. I searched all 3 toilets but couldn't find it. Very strange indeed. P'Prai suggested I buy a new one, but i was quite unwilling, after all I don't believe anyone would steal my toothbrush. In the end I went to 7-Eleven to buy a cheap one. =( The one I lost was a good one and quite ex, but at 7-Eleven it was even more expensive. I was getting financially tight as i didn't bring much money. I didn't manage to break my large note so i gave the whole note for offering. All the more i felt unhappy about losing my toothbrush.

Then at 10am youths from various churches around the area came for a leaders' training. That was what the Singapore team was here for. I was very impressed by their sharing. They were young and very passionate. Actually I stayed on in Sawang just to accompany Fon, so I just sat in during the training. But i learnt a lot too, especially about evangelism. I wish Eric could give a talk to my cell group / church about it.

Had cell group at a church member's house. It's in a village. Almost didn't want to go as I was still having stomach cramps. Finally I decided to go as I don't want to miss out on the experience.There was even blackout during praise and worship and sharing. Praise the Lord! What an authentic village experience. When we were greeting the family goodbye, someone suggested taking a group photo. By then Son, a partially-blind young man, had already gone up the van. After we were done, we walked towards the van and found him inside, and he realised we were taking photos and asked why no one asked him to join us! We all laughed and kept teasing him about it.

Next day... i wasn't obliged to wake up early so i kinda took my time hehe.. Still not feeling better so I rested whenever I could. Found my toothbrush!!! It was in another toilet. Strange! The youths were supposed to go out for evangelism but the plan was cancelled last minute. So they stayed on to go through a mock evangelistic event. The training ended and the youths went back. Cell group at night again, at another church member's house. Dinner was the best! Esp the fish soup!

Packed up. The team had gifts for us, so did the Sawang church, I felt pai seh receiving the gift as I felt that i didn't do anything to deserve it... I was just there to sit in.. =x Anyway I learnt that Huiling used to be from COR! She knows people like Pastor Chi Shyan, Shirley Sim, and my sister too...

Breakfast was as usual, soya bean milk and you tiao. But today there was fried chicken drumlet! woohoo~

Left in P'Prai's car at 9am. Stopped at Save Mart. It's a warehouse of household products. Something unfortunate happened. =( I went to the toilet and as I was squatting down, my handphone slipped from my side pocket and dropped into the toilet bowl!!!! =( I picked it up and removed the battery and sim card and tried to wipe them dry. Prayed that the phone will work again, but I was already starting to think about getting a new phone.

Visited Udon Thani, we stopped to visit a Korat church member. The family had a new-born baby!! Just 11 days old! Sooo cute! His name is Pantakit, which means "ministry"... so the baby will grow up to serve the Lord.

We also stopped at Khon Kaen, where we visited a school. Johnny (Singaporean) was there already. We had lunch there then we left, together with Johnny, as he was also going back to Korat.

At Khon Kaen, we stopped at P'Prai's friend's house. P'Prai used to live in Khon Kaen for 10+ years, she said she knows that place better than Korat. Haha..

Finally we reached Korat at about 7+pm. Had dinner at a roadside stall. Mmmmm san lek! =P Saw "Wia" across the road and i went to take photo of "him". haha it's actually a standing banner of a handsome Thai actor. They all teased me that I'm really like a Thai la. Go crazy over popular Thai actor. lol.

P'Prai dropped Fon and I at the bus terminal where we caught the 8pm first-class bus to Bangkok. Watched a bit of Udom (stand-up comedian), but I don't really understand. I was just very impressed by his rap of all the Bangkok BTS station names.

Reached Bangkok about 11+pm. Couldn't keep in touch with Franza because my phone quit on me. It was working fine for a while and I could call Gail, but when I tried to sms, it kept backspacing my text. =S

Stayed over at Fon's place. I was very upset cuz I had the feeling of being homeless.

Woke up at 7.30am, not sure what to do. It's a public holiday, but there's a meeting in church for some of the staff. Wondered if it was too early for me to go back to Gail's place to get my luggages and move into Franza's place. So i just stoned for an hour. Settled in my new place and got hungry at 11+am. Cooked noodles and went out at 2pm. Walked to Silom Soi 26.... i had no idea it was so far! Lol. Wanted to explore the Christian bookshop. I found it, but it was closed due to public holiday. Well, at least I know where it is now. Crossed the road and walked back to familiar ground. Went to Bangkok Christian Hospital to find a Christian bookshop too, but it was also closed. Oww.. Then I took BTS to Siam and walked to Chit Lom to meet Guorong. Then it started pouring heavily. Thank God we were under shelter. Went to Centralworld to walk around. Bought some gifts from B2S for friends. =)

Hey Jimmy! I bought something for you! Thought of you when i saw it. Hehe hope you'll like it.

Tired... Decided to go Siam Square to check out cosmetics at Beauty Buffet. I gave in to temptation =P Bought 7 items for 669 baht! =D But I think the nail polish quality sucks. After a failed attempt of painting my own nails, i now revere the job of a manicurist.

:: bass and motorbike ::

2008-10-15T11:00:00.002+08:00

Last night i did something illegal.. =P 3 adults on a motorbike is illegal, plus, only the rider wore helmet.. And I fell off the motorbike after that. =(

And ohh.. i took a bass guitar lesson from Jeffrey yesterday! He's really good. He can play the drums, guitar, piano, bass and sing!! After that he invited me to his friend's birthday party, but i decided not to go.

Just some thought of the day:

"Designer" and "contentment" are oxymoron words.

:: Post-MCR retreat ::

2008-10-13T02:22:00.004+08:00

Went to Bang Saen (Chonburi) over the weekend with my close Thai friend, Fon. =) It was a really impromptu trip. I was supposed to go Cambodia to 'chop' my passport, but P'Pu warned me that I may not be able to re-enter Thailand again because of my previous trips earlier this year. That really got me worried about my visa. I don't want to be blacklisted as an overstayed tourist!

Took a coach to Nong Mone and changed to a sawngtaew to Bang Saen, and halfway we met 3 high school students looking for accommodation in Bang Saen too. We didn't plan where to stay, but to ask around when we arrive. I really envy Thais at times. When they want to enjoy a weekend getaway, there are plenty of choices within the country, and they are able to get around as long as they can speak thai! We asked around for a few places to stay, but almost everywhere was full. The high school students come from all over Thailand to take their Entrance Exam, so they flock to places nearer the exam locations the night before.

We came to this very nice beach resort called The Tide Resort, but it was not affordable. They had a promotion for Standard Chartered cardholders but they don't recognise my card. Now I feel that Standard Chartered is really lousy. Same brand, but cannot withdraw money from the same bank in another country; promotions not available to cardholders of another country. So angry!

I offered to pay for the room (at the full price), but the students were wary of the good deal and decided to find their own accommodation. So Fon and I walked on to find other lodging. Finally came to a "hotel", 500 baht per night and it was really cheap. We took it and checked into our room. It was okay but honestly i was still very gian about the nice resort, after all we were going to have our post-busyness retreat. We went and splurged on a dinner at a nice restaurant instead. We chatted and got to know each other better. At this restaurant by the beach it would be nice to enjoy a beer, but I told myself that this isn't a personal holiday.

As we chatted I thought about the advice from a brother... almost felt like crying because I had been too naive about things. But then again, I also realise that being ignorant abt certain matters is also a bliss. It has protected me from getting involved in difficult situations. I praise God for the friends I met in Thailand... but for now I'm quite sure it's not really my mission ground. Many people ask me if Thailand is my long-term plan. For now I can say that it's not. I'm still seeking God about my future plans.

The next day we sat by the beach the whole day. Not really satisfied because the beach and the sea is not beautiful. Just very amused and intrigued by the new sights. And really praise God for the weather. It was exactly what we prayed for. =) It only started raining on our way back to the town and to Bangkok.

:: the in-betweens ::

2008-09-22T11:09:00.005+08:00

While I also update my other blog, this blog fills in the in-betweens.

Last wed I still went to Ramkhamhaeng Uni, with Laphorn, Jaeng and Chat (it's pronounced as Chart actually). Chat drove us in the church van. First time i went, it was by bus and it got into a really heavy traffic jam, took us abt 2 hours to get there, but by van it just took half an hour. So we had time to go shopping. =D

Ramkhamhaeng area is a really nice local neighbourhood, with cheap nice things to shop, but unfortunately getting here is very difficult. You can only get here through the 'local' means - bus. Okay anyway. At cell group we played the memory game for icebreakers, IN THAI. I dun even know what I was repeating! LOL.

Gae had to translate for me when Jeff shared. He knows English too, and even spoke in an accent! but for the sake of everyone else, he shared in Thai and Gae translated. Went back to church, but we encountered a VERY BAD jam in Sathorn Road. So i decided when the clock strikes 6 i would get down and walk to Shalem House. We were stuck at the Suan Phlu junction for a good 15 minutes!

Taught Dukdik and Fern English, with Minta sitting in. Boy, she was really naughty, kept disturbing the lesson. P'Jarin had some problems with her mom and she was on the phone with her. When i knocked the door to let her know i was leaving, she was crying and still on the phone.. i felt helpless... =(

Walked back to church to meet Franza for dinner. Had steak! At just 55 baht! ($2+) Yummy..... Anyone wants? =)

Then went to her place again to chill out.

Thur
Gave the church staff a crash course on design and communication. Fon could not be around so thankfully there was Angie who helped to translate. But as the lesson went on i became more and more pissed off. It was partly because the staff here simply don't switch their handphones to silent mode, kept walking away while i was talking, and seemed to be in a rush to finish the lesson. Partly because i felt that someone in our midst had a strong sense of pride.

After the lesson there was some time, so some of us went downstairs for badminton. Same thing pissed me off. I had to walk outside and cool myself down. jai-yen-yen, jai-yen-yen!! This person is impossible, man! Why is there such a person?!!! She even gave me a photo of herself in a sexy pose and behind it wrote her height, weight, age, contact info etc. SICK! 45kg at age 17? I think it's more than double by now!

But i know Jesus loves her, and that she must have been a very insecure person. haiz. Pray for her.

Then at 5.40pm the same gang, Laphorn, Jaeng, Chat and I went to visit P'Gae. I learnt that they have visitations to church members' homes weekly. I also learnt that Chat owned/rented this house before (some of the glow-in-the-dark stars he pasted on the wall were still there).

We had a time of icebreakers, worship, sharing and prayer. It was very good. =) Chat went for an Alpha course at someone's place at Fraser Suite Sathorn (wow!!!! 200,000baht per month!). Then we had dinner. Mmmmm I love fish! and sambal kangkong!! Chatted till abt 8pm, then Jaeng and I left. I asked Jaeng whether i could visit her place. Actually she lives in Ramkhamhaeng area, but for convenience she moved to Suan Phlu.

I felt that the people here move house a lot, so their belongings are mostly inexpensive and simple. They don't collect as much junk as I do. And they're not really into designer style. I think when i go back i want to re-evaluate my junk and revamp my room! I like the idea of living alone. The peace and the quiet... ahhh~

Jaeng's place is pretty nice, as compact as my sister's apartment. Not new though. I dun mind such a place, except that I would need a kitchen area, a fridge and a washing machine.. She wanted to learn English, so we started from her English-Thai bible. I find it's a good idea.

Then she walked me out to the main road where i took the tuk-tuk to Tops at Nanglinchee Road. Shopped for groceries and walked home. On the way I heard the thunder rumble, and soon it started raining. It got heavier and heavier i just decided not to avoid puddles anymore and just let my shoes get soaked.

Fri
Supposed to be teaching the church staff how to use Photoshop after lunch, but my students went out to donate blood. A bit peeved but not to the point of getting angry, because i have other things to do as well. Chat and Kae installed the 1gb ram into my computer now, but my hard disk space is running out. It was a 40gb hard disk, but only half was used and the other half was unpartitioned. So we decided to reformat the computer. That took the whole afternoon.

Then Fon and I went back together. I cooked instant noodles while watching the drama. Oh! Wia!! =D

Gail was flying back to the UK that night, so she had a few friends who popped by to say goodbye, it was like a party.

Sat
Children's church. Helped prepare the vegetables for lunch, but I don't even know what it's called. LOL. I am a veggie idiot.

English tuition. Fon couldn't help to translate, so I had to take more time to explain the idea as I was trying to teach the youths an icebreaker. Golf wanted the lesson to end earlier so he could go play badminton, but the rest of the students started getting interested in the icebreakers we played 3 more rounds. =)

After that I tried to install Microsoft Office on my computer, and anti-virus programme. Then I went to meet Franza. We took the BTS to Siam and we did manicure and pedicure in Siam Square! =D A bit disappointing though.

Shopped in Watson's as there's good promotions. Then we bought some snacks from some roadside stalls and took cab back to my place. Cooked instant noodles. Too much!! =x Ate until very full. Haha.. Watched my fav drama and then showered and went to Franza's place to stay over.

Sun
Had indigestion so I had lots of weird dreams. =x

Walked to church for the English service. I miss the Thai service....

Went back to Franza's place to put down our bibles and the heavy stuffs and went to Sala Daeng where we took the BTS to Chatuchak. =)

Shopped until we dropped. Wanted to go to a Standard Chartered atm in Sala Daeng to withdraw money because I had spent all that I set aside for my expenditure, but it was closed. ...

Similarly we bought some roadside stall snacks and went back to her place to eat with cup noodles. Actually I don't really fancy Mama instant noodles. I still love my Indomie Goreng... =D Watched a movie (Freedom Writers) on HBO instead, so i missed my drama.

Took cab home. Although her place is nice, there are things which i need to use at home so I'm not very used to her place.

Mon
Off day! Dried my clothes and as usual i skipped the gym =( By 12pm my clothes were dry, so I went out.

Took cab to Chong Nonsi where there's a Standard Chartered bank. Very disappointed though. I couldn't withdraw money from my own bank because it doesn't have CIRRUS.

Tried to withdraw from another bank but couldn't also. So i panicked after I called Fon to come out shopping.

Went to Lai-lai-saap to look for the 9-baht stall Franza told me about, but couldn't find it. Found the Bangkok Bank where I only managed to withdraw 2500 baht =(

Topped up my sim card with 400baht, at just 300 baht. Looks like the official DTAC service provider so can trust ba. hehe... also bought some sushi for lunch.

Then Fon had to go back to office, so i walked by myself. Bought a Potato CD. =D but owww i didn't bring the latest album which my sister got for me, neither do i have the songs in my laptop and mp3.

Tried my luck at another Bangkok Bank atm and managed to withdraw the full amount I wanted! =D

Took BTS to Siam and walked to Central World to watch Bangkok Dangerous (Nicholas Cage) =D Cool effects but story's quite bad. The Thai guy is handsome though. =P

Went back to Sala Daeng, where I walked to Sathorn Road and took the sawng taew, this time I took it from the church side, to see where else it goes in the loop. Dropped off at Tops @ Nanglinchee Road and shopped for groceries. Veggies (chinese chye sim) and mushrooms for dinner! =D I miss Chinese veggies... Doesn't have as strong tastes as Thai veggies.

Fell sick.

The longer I stay here, the more I miss Hong Kong actually. I wonder how it's like to stay there for... a month?

:: busy! ::

2008-09-17T12:19:00.003+08:00

oohh i got the new Psalmist chordbook from Franza!! So happy!

mon
Stayed at home almost the whole day. Planned to go to the gym but... ermmm heehee.. but it was fruitful time spent drying my clothes in the perfect morning + afternoon weather.

Then in the evening i was going to meet Franza for dinner and grocery shopping. Almost had a scare.... i planned to take the sawng taew to near church, where i would walk to Silom. But the sawng taew went to some unknown area.... for a while i was wondering if i would end up somewhere very very far! Somehow there was an assurance in my heart that the sawng taew usually goes in a loop. And I ended up right outside the church. =)

I like going to Franza's place to chill. =)

tue
managed to wake up earlier for the staff devotion :) Seriously I found many passages in the New Testament that i ought to revisit and meditate on. The things I get to learn seem different every time I read it, it's like i've never read the Bible properly yet, just read through like a storybook without absorbing the deep lessons.

Found myself working harder and there's very little time left till the conference!!! I need to buck up!

Taught Laphorn and Jaeng HTML and Dreamweaver. I think due to the language barrier, Jaeng gave up halfway. haha.. =x

Bought a Thai language learning book at 299 baht (before 5% discount). =D I checked Singapore Kinokuniya's online store, it's selling at double the price! woohoo~

As Fon and I were walking around after lunch, we saw office workers going for lunch as well. I saw a man whose shirt looked rather wrinkled, so i commented, and we joked that he must be a single man. woohoo, now we know how to spot single guys ;P

Tuesday evenings are for sauna and chilling at Fon's place though. =) Supposed to teach English at Shalem House, but P'Jarin called to say there weren't any students so it's cancelled. Watched Kung Fu Panda (finally) and it was only at the credits that i saw who voiced which character, and i didn't recognise!! i may want to watch again, or at least certain parts just to recognise the voice again.

wed
supposed to go Ramkhamhaeng Uni, but they said there's gonna be a meeting today, so maybe cancelled.

Thank God for free lunches on Wednesdays and Fridays. =)

Getting busy! Ciao!

:: fast week ::

2008-09-15T11:26:00.003+08:00

The week that I came back passed pretty fast. Been planning the lesson on design for my colleagues, had to do some research and lots of reading!!!! Most of the info I had in my notes from poly, but they're not with me! Sometimes i wish i could just go home (back in singapore) and take some of the things i should have brought. Do you know i still keep my pri sch, sec sch textbooks and ten-year series? They would be so useful here!!

Went sauna with Fon on Tues... :D We even walked halfway home from church (we gave up the 2nd half and took a tuk-tuk) well, partly because of the time. We wanted more time to sauna, and then watch the movie we rented - Hairspray! So after we got home we met downstairs again to use the sauna room. We realise i was supposed to ask the staff to switch on the mains in order for it to work. It was too hot for me, especially for my face, i turn red very easily, and it felt really painful. So i had to get in and out very frequently and we finished after 20 min.

Went up to shower and then i realise i had washed all my underwear (because of the trip) and that it had been raining and couldn't get dry so i panicked. Later i realise, thank God, that i did not bring one to the trip so that was my very last one. Haiz.

My colleague and apartment-mate Gail's keyboard had arrived and she was trying to assemble it. So Fon and i helped. Then we went to Fon's place to watch Hairspray. It was kind of disappointing, not the kind of comedy she'd understand. She was so tired (due to the walk home and the sauna and also the early morning devotion at 7am) that she fell asleep and only her sister and I watched the movie. Haha.. I kind of insisted on an English movie with original soundtrack, if not she has to translate for me throughout the movie because they surely won't have subtitles.

Then her sister walked me home (12am)!

Wednesday went past quickly also. Went to Ramkhamhaeng University (a student from this uni was killed in the protests) with Rev Yee, Laphorn, Jaeng, and Chart, (back to church for 15 min of badminton) and then Shalem House. I was totally lost in the university - they were having cell group and ...i shld have asked Rev Yee to translate for me. I was going to join their icebreakers too, but it turns out to be a Thai language game.

At Shalem House I was late, and there were only 2 children. They were doing maths and i really dunno how to teach them maths, so i asked P'Jarin whether they learn English in school and need help or not. And yay! I got to teach English! After lesson I walked home with the 2 girls and they tried to start a conversation in Thai with me. I barely understood, but roughly something like how long am i gonna stay in Thailand, where do i stay etc. So cute haha..

Thurs yeah had a bad day. Raining, no taxi, forgot to bring my water bottle, walked all the way to church, ended up late. I was waiting for an email reply the whole week and the wait made me frustrated. I conclude there isn't gonna be a reply huh. Went to Chulalongkorn Hospital at 2pm with P'Jarin and P'Gae. Met a family whose son was hospitalised. I watched the mother as she was talking to us, and once in a while she would bend down to kiss him. I was touched by her loving act. He was just lying there motionless (alive la), very skinny, reacting to us once in a while, closing his eyes and about to go to sleep. I don't really understand what his condition was, just something like there was water in his brain. Visited a few other families, waited while P'Jarin and P'Gae talked to them... then took taxi back to office because it was pouring heavily.

Went to Suan Lum night bazaar after badminton after work. I walked all the way there. It was raining :( and my shoes were soaked. Wanted to buy slippers there, but couldn't find nice and cheap ones. Suan Lum is really quite a failure. Closing down soon! Dinner was bad as well, expensive and... cooked without effort. Yeah glad to meet my poly friends here in Bangkok. I'm sorry that i wasn't such a good guide. Took taxi home and, hmmph, this pissed me off also. The meter on the taxi showed 39 when we stopped, so i paid the driver 40 and was waiting for my change, then he stared at me, and pointed at the meter. NOW it showed 41, so he demanded 41 baht! And then he acted as if he were the gracious one and said "mai pen rai." ARGH!!!

Fri went to MBK after work. Did my own shopping while waiting for reply from my friends about where to meet. Found a beauty parlour where i could do waxing for less than in Singapore. At least it's cheaper. Then Yvonne called and said she didn't see my msg and missed call till they left MBK. Anyway they came back and we had dinner in MK. Ate for about 2 hours. haha... I realise Ming Zheng is a very funny and crappy guy. haha.. And Algernon also... i did my FYPJ with him and it was quite a bad experience (i mean the project) so i didn't get to know him well that time.

Oh thank God for helping me on my way home, i didn't have much money with me so i was praying hard that the taxi fare would be under 53, if not i might get down to walk home. Turns out it was just 50.

Sat went to children's church with Gail. Today we taught English. Played an English Bingo game. I was trying to think of other ways to play and teach after 3 rounds of Bingo. Then Gail came back to the group with 2 storybooks. That really engaged the children, although I'm not sure if one of them was trying to be funny, imitating Gail's English accent. We had lunch - ow, very spicy - and debriefing. Then I went up to the office, I forgot I had keys to the ACT office already, but argh, my comp kena virus, not enough ram, very slow!! Was trying to print out notes for the English lesson at 2pm. Only 3 students today. The rest.. 1 was hospitalised with appendicitis, 2 had lots of homework to catch up, and the rest come only as and when they like. it was a fruitful time of teaching la. =)

Fon and I went to Platinum for shopping after that. =D bought a top, a formal jacket for the conference, a dress, a pair of heels, and had ice cream at KFC upstairs. I finally finished exploring Platinum mall!! =D Fon had to go so i walked around on my own while waiting for reply from my poly friends. Met them downstairs and we went to Big C for dinner. Ordered a takeaway pizza from The Pizza Company, then we went to the next door jap restaurant. We did that because we wanted to try all the restaurants there. haha.. Wanted to go Chester's next but we were too full already. Shopped inside Big C. The guys bought toy rifles. LOL.

Walked a bit down the Pratunam street stalls but i realise they were walking towards their hotel, so we bade goodbye and i walked to the BTS station. I bought a pair of shoes similar to my canvas school shoes - the display said, Sale 80, but the lady gave me 30 baht change from a 100 baht! I looked at her curiously because of the extra change and she told me she charge me 70 instead. Wow, auto-discount! I saw a similar design at 99baht in Korat so i thought 80 is a good price already. Bought 2 belts also. I was kinda lost abt the direction of the BTS, almost went to Chid Lom station then i had to U-turn to Siam station. And Sala Daeng was supposed to be 2 stops away.... i was so stoned that i missed my stop! I only realise the train was already at Sala Daeng when the door-closing beep came on! Took the BTS to one more stop, Chong Nonsi, then i took the other direction, back to Sala Daeng. It was late already, about 11pm. Reached home about 11.30pm. Feel a bit bad for going home so late...... i wasn't supposed to stay out late. (but ermm.. my friends are here for holiday!!)

Sun went to English service with Guorong at 10am. My first time! haha.. I'd probably catch only 60% because of the heavy English accent and the trailing off of the voice for each sentence. Took Holy Communion. Lunch at Silom Complex Chester's Grill (to finish the mission of last night) and then shopping at Central World. Although my new heels are pretty comfortable, they r not meant for long hours of walking. So i complained quite a bit. Went to B2S but didn't buy anything. Took many photos cuz Central World is really fun. :D Early dinner at 4pm (just wanted somewhere to sit actually)! At Sushi Tei. quite cheap ba. Walked to Siam Square and then MBK, to get sim card for Franza before meeting her. Then she called to say she would join us at MBK. Sooo tired!! Went around getting things she would need, and then took taxi to her place. Nice!! Photos soon! Left at about 10.30pm. Oh, missed the weekend drama! It's known to Euw, Fon and me as "my lor" because when we were in Ban Chang we started watching the drama and as they were surfing channels I said "i want the lor" (lor means handsome) =D

yeah so this week has been rushed and fast. Today's a good day to rest. Praise God for the wonderful weather, i can collect my clothes from the balcony soon. =)

:: had a bad day ::

2008-09-11T22:49:00.002+08:00

☹

Just to clarify, it was the earlier part of the day that made me upset. It was nice meeting Yvonne, Ming Zheng, Algernon and his girlfriend, shopping at Suan Lum (bought nothing though).

Went to another hospital this afternoon. I was trying hard to hold back my tears on several occasions.

Just.... not happy la.

:: Updates finally! ::

2008-09-09T09:51:00.010+08:00

1/9 Mon
Went to the gym for about an hour :D but my progress is only 5km. I must practise 10km!! Looks like it'll take me 2 hours =x

Showered and then Gail asked me if I would like to celebrate with her for finishing her thesis for her Master's. So we went to Central Chit Lom. We also stopped by the post office.

We had lunch at the Food Loft. Oooh great service. It's like Marche's, but the waiters will even collect your food for you! Walked to Central World cuz Gail wanted to get her electronic keyboard. And we checked out the photography exhibition outside.
By the time we were done i was stoned and a bit worried about the time. Wanted to explore the area around our apartment, but seems like cannot already. Tried to take taxi back from Central World, but .... no taxis was willing to take us to Yen Akat Rd because of the jam. Urggghhhh.

Finished packing and washed my clothes (wrong timing heh) and rushed down to meet Fon to go Sawang Daendin. Took a taxi to Mo Chit where we took the Northeast bus. Interesting experience... Now I know where to go to take bus towards the Northeast of Thailand. :) We thought we would be late, but the taxi driver was really crazy!! As soon as there was an opportunity to speed up, he went up to 110km/h!!

2/9 Tue
The service on the bus was good, they served soft drinks and packets of biscuits and a cute water bottle in the shape of a bus! It was lady who served, and she also asked each passenger where he/she intends to drop so she could wake up the person when the bus reaches. It was an overnight bus.

Reached Sawang Daendin and dropped right in front of the church at 4.50am. It was drizzling. We rang the doorbell and thankfully someone came to get the door. He showed us to our room and then we slept till 8am. The bus ride gave us backaches man!

Woke up for breakfast, there was khao moo daeng (char siew rice). Had an orientation of the kindergarden by Khroo Pim (Somchai's fiancee).
Got more information of the church from Achan Kittikhun and P'Wirachai and then Achan Kittikhun brought us out for lunch at his wife's stall. Took a walk around the market too. Then we had pig trotter with rice. I took photos of the stall and Achan Kittikhun jokingly asked for copyrights fee. haha.. i said i will help them to advertise... :)

After lunch Achan had an interview with a new teacher so Fon and I had time to rest. Did my quiet time (i missed the night before because of the overnight travel) and started reading a book from Rachel Soh. :) Then we went out with Audrey, a Singaporean also, to sightsee Sawang Daendin. Visited a Catholic school where Achan's daughter is studying, a government school, and a church member's house where we fished! Fon and I caught one each. =)

Then we went to a part in town where we stopped for drinks. Achan ordered coconut jelly drink and ice-kacang. Both were too sweet so I added the naam-cha (teh-o kosong) to make it less sweet. After that we went back to church again where we rested, since we have gathered enough information about the ministries of the church in Sawang. We had lots of rest time, so in between I went up to the rooftop to take photos. =) Not much of a view though.

At 7 we went out for dinner with Audrey, P'Wirachai and his wife and children, Khun Don and his wife and adopted daughter. They brought us to Tesco Lotus (I love hypermarts!) and we ate at the foodcourt. It was also cheap to eat there - 35 baht for my seafood ratna (horfun)! Then went into the hypermart for shopping. The clothes look nice! But Fon and I bought breakfast for the next day only instead. And I decided to buy some milo powder, coffee creamer and sugar for the church.

After Tesco - they close super early, like 9pm! - we stopped at a night market where Fon bought desserts and some corn milk for tomorrow breakfast. Interesting... Went back to church to rest for the day. Fon had to prepare minutes for a meeting where she would not be attending, so she actually stayed up to finish the work. =x but we had a chat before that and i got to know her better. =)

3/9 Wed
Next day P'Wirachai got breakfast for us - chicken gizzard and black sticky rice (the kind used for bubur hitam) I only touched a bit of the sticky rice because we had bought corn milk and tuna mayonnaise with bread already. Then I did some final packing and "checked out". Achan Kittikhun is really humourous and fatherly, reminds me of Asun gu-gu. =) He sent us to Udon Thani, together with Somchai and his fiancee Khroo Pim, and her mom.

We stopped by Khroo Pim's elder sister's place where they had kuayteow (we were full already) and I took photos of the kittens.
Achan joked that he was sad I took so many photos of the kittens but none of him, so i took a shot of him haha.

Later I was watching a red ant climb up my glass of iced water and Achan pinched it and put it into his mouth!!! I watched in wide-eyed wonder. Isn't red ant poisonous? I always thought so because i was badly bitten by them before. =(

Finally we reached Udon Thani in one-and-a-half-hour ride in the car and Achan found us a bus going to Korat at 10.30am. It was a second-class bus. It was terrible, the bus driver took anyone that needs a ride and kept horning for nothing!!! Irritating, because we were just sitting on the 2nd row, and there was even a time he took in so many passengers some had to stand! Urgh! It wasn't the short journey kind of bus so it didn't make sense to take in so many passengers. It wasn't comfortable either so we ended up with backache again. :(

We reached Korat at 5pm and it was pouring heavily. My umbrella was of little use. Fon and i were drenched by the time we got to the taxi stand. Someone was supposed to pick us up. Anyway we got a taxi arranged to take us to the church. I was quite pissed because firstly no one picked us up because it was raining heavily. Secondly, when we reached the church we were just left there (although we were offered a drink), we were drenched and (at least for me) would very much like to settle in our room, put down our stuff and get changed! Fon didn't mind i think. Anyway I learnt that we were supposed to wait for Johnny (Singaporean) to come back to bring us to the place we are going to stay. And they were having ministry in school so they came back around 6+pm.

So I realise we were not staying in church, but at a hostel nearby. It was cheap, 350baht per night. The church offered to pay for our accommodation. After settling in we went out for dinner. Kim Yien (malaysian-singaporean) drove us (Fon, Johnny, Mai and me) to a pizza shop.

Saw some angmohs outside. We had pizza and steak there. I was disappointed as the menu listed a wide range of pizzas but when it arrived it was 2 ingredients short. The owner had explained that her cook had been on leave and she's the only person cooking, so... okay la. Kim Yien treated us for that meal. Fon and I noticed a cute guy sitting opp us ;) Then Kim Yien took us around Korat to understand more. Stopped by a 7-Eleven where we bought breakfast for the next day. Went back to our apartment to rest.

4/9 Thur
Next day we woke up about 7+am to go to church for breakfast and we watched Johnny bake cake.
Then we used the internet for a while (too slow and i haven't finished checking my email even - sorry to those who were waiting for updates, i had limited internet access for this week) and had a meeting with Pastor Dickson (Hong Kong-Singaporean) - I guessed he was from HK through his accent when he pronounced some words :P He gave us the background of the church in Korat, which is very useful, and then gave us the documents also.

After that we waited for a while before he was free to bring us out for lunch. We were having difficulty deciding where to eat until he brought us to one end of the city and decided to bring us to Sima Thani Hotel for buffet lunch!!! (after that we learnt that the buffet lunch was only 135 baht!!!) Had our fill of Japanese, Chinese, Western, and of course Thai cuisine. =) He also brought us around Korat to understand the town more... and I really like this place! It was a bit more developed last year due to the Sea Games held here. But it was more or less unspoilt by tourists yet :) Oh, I learnt that Korat is the short name for Nakhon Ratchasima, no wonder I wasn't able to find it easily on the map! We made a short stop outside the railway station for photos..

The trains had not been running due to the protests i heard. Then pastor dropped us back at our apartment to rest. I was too full to sleep, so i watched tv. haha thai drama. or rather, soap opera.

At 4pm we went back to church. We had dinner together with the people who had come to take English lesson.
Then Fon and I followed Aey to a night market nearby.

Nice! Passed by Dusit Princess Korat. :) Saw many things I want to buy, but decided to control, partly because the designs are not so nice. hee.. bought carrot-banana juice instead, to aid digestion (we found Yakult in Korat!!!) but it was rather salty. :S Waited for Johnny to pass us the information of the church in soft copy then he took us back to the apartment - the entry requires his thumbprint! So we rested for the day.

I've been thinking about why I keep saying "anything" to matters that require decision, like where to go for dinner, what to order, whether i want to go night market or not.... (I wonder if it's irritating to other people.) Someone told me that it causes people to say that I'm an indecisive person, or too easy-going. I realise it's because I'm afraid of the responsibility that comes with certain decisions. It's also because I had been badly hurt by criticisms when I made lousy decisions, like when the place i recommend strongly is not to other people's liking. So I tend to throw off the responsibility to other people. But I know that's being irresponsible too. Haiz.

We switched on the tv and saw the "pantamit" (anti-govt) and saw Nakhon Ratchasima on tv! It's the main road outside our apartment! Haha... I joked about going out to join them. hee..

5/9 Fri
Next morning we could afford to sleep in, so we lay in bed till 9am :D and we went to church. We realise there was no breakfast, so we walked to a nearby coffeeshop. I ordered Mama (instant noodles) with pork, it looks like I ordered beansprouts with noodles instead. Anyway I swallowed all the beansprouts!! Hurray! (cheer for me!)

Went to a nearby 7-Eleven and bought more Yakult. :D I also bought a Golf-Mike green tea drink :D then we went back to our apartment for final packing. At 11am we brought our bags to the church and Fon called for a taxi to pick us up to the bus terminal. We had plenty of time, so we bought our bus tickets and went to the food court to stone :P We booked the VIP bus because that was the best available timing for our travel. :D The bus ride was very disappointing though. Though our tickets were for seats near the front, we ended up sitting behind, near the toilet. It's good to have toilet in the bus, but the smell is AWFUL!!!!!

It got colder and colder, and just when i was about to fall asleep, the bus server switched on the tv at a VERY loud volume :( It was screening the Street Kings. Not interested, moreover it was dubbed in Thai. So i stared out of the window most of the time. Passed by Pachinburi, Pattaya, .... wow! Pattaya looks nice.
Although it's a very touristy place, it's pretty clean and has more English signs, and has nicer buildings. I guess i like nice buildings as well as old buildings... perhaps i should have gone into architecture :P

Reached Ban Chang at about 7.30pm finally... the sun has set. Was hungry by the time we arrived, so we settled for a roadside stall for dinner. It's cheaper here. 25 baht for the meal. Went to 7-Eleven for Yakult again! And took a Ban Chang-style tuk-tuk to church. We were shown to our room, it's actually a classroom, but since the next day is Saturday and there won't be class, it's okay to house us there. I almost couldn't sleep because I had green tea just before sleeping :P When i switched off the lights i became a little afraid, because the place is quite eerie at night, and there were dogs barking, the ceiling fan was making a traditional Thai music, plus my imagination.... :P

Toys for us to play! =D

6/9 Sat
Woke up at 7.40am and washed up, then Fon told me Achan Anong called to say that we'll have breakfast at 9am instead. We had CP shrimp wanton, bread, and lychee. haha, weird combi. Took a look around the church, it was a nice view with mountains at the back! Then we got information of the church from Achan Anong. Fon and I went to her friend's house just next to the church.

Achan Anong took us around Ban Chang. This is the land they bought as the church originally.

For dinner we went to a housewarming party. It was the daughter of a committee member. I feel so honoured to have the chance to join this party! =)

7/9 Sun
Church service starts at 10am. I joined the children's group. They are really well-behaved!! A pri 6 boy in Singapore would have been uninterested in playing games, but over here they are very participative and ... i'm just very impressed. =)

After service we had lunch fellowship and then Fon and I rushed off to Tesco Lotus, to rebond our hair :D I added on hair-dyeing as well. Very cheap! 900 baht in total.

Then we went back to Euw's house to sleep. Hehe... At dinnertime we joined Achan Anong, went to a kuay chap stall. Ermm.... i dun really eat the pig's insides so i didn't really like it. Furthermore I was trying to go on a diet!! =x

Went to 7-Eleven and bought the latest Clash album.:D

8/9 Mon
Packed up and returned the mattress and pillows to church. Achan Anong then drove us to the beach!! Woohoo~! Praise God for good weather! Nice scenery, beach in front, mountains behind. =)

Cute puppies!!

My "pet" dog followed me around everywhere.

Clear water!!

Sunburn!

It poured just after we left, heavily!!

Waited in church for the rain to get lighter and we went to look for Fon's "son". Guitar, my new friend from the housewarming party, was also in the same class, Sunflower.

Then we went back to Euw's house to get our bags. Gail picked us up in Fay's car and we got off at the bus "station". Wanted to get hot chocolate to warm us up but the bus arrived just after we ordered, so we had to cancel our order.

Back in Bangkok! =)

:: updates ::

2008-08-28T16:58:00.003+08:00

1. I've moved house! Check out: http://angel-sings.blogspot.com/2008/08/lovely-new-place.html

2. my stomach is burning.... I just ate some green chili/curry pork, a Southern Thai dish for lunch. I feel like I've got fire inside me.

3. I've been attending a seminar on worship by Pastor Philip Huan and his wife... It's been good. First session was something similar to our Psalmist Retreat + PATH where we go back to basics. Second was about going back to our First Love, third on Revival, and today's it's on discovering our spiritual gifts. Every message speaks something, but i find it hard to articulate, to explain what's good about it. But I discovered that my probably-strongest gift is the gift of Helps. Pastor Philip described it as "I am not sure what I can do, but just put me anywhere that needs help" and immediately i thought, hey! that's me!

4. I think i'm dropping hair. :(

5. Overslept this morning. Woke up when my alarm clock rang but after i switched it off i went back to sleep! Then I had a nightmare about a haunted, dirty toilet (in thailand)..... then when i finally woke up in shock it was about 7.20am! I was supposed to meet Fon downstairs at 7.30! So i quickly showered and rushed out of the house. Didn't even bring the clothes I wanted to pass to the people from the other provinces who came for the seminar. :( And they're leaving tomorrow!

:: Thai language ::

2008-08-27T12:43:00.000+08:00

I think Rev Yee is really dedicated. He came here 11 years ago with his family (to another province at first, then to Bangkok). Together, they picked up the language, reading and writing, and had to adapt to the culture here and now he's able to preach in Thai and even read the Thai Bible fluently!

But some of the things that could hinder is the fear of pronouncing wrongly. Here are some examples:

"Heal!" could be pronounced as "Pee (on him)!" if the wrong tone is used.

And "Phra Jao Phu Ying Yai" can mean God Almighty, or it can also mean God the big girl if also the wrong tone is used. Such big mistakes I'd be afraid to make!

The Thai language has 5 tones, but i can't tell the difference between the 3rd and 5th tones. It's hard to listen carefully....

:: homesick? ::

2008-08-25T12:04:00.003+08:00

called home last night, parents were away in balai for the weekend, so they only returned late. Dad says he missed having breakfast with me... awwww.......

Today things are not looking too good again. Monday blues?? Feel very lost. I wanted to go out, explore bangkok, but i had to settle my new accommodation. Both options are fine with me, just that I feel being toggled around because we have to wait for A and B to make their decision before things can be confirmed. So i'm just sitting around, waiting. That sucks.

2008-08-19T22:38:00.004+08:00

i was told to wait here.

Dinner at DQ Grill & Chill at Siam Paragon!!

:: motorcycle ::

2008-08-19T18:24:00.002+08:00

Just got home on P'Bom's motorbike. I still haven't tried going home by myself yet. Passed by a slum area near Suan Phlu Rd... hmm. The ride was quite stressful, i kept wondering, how am i gonna get down the motorbike. Getting up was a bit easy cuz i got on from a platform. But that's not gonna happen everytime. I need to overcome this fear. (And tons of other fears)

Oh that reminds me of last night, I did the dishes with Joshua, and after that i took the rubbish out. The chute was all the way at the end of the corridor and there wasn't light in the "waste drop room". If i were scared of ghosts i would have freaked out and imagine sadako crawling out of the chute when i opened it.

Rev Yee treated some of us to breakfast and Gail treated me to lunch today at the same cafe opp church. =) yummmy (except for the huge pile of beansprouts i didn't touch)

:: =| ::

2008-08-18T14:46:00.002+08:00

today.. is not such a good day.

The sun must have risen at 5am here. I stirred quite a few times, went back to sleep since it's my off day, and surprised to find out that it's only 8am.

What a season of discipline God has planned for me!! Every meal Auntie Xiuling discovers one more food i don't eat. For breakfast today, it's cucumber. or zuchini. it doesn't make a diff to me, i like neither. But i feel greng jai to not eat it, so i had to swallow 2 slices. eelch.

And Little Miss Pampered gotta wash her own underwear and socks by hand. I could throw them into the laundry basket but ermm.. nvm la. Too many boys in the house.

And my family usually don't eat at home (until recently) so we're used to "wash only what you use"... we don't have to do someone else's dishes unless specified. I feel bad waiting for one of the boys to be ordered to do it, so i tend to do it automatically.

(psst! The Punggol Princesses don't do housework at home!)

The Missionary has begun to feel discomfort already.

Tried to go to the gym after an hour of rest..... i was almost very thankful that the apartment here actually has a gym and a swimming pool, so i didn't have to go to a sports complex or a park to work out, till.... i tried to find the entrance, it was locked and thank God the cleaner passed by and i tried to ask her to help me open the door. In there i was like "oh my ***!" the lights weren't on, the machines look like they existed 100 years ago... the whole place was just "oh my ***". i tried to ask the staff to help me switch the treadmill on but seems like ... even the switch doesn't work. what a state of despair. Anyway i used those machines that require no power... didn't really work out much but ha, at least i tried.

Had lunch with Joshua at a nearby cafe. Aroi! He asked whether i do any sports, play any instruments, and must have concluded that I'm boring. If i'm a guy i must be a sissy. (Shoots, is it the devil trying to plant negative thoughts in my head?!)

Wanted to go out, but didn't dare to go too far, so just walked down my street and back. Paths are bumpy - they are not even paths! So scared an incoming car would just run over my toes la. Haiz.

Maybe i'll go for a swim later.

:: morning! ::

2008-08-17T08:20:00.003+08:00

Good morning! so far i've been able to wake up early for the past 2 days :D It's 8am in Singapore now, but over here it's still 7am. That means i woke up at 6.30am Thai time. woohooo u can never catch me up at that time back home. hahaha.. no motivation to, unless it's to catch a flight, catch a sunrise while at a chalet, or worse still, do work overnight etc. Well, sun rises early here la.

Update from yesterday morning: Auntie Xiuling chatted with me while she heated up the spaghetti from dinner the previous night. I kinda shared that i was concerned about the poor children in Thailand, but she shared the real side of this ministry. She said that the poor people just want to be poor, they just want to depend on other people. If the children receive a pair of shoes from you, the parents would sell it to buy booze. (instant gratification - they don't see things in the long term) It's discouraging, but that doesn't mean i should stop trying.

Went to church at 9.30am with Rev Yee and his youngest son, Ryan, who reminds me soooo much of Wiky (hair style, meekness). I didn't know Rev Yee drives in Thailand! That's great! (i kinda crinch at the idea of motorcycle taxi - not because it's dangerous, but because i can't get on it! Makes me feel heavy and clumsy.) He introduced me to P'Jarim, the social worker at RCDC. i erm can't really remember what people do at where, so people gotta correct me hehehe.. forgivable la, it's just my 2nd day here.

Joined P'Jarim and team for devotion before Children's church starts. She was trying hard to translate for me what the leader (of the devotion) is sharing, but i couldn't catch her anyway :P Children's service was interesting, seems much like a routine, all the children knew what to do, how to dance to the songs, kneel during prayer, cross their arms during sermon. Probably about 30 kids there.

After the sermon the kids broke up into 5 groups. i was lost at first, because i went to the toilet just before they split up. So i wandered around (i was told to observe anyway) until i found P'Jarim. She asked me to follow her to a class upstairs. I joined her to teach mathematics to 3 girls.. Gosh (852X56)/35.... my instant reaction to such a sum would be to take out my calculator! After the class, i've learned how to say multiply (koon) in thai (owww i forgot the rest!)

P'Jarim got a debrief with some of the leaders, so I was waiting with a few other youths who helped out. Sam was the only one who could speak English, so we talked. He's 20 and in university now. The other youths were only 13-14. I asked him to teach me the Thai alphabet pinned on the wall. Just after we were done, the debrief ended, and i went for lunch with P'Jarim. She treated me to fried rice at the hospital cafe next door! And I just found out that Sam is her son! haha..

After lunch we headed back to church and I joined Fon to teach English. She's pretty good! The students were the same youths who helped out at the Children's Church. They were all shy.. haha. Typical thai la.

Went back to my cubicle in the office where Fon suggested i go out with her, instead of attending the piano concert with Rev Yee's family. I ermm dun really know how to appreciate classical music and find it a bit awkward to join them for such a formal event, so i was glad to have the chance to go out with Fon instead. I will be travelling up to 3 provinces in Thailand with her (trip postponed to 1st-7th Sept), so I'm so glad we can hit it off well.

Walked to Sala Daeng BTS station to take BTS to MBK with her. Got a thai sim card, travel adapter, and some toiletries at Tops. And we had dinner at the food court (i almost wanted to introduce her to Mr Meng dim sum, which is a bit more extravagant...) where I had Vietnamese fresh spring rolls!!! wooohooo!! Satisfied my craving. There were..yup a lot of leaves and veggies, and i ate until the taste makes me sick. haha.

P'Bia joined us at the food court, and we went to Fon's house together. Chilled out and watched Stromy Night (Japanese anime, supposed to mean Stormy Night). I was quite bored most of the time cuz the dubbing was in thai. hahaha. i kept asking, "kao bpai nai?" (where are they going?) cuz there doesn't seem to be a story.

It was deuk laew and P'Bia wanted to klap baan laew, so we walked her out to the main road. And then we caught a tuk-tuk to a nearby Tops supermarket - it looks like King Albert's Park's Cold Storage! so high class-looking. They don't sell Yakult there apparently. Even their Vitagen is spelt Betagen. :S I bought Meiji brand UHT drink instead. Took taxi back to Fon's place and just nice Rev Yee was back from the concert and picked me up.

Washed up, charged my laptop... i wanted to lie in bed and wait till it finished charging, then i would pull out the plug, but i fell asleep immediately! when i woke up in the morning i found myself at the same position i fell asleep in. hahaha..

Failed blood donation attempt

2008-08-13T17:32:00.001+08:00

The nurse couldn't "catch" my vein. :(

AAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHH

2008-08-12T23:28:00.003+08:00

AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! hao sent me an email abt a kitten being abused to death... in photos some more!!! i feel damn sick!!!!! =(

*sobz*

feel like cursing the stupid ******* for killing the kitten!!!!!

080808

2008-08-08T17:56:00.001+08:00

I must have a post today. Haha. Special day. Cheap thrill hor.

:: Food Mood ::

2008-08-06T22:51:00.002+08:00

slept at past 4am... lots to do. Guess it's because i didn't have enough faith that God will provide. I've been doing freelance work and even on the last 2 weeks before my departure!? Crazy. Really 不自量力. Just now got another uncle from my parents' cell group called to ask me do website. I wasn't willing at first.. then i wonder, perhaps... it's not that difficult? I could continue to work on it in Bkk as long as i have internet right? Feel bad rejecting business also. but i feel very stressed already. Still got a standee for My Hope Singapore to design. :(

Can i collect payment before i fly? I'm broke already. :(

Just realised yesterday that i'm even receiving more than i'm expecting from church. I thought my air ticket, transport, travel insurance were covered under the allowance, but turns out it's ON TOP of my allowance!! That's why i say i not enough faith.

Today I followed Rev John Sim to check out his orchid garden. =) He showed me his herbs as well. I like peppermint.. And guess what's my favourite flower? Those who'd ask me before would know. =)

Right now i'm craving for... vietnamese fresh spring roll from the food court in MBK!!!! Mmmmmmmmm....~~~ seriously!

:: not sleeping ::

2008-08-06T01:16:00.001+08:00

feel very awake now...

还不想睡。。。

觉得自己。。不自量力，自作多情。

ignore me. i'm having PMS.

:: Paintball @ Red Dynasty! ::

2008-08-03T22:54:00.004+08:00

Went to play paintball @ Red Dynasty (Bottle Tree Park) yesterday! El Shaddai and Shammah. =) Photos can be found on Facebook (such efficiency of Shammah!), but it's not gonna be glam at all. haha..

Anyway before that i was having a meeting in church abt the website.... with that we can finally move on to another stage. Hope can complete it before i leave!!

Took a bus to Khatib, didn't know it was a straight bus from Potong Pasir and reached there 1+ hr ahead. Some weirdo sat beside me and got off the same stop as me (i got a feeling it wasn't his destination) and started talking to me and asked me for my number. i feel insulted because he's NOT HOT AT ALL! lol.

We had dinner at Bottle Tree Village (Sembawang) after that. Nice place. =) Recommended for couples, families, and friends.

2 tvs!

2008-08-01T18:49:00.001+08:00

:: HK taxis ::

2008-07-31T23:36:00.001+08:00

Interesting interview with cabbies.. I've never taken taxi in HK before (i'm serious!) though i've tried ALL other public transport there.

I still love HONG KONG!! Who wants to go with me next yr? *winks*

:: back from Balai! ::

2008-07-28T23:50:00.002+08:00

Yeah check out my other blog for update on the trip. Dunno why on IE the page doesn't load fully, but loads fine on Firefox... i think i gotta change the template soon.

Anyway... from this trip, i've realise how selfish i have been.. Persis has taught me about selflessness and to be thoughtful to other people. =) I hope i will give more of myself in Thailand!

By the way I had a fruitful time today changing my display cupboard... Gosh so much dust.. but very satisfied seeing one less pile of things on the floor. Hehe..

Mom ordered a tv that can hang on the wall, 37" wor. cuz she "over-watched" the tv in her room till it broke down. LOL. Will be delivered tmr. It comes with a dvd player (whee~!) our current dvd/vcd player spoilt too. -.-"

Haiz long time nv cut hair. Everytime i feel like going to cut my hair i procrastinate.. now it's because i've got a new piercing, the hairdresser is sure gonna hurt my ear when he cuts my hair... so i'm waiting for my piercing to heal. haha..

:: sweet ::

2008-07-24T23:15:00.002+08:00

couldn't sleep last night... too many things happened, i was trying to process them.

so in the middle of the night i got up to prac on my bass guitar.

(dunno is it because of the lack of sleep, i threw up my breakfast in the morning. :S)

excited. =)

:: of holidays and rest ::

2008-07-22T17:13:00.000+08:00

Mom almost booked me on a holiday to Genting... Well, I would like to go, but it fell over the National Day holiday & weekend. Uncle Peter told me the church will want to pray for me that weekend, because that's the LAST weekend before I fly off.

And besides... i feel guilty going overseas so often *blush* Just went to Bintan, Bangkok, Port Dickson, Phuket over the past 3 months... *sheepish grin*

There was a period in Facebook many people put under their status, "i want to go for a holiday / i need a holiday / very stressed at work" etc. so.... they're gonna stone me if they know how "free" i am. well, the truth in life is, their burdens are self-imposed. Yes it's true u gotta work hard for a living, to support urself and ur family, but how hard do u want to work? So hard till u sacrifice the time u could have spent with ur loved ones? That's something i frown upon. God created life as something to be enjoyed, not spent (literally, spent).

Charles Spurgeon said, "As long as we have any burden resting on our shoulders, we cannot enjoy perfect rest; and as long as there is any burden on our conscience or heart, we cannot have rest of soul. How are we to be freed from these burdens? Only by yielding ourselves wholly to the Great Burden-Bearer, who says, 'Come unto Me, and, I will give you rest.' "

If you understand God's perspective and original purpose for our life, then you will understand this "rest" He is talking about.

Think about it and let me know ur thoughts.

:: flying ::

2008-07-21T11:17:00.002+08:00

Booked air ticket le. Only booked one way. Cuz i not enough money to book return ticket. Need to transfer from one account to the other, very troublesome, so i decided to book later. Somemore i was only short of $4 in my debit card account. haha.

Thai Embassy really don't reply emails one. So i called. They said either produce the return ticket, or produce a bank statement/cash of $1000. The latter is easier to produce, i mean, since i can't confirm i'm coming back on any exact date.

Running low on reserves. Hope church pays me soon.

My departure date is 15 Aug!!! Stop asking me le!

Pretty girl and Sol beer

2008-07-20T22:51:00.001+08:00

:: Re-pierced my ear!! ::

2008-07-20T22:27:00.002+08:00

Was intending to re-pierce my top left ear after my driving test because a piercing affects my hearing and i wanted to be able to hear the tester clearly. hehe..

Just met up with Jimmy and Theodore for lunch at Just Acia at Dhoby Xchange.. Wow.. Jimmy has lotsa stories about his childhood to tell! Very fun, the kind i wish i had. He makes me idolise his mom. Haha.. Food was good and quite value for money.. Got free flo' drink and ice cream, although one serving was enough for me.

Jimmy and I kept suan-ing Theodore for his.. erm. child-likeness. Anyway Theodore had to go at 5, so Jimmy and I continued to chat, until i decided to pierce my ear. I changed into flats and we walked to far east 77th Street. *piak* and it was done. Supposed to meet my parents for dinner but it was too far. Their cell group was celebrating my dad's birthday at Jelita. Crazy. How am i supposed to get home from there. ha.

Jimmy and I really had lots in common and lots to chat.. like, how much we want to beat up sissies if they try to sissy in front of us, food in Hong Kong, desire to try backpacking... then we had dinner at the food court at Le Meridien and went home.

Oh yah and on Thurs and Fri i went for GoFestAsia night session with Hannah. Gail joined us on Thurs and Persis on Fri. And on Fri, after the night session i went to meet Judy and her bf who happen to be at suntec too! Wanted to go Paulaner's for drinks but it was too crowded. So we went to East Coast Park. Jim drove. We were trying to find a common topic besides Judy and jokes, so Jim asked me what kinda topics would engage me. I said, travelling... and then it really got me talking. Haha.. Ordered this beer called Sol, it was served like Corona and it was SUPER NICE. I'll post photo thru my handphone in a while. ;)

Ya, travelling gets me talking.

:: Encouraging sermons ::

2008-07-19T22:59:00.004+08:00

Wow.. I just listened to 2 of the recorded sermons online (click on the link!)... and felt really encouraged and inspired. I am currently listening to "Time for Everything".

I thank all those who encouraged me upon hearing news of my failure.. (and the comfort food, beer and bubble tea treats from dear friends to cheer me up!) but what really knocked me into my senses is the sermon I mentioned. Indeed what seems to be a disappointment now, it doesn't necessarily mean God is not working on the situation.

Reading the passage from Mark 4:26-29, indeed the farmer does not understand how the seed he planted is able to grow, and even if he doesn't see it when it was sprouting beneath the soil, something was happening even before it springs out of the earth.

I guess that also applies to relationships, like what i mentioned in one of my recent previous entries, when a couple breaks up it doesn't mean it was a failed relationship. A lesson can still be drawn from it, the couple learn things about each other, and that's what makes it a successful relationship.

And for now even if i'm not seeing progress in my relationship (or friendship) with Mr Right, it doesn't mean things are not working out between us. It's just that the stalk hasn't sprung out of the soil.

2008-07-19T13:24:00.002+08:00

well i failed.

too discouraged to book for a re-test.

maybe i'll go for a Class 2B next year.

:: Praise God ::

2008-07-16T20:12:00.004+08:00

Praise God for good (no, it was fantastic!) weather while I was in Phuket that my sister and I could have fun frolicking in the sun.

Thank God for protecting me when I got into a bike accident on Monday. I thought I heard my arm break. :S I had my bike repaired, then I asked my dad whether I could venture far. I almost wanted to go East Coast Park haa.. but i was thirsty and didn't have my water bottle with me. So i decided to go just somewhere near like Punggol Park, which is in Hougang. Thank God there was water cooler by the toilets. Praise God that NEA thought of putting water coolers in even small parks like that. haha..

Anyway ya, on the way back I just passed by a bus stop which had shelter to the overhead bridge. I was trying to cycle through 2 "pillars" of the shelter when i decided that i might not be able to pass through. It wasn't exactly very narrow, but i suddenly panicked. I thought my knee might hit the pillar on my right. So my right arm grabbed that pillar and let go. I probably fell in a slow-motion but my mind was in a blank, i just thought i was going to break my arm when i stretched it out to support my body. That area in Sengkang is quite secluded so there was no one around to help me. I rested at the bus stop for a while before deciding that I could continue. So thirsty, i just want to go home.

Had quite a few bruises on my shins and my whole body ached with overstretched muscles. My arm? Didn't break, still ok, can drive. =)

Yeah finally had my first bike accident. People say u won't learn until u fall. Haa.. I'm usually the kind who would rather go slow so i can brake in time in case i panic, but looks like i've got to a new level of boldness! haha..

:: Phuket 10-13 July ::

2008-07-16T00:52:00.010+08:00

argh stupid me erased some of the earlier photos of the trip on my camera when i was trying to make space for the sunset on Day 3.. so no more photos of the room we stayed in. :( many of my photos were over-exposed too.. lousy photography skills :(

anyway, here goes my photojournal of my trip!

Took a flight on Airasia to Phuket to visit my sis. had a bit of turbulence but i liked that. haha.. like a roller coaster ride. I arrived earlier than expected so i had to wait for her to pick me up. Then we checked into our room at Diamond Cottage Resort & Spa, slacked for a while, ate some complimentary fruits, and headed out to the beach to explore.

No swimming? u sure?

Sis introduced this roti-prata called pancake. i ordered tomato cheese flavour and she ordered plain flavour which comes with condensed milk.. mmmmm yummy!~ so mine's salty and hers sweet. wonderful!

We were at Kata Beach eating our pancakes and watching tourists parasail. Up, up and away!

Walked back and then to Karon beach where there were many hermit crabs. Much bigger than the ones in Bintan!

We put down the hermit crab and this dog walked over, sniffed at the crab and started rubbing its back against the sand!! So cute!

I want to break free~ I want to break free...!!

The waters leave a beautiful trace as they recede

This is called an astuary

Sat down at a cafe and i ordered a berry tea to quench my thirst

arghhh i was concentrating on taking the sunset photo i didn't notice the waves coming in and they soaked my shoes through and through! This shot was taken the moment i realised it (can u sense the shock?).

dropped by my sis' workplace, Moevenpick Hotel (correct?)

dinner near our hotel, Baan Thai. Not fantastic and there were mosquitoes.. :( and a frog!

quite a spread. regret ordering the green curry chicken which comes in a coconut (last pic), but the coconut helps to simmer the spicyness!

Breakfast at Manow, the restaurant at our hotel. Food's so-so, not much variety, i'm just glad to have cereal and sweet watermelons.

This is the view from our room. See some workers up there?

Took a sawng teow to Phuket Town. That's like a Chinatown, many shophouses. the kind i like =)

hmm.. so turn right must pay?

Lunch at MK, very popular in Thailand. Roasted pork and duck. We ordered dim sum too, oh! forgot to take photos! haa..

Can you tell what kinda signboard that is? Read carefully! So cool right!

Haha houseflies love green tops.

On a tuk-tuk.. we've taken all kinds of local transport within that few days man!

Central Festival Mall. Watched Hancock here.

Big C. I love hypermarts!

Index furniture mall. we went there for...

Sashimi buffet! It's a Jap buffet la, but our highlight is sashimi! umm.. took a little too much. it shld be taken rarely in order to be more highly appreciated.

Went umm clubbing at Timber Hut, finally got to visit this place my sis raves abt. Ordered a Corona. i shld have tried Kloster instead, it's more within my budget and since i've never tried it before. (I'm more of a "been there, done that" kinda person)

i've been *blush* ahem, checking the bassist out. but too bad i've got poor eyesight. He seems cute from far la. Just keep it as that.

Finally took our welcome drink, on the 3rd day!! haha..

Had lunch by the beach at Patong

Sis offering her ma-prow

i ordered a chaa-yen, a must-try in Thailand! it's usually a bit too sweet though.

Phad si-yoo seafood (soya sauce kuay tiao with prawns, squid, crabmeat!)

Sup trying to scoop a long slice of coconut flesh

Hmm sis noticed this cute, patronising tourist with six-pecs.

Jungceylon Shopping mall!! Didn't buy anything, but got a free gift for tourists. :D It's a nice camera pouch.

View from Karon View Point

See the moon up there?

me with sis' car

wow..that's like a meterology station

View at Promthep Cape

Trying to catch the sun

Wah! So many pple watching sunset together! no fun! haa..

The Golden, Yellow sisters

whee~ sunset le. but the final episode was quite sad.

Boats

Roadside dining! Cool concept!

See, the stall's opposite the road! So everytime a dish is ready they have to cross the road to bring it over!

*burp* woah the tom yum goong is really spicy man, i couldn't take it!

Who wouldn't be fascinated by such a view! =D

These cats wanted to watch the view together too.. aww so sweet...

Went to my sis' apartment after that to take a look while Sup took a "quick nap". Watched Romeo & Juliet, and some mountain climbing movie in the meanwhile. That's how quick. haha.. Left about 12 am, return to hotel to pack my stuff. Slept for 5 hrs before going for breakfast and then off to the airport. Slept so soundly on the plane i was amazed it landed so fast. haha..

Home Sweet Home!

:: Nike+ Human Race ::

2008-07-09T12:45:00.001+08:00

Sounds exciting.. I wanna run my first 10k this yr... Can I run it in bangkok? :P

Feel like signing up, cuz there's actually an option i can race on the same day anywhere in the world, as long as i sync my run using the Nike+ Sportsband which i'd like to get my hands on!

The Nike+ Coach is an online ...mmm.. database where u can "upload" ur run to. U just need the gadget, the Nike+ Sportsband, the sensor, slip the sensor into ur shoe and u wear the Sportsband, and it will pick up the distance u ran and other details!!

So cool! The run in Singapore takes place somewhere near the Esplanade on 31st August, on which i will be in Bkk already.. but this race takes place in 25 cities around the world, and i say this again, anyone can join the race anywhere in the world using the gadget to synchronise the run!

I need to start running..

*hesitates*

sigh.

:: Driving lesson #17 ::

2008-07-08T21:33:00.002+08:00

this morning before my driving lesson my dad said something very discouraging, and quite insulting about my driving.. he's never seen me on the roads, how can he describe my skills like i'm some idiot? and he said i shld just treat my driving test as "just for fun, dun need to take it seriously".

!!!

very pissed.. so i went for my lesson with quite a bad mood. i was kinda revving the engine and pressing the accelerator pedal quite hard (it was quite loud), but thank God i didn't get into an accident though it could have happened.. at kaki bukit the roads can get really busy and messy due to road works. surprisingly my instructor said i improved.. (in the circuit perhaps)

10 more days to my test!!!!!

:: muh fingernails ::

2008-07-08T16:14:00.001+08:00

i realise the more often i practise on my bass, the faster my fingernails grow. I mean, I just re-realised. My fingernails have not been growing at such a rate for so long!

:: Boy Meets Girl ::

2008-07-07T09:51:00.003+08:00

just finished reading this book a few days ago.. read it within a few days also, it's a very easy read. Started to think abt BGR again hahaha..

i'm very impressed with the calling God has for Joshua Harris to write the first book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I haven't read this book, but i'm sure it was used by God to touch many lives who wanted to submit their love lives to God. Many readers poured in mails and emails to Joshua Harris, with questions because he must have made statements that challenged their perspectives.

In Boy Meets Girl, my personal perspectives were challenged too. Many statements Joshua made jumped out at me, and I really agree. Jac has used the book to share a series of cell word before, so those statements are not new ideas. They are reminders.

For example, it doesn't matter u use the term "dating" or "courting", it's the attitude that matters. Is God in the centre of the relationship? Whenever there's a conflict, how do u both resolve it? The world advocates fornication, aka premarital sex, but the book presents reasons why God is so strongly against it, one of the many reasons is that premarital sex is a selfish act, the initiator is just out to gratify desires instantly without sparing a thought for the other person. Even if both parties are in consent, this act has caused postmarital sex no longer eagerly awaited for, and this postmarital sex is the wonderful present God has created for each man and woman who walks closely with Him. For those who have made the mistake of opening the present ahead of time, God's salvation plan is Jesus, who died for all sins, including sexual sins. Praise God. I hope I don't sound like i'm condemning my readers, because this blogger (and even the author) is not that pure either. Let's not kid ourselves. Anyway if u think through this point and read the book for urself for the supporting reasons, I hope u will find urself agreeing.

Another statement that corrects my perspective is that, when a couple breaks up, it doesn't mean that the relationship has failed, but that through getting to know each other better, they get to know more about themselves and become more sure of the type of girl or guy more suitable for themselves. It is important that during the course of the relationship the couple do not overpromise each other than what they can commit to, and that they respect each other by not getting physical, so that they dun give too much to someone whom they're not so sure is The One.

Another point that jumped out to me is that I shouldn't assume a guy is romantically interested in me just because he is being gracious and kind and friendly, until he makes himself clear. I'm someone who fantasizes a lot, and very easily get the wrong idea. I've gotta remind myself again and again that the guy is just being a very nice brother. Come to think of it, if a guy that i'm just being friendly with, gets the wrong idea, i can get quite pissed. Currently I think there are a few guy friends who seem to get the wrong idea.. God help me to clear the misunderstanding! Stop flirting with me! I've got a very high standard for Mr.Right okay! I do have someone in mind la, but I pray that only God will tell him very clearly. By the way Joshua mentioned that sometimes God doesn't whisper the name into ur ear, but it takes a person who walks closely with God to know His plan for him, whether a certain girl is suitable for him or not.

The other day i met up with my sec sch close friends to celebrate Belly and my birthdays (finally we had a full attendance after a few months!), they asked me abt the someone i had in mind.. gosh i blushed very badly man. :P

I've shared with a few girl friends already, hope they can help to keep me accountable lest i do anything stupid. From past experience, it is really tempting to flirt with a guy to find out if the feeling is mutual but it is very superficial because guys are easily led on even if he is totally not suitable. There is also a chance he may not be the one, so i really mustn't do anything stupid to jeopardise our friendship.

:: Heartache Part II ::

2008-07-05T00:25:00.003+08:00

This time it's the children of Africa that broke my heart.

Click on this link to view the video entitled Invisible Children, there are 6 parts to it:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qds5MQCqWnk

As the 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting has began, we have been looking at Isaiah 58. Talks about our attitudes during fasting and remembering the oppressed, orphans, widows.. Watch the video and let's remember them today.

:: Heart ache ::

2008-07-02T11:19:00.000+08:00

Couldn't sleep well last night, was tossing and turning in bed, and at 4am i sorta woke up and started thinking about the Joo Chiat Rd coffeeshop.. it made my heart ache i couldn't stop crying.

My dad had sold that stall to a friend because he's a very loyal friend. Since then he has not been able to find somewhere to work for long and happily. That reminded me of the bible story of Samson losing the LORD's presence because his hair was cut.

Prayed that God will open opportunity for my dad to work there again, at least that's what I think will make him happier.

Heartache, heartache...

:: Joo Chiat Rd + my Daily Bread ::

2008-06-30T22:11:00.003+08:00

Asked my dad to bring me around Joo Chiat Rd to take photos today.... didn't know he was so reluctant to return to this place cuz it makes him sad.. =( i felt very sad for him too.. but we had happy memories of this place.. and yet i remember so little of it, i needed him to guide me around. So he was like, "this building used to be UOB bank... that one used to be a police station..." Didn't manage to walk enough, but it's okay, i'll come back another time myself ba. When we reached the coffeeshop he used to own a stall, he was quite okay leh, calling the pple who still work there.. He had a short time of catching up with some of them and then he decided to leave. We went to Parkway Parade and then East Coast Park. I just realised how near Katong is to Marine Parade! Seriously!

Hmm.. I'll upload photos another day :P Just uploaded my Bangkok and Bintan photos on my MSN spaces only. hee..

Oh I finally received my Thai version of Our Daily Bread!! Was having a hard time trying to type out the welcome letter to translate it.. (There's a longer letter i can't be bothered to type out :S) But here's an important phrase I learnt: "ขอพระเจ้าอวยพร" - May God bless you!

And ohhh yah! I got my GST credits.. =D have you?

:: trip postponed ::

2008-06-28T10:43:00.001+08:00

my mission trip has been postponed.... looking at 15th Aug, but it can only be confirmed when i get air tickets.

I can't wait to go...

:: reminisce ::

2008-06-25T22:53:00.004+08:00

That day i went John's house for bass lesson, i went back to the coffeeshop near my high school to look for my FAVOURITE char kuay tiao and teh bing for lunch.. =) i ordered the char kuay tiao without chili and beansprouts from an uncle, but the one serving me was an aunty, and she looked quite familiar, so i asked her, "has this stall been around for a long time?" (in mandarin) Then she replied, "ya, about 20 yrs already." And I excitedly told her that i was from the high school near by, and she said she recalled a bunch of girls sitting at the same table, and that i was the one who always order without chili and beansprouts! I was so happy.. I could tell that she was touched that i came back all the way to eat her char kuay tiao. =) =) =)

There was an uncle standing near the drinks counter, and i thought he looked familiar too. i watched him collect plates from tables, but didn't see him asking for orders leh. it was a china woman who asked me for my order (teh bing!!) instead. Then as he walked near me to collect plates, i signaled him to come to my table, but he thought i wanted to order, he waved his hand and told me to order from the china woman instead. but i insisted he come over, and we started to chat, and he remembers me (he said he remembers there were 3 of us) too!!! he was that uncle who used to ask us for orders for drinks! Said he changed job couple of times and he's finally back, so i'm sooo glad i caught him at the right time! Anyway, I went back once recently after work, but then i realise it opens only during the day.

Before i left, the uncle cheekily told me, "有空不要来 hor" (literally translated: when you're free, don't come hor)... that was what he always used to say!!! It was such a heartwarming meal =)

:: Post-camp life updates ::

2008-06-25T15:21:00.002+08:00

Ok! Post-camp life updates...

Started work in church officially on 10th June.. still a bit unsure of my position there. Reported at 10am, settled the admin and logistics stuff. Then at lunch time i sms-ed Theodore and Vincent, and they came to find me... the other mentors were away in Cambodia. They treated me to the beef noodles at Jackson there (welcome meal =D).. mmmm not bad~

Got down to work till 6pm... that became my routine for the next few days. Sometimes lunch with even the SFC students who were here to study during their holiday.

There was one day I had lunch with Shirley, Jayne, and a SAJC student called Rachel. I was planning to go to the atm before heading back to church before it started pouring... like mad. I prayed that God will send a handsome man to bring me an umbrella :P you know what happened? An Indian construction worker offered me his umbrella!! i had to laugh. God has a sense of humour la.

EIC... was good. 14th June. =) we had prac on 12th June, Jac's birthday.. Diana bought her a cake.. And they bought me the same cake i think. chocolatey one. I brought my friend down for EIC, think he enjoyed it. I felt so lost, like, is it my turn? oops... i guess it's cuz of the lack of practices.

15 June Sun
Judy has a shoot in punggol.. woke up super early to bring her around, see the "attractions" of this estate. Then i went to church for service. My parents were away in Tj Balai la. I would have gone if not for EIC! haha.. After service i went back straight to help Judy again. Had lunch at the food court in Punggol Plaza, producer's treat. =D

16 June Mon
Mondays are off days! hehe.. went for breakfast with my dad.. Went to Eastpoint, gosh how many decades was it since I last stepped into Eastpoint! Then we went to Changi Village for coconut :) Dad wanted to dapao Nasi Lemak for dinner but it was only 2pm! By dinnertime it wouldn't be nice lor.

17 June Tue
Wanted to watch The Incredible Hulk or The Happening, but was disappointed with the movie reviews as i was checking the timings. Ended up going to Kinokuniya to find something to use up my voucher which i got from my last birthday (oops!) It took me 15 minutes before store closing before I finally found something worth buying. I was trying to choose between "To Asia With Love" and "Three Cups of Tea". The former is a travel guide for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. There wasn't an opened copy so i kinda bought it by faith. haha.. Three Cups of Tea is quite like a missionary story? About this guy who went mountain climbing and got lost. He ended up in a village where the people offered him shelter, food, and warm tea. After staying there for some time he decided to do something for them after he returns home, and he really came back and built a school for the children. Hmm.. I'll either borrow it from the library or get it one day. :)

19 June Thu
Got to prepare a presentation for the IT team.. a bit stressed. Rev Tang haven't got back to me about my trip details :S

Presentation.... i was quite disappointed in my presentation skills la. Haiz. just got the message across =x
Today just realised Sing Chyun is also a NorthEasterner.

20 June Fri
Booked air tickets to Phuket. Haven't told my parents hehe..

Met up with Swee Yi and Cheryl after work. Organiser late sia. haiyo.. but she got us Chicken Essence for our birthday presents.. haha.. jialat.. we must be getting old. Had dinner at Cafe Cartel. Very disappointed with the service la.

21 June Sat
Combined worship with Elpizo... they had only 3 pple. hmm.
Invited my friend again to play soccer with Elohim-ElShaddai, then we had dinner at Lao Zhong Zhong.

22 June Sun
There was a green platform in front of the stage, as an extension or what i dunno.. but as Jayne says, it's quite an eyesore :P

Got a Brien Doerkson CD from Kelvin and Hillsong United I Heart.. album from Jac :) It's good... cuz most of them are familiar songs. =)

Went to Marina Sq for lunch and then i went walking around to kill time. Even walked to Suntec. Buried myself in Harris Bookshop.. I can spend long hours in bookshops one :P but after that I will be very seh. haha.. Got lots of nice books i would like to borrow from library if they have.

Then around 5pm i took bus to Bishan. Going to Job's house. He's gonna cook Thai cuisine for me! An hour later his friends arrived. Woah that night i got to know a lot of Thais. Like a simulation of what's gonna happen in 1+ month's time. haha.. I regret not talking to them more. And regret commenting on the food too fast. Never give face sia.. :X I'm glad Job still talks to me after that :P

23 June Mon
Went to John's house to exchange skills. I would teach him flash and he teach me play the bass. I lugged my bass and amp all the way to Bukit Batok.. tired sia, wish i had taken cab instead haha..

It was a fruitful lesson.. John's a good teacher. =) I will practise hard. Gambatei!!

24 June Tue
Felt happy when the mentors remembered me at lunch. =) Went over to SAJC canteen and joined them. After that back in the office i thought I heard Amos' voice when i was in the office, so i popped outside to take a look.. and saw him and Jeremy. Then at around 5pm i thought i heard Kelvin's voice, so i popped outside again, but saw Uncle Aru. Then I found Kelvin at the pastoral office. haa.. Good to see familiar faces. :P

Went to watch The Incredible Hulk with Vincent and Theodore.. yeah it was good. quite scary haa.. I don't really remember much of the first Hulk movie.. just remembered I watched it with my family in Genting, very cheap! =) After movie i was famished. Had jap dinner.. yumm.. and tauhuay dessert :)

:: Family Camp 2008! ::

2008-06-16T21:18:00.005+08:00

Didn't take many photos.. but here are some of them:

Bus aircon broke down halfway the journey.. wonder is it the combination of Youth and Adults on the bus that caused it?! hahaha.. just joking.

My roommates... Ashley, Andrielle and Shirley!

Went swimming with Ashley and Andrielle.. actually most of the time i was playing with Noah since the pool was mostly 2.4m deep!!!

After dinner, met Auntie Serena (Joshua and Sandra Cheng's mom) and my cousin, they were sharing room, so they invited me to their room to take sunset photos.

Welcome to Guoman Hotel Port Dickson! Quite nice leh~

During the first session's worship i suddenly felt a very deep burden for Thailand.. images of the people, the ladyboys, the poor children, the temples flashed through my mind and i felt very sad. Think that was God affirming my purpose for my upcoming trip. I hope I can do more for the people there.

Auntie Serena also told me about a beach pub.. so i decided to check it out with Ashley.. After we ordered drinks.... guess who joined us! Haha none other than my cell guys. woohoo~ then a few other Elohim guys joined us. Ashley's modjito is nice~ now i remember the name of the drink i had in Dusit Thani, Bangkok.

Hmm.. he just has a way to make me cry. Haiz~

I ate a lot at all meal times man.. There are so many dishes i just had to try a bit of each and I'll be so full.. And I never let go of the desserts.. gosh.. the whipped cream! At breakfast the 2nd morning, Ashley and I couldn't squeeze in with the girls, so we joined Tedric and John, and Leon, our guest speaker. It was a good chance of interaction.

During the free time I went to the gym.. hoho~ my parent's cell grp pple were there.. Auntie Juliet (Nelson and Malcolm's mom) told me if she had known that was me using the treadmill she would have chased me off earlier! hahaha...

After session some of us went to Poison Rose again.. Some smart kids walked past us at the hotel lobby and said to each other, "I bet you 10cents they are going to Poison Rose!" so cheeky! Auntie Juliet pulled me and Tricia to dance to the songs.. haha.. so happening sia.. but dunno y i dun have the mood to stay there leh.. maybe i just prefer sitting further from the sleazy singers.

Before we headed back to the room, Ashley and I decided to pop by Eunice's room to check out what's happening.. they were playing Saboteur.

Day 3 free time! Shopping at Seremban 2!

What happens when you let 2 Geminis loose in a shopping mall? Ooops haha no la i don't care abt horoscope one. Very short time of shopping only :( but managed to buy a pair of black peeptoe heels and a cool, gradiented jacket. =D

Went back to the hotel, but there was still some time before dinner, so Ashley and I went to the poolside to order a drink then walk to the beach. (while waiting for her drink, we looked up and saw something quite obscene.. shan't say anymore!)

Funny thing, I'm scared of spiders but not scared of crabs, Ashley's scared of crabs but not scared of spiders!

Finale night.. the church leaders were kena ...mmm can i say, sabo-ed? haha.. Clean fun la. My team, Mr Dickson, won the game! haa funny Brian came up with that name.. and was it Pricy who came up with the idea for the paper strip formation?

Ashley and I spend a lot of time together during this Family Camp. :P We went to look for the Elohim pple who were planning to watch VCD at Eunice's room.. Then we got more pple to join us, but ended up watching V For Vendetta on TV instead. haa.. caught the show only halfway so i was totally lost. After the movie we decided to go back. Ashley prayed for me abt wad was in my heart then. =D Thanks!

After that we saw some of the guys walk past, so we decided to "boo!" at them.. they came to join us but i was feeling disgusted with the mosquito bites so i decided to go back to the room to shower first. They were about to go to Aquamarine when i came back out. Good, no mosquito there. All of them ordered drinks, some alcoholic. dunno y i didn't feel like drinking that night, maybe because i didn't bring my wallet out :P There were a few uncles watching soccer.. it was very funny.. I think it was uncle Subas who asked the waiter to ask us to write on the receipt who drank which drink. So someone wrote, "One Body, One Church, One!" And then We got a reply, "Amen! Enjoy!" LOL that was really the highlight of the day man.

Dunno y on the way back to my room i felt very sad again.. Just felt like crying.

Agape girls + Ashley + me on the love seat!

Kudos to our bus captains Theodore and Vincent! Bus air con broke down again.. (but since it's a different bus.. does it prove my point? :P)

Oohh ol' skool petrol station!

Toilet break at JB. I like this shot :P

Nat says it's a ploy to separate us from the other buses so the tour guide can bring us to medical shops to buy stuff. lol. The bus driver indeed brought us around in circles. We were supposed to be at the Tuas Checkpoint, but we ended up in Woodlands!

:: Repairing dad's motorbike ::

2008-06-16T11:39:00.001+08:00

I like this kinda working environment.. Haha..

:: =D ::

2008-06-14T00:00:00.000+08:00

Just came back from Family Camp over the weekend.. Really blessed by the sermons, the friendships that developed, and the rest. =) Ate a lot.. gotta work out more.. hee..

This first week of work many pple have treated me to meals! May God bless all who blessed me.

Happy birthday to all June 14 babies!

:: My birthday present to myself ::

2008-06-13T21:07:00.001+08:00

:: God's promise to me ::

2008-06-11T11:50:00.002+08:00

Isaiah 43

Israel's Only Savior
1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

3 For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush [a] and Seba in your stead.

4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.

5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.

6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-

7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."

8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.

9 All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Which of them foretold this
and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, "It is true."

10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.

12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.

13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?"
God's Mercy and Israel's Unfaithfulness
14 This is what the LORD says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
"For your sake I will send to Babylon
and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, [b]
in the ships in which they took pride.

15 I am the LORD, your Holy One,
Israel's Creator, your King."

16 This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,

17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

18 "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

20 The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the desert
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,

21 the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.

22 "Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob,
you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.

23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,
nor honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with grain offerings
nor wearied you with demands for incense.

24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
and wearied me with your offenses.

25 "I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my own sake,
and remembers your sins no more.

26 Review the past for me,
let us argue the matter together;
state the case for your innocence.

27 Your first father sinned;
your spokesmen rebelled against me.

28 So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple,
and I will consign Jacob to destruction [c]
and Israel to scorn.

:: birthday wishlist ::

2008-06-10T08:56:00.002+08:00

This came out last night.. for the benefit of those who already intend to get me something but don't know what! :P

1. nice watch for formal occasions
2. foldable umbrella (i think shuying's getting tt for me from Japan!)
3. Metro Giftcard / vouchers (if u think OG / Tangs / BHG / John Little or any other department stores have better discounts, i don't mind too :P)
4. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long CD (i don't mind singaporean version)
5. Hillsongs United CD (the only one I have is Look To You, so any other album is welcomed)

If you are getting any of these, and are planning a surprise, thanks! if you're worried someone else might get one of these for me too u can let me know. :P :P

:: just a prayer away ::

2008-06-05T08:46:00.000+08:00

i've been whining and complaining to myself since i was sick.. and hoping i would get well before the Family Camp. Then yesterday evening it struck me that i haven't prayed for healing, as simple as this, "Dear God, please heal me." so i quickly prayed that simple prayer. And this morning i feel totally fine! before i fell asleep i was still having runny nose and breathing difficulties.. and this morning, i noticed that my breathing passage was clear and i don't feel any phlegm at all. Wow!! Praise God! So friends, no matter u believe in God or not, next time u're sick, just say the simple prayer, and just wait! But of course if u're thinking, "yeah right." at the same time u're praying, do u think it would work?

And as for my driving test.. logic says i will fail. Miracle says i will pass, so let's see whether there will be a miracle for me or not!

:: rest of May ::

2008-06-03T10:38:00.002+08:00

20 May Tue
Met up with a guy i got to know thru Friendster, from Penang, Msia. don't worry, i'm not a 14 year old girl anymore.. and anyway i probably started chatting with him since i was 18, only met up for the first time now. He introduced Couchsurfing website to me, where people all over the world get contacts if they want to seriously backpack and get free accommodation from people who offer their couches during their stay. i heard about such thing before, but nv got to the website till this friend told me. From his testimonials from people all over the world which he offered his couch, and pple he stayed with when he travelled, he seems like a pretty decent guy la. met him at Compass Point after my driving lesson, which was quite bad :(

i thought i was early so i went to Popular to shop. bought a One Republic cd, i thought the songs (All we are, Mercy, Prodigal, All fall down... etc.) seem quite Christian, so i wanted to buy and listen. Anyway, turns out he was very early and had been walking around for very long already, but still brought him around the shopping centre. Stopped at the food court for a drink.. dunno where to bring him to, then brought him to the Community Centre building nearby.. guess it was a good idea, cuz he was curious and fascinated abt our CC. he's the kind who is interested in politics, esp since msia now still got unresolved politics. i know nothing abt UMNO and the other party, man. Looks like he didn't know what is HDB flat, so i just told him to turn around and look outside. lol. Then we had dinner at Yoshinoya. i'm usually very tired after driving lessons, so we parted and went home.

21 May
Cooked Macaroni for lunch, went out to buy groceries while waiting for the macaroni to expand. Cooked dinner. Glad i didn't cook too much. I was very happy calculating the cost of dinner.. It's probably about $1 per person!

22 May
Dad quit his job, today's supposed to be his last day, but he claimed day off since he worked on Vesak Day PH. Didn't know he plans so well. Went to his office with him to return his uniform, pass and stuff, then went to Redhill Market for breakfast. After that we went to Labrador Park. Looks like a great fishing spot. Had nasi lemak at the small, old food centre near the main road when it started to pour..

After the rain kinda stopped, I suggested we visit Ginza Plaza, see how the place has changed, but it's still under construction. It almost rained, and I wanted to go home, but dad took a detour and went thru NUS to Clementi central. Shopped in NTUC cuz i was thirsty, and walked around the central. I was quite reluctant cuz i just want to go home. Then we finally left, but dad took detour again, he stopped by Thomson Plaza to take a walk. ok la, since i have almost never been there (can't rem at all). Quite PMS-y today.

Cooked dinner. And once again, very cheap dinner! very simple cooking la. just cook the meat, veggies, tofu, crabstick, all put oyster sauce and soya sauce. hee.. dad actually said it's nice! =)

23 May
Dad went to uncle's place in Loyang, and then after that i met him to go to Expo for Singapore Food Fest. =D Dad walked until he was tired so i went to Popular Bookfest myself. Bought printer cartridge.

Amos' birthday party at Frujch. Played with Servio till i was very tired. haha.. Dad refused to take the free umbrella from buying Cafe Nova products, so i had to take. I half-expected to lose it. but i set myself a reminder to take it before i leave. End up, i tried to search for it but couldn't find it. Quite sad, since i do remember, just that somebody probably brought it home. =(

24 May
Cell word. Only finalised it after I got home last night. I kept thinking whether i should go ahead with the topic, when i was outside, but thank God for clear instructions. During sharing, Malcolm mentioned about food and cooking. He said he puts a lot of pride in cooking for people, and so it should show the effort. I was ashamed of myself for a while, as if i didn't put in effort whenever i cook. but then after that i thought, i'm just easy to please la, the more complicated the cooking is, ironically, the more i dislike the food. So i shall not compare my cooking with his.

worship prac, andrielle and i both singing.. it's quite rare to get to sing with her. =) Had dinner with Chris and Nelson.. Chatted with Chris abt driving and public transport. Well, guess i'll only get a car if i have $40,000 spare cash. lol.

25 May
Lunch with cell at Marina Sq food court. we occupied one whole large table, so shiok. Then went shopping with the girls at Suntec. Great Singapore Sale! Hmm.. i guess i just don't like shopping in expensive shops. So i got very tired and decided to go home.

26 May
Ordered my own birthday present thru Amazon!! i've been watching eBay for the same item for a few weeks already, there were about 3 of them, always started cheap, and then bid ends at US$60.. :( but when i saw someone selling at Amazon for US$19.99, i quickly added it to my cart and confirmed purchase!! woohoo~! It's actually a Nancy Drew 75th Anniversary Limited Edition, 5-in-1 PC games! I also added 2 extra games since they are from the same seller, US$9.99 each. =)

Dad said he was going to cook fried rice.. Ended up to be Claypot rice. What happened to his cooking man?

27 May Tue
Meeting in church with uncle Peter and uncle Subas regarding my mission trip funding. Was early to pass name tags to Tricia since i could not make it for the Tanglin Halt camp tomorrow morning. She told me i gotta change group to cover another camp parent cuz he last min can't make it. A bit disappointed, since i've already made the name tags, but okay la. My original group already had 2 camp parents, they can cope one.

Then Rachel, a church worker, spoke to me regarding the church website. Seems like she knew me when i was young, she even knows my parents! And I thought she was new. hehe.. Think I'll be coming to church to work on the website soon. =) I'll have a job! woohoo~

Uncle Peter and uncle Subas brought me good news about my mission trip proposal. It has been approved, not just as a subsidy, but it will be more than what i need! wow! Praise God! And I thought i still had to fork out some money for the trip. Indeed i had been worrying about my finances, but God has provided so much more!! Wow wow wow ~ ~

Dad asked me want soup bee hoon, or fried bee hoon.. i chose fried bee hoon, but turns out to be just dry bee hoon. haiz.

28 May
Driving lesson... During the 15 min break i went to check for slots for June lessons, wanted to book, but i was too slow!! There is 0 slot left for june! And my instructor wanted to advise me how i should spread my remaining lessons.. I felt so sad and disappointed in him la. Then he even said i would require 28-32 lessons when i was expecting 24-27 (that's the average the CDC staff told me) :( so that means i'm below average. :( :( :(

asked my dad to pick me up straight after my driving lesson, to Tanglin Halt. The kids were just playing station games. I joined in at almost the end, where they had water bombs, water guns, water fountain.. and i got myself wet! ahh i shld have joined after that so i will be clean and dry. but never mind, quite fun la. Got one little girl, shoot at Eleora with her water gun, and laughing with an evil look, like she's some pervert. so scary.

after shower and dinner we had night games. my group quite cooperative since there would be a forfeit for not staying together. but they kinda blame each other a lot.

had debrief and roti prata for supper! dunno y i kept craving for cup noodles. the air con very cold sia.

29 May
Woke up with runny nose and aching body.. :( had morning exercise and then breakfast. main activity of the day is West Coast Park! which the children have been anticipating for the whole camp. they also had a talentime on the last day and they were supposed to prepare a skit, but seems like my group very un-cooperative and noisy leh. :( gek me until i wanna pull my hair out eh. Ashlyn and Shirlyn, the sisters in my group, fought and both cried. I was suddenly very helpless, dunno how to handle them. guess i stared at them for too long, trying to figure what they are thinking and how to resolve their problem. Shirlyn, the elder sister, kept saying, "I can't stand her anymore! I don't love her, I don't want her..." wah i myself almost cried.

after WCP, (i was craving for a frappe the whole time) there was buffet dinner. They allocated so much time for it, we were able to shower, and then had free time to play. i was so glad to have the free time to relax. but all that noise was giving me a headache. i felt very homesick.. i wanna go home...

30 May
YAY last day of camp.. i was secretly very happy and just want to end camp asap. so bad hor. actually i'm quite disappointed in the meals leh. they seem to take very long to prepare, and while cooking, all the smells seem so good, but turns out to be leftovers from the buffet dinner yesterday. Yes it's good to not waste food, but ... it was cold, and look like they just reheated the food a bit that's all. i mean i would have used the dishes and transformed them into another dish, that kinda thing. dunno la. suddenly i become very unappreciative.

my group got 3rd for the skit!! wow! looks like separating them from the other groups works!

camp parents still gotta debrief.. i wanna go home.. headache.. runny nose.. fever.. :(

got a lift from aloy to church. =) cuz my dad refused to pick me up :(

went home and checked for july slots to book for driving lesson.. not many left, i could only book 6 lessons. i think i'm gonna fail my driving test, without trying i can expect it to happen le. :( :( :( suddenly felt very sad and moody like the kids. just want to cry like them. aaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhhhhh

31 May
had breakfast with parents. was craving for MacDonald's breakfast, but coupons expired. :( no mood to eat lunch. just very very very sad and sick. super moody.

Thank God for cell grp. shared with them abt my disappointment, and they asked me to share the good news, eh, turns out i got more good news than bad news what. why i keep focusing on the bad news? felt better.

had dinner at Kovan.. cuz i needed to go StanChart atm and see if i can book lessons thru the office. i just feel they like cheat my money la. if i fail, most likely i can't take the retest until my membership and my PDL expire, then i need to spend extra $50 to renew them just to take retest. idiot. cheat my money..

2 Jun
Very lazy day apart from finally updating my blog. Dad keep asking me to go fishing.. it took me quite a few hours to decide to go. Well, still feel sick la. Dad got lost on the ECP, dunno which is the exit that leads to Bedok Jetty. Anyway.. the whole episode is quite sian la. No fish.. haiz. Dad caught a boxfish while i caught a what-i-think-is-an-octopus. It escaped when i accidentally hit the weight against the platform :( :( :(

i'm starting to love octopi. Have you ever gone to YouTube to search videos of octopi? They are super smart and versatile.

Didn't estimate my time properly.. end up a bit late for my thai class and made my dad unhappy..

:: Bintan photos ::

2008-06-02T11:50:00.026+08:00

The ulu ulu Teenage Mutant Fighting Turtle! oops no, it's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. :P

YAY, Bintan 14-16 May 2008 with Athelyna and Andrielle!

Queuing

Clean and nice ferry ride, not like Falcon 5!

Welcome!

Welcome dance for guests

Our room!

Our toilet and verandah

View from our villa

Gloomy weather. going to rain le. Let's take an afternoon nap.

After nap exploration. Woah rough waves.. wanna ride on it!

*edited to make it brighter

Hermit crab.. lots of it there

Look, A³! Andrielle, Athelyna and Angeline! =)

Nirwana Resort Hotel - Edge of the pool meeting the horizon.. so nice!! After that the staff offered us a ride back to our villa on a buggy. nice service! =)

Bird Sanctuary

That's a vulture!

Sunset

Nice dinner place, only 3 of us, cuz we eat our dinner at Singapore time.
Our Calamari, Fried Rice, and Bak Mi with Seafood!

Bintang beer (nice!) and Ayam

Breakfast at The Coffee Shop... great selection!

Helo Helo Restaurant at Pasar Ole Ole

Mee Goreng and Fresh old Coconut

Dinner at The Kelong Restaurant.. nice sunset!

Fried Baby Squid, Ma Po Tofu, Sambal Kangkong, and CHILI CRAB!!

Breakfast at Spices Restaurant.. a bit disappointing

Our Rock Lobster

Marble Cheesecake

Tiramisu

Athe pouring syrup into her Es Kopi

The staff saw us waiting (for the free internal shuttle bus), so they asked us where we want to go. Then they offered us a ride! Such excellent service! =)

Shopping at Factory Outlet.. Didn't buy anything though.

:: holidays ::

2008-05-19T14:57:00.002+08:00

gosh i am so damn lazy to update.

Guess i'll elaborate more later, but just some brief ones:

1. my dad resigned. copy me sia. but i'm not objecting, in fact i am silently supporting because his work takes up too much time and energy. c'mon, a young lad like me can't even tahan such long hours, moreover an old man like him. because of this job he doesn't join us to go for holidays anymore, sometimes even have to work on Sundays.

I'm only worried abt his constant nagging when he's too free.

2. I'm back from another holiday... hehe.. from Bintan! went with Athe and Andrielle.. we call ourselves A³. The service at the resort is very good!! Only drawback is the cost of food. had lots of fun and sun. =) pictures follow later.

3. Got a bit of progress in cycling.. I can do rounds at a deserted round-about near my home. Only can't control my direction and speed. Well, better than nothing! =)

4. Driving lesson... Been doing circuit lessons.. Slope, Gradual bend, sharp bend, S-course, crank-course etc. still far from pass-able standard, but at the last lesson the instructor praised me for my progress. =D

5. Been doing free lance project.. sigh. It's not easy money man. 1 mth of work for a measly $240. Of course lots of free time la. Sometimes i hate design to the point i wanna boycott all designed products. pple buy stuff for the design and add waste to the ever-increasing landfills. i admit i'm one of them... feel guilty to read news abt landfills and poor children scavenging for food among the toys WE throw just because we don't like it anymore.

But then again, God is the greatest designer and He made all things beautiful and made us appreciate beauty (maybe it's just that we humans are not satisfied with the inner-beauty of things)

6. Going to Family Camp soon! Port Dickson... =D yet another overseas trip.. hee

7. Submitted my proposal for the coming mission trip. At first i thought if dun submit means the trip would be called off, then i realise the proposal is just for funding.. whee~ pray that God will provide!

:: BKK trip update part 2 ::

2008-05-11T22:56:00.002+08:00

not done yet... just to fill in a bit of gap regarding my BKK trip :P

The day before the trip was my last day at work.. still had stuff to clear.. had buffet lunch with my boss and colleagues at Swissotel Merchant Court.. ooohh.. yumm~ ate a lot. haven't been eating a lot for some time already. hee

then the new designer came at 3pm, i didn't even had time to uninstall msn from my comp and he was sitting in beside me already! i had to do it in front of him, which made him ask, "is it okay to use msn at work?" well, i told him, "not while u're on probation." i was handling quite an urgent project so i couldn't let him try anything yet. guided him through the usual procedures as much as i can. boss told us that new designer's a staunch Christian, and i was smiling to myself. There's still hope for the company. :P i tried not to point out which clients were the difficult ones, so that he would not form a bad impression of them yet. hope that's a wise thing to do. Anyway. he's from City Harvest Church.. cool. didn't ask him his age, but boss said he's like 31-33? a bit on the gentle side. =x ok no more comments, hope he'll have fun reaching out to my ex-colleagues.

OT till 7+pm.. emailed all my clients that i'm leaving and intro-ed the new designer to them. the last client i was working for called to apologise for making me work so hard even on my last day.. i replied that it was not a problem and that it was fun la. haha..

went back home to do some final packing, tried to slp early.

Thur morning had to wake up early.. almost got scolded by mom for not being able to wake up haha.. prayed for good weather, that we will not get pissed with each other during the whole trip and really thank God! It didn't rain the whole time though the sky was gloomy, and mom n i were okay. of course i had to compromise la, not demanding my own way, try to follow them as much as i can.. (her colleague had to ask me to join them instead of going on my own :P i am that bad!)

couldn't check into hotel yet, so we deposited our bags with the hotel, while settling the check-in we had a welcome drink. i asked one of the guest officers what drink was that, and he replied, "heh heh heh..." -.-" another guest officer told us it was bale with fruit. what the heck is that?

had lunch at the hotel restaurant (buffet lunch again!) i ate a lot again.. :P and went out to Platinum for shopping. taxi driver wanted to cheat our money!! brought us a big round eh! Platinum is actually quite near Siam one lor. i know how to read maps okay! one of my mom's colleagues decided to complain against him (hotels usually have a record of the drivers fetching guests). Although cab fare may be cheap but still cheating is wrong, cannot be road close or what lor. and besides all of us took 4 cabs down together, ours was first to leave yet last to reach.

after Platinum we took Tuk-tuk back to hotel. tired sia~ took some time again before we could get our keys. anyway we got to check in.. i inspected the room facilities and felt that it lack some things, like bedroom slippers, comb, etc. Well, having stayed at Dusit Thani and experienced the high class lifestyle, it's so easy to compare! very terrible...

the convenience of staying at Pathumwan Princess hotel is that, we could just go for rounds of shopping in MBK, deposit our stuff back in our room, and go for 2nd, 3rd round..! and MBK is nice to shop too..

so we spent the whole of Day 02 in MBK (i sneaked out further, of course).. was shopping for underwear (it's known that Singaporeans like to go BKK to buy underwear) and i was looking for a dark grey colour one, the salesgirl couldn't understand, and thought i was asking for green, then i tried saying, "sii tao".. ahh she got it, but "mot laew" (no more). I must say the thai lessons have been quite useful for shopping! I brought my mom they all back to the shop in the evening, and i realise that salesgirl is quite good in Chinese! wahaha..

Day 03 was a hot day, but mom was willing to spare me 2 hours to go Chatuchak with me for final shopping :P having been to BKK last yr already i got a sense of what i want to buy la, so shopping was a breeze. Chop chop, 12pm, take taxi back. managed to stuff everything into my luggage.. my hand carry bag was even quite empty! hehe..

Watched The Bucket List halfway on my flight into Bkk, finally got to catch the 2nd half on the way back! Surprisingly the show started halfway so i could finish the show.. The flight's too short for a full movie. hahaha.. caught the ending for 27 Dresses too. ooh.. James Marsden. =)

On the cab home, the driver is an ahbeng.. got tattoos one, then chat on the phone, must be with girlfriend. oh, he was chatting in Thai! interesting! haha.. i caught a few phrases, "have u eaten? what did u eat?" etc. lol. when he finally hung up i gave him directions in thai too. mom said it must have shocked him cuz he went all quiet suddenly. HAHAHA!

:: BKK photos ::

2008-05-05T12:23:00.019+08:00

rot tit mark mark loey.. (bad traffic jam)

Shopping at Platinum Fashion Mall... Not enough!

Our room at Pathumwan Princess, above MBK

View from our hotel

Hotel decor

Pathumwan Princess Hotel

Shopping in MBK

National Stadium - view from our room

Toiletries.. nice packaging!

I collect bottles...

Interesting buildings - taken on my adventurous exploration ride around BKK

The Lebua State Tower... I'd like to dine up there one day. =)

BTS Station right next to the expressway.. can imagine those drama scenes of police chasing robbers...

Japanese Food Fest at the Emporium

Level up for advertising!

TWO levels up for advertising now!

Thais are really creative...

Roadside stall

Ol' Skool!!

Pink taxis

Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3

:: Back from BKK! ::

2008-05-04T21:57:00.003+08:00

whee!~

overspent, shopped till i really dropped... and not enough! haha...

changed S$200 but spent it all on the first day already. mom gave me extra 2000 baht to spend... i had to ask for 1500 baht from her again on the second day! yikes! and she had to change S$250 in bangkok because she overspent too. haha.. we underestimated ourselves..

bought alot of stuff for myself, a lot for friends too.. Platinum Mall is THE place to go~! cheap cheap! must go there again.

photos wise.. haiz, i didn't focus on taking photos, so they didn't turn out well and didn't take many. i need to treat them before posting. soon!! hee..

i sneaked out to take the BTS by myself while my mom and her colleagues were doing manicure and pedicure. hehehe.. finally got to see TCDC, almost an equivalent to Hong Kong's G.O.D. - in terms of design. but of course i had to pray that nothing would happen to me la, if not who's to blame if i end up at a hospital in Kanthanaburi? hahaha..

:: cool girl ::

2008-04-23T16:37:00.000+08:00

haven't been blogging because i have no mood.. these few weeks i've been having mood swings.. wanted to complain abt things here but decided not to.

Angry outbursts are an indication of your disability to keep your head.
A quick tongue shows how STUPID you are. (rephrased from Proverbs.) i try to keep silent as much as i can :P

trying to keep my cool for 7 more days!

1 more week to 3 months of preparation for 3 months of service. Can't wait! =)

:: steps ::

2008-04-15T12:31:00.001+08:00

I counted 84 leh..

:: My first step ::

2008-04-14T23:12:00.001+08:00

..to learning cycling :)

:: Stop Climate Change ::

2008-04-04T14:09:00.002+08:00

(please click on the link on this entry title, thanks! Right click, select Open in new tab/window if you plan to read on first) This brochure is about Energy Efficient Singapore. I never knew Singapore has been that active in reducing climate change! =) Examples are the new National Library and The Environment Building, which won top ASEAN awards for energy efficient buildings, and incentives for architects and developers to design buildings in a way to save millions in terms of energy usage each year. The SingPost building at Paya Lebar thus saved $1.2m per year.

Just read about carbon footprint and carbon offsetting, bet u never heard of these terms before leh. It means: one decides that they don't want to be responsible for accelerating climate change, and they've already made efforts to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, so they decide to pay someone else to further reduce their net emissions by planting trees or by taking up low-carbon technologies. (link)

Hope to do more for the earth.. Got a wake up call from reading Asian Geographic magazine.

:: Daniel Wu's blog ::

2008-04-02T14:30:00.002+08:00

I'm a fan!

I'm not sure if you guys can access the blog without having to register an account.. but seems like Fiona Xie blogs there too.

Anyway, I'm very impressed by his entries.. He gets to go places and he's very recognised in the Entertainment industry, from the Chinese to American, well that's already big isn't it. He'd share photos of his trips, food, thoughts and even family, really interesting.

Entry about his dad's birthday
http://www.alivenotdead.com/daniel/Happy+Birthday+Dad--profile-122533.html

Entry about his trip to Suzhou - I didn't know there are sex museums in China!
http://www.alivenotdead.com/daniel/Rivers+of+Suzhou-profile-100951.html

Link to a search engine for a good cause
http://www.alivenotdead.com/daniel/Search+for+Good-profile-113656.html
http://www.ethicle.org/

Enjoy!

:: April Fool's Day ::

2008-04-01T16:25:00.003+08:00

7 years ago I organised an April Fool's party for my Sec 1 class.. It was at my house back in Clementi, and I had water bombs prepared and some Trick Blood (u remember those packets of funny stuff like a fake finger with a nail "pierced" through it?). Lemme try to recall who turned up: Weiting, Shermaine, Shuping, Sebastian, Yong Teck... =)

Then we went over to Ginza Plaza in the evening for dinner at Mac's. I played an April Fool's prank on a stranger.. I went up to some malay boy and asked him why he took my money.

After that we went to play in the arcade. We were playing Daytona when that malay boy came in and disturbed me while i was playing.. After that game i realised my wallet, placed in front of me, was gone! I kept cursing that boy. When I went home, I told my dad.. he asked me what i had in my wallet, i told him got Cashcard, ATM cards, phonecard, bus pass, and 10¢. When he heard me say "cashcard", he got so angry he slapped me!!!

Anyway after a while I got a call from the information counter in Ginza Plaza, they told me that my wallet was found. Great!

The money, cashcard etc were gone but my ATM cards and bus pass were intact.

That was really an awful April Fool's Day. I've had a phobia of celebrating it since then.

I still dun understand why my dad reacted so strongly regarding the loss of my cash card.. as if there were a lot of money in it. i think at most there was $5? To date he must have lost more than 50 cashcards already lah! Always leave it in his motorbike's IU and never check... i stopped carrying cashcards since i graduated from poly - i had to use it for library services. They are sooo hardly used.

Today I got a call from a foreign lady - at first I thought it was a client that my indian colleague couldn't handle. Then this lady asked me what bus she could take from her place in Tanjong Rhu to Tanglin Mall. I can't really understand her through her weird accent - can't tell where she was from. So i told her to check out www.transitlink.com. haha..

Happy April Fool's Day!

:: A Visit to the Dentist ::

2008-03-31T16:20:00.000+08:00

Haaa i'm ashamed to say that I haven't been to a dentist for YEARS (some of u may be blushing reading this, if u're like me, afraid of the dentist!) but now i can be proud to say that i've just been to one! haa.. on Saturday morning.

It was certainly a BLOODY (with and without 'and') painful experience. Expensive too.. *sniffs* but it's worth it la. Dental services are HEALTH services right? I came out of the clinic with my teeth (nerves) feeling sore =( They look pretty (with and without 'and') clean though. =)

Had chicken rice for lunch with my cell, i was chewing painfully. Shirley Bong joined us and i was asking her about Tung Ling.. as much as i am keen, i don't think i'll go for the coming term anyway.

Hoping to go for Family Camp come June, but can't find roomies.