a new beginning

2007-06-17T13:01:00.000+10:00

I've decided to move <--- :)

I love this blog and its design!!:) But I think that wordpress is more comprehensive. haha my LJ account is reserved for making friends such as Ki. hahaha. That one's even more confusing.

So yeah, you don't have to relink cos I won't delete this blog.

Thanks guys! Up till today, the 260th post, this blog has been full of wonderful shared memories. :)

Love:)

2007-06-15T23:57:00.000+10:00

Exams are over!!:) Well almost, except for the 15%prac exam on the 26th:) but hey, I had Ki during prac the whole sem, so of course I wasn't sitting around like a spare tyre doing nothing while she did everything. So of course I'd know what's going on hahaha. naah, that's why we're all 3 of our science units together!!!! HOW EXCITING:)

She makes my uni days so happy:) So do Josh and Jenny:) Lean on me// hahaha, I had that song playing in my head during Dev, all your fault Ki!! I bet that's why I forgot to write "gastrulation" and "neurulation", describing everything else instead. haha:)

Anyway! I just came back from cell group:) I really do enjoy my cell group. We don't just have fun, we really do share and pray for each other..I do hope more people will come and join us!!:) hahaha.

We played this game I remembered from Shuying's cell last time..where you draw a circle, and then pass the paper around. Everyone looks at you and adds a feature (ie. eyes, ears)..when I got my pic back, I couldn't stop laughing cos it was so horrid!! (Compared to the reallllyy nice pic they drew for me in Shuying's cell..so the expectation was there haha)

I looked like a pig with some really bad nose hair. How dare you..haha. Okay fine, Oliver looked like Buddha, Owee looked like a China imperial guard (also because I drew an aerial version of her cap, instead of 3d), Jane looked like she was wearing excretion on her neck, Cheryl with really small eyes (I the drawer, protest at that misguided truth)..and you name it haha.

Uber funny!:) I wanted to scold everyone and defend my face. hahaha, but looking at Justin's portrait..hey mine aint that bad hahahaha..:) love them STILL. :) and Joseph, our new member (praise God) wrote: Charlene, you are as beautiful (aww so sweet), as you look in this pic (what the!!? -turns and stares) haha. okay, but he said he meant it the other way, so graciously forgiven!! :)

Now on to the serious part..haha. I was just telling Owee, that I currently feel like I just woke up from a really bad dream. haha. But the good part was that God was with me through it all. I don't think I ever had such a horrid week during the exams. I came down with flu on monday night, after my first paper. Yeah, then things went downhill from there with 3 papers in a row from wed-fri. But my God carried me through, and He told me this, "C'mon girl, you can't do this alone, but we can do this together. Get up and try again, I'll do it with you." I just felt so encouraged, because I know His grace can carry me through. :)

Thank you to everyone who's encouraged me along. The OCF-ers who pray everyday at 930am, I know He answers your prayers:) My parents and sister, for being so understanding during this time. Still loving me through whatever nonsense I give you all. I don't take it forgranted, really. :)

And to my friends, for their encouragement. Like my cell, spamming each other with e-mails. Truth be told, I immensely disklike one-liner e-mails accompanied with the audacity to 'replyall' even when it scarcely concerns the other 32590239 of us..but all your emails really encourage me, just to know what's going on in your lives:) hehehe.

Going to the city tomorrow with my bimbotic Nikki. Gosh, it's been almost a year and a half now:) And hopefully, meet Shukkie:) hehehe.

Okay, here's a good song Jack sent.

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take him at His word;
just to rest upon His promise,
and to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust His cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace.

I'm so glad I learned to trust thee,
precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
and I know that thou art with me,
wilt be with me to the end.

2007-06-09T10:30:00.000+10:00

GO FOR WINTER CAMP!! :)

and that's the last of me till the 15th- all the best everyone!!:))

2007-06-07T20:21:00.000+10:00

stella: hey dear! hope you're feeling better!:) yeah, kids church -giggles. help me!!! oh man. okay, princess fiona will save the day..so i dont mind being shrek for a day hahaha. :) take care sweetie!:)

jia: JIA!!:) yeah, I see you everyday for like 2 years now!:) pp who see that pic always take a second look cos they think it's some guy hahaha. so you're famous!! yeah of course i miss you lar:) hehehe. a surprise call from me is long overdue..buttttt coming soon! hahahaha. :)

rawr: hey! oh okay..i should be able to go out with you if you come from 17th onwards!! but it'll be exam time for my sister:) hope you get your flight confirmation soon!:)

hy: tell me about it haha..have to switch between apoptosis and homicide, tell me about it haha:) hope you're doing fine dear:))) dont watch too much tv lar..=(

jie: -smacks lips:) all gone, too bad bb.

ki(z): hahaha, i cant call you Kiz, it'll come out as 'kiss'..hahaha. yeah..apoptosis, neurobiology, you name it!! im seriously thinking of not taking dev anymore!! how! :) hahaha i'll be a drama-mama!!:)

shuk: shukie! how's exams!! you're having it earlier than me is it? i start next mon 11th:) end mostly on 15th:) take care okay!! hope all's fine;0) stay strong in the Lord dear, He's always with you:)

lyn: hahaha, sometimes i sneak another timtam!! it's so hard to resist..but i prefer the dark choc timtams, not the original..:) haha i'll bring some over if i do visit you in the future!!:) im sure you have nicer choc biscuits over there though!!:)

mich: it's about popping your sister's toes!! haha am i funny or not? hahaha:) no lar, it's about cell death!?!? Not fun. I like blowing bubbles though! hahaha:)
_____________________

I just received news that Uncle Simon Wong has passed away. I thank God for His will that has been done, and I hope Sher and her family are doing well.

There was one OCF meeting when I was singing in front of Sher, and you know sometimes one loses focus easily when doing the same thing repetitively. As I was singing, I saw Sher's face in deep concentration and her hand half-lifted to God. I think that was a moment in time when she was struggling with God while singing "I believe You're my healer, I believe You are all I need". I started to realise that she was trying her best to mean the words she was mouthing, and to believe with all her heart in the One she calls Lord.

The songs that we sing, it's so easy to just sing and mean the words when nothing really substantially bad is going on in our lives. But Sher has been such an encouragement to everyone around her, to me. An inspiration because of her strength and hope in God, even though in a sense, her world has been turned upside down. I believe it's because she knows Who holds her world.

Spending time with her bbq-ing and chatting, noone would guess that she's going through such a tough time. I admire her for being so open with all of us, for being vulnerable so that we can in turn be her support. Alot of times I look at her and wonder if I would have the same strength.

To think about life and it's transient nature. Its unpredictability. Its weakness. Yet it is a gift from God. None of us have earned the right to live, hence we have to spread this gift to all we meet.

I was just thinking about Uncle Simon when Jane called to ask if I had heard the news. And she shared about how she appreciates the small little things that people do for her nowadays. To see her grow and change is such an encouragement to me. I remember the day at uni when she was just sharing her feelings with me, crying. I was looking at her and I remembered how that felt. To be so hurt, to be so upset, and yet to be so angry at the same time.

But we both now look back and see how God has moulded us through all of these trials. That He never wastes a tear, a heartache. He disciplines the ones He loves. He protects the ones dear to Him. He guards those He has a great plan for.

And I just want to share how He's answered one of my prayers. A year ago, I was sharing with both Deb and Jia about how I don't have a great girlfriend here in Aust to walk life with. Now, I'm so glad that I have Jane, really. She's someone who inspires me so much. With her pure heart, her walk with God, her love for others. Seeing her worship makes me feel like heaven is one step closer. haha, how awesome and rare is that. She pushes me to be a better person, to be a woman after God's heart. I'm so thankful for her. :)

Yeah:) I won't usually share personal thoughts on my blog, so let's not get too touchy haha. But, I really want to encourage those who are reading my blog. That God knows whatever you're going through right now. Jack was telling me about his skin problem and what he said next made me stop to think. He said something like, 'but actually my problem is not that bad, pray for Sher instead because she really inspires me even though she's going through such a tough time'.

And it's true, we often think that our problems are the biggest, but when we start to look beyond ourselves and towards a Big God, our worries seem to fade away in a distance. So, appreciate the little things in life and the gift of your everyday, because you don't know what tomorrow will bring:)

2007-06-04T22:08:00.000+10:00

Because I'm bored of apoptosis, I got this from Jie who got it from Lien!

Name 7 things in your bag/wallet/pocket:

1. Neocard of Jia and me (big big)
2. Cards of money and of many companies- you name it:)
3. Lipbalm (Spf 30, of course!)
4. Keys with Clinque lipbalm and chain! (yay Ki, we like!)
5. hmm. ooh, my Gastby powdered Oil Film, never leave without
6. My Sigg bottie:) hee.
7. Expired concession card (because I can drive) haha.

Name 6 things you do when you’re really stressed:

1. Do these quizzes lor
2. Read!
3. Watch Oprah/Dr. Phil
4. Play guitar
5. Sing!
6. Go over to my sister's room!:)

Name 5 favorite fruits:

1. Mango
2. Seedless grapes
3. Pescimum (how to spell)
4. hmm. Strawberries
5. Nice soft peaches

Name 3 things you are wearing right now

1. Mum's old purple jacket
2. My pink fluffy piggy bedroom slippers (with their respective secret names)
3. Draggy grey pj pants

What are you thinking about right now?
Why my parents are making noise outside!

Where is your phone?
Next to my laptop

Where do you sleep?
On my bed

Where did you get the shirt you’re wearing?
3 prudence, from high school

What was the last thing you ate?
A secretly stolen timtam, although I'd much rather say, the nice beef rendang mum cooked

What is the closest item near you that is blue?
hmm, my cup! (hardly any blue round' here! most are given items)

When did you last feel a tree with your bare hands?
hey?? hmm. I guess when I accidentally walk against the tree outside my house??

AND I tag you! Yes, you who are bored or exam stressed and hence reading my blog:)

2007-05-31T14:35:00.000+10:00

Jane: haha I learnt the art of encouragement on my blog, from you:) Ooh I didn't know you gave the princess bk to Sher! another great girl to bless hey..;) Stop wanting to go out..I shall strap you at home to study..hahaha. but eh, was chaddy shopping good? hahaha:)

__________________

Dr. Phil's show today was about treasuring people in your life, because you may not have them forever. True.

Alot of times along the way, I've lost contact with close friends, or once best friends. So I've learnt to live in the now and take time out to spend quality time with those close to my heart. :)

3 of my fav people, 2 leaving me for good, 1 farfaraway with a certain duck who will then occupy her time..hehe.

Happy birthday Whiney! I do appreciate you alot:)

And you and you!!:) A week in week out situation, but I'm glad I've got you both for support and understanding:) One day, we WILL sip our coffees and look back at those chair-draggin', instrument-settin', heart-breakin' yet joyful days:)

Pray hard for more great people to join us before you both leave, or I might stare at your plane with teary eyes=(

Chalet at Pasir Ris, anyone? :) And, COME for CAMP! :)

2007-05-27T22:16:00.000+10:00

This is taken from Charm's blog:) I find her life inspiring. Although we're miles apart, I believe she blogs from her heart and what's important to her, and that alone inspires me in the things of God. It's so easy to lose focus, to fall away. I see God's faithfulness in her life, even though we really hardly talk:)

"and i guess.
she didn't do anything wrong?
she just wanted to be
that ideal self.
and.
through it, she lost herself.
but in the end,
she gave up that mask
that absorbed her identity.
and found back
the things in her life
things that she had set aside
to accomplish a dream.
that seemed too hard to attain
that took so much out of her.
and the accomplishment of the dream
gave only temporal satisfaction.

in the end, she became herself
she became real (:

what would happen
if we saw the beauty of the soul
instead of external appearances?
i think if that happened.
of cos there would still be a range
but i guess the end
of the "super ugly"
would be very much reduced.
cos out there,
there is always someone who loves you
and whom you love (:
and people who can love
can't be that bad right??

what would happen.
if we did not see the beauty of the soul
but the beauty of Christ instead?
then, there would be value equality haha"

I think the girl's night at OCF really opened my eyes. In a way that you start to see others differently. I start to realise that every single person is hurting, that everyone has their own insecuritites and that the pain the random stranger beside you is facing, is so real. Sometimes I take forgranted alot of the blessings in my life. As people share their lives openly, I try to put myself in their shoes and wonder, what would I do if I were them? Would I still be the joyful and confident young lady, or will I be less secure, less bubbly, less loving towards others.

Because when you see your life through the perfect rose-tinted glasses, it's so easy to be a happy airhead.

But I suppose everyone has their own journey to travel. To discover, to press on.

I just want to say, treasure the people in your life who love you for who you are, because those are the real treasures in your life. Not your looks, your money or grades, but those real people.

This is your now.

....

How very aptly, Charm just reminded me of my life verse. (which I kinda forgot, but she actually remembered!)

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way."

afterthought:

Can't wait to catch up with her. I do miss the people in Singapore. Sometimes it feels so strange, to be thinking of the place I used to call home, to try so hard to remember what I left behind. Like Queen and I said today, it'll be pretty hard trying to adjust if I do return to work. But hey, there is no place like home.

And for my goody friends in RL, do catch hold of Pak Ken and family when they go back in abt 2 weeks time or sth..I suppose that's the closest you can get to smelling me, since I see them every week hahaha. If you do hug Claire, remember that I hug her every week, so a slight connection there hey? hahahaha:) TAA

breathing in the moment*

2007-05-21T15:42:00.001+10:00

2007-05-21T14:14:00.000+10:00

One thing I love about Stella and Jane's blogs is that they are so real. I know mine isn't meant to be real, in terms of revealing my heart and feelings. It's meant to be an update of the ongoings of my life, mainly for my mum and close friends. But since my mum's here now, I've lost the motivation to blog.

So I shall just be more real.

There came a time where I just felt numb to everything. The thoughts and feelings of not doing my best, not doing enough. Sometimes people don't understand, most of the times I don't understand myself.

But over the years, I've come to realise that it's not even what I think about everything. It's about what my King thinks. What He wants me to do, where He wants me to go.

My hands felt heavy during worship in the morning, but I knew that God brought me there to hear something, straight from heaven. And the sermon was titled- Going to places you don't want to go.

My first thought was of an immediate place, a place where I've stuggled with God whether or not to go. But then I realised, I'm going not because of anything else, but because God wants me to go. And that's more than enough for me. To be a servant, not a self-proclaimed Martha.

Whatever you do in secret, God acknowledges and is pleased.

I keep asking, but God isn't a fortune teller. This is what He says, from "His Princess" by Sheri Rose Shepherd:

You seek Me for your place in this world, and My answer to you is wherever you are standing. I love to hear you pray to be used by Me. Nothing pleases Me more than when your love flows warm and free. When you're willing, I am ready to strategically place you somewhere to be a blessing.

Even the smallest of effort can lift the burden of someone else when you are living by My power. You won't always understand why I send you to do things that no one else will see, but you don't work for others- you work for Me. What you do now will be seen by all on the other side of eternity.

So go where I send you today, knowing that I have prepared the way.

Love, Your King who is the Way.

2007-05-14T23:18:00.000+10:00

mich&queen: thanks girls:) hahaha lmao= lousy mistaken awesome ones!! :) hahaha. muacks*

mel: haha yes sure!!..waah now i know what you and queen talk abt behind me back hahaha..heehee.

deb: haha cos my bf is a thousand miles away:) okay, no more talk about babies and dogs haha..we gotta get moving!! -runs to pasir ris park and climbs the web (if its still there) :)

________________________

May 14- The most beautiful action in the world is to love. The second is to give.

My week back,

Saturday was a night spent with Jane at Pancake Parlour (those lovely choc pancakes), where I got lost for an hour, forced strawberry pancakes down her throat and couldn't find my car. hahaha. And we spent the hour talking about why we are the Jane and Charlene we are today:) She makes so much sense, it encourages me so :)

Sunday was Cross way with Jane and Jack, Pastor Stuart talked about worries :)

Monday was Yum-cha with Eileen!! :) Haven't met her for reaaally long, so it was a great catch-up!!:) hahaha. Yummy egg tarts (of course) and a nice treat from her at Imperial Kingdom..

Then it was Global Friendship night (where people just randomly go and chill and eat for a dollar), so some of us Ocfers just went to make people feel welcome:) It was good as usual, talking to strangers who are now friends:)

Car got stuck. haha, fortunately there was Jane Jack and Andrew to the rescue!! :) Jack had to jack my car up..haha okay not funny. But thanks guys, really:) For your encouragements thereafter too:)

Wednesday was Queen day!! We went to Kokoblack, had a hearty 2 hour chat!!:) One of those chats of a lifetime:) haha, oh read her post, she's more succint and I would think, a better spelling bee:)

Thursday, had DG dinner at Justin's house:) Talked to his housemates and made connections with them. It's good, I think we're getting closer as a cell!!:) Made fruity salad for Jazz night!

And boy, was Jazz Night fun on Friday!!:) Love Jazz, love Jazz. Some of my friends came, so that was great!!:)) Praise God!:)

Sat was the stayover at Collette/Alex's place...or I mean, Tessa the toy dog's place!! :) Reading, eating and reading for me:) Now, Tessa looks like a polar bear hahaha..

Okay, that was my week. Great, which explains why I need to head to the library tomorrow. TAAA!:)

Lesson 101: Be disciplined

2007-05-12T17:38:00.000+10:00

mel: yeah praise God for your job!! we're having exams in about 1 month:) yay, glad you're still going to RL:) I'm sure you're making friends there? :) haha queen and i chatted a bit about you..i have to say, im not as bratty anymore:) hehe.

deb: i need you!!!

kiz: hahaha. yay no glasses, so you're not joining our exclusive glasses gang anymore? :) hahaha hope you're feeling better, go kick some butts!;) and, oh my I really do see you everyday, dont I? no wonder I dont mind going to uni everyday..haha, and remember, time is based on Charly's daylight savings..it's only your imagination. hahah muacks!
_____________

I need You.

2007-05-11T01:05:00.000+10:00

That Year

Those puffy eyes at Mackers, when I didn't wanna go to school and we ponned assembly.
Why I love my sigg bottle.
The sweets you bought for us so that we wouldn't sleep during lecture.
Realising that I'm not that little girl you once knew anymore.
The goals in life, for life. The science behind it all.
Maybe not understanding each other oh so much but knowing that it runs deeper; yet there's always this mutual understanding of a line drawn.

charlene says:

i know it's not easy..that's why you have to be patient and wait. cos if you compromise then it's like eating bitter medicine all the time..

you wouldnt know what sweet is anymore

the most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible says:

woah

thatz the most thought provoking thing i heard from u thus far

looks like aust is doing u gd

haha

Then there were moments I missed, where photos were sent over msn. Where lives were shared excitedly over the phone and through e-mails.

Then there's this girl I'm gonna visit in one of the most romantic cities in the world (so says some travel guide).

The pre-Olevel results scare, handholding, swimming at tch, watergun, pepsicola and giggles and rants. The girly but not so girly us. :)

Suddenly I feel like I lived in a different world, in a different time.

:) And to everyone else who made that difference in that year, could I have you know that you still remain part of my greatest support in life:)

2007-05-10T16:14:00.000+10:00

mich: mamaquack!:) hehe. hey girl it's alright,we understand!:) although i really must catch up with you soon. hard though, cos dad wants to go to Cross way in the morning:) but hey, hope everything's fine! bad breath then should use listerine lar..mother never teach meh. hurhur:)

cheche: lubbyou!!:) cant imagine my life without you!:) hee.

queen: you lazzeeee gurlgurl. but wah, indulgent chocolate over aerobics anytime mannn!!:) hey you know what, i think i'll rem our talk for a long time to come, it's one of the best talks ive had this year. :) the drama mama stories, it showed me how powerful God is. and how everyone has a story to tell, so dont overlook them i guess. :) press on sweetie!:)

hy: haha good lar, you all in the same uni now. must meet up yeah, always say but i dont see any substantial evidence of your meetings!! :)

kiz: haha shakespeare rocks! ooh that video was so funny haha, muffled giggles. anw, hope that you'll get good brown/black glasses!! please no funny animal prints or i'll just stare and laugh at you. hee. at least it'll cover your rolling eyes, yeah? :) hahahaha. hugs pinky. take care and get well and healthy:)

rawr: hey dear, no prob:) anytime:) haha brissy's sunshine is good though.the sun here seems to really blast through your skin. haha. stock up warm clothes yeah!:)

2007-05-07T10:09:00.000+10:00

queen: haha yeah:) wed! i was thinking of..jogging? or i bought group exercise tix from monash sport long time ago..we can use them. or if you want free and easy, my room's open!:)

debo: haha i love you! :) yeah im always here for you:) haha they must be happy to have you in the same uni, how cool is that:) triple date!!!:)

caleb: hahaha sorry lar, i wrecked my brains trying to think of who that was haha. but hey! cont press on in parkville yeah? :) God will provide not only people, but His guidance and wisdom!!:) say hi to sulynn for me!:)

shun: shunn!!! how are you? glad exams are over for you!! i thought you disappeared and forgot about me=( you're finally here! pls update ur blog!!:) write me an email or sth?? :)) heehee. im wearing the bedroom slippers you bought for me!:) and i hope everything's goin fine with you dear, take care lots yeah?? :))

jia: hahaha that's cos i only post happy events and things i do, haha although that's mainly what's really going on in my life haha dunno whether good or bad..yeah i really thank God for His providence, cos without Him, i'd be so lost. =( and hey! China's cool i think, hehe..you can get a preview of beijing 2008 yeah? :) oh wait, are you gonna pass by beijing? anw, i'll randomly surprise call you one day! :) haha that's deborah, i think you met her in riverlife before..not sure!! and i love you too:)

shuk: oh no..im so sorry shuk!! but how can you insult me and say UNTRUE things=( hahahah. hope you're doing well too dear!!:)) haha you're goin back to sg in june/july?? :) when does sem2 start for you? better meet up in sem 2 okay!!:))

poi: ehhhh!:) haha wah i miss you. how was 1st year, okay? haha hope your internship goes well! im sure it will, with God beside you!!:) heehee. it's your summer break yeah..:) write me an email!? :) hugs heehee:)

2007-05-05T11:15:00.000+10:00

Kiz: haha well, we always have extra time to chat and draw and listen to the cute british accent muahaha. haha yay theatre studies anyone? hahaha Death was fun with phototaking haha..and stop rolling your eyes at me -_- Pinky who wears black!! :)

Nat: hey nattie!!:)) Ive been checking your blog too!!:) Im glad you're growing strong in the Lord, and I hope everything else has been great! :) You're cared for by me:)

Caleb: haha are you talking about Shuk In? (eh shuk, I didnt know that's your chinese name!) haha eh you should add me on friendster..we probably have 1048 friends in common hahaha..

_____________________

I came out of my shell just to say- I'm so proud of Deb Chen!!:))

Ever since she went from the N's to JC, it hasn't been entirely smooth-sailing. Nevertheless, she put her best foot forward whilst retaining sincere determination and exuberance. Now to NTU, doing the course she keenly informed me about, I recall her personal journey and think highly of the willpower my best friend has.

I think that many have failed to see her as she truly is, to the point that they have missed the exquisite essence inside of her.

It is easily convenient to stand from where people are at and pat them on the back, but choosing the undemanding way out considering one's absence during their lonely battles may not always be the wisest decision.

There's so much more that I could say about people's attitudes towards others they consider as less significant, but I wouldn't dare to begin because then I would have to start with me.

Through the years, people dearest to my heart have taught me the importance of bringing them from where they're at to where they want to be, regardless of their starting points. I've realised the value of the human life, God's created image.

And above all, God we thank You for Your providence and grace:)

that's why I love you

2007-05-02T21:23:00.000+10:00

lyn: haha i replied you on my tag board!!:) mum's in kuching now enjoying the nice food hahaha..can't wait for her to come over!! big sister's acting like a pseudo mummy to me now=( hahahah:)

queen: haha the kids are super cute lar!! rushed in to take that photo hahaha i thought it was some stampede..but waaah the boys were really noisy during kids church..ask bryan! kept playing with my laptop..humph:) wed!!:)

shuk: shukkieee!:) haha im glad uve settled down in a church dear!:) haha hope you'll get a good instructor though!! the city's harder to learn in i think! but you can do it!! haha. hey, i love you too!:)

mel: melly!! i heard you got a job, praise God!! have you been going to riverlife huh? :) haha yeah..casey's still the same funny ole bunch haha..a few things have changed though, kent ching, uncle daniel and jie have moved on..! hope you're doing well in sg dearie:) update us on your life..send the team an email or sth okay? :))

jia: fcy!! haha really? is this ur first time in china? hahah you're always going somewhere to help others hehehe it must be really exciting!!:) if i were in sg, i'll help you in speaking chinese!! hehehe. lol. anw, yar lar, cos i dont spend on food or shoes, so that explains the clothes haha. take care in china okay, make sure noone bullies you!! haha...

kiz: haha kiki!! i havent gotten my LJ hahaha..thanks for staying behind with me today! so sweet of you hahaha..violin jamming session tomorrow i hope!!:) seeya in Death..hahaha..
_________________

I drove to Brighton Beach to jog today!:) It was refreshingly good- the fresh cold sea breeze, the sound of lightly crashing waves that reflected the shyly filtered sunlight:) It was good time alone, thinking about almost nothing but the refraction of light on those therapeutic waves. hahaha, that's considered 'nothing' ;) Oh yes, and thinking about how nice it would be to have a spacious home by the beach with a german shepherd to scurry and scamper with.

Uni (not school, uni) has been good so far, as per normal and more often that not, extremely bearable with good friends like Kiz! (only one name because only you read my waste-of-time blog) haha, so says your antagonist, Josh.

I cleared my room today! It's my once a month ritual, whereby thereafter everyone seems highly astonished and conveniently forget their past ways of carefully trotting across my room, over the mysteriously hidden booby-traps.

The verdict is: in desperate need of a pink piggy dustbin (to match the bedroom slippers Shun gave to me). The normal dustbin does not rouse underused abilities of the occasional brilliant rubbish pitch.
....

Btw, Jack really cracks me up haha. I told him that I'll be his driver if I pass my P's..since he's always been so kind as to send us to and fro from camp and worship pracs..so I offered to send him to worship prac tomorrow..and ...

he drew me a map!!!

hahaha somemore give me the address already what..think i cannot read is it!! (spews all the singlish) hahaha Jack i hope you're reading this cos you're really very funny. :)

2007-04-29T23:13:00.000+10:00

Taylors Meet-up:)

The girl I travelled 20km to see, even though she lives 5min away hah!

yay!:)

Monash Berwick TV (same uni, different campus)

Ardent supporters of...

Our Hollywood star for the day!! Wayneee Chua :)

Berwick is much MUCH nicer than Clayton...

Bryan, Wayne, Stella!:)

After Monash TV...

We weren't welcomed at an unmentionable eatery at the Glen, leaving Bryan to consume his lonely duck, i think...-_-

So we decided to do a reality check...argh!!

But after a mere 10minutes of JennyCraig...

eh, no difference whaaat!

anw, I took more photos of Stella, but they're too dark to be salvaged. our working girl is leaving for us for one of the big4 accounting firms in sg soon!! =( but hey..we shall catchup:)

Didi's the best! (and no, it's not the name of an indian shop)...

A prelude to Mt. Dandenong's Thousand Steps (hearsay 1380, to be exact)

2007-04-29T22:38:00.000+10:00

Dandenong after picnic! :)

yay food supply!!:))

2 of my favourite girls:) Jane and Cheryl!

Temperate forest??

One of the sweetest beings ever to walk into my life...

<3

Our Typical Sunday...

Stella and I!!:)

Poser 12 year olds...

with her 19 year old role model...aye.

Wayne and Bryan with the girl who's leaving us='(

And the kids rushed in, shocking unsuspecting camera crew...:)

2007-04-27T14:51:00.000+10:00

Caleb: hey cal!! hahaha how did you get to my blog? yeah, we used to go to the same church and we meet up now and then..she's a nice girl, isn't she? hahahahaha:) hope your housewarming and the eternal-ians meetup was good!:) take care, and hope everything's fine. Follow God's will, and seek Him first okay? :)

Jia: waah i miss you! :) haha thanks for tagging, made my day haha. what are you doing for the hols? any mission trips? hahaha. must talk to you soon to catchup!! hehehe i'll try..:) take care dear and big hugs:))
_________________________

yay! I'm so happy I can't stop smiling at the uni computer..you know the type of smile that you try to hide but can't. haha reminds me of what Jane told me about this guy who innocently smiled when he found out that the girl he liked broke up with her boyfriend. hahaha. sama sama.

and the reason is...I passed my P's!! yay, so now I can finally drive alone without this familiar droning voice at my left. hahaha

Thank you Daddy for your patience and help..even though I get irritated sometimes..but you're a fantastic coach!!:) Mummy, I can drive you around now when you come!!

Praise God yay, my mum's coming soon!!:) Can't wait cos we all miss her so much:)) Have fun in Kuching mummy..enjoy the wonderful food..then come here and replicate the dishes!! Esp. kolo meeeeee...

And this week has been fun, went for Wayne's Monash TV thingy, then Mount Dandenong with my DG, and later going to the City for a meet-up, and then home cell:) Pictures soon!:)

But I think the highlight of my week is, my daddy making a fruit salad for me when he found out that I didn't have anything to bring for the picnic at Mt. Dande..heehee. He's also making curry with fish (note: not fish curry per se) topped with carrots and cabbage, for me to bring for home cell cos I don't have time to cook today!! (Amongst other embarrassing reasons)...

heehee. Check out the South Park pics of my family on Jie's blog..hmm..the details are quite accurate if you're observant!!:)

Love!:)

2007-04-23T15:44:00.000+10:00

Because of who You are

Thanks Bryan and Stella!

You go girl:)

The ocfers; l-r: Jack, Aaron, El, Melissa, Jas:)

jie: haha yeah i expected that alr!!:) hmm..im very neat, i just like to set traps for unwelcomed and un-knocking visitors who come to steal clothes, and of course, my authentic jewels...and my thick stack of books and encyclopedias...trying to protect my goodies for ebay:)

lilien: hey! how are you?? long time no see..where have you been? haha i'll try link you again thru my sis' blog haha..yeah..maybe i'll change over in june after exams hahaha:)

mich: yar!! so many. like some circus after service hahaha..izrael is extremely cute with all his expressions!! :)heard about the news of 1045..hows everything?

queen: haha yeah, steep learning for me that week about ministry and what it should really mean to me and all of us:) hope you're feeling better..congrats dear, God is always faithful:))

hy: yeah!! you're one of the few who've inspired me about kids, so kudos to you..haha. are you still serving in kids church?? :) we should educate nina about the importance of relating well to kids..:)

nina: haha oei i had ONE only also what!!:)) you're going back in june yeah? you'll have a good break then mahh!! dont compare hols lar..haha brissy has such nice beaches and surf dudes yeah;)

addie: addie!! how are you?? :) ahh! time to set up my babysitters club huh haha..no i dont wanna look motherly!! hahaha dont say that!! -_-

shuk: girl!! congrats!! haha..okay quick go get your Ps and drive to clayton!!:)) how's everything dear? you can always email/call me okay..you know that!;) i'll try to meet up with you soon sweetie:)) hope hudson bay's been good, if you're gng there:)

kare: haha are the canadian and american ones similar, or is there even a slight difference? haha...yeah we'll teach each other! you just have to do this lazy nasal drawl while opening your mouth wide. hahaha. it's quite interesting, this accent thing haha:)oh and i saw your last blog post, im glad you're growing in the Lord..yeah we have so much to thank God for, yet we complain so much. God has brought you this far dear, cont to trust in His promises and will for your life!:)

alicia: alicia!! haha how was Dublin and your hol? :)) hahaha hope everything's going well for you dear:)) HIII :))

2007-04-15T22:37:00.000+10:00

2007-04-15T21:34:00.000+10:00

Before I turn LJ (readers may vote 'yes', 'no', or 'you're too lazy anw'), the mood is currently: excited, location: my pretty room as shouted out loud by Queen to Mich, gastrointestinal tract activity: red wine after peanut mnms.

Back to Uni fever!! Back to extracting details out of the purple-pink highlighted pages, turning them into worthy pieces of healthy tidbits for brain processing.

Easter break has been good. As you all know, the wonderous visit to Mich's place in the city brought us girlies and boy (Wayne left for par-tee) closer. Casey has been healthy, with normal BP and heart rate. Had lunch with Shin Han, Yan Zhi, Jess Koh and Lai Keong at Chaddy, the city taylors mob. :) Apart from that, Oprah caught up with me and Dr. Phil still gives good advice. I quit Judge Judy's courtroom to manage a couple of crunches and light weight lifting with pink utensils.

Yesterday, God showed me how much He loved me through my betrayed msn. He brought encouragement and inspiration through my timeless friends. Sometimes I think I'm undeserving of human love, what more His generous love. And amazed.

I woke up feeling much better and trotted down to Crossway:) It was a good one-on-one time with my God, with several tugs on the heart from Him on the possible consideration of being a regular.

27th April will be the key to mobility and physical freedom, please pray for mine and jie's practical driving tests!! The red car will be zoom zoom zooming down your street, with promised mango (or banana, whatever!) pudding to the faraway city residers.

This ends your very undetailed update of the future goings, due to a sudden increase in ATP mindful of fortold brain activity, extremely forgiving please you should be.

Remember to touch a heart everyday you're alive!! TAAA- :)

xoxo

Mich, pigeon hole was awesome. Hope everything's okay, get out for a fresh sniff of air whenever you can, and remember your lovelies posing under the spotlights on grey marble tiles!! Love, and friends are for love. :)

Jie, do share your new songs on your beloved speakers a little cute girl gave to you. Happy uni-ing:)

Mel, no! I haven't viewed it..don't think they recorded it!! Coming back to visit any time soon? ;) please pray for Casey!!

Kare, I have a part time job as a humourous clown on my crazy blog. haha. Yeah, I guess I can if i want to, speak to my abc friends everyday so it's been good practice hahaha. still weird though!!:) Teach me ur accent next time!

Queen, love you too. These past few days have been a rush and an exponential (sounds familiar) learning curve. See you at GK!:)

2007-04-15T21:33:00.001+10:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

2007-04-13T22:47:00.000+10:00

The Story of the Lost Key

Once upon a time, there lived 3 princesses and a queen.

These 2 princesses adored their queen mother very much even though she was rather fierce.

The elder princesses were the most playful of the lot, always causing stress to the queen mother.

However, one fine day, the eldest princess lost her key, and found them locked out of their castle! Or rather, boxed up...

The youngest princess thought of a brilliant plan...

So they mustered all the courage they had, to search far and wide for the missing key.

Times were tough, but there was still peace and harmony(?!?) in the royal household.

Suddenly, they spotted a locksmith! The queen mother was so elated and they evolved into a big royal group hug!!

Phew!! Friday the 13th proved nothing but a big royal family bonding session!!! :)

*Disclaimer: Any resemblance to mature 20 and above year olds, are nothing but a pure coincidence. This is an rehearsal for the upcoming "The Queen and I" series, coming out on Seven, in '07.

2007-04-13T22:26:00.000+10:00

Pray

And last year, when we thought we knew how to serve...

Esther 4:14

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?

2007-04-12T15:45:00.000+10:00

rawr: hey dear, thank you for being strong:) daddy may want to drive up to brissy this july, so if i can visit you, i def will!!:))

mich: yeah!! we were thinking of dancing/singing with our camp group cos we were co-leaders..but no time to prepare haha. small world, cya tomorrow at the horrid far away land. ;) oh EH. im making mango pudding for you all too, so can we just like chill somewhere (eyes your apartment) and not walk so much..cos like it's gonna be hot and my feet are gonna hurt, and like the faraway land is very boring to me..and i try so hard not to complain but.......!?!?! and oh jie and i passed hazard perception with 71% ;) super dodgey lar!!

kare: hahaha do they have cute accents? hahahaha. can you speak with an accent now??:)

cherie: oooh were you in love with my invisible socks, long nails and my obsessive compulsive disorder with my hair?? -__-

deb: i hope you're happy so i can be happy:) :) are you really going to ntu now?? when does uni start? :)

hy: OOOHH now that you mention..hahaha. i thought there was a similar acronym about sgp/sg-sth..haha i dunno. anw!! okay lar, i know its quite ex..=(
_____________________

3 hopeful ways to make ms eng happy-

1) Sit at the corner of your sofa/bed, drink milo and read, preferably with the quilt on your lap to snuggle. (Today)

2) Gather long lost friends on a big bed and yak your heart away. Add pillows and honesty. (Tomorrow)

3) Go skydiving with Celeste. (July)

hahahahaha, to infinity and beyond!!!

see, no need to try too hard yeah? ;0)

2007-04-11T19:16:00.000+10:00

Beautiful is Your creation, You're glorious in every way.

You surround us with Your faithful love, we can trust in all You say.

With Your hand in mine, there's nothing we cannot do together:)

Cos You've won my heart. You've captured all of me.

2007-04-10T11:34:00.000+10:00

OCF EASTER CAMP 2007

The journey to Rawson Village with Jie, Oliver, Eddie and Bernard...

Met my group, Eternal. This is only half the group!!:) They're an awesome bunch!

The worship team!!!

The real worship team AIYA.

Praying for Daryl, whom we're all proud of:)

Then met up with the Parkvillians!!:) Yon How hahahaha, booked as one of my future first passengers for now:)

I AM SO PROUD OF YOU. Tong Shuk In!!!:)) I really am -hugs :)

Knowing Joyce was one of the good things of camp!!:))

And we grew in the Lord too:) Acapella with the team:)

2007-04-10T10:52:00.000+10:00

hy: haha what's sgd arh? keep hearing pp talk about it, but not sure hahaha..so you're saying you dont have sgd???? -blank look- hahaha..come here and i'll get you some abcs hahaha:)

mich: hahaha some part true..but chin-aussies are okay, mainly cos their parents are still true-blue chinese haha. hahaha very funny mich..jimmy keeps talking about quack, you keep talking about wes..you all are one weird bunch hahaha:)

kare: yar i noe!! it's really funny haha wonder how she came up with it..hehehe..how's vancouver's abcs?? hahahaha

cherie: hahah cherie is jealous right..dont bluff..no lar i didnt kiss her..it's optical illusion. why would i, im straight remember hahaha (in case you forgot) hehehe:) -wrinkles nose-

________________________

I'M BACK!!!:)

I think people are starting to think that I party/play alot cos of my blog..but NO I MUG HARD TOO. hahaha. Don't worry, if you are, because studies are absolutely important to me too!:) I love the units I'm taking, maybe save for developmental biology, so it's been alright so far:)

Anyway, that's not the point!! I'm back from Easter Camp woohoo! Was reading my last year's post about Easter Camp..well, this one's no different cos God moved too :)

I think the highlight of the camp for me was the Ministry talk by Jensen. I've been feeling very drained and tired the past few weeks because of not balancing ministry well enough. I just read Queen's blog on Pak Ken's phrase for her- God's grace is sufficient for you.

Grace is something close to my heart because I've experienced His grace so many times in my life. Grace.

Why do I serve? Why do you serve?

Alot of my inspiration comes from my leaders. They serve with a humble heart, with a teachable spirit. But God reminded me yesterday, that my inspiration should also come from Him.

Only when my focus is right, will I be able to serve with a heart that pleases God. Then it wouldn't matter where I'm serving, who I'm serving with, but only Who I'm serving.

:)

April 8 in my calendar:

There can be no happiness equal to the joy of finding a heart that understands- Victor Robinsall.

What God has promised, God will fulfil.

At the foot of the Cross- Kathryn Scott, Vertical Music

At the foot of the cross
Where grace and suffering meet
You have shown me Your love
Through the judgment You received

And You've won my heart
Yes You've won my heart
Now I can

Trade these ashes in for beauty
And wear forgiveness like a crown
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy
I lay every burden down
At the foot of the cross

At the foot of the cross
Where I am made complete
You have given me life
Through the death You bore for me

2007-04-05T16:57:00.000+10:00

Quote of the day which made me rofl (=roll on floor laughing)

On the ABC issue,

"I also wanna find my cute ABC... but here in Singapore??? ... maybe can find CAB only ...

CAB = chao ah beng!!!"

hahahahahaha.

I really hope June can come during our sem break!!:)

muacks*

2007-04-05T15:33:00.000+10:00

mian: haha yup, green day for you and queen lar, count me out hahaha. i like black and grey now:)

yan: ehhhhh!! what are you doing now, are you at uni alr? which uni, what course?? hahah. it's Indonesia, I went on a mission trip with my church in '04. :) Poi's in Canada!!:)

shuk: yes shuk!! yeah we wont be in the same group haha..but anyhow..rem to bring my stuff!!:) just those 2!!:) yay i'll see you real soon!:)

anna: haha anna! just finished talkin to you on msn hahaha..okay, i'll get to that email after my camp..yeah i love the blue seas and the mountains!!:) come to aust -chants!! :)

lyn: hey!!:) yeah, i think it's great to do whatever we can in small ways:) oh really..it must be great seeing how your money goes into good use:)) My mum's coming May 15!! 3 days before her birthday!:))

cherie: haha random youu!! muacks love you too:)) -pats ur head and runs away hahahahaha

debo: coming whennnn...okay, just update whenever you have new news hahaha. im okay, easter break is here..haha. still have to catch up on my work, but it's okay! new house..maybe 1.5 more year's time..yeah..will DEF have you as one of our first few guests when new house comes!!:) jie wants to get a doggy then too!!:) mum's coming 15may lar!!

rawr: hahahaha i think she's not coming so soon..but she's def one of our main targets hahaha..however, the targets seem listless and uninterested..maybe we should show them more pics of aust!!:)

_______________________

YAY!! praise God for helping me through my 3 tests this week haha. Actually they weren't that hard cos 2 were MCQs..but hehe, still something okay!:) The law test was interesting..it's about Criminal Procedure..did you know that anyone of us can make a citizen arrest 'anytime'? hahaha..

anw, I've got Easter Camp tmr..(mumbles..i wish i could just sleep in and go for Easter service somewhere) but I'm glad I'll get to meet the Parkville pp and catch up with them!:) yay. Probably gonna be my last EC, so better make this worthwhile!:)

Due to me thinking I'd have to cut down my social events cos of these 3 tests, I missed Kristabel's 1st month, Collette's bday, Charise's 2nd bday, some bbqs and a jamming session with Kiran. =(

BUT!! I still went for Darlene's 21st! and the Melb Food Festival with the SC girlies:)

Emerie and Darlene:)

Happy 21st!:))

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival-

It was a meeting of the dogs:)

Okay, we're actually following the girl in the pic which Kai didn't take hahaha!

Chocolate chocolate...

Advertising for the Fina swim championships...haha...

Bea, Sam, Carol, Kai, Yixin and Shihan!!:))

2007-03-31T17:09:00.000+10:00

You are the reason

I've a new little brother!:)

His name is Geberegziabher Hailay, he's turning 8 this year and he likes football and science.

He's from Ethiopia, which has a population of 73.8 million but is only slightly larger than South Australia (In all, Australia has 19.7 million people).

For many Ethiopians, the staple food is injera, a flat, spongy sour bread. It is eaten with wat, a spicy stew; but meat is a luxury.

Most rural women recieve no health care during preganancy and childbirth.

HIV and AIDS is also a serious issue, as it is in other parts of Africa.

Comparatively speaking...

Ethiopia Australia

Population living on
less than $2/day

80% 0%

Population with an
improved water source

22% 100%

Adult literacy rate

Male- 49% Male- 99%
Female- 33% Female- 99%

% population undernorished

46% 0%

Life expectancy

47 years 80 years

David Palmer said something during our camp last year that really struck me. He said that in essence, we're living in the matrix. Or least, you and me, presumably from either Singapore or Australia.

The real world out there is not simply what you perceive it as, as you peer out of your window to observe your equally middle-class neighbour.

30,000 children worldwide die every day from preventable diseases.

More than 300 million children go to bed hungry each day.

Over 1 billion children and adults have no clean drinking water.

Does that mean I should in fact consider the option of slapping my future son for begging me or squealing and screaming for the next new wii, or xbox?

Well, before I get sent off under possible police custody for child abuse, I'll tell him that those statistics were not something I came up with before I settled into my 500-thread linen bedded king-size King Koil after a very satisfying mummy-cooked pork rib with peanut soup.

Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

www.worldvision.org.sg

www.worldvision.com.au

2007-03-27T22:48:00.000+10:00

mimi: haha why??:) sorry i didnt talk to you on sunday..but will talk to you soon okay? busy studying up to easter break next friday!:) 3 tests next week, pray for me okay? love you my strong mummy:)))

kare: are you serious? that's good!!:) yeah go for it kare, God wants your heart of immediate obedience:)) haha what is facebook?? haha even my friendster is dying, how to get facebook hahaha:)

poi: poi poi!!! how are you? i wanted to ask you, have you heard of some Golden Key honour society before? it has Chapters in US..tell me if you've heard of it okay? how's everything?:) yeah, its getting colder..the weather's erratic=((

queen: haha good good..im also another discount queen;) dont worry..you'll find another hairband u'll love in no time i hope!:) go wear the hairband i gave you!:)

mel/queen: yar lar, she thinks she's our mummy hahaha. mel!! i hope ure doing sth cool for easter!! haha..queen's still acting as the 'poor girl' yeah? haha i think it'll be super funny!!:)) btw, go tag melvin's blog link on the left!!:) macci- ;) he thinks my blog is 'crazy' -_-
________________________

I'm glad I talked to Jimmy and Sweet on Sunday. And some part of Mel's life coaching nuggets of wisdom helped ask the tough questions as well.

For one of the first times in my life, I finally know what I want. Over the years, I've realised that I have to really want something in order to succeed in it. Once I commit my heart and mind into it, I will see it through to the end.

PSLE was one of them, then dance ministry way back, then came softball, now the Casey worship team. I really put my heart into all of these, turning up for practices no matter how tired I would be and knowing that second best just wasn't good enough.

Looking ahead, I know it's not going to be easy, but hey.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" Joshua 1:9

It's staring at me everyday, along with Psalms 23 and my "I believe in miracles" precious moments slab.

"You have to ask yourself, what is it that you'll wake up every morning to, knowing that this is what you want to do."

"Char you sound like you want it, it's just how much you want it."
"I used to watch ER and start crying because I wanted to be one of them."

It's okay, because I was trying hard not to cry throughout the whole conversation.

Oceans Will Part- Hillsongs Mighty to Save

If my heart has grown cold
There Your love will unfold
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hands

When I’m blind to my way
There Your Spirit will pray
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hands
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hands

Oceans will part nations come
At the whisper of Your call
Hope will rise glory shown
In my life Your will be done

Present suffering may pass
Lord Your mercy will last
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hands

And my heart will find praise
I’ll delight in Your ways
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hands
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hands

2007-03-22T20:59:00.000+11:00

hy: now it's the visit karenandcharlene fund:) wanna join in fundraising? instead of getting a new and trendy laptop bag which i don't mind getting myself;) oh eh! that brand is made in melbourne! you can personalise it yeah? hahaha. i miss you:)

kare: hey sweetie! yeah.seems like we're talking more now than last time..but it's mostly like that actually:) absence makes the heart grow fonder i suppose haha..but hey dear. it's not how much you can give to them during the mission trip, it's more of how much God will give back to you! :) God's hit you on the head with it, so no running away!! hehehe (im only acting as His hammer! hehe) i dont go on msn that frequently either!! (skype's worse off)..i didnt know ure on my msn too? haha shall talk to you when we see each other! hugs:)

anna: hahaha thanks for your very long email about your life!!! -_- how can you not know what im talking about in my previous email..so sad haha. but i'm glad God has specifically placed friends in your life to encourage you along..:) press on and press in!!:)

queen: hahaha that sportsgirl hairband?? haha then you better wear the one i gave you lar..next time buy stuff on sale, then you wont be so xin1 tong4 okay? :) i never see you at uni!!!!! =(

mel: haha you did?? oh no..hehe. so what have you been doing now dear? hope you'll find a job soon with God's favour, that is if you're looking for one!!:) He'll provide where He wants you to ok, okay? :) haha oei..but okay lar, im not that bratty in real life. or at least, noone at monash thinks i am hehehe jkjk :) ooooh bel bel is havin her 1 month celebration this sat!! so fast huh:)

____________________

I have a "Moments of Indulgence for Girlfriends" calender on my table, given to me by Eileen:) March 23rd says:

Aventures in Shopping...

3 questions overheard in the dressing room:

3. Should I buy the red one or the pink?

2. Stripes or solids?

1. Do these jeans make me look fat?

To those I answer- red, solids and err let me see.

Btw, I still go shopping alone:)

But anyhow, I just wanted to write about friendships. I've recently come to realise that I've strayed away from alot of my close friends of the past. I mean, it's inevitable since I've moved to Aussie, changed a couple of schools and shifted houses a couple of times.

So I've come to really grasp the importance of being there for my friends now and here. Where I'm at, just in case our friendship dissipates in the future. March 11 on my trusty calender says:

"The secret of a full and happy life is to wake up every morning with the intention of doing as much as we can to nuture the friendships God has given us."

That's why as much as I have to drag myself for functions and gatherings sometimes, I do so knowing that in life, building relationships can never be less rewarding each time, independent of the receiver. If you choose to give to someone, statistics show that you'll end up happier than if you do not.

Although it's hard to forget, but it's the forgiving that seals a past hurt in a friendship. Every time I remember what someone has done wrong to me, I think of twice the number of things the person has done to make me happy. It also helps to think of thrice the number of things you've done wrong to the person haha.

And to end, March 17, one of my favourite writers says:

"I count myself in nothing else so happy as in a soul rememb'ring my good friends."

-William Shakespeare

I dare you to run. I dare you to fly.

2007-03-20T23:01:00.000+11:00

Everyday, they pass me by

I can see it in their eyes

Empty people filled with care, heading who knows where

On they go, through private pain, leading day to day

Laughter hides their silent cries, only Jesus hears

When will we realise, that we must give our lives

For the world needs the Lord.

_____________________________

debo: post ur results!! I replied u on my tag board:)

mich: haha replied you on my tag board too!:) hey i'll be goin to the city on sun morn=( bad timing huh.. =( okay, whiney kuku and i shall forgive ur blurness, in replacement of a date with you!!:)

mel: haha i only rem kuku and i bought hairbands together! haha cos the rest of the girls at casey aren't bimbotic, which is a very good thing anyhow. haha no im sorry, i can't let everyone else see my true colours, they wouldnt want me on the worship team anymore!! haha i cant cos i cant make to church that day, got a camp!!:) mel! hugs:)

kare: hey! haha i havent met you since sec sch days..maybe only once in jc? yeah..seems so long ago. :) but hey! hope you're having a great time too dear!:) God bless lots:) you can e-mail me if you want yeah? anytime:)

cherie: hahaha -bows- thanks! haha hope you enjoyed ur day..and i only just found out about your other half..am i slow or is it your fault? -_- hahaha:) have fun!!!

rawr: hahahaha okay HY COME. yeah, it'll be great to have you!!:) come after end of april at least, then i can drive you around:) i think my term should end mid-end-june:) shopping is good here..is it good in bris? hehehe;)

shuk: oh no..can you all stop holding me ransom, it's annoying!! hahaha. yar, since ure my good fren, i'll tell you!!:) yay! i hope we end up in the same group!! haha let's go pull a few strings haha..and hey! thanks for the email! that someone special is really very special;) will reply in a very short due course haha:)) take your time to pray and don't agree to too many responsibilities yeah? studies also come first, in a way:) -hugs, so proud of you!!:)

2007-03-18T23:36:00.000+11:00

haha, okay Stella, quite true lar..haha.

1. You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

2. In the process of courtship, the approach that would make you feel irresistable is straight-forward, just tell you he/she loves you.

3. The impression you would like to give to your lover is optimistic.

4. You don't like it when your partner is emotional and/or too moody; and you don't know how to please him.

5. The kind of relationship you would like to build with your partner is one that you care not only about the present but also the future with your partner, a long-lasting relationship that you can grow with.

6. You care about the society and morality, you won't do anything wrong after marriage.

7. You think of marriage as a precious thing. Once you get married, you'll treasure it and your partner very much.

8. At this moment, you don't have the thirst for love, you can't do anything for it, you won't fall for it easily.

http://www.naucon.net/misc/tests/love_test01.htm

2007-03-18T22:52:00.000+11:00

*Attn: long post ahead, read Bday shoutouts and tag replies below!!:)

Pink, Blue and the dog named Boo-

Today was declared our random blue day, after much ado about pink the day before..

So here's us with our twin blouse, aka 1/3 of Stella's present from the team!:)

Audrey, Claire and us with Israel! aww..he's really very very cute!:)

Sisters:)

And this one's for Mel..taken on my bday last year:)

2007-03-18T22:35:00.000+11:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!:)

You're 22, serving God and enjoying Melbourne- how awesome is that? :)

*Warning, overload of us ahead;)

I think you think...

This one's funny, cos Wayne's in the middle by accident haha..

A tired housewife with her cheerful babysitter hahaha, but no, that's not the craziest shot..brace yourselves...

...
...

aiyo!! what's this...hahaha. our worship director caught with one of our fav bags!!

haha nah, we had lotsa fun!!!

Us with Caleb and Chloe!! (who have incidentally, some relation to the male model above)

yay reunited with mummy and daddy!!:)

The dudes and dudettes in pink!

Now with the bday girl..:)

And finally, to prove that you should still come visit us at Casey, a sane photo for you:)

2007-03-18T22:12:00.000+11:00

HAPPY 20th CHERIE CHAN!! :)

Thank you sweetie, for being a great friend to me. From the day I knew you as my erhumph, partner in sec2, you've always been the cheerful sensible and loyal friend I know. Maybe one thing I regret for us, is being block-headed and not getting to know you deeper then. haha but hey, we're still friends and we keep in contact, so I'm happy:) haha..from SC to HC, in 2/2 and softball, I still think you're a wonderful leader and an inspiration to many:)

I hope that you'll really enjoy your 20th, and that you'll grow in the Lord in love and truth:) Thank you for putting up with me through the years and for bullying me with Jasin and Poi, I still love you!! :)

*sorry, the pics cant be enlarged, so sad!!:)

2007-03-18T21:38:00.000+11:00

hy: ang ang!:) haha..yeah, if deb goes to ntu, then you guys can see each other more often!!:) okay, you must wear the earrings, take a pic and show me!!:) can you come to aust!!?!?!

rawr: nina!! thanks for your letter!! i loved reading it!:) was so happy when i got it haha..i'll reply you soon okay? been busy with my tests coming up..but im glad you have your 2 besties with you, so you wont be that homesick:) in the meantime, take care okay dear? :) you can come visit melb after sem 1?? :)

mich: hey dear!:) yeah, i read the poem at the time when i was feeling down, so it was a great encouragement from God, that He knows even the little grain of sand noone else does:) hugs you, my dean's list pontang-er;)

mel: melly!! yeah bel bel even knows how to wave and say hi!! fiona showed us a video of her doing that!:) haha we had our PINK party! but i couldnt find the pink balloons in time..so we'll wait for you to come back to have that okay??:) please come back soon, you and juls!!:)

ming: haha cool! you see them most days..it's good you all keep in touch, i feel so far away from everyone haha. but it's okay, im sure you guys are having a great time together!:) all the best when exams come nearer (whenever that is) okay? im sure you can do it:))

kare: haha kare!! havent heard from you since..i dunno..long time ago? hahaha.how are you? what are you doing now? haha tell me your blog add if it's not private or sth okay?? haha update me!!:))

shuk: haha yar i love that poem..haha yeah im starting to get busy until easter comes lar..are you going for ocf easter camp? go leh? im going:) yay okay! cant wait to use my slippers..and pls check for my grey gio jeans!! my precious forgotten thing haha. haha my dad's so cute..he comes home and goes, what's 'uber'? shuk said im 'uber sth'..hahaha. he doesnt wanna reply u here in case it doesnt seem cool hahaha. but he says hi anw:))

tomato: hey hey! how are you? havent heard frm you in a while..haha there're lotsa new faces in OCF, i dont know half of them haha. nahh..i think med's busier haha. im doing immunology, developmental bio and physiology..under the med department mostly, wah no joke arh. haha..but im sure you're doing well!:) yar tessa is real lar of course!! hahaha

lyn: haha im not sure what the flowers are called, i'll take a pic of them before winter comes!!:) haha i'll try to take sharper and brighter pics!!:)) take care lots yeah? :)

addie: haha addie!! email me your blog add okay? i didnt even know you had one=((( but hope everything's fine okay..and i saw some of your friendster pics..you're getting prettier dear!!!:) -grins:)

queen: haha the thing* was a friendster testimonial telling her about your surprise party!! :) haha if you're kuku queen, mich is kaka queen (for obvious laughter problems) and i am drama queen, then what is mel? haha..you guys had a hair band day meh?

yar, we miss you mel..you and juls (who doesnt read my blog =( ) and oh!! haha mel, you know melvin wrote that script and wanted me to play some bimbo private-schooled bratty girl role..he and audrey were like..that's so you!! -_- aiya, if you were here, you could play it better than me lar!! anw, fiona's taking over me, and kuku's the 'poor' girl, and she's gonna sing a song!!:)) woohoo ;)

yar, please meet kuku+kaka.. hahaha:) we miss mich! *chants:)

2007-03-11T00:08:00.000+11:00

Everytime I forget why I'm serving, worship brings me back to my focus. The focus bigger than myself, what we were all born to do.

I just have to be disciplined and stay focus, although it's so easy to be distracted. Going to a bigger church always sends tingles down my spine (haha), because I suddenly see heaven open over the earth. It's actually always open, just that I forget to take time to stand in awe each day.

Can You Handle This One Too, Lord? poem by Debbie Kendrick

Can You handle this one, too, Lord?
It’s not a big problem
that would mess up my life
or anything like that —
it’s just a little thing
that bothers me now and then
like a grain of sand
in my shoe,

and i always figured
it was too small to
bother You with.
But today i noticed that
i’m starting to limp.

Can You handle this one, too, Lord?

2007-03-09T12:23:00.000+11:00

Kristabel and Table Tennis!:)

Bryan Shuqing Me Jie!:)

Blurred pics of me awkwardly carrying Bel bel!:) Gosh she's so small:) @11 days old.

Mummy and Bel!:) Bel has mummy's nose!!:) and very long fingers..

Our BLUE film strip- starring the Casey kids: unkempt, unwashed after unpolished T-T! :)

Mel! : melly welly!!:) hey sweetie!! haha when i put up the pic of us, i was hoping you would see it!!:) i miss those times too..super fun lar=)) come back to visit, we miss you! haha we havent had our pink balloon party yet!! hahaha. hello dots is still a very bad game..hahaha. now fiona's with baby, so cant wait till kristabel grows up so she can play with us!!:) miss youuu:)

queen: yar lar you missed our stayover haha. anw!! you sure you want my phone meh..i think you'll get tired of it lar!! ebay's selling at 389aud -buy it now- leh. but im selling cheaper lar. haha tell me if you still want it..it's has 2 very good uses- 1. you'll always have a mirror on hand, big plus!! 2. if it's for an attention-seeking cause, then go for it hahaha. ;)

mingli: hey!! haha yeah i think they demolished it!! it's the over 15 storey totally blue squarish-looking apartment!! haha. oh hey that's cool! do you meet up with them often? :) majoring in geog..wow..haha hope it's all going well yeah? :)))

deb: hey hey! i hope you get in, if it's God's will!:) but my selfish agenda says that you should come here instead hahaha. i miss you! :) okay lar..scrappy is cuter?!? i think i'll appreciate him more when i go back lar..haha. okay, i'll take a pic of the flowers soon lar!:)

2007-03-03T13:31:00.000+11:00

(*sorry if the photos are dark/blur..no editing was made!:))

Chinese New Year!!:)

My fav kids:) From top: Grace, Gaby, Chloe, Esther and Caleb ..awww:) They danced in red on CNY:)

While everyone was yu-sang-ing hahaha..

Kids these days haha.

And of course!! My new baby!! hahaha. Thanks Stella for the present -hugs, really love it:)

I like it better than my phone...anyone want to buy??

And while I'm at it, a list of my fav things:) Love this colour and the wooden buttons!:)

My mummy handstiched this specially for me in '04:)

My pencil case (I strongly hinted as a present for myself) since secondary sch days..from Poi!! and keyrings frm various people!:)

OCF Leaders camp '07!! The girls...

Another shot of my BF and I..outside my house:) Oh Deb, now that tree has pretty pink flowers!!

At Emalyne's place for CNY dinner with the Ocfers..

That's me swinging the sparkler with a long string in form of number 8. :) Daddy's invention!

Alex and Collette..our nice friends who let us stay for for 3 weeks!! :)

That's Tessa, their lovely poodle/bishon doggie..I've come to love her now!!:)

Tessa, lookie here!!

Our pineapple tarts in the making...with primitive weapons...

Ta DA!! Andrew, Jie and Li!!

ME! :)

2007-03-03T13:11:00.000+11:00

The Mummy and Best Friend visit:)

Mornington Peninsula!!:) Mummy's freezing?!? haha:)

On the rock- :)

Deb after walking 3.4km up the mountain of Oberon!!

Me and her:)

Jie, me and Deb at twelve apostles, where it starting pouring thereafter:)

Super long ago: Fiona, Mel, me and jie!! before Mel left for sg, we played our all time fav game together!!:) I finished that tub of ice cream myself, whilst proclaiming the bad effects of instant noodles to the others haha:)

Jie, mummsy and me!! :) Mornington..

Mummy, so cute! :) with Bugs-

We visited a strawberry farm..and I ate choc ice cream instead haha. yum yum..

2007-02-28T16:23:00.000+11:00

During our leader's camp, Eelin told us to step forward and leave the past behind. Alot of times, it's not God who has to release us from the past, but ourselves.

I've finally crossed the line. I just think it's good to be careful with who you mix with. I've learnt to choose my friends wisely, and stay away from those who will stumble. You know in sc and hc, quality friends are abundant and real, I never had to worry about who I befriend. haha.

ding ding- I'm here at Monash for a purpose, and I'm really quite happy here!! :)

I think it's because this year, I've chosen not to hide in my shell, but to go out of the way to make friends!!:) It's been cool so far. It's great to meet people from so many different countries and walks of life! Justin and I just finished walking around Monash college, randomly talking to the 'kids'..inviting them for OCF haha.

We had Global Friendship night on Monday, where people can just come and chill (and sing out of tune during karaoke, why can't they make an effort? hahaha kidding, they're really funny). Exchanged numbers with 3 people, it's fun. The girls just ask for your number and all:)

Josh, Jenny and I watched Notes on a Scandal yesterday at Glen. It's a really abstract movie! Quite disturbing, in my opinion. haha. Josh reminded me not to talk to strangers anymore, cos that's one of my interesting little hobbies haha. yar, I won't talk to older women I guess, after watching the show. ;)

and Deb! Come soon lar. :)

"He makes all things beautiful, in His time"

!! AND I miss June and Eileen. I hope I see them soon, because when I walk around Monash, there are so many things I wanna tell them. About my day, about the people I met. =*(

2007-02-28T09:27:00.001+11:00

debo: EH tell me the secret too, hurry!:)

hy: i miss huiying too!!! hope uni's alright dear :) -hugs:)

addy, anna, ming! : HEY!! all of you met up and decided to tag my board is it? haha so sweet!! I was really very happy when I saw your tags!!

addy!! how's everything!! haven't heard from you for a while. hey, i miss you too! our stayovers at each other's place, talking about the future, running ard in pjs haha. if i visit sg, i'll def call you guys out!! you must take care okay..how's your bro and sis? haha. have you grown taller? are you taller than anna now? hehehe:) i miss you!!:)))

anna! you bad girl, never reply my email..i also can't rem what you wrote i think. i dont care, just reply and talk about yourself haha. and HAPPY BELATED! your bday was 22/2/07 right?? I rem the many 2s..I was thinking of you on that day! but sorry i couldnt email you or sth, cos i couldnt get internet then. did you enjoy yourself!? oh no, youre 20!!! dot dot dot! anna, you're old hahahaha. :) better get married soon okay? and invite ME. :) winks* !

hey ming!! hahaha yar she's from tung ling!! haha i didnt know you were there as well!! not sure if i went there, dont think so! it's in the east right, who knows, maybe we were neighbours as well. haha i lived at amber gardens, do you know where that is? :) how's everything for you? what course are you doing arh? haha. im sure you're doing well!!:)

All of you must meet up regularly okay? :) Keep in touch dears and I do miss all of you. :)

BTW, next time use email leh, everyone can see what i'm writing..but then again, my email replying skills are zilch..blah blah haha. ;)

2007-02-26T14:37:00.000+11:00

jie: haha dad always says WHAT!?! nvm haha. okay love everybuddy :) me want doggie:)

mimi: long time no tag mum!! love youuuu! :) hugs.

lyn: haha aww. group hugs:) haha today's my first day at uni!!:) no more slacking already. :) okay, i shall practise baking more often haha:)

mich: ello ello, hope you're feeling better haha. i shall see you next 1045 okay? :) nice new apartment leh! and yeah, jim/sweet are lovely haha. :) hugs--

___________________

eek the weather's so hot. I'm wearing this long sleeve top now, should've checked the weather before stepping out.

anw! we're back to our house now, after 3 weeks at the Chang's with tessa the dog. :)

first day of uni, pretty good..made a few friends and met up with some old ones:) This sem's gonna be pretty busy, structured studying and fun. Every single day's gotta be planned ahead. haha.

So yeah, won't be posting too often. Gotta read Crimes Act later and my Physiology & Immunology notes. haha, one thing. I attended the Phy and Imm lects, and my heart is beating again!! Away from the general boring science, finally!:)

Going for global friendship night tonight. Chilling out with freshies I think. should be good fun:)

taa and take care everyone:)

2007-02-21T15:29:00.000+11:00

I've asked Ms Stella ShuQing to help me buy this:

or this 0.6L one:

Aren't the plain ones nicer? :) -crosses fingers:)

I still miss the one I had for a few weeks in J1..haha. Felt so bad losing it in the audi cos it was one of the nicest pressies ever! :)

2007-02-19T14:12:00.001+11:00

hello everyone! are you all having a great CNY? :)

sorry i havent been updating, have been staying at my fren's place for a while, so not very nice to use their limited internet access:)

so ive been happily reading books- mysteries in africa, learning more about their culture. 5 books in all. plus many dvds. minority report's (forgive me, im slow) pretty good haha. and enemy of the state. and of course, john grisham's pelican brief is as predictable as sea colour.

anyway, for vday, i met tong shuk in!! :) my date:) at chili pada, where i also met jess koh!:) anw, so we caught up and man, we have moved on (in reference to ex-classmates) etc. which i think is good, albeit too fast;) oh well, we're not young anymore i suppose.

after which, jie and i went to huili's house to bake pineapple tarts with andrew. and alot of boy-hungry-taggers. so yeah, that was fun! haha. it turned out pretty okay, i must say, for a first timer.

for cny, we went to the distant cousin's place (hey deb!!) as usual. played poker (much inspiration after winning all at hauwei's place) and sparklers!! :)

shuk in and nicholas lim frm megalife came to 1045 yest! so happy..MICH YOU HAVE CITY FRENS!! they're coming next week but jie and i cant make it, so mich, you must orientate them! dad's fetching them from blackburn/glen station, so you can get a lift too if you need okay? :) im glad they liked it. :)

church yest was good! although kian wei suddenly backed out due to fiona's contractions haha. but no, the birth was not yest. still waiting..and waiting..:) but it was nice talking to the newbies too. i talked to 3 ppl in all, and 2 of them teared while sharing parts of their lives with me. it's either the cny blues overseas, or just talking to a nice and warm stranger hehe;) but adding value to others, was what pak ken inspired us to do this cny.

okay, you must be bored now, so i'll post pics whenever i can. seems to be my fav phrase huh! i missed the premier of ugly betty cos i was at church. oh well. sch's starting soon, so i'll have no time for teevee.

eh im at the law lib waiting for some pp, why are they late? -_-

new resolution of the semester: i will do well in crim law:)

taaaa:)

2007-02-06T23:46:00.000+11:00

Pictures of us when we were young, enjoy!:)

The four of us, together forever:)

I love my jie jie!:)

Jie and I! :)

Jie and I, in Kindy:)

I graduated from Kindy! :)

haha, I cried cos I was scared of the moving sand=(

I love my smelly bolster, quit bothering me!! :)

me, jie, kiat peng and cze kin- chinese new year, a yearly ritual at the Lau's:)

Aunt Lyn!! me, jie mummy and aunty Nelsie, our helper of 10 years:)

jie mummy aunt lyn and i! :)

My third birthday:)

Will post more next time, those pics really bring back fond memories:) I think blogger has a limit to the number of pics! :)

2007-02-05T22:45:00.000+11:00

shuk: shukie shuk shuk, read your tag and I reeeaaallly want that red sigg bottie:) hehe. love and I'm sure 2007 melbourne will be much better:)

hy: thanks sweetie:) big hugs. you must meet deb soon lah, so disappointed in you both. btw, do you have ear holes? haha.

lyn: haha thanks! I think that's true. Just love who you are at whatever stage you're at:) thanks for all the advice, it's nice having an aunt around!! ;) love-- :)

debo: haha true true. huh! that's scarier haha. oh well, I must call/e-mail you or something..then can share more privately. I miss you! :) okay, those are georgous shoes. You should market them to converse/nike. I'm serious. haha.

chan: !?!? cherie right? haha. you're the only one who uses 'pal'. and unfortunately the only one who still thinks I'm childish, right right? hahaha. okay okay, I'll just be myself haha. :) love you too (if you're cherie). :)

____________________

I'm at one of my daddy's fren's place in Mulgrave..cut the long story short, my sis and I are here for 2 weeks. I've been fighting the battle with their hyper yet I must add, rather adorable half-poodle, with battle scars to show for. haha fine, you know I'm not that into little puppies.

Anyway, Fiona's baby shower's (Deb, finally!) this wednesday, so sis and I are staying over tomorrow night. Doc says baby may come out any time now, so I do hope I'll be there for the action, somehow. haha. I think I might just panic and call 995, which obviously doesn't work here. haha, can't wait though. I might just adopt her as my god-neice or something. haha.

Whatever the case is, I think I'll be taking some advice to sit and pray before I make more decisions. This will lead to better direction and purpose, so that I don't lose focus or energy along the way. :)

Last night, I dreamt I was in Singapore taking the bus home. Trusty ole' good buses. :)

SHOUTOUT: Check out DEB's blog with pictures of her designer shoes. $30 bucks for the design, terms and conditions apply. :)

2007-02-02T22:39:00.000+11:00

Alot of times I don't pray nor analyse fully, the responsibilities that come with roles. Someone said burnout happens not when you're tired, but because you don't feel appreciated. Then the focus seems a little out of place, if that's the case.

Sometimes I wonder how I'm ever going to grow up.

2007 seems like it's coming too fast, too soon.

2007-01-29T09:57:00.000+11:00

mich: haha really? okay, tell me more when you get back. how's everything? big news, daigor is attached!! 2 weeks ago, and Yulie just spilled the beans to basically the whole of Casey yest. haha it's to Vicky, you know her? haha. and heard tt a certain M who drives the flashy two seaters is quite sad about it..haha. get it, get it? :) anw, RMIT doesnt have my course lar!! haha..it's okay, I'll be taking my P's soon (hopefully march, I'll book it this week, L's have become boring alr) , so we can steal daddy's car and run together okay? :)

nat: natty!! really? that's really sweet..hope it has encouraged you in some way;) and i know i owe you mail, wait for me okay! hahaha. love you lil' sis:)

lyn: haha really! that's great:) dad and I called home on Charmian's birthday but she was out the whole day! so I've yet to speak to her haha..hope you're enjoying yourself! :)

shuk and jasin: haha you know what! they called to ask me to do the ushering, then I told them I had another job so couldn't make it..but in the end, my other job was only a few hours on one day!! -_- so sad huh. anw, did you guys watch the men's finals last night!! I think it was really cool! haha..so sad for Roddick..anw, how are you both? shuk, when are you comin back? jasin, havent heard from you for so long, how's everything? :)

jia: fcy! you bad girl, I thought you got kidnapped or sth hehehe. no im not going alr=( haaaii. haha well, if you call, I'll know it's you saying hello to no one hahaha. okay, I'll call soon hahaha. i miss you lar=)

debo: haha thanks for your sms, i thought it was moley, not molly? is your sylvester cleaner than mine? haha. yar, finally updated. oh i went shopping for a while yest, bought a $30 dress! it's nice, printed flower pattern. I think i should stop buying flowery stuff, but I think you'll like it too. it's a tube dress with straight cut, just above the knee.. and i went back to Diva to get some cheap jewellery:) did you happen to get the blue/green dove/bird earrings? cant rem, cos they had a matching pair in a diff colour, so I thought of you when i saw that haha..

______________________

Dad and I went to Jell's Park for the Australia Day bbq organised by our church..not many of my friends were there, so decided to leave for kayaking down the Yarra. Haven't done that in a long time with Daddy. I still remember we canoed in Bintan when the yellow flag went up and my dad said it was okay because it wasn't the red flag yet. haha, I was still in primary school then. So I guess when you grow up with such a dad, nothing much gives you exhilaration other than skydiving or sth.

Anw, I was thinking of Huiying when kayaking, cos she always talks about her K1 or K2..haha. We kayaked till the bats sanctuary, where there were easily over a thousand bats hanging from the trees in broad daylight. That was cool:)

Had dinner that day with some of the ocfers, jon daniel david chen hua and jeremy. watched saving private ryan, which was quite okay. :)

Met up with Arie and Angela on Sat!! finally. The 2 med students were talking about corpses over lunch, I was just busily eating my laksa. haha. It was fun catching up with them. Angela and I shopped while Arie went to get computer games. Then Yan Zhi and Arie's sis Diana joined us for dinner..brought them to eat Greek. Fun lar! :)

2007-01-23T13:19:00.000+11:00

HAPPY 21st JIE JIE

I LOVE YOU LOTS!

I MISS YOU LOTS!

You're the best sister I have! :) heehee.

NAH, I'm glad I have you cos you're fun! :)

Enjoy your hols okay and come back soon! LOVE LOVE- :)

xoxo sugarbunny

2007-01-23T13:03:00.000+11:00

fellow char: haha hello! I like your post:) hehe..do take care okay and big hugs!! :)) I still have the friendship bands you made me last time (bet you've forgotten) there's a pink one! :)

poi: haha how was london!! aiya, I wanna visit you! super cold lar, how you tahan haha. did you go to paris too? anw, okay I shall write you an email..err..whenever I feel like okay hahaha. loveee! :)

mich: keep quiet!! hahaha..aiya, not say I didn't wanna go to melb uni right..they don't want me what. haha, but yeah, I'm not regretting anymore haha. YAR LOR. Deb, come to RMIT hahaha. I brought her to see the building (strange designs) and she loved it!! :) You ask Quack to come to Swinburne or sth first lar!! heehee. So I can finally have a proper conversation with him when he's not sleepy haha.

mel: MEL!!! how are you dear? haha have you been going to Riverlife? have you met my sis? haha we miss you here!! =( take care okay, enjoy the hols and visit melb soon=))) hugs. :)

alicia: hey dear!! how are your hols? hahaha I owe you mail right. hehehe. but anw, you enjoy the rest of your hols too okay, you deserve a good break!! :)

_______________________

Heehee yesterday with the kids was fun. haha, and Pak Ken keeps telling Claire to speak proper English. Maybe she mixes too much with me hahaha. Anw, popped over to Sera and Gabby's place to eat their mummy's Mee Siam and Drumstick ice cream. Watched the Pacifer with them too haha. The both of them remind me of my sis and I. Sera's sensible and mature, Gabby's playful and loves to design clothes and do make-up for Claire haha. Interesting:)

Anw, Fiona and I should be pontang-ing our Casey bbq for Kelv and the Men's Health gang at Laksa King this friday. Miss hanging out with them haha. :)

Okay, shall upload some pics soon or something -- :)

2007-01-21T20:42:00.000+11:00

I'm talking to Charm from Riverlife now, and I miss her!

I remember her holding both my hands and praying before I went up to dance, I think twice over. I really appreciated that, because I just felt that someone believed in me and that it's nice to have people support you in your passion.

All the kids from our church are coming to Pak Ken's house (where I will be staying for 3 nights running) to learn 'This is how we overcome'. How cool is that. Still remember the steps after 6 years haha.

It's a joy for me to see kids dancing for God. Dancing at 12 years of age encouraged and built up the servanthood in me. My first step to ministry. What other better way is there than to serve God using your entire being? It's a joy, really.

I think some things are getting hard here. Challenges, new arena. Out of the comfort zone. But there are many things to come which are going to be harder.

Talking to Nik online now. Gosh, I miss her. :)

And I've just realised something, it's hard for me to stay at the same place (or any organisation) for too long. -_-

I did try something new today, something I never thought possible. In the end, the people who came up and said it was good, don't matter. It's what You think, and it always will be.

2007-01-19T14:55:00.000+11:00

nat: haha I didn't want to tell you who I was, but you guessed right:) please take care too dear, can't believe you're growing up so fast hahaha. :) love:)

lyn: aunt lyn! :) well at least you guys got a break! sometimes nice and quiet's better, so you can recharge and relax:) haha that's great you're travelling around! it must be good huh, having so many options to choose from in Europe and all. Melbourne's getting a bit too boring already haha, running out of places that impress. All the same, have fun okay and take care!! :)

mich: haha please meet up with whineywayne and stellathestar soon! haha but owell, we'll have amichnother 6 months of all of us soon anw. yeah i hope she (that's you deb, say hi to my friend mich here) comes to melb too! she was thinking of rmit, so see how that goes:) eh you know, she came here and spoiled market. after she left, my dad was like, you must learn to be more like deb, whine and complain less. -_- bad bad bestie. haha.

poi: haha happy new year!! hahaha where are you now? canada? are you going to visit any place new? drop an email okay, i think you owe me..err i think. :) are you back in sg? :) enjoy urself okay!! :)

shuk: haha hello -kicks you- haha. yeah im still alive, kicking but a tad bored. hahaha, going to an ocf meeting tonight, there's still over 20 pp left behind! hehehe. oh well, are you having fun in sg? coming back to melb isn't all that bad okay dear? i know transition can be hard, and is hard all the time, but that's where you learn and grow. big hugs for my big girl:)

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-takes broom from mich and sweeps cobwebs* :)

Sorry I haven't been updating this summer hols. Mum came for a month, which was fantastic:) Miss her already. At least Jie's with her now. :)

Then Deb the bestie came for 2 weeks, and I miss her now too. haha. She keeps me sane, that's what I always say. I think it's God's divine appointment how we're best friends, and still are after -counts- end of Sec1, which is about 6 years and counting now. We'd never have met outside church or dance ministry. I know people drift apart and sometimes we haven't always been there. But this holiday really polished the rough edges due to the inevitable lack of communication ever since I came here.

I learnt alot of things from her and with her around. Ever since living alone for one year, it has been hard adapting back to living with fellow beings, other than spiders and their silky threads. I learnt to slow down (except that she walks reaaaally fast and claims it's normal) when it comes to people. Accepting people the way they are and learning to adapt to suit their needs. It's so easy to hide in my shell and try to be oblivious of my surroundings.

Yeah, and we spent a couple of nights talking. Talking about our families, talking about our future, talking about ourselves. Not so much about the past, although I did give her a few items to run away with. 19 going on 20, what a beautiful age. It was great spending time alone with her, sharing what we thought about this and that. I miss that. I miss having a best friend here. I mean sure, I've met fantastic people, but there aren't many whom I can do 5 minute tell-all talk shows with.

Which brings me to the point where I feel sometimes, I'm trying too hard. Trying too hard to be independent and strong by myself.

"I will give you a new heart" says the Lord. A heart that is full of His compassion, a heart that loves her neighbour as herself, and above all, a heart that loves God more than life itself.

It's amazing how God changes hearts. From brokenness to bringing out the champions in you. Recently, I took out an audio cd from the women's conference in Citylife 2006. Listening to Deborah Cobrae and Marilyn Skinner reminded me of what I am here on earth to do. To make a difference. Not just to live up to the challenge, but to be challenged to live.

Protect your godly dream and what God has put on your heart. Go for it:)

2007-01-04T15:20:00.000+11:00

mich: COME HERE lar. and yeah you know the Casey camp was awesome!God really broke through for us, and we prayed for the 1045 team- wes jim sweet kelv kenli and yulie etc..im sure they were greatly blessed too:) praise God. come back soon, so many babies coming soon! yeah! i think 07 will be a great and awesome year:)

jasin: haha thanks dear. merry christmas too! what did you do for christmas? haha i went to a few parties here and there haha..had lotsa fun! :) take care dear:)

shuk: yeah i wont..maybe end of 07? see how it goes haha..are you having fun in sg? ive been visiting random places here and it's really hot today..okay lar, 36C haha hot enough to complain right haha.:) loveee

lyn: hi aunt lyn!!! how are you? great to hear from you haha. yeah, we had a great christmas with mum here..went around visiting old friends and all..im sure you guys had fun too!:) would love to visit london some day, maybe not for studies but for the holidays:) God bless the both of you lots!! :)

rawr: haha merry christmas too dear. hope everything's going smoothly yeah:) hope all's settled too:) update okay!

yannn: HELLO haha..happy new year dearie..did you have fun or countdown somewhere? hahaha:)

tomato: hey thanks lots! how's msia? is it nice being home? haha have a great 07 too..im sure God will bless you greatly when you continue to trust in Him:)

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haha it's been a great 2006. praise God, for He's always there.

I learnt alot in 2006. I learnt how to be more dependent on God, to put Him first in my life and to serve Him with the little talents He has given me. Personally, that's a big breakthrough for me. It's been something I've really wanted to see come through since I was 13.

Looking back, God's been training me for now, for today. Perhaps I haven't figured why some things did happen, but that's not important anymore. I'm not fighting against the flow as I used to, I'm not disgruntled with where I am today, and I'm not hurting those around me. I think that's enough reason to be contented with this stage of my life.

It's the stage where I'm yearning for more, asking for more and dreaming for more. But as I search for more, I have to be contented with less. Then as plans come through, I will learn that God was the one who opened the doors to grant me the desires of my heart.

Sincerely, madly, truly. Sometimes I want so much, it's hard to give up. And I won't give up, but press on to the future I do not know of. I'm glad I've met a couple of like-minded godly brothers and sisters along the way. In their own ways, I've been inspired by just listening to their hearts. Their hearts on fire.

2007 seems like a busy year. I don't want to let busyness be a reason for distancing myself from the people who should matter more to me. Or be the reason I sometimes get back into my shell and crawl away. Or hide in my own little virtual world alone. It's easy to do that, but I won't. People have been sowing much into my life, so I would love to do the same for others:)

It's time to rise up and live :)

2006-12-20T11:18:00.000+11:00

nina: okay okay!! we can go visit sydney together or sth!! i think it may still be early bird for the hillsongs conference!! mian will be going too:) haha im glad ure excited, you should be! brisbane is great!! so near to gold coast too hahaha..:) take care dear and have a great christmas okay!:)

yan: aiya, you think i very free is it..haha. okay you shall get mail nearer to christmas okay! planning to reply all my mails then hahaha..what have you been doing? hanging out with frens, lazing around? haha..

deb: hahaha how come you got burnt? is bangkok very hot? go there also never tell me, so terrible. anw, gosh i cant believe ure coming so soon. pack alr or not? ive to give you a list of things to bring. anw, good that ure coming, we're moving to a new place about that time, so you can help us move hehe. and help me clear my very messy room. hehe. yay, what are best frens for? :)

cherie: haha i bully alot of people, just that i get bullied by you!! haha..it's like this bullying-web haha..what have you been doing? have a great time this christmas okay dear? :)

queen: ehhh come back soon okay. you mich and wayne. i also no time to email, but gimme a short one soon okay? how's work dear? :) gaaah..i never knew it was so tiring working!! we're having a christmas service this sun and im going to sing solo -_- and mel's parents are here..and we're not bringing drums to camp haha..-_- loveeeee
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yay i cant wait to move out of my horrid room, horrid only cos im extremely messy. haha i havent even unpacked the stuff from my house last year. apparently, i dont need much of those stuff then. haha the other day, Pak Ken came unannounced into our room and took a pic with his phone, shaking his head at the same time haha. whatever!!

oh well, we'll still be renting next year, but at least it'll be a proper house with no strangers. i guess for me, it's not easy living with people other than family or really close frens. it's just, terrible. haha. oh well, new experiences every time. :)

sorry i havent been updating, been busy almost everyday with work and bringing mummy out. we went to Brighton beach as a family the other day, nice suburb! love the houses there. i guess im still not bored with melbourne or victoria cos there're so many things to do and see, we can go to different places every weekend. went to Mt Dandenong again for lunch/picnic. i drove up there! not bad eh..quite a windy road up the mountain. not sure how high it was, but should be okay lar.

anw, christmas is coming. plans to just visit our extended family and some close frens then. going for a christmas party organised by my receptionist job workplace today. it's at the nice Langham hotel haha. i guess it's my type of party kinda thing haha. oh well, we all have different tastes. dinner on my boss. she's nice.

so far, the jobs have been fun and nice. i think waitressing is so much more fun at Hog's Breath, cos we get to communicate with the customers and just talk to them before getting their orders haha. we all have a nickname, so mine's 'Smiley'. hahaha. my boss gave it to me. shucks, i wanted Flounder or sth hahahaha. another girl got Minnie, so unfair haha. okay so then the customers keep calling me Smiley and smile when they say my name haha. there was this guy who went like "hey can you smile?" and i thought i did something wrong or sth, then he was like "you have a beautiful smile" hahaha. so funny. he was with his gf anyway. but these people just make your day. :)

i suppose the fun bit is also that my sis and are the only true asians there. only about 1 more abc, the rest all aussies. so it's just nice working with them, getting to know them. at least you feel part of this country. yeah..

anw last friday, sis and i had dinner with my 2 favourite people, June and Eileen:) june just left for sg, she's going to work there for good now. hey thanks dear for the pen/pencil, i hope you like my gift too! better use it okay:) and Eileen went back to kuching via a very long route haha. so the both of them wont be back in ocf next year, Eileen's moving on to citylife. thanks for the pressie and keychain dear!! i guess church ministry is really different, i do enjoy it. but i'll miss the both of them alot, working life is really different i guess. we move on to the different stages of our lives. i love you both!! :)

i'll be leading a DG (discovery group) next year in ocf..means it consists of pre-believers. im not sure what to expect, it'll be much different i guess. but it's really interesting cos that day when Jon called me to ask me to confirm whether i was leading the dg, my pastor prayed for me and he saw me leading a small group of young people next year, taking up more leadership roles. so it was like, okay, this is what God wants me to do even though i dont think cell leading is really what i want to do. yeah..but this year, ive realised how impt a cell group is, being close to my cell group leaders. they've really made a difference in my life and have encouraged and inspired me lots. so i wanna do the same for my group next year:) weeee.

haha i went to help my bosses' (another boss, different from the 2 above) wife clear her very dusty just renovated house. gosh i thought i was messy. haha nah, it was just because her children dont stay with her anymore, so their rooms are like some store rooms. anw, so she was telling me about the places she's lived in, mostly interstate in aust. and about the different stages of her life.

i thought it was rather interesting, the stages of our lives. like now, im ready to move on, ready to put in more effort into ministry, ready to take on different things. other people are ready to get into the workplace, to get married. haha like how June and i were preparing for the ocf thanksgiving, and she wanted to look cute!?! (yes lar, very cute haha) and i told her im trying not to look plain sweet anymore. haha. you know, the different stages. hahaha.

i think it's rather interesting, like how my bosses' children are in the different parts of the world, london, paris, nsw etc. maybe i wanna do that next time, try living at least about 6 months in a different country. i think it really widens your view on life and people. :) im glad i came to monash as well, cos we have campuses in london, south africa, msia etc. so we can do exchanges while paying the same school fees, plus get travel allowance. haha, that'll be fun in the later years of my degree. :)

okay everyone, have a good christmas. and to those in singapore, i really miss you guys a whole lot. i wont be coming back this year or even early 07, so have a great christmas, new year and countdown, and chinese new year! loves-

2006-12-10T21:46:00.000+11:00

Today was a different day at church. After hitting a brick wall with dwindling numbers, our Pastor delivered an honest speech on how we shouldn't be doing things on auto-pilot. I suppose everything and everyone is intertwined. Spiritual growth with worship and cell groups, fellowship with relationships and ties. Anyhow, it was a good service because God was there and is here. :)

Hark the herald angels sing!!

I love Christmas. I guess it's a time of catching up, loving hard and renewing old ties while forging new ones. And also, because it's a special birthday too:)

It doesn't matter how everything works out anymore, because I'm still at the beginning of my journey with You. I'm still finding my way and learning new things each day. Young and unafraid, it's been a fantastic 2006.

So it really doesn't matter if we don't meet, and it really doesn't matter if we don't sleep...
cos we are so young now, we are so young so young now.

So many years, so little time, there's nothing more that I could do right to change the wrong.

Goodbye-

2006-12-08T09:52:00.000+11:00

200th Post

hello! it's my 200th Post on this blog, ever since diary-x bailed out on me! hahaha I hope you've enjoyed reading it and thanks for everything!! :)

haha that was to noone in particular. hahaha oh well, hey! I've been busy the past few days working. God has been faithful and providing me with good jobs to do. Now I've got 3 jobs haha. Small ones lar, so that's okay:) The latest addition is the waitressing at Hog's Breath, which I'm also bringing jie along:)

Okay, mummy's here, so we've been playing games everyday. She brought Boggle and Rummikub haha..and Uno and our old Memory game. It's been fun, I love playing 'board' games which really need concentration and intelligence. ;)

queen: eh dear! how's internship? alright? are they bullying you? haha do you meet wayne and mich often? :) update ur blog lar!! yar, we did have fun, so you must come back soon okay!! haha:)

debo: haha okay..i may be working for a couple of days..so you must think of what you wanna do okay then we can plan. and where got photos? hahaha

rawr: ninaaaa!! coming so fast? haha i tagged you! i'll be going sydney for hillsongs conference next june/july..so maybe can pop by then? haha see how it goes okay? i dont think i can this summer..wait till you settle down first also okay? :) are you excited? :)

shuk: eh i thought china got alot of cheap things to buy? haha..but im sure you enjoyed urself dear!! hot and dusty is the worst lar!! haha..take care okaaayy and enjoy sg too..:)
okay gtg play more games! ta!

2006-12-04T11:25:00.000+11:00

Jasin: haiya must be you lar..what have you been teaching them huh haha. how's everything? reports/exams went okay? :) hahaha..i really tried to be a nice senior:)

Jia: haha! eh then read already dont need to tell me is it haha. how were exams? ive got stuff to tell you! for you to pray for me hahaha. and i havent opened the song you sent me:) love!

Cherie: haha you love me or you love that mich fang yan yan? hahaha. cheriecherie, how are you? :)

EHHH: haha eh dont think we dunno who you are haha. haha are you supposed to play a match with cherie? haha dont worry im sure you'll win hehehe..jkjk. enjoy post-A's okay? you deserve it! can't believe time flies so fast.haha..

Hy: Char misses you lots too. really:) Stop rambling about your tv shows lar..go do something else more productive okay! that's an order!!

Shuk: haha shuk! how's china shopping? you still going bangkok or sth with the 3 couples thing? haha. how's sg? hot or not haha. it's getting a bit hot here=(((
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Hello! I'm sick=( hahaha. a bit of slight fever and my throat hurts. haha. But I still ate my 1L of gelati yesterday night. haha

Oh you know, I'm at Fiona (Sia's) house now..Jie, Melissa and I stayed over after church. We went to pick up Uno and Monopoly at Pak Ken's house haha..I think they were quite amused. My 2 fav games in the whole world!! :) hehe. so fun..We played till 4plus am..the first time I laughed soooo hard this whole year haha. Laughed until diagphram (*sp?) pain.

After a while, we all started speaking in Indian accents haha. super funny. That Fiona arh, so rich but dont wanna bargain her property with me haha. I think out of the 4 of us, I'm the only one who took risks lar haha. Oh well. It was fun:)

Haha. Fiona kept losing at Uno, while Mel and I kept winning haha. Of course, I'm Uno queen, I can even beat Edwin chng with one hand while playing Risk at the same time okay! haha. That's some skill man haha.

Then we played some "Hello Harry" game..you've to put spots (of my moisturiser) on yourself each time you say the wrong phrase. haha I ended up with 5 spots, obviously losing haha.

Yeah so I only had 5 hours plus of sleep..can't sleep anymore..the pillow so hard=( hahaha. the rest are still in lalaland. oh well! Mummy's coming in..14 hours! :) yay. Can't wait:)

Oh I went for Sau's graduation on Sat..haha. eh some of the melb uni meddies are rather cute haha. But yeah..he's going back to sg to work..we all had good times. :)

Okay..actually I took a few pics..so maybe I'll post them next post.

Oh yes! I got a job at the childcare agency thing..praise God! it's just admin stuff cos I'm a receptionist..no children involved! hehehe. less tiring without them I suppose...but HY! I miss that boy at the children's church! is it Samuel? haha.

Oh and for those of you who know Kian Wei and Fiona, Fiona's actually 7 months pregnant, baby's due end of Feb. haha she just showed me the baby's clothes and all..so cute! I'll be learning to change diapers with her haha. I can't wait..her name's Kristabel Sia Wan Yu. :) Sounds like some Sg actress' chinese name perhaps? haha.

okay taaa!

2006-11-29T20:59:00.000+11:00

I recently obtained insider information on a msn conversation between my SC badminton junior Michelle Fang and my beloved Cherie Chan.

michelle :hahaa she's the best bmt senior ever man
cherie:the best!??!?!
cherie:HOW CAN SHE BE THE BEST?!?!?!?!??!
michelle:hahaha really reallyy no one as childish as her ahhahaha
cherie:dun tell her that.....
cherie:she...will jus be come so EGO
cherie: then right
michelle:super fun to be with la that girl
cherie:her head cannot fit into the doooor le
cherie:so to tc of her OH SO VAIN SELF
cherie:must protect her ok? haha
michelle:LOL LOL
michelle:oh yessss that reminds me she's so so vain arhahahahha
michelle:super funny!

CHERIE CHAN!! Don't think I dunno what's going on behind my back! I've got faithful supporters lurking around okay!! hahahaha.

and MICH FANG YAN YAN! haha you're super fun to be with too! and I am NOT whiny or vain anymore...hehe. I've accepted I'm good-looking and EGO enough...HEHEHE :)
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I just went out with Shin Han, Lai Keong and Yan Zhi. haha. super funny lar, just kept laughing and laughing at their..err jokes and antics haha. no pictures, but I enjoyed myself lots all the same. Felt like a big sister bringing 3 little acsi boys around. (All 3 are about 1 year younger than me) haha. Since Yan Zhi's working at toys-r-us, we hung around there..and I saw this reeeeaaallly cute bear!! so cute. it reminds me of my own teddy at home I had when I was young. also can wind up and play a song. If I get a job, I think I'll buy that for Ken Li and Yulie's baby girl:)

Anw, we had Koko Black yumyum (this really nice chocolate place..best drinks I've had, makes Starbucks taste like water) and then I brought them to Tien Dat, vietnamese food at Boxhill. haha. Had fun!
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Just got my Sem2 results...whew I passed law by God's grace. yeah, and the rest were okay lar, didn't expect much. I'm going to do a combined major in Human Pathology and Immunology, minor as Pharmacology since Chemistry seems to be my best subject now haha. I think I'm very greedy, everything also want combined/double haha. But I'm pumped up to study hard for the next sem. :)
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Going to work as a receptionist at a childcare agency, just going for the trial tomorrow then they'll see how it goes:) Went for an interview at Hog's Breath too!! It's for waitressing hehe. So glad they didn't ask me to go cut a carrot or something. I cut stuff really slowly and unevenly hahaha. So I went for 2 job interviews today! So tiring, but praise God for opening the doors. If it's His will:)

Okay bye, I need to shower!:)

2006-11-28T00:29:00.000+11:00

The big field near our house, twice this size.

Reminiscing the kite-flying days at Marina.

Alas it couldn't get up. And I single-handedly tangled the string into knots.

...

It suddenly dawned upon me that I am very blessed. Thank You Lord.

"Give us today, our daily bread"

Phrases from Pak Ken's sermon worth pondering on,

"It's not the duration of our life, it's the donation"
"This world is not my own, I'm just passing by"
"Life is a span of time, noone is wealthy enough to waste"
"Your life is what it is now, you can't change the past and the future is a mystery"
"Live as though today is the last day of your life"
"Joseph was a dreamer, but most imptly, he intepretated the King's dream"

Therefore, always give fully to the work of the Lord, your labour will not be in vain.

Suddenly the things of this world, the things of my heart, grow strangely dim, in the light of Your glory and grace.

I think I have finally come to grips with where I am now, today.

So, as I let go of the string, bit by bit, the beautiful kite will soar higher and higher into the big blue sky.

2006-11-26T23:28:00.000+11:00

To My Best Friend

Thank you for being you,
Being the silly girl with a hyena laughter,
Being obsessed with Korean serials,
Taking care of me while I stayed over at your place,
Treating me as part of your family,
Knowing that I like Scrappy only because I like you,
Telling each other a few secrets over msn,
Being there for me each and every step of the way//

I remember that night when we were downstairs of your house, and I was in some deep trouble. You stayed with me while I frantically smsed. You knew I was being silly and indecisive, never listening to your advice, but you still stood by me.

I remember the day we were at the back of church and I told you I was going to leave for Australia. You never really said you were sad, neither did I, but I knew I was going to miss you badly.

I remember when I came back, you treated me to fish head curry (or we spilt the bill), and I felt like I was right at home with you. I remember going to wildwildwet on your birthday. I had heaps of fun just being myself with you. Kicking water at each other's faces, trying to pull the other down from that big float, screaming loudly on that raft/slide.

I remember how we were rebellious at one of our infamous camps. How we threw tantrums and cried together. haha. Now, I look back and laugh. :) How I told you that we can't be best friends anymore. How I sometimes took you forgranted. How we went through different stages of our lives, sometimes so far away from each other.

I remember our 16th birthday party haha. How we both didn't care about our dressing, but just wanted to have fun. I know we had some troubles then, but we pulled through:) And the sleepover at my place, you dragging me for swimming. The walk to pasir ris park from your house. These are times I really treasure.

Thank you for letting me be the shoulder you can cry on. For letting me into your life. Thank you for accepting me the way I am. Never judging me, but always laughing it off. How about that time I was so scared of your horrid face-cup and screamed/laughed till I fell onto your dustbin? haha. Or how we met into some scary people who tried to tear our bestfriendhood apart? (erhumph) hehe.

Thank you for being there when I faced troubles. Thank you because I know I can count on you to save me from my silly mistakes. Thank you for forgiving when I sometimes neglect you.

We grew up together from pri6 onwards till now. Counting from sec 1, that's 7 years thereabout, probably 6plus years of bestfriendhood. From dance to funtasia to cell group leading to our joint sweet 16th Birthday to jc to australia to now. And we're still here:)

Deb Chen Jia Hui, you've been an almost constant in my life. Happy 19th Birthday my dear girl. I hope that you'll cont to grow in the Lord, serve Him with all your heart and never give up on yourself. I believe in you. I'm always proud of you, because you're a talented girl with your family behind you, you know? :)

See? Now, I can't get rid of you because I promised that you're to design my wedding dress and house right? :) And you'll always be a week younger than me!

I love you:) Here's to our bestfriendhood. Cheers!!- :)

2006-11-24T21:30:00.000+11:00

Mich: yar, you know I really wish I was there too=( And wish I was with you too=( haha oh well, enjoy yourself okay dear? Eat alot please, don't you dare not put on weight!! Glad you liked the card!! And the wobbly handwriting haha. Okay will send pics when I see you online!!

Poi!! and Cherie: Since the both of you are mis-using my tagboard (because you're obviously supposed to be talking to me and not to each other), I shall reply the both of you together haha. OEI how can like that. You're both just lazy, go write e-mail to each other lar! haha. Anyway, I miss the both of you!! (I wonder why) Still remember Sakai Sushi, and our wishes at Taka fountain? Which I made the both of you do, I think!! yeah. I miss telling the both of you my err. secrets hehe, getting advice which I don't really heed, and just being honest with you both. teehee. And oh, you got see me cry before meh? (got meh, got meh? -fumes) Of course I'll change my name lar, not as if it's not my name also right?! (I bet you don't know what I'm trying to say) byebye. haha. loooveee!:) Have fun laughter peace and joy, *** and harmony!! (courtesy of cherie chan)
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Yet another city day

A Japanese playing the harmonica, electronic guit and base drum (with his foot) at the same time. Country music! I just think that these buskers bring out the atmosphere along our streets:)

Met with a few of my Taylors' friends..mostly from Msia:) Had lunch @ Ye Shanghai..I like that place! Quieter and more peaceful hehe. And clean...

Love oriental interior designs:)

Headed off to Gloria Jean's for Stefany's free coffee treat, her being a regular there. Missing JH there!:) ps. (whispers) how come they look so glum haha

Myer's (something like Isetan? haha) christmas display window! Really love their displays every year..how should I put it. The displays move! haha. And this year's about wombats, with about 6 scenes and audio story-telling.

A scene full of animals haha. So cute, they all move:)

The little mini-sized elves working away with their miniature tools.

An anteater eating away...hmm, not too sure what the other 2 animals are called. dingo, wallabee?

After that, we made our way to Crown (again) so I brought them to the Christmas show haha. Then Leonard and I went to the arcade for some kiddy fun. Stress-reliever. We played some shooting game which was rather cool! I'm learning not to die so quickly and to avoid shooting the hostages haha.

With our last few bucks of credit, I went on the motorbike, a childhood favourite. Then Leonard went to play some hitting the red-lighted-buttons game, also played when he was younger. haha. I can imagine the next time we meet again in a few years, he'd be a pilot and I'd be some working professional, and we might still head there to have fun, you know? :)

And oh, now that I can drive, I've kinda lost interest in car-racing haha.

After that, we remaining 5 were rather tired, so we headed off to Bismi (Indian food with seriously Indian music) to eat. That's Stefany's bryani.

My plain roti!!!!! Still prefer Singapore's one leh.

It was a good 7 hours of fun with them. Actually, I wasn't too close to any of them (didn't even know that guy on the far left), and only Angela and Ryan were my classmates. But it's cool how we can all still meet up after a year, talk about technology (okay, like youtube and limewire which I consider technology haha), our future jobs, physics, politics (mainly concerning M'sia and S'pore) and what not. And the best part is, I get to talk in my very very smooth Chinese!!! hehe.

No really, even though I had nothing much to say most of the time, I still very much appreciate the ties that were formed and have been kept in Taylors. Yup, strolling along the city streets with linked arms with Angela just made me happy! :) haha she's so funny. Leonard who visited S'pore often while he was still living in Brunei, claims that he has since been infected with fast-walking. When he was in a hurry to jaywalk, Angela: "eh if you get knocked down, I can't treat you and Charlene won't defend you so you'd better wait".

Can't wait to fly with them on Leonard's plane; he's allowed to take 3 passengers now anyway:)
_____________________

Just read Cherie's 20th nov post. Although she puts it in such simple words, it struck a chord in me because I believe it to be true. On the point bearing on one of the reasons why one would feel lonely because of isolation (maybe for someone who has unresolved issues with another): where is the fine line between re-opening a can of worms God has closed and keeping silent even though you want to show someone that you truly care? I think humans complicate alot of matters. More so, life as we lead it, seems like a world of oxymorons. Confusing? Maybe one day we'll understand.

It's okay to be weak, because my God is strong.

"A Lineage of Grace" by Francine Rivers. Go read it:)

2006-11-23T22:18:00.000+11:00

My 22nd November

First up, byebye Mich. Had a great farewell buuuuttt you're coming back soon:) you'd better!! The card you gave me was SOOOO sweet. really, it IS really so me!!:) thank you so much dear!:) and the christmas tree pic we took didn't turn out well=( love, have a great singapore!:)

Then after souvlaki@ Stalactites for Mich's party, headed off with my remaining care group for Crown fun:)

The soooo romantic couple hahaha. Kuan Hong and June!

Inside the under-6 for kids space shuttle...

Eileen and I, high high high:)

Jerry!!:)

Supper @ Greco's...sweet&sour;) The mudcake is awesome! So is the baked cheesecake...

Christmas show @ Crown

Then headed off for a stayover with Shuk In TONG!:) Thank you dear for having me, chatting till we fell asleep about 5am...then breakfast @ Nasi Lemak House...then Smith St for her retail therapy. I loved spending time with you! Have a great trip back dear and enjoy your break!!:)

2006-11-22T01:40:00.000+11:00

Tomorrow is city day:) 'Farewell' party for my dear Mich the city girl, then meeting up with the remainder of my care group at Lygon since June's back:) yay and I miss Eileen:)

Sometimes I tend to fill my life with activities, maybe I need to get to know people on a deeper basis. I suppose opening up comes and goes for me, depending on the situation. Taking the first step to invest in a friendship is something I have yet to learn. I'm trying not to be a passive friend, one who never initiates msn conversations, doesn't bother about who adds me on friendster (a habit now a thing of the past), takes terribly long to reply e-mails and the like.

Anyway, I can't be bothered with self-evaluation now, or even life evaluation. There's a time for everything. Haha. Is indulging in deep thought of utmost necessity? I think intelligence in everyday situations is more so. :)

Haha I've been trying to read Charles Dicken's 'Nicholas Nickleby'. I keep nodding off every few pages while ploughing through in a dismal effort to improve my English, in response to previous public lamentation of its failing standard. I think the words are too small and squeezy, no? ;)

And hey! My mummy's coming in 2 weeks! :) I've miss not having a mummy around to wake up to in the morning for the past 2 years. Family brekkys at Bishan coffeeshop, rotiprata and milo peng!! haha okay mummy, we need some motherly love around here! :) You are Queen:)

Michael lent me this korean series which I've been hooked on and sniffing. 'Love story in Harvard', it's called. Haha. Hey that supporting actor is rather cute!! Except for his eyes...anyway! After a while I become tired of them sobbing away, it gets rather distressing. Sweet nonetheless, enough scenes to reawaken my rusty dusty tear ducts. Watched it until 5am this morning hehe:)

Okay, 2am shower, away I go:)

2006-11-21T23:15:00.000+11:00

Trust Him

2006-11-20T02:45:00.000+11:00

With a F and an E, we were always beside each other,
one always winning academic prizes, the other more interested in the miscellaneous;

I'm not sure when it all started, but there we tried many firsts together,
had the time of our lives;

I'm glad I have you, who understands the seasons I go through,
the quick turn of events which unfolded in our lives, you and I were there;

Saying many words, leaving no stone unturned,
saying nothing, leaving the best conversation ever;

2006-11-20T01:59:00.000+11:00

Maybe cos you are cute and adorable, sensible and wise,
or cos I love mng and purple, and have grown to fit in with your rationality;

Or maybe cos we never planned to dress the same,
or cos we're both simple street kids; cool in black, solid in faith;

Or cos you can put up with my senseless downright biasness, inherent when brutally open,
or maybe cos I care too much about you in times of need;

Or maybe cos you leave me be with my crazy muahchee and cheese fries obsessions,
or cos I dare to be myself with you;

Or maybe cos you are sincerely honest, truthfully kind,
or cos I then learn to love what you love and vice versa, with a ring to seal it;

But all maybes aside, assuredly, I love you for being you.

Thank you, through the good and bad, for hanging on with me.
7 years of knowing you, 3 years of being my best friend.

The Lord will provide, and mind you, there are 6 more years to endure and stay in my good books by the big white day;)

2006-11-19T23:33:00.000+11:00

Cocktail fruit tingle for his big girl- steak at Hog's Breath

10.45; Many wishes from the big korkors and jiejies, Thank you guys!

Mangolicious with cold cream

Casey; A song in unison from everyone, Four smiley candles and a dark chocolate base:)

THANK YOU:)

2006-11-19T22:14:00.000+11:00

deb: hey dear, im alright:) you? i'm glad it's almost done for you! i can't wait for you to come, need some best friend loving around here!! :) i miss you!:) okay you cook for me, then i'll cook one for you:) love you bf:)) -chubbbss

cherie: cherie chan yu wen!!:) haha yes you got it right!!:) THANK YOU LAR. and im not nonsense anymore! hey i didnt know meepok man passed away. hope all's alright. the best meepok ever, and the legacy of scgs.

charles: thank you charles!!:) have a great week ahead and hope exams went all well!:)

jasin: haha it works for me okaaay! really! whining is a thing of the past hehe. erhumph. thank you anw jasinng!!:)

hy: thanks dear! i wish you could come over and visit me too. no-nonsense talks are just what i need too, from you:) -hugsyou

mimi: thank you mimi! love and miss you lots:) take care, eat well!!

shuk: shuk!!! thank you dear:) haha almost done yeah? go for it!:) and i'll see you soon:) l-o-v-e, pppp:)

zy: hey thanks! surprised to see u here! hope army's fine yeah? im sure you're doing great!:) take care and stay strong in the Lord!!:)

and to alicia and weili, cos i know you both read my blog..

alicia: thanks dear for your email! will reply it soon! thank you for being there, although i know our emails have been few and not so frequent this year. but thank you for being a true friend even though you're far. it's funny how we're closer over email than in real life (in j1). hugs. be strong dear, i know you are, i know you serve a strong God. :)

weili senior: haha thanks for your ever long email!!:) i'm glad we've been staying in touch all these while for about 2 years now. i'm glad to share in your army life, the ups and downs somewhat..thank you for reading my mails and sharing from your heart.really appreciate that. :) thank you senior, and shall reply you soon!!:)
___________________

Thank YOU for all your e-mails, tags, smses, friendster messages, well-wishes, hugs, handshakes, birthday songs and cakes.

I feel blessed knowing that I've made some impact in your lives. I feel humbled knowing that there are people walking on this earth who love me. I am touched that people think about me, even for a split second. I am honoured that people whom I never thought would remembered, did remember me.

Thank you for showing me that 19 years of my life have been worth living.

Each day has been a blessing. Each day has been a day I live in the Lord, knowing that He has brought me through storms and adversities for 19 years. People come and go, but He remains a constant in my life. Thank You.

19111987-

2006-11-16T14:02:00.000+11:00

shuk: aww thanks dear...thanks arh...haha. tell me if you can make it on wed okay? :) it's almost done!

mich: haha thanks, kick harder can. haha jkjk. i miss sg lots too! but mummy's coming over the whole of dec, then i shall forget everyone in sg haha. no lar, if i get a job, then i'd work my way back! i must stop being a parent-moocher, if you get what i mean! you three can go hang out together and whine about how much you miss me;) hehe, and when all the students are gone, it's back to a single team for Casey. how, so tiring, how. pray for new blood!!

hy: yeah! cool yeah..the first line's from Michael Buble (Come fly with me) and the rest are from Corrinne May (Everything in its time)...and aww, i love that silly anghuying too..stop going gaga over House!

nat: hey dear, no plans to come back yet. i hope i encouraged you in some way. it'll be over soon, and you can do it! no hurries to write that email okay, go enjoy yourself and take a good break:) hugsyou:)

2006-11-14T22:06:00.000+11:00

Come fly with me, let's fly let's fly away. You may hear all the angels cheer because we're together.

So many people on this merry-go-round. I promise you, the answer will come. Everything in its time.

I just fall to my knees and try to pray.

There are a thousand reasons why I should give up. But I'm stubborn in the things I believe.

2006-11-14T00:05:00.000+11:00

Today was a lovely day. Woke up at one, just in time for darling Oprah, complete with nutri-grain. Boo, my sister has left me for four days for a short trip to somewhere. We had sister bonding last night, watching "Heartbreakers" till early morning.

I can't believe we've endured a year of sharing a room together! I mean yeah we had the same rooms- bed and study in sg, but considering that this ain't our house, so the room's our only solace. Or at least for me, the I-hope-noone's-outside-then-I'll-go-out person. People ask us if we ever get bored/tired of each other, and how come we still seem to be enjoying each other's private company even when we're out with our friends.

Well, as much as we're really different and possibly cannot stand some characteristics of one another, we can talk about almost anything. heh. The gross, the censored, the funny, the quirky and the evil. Quarrels last for at most half an hour, we forgive and forget easily, or at least I do. I simply forgive and forget mean things people do to me unless they reoccur. It doesn't matter does it, it's their own judgement day.

Anyway! Since I'm all alone and tend to laugh to myself too often, here goes another hi-i'm-thinking post. Actually I've always been analysing this since young, the case on how much your childhood affects you as you grow up. Oprah was interviewing young ladies today on how they're struggling with their addictions. And true, all addictions are the same. The denial, the insecurity when indulging in momentary release. Plus with Stellaaaa kindly lending me her "Captivating" book, I've now got more insight into the lives of people, especially women.

It's not easy to be a woman in today's society. Yeah, MCPs are my worst irritation, and so are over-dependent girls. It's hard to strike a balance- being an independent lady without being controlling, and opening the tender heart without being vunerable.

I see a similiar trend in alot of my friends. Jumping from relationship to relationship, putting on the facade of being proud, strong and self-righteous, and gossipping about others. The theory is, all these stem from the person being insecure and having the incurable need of wanting attention, wanting to be noticed, loved and cared for. And how does that hole arise, my bet is that it is based on their family. From their childhood, from their background.

Maybe their parents didn't shower them with too much love, affection or care. Maybe their parents were divorced. Maybe their parents were too busy. Maybe their teachers degraded them. Maybe their friends made fun of them. The symptoms are loud and clear, but more often than not, the person who exhibits them doesn't realise how serious the issue of insecurity is in their life. And yeah, I shouldn't be talking from a third person perspective since everyone deals with this issue to a certain extent in their lives.

Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help

Family and friends. If you can't choose them, accept them. If you can choose them, choose wisely. haha. eeek I feel old. It's so funny, I'm at this stage of my life where I'm having these random epiphany trends going on. I suddenly realise important wise sayings that I should try to live life by.

Like annathebobanna just told me on msn after I self-admitted my previous insensibility,
"haha u may not have been v sensible but ure stable!"

Yeah, I wasn't too sensible when I was younger. Stable in God, but unstable in self too. We were just catching up on those old sc days. Starting again from where we left off haha. Updating each other with the current life, and the current view of life. haha.

Life is a box of chocolates. You never know what makes you happy (endorphins!). You never know what makes you fat. Speaking about fat, a certain friend tells me I should go lose weight. How blatant, how frank. Maybe some of the people around me have been deluding me in some way. tingting* the adipose warning bells ring. hahaha.

But! It's nice to know that a few of my girlfriends and I are going through the same issues haha. You know, we're at this stage where we can talk seriously about issues we're facing as we mature. No more kiddish talk since all decisions now can dictate our many years of bright future.

Love catching up with old friends. Timeless friendships are few, the beauty of them incomprehensible.

"I will find you.
No matter how long it takes, no matter how far- I will find you."

-Nathaniel to Cora in The Last of the Mohicans

2006-11-11T16:08:00.000+11:00

Why are we still short?

Let me try...hmm? still the same-

Black fingernails, red wine- June's handicraft:)

The craziest and silliest ever- thank you ALL so much:)

Thank you OCF. Everyone, past, present and the future. For making my life in Australia so much more meaningful and fun. For the encouragement everyone has been to me, the inspiration to soar higher, to do more, to make my life count more for Christ.

Reach Out, Build up, Send Back-

2006-11-11T15:53:00.000+11:00

the young, hot and bothered-

shorties at pancake parlour!

Baby Charlene and Charmian Tunes

Mei Ching, the er2 jie of the Tan family:)

serious Jack and I

...

BOOOOO!

Jie, Duckieee and I :)

My hair, done up by June- thank you so much dear! white orchids-

2006-11-11T07:40:00.000+11:00

Sue Wern, oh Sue Wern. This great girl's irritating mostly, but charming and the chosen one!

Nick who? We shall miss your worship leading and actually you're quite funny- :)

Evil rongmomo! haha rofl till I cmi. You're super funny so I hope you'll come back soon!

Daniel the charismatic and interesting duck feeder haha :)

El- the sweet and lovely!

The riverlifers unite!

Peggen Ewe my inspiration :)

Daryl, thanks for all the rides and fun you've been just being yourself:)

2006-11-11T06:22:00.000+11:00

Thanksgiving Night 06 - OCF

A night of fun, mischief and memories of a year...

Acacia M, my cell group- black base, yellow highlights

The three who made ocf enjoyable for me- June, Chowmian and Eileen

Mr. Tan Hau Wei the bully, but source of encouragement:)

Bel! My mentor and Ms. giggles, fun and laughter:)

Ming Jian, my hc senior and the girls' xiao di for the day...

Dennis, the eveready lame joker haha

Nick Kua, in between!

2006-11-07T22:02:00.000+11:00

The 40-odd people who came! The pastors who prayed for STELLA

The lovelies- post-baptism!!

Yulie and baby Caitlin all cuddled up in pink

Sweet Ava and I :)

Esther- love the name, love this girl

So it was a really fun day catching up with loads of people, babysitting the kids which was heaps of fun, playing in the sand and what's the time mr. wolf with them...so glad to just be able to kick around in the sand barefooted...love it.

Of course there was one all-important reason why we were there- Shuqing's baptism! woohoo girl! Happy Birthday in heaven! I'm so happy for you..I'm glad (and jealous) you got to do it in a nice REAL lake in great weather on Melb Cup Day! (the most prestigious horserace in Aust cum Pak Ken's bday) How cool is that?

I'm glad you've grown lots, hope you enjoyed yourself, and most imptly, taken a step towards being a STAR for Jesus! -places a star sticker on you and pats on the back!

2006-11-06T14:38:00.000+11:00

Everything I need is You. My Beginning my Forever.

Keep reminding myself that. It's so easy to forget. It's so easy to hate, to bear unforgiveness, to dig up what God buried and burned.

Spent the 2 days after exams shopping with some of my cell members..to chadstone on fri then bridge road with June on sat! haha love spending time with her..she just cracks me up. I like independent and street-wise girls haha. Although she claims I'm a fussy pot, I beared with her esprit urges. Me, not a big fan, but unfortunately trained by jiaying too. haha.

We bought everything except what we wanted. We were shopping for the OCF thanksgiving night, our group colour being yellow. And cos I'm not a dirty fellow, I'm only going with a tinge of yellow haha. Mostly, it was me bearing to the pain of my kik-kok shoes, sitting down while June kept trying everything, sharing the communal changing rm at country rd (honestly!), and her laughing at my messy eating of the shared subway with olives.

Then we yakked and yakked. I was trying hard to read the local daily mx newspaper on the train..but she kept disturbing me haha. June Yek! Not many people can talk to me when I'm reading and still get away with it okay! bleagh.

Now that we're considerably older and a lot more wiser, we can look back and laugh at the silliness of it all. I thought I had a bad memory, but apparently I'm not the worst. erhumph. hahaha. Yes, alot of things we cannot forget, but I'm glad we're onto something new. For her, I hope it's something that will lead on forever. For me, it's continually dusting my shoes, cleaning and shining them until they are fit for a queen.

So that means getting rid of things that are in the way. So it means giving up on people. Giving up on friendships. Forgiving, and walking away knowing I tried the best I knew then. Knowing that I never wasted my time, because time is never wasted these two - God and people.

Love your neighbour as yourself.

If you love Me, feed my sheep.

I'm so excited. I'm really. I'm happy to be 19, soon. It's been a great year! I think God has brought me onto new things. A dream I've always wanted to do with Him, a relationship with Him as first in my life. And some record breakers around here. hahaha. I thought I'd never make it this far, but it's His grace that has brought me through.

With all I'm holding inside, with all my hopes and desires, and all the dreams that I've dreamt.
You say You want all of me, I wouldn't have it any other way!

You're the best thing that has happened to me, and the world will never take, the world will NEVER TAKE IT AWAY!

2006-11-05T22:44:00.000+11:00

Brutally honest

Exams were over on dad's birthday, the second of november. I'm just relieved more than anything. A semester of attending only law lectures, spending time doing practicals 9 hours a week with 3 computer quizzes by each monday, all counting towards the aud3800 grades. Well, yes I have it relatively cheaper.

I suppose every step I take, I learn something new. I learn that I should be more matured in my thinking, not to do things only because it pleases me. I'm used to doing things according to my whim and fancy, treat people following the moods I have, speak my mind for my own purpose- to re-establish the fact that there is really only one 'I' in I. Yes, this year God has moulded me with His awesome power, and He's also brought people into my life as examples for me to look up to.

Along the semester I've frequently wondered, why can't I just be second best. Why do I try so hard to do so well, why do I have to be bothered (or in the past) about which school I go to, the stylish course I get into, the brand names, the achievements. I think these are really good goals to fight for, but when is fighting enough? I think it's enough when you're not focussing on the bigger picture.

Through the second semester, after a hard long semester one of pushing myself to work hard, I realised that I was approaching the big fall from HD grace. Or so I term it. Well, it's grace because as a first year freshie, I don't have it as hard as my seniors or other freshies from more difficult courses. Anyway, there were many times I wanted to give up, or to just let go. And I half-heartedly gave up. I didn't want to bother, didn't want to care so hard. Sure I did my work, but I know I could have done so much better. I hate that part of me you know, that part that doesn't try hard enough, that part that is willing to be a second-to-self.

I wonder many times whether I'm being too hard on myself. I expect the best from people, or more so, I hope that everyone tries their best because I've learnt not to expect. But I've no empathy or compassion if you will, for those who get poor results when I know they haven't been trying hard enough. huo gai, I call it. So the same goes for myself. It's my fault means it really is my fault; it's my life so I take all the responsibility in the end. No matter how much I complain about my circumstances, when I do.

I just talked to my mum earlier on, she asked me how exams were and I just told her the truth. The truth that I didn't try hard enough, that there were so many times I wanted to give up on everything. Maybe drop to a simple (but perhaps not that simple considering honours and phds) science degree, transfer to some ulu medical school, or apply for intermission of a few months off from the course. Such things are popular here- transferring, taking breaks, mature-aged students, it's really nothing new or fascinating.

She set out an analogy for me, with her students as an example. Of how she knows the syllabus at the back of her hand (and really, my mum is the best accounting teacher) (how biased is that since I've never touched accounting :) ) and how she drills her students on the simple exercises because she knows that they need that foundation for a difficult topic next year. Some students complain, I suppose some comply. Then she said to some extent, "How will they be able to do the difficult topic next year when they can't even master the simple one? They need to do well in the simple topic so that they will be prepared for the difficult one next year."

In a way, that really hit me. I always know that God has a bigger picture for me than what I can ever imagine. I've been struggling with God like how Jacob struggled with the angel. Tossing, turning, trying to reverse decisions and calls. But you see, I'm just like my mum's student who proclaimed the simple training to be useless. mei you yi si, as he put it. I know, but I don't do. I try to see, but I don't believe. I see, but I don't see far enough. I think I can, but I'm struggling to understand.

I'm glad I can be honest with my mum. Actually, I'm just glad that I can be honest with somebody. Just to tell a living being that I'm not doing my best. I don't usually reveal my weaknesses or struggles with others very often, especially when I myself do not endorse the position I put myself in. I don't think it's pride. It's more like what Deborah Cobrae said, that sinners know that they are sinners, they don't need someone to tell them that. In the same way, I already know that I'm not doing my best, it stings deeper to admit to someone simply to reiterate my point.

When is enough, enough for you?

I don't think I have my own answer now. Someday I will, so I guess I'll just leave it as that.

You laid aside Your majesty

Gave up everything for me

Suffered at the hands

Of those You have created

You took all my guilt and shame

When You died and rose again

Now today You reign

In heaven and earth exalted

I really want to worship You my Lord

You have won my heart and I am Yours

Forever and ever

I will love You

You are the only one who died for me

Gave Your life to set me free

So I lift my voice to You

In adoration

I love You. I really do.

2006-11-02T14:29:00.000+11:00

haha the most hectic ride to any examination ever- (mich this is mainly for you to laugh over!!)

when our papers start at 930am..

ringring* 9am-

shuqing: char, wayne's still stuck in m1 (freeway)! the last time he called he sounded like he was going to cry!!

char: huh? oh no is wayne okay? ..maybe we can catch a cab there..

9.05am-

after wayne nearly knocks me down at my house (char: har! you try to kill me is it?! aiya actually i dont mind also haha..),

wayne shuqing byran josh and i sped off to exams..

wayne: im soooo sorry, sorrysorry, i left the house at 730 but d*mn jam..should have called you all at 830..i was already crying by then (?!!?) *blahblah*

it's the corp law curse (corporations law) i tell you..corp law curse..*rambles on about the non-existant curse*

shuqing: it's okay wayne...the four of us dont blame you..stop blaming yourself..there's nothing we can do about it anyway..

wayne: sorrysorry *rambles on apologetically* i feel so bad..

char: keep quiet wayne..i dont really care about how you feel okay..keep quiet and just keep driving..

*laughter*

shuqing: to wayne: you know..i think it's better if you just crash into a tree or something..then we all can have special consideration (the coveted excuse)..

char: yar lar! there, the car in front-- does the guy look fierce? crash into a woman driver better!

bryan: or we all go there and pretend to be sick haha..

char: yar! i can pretend to puke..*proceeds to demonstrate*

bryan: yar..everybody save your tears for later okay!!

*dry and nervous laughter* (everyone thinks: maybe that will work)

...

shuqing: let's just pray..*starts praying*

char: yar lor..pray pray. eh can you play some other music..i think we need mighty to save..or through it all also can..

wayne: i dont have lar! like it will help like that! *fumbles and changes radio to some christian cd*

...

shuqing: eh you know arh..yesterday night bryan drank 3 redbulls, 1 vodka, 1 chinese ginseng and 1 bird's nest (not a very accurate version)...

char: !?#$*&#! typical singaporean!! later don't need to pee is it..

*passes chadstone*

char: you know what, i feel like just watching a movie now..

shuqing: okay okay, let me lighten the mood..i'll tell you all a joke!!

char: is that the joke?

shuqing: no lar!! okok, what's orange and sounds like a parrot?

char: huh..an orange parrot lar! how i know..

...

shuqing: a CARROT!

*confused laughter*

the song: Awesome God plays (we practised it hard with the team a few weeks ago when i was worship leading)

shuqing and char: *giggles* *laughter* -glances at each other

shuqing: stop laughing to yourself lar!!

char: im not laughing! i just remember the last time we sang it together

*more laughter*

char: and to think there was actually a time i believed what i was singing..(i was just joking okay)

*ironic laughter*

and so, we proceeded to read our own notes quietly after much ado about nothing..thank the Lord He brought us safely there and we weren't that late since we all had reading time..:)

hope everyone went well and hope wayne doesn't read my blog!!

haha see, my God is an awesome God who can turn anything negative into a funny memory we'll remember for life!! :) haha im glad all of us were calm except mr whiney wayne chua!! :) thanks for sending us there anyway..you're super funny when you're stressed haha.

2006-11-01T22:53:00.000+11:00

I've met the darkness
Been held by the night
Lonely was there in my arms
I've been with broken
I've stared in her eyes
Emptiness left me this scar

But I heard Your voice
Calling me out of the cold

And now I can live again
I have been chosen to run with the wind
I can go higher I know I will soar
I'm taller I'm stronger I'm better than before

I've walked through fire
So I could become
All that You said I could be
And now my breath has a reason
My sky has a sun
Cos' in You I've found all that I need

Your touch revived me
It was Your love that opened my eyes

I broke through the rain
Stuck through the storm
Now I know I remain
And I can do the impossible
I can reach the unreachable
It's my time I will rise and live

And I can go higher I know I will soar
I'm taller I'm stronger I'm better than before

Taller Stronger Better- Guy Sebastian

2006-10-29T00:21:00.000+10:00

* sth wrong with the spacing with blogger

charlene- says:
oh no..i think we've switched roles haha

everyday with you is sweeter than the day before says:
haha thats funny! soon i'll be e childish whiny nonsense girl n u'll be e no-nonsense serious one!

everybody go: what the?!?!

jajabings, ure ubersuper cute!:) i love talking to you! and im glad we've both changed for the more balanced better..so next time we will get invited to the right chalets and 'so-not-cool' functions, right? hurhur -- i'll be better when i'm older..do you know that song? i bet you dont, you frog-in-the-well hehehe:) okay compromise, i use skype, you use friendster..how bout that? haha..

you like tributes even though youre well alive and kicking, you like being a subway sandwich, you like being the ugly long ear-ed jajabings, you like being irritating and nonsense, you like being single but unavailable due to your own dao-ness, you like to give me advice about almost everything, so that means youre bossy....... best of all, you like being one of my best friends!! :) and you like me anyway, didnt think i needed to say that.

plus, we're a mutually pampering couple!! love!

and we both miss the way it used to be with everyone else in hc

2006-10-28T18:08:00.000+10:00

My care group celebrated my birthday yesterday. So early as it was one of our last meetings together haha. But i shared the cake with alot of others hahaha it was really funny. At least i got to be the first to blow the magic candles:) Oh well, thank you, that was extremely thoughtful:)

I made my wishes, I hope they come true this birthday.

You could give me wings to fly, and catch me when i fall

or pull the stars down from the sky, so i could wish on them all

but i couldn't ask for more, cos Your love is the greatest gift of all

________________________________________________

debo: haha i think youre the girl who just wants to have fun, and the truth teller too:) haha.

shuk: hey dear, you alright? dont be stressed okay? plan, and take it as it comes okay? God's always with you, and He's brought you this far. rem the first time you called me in melb? haha:)

bighugs, you strong girl. haha and really, i can't spell properly or make right tenses for sentences!

mich: haha..really arh, i miss you all too:) how they were all our big brothers and sisters, taking us out to makan, telling us jokes and all. :) and dear, dont be stressed alrights. it'll be over real soon and you can see your cute duckie back in sg soon ;)

shuqing: oei!! haha, yar hor..travel buddies haha. someone didnt want me to take the train with her somemore hahaha. :) as long as we dont term ourselves as bimbotic girls anymore haha.

2006-10-26T13:22:00.000+10:00

I really thank God for being faithful:) He's helped me through 2 of my papers in recalling what I studied through plain cramming. Thank You Lord, You're always there for me!

Next time, I shall not rely on my thriving on adrenaline rushes to get work done anymore. It's quite nerve-wrecking to burn the midnight oil! haha. But at least I've been trying different methods of mugging, seeing which ones suit me the most:) I think visual images and explaining concepts to myself works best:)

Anyway! I met Josh today, my sem 1 friend. haha. okay, I actually only have 2 sem 1 coursemates whom I hung out with. (so there's very little confusion as to who my sem 1 friends are haha) Realised that I kinda miss hanging out with him and Jenny, even though I still think we're on abiiitt different wavelengths. You know, chin-aussies and me. yeah. But anyhow, he reminds me of d.guo, quite the achiever as well. Jasin! He played with Agassi and Sharapova before! haha how cool. not distracting meh? haha.

Okay bye I'm super hungry. Going home to eat dad's cooking:) Daddy's been bringing over dinner to feed his hungry girls. He's a great cook man, yumyum!..After the exams, I'll go learn new dishes! :)

btw, is my english that bad? my law lecturer vandalised my whole assignment circling all my wrong expressions. how disappointing. haiya, time for me to read more substantial books already @_#

2006-10-23T19:26:00.000+10:00

Five Friends Every Woman Should Have By Michelle Burford [oprah.com]

"Friends are the family we choose for ourselves," writer Edna Buchanan once said. I consider the "family" I've gathered, with five kinds of pals I count on for completely different things, among the wisest choices I've made. If you can find even one who embodies any of the characteristics that follow, you can consider yourself fortunate.

1. The Uplifter This woman's favorite word: yes. You could tell her you're trading your six-figure income for a career in offtrack betting, and she'd barely pause before yelping "Go for it!" Don't you need someone who looks past the love handles to notice the extraordinarily gorgeous you?

2. The Travel Buddy When the hotel in St. Lucia is a bust, one characteristic becomes all-important: flexibility. This agreeable companion need not be the girl you traded pinkie swears with on the playground; it's enough that she's comfortable with quiet (between gabfests) and is a teensy bit mischievous (as in tequila after midnight).

3. The Truth Teller Intent is what separates the constructive from the abusive. Once you've established that the hard news is spoken in love (not in jealousy or malice), you'd be smart to seek out this woman's perspective.

4. The Girl Who Just Wants to Have Fun One Saturday a pal and I, and yes, we're both over age 12, pored over every glitter lip gloss in a drugstore aisle for an entire 45 minutes. Forget the crisis download (for that, see the Uplifter); this partnership is about spontaneous good times.

5. The Unlikely Friend "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive," AnaNin wrote. My friends, some twice my age, others half, some rich, others homeless, some black like me, others Korean, Mexican, Caucasian, have added richness to my life that only variety can bring.

we're different personalities to the different people in our lives, aren't we? :)

so darlings, which friend are you? >.<

2006-10-21T09:55:00.000+10:00

hy: i miss ang! and ive stopped watching grey's you know..takes up too much brain cells. ive switched to survivor and csi and bones (sth like csi)..haha HOW :)

shuqing: haha jiayou dear! :) cannot make that collage lar, i look bad in most of the photos you sent me..that was the only decent one i could find of 2 of us!! :) hahaha..cya on sunday and God'll see us thru yet another exam!:)

ern: haha..i think this is the first emo speech you've ever written for me. haha i should make you emo more often hahaha. yar lar, i still rem what you said to one of your passer-by friends: best friends share everything. !?! do you rem that? hahaha..super funny lar you. thank you for being a friend too ern:) you've grown alot haha:)

debo: haha i know what? anw i havent drank vitagen/yakult for one whole year..it's smaller and more ex here haha..how's sam yuan? still the same? haha hope he's doing well:) ok i'll ask about dec okay:)

shuk: happy birthday ZY! :) silly shuk-in-love. haha. you know i dreamt of you zy and frank yest..we were going to watch a movie, waiting for jia to come. haha..gosh! haha eh im sure you've had wonderful memories here in melb too- so you're living in the good times too rem? :) haha everyone's getting emo nowadays hehe :)
_______________________

yet another sem is coming to an end. this year has been a really busy one, but yet time flies huh :)

it doesn't matter where you want to be, it's where God wants you to be. so I will do my best:)

all the best everyone!

"we were strangers starting out on a journey, never dreaming what we'd have to go through. noone told me i was going to find you, unexpected what you did to my heart.

and life is a road that i wanna keep going,
love is river i wanna keep flowing
i'll be there when the world stops turning,
i'll be there when the storm is through.

in the end i wanna be standing, at the beginning with you:) "

iloveyou jia. thank you for being my subway! putting up with my rubbish and nonsense when we were 17 haha. (i counted wrong, our friendship is about 3 years now) for being there during the constant weaknesses and complaining. and i'd do the same for you, cos you're worth it:) nownow, what's going to tear us apart? hahaha >.<

and all of you dear to my heart. for all the things we've been through together. thank you for being there:)

2006-10-20T14:28:00.000+10:00

some people want it all, but I dont want nothing at all. some people want diamond rings, some just want everything, but everything means nothing.

2006-10-20T11:21:00.000+10:00

my princess* :)

2006-10-17T21:39:00.000+10:00

i miss singapore. i miss a whole lot of people. i wonder if things have change- they probably have. change, is one of the hardest things to deal with.

owell i talked to jia for 1.5hours on sunday! whoopee:) if only i don't have to pay for silences on the phone, because our conversations aren't afraid of them. which is what makes the best convos, don't you think?

the feeling of being there without having to say a word.

i like the honesty in our conversations. the honest thoughts about others, the honest constructive criticisms of ourselves, and of course the honest thoughts about each other which help us to realise ourselves more.

i remember sitting on the bridge near fullerton with ern, one of our few chats alone over the river where we waved to unsuspecting tourists. the lazy days lying on deb's bed and sofa, fending scrappy away while eating deb's yummy food. joking about nick's parent's bed, drinking rose syrup and vitagen at his house. jia and my dates mostly in orchard, eating kfc cheese fries and subway. going to Escape to literally escape with edwin, riding bikes at east coast park. trying to get lame jokes from an old uncle at east coast with hy and nick. reading at borders alone whenever im down. eating at nydc with arie and shin han. softball competitions at padang, the muddy shoes, the jerseys and the lovely teammates. the scgs outings to malacca and fort siloso, the smell of the badminton courts, the bubble tea jeanette's mum used to make for us. the megalife camps, the war and survivor concerts i brought my sc friends to. the j1 bible studies at bk with dora, hy nina jan and sometimes ern haha. hearing ern and jo perform at the esplanade. happily playing at liwen's house together. all the birthday celebrations with my sc gang, at addy, anna and ally's houses. woah, these date back years ago. family brekky at bishan for roti prata, and of course our beloved braddell rd chicken rice. spending time with shun n jia at last yr's tm412 camp. hwachong mass dances, the crushes, the ponning, the fun and laughter. the 1st 3 months class of 04s76. tearing at venetia with cel before 0'level results :). at alicia's house to celebrate shuk's bday. ponning assembly with edwin for serene centre macs. my farewell kap macs party with the hc gang. swimming with deb at my house, and going to wildwildwet with her. dinner with pak ken and wayne for christmas at taka. dinner with poi at big o, lunch with her and cherie at sakai sushi. lunch with sau at nus laughing at my blisters. lastly, talks of reality near the merlion and making wishes at every fountain i possibly could.

and there's yet to be a melbourne version haha. can't remember alot of things actually, or maybe im just trying to filter them all. anyhow, random random! :) i miss singapore, that's all :)

and my very one wish? one day, i shall go to our NDP.

2006-10-16T11:17:00.000+10:00

debo: australia interstate travel? south korea? singapore? cambodia? haha. maybe you should just come to melbourne and we can chill together hahahaha. lotsa nice scenery in victoria..and i'll be able to drive by myself at the end of jan.. :) lovelove.

jasin: hahaha thanks for the post on ur blog dear:) it was really sweet:) the only thing was that eunice forgot my name and im still sore about that..:) take care okay? and what do you mean by u'll end up in aust sooner or later? you're coming? :) :)

jia: hahaha:) now who's the one whining huh. stop being emo.. but i can handle it hahaha:) -grins:) go get a calling card and call me!!!!

shuk: eh since when you call me wanyi huh..hahaha. you do? i thought everyone hated me doing that hahaha. mug hard dear and i shall see you very soon after my exams:)

hy: take care okay..what happened specifically? you fell down drooling at cute lecturers is it..;) hahaha. be careful okay:)

ernest: haha. maybe she doesnt get the humour lar..we've to take 1 hour to explain what the joke is about anyway.. -_-
______________________________

Yesterday the 1045 worship team came over to help out at Casey:) yay. Glad to have them (actually more glad to take a break) hehe. But glad to see them again:)

God moved in His own way. for some it was powerful, for me, He moved in a silent and still way. The way you know that He's speaking to you directly. The way that He touches you personally and you can't explain it.

and I've just realised a fact of life.

You do things because you have to do it. Maybe you don't want to do it, maybe you can't stand doing it, but it's part of life's lessons. Victory is the only way of survival.

Everyone has their own problems and many lack to see those of others. Each thinks their problems are the biggest. A huge problem for someone may be just a ripple in a sea of darkness for another.

For instance, I haven't grasped the privilege of studying overseas. Some want to go overseas but they aren't able to. Those overseas yearn to be home. Some doing their course can't find the purpose in doing so. Those wanting to do that course have their dreams dashed.

In the end, it's my choice. I can't choose my circumstances but I choose not to be under my circumstances. I can't choose what I feel but I can choose to be more than a conqueror. I can choose to do my best. I can choose (a lesson from the devil wears prada) to be true to myself. Maybe I'd rather not be in my shoes, but guess what, I love to be me. The me who loves God, who believes in Him and who honours Him.

and another thing I've learnt.

Most of the time, life is about yourself. Celebrating your life in a balanced fashion is important. Perhaps along the way I've offended others. But I've tried my very best to make peace with everyone past and present. At the end of the day, I have to protect myself by choosing friends who enable me to soar higher. Friends who do not gossip behind my back or criticise me during misunderstandings. Ultimately, people can judge for themselves who they choose to believe. Forgiveness is obedience. Over and out, the next step is making sure that dubious events in my life do not reoccur.

Truth be told, I'd rather be a doorkeeper at my Father's house than dwell in the tents of the wicked :)

so long:)

2006-10-07T11:05:00.000+10:00

ive been writing my own diary now, in the book nat gave me for my birthday 3 years ago:)

cell group yesterday was good! :) honest sharing, praying against the gates of hell for one of our friends. i must pray more. i must guard myself with the armour of God more. i must rely on our sword, the Word, more.

:)

mimi: love you lots!

jie: get well soon or i shall pry your throat out. jaychoujaychou. i only listen to a few types of songs, his not included. ;) love!

deb: how are you dear? how's your tooth? i shall talk to you abt coming over in jan soon okay? hope everything's fine:) love you lots. lots. lots. (im eating some korean rice cakes now..quite nice!)

hy: hello ang!! are you doing okay? may God grant you the joy that overcomes pain and hurt..and may He grant you the strength to face each day with new boldness:) -bighugs.

rawr: haha sg idol..haha we're having aust idol here too:) they're not bad, seriously!! but the last aust idol..the dark girl was much better, but they voted for the aussie girl=( haha. oh well, the runner up usually sells more albums:)

jia: haha hip and cool girl with skype..how's everything? i will call you soon..using company funds cos we pay too much school fees haha. skype can be quite slow, and my webcam's not working=( haha bighugsforjaja!:)

cherie: cherie chan! how's everything? what course are you doing now? haha hope everything's fine for you k!:) as ive said, ure getting prettier everyday!:) -pointsandlaughsatyou haha:) i miss crappying with you and poi man!:)

shuk: haha yeah..cos you guys had 2 wks hols..haha if im nice, maybe i'll be your maid for one day! haha i dont mind actually;) (pay me $12/hr hehehe) hope everything's fine dear!:)

2006-10-01T22:29:00.000+10:00

all I want is to lead Your people into worship, because that is to me, of a high honour.

To love You from the inside out, although everything seems dead from within.

My purpose remains, there is no higher honour, no greater prestige. Than to serve the One and Only true God.

Take take take it all. I search for truth, and all I found is You, my God, I only ever give my all.

Consume me from the inside out.

-- -- ----- -- --

2006-09-26T14:48:00.000+10:00

Appreciating the Little Things

i figure that if we all write a list of these things every week..we'll be much happier people:)

so everyone reading my blog..give me a list of 5 things okay! :) i will check..haha.

1) my housemate just gave me some of the redbeansoup he made! :) so sweet!

actually its not really red bean, im just eating it although im not a fan of hot chinese stuff cos i dun even noe what im eating haha.

haha little things just make my day.

2) just spent time with Nadine, this girl from my chem lab..from Mauritus! hope i spelt that correctly..but i just showed her around my house cos she wanted to take a look..it was good just talking to her about her country and all:) hope she comes to church with me!

3) a few weeks ago..i popped by kai rui's house for dinner with her sister as well:) didnt take any pics..but i just loved spending time with them..feels like home, you noe?

4) and the lunch with sau that day was great too..he and my dad were just talking about medicine in sg cos sau's going back as doctor ang haha. it's nice just spendin time with him..since he was the one who brought me to my first ocf meeting and first prayer meet etc..basically like a big brother to me. and the one who err..did some mentoring with me haha. ironically, more than my supposed mentor back then. owell:)

5) went to grampians on sat/sun. uber fun! shall post some pics up soon..haha. long road trip, but great bonding with my cell group!! :)

yup. quality time is the most important to me. :)

okay i better finish my work so that i spend some time with june on thurs! :)

2006-09-25T15:12:00.000+10:00

A week ago, Dad and I went to Swanston St Church of Christ to visit Sau, my ex-ocf parkville president from last year. My parents were from that church when they were in melbuni years ago..while it was my home church for a few months last year.

"as I rest against this cold hard wall, will You past me by"

As I sat down admist familiar surroundings, peering around, I saw faded pictures. A myriad of moments shared, faces of people and memories swept past me. I thought of God's goodness and grace that has seen me from that struggling young girl, to the person who I am right now. How He has brought me in all my weakness and disgrace to be a moulded fine-tuned and tweaked young lady after His heart.

"will You criticise me as I lay my head down to cry?"

As He does His work in my life and through my being, I'm seeing breakthroughs after breakthroughs.

I've always slept while praying, sighed when the Pastor says "close your eyes and bow your heads" and thought that prayer was just plain boring. But when I look back, I see the power of prayer. He has answered my prayers over the years. Sometimes it takes days, months but the basis is much needed perseverance and faith.

An apology I've waited for took 4 years. A conversation I've been hoping for took 7 months. Only God can change the hearts of those you pray and care for, isn't it?

"one day you'll understand, the meaning of it all"

It's difficult not to regret the shame of the past. One thing that Dr. Robin on the Oprah show said was that, when women lie about their age, they're discarding those years that they lived. The years that they are not claiming for their own happiness. And it's true. At the same time, when we shove 'bad' experiences under the carpet, we're not acknowledging God's power in our lives to turn those learning stumbles into jigsaw pieces of a beautiful puzzle, you.

"cos You are, strong enough. You are, pure enough. To break me pour me out, as I am"

The wheel turns a full circle. someone teaches you something, you in turn teach someone else the same something. Sometimes when you dont listen to God's whispers, you miss out on His teaching and learn it the hard way. Then you finally wake up and either, you can choose to blame yourself for the opportunities missed or, you can simply thank God that He disciplines those He loves.

"I come in a fine whisper. To guide, to lead, to love you just as you are"

Ps. Ken Li's sermon was on "Contentment" yesterday, a very apt message straight to the heart for the worship team. Interestingly, hy was also talking about it in her blog :) Since young, I've always expected alot from people. True enough to the chiding of my parents, I've learnt that the world does not owe me a living. And really, it doesn't.

As for now, I don't expect anything from anyone. I tell myself, the world will fail me. It's only natural. The people I love will betray me, the things I hold on to aren't all that important. I give so that I can receive the joy from the Lord when I do so. I love because I choose to live my life that way.

Many times, people don't do what you hope they'll do. It may be hurtful, but when you enter situations already prepared for the cold reality of life, then the letdown stays with them. It doesn't have the chance to enter your heart to stab you.

"Cos I know, how hard it can get, you gotta lift. Sometimes, that's how it is, but I know you're stronger, stronger than this. You gotta lift" - Shannon Noll, Lift.

2006-09-22T12:49:00.000+10:00

He makes all things beautiful, in His time.

Lord my life to You I bring,
may each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing,
In Your time.

2006-09-20T16:41:00.000+10:00

A Final Farewell to a true-blue Aussie hero

"Steve Irwin touched the hearts of Australians and touched the hearts of millions around the world in a very special way.

He did that because he had that quality of being genuine, at being authentic, of being unconditional and having a great zest for life and throughout his all-too-short life he demonstrated a love for the two things that ought to matter more to all us than anything else - his love of his family and his love of his country."
Prime Minister John Howard

"I don't want daddy's passion to ever end. I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did," Bindi told the crowd and then left everyone with a tear in their eye when she said:

"I had the best daddy in the whole world and I will miss him every day." Bindi Irwin, daughter

and she left a tear in mine.