Flying off.... AGAIN...

So here we are once more. on the night before i fly off to melbourne ONCE MORE... i know rite? it's like a ritual almost to blog before i fly. :) but that's me, sentimental ol' me. :)

Just glad that this time around, i go with so much more zeal and preparedness.. it's like going home to a familiar place with things i'm looking forward to.. compared to a year ago, going to some unknown place to meet unknown people. :)

this time, i fly with 6 friends and i'm looking forward to going back to move into my new smaller, but cheaper, place and start surviving again. waiting to wear nice wintery clothes and walk down the streets of swanston and lygon once more... to grace the halls of Wilson Hall and to walk down the lanes of Pelham towards ICT. :) it's weird... the want to go back to school has never been so strong. what is wrong with me. :)

but yay. thank God for provision and providence... for direction and discernment... for grace and goodness.... He's been with me and in me all my way thru last year and I pray He'll stay strong by my side as i weakly grasp on to His strong unwavering hand of mercy and peace.

Melbourne, here i come!... again. dammit. hhaha that always spoils everything.

River Hongbao Festival

Today after dinner with B.Wong and Anne.... Hannah and I went to walk Esplanade.... and then when we got there... we realized the river hong bao festival was on...

it was CROWDED!!! but quite cool :) got to go on the floating platform and enjoy the chinese tradition we would hardly find in Melb.

Quite interesting to see how the culture of Spore is still vibrant and strong... and oh, Mr. Goh Chok Tong also walked past us with his entourage... i was quite stunned coz we were walking then suddenly this huge grp came with police and all... so i scanned the mass and saw the tallest guy there... i was like.. oooo check it out.. mr goh!!! :)

lolz. fun time.

Aloe Vera

Yesterday my mum came into my room in the morning to wake me up. She sat me up in bed and started to rub aloe vera plant over my burning face... That's coz i went to sentosa the day before and got really sunburnt... the next morning, she drove to the market to buy the aloe vera plant and brought it back for me.

I'm so thankful for my mother and the big and small blessings and sacrifices she always does for me without ever needing to ask her to. A mother's love is beyond words and I'm so thankful for such great parents and a sibling that never stops loving me either.

Thank You Lord for them.

Blog Skin Working!

Yay... oki dokes, apart from small minor changes i might make [look out for a POSSIBLE new header on top]... the blog skin looks good. i like it's simplicity but i love the fact that it separates all my entries into different individual nicely coloured boxes. :)

yayz.

Sentosa today was A BLAST... it was HAWT.. and now i'm a lobster.. all read and sunburnt. but it was good gettin out of the norm of life, away from handphone, emails, internet and even ipod touch... and jus relax on the beach with good friends, a guitar and a breeze... :)

After that, managed to visit Divvy's house for Bai Nian and sharing good times with the Calvary people. :) Going thru all the "fuzzy wuzzy" kind of jokes and random things like that... haha

Then, met up with the Exco peeps for dessert and drinks where good news was shared. :) Glad for the issue and i hope my prayer for them will be true and that God will watch over my good friends in Shalom. :)

Drove them all home and then came home. now i'm going to shower and hopefully let me lobster of a body cool off before i sleep. :) tml's a long and fun day. looking forward to the evenin plans!!! woo hoo. :) oh, and i'm collecting pay tml too hahaa yayz.

Blog skin wonky.

As you can see, the blog skin is still in testing... i'm working on making it work correctly. :) check back again!

Sentosa!!!

Woo! 3rd day of CNY and i'm going to sentosa!!! yay. hahaha.. looking forward to a fun day ahead. see ya!!!

Happy Chinese New Year 2010!!!

Taken from here

First of all, Happy Chinese New Year to one and all... it's wonderful to be back in Singapore sharing this celebration of yet another new year with family and friends. :) Awesome coz it's my year too! [tiger year] yeh yeh, i'm old... but it'll be quite sucky if i wasn't around to celebrate the young fierce tiger year with family and friends...

And so, here's my check list of things i'm thankful for.

1. ...Family...

That everyone's still around [i know it's bad luck to talk bout death on cny but i'm really thankful] and still close. That when we bai nian as a family, we're a whole unit. I still do enjoy the bai nian at home with Sab and my parents... though sumtimes it's hard to form words to 'bless' my parents with, it's still something i'm glad my family adheres to on a yearly basis.

p.s. Thankful to Ivan and Sab... first year taking ang pows from them. So weird... but yay! more money! haha.

2. ...Friends...

Going around visitation today to friends house... Never properly done it before coz most of my friends are from Church so the visitations are done as a family but this year, my melb friends and I are going to each other's houses to bai nian... :) sounds awesomely fun. haha...

Friends from church too are a great blessing. I always love the fact that no matter how far u travel to and how long u go for, Shalom is ALWAYS waiting for you with open arms.

3. ...Relatives...

You never know who will be there for visitations and with changes in the family last year... some things are quite different yet similar. :) My grandma is getting really thin and it's scary to look at her sometimes... Let's jus say i'm glad i'm here for this CNY to still bai nian to her. :) Also, catching up with relatives that we normally just see very few times a year is also a treat... seeing them grow up and get married or get stable relationships and seeing their other half at reunion dinners and all is quite heart warming. :)

4. ...Weather...

This year has been too kind on us... i recall so many CNYs where the sun jus BLAZES down upon us while we do visitation.. but this year, a nice cloud cover has painted our skies and a cool breeze is often not far behind. :) Thank the Lord for such wonderful weather to appreciate our customary celebrations this year. :)

5. ...Life...

Needless to say and obvious to point out, I thank God for life.. for health and peace.. peace of God and peace of mind knowing that we all have come through yet another year and we're still doing fine. :) Things change [like house and years left before i enter the unendless workforce] but the basic point of life is still going strong. Thank the Lord for love, life and joy. :)

May you bring Christ with you to your house visitations and may you be fiercely fervent for the Lord in the year of the Tiger.

Isaiah 29:13-14

The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.

Isaiah 29:13-14

How true this is... that so often we label the Pharisees as the bad guys, the ones that Jesus always rebuked... the ones that were doing everything wrong despite knowing the one who had everything right. We shun them and we are glad to not be them.

Brethren, think again... we just MIGHT be the modern day Pharisee... the one who knew who God was, and is... and yet live as though we're still waiting for the Messiah to come... When i read the above scripture during my QT today... it just struck me how true it is... that we can go to church, we can sing the hymns... heck, we can even memorize the scripture.. but if there's no relationship... if what we do isn't for God.. then how different are we?

We must repent, return and rejoice [yesh, this is original] in God... in the saving Grace that we have enjoyed and still do enjoy... we must fight against mundane routines in our Christian Walk and claim the victory and promises that Christ gave when He died and rose again. There must be nothing to stop us from breaking out of that dead tomb and rising to life with Christ.

7 Months

I won't even try to recap today coz it'll not do justice at this time of the night but thank you Hannah Wong for a lovely day. I really wanted to make today special for you and treat you to a day that was all about us and you. :)

I'm glad that we carried out the plans we did, that everything worked out and that we were able to spend the whole day together jus sharing our love for each other and for ummm snapping photos of animals... lolz... but seriously, i'm just so glad that we got to share today.

And that we have got to share the past 7 beautiful months of being together. You are such an important part of my life now i can't really see nor remember what life was like before you. I thank our heavenly Father for not just allowing me to meet and love you but also for His continual guidance and direction upon our lives as a WE.

These 7 months have been one of great joy and much love and I thank no other human person more than I thank you for it... for all the times u've put aside your own will and tolerated my nonsense, for forgiving me when i've wronged u [many times] and for being patience with me and holding your tongue from wrath. You are such a blessing and an encouragement to me, i pray the Lord will continue to pull us closer together for more months/years to come.

I love you very much Hannah and I'm thrilled that You're part of me.

Life/Death

Today has been interesting. In one day, I mourned the death of someone at a good church member's father's funeral... followed by celebrating the life at a 21st birthday of a dear friend of mine.

It's weird that both clash on the same day and yet are polar opposites of each other.

Another thing that struck me today was the difference in a Christian funeral vs a Non Christian funeral. the people were sad and crying but i realized in a non Christian funeral, they wail and howl... for they see it as an end... a hopeless end to a beautiful life they cherished and loved.... Christians see it as a next-phase in life... now their loved one has left them but is with Christ... and they have hope that one day, they too will join in that chorus.

it pricked me at times today and i felt very emotional despite not knowing the deceased at all... just seeing Ricky holding the fort so strongly while Stella was uncontrollably crying was very very painful. i dun cry coz of the person but coz of the pain they are going thru... and many times today i had to catch myself and purposefully fill it with other thots before i got lost in sorrow as well.

tough.

Nonetheless, pensive day. Thank god for also the time i could spend with family.. and later on, friends. :)

happy 21st Tricia :) so glad i could celebrate it with u in Spore.

Ask me Anything

Hey, check out that cute form on the right of the blog... you can ask me any random qn and i'll answer it... if i feel like it. :) if not, here's the link tee hee... i blame laura for this. :)

Leopard Preen

Today Hannah and I went to town with a theme.... To Snap Pics of People in Leopard Preeeeeen.

Here's our successful day. :)

Trenchies from UniQlo

I want... should I? the first is $150... and the 2nd is $80 i think...
urhhhhhh

These few days...

I would say that easily this year is going to be a year of big decisions... It’s weird to think that the same time next year, I no longer will be a student [God willing] and I’ll actually either be working in Singapore or Melbourne. It may seem quite a simple natural progression but actually to think about it, all these years of my life, the next step in life would have been the next phase of school. Whether it be Kindy to Primary or Primary to Secondary. Even Secondary to Poly would not be that big a jump as the next year would be.

I always joke about how the only escape from work is either death or retirement and it kinda scares me to think that it’s going to be that way till I stop working at maybe the age of what? 60? Eeps!!! Haha... but it’s an exciting phase I suppose. Something I’ll only need to worry about next year I guess, now it’s jus to build up good networks, work well and place myself in a place that would benefit my job hunting in the near future.

On other things, my friend in Melb just got attached and I know u’re reading this... it took u long enuf. Finally we can label you guys as a couple and not be awkward about the relationship you guys have. I thank the Lord for making His path and decision clear to the both of you and I pray that as you guys journey down this path of self realisation and complimentary realisation, I pray the Lord will keep you close to Him first and foremost and each other later. That with your new relationship, you’ll be able to mimic and imitate the love of the Lord in this aspect of your life. Congrats to Jeero and Josh, may He guide you in your future decisions alone and together and as you be with each other, may He always guard you against temptation and that you remain accountable especially in this aspect of life.

These few days have been spent working for intercruise [1 day a week for 9.5 hours when a cruise comes in] and meeting up with friends. The more I meet up with people, the more I feel like I shouldn’t find a 2nd job and just use the limited 1.5months I have left on this island to meet up with friends and to pray for them and their situations. It’s very very heartwarming to see that the love of God isn’t bound by distance nor time and though I have failed tremendously in keeping up to date with people’s lives here in Singapore, everyone has been so forgiving and generous with their forgiveness and love that it really sometimes makes me ashamed to think back on how I stopped checking up on them online and through emails. Especially embarrassed when I know how easy it is to keep up to date with people thru technology these days.

Friends have always been a big important part of my life for a long time and to hear their genuine words of love, concern and encouragement, it lifts my heart and gets me through yet another day knowing that there can be no other reason why God would send such friends into your life. So to my friends who I love very dearly, thank you for making this boy always feel welcome and for always treating him with such love and trust that I can share in just that small portion of your life and I pray that I will not forget to and not stop in praying for you and what you guys are going through.

I’m actually sitting on an MRT train now blogging and I’m passing by Kembangan as I type this. I just love the fact that I’m finally blogging again and that I only would blog when I have no internet or nothing else to do. Sighhh what has my blog become? Haha... but at least I’m trying. Lolz. Going to meet up with a dude who’s selling me this board/card game called Saboteur... yay! Then we can play it when we’re in Melb. Hehe. Oh that reminds me, I gotta go uniqlo soon to shop for winter-ish stuff coz I think they’ve got nice stuff for sale there. Hehe.

Yep, that’s about it for now, if I don’t stop, this post is going to be super long and no one likes to read a long post. So here’s where I stop. Thank God for everything so far. It’s been a great 2009 and I look forward to God being close and me leaning on Him much more and experiencing and enjoying Him in 2010. :) Praise the Lord and God bless.

110110 Fishing

Today was fun... took the car out for the day [yes i DO love it when i dun need to rush home with the car or take public transport coz i dun have the car] and picked up matt and hannah for lunch and fishing at east coast park.

Drove to bayshore, picked the both of them up then headed to this place called 'Vista Bistro' for their set lunch. The promo is basically $11.80++ for free flow [buffet style] of soup, starters like salads and dessert... then u order one main course. :) the food was alright only... i thot the portions were REALLY not worth it... like i won't go there again... but it was worth a try... ambience was quite insipid too... as was the food... haha oops. :) but yeh, company was good...

so after lunch, we drove back to bayshore. Hannah went to get Ashley [her dog] and Matt went to get his fishing gear and we took a walk to bedok jetty.... left the car at bayshore coz free parking. :) So we got there and started fishing and basically, to cut it all short... i caught 4 fish. but 1 of them slipped off the hook before i got the line over the jetty railing so he managed to escape... so i'd say 3 fish in total today... pretty proud of myself and it was a fun day la.. it is very rewarding when the fish bite the jig and u feel that tingly sensation down the line... wah shiok. :)

thanks for the great day... i really enjoyed myself! No kite flying... but it's ok. there's always another day. :)

MIA

I'm so sorry for being so away from this blog... haven't been bothered to update it although i check it everyday for tags and all. :) i will update it soon but here's a fast recap before i fly off to work at harbour front...

cameron highland trip with churchies was great. christmas was low key but still meaningful. yf camp was a real blessing, sumthing i almost didn't get to experience. watchnight was reflective, shared testimony coz i couldn't keep from praising Him. first few days of jan have been spent with loved ones trying to fly kites and eat steamboats and work. :)

phew. be back soon.

<3 my desktop

I love my desktop pic... thanks matt.

soon.

i will blog. trust me. let me get settled down first... then tasmania blogging.. and back to spore blogging. soon soon. :)

for now....

CONGRATS TO EUNICE AND DOM!! HAPPY MARRIAGE!! haha that's so weird to say. :)

Bye Melb, Hello Spore

Leaving tml for my flight to Spore... i'll be back to melb on the 25th of Feb. :)

yay... finally get to eat spore food... and i SO need to catch up on the lives of the shalom youth... it's been too long. weird... it's only been 5 months since? :)

Tasmania Trip Day 1 cont.

So yep, after collecting our car from the airport, we drove to Port Arthur where we got to take a short cruise ride around Port Arthur's Historic site. After that, we walked around the ruins and took loads of pictures with the penitentiary and other areas of Port Arthur.. It was pretty neat seeing all of the cells and where the convicts stayed in...

Once done, we headed towards Hobart to check into our Motel. It was cool coz the motel reminded me alot of 'My name is Earl'... The standard american motel.. Apparently it even had a trampoline... But we didn't manage to remember that fact when we came back at night to use it. Haha. :)

We headed to Franklin Wharf for dinner and instead of eating at Flippers which my mum suggested... We went to this place jus near it which the brochure called 'Arguablly the Best fish n chips in Hobart'... It's a restaurant called Fish Frenzy...
*hannah thinks it was so-so only*
anyway... Back to blogging... I had the Mixed Fish which was 3 pieces of fish with chips... Can't remember what the 3 fish were but 1 was the soft kind (which i like) and 2 which are the tough kind...

But overall, i liked it and was very glad that we had fish n chips... U know how i love it. Haha. :) yep then we headed back to crash coz it was a pretty tiring day...

And that concludes Day 1 of our tassie trip... Keep tuned in for day 2.
*hannah says keep watching this space*

To be... Yeh, continued... U got it.