RR Heavenly Loft

2011-12-30T17:19:00.000-08:00

I never keep track of the resolutions i made through the years but is till like to make them . Having them made me feel like i am making efforts to move forward to new year with an improved self.

2012 Resolution:

PRIORITY: MAKING BABIES

1. Keeping a balance at work and knock off on time.
Will ask if i can change my working hours to start early at 830 and leave 6. Be more organized and on top of things during work so that I will not feel like work is endless. Be more focus and specialize in certain areas and also be more forthright in saying no when i needed to.

2. Exercise regularly
Keep a discipline of doing yoga on monday, wednesday/saturday morning, swim once every weekend, visit the nature or forest every once a month.

3. Eat regularly and ensure that I have lunch and dinner. Try to have dinner early before 8. If that is not possible, have light meals when i am back.

3. Be discipline in daily devotionals and also walk with the lord'
Set aside a short 15 minute devotion and also a 30 minute devotion in the evening with the lord. Pray with hubby together at night( so hard to keep up with this even though we attempt to)

4. Try to be early for church service every sunday and also keep up with attendance when I am serving at Sunday school. Make cell group a Friday Priority and take more active role in leading worship of bible study

5. Have dinner with in-laws and father/brother at least once a week

A 2011 thankful post

2011-12-30T17:01:00.000-08:00

A thankful post

I should learn to give thanks . this year, i have not been much thankful about a lot of things happening in my life as I allowed myself to be overwhelmed by the huge workload at work. This also explained why my blog was silent for a while.

Yesterday, while i was doing my performance appraisal, i am thankful that through the process , i am able to reflect and evaluate what i had achieve over the past year. And boy, there were a lot of breakthroughs for me at workplace trying out new things, stepping out of my comfort zone and initiating new contacts and building on my expertise and having opportunities to where god wants me to focus my efforts and that is : special needs education. On top of that, i find myself being more resilient in stressful situations, being more convicted and and confident in expressing some of my views for certain issues and push forward certain staff. And for that, i thank god that he has given me strength to perserve , my hubby who tolerates and shares my frequent whines, my ever sweet, encouraging, understanding , supportive new boss, lynn and of course all the wonderful external professionals that I am working with this year.Without the opportunities given, i will not have grown so much professionally this year

I am thankful for my dad ,brother who were ever so understanding and understood that at times, i am so tired that I couldn't even bring myself to travel back and visit them.I would strive to reach a balance this year.

I am thankful for my wonderful cell group mates. what a year of change and also transitions
that all of us were facing . And despite our occasional frequent meet up due to babies and work, I am glad that we stood by each other and figure a way out to know one another better and also to be more accountable to one another in the lord's way

I am thankful for my friend , Hoon Lan who has been another pillar of strength and listening ear whenever i need one . I thank the lord that she is blessed with a little one next year and that she is able to cope with a demise of her love one this year with strength. I am also thankful that our husbands got to know one another better and that we have opportunities to hang around many times together in the year.

I am thankful for lord's spiritual food for me and provide opportunities for me to learn keyboard and spiritual worship at Believer music and also get to know some course mates who were an encouragement to me. I pray the lord will give me the discipline to continue to worship with him on that through music that will allow me to connect me more to him

And lastly, I am thankful that the lord gave me much strength to overcome the miscarriage that i have in the early part of this year . It took me a while and even now as I overcome the fears, the worries of getting conceiving again and ensuring that the baby is safe and healthy. I pray that he could contiinue to strengthen my faith and trust in his timing and continue to keep a joyful heart on this journey.

Turkey Istanbul

2011-12-14T02:42:00.000-08:00

7th August 2011

Turkey has been the one of the countries that we have always wanted to visit.Simply because of its rich history and culture. 10 nights and 7 days in the historically known Constantinople and Byzantium has allowed us to marvel at the beauty of Western Turkey and visited four of its biggest cities.

On the first day, we landed in Istanbul , I so love the city ( that I listed as one of my top favorites after Paris and New York) and had made up my mind that I would visited it again It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents. Istanbul is a designated alpha world city.

Most of the architecture in Istanbul is primarily known for its Byzantine and Ottoman architecture, but its buildings reflect the various peoples and empires that have ruled its predecessors. Genoese, Roman, and even Greek forms of architecture remain visible in Istanbul alongside their Ottoman counterparts, Our first stop is the predominant Haga Sophia. The building is interesting as it has remnants of Christianity and Islam design and influence in one building. It started off as one of the largest cathedral in the ancient world, afterwhich was converted to a mosques, where the mosaics are plastered, minibars and minarets were added after Constantipole was conquered by the Ottoman Turks Under Sultan Memed II.

Next was the Tokapi palace. It is one of the largest palace in Istanbul and was occupied by the Ottoman Turks. The palace was one of the Unesco Heritage Site. When we first entered the site, it was designed with the same concept that it would be a self contained little town like some other palaces that we have visited in the other parts of the world. It has many courtyards and of course different function rooms.While listening to the stories told by the guide in the first courtyard, I could already visualize how the courtiers are assembled to host the different ambassadors from around the world. Then hubs and I quickly hopped over to the second and third courtyard where we managed to see many of the artifacts , the porcelain collection, the treasury, the arms collection and not forgetting one of the biggest diamonds and emerald that the royal families have worn.

As time was a little short... ( the downside of a tour package), we quickly went through the various rooms and visited the outer gardens which is my favourite part of the palace. Over here, we have a panoramic view of the Mamara sea from the palace. With the nice Mediterranean weather, Hubs and I spent a good 20 minutes marveling at the beautiful scenaries.

We then proceed to the the Blue Mosque. What a magnificent mosque in the classical period and being one of the largest in the world, with , 6 minarates, 8 domes. According to our tour guide, when you have 6 minarates in a mosque, it signifies that this is a mosque visited by the royal family.

We linger around the inner courtyard while the guide was giving a history of the mosque. It happened to be the fasting month when we visited Turkey so we could see lot of people which provided such a great view of the exterior of the mosque.

The interior view featuring the prayer area and the dome.

Before we say good bye to the blue mosque, there is this area where everyone has to washed their feet before they left or entered the mosque

Next we had a quick stop over at the hippodrome.It was the heart of the sporting and political life of old Constantinople.Monuments decorating the Hippodrome include the 3500-year-old Egyptian granite Obelisk of Theodosius, brought to Constantinople by Emperor Theodosius in 390 AD. You'll also see the spiral bronze base of a three-headed serpent sculpture brought from Delphi in Greece.At the southwestern end of the Hippodrome is the bare stone Column of Constantine Porphyrogenetus, dating from the 10th century. Just west of the Hippodrome is the Binbirdirek Cistern ("Cistern of 1001 Columns"), worth a look.

After lunch, we started our journey to the hotel that we are staying in Kudasi. Over here, we were ready to depart from the European Continent and take a ferry across the Mamara sea to Asia continent ( Anatolia). What an exciting and life time experienc!!

After 3 hours ride, we finally reached our hotel in Cannakale , checked in and retired early with the beautiful sunset hues.

YANNI IN SINGAPORE

2011-11-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

One thing about marriage is, you learn to enjoy each other company in one another interests. Husband's love from the past- YANNI. I wasn't a big fan but after the one night concert at MBS, i was blown away by the talented musician and his band. Truely world class!

Batam Getaway

2011-11-10T05:00:00.001-08:00

Sometimes a simple getway with frens over simple board games and eating can recharged your spirit. We should do this more often.

The Big Three @ Phuket Rawai

2011-06-13T03:35:00.000-07:00

Morning sun greeted me at 8am. What a good rest! Serendipity lived up to it's name. We were served a sumptuous spread of intercontinental breakfast. Nice table set up with little cute cutlery and pottery.Food was aesthetically displayed. Light lounge music was played. The place is so quiet and serene. I felt time has slowed down a little .

11am :Moving on to another chapter today and celebrating it at phuket .Naiham beach is beautiful. The green waves and the clear cirrus clouds lightened me up. We rode the waves and dived in the sea water. I was in heaven with the sea water bubbling in my ears. There were a lot of things I hope to do before turning thirty such as having a kid but I guess god has it own timing and I should learn to be content with what I have and learn to treasure my time to enjoy the present .

4.30pm: While waiting for the minibus to fetch us back to the hotel, Hubs and I sat at the beach to have some silly fun.Snaping pictures, watching the dogs and talking about why the caucasians like to date petite thai asian girls

5.30pm:
Before having a good soak in the bathtub, we decided to laze around in the balcony,just to enjoy the good space and the nice nature. Be still. That's a nice feeling to have.

8pm: We went back to the same local restaurant that we had yesterday to buy dinner and went back to our apartment to enjoy a quiet dinner. No fancy dinner or blowing the candles on the cake. Just Hubs and I with a bowl of tom yam, green curry, morning glory and grilled chicken for just $20 dollars.

12 June 2011
7am: Woke up to enjoy the breakfast.The same feeling of peace and tranquility. Have a little walk in the garden before hitting the pool to swim a few laps. Then laze around in the nice chairs to enjoy our last hour before we bade farewell to Serenpity and our wonderful accomodation. I really had a good time and will definitely be back again, hopefully with a little bud.

Jurong Bird Park

2011-04-10T02:09:00.000-07:00

9th April 2011

Hoon had free tickets to Jurong Bird Park and she invited hubs and I to join them yesterday. I had such great fun. JBP changed so much. I preferred it over Mandai Zoo for two reasons:
1. It is less commercialized and the vegetation is much natural
2. The birds are always moving and in actions, unlike the animals in the zoo.

Then, we went to Ivy Poison @ Bollywood ( Lim Chu Kang) for lunch. The banana bread, kueh, fig tea and curry are yummy. Love the rustic feel of the restaurant. You won't feel like you are in Singapore. I think is a great place for parents to bring their children for some outdoor fun and eco-education. Service was good and the boss would take time to check in with you. Apparently all the vegetables are grown without pesticides. So is ORGANIC and you still feel so healthy after a heavy lunch!

Discovery weekend

2011-04-10T01:26:00.000-07:00

1 April 2011
Hubs was away in Bali for an offsite retreat with his company. So I needed to figure out how to spend the weekend alone. Went to do a facial in Haach and thereafter went to Esplande to hang out at the library. I am reading the " Half the Sky. How to change the world". Fantastic book about wide spread human rights violation of our age. Worthy read. There's something about Esplanade that kept drawing me back.I love the changing visual arts display. It gave me perspective.

The young local bands were blasting at the amphitheater. I thought I am too old for Rock. I redicovered that it energizes my soul.

Then I moved indoors to the concourse. Another local band was sharing their journey. Fantastic trio. Love the lead singer, Ruth Ling and the drummer, Audrey.I swayed my body to their ballads and immersed in their sharing. Music makes wonder to one's soul. I am so glad that I am reconnected again.

At 6pm, i left to meet dad for dinner at Sisley. It turned out to be another wonderful time. Just daughter and father. Conversations over plates of salads, fish and chips and pasta. Catching up over one another's life.

Life is so wonderful with such little things.Thank god for such a great weekend.

Global Trotter is back

2011-04-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

13 March 2011
First weekend that Eu Jin was back for good and in order to help this guy settle his life back in Singapore, we went to Adam Road to have his favorite prawn mee noodle after church service. Well, after being away for so long, he was still a true blue singaporean. Good Hawker food makes him happy.:) After that, we went to the Botanical Garden to laze around and enjoy the green outdoors. The SAF Military band was playing that weekend. It wasn't fantastic but had made us happy and contented .EJ said we should do this more often and with a bottle of wine,some cheese and crackers the next time.

Weekend @ MBS

2011-04-10T00:04:00.000-07:00

29 March 2011
Eu Jin came back for good! So happy. Love this guy. We met up and we went to Tai Seng for Bak Choy Mee. It must had been the best Bak Choy Mee that I had tasted. No wonder the boys love to have their meet up here.
After the sumptous and satisfying lunch, we checked out the Gengis Khan exhibit at the Singapore Art and Technology Museum. The museum design was fantastic . Love the architecture but the admission fee was a bit too pricey. $30 dollars per admission.

Anyway, thought the exhibit was worthwhile after i visited. Learned more about the great Khan and brought back memories of my mission trip in Mongolia. He apparently was greatly idolized in Mongolia and to this day still greatly respected. Like all great leaders, he had many quotes of wisdom which had been passed down to his descendents. Some of which, i thought was pretty good. There was performance by this Mongolian folk music group which was pretty impressive. The lead singer had an interestingly deep voice and ability to mimick different sounds.

I was also inspired to arrange a trip to Silk Road after being intrigued by the museum display. It was those dreams of mine to go to an exotic destination in my life time.

Eu Jin became our official photographer after we visited the museum. That would always happen if he went out with both of us. Since hubs and I had not been to MBS yet, I quickly sized this opportunity to take as many pictres as I could. I loved how we acted like we were tourists and captured the beautiful skylines of the downtown.Singapore had developed so fast over the last few years. I can't wait for the new Marina Bays Garden to come at the end of this year.

Happy 35th Birthday

2011-04-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

Alright, have been missing in action and not very diligent in writing about what's going on. March is actually a very eventful month,kickstart with hub's 35th birthday celebration in Bintan. We are really running out of ideas of where to go for a quick getaway and decided to go back to Bintan again. Anyway, slowing down over 3 days vacation at Nirwana Gardens wasn't such a bad idea if you basically wanted a holiday to recuperate and not do anything. As compared to Bintan Lagoon, Nirwana had a much rustic feel to it. We had a morning jog along the beach, hang out at the pool , then back to beach to hit the waves again. You could tell that we are loving the sun alot with our new sunkissed tan.:)

Durian puff speaks

2011-01-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Slowing down is good. You can hear god's voice better. After lunch at Aston at Katong on Friday, we popped by a shop that sells durians puff. Mumsie Kitchen is the name and apparently is opened by Christians who have openly given god the glory by printing the verse " Seek the kingdom of god's first and all thing shall be added onto you," Matthew 5;33. onto its packaging.

Just last Sunday, Pastor Edmund, after being back from his sabattical , gave a profound sermon on going back to Fundemental Christianity, meaning to restore our relationship with God, knowing what he is like above anything else ( your ministry, your works,etc). He again preached on Matt 5:33 and challenged us to think about the priorities we have placed in our life and if we could seek him with all our heart and be passionate about it. More often than not, he mentioned that how we spent our money , time and effort would be where our priorities are. He also convicted us not to be Cultural Christians. There are three types of cultural christians:
1) Sunday CHristians who just come to church on Sunday but have no relationship with god during the week
2)Christians who are passionate about church activities, serve this and participate actively in cell group but do not apply the values in their daily living

His sermon reminded me of the verse on the durian puff packaging. " Seek his kingdom first and all things shall be added onto you" Have I been diligently spending my time to know my abba father? Have i been making a deliberate effort to seek him in all that I do and where I should go ? Did I trust him with all my heart and soul about my heart desires that he will provide in his due timing ? Do I trust that when he said " is finished", all of my sins are forgiven and that I should rely on his strength and not mine?

A quiet start to 2011

2011-01-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

It was a quiet start to the beginning of New Year. We retired early in the night after cell group and a short celebration at Winnie's place. Woke up to sunny weather and clear blue sky at 9am on 1/1/2011, had some delicious Aunt Nellie's muffins and began our 10km hike from Bukit Timah to MacRitchie. Oh, what a great way to kickstart my new year like that! The adrenaline rush was terrific as we walked through a new route which we never took before, discovering little lookouts that amazed us and we said to each other that we should do this more often. 10km seemed all so long towards the end as I began to lament when would the end point be. And Hubs said to me that I should focus my energy on the beautiful nature around me and continue enjoying the walk. The advice was wise. I then began to see the misty greens, the changing color chameleon, the busy ants on the muddy roads...and i thought to myself. I must have missed out so many beautiful things for the past year with my focus on work.

2011 resolution is to make a conscious effort to slow down myself ( especially from work), be more patient and appreciate every beautiful moment of life. 3 hours of slow walk instead of half hour ride on the car is all I need at times......

Marriage breakthrough weekend @Mercure

2010-12-05T01:48:00.001-08:00

Marriage breakthrough weekend was great. Hubs and I first signed up without expecting much except to take a break and to recentre ourselves and the marriage upon Christ. Our father in heaven is forever gracious and works in his mysterious ways. He surprised us with glimspes of his love through the 3-day retreat in Mercure Palm Resort in Johor.

Different testimonies shared, sermons led by different leaders, time to process your walk with God and then dialogue time with spouse. It was such a great way to spend the Thanksgiving weekend and the anniversary.

These were my take-aways from the retreat. They are not new to me but at times, is so easy to forget them or to live by them.

First day, god spoke to me in the issue of submission and also providing the space for the other half to grow in his spritual leadership. Mistakes are inevitable and is important to provide the space for that to happen so that the man can grow.

Second day, god spoke to me about submitting to him in all areas of my life , whatever i do , whatever i think, whatever I say and be more steadfast in my walk with him. AS i obey him in all things, I will learn to grow in his love.

Third day, God spoke to me that he is in control and that I should draw my strength in him as I imitated him in-love.Hubs and I did our very first memory verse 1 Corinthian 13:1-13, While it was easy to memorize it , it was definitely not easy to practise them in our daily lives. Just over last week,there were several occasions that we had to remind each other that "love is patient. Love is not irritable".

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, [1] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [2] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Paul and Silas Interactive Bible Story

2010-11-20T03:33:00.001-08:00

PAUL AND SILAS - Interactive Bible Story
Written by Betty B. Robertson

Acts 16:16-40

Instructions: Assign reading parts (1 judge; 2 soldiers; Paul; Silas; jailer). The rest of the class is the crowd. Every time the teacher holds up her/his hand, the crowd says: "Arrest these men!"

Teacher (holds up hand): Arrest these men! Arrest these men!

Judge: Order! Order!

Teacher (holds up hand): Arrest these men! Arrest these men!

Judge: What is the charge?

Teacher (holds up hand) Arrest these men! Arrest these men!

Judge: What have they done?

Teacher (holds up hand): Arrest these men! Arrest these men!

Person 1: They are teaching people about Jesus.

Teacher (holds up hand): Arrest these men! Arrest these men!

Person 2: They are doing things that are against our Roman law.

Teacher (holds up hand): Arrest these men! Arrest these men!

Judge: Hummmmmmmm...

Teacher (holds up hand): Arrest these men! Arrest these men!

Judge: Throw them in jail!

Teacher (holds up hand): Arrest these men! Arrest these men!

(Soldiers take Paul and Silas to jail.)

Jailer: Who do we have here?

Soldier 1: Prisoners.

Soldier 2: Lock them up and see they don't escape. If they do escape, you're apt to lose your head.

Jailer: I'll keep them safe.

Teacher: So the jailer unlocked the big door of the jail, put Saul and Silas in the dark, smelly inner dungeon. He put their feet in big wooden frames called stocks that locked by putting big bars in the slots. Paul and Silas were left alone in the dark. Hours went by. Then it was almost midnight.

Paul: Silas, are you asleep?

Silas: Are you kidding?

Paul: I can't sleep either.

Silas: Are you scared?

Paul: No. God never sleeps. I know He's watching over us. I know what might help.

Silas: What?

Paul: Let's sing.

Silas: I don't sing very well.

Paul: That's okay. God doesn't care how it sounds. He just likes us to sing praises to Him.

Teacher: So, Paul and Silas began to sing songs. Maybe they sang, "God is So Good." Let's sing it together: "God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me."

Silas: What's that?

Paul: I don't know. Sounds like thunder!

Silas: Yeah! And the ground is shaking!

Paul: And look at the prison walls!

Silas: They're shaking!

Paul: It's an earthquake!

Teacher: The stocks that were holding Paul and Silas' feet jiggled until they came undone. The prison doors flew open wide. The jailer thought all the prisoners had escaped. He drew his sword to kill himself.

Paul: Hold it! Don't kill yourself. We're all here.

Jailer: What must I do to be saved?

Paul: Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. And that goes for your whole family, too."

Teacher: And Paul and Silas told everyone about Jesus.
Posted by BETTY BENSON ROBERTSON

Flowers Galore!

2010-10-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

If you will like me to compare Botanical Garden and Aruluen in Perth, there is definitely a vast difference with each of its own beauty. Gardens and parks like these are always my favorite and if I get to stay in Oz, Aruluen will be my favorite hangout. Just like how central park with its huge swan pond is a great hangout for me when I am in the Big Apple.

Admiring the vivid colors of the tulips, roses, caledonia with the accompanyment of my dad and enjoying the light fragrant scent of the flowers in the sunny blue sky ignited a fresh new breathe in me. What a great beginning to start our first day in Perth like this!

Two weddings

2010-10-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

Within the past two months, two beautiful weddings took place for two of my good friends. Looking at how they brimmed with joy as they looked into the eyes of their love ones, it brought me back to 4.5 years back when I was celebrating my new chapter of life.

A new milestone, a new beginning ,a love called by heaven and earth to vow love till death do us apart...marriage is a sacred relationship to be nurtured, nourished and constantly ..never loose faith, trust, respect, patience and love.

To Ellie and Elvin, enjoy your new chapter.

Sunday School: Joshua and Caleb

2010-10-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

I am thinking if I would be able to note down the different ideas of Sunday school lessons I have been doing that would be good reference for the future.

Story telling: 15 minutes
Teaching Suggestions:

Point 1: As they neared the Promised Land of Canaan, the Lord told Moses to send spies to go and check it out. Twelve great men are chosen, however, great men are not always wise.
Point 2: The spies go up to see the land. Two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, see the land for its tremendous possibilities knowing that God will be with them; they bring back a true report of the land as well as a sample of its bounty.
Point 3: Caleb and Joshua were not fools. Even though they saw the enemies and great cities of Canaan, amidst it all they saw GOD and His Faithful Word. The ten other spies discouraged the people with their report because they saw the GIANTS rather than a God who was far greater than them all.
Point 4: God was provoked with the Israelites that wanted to return to Egypt. As a result, He told them that they would never enter the Promised Land due to their unbelief. After hearing this, some tried to enter the land anyways and were met with death. The remainder of the people of that generation wandered in the wilderness until they all had died.

Notes: The majority of the people saw the abundance of the land, but they never got to enjoy it. God's promise to Caleb and Joshua, that they would be able to enter the land because they had been faithful, came true as God said it would, but even they had their hopes delayed for many frustrating years.

Reference : http://gospelhall.org/teaching--preaching/sunday-school-lessons-and-activities-for-kids/sunday-school-lesson-224-joshua-and-caleb-and-the-mission-of-the-12-spies.html

Questions to ask:
1. How many men went to look at the new land
2. How many men brought back a good report
3. Do you think Go

Activity:
Dramatization Joshua and Caleb looked around the new land to see what it was like. Together, they are going to look for good foods that are hidden in the classroom.
After the children have found the snack items, they will share the snacks with everyone. Spread honey for anyone who wants to taste it and have grapes.

Closing Prayer:
Remind children that the lord is good and he cares for those who trust in him. Thank you for taking care of us everywhere we go. Amen.

Ramdom thoughts

2010-05-20T06:46:00.001-07:00

I often will like to think myself as a very reflective person, constantly thinking about the things that are happening around me. I like to think and think and think..sometimes i felt my head maybe bursting with ideas and thoughts throughout the whole day. Since work has becoming a little hectic, it has been hard for me to pen it down as well.

I will like to commit myself to start putting little messages for my time spend with the lord over at this space again.

You know, the one where He calls us to an assignment and instructs us to head out, not knowing where we're going (Heb. 11:8).I like to think god always has a plan for me and hubs especially as we journey our path in seeking his purpose in our lives. Sometimes like what the author has mentioned, it may take a while to understand that the lord is taking us to greater heights or territories.while the journey maybe a bit bumpy, unclear ,challenging, i must rest in him to know that he will guide us.

Remember when Joshua entered into the Promised Land, and he had to fight battles to gain what God promised him and his people? Joshua had to depend upon God for every unique strategy for victory along the way (Joshua 5:14). So too must we. This is the key to a success that is greater than we can achieve on our own.

Sometimes, I tend to whine about what i am missing out in life.Being a mother, having a house of my own Sometimes, i think i need to remind myself about what i have in my life. Nice family support, nice in-laws, a good maid and husband, supportive colleagues, a job which I am learning and growing in it.

I pray that my life can be a constant support to my love ones, first to my husband,next to my children to be and thirdly to my father,brother and in-laws to come. NOt forgetting those who has treasured and love me .

Bintan Lagoon Golf Resort

2010-03-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

February 17th- February 19th

Hubs had decided that we should go for another well deserved short break after our last December trip to Bangkok.So he booked a trip to Bintan Lagoon Golf Resort after the Chinese New year. "A pressie for our V-Day ", he said.

The trip was pretty luxurious for us as we usually went on budget trips and stayed in hostels or 3-star hotels. As such, I am remarkably thrilled of the nice room that was well furnished with toiletries when I first stepped in.The room had a sea view so each morning, we would wake up with a spectacular view of the South China Sea.

We probably vegetate out at the pool most of the time, reading a book while munching to chips, dipping in and out of the pool ,enjoying a game of water polo among ourselves, strolling along the beach. Pretty relaxing..and it forces you to really take your mind off from work though occasionally I would think of the workload back in the office.Bad.bad.bad.

I guess the highlight for both of us was enjoying the beautiful golf course on the second day.Well, he played by himself on a single flight. And he had two caddies. One was from the resort and the other one was moi.One picked the clubs and balls for him while the other drove him around the course, ocassionally striking a pose with him to share his winning streak."Bonding time," that's what he called when we went on the course together.

I was proud of my man for being so patient,discipline and focused as he was taking his time to make his swing.I am wondering how on earth would I be able to pick up this game.My gan cheong spider personality is not going to bring me through the game. Anyway, hubs has already signed me up for the course. So I better make myself positive about this. Check out my champion moments!

I was telling hubs that we probably should do such vacation when we had a baby or when I am pregnant. Prefect place for a family vacation where everything is under the sun and convienient. Night time is definitely a boredom for people who wants fun and thrill. For us, it was a time of cam-whoring and lounging at the lobby area, enjoying the music played by the live band.

Eu Jin is back...

2010-03-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

January 3rd 2010

So we brought him to our church which was super near his home.After that, we had a great hang out session at this little cafe which had an interesing concept of getting its patrons to tip instead of paying for the wonderful coffee it serves. Situated off a little road when you drive along Bukit Timah road,it has a quaint little courtyard which makes you slow down your pace in this hustle and bustle of the city. Eu Jin has given thumbs up for this place which apparently is opened by a fellow ACsian. We are glad that he enjoyed himself and hoped he would be back home one day. Is always fun to have him around us.

Princess Ariel in the garden

2010-03-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

January 2010

A day out with Baby Ariel who had just came back from the States. Surviving very well in the hands of all the aunties who hovered around her and showered her with all the attention that a Princess could ever had. Great day out with the Yellowstone gals and refreshing run in the Botanical Garden. Ended off with yummy brunch and a good dosage of Vitamin D in the sun

Love in Nature

2009-12-13T03:06:00.000-08:00

One thing I love to do with hubs is to explore the nature together. Quality time when we can enjoy the feeling of quiet bonding as we walked through the lush vegetation marveled at the wonders of nature. Sometimes we will talk what's life will be like in 3-5 years times, sometimes we will talk about the daily mad rush, if not we will just enjoy the silence and accompany.

GKGW

2009-12-13T02:45:00.000-08:00

Serving in sunday school seemed to be preparing me for parenthood. Last weekend, I attended the GKGW ( Growing.Kids.God. Way) workshop for the minstry workers and was totally thrown off the chair after hearing what the speaker had shared with us. At different parts of the workshop, i felt my values and principles of raising a kid different from what the underlying principals of the parenting strategm,something that kept me reflecting and wrestling within myself throughout the session. After the session, I couldn't contain and call my hubs and said," I can't be the disciplinarian!You have to be one.If not, i think i will end up crying in the room after i cane our child." :)

This weekend, a parenting course is opened for couples who are preparing to conceive. Great timing. Hubs and I thought it would be a good idea to sign up to gather some thoughts on our parenting style and ways to raise the kids in god's way. We did. Paid $25 and the saturdays afternoon in 2010 were booked.

Look pretty scary now as I see how calendar in Jan 2010 are filling up really fast!

Family cycles at ECP

2009-12-13T02:16:00.000-08:00

SO during the Haji weekend, I had a great time hanging out with my daddy and brother at East Coast Park.We started the day off with dim sum at Tung Lok East Coast with my in-laws.Much to my dismay, it wasn't fantastic and everyone wasn't really enjoying it.I don't think we will go back again as I think there are better tim sum places around.

HOwever, things got better as we hit off the roads with the bikes.The purpose of this gathering was to engage my dad and in-laws to a more active lifestyle. In-laws were not really keen ( blame my husband for not giving them enough encouragement:P)so they went off after a short while of lingering in the park.Dad on the contrary was pretty fun-loving. My eyes litted up when I saw both my brother and him having silly fun over the tandem bike. What an adorable sight looking at two big men on the bike weaving through the ECP crowd. My dad's smiles and refreshing look made me happy.It had been a long time since he had such relaxing fun from his work. I hope he would get to do more of these in the future with us.Besides that, my niece and nephew joined us as well. It was nice having a bonding time with my niece as we cycled alongside each other and chatted. I love such times together with my family.

This weekend, hubs decided to organize another similar event for his family.So we took leave on Friday. His sisters, nephew and nieces were all there. We took a leisure ride along the coast as well. His nieces ought to come out more for outdoor play. They were so cautious and frightened on a four wheeled bike!!! Fortunately after much encouragement, they began to be more confident and adventurous. In laws managed to cycle for like a few minutes and gave up on the tandem bike.The day ended with a good spread of hawker food at the East Coast Seafood centre. The kids were tired but mentioned to the parents that they had great fun. I just saw their facebook message that they had fun.

Outdoor play and fresh air are always good for everyone!

First 10km

2009-11-08T00:06:00.000-08:00

Finally, managed to finish one run for this year. My first 10km run without much training :) Signed on the race with the intention of spurring myself to run more in the midst of hectic work schedule but it did not really worked out that well.:) Seemed like I really need to commit to a class now.

Finished the race in 1h 25 minutes with only one stop at 7.5km for a water break and a final sprint at the end of the finishing run. Little pat for myself on the back as the pacing and mental strength were much better than what I had expected. As most people had mentioned to me, it definitely made a difference when you are running with 14000 woman for a cause. I love the whole idea of a woman's run. My adrenaline was pumping and I felt a sense of accomplishment when I made it to the finishing line.

Coussy and I definitely wanted to do it another time. Not for the goodie bags anymore but simply because of getting ourselves into this healthy exercise and routine.A few more 10km before we went on to a half marathon.Hubs rolled his eyes when he heard this. I shall prove him wrong.:P

Flea Market

2009-09-20T03:42:00.001-07:00

It was a good catching up with Susie at Dempsey this afternoon. I didn"t even feel like it was a Sunday! She drove ( first time i sat in her car!) and picked me up from Railway Mall and off we went to have a girl's out without the boys. Had a heavy lunch at Dome Cafe and thereafter we headed to the FLEA MARKET . Gosh, both of us couldn't resist the temptation. There were too many good buys ( shoes, bags ,dresses) all ranging from $5-$10 dollars!We were trying very hard to curb our expenditure. In the end both of us still succumb and bought something for ourselves. We were in the clouds coz you couldn't believe how cheap they were.All brand new !

Macritchie

2009-09-20T02:52:00.000-07:00

Long weekends are always looked forward to,especially when you really felt like you needed a break after a long week at work. On Friday, I woke up to a healthy morning with hubs at the Macritchie Reservoir. Ran together for a good 3.2 km before I stopped and panted profusely.( wonder if i am going to make it for my 10km run in November..)

It must had been a long time since i ran in MacritChie. Nostalgic memories came back to me as I ran around the reservoir. Those were the days when I came here for my JC cross country and track and field. Hubs was eagerly showing me the places where he did his dragonboat training and sharing stories of how his instructor would motivate the team to do 400 push ups,circuit training and then rowing the boat.We even went and found the little shed where his canoes were kept. Alas, it was still there with a little imprint "ACJC" on the door. Hubs felt so elated that he found it and was grinning like a little boy.

There are so many beautiful changes to the park. As hubs and I were walking down the little stairs, marvelling at the wonders of nature, he whispered to my ears " If I had known you during the canoing days, I would have woo you..." Oh, how sweet are those words that instantly brightened up my day in a picturesque place. I smiled back at him and asked him to stop lying.:)

I wanted to come back here again more often though it was far from our place. The place is so perfect for running. Cooling, new toilets, sprinklers for bathing and the little remenants of old, colonial Singapore in the 1950s. Those beautiful benches which would make you wonder if your dad and mum ever come here to date...

How do you celebrate National Day?

2009-08-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

Morning:
I am never more thankful this year that I am a Singaporean. I started my day in the church with a few church leaders leading the service. Under their leading, the congregation thank god that he has built a prosperous nation where economics, education,health care ,business and finance and environment has been prospererous in every area in his hands. We prayed that he would grant our leaders the wisdom, integrity and clarity to continue to lead our nation to greater heights.Pastor reminded and prayed how important educators were in the areana of building our next generation. His words spoke to my heart of the role that I played in my market place. It reaffirmed and encouraged me that I should continue to serve my children, teachers, principals and colleagues with a fervant heart to glorify him.

Afternoon:
I really thank god each time I saw a new development, a new mall , a new park along the streets. Having lunch with hubs in the ION this afternoon made me excited being part of a nation that is so progressive and efficient. I kept exclaiming," Look this is something new. we have all the different japanese snacks now. " "Oooh, check out thirty six degree supermarket. We can have Waitrose key lime pie." " I am excited to see the Marina Garden City!" Singapore is amazing, isn't it? Having spent a few years out of the country, I felt our country has grown so much. I love being part of a city that is so efficient and cosmopolitan.

Night:
Using the Singapore pledge as the central theme for this year NDP was a wonderful idea. As the various performances unfolded through the 10 chapters, I was led and being reminded of the hardship that our great forefathers had went through to build the present Singapore that we had seen. I especially like how Chen Wei Lian and Gail Ong presented my favourite NDP songs " Its' a favourite thing". Are we moving towards a more inclusive society where hope and love could be given to the even less priviledged of the country? I hope so.
I am not sure if you teared as the performers put up a wonderful medley of the old NDP songs, National anthem and pledge but I do. Singapore is really my home, my nation where I grew up.I need to think about how I can give back/serve the people of the country . Aren't I patriotic or what?

Survey

2009-07-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

I am curious about this all the time

Is it possible to have a work life balance in SIngapore?

If you are a mum, will you rather work or stay home to look after your child?

Or you will prefer to work part time?

Drone a day

2009-07-13T05:04:00.000-07:00

Weekend morning, I walked to nearby neighbourhood centre and treat myself to a sumptuous Mac Breakie which I thought would brighten up my day when hubs had to leave to play soccer with his friends. I then walked to the mall and randomly bought a few items from the 2 dollars shop: antibacteria wipes, container, mama bag and a glass tub. Totally random and unnecessary

Then, I walked back home and had a snooze till he was back. What a lazy afternoon. I woke up with a small bouquet of flower presented to me. Something from the hubs to pacify me because I am whiny about how he spent his sat morning to play soccer with his friends. Afterwhich, I went over to his sister's place and had some fun with the little nephew and niece. Rachel, his niece was obsessed with the Little Nonya Series which her mum just got for her as a reward for her excellent results in the exams. I sat down with her and watched an episode and got confused with all the different roles played by the same actors and actresses.

After dinner and dropping off the in-laws, we dragged our lazy bodies to visit the NIGHT FESTIVAL at the National Museum since I was yearning to do something different for our day. I was appaulled at the crowd who still remained after a huge rain pour.The national museum looked so beautiful after renovation. there were outdoor films showing, street performance and wonderful fireworks. I love the musuem. But hubs was telling me," Please spare me from all these cultural stuff." :) In the end, he was the one who enjoyed the historical gallery so much that I literally had to tell him that we would come back another day to visit it. The time was 1.30 am on the clock. " Time to snooze," I said:)

Morning in the CBD

2009-07-13T04:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I wonder if life can be just simply a day of non-fuss,slow pace, worry free and enjoy the beautiful day.

I am lost in another world when I am back in the CBD today. I smell the fresh bakery from cedele. I hear the rustling sound of the feet. I saw professional in prim and proper office wear.This is once so familiar yet foreign?

Did I miss it?

New discovery

2009-06-25T04:06:00.000-07:00

I finally discover a site that sells affordable,sassy dresses. Check out the link below and I especially love this top which is so versatile. It can be a dress, a top and tunic

credits to loef.wordpress.com

Support Char's fight!

2009-04-17T23:33:00.000-07:00

I am crying and pouring out into tears when i read each entry of the blog. Char,my friend' goddaughter is such a strong little girl fighting against the illness. Read her journey to support her fight. It pained my heart to read about about the sadness her mum is going through as well. Dear god, I pray that little Char will get well. Strengthen Cynthia as she went through this difficulty time alone,juggling with the multiple roles that she had to handle. Let's be thankful for the good health that our children have.

Reunion by FIL

2009-04-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

Korean Pig Out

2009-04-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Before I started work in January, I went to Susan's place and learned how to cook Korean food from her. I decided on my favorite Korean's dishes and prepared the dishes together with her and her maid. Gosh, now I knew why the drama ( Da Chang Jin) had such lavish preparation of their dishes for their royal highness. I am not sure if I will ever do this alone at home again. Pretty time consuming for a 7 course meal.Took us 4 hours!

A night out alone.

2009-04-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was remarkable.

********
After meeting Sylvia for coffee and donuts, I went to the Esplanade Library. Love the place as it has a nice corner overlooking the city skyline plus it has a wonderful collection of CDs,VCDs and DVDs,music scores and a little cafe. I am seriouly considering to upgrade my membership to a premium account. I love the National Libraries. I think it has the highest hits on the list of places i had visited since I am back in Singapore. Central, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang, Jurong...I think libraries are cool...

Walking back,I saw this exhibit that featured interviews with the nuns about why they chose to be nuns. It made me thought about God, Christianity and other religions. Human beings are constantly looking out for peace, joy and happiness but which is the way to attain all these. Different religions have their own beliefs of attaining these, i believe the only way is through my daily relationship and walk with HIM.

********
And I went to visit Singapore Art Musuem. Thank god, it was a Friday and there was free admission after 6pm. I wouldn't have pay for it to go a second time. Not very impressed by the way the pieces are curated or presented.Seriously, I think there is a lot of room for improvement. In fact, I felt the layout was confusing and I felt a little disoriented. Thankfully,what saves the day was the "Ubroken Line by the Wu GuanZhong collection". I love his art work as they really communicate his feelings about the people,community and scenaries in his life.

To Wu, the feelings of the individual were supreme. Equally important, however, was the individual's emotional link with the community

*********
Then i took a slow stroll towards Bugis. I am curious about the new ILLUMA mall and was greatly disappointed by it. The place looked extravagant on the outside and inside. I thought it was too spacious that I felt it was too empty. Shops featured were mainly for youngsters and a lot of them were not opened. And I couldn't believe my own impatience of not waiting another 15 minutes to see Aaron Kwok who would be there for his publicity event! I used to be his fan! Digressing, I am more impressed with the new Tampinese Central Mall ( yes the one with Uniqlo and the new Mananpu Foodcourt). I think they feature a different range of stores which are not typical in the usual malls. I love it.

*********
Ended off taking a train to Novena, sat there at the station for 20 minutes quietly, reflecting and thinking while waiting for BB. We met and took a train back. XJ came over to our place and we talked till 3am.

Cupcake making

2009-04-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Pictures from a few months ago in a cupcake decorating class.

Sister Island

2009-04-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

BB had always been on a mailing list for outdoor activities and that's how we got to know about this Sister's Island trip.It was an overnight trip which we would camp one night on Sister Island and returned on the Sunday afternoon. It had been a while since we last camped ( more than 2 years!).In fact, the relationship sparked off from a hiking trip in Ophir( which I believed many had already heard me ranting the story for many times:)

Anyway, I realised that I did not enjoy camping as much as I had in my younger days. (gosh, is that a sign that indicates that i will prefer much luxurious travel instead of backpacking and roughing it out in the tents and hostels?)This trip, i ensured that we packed more stuff to make sure that my ONE night stay was a comfortable one. Moisturiser, powder,foam boards to have a softer touch on the grounds and lots lots food so that i have enough to eat. On top of that, I am also a bit more resistant to swimming in the ocean ,mainly because i am wondering how many crawlies feelies were on the seabed ( Eeks, another sign of aging because i am not such a scardy cat in the past)I also couldn't believe i kept wining that we should have brought a 4 man tent instead of a 2 man tent so that we had more space to sleep ( duh?)

Well,even though i had concluded that I am indeed not as outdoorsy as the past, I still love nature alot. I enjoyed the breeze,hanging around on the hammock, looking at the clouds and the trees for a long period of time,predicting where the rainshowers are in Singapore...bascially just veg out.Also, I would also put myself to good use by helping BB plucked his white hairs which he enjoyed tremendously and told me that he felt very love!!!:) ( weird?) We both agreed that Sister Island is a very nice and quiet place to camp again and we would definitely come back again. We were impressed by the clear water which it provides in some of the islands in Malaysia.

Starry Night

2009-04-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

Me time. Reading, reflecting ,letting my emotions run wild as I listen to this soundtrack from Boys Before Flowers. I love silence of the night.

Love Singapore 2009

2009-03-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

Just finished my 30 minute prayer for lovesingapore. Love the song in the site. Love this whole idea of corporate prayer as all churches come together and united as one to pray for our nation and pre-believers. Decide that I will continue to make it a point to include the prayerbuzz points stated in the site in my prayer life.

Quarter 2009 reflection

2009-03-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

I could not believe time has passed so quickly. A quarter of 2009 has passed.
My first quarter of 2009 has been pretty swarmed up in adjusting to a new role in a new organisation.A very steep learning curve with many challenging and interesting experiences to learn. One good thing about choosing a role beyond the classroom allows me to see how education itself can be a profit enterprise at a managment level.Fundementally, there must be some bottom line figures to drive all those operational costs in the school. It widens my perspective at how school operations can operate like any other commercial enterprise, hones my skills in managing people and balancing interests and expectations of bosses and peers.Something you will not get when you are just a teacher in the classroom.

I guess life has just been too much in comfort zone for the past few years. This role bears much accountability and responsibility that I need to take a change in my gears and face the true reality of life. Or probably all this while, I am just in my own little idealistic world, waiting to grow up.

Being a leader isn't easy. More so when you are in the middle management,taking orders from levels above and communicate to those that are in the ground. I take it as an opportunity which god has provided me to mould my character. Over the past few months, I saw myself constantly facing many dilemas and stumbling blocks when changes needed to be executed.Each breakdown pushes me to turn to the lord and draw upon his strength.While devil tries to put much negative thoughts in me , I realise the more i resist and rely on my strength to overcome, the more I am sucked in to this whole wave of worry and anxiety.People Politics.Man.Messy. Looking back, is pretty scary how you can be wallow in your own troubles and that your whole life centers around work and nothing else. Day and night,nothing but work. No workout, no socialisation,no grooming, no meals.Terrible.

Balancing life and work truely is not easy. But I realise how you can achieve that when you focus on the lord. Peace and joy flows through him. The holy spririt reveals to you bigger things and bigger perspectives. The holy spirit tells you to cast all your burdens on him and that the battle is of the lord and not yours. You learn to let go ,slowly and increasingly. Painful,not easy.However at the end of the day, when you triumphant over eveything, you know your lord has been with you all this while and that you would not have walk through it without HIM.

Things to be thankful despite the terrible working conditions.My in-laws who have been ever so supportive with all their good meals ,listening ears to my rantings, bearing with my sulky faces everyday. My beloved husband who has his own share of worries and burdens but trying his best to make me happy, his daily chauffering to and fro the work place.Finally, my own realization of how hard and harsh BB's work can be in the finance sector and reminder for myself to be more patient and gentle with him. In terms of work, i am thankful for lessons learnt to be a better leader. I think one needs to be able to clearly define the mission and vision of the organisation and communicate to his people. A leader needs to be confident, level headed, organised, have integrity, ready to take blame and shield whatever went wrong, caring and respecful to his people.

Well I am glad is all over and ready to move on to greener pastures.The rest of 2009 will continue to be challenging in this economic downturn but I know I have a god who is bigger than all these. Staying faithful and trusting his providence in my life.Somethings I want to get it going in other areas of my life in the next quarter.

1. Start serving in a ministry /find a cellgroup to join for married couples
2. Sign up for yoga lesson once a week
3. Start some teaching lessons in RC with my cousin.

Christmas 2008!

2008-12-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone. May everyone of you out there have a joyous celebration this year with your love ones.

As for me,on the eve of Xmas, I had spent my time with the Shermans to be part of their family tradition to bake sugar cookies. I am terribily thrilled, just because I thought it would always be fun to do something together with the family especially I am away from home this year. While I was looking at Crosswalk devotional before I went to bed last night,I was reminded the purpose of celebrating Christmas. Amidst all those shopping and gifts,the coming and the birth of Jesus Christ is the biggest salvation to all mankind on this special day.Today as I wake up and celebrate the first coming of the Lord, like a new beginning, I thank god for all the wonderful blessing and amazing journey he has been with me for the past year. It has been trialing but looking back and seeing how how much I have grown personally and with others, I knew I wouldn't come so far without his strength and help.Thank you, my abba....

"He who came as a lowly man to serve will assuredly come to take the reward of His service. He who came to suffer will not be slow in coming to reign. This is our glorious hope, for we shall share His joy." ( Faith Checkbook, December 25th 2008)

Winter Bliss

2008-12-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

Trying to slow down myself after the past year of being on the move all the time--balancing work and study and pushing myself to my limits. Today was awesome. I walked the dogs in the park and enjoyed the afternoon winter sun. I listened to the Christmas Carols playing at the background and losing myself in the kitchen working on the Martha Steward baking recipes.I fed my little nephew with his little cute bottle.It has been a long long long time since I did all this. What a great feeling!Tommorow is Christmas Eve...I am excited.

Teachers College New York

2008-12-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

Redang 2008

2008-12-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

A quiet heart needs moulding

2008-11-16T05:19:00.000-08:00

"Determining the right time to wean depends on the child and the parent but when the time comes, weaning involves withholding from the child what he wants, but no longer needs. God often withholds things we want but do not need, in order to change our appetites. This is not meant to inflict anxiety or pain, but to mature us and prepare us for the next level in our walk with Him. Too often we want life to be easy and comfortable. We don’t want to grow up and face responsibilities. But that would lead to stunted development. We forget that growth and maturity are almost always forged through some type of hard work or difficultly." quoted from (Olsen, Rachel Proverbs 31 Ministry,14 November )

Redeemer

2008-11-09T23:15:00.000-08:00

A powerful and inspirational song by Nicole Mullen that always stirred up my heart. Thank you god for creating who I am and redeeming all my sins on the cross.

I found my treasure:)

2008-10-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

I suddenly felt like looking at my wedding pictures and I realised I lost my link. I decided to go to Nick's website to have a look at guess what,he put up out thank you card as the testimony and all my wedding pictures on his site!Opps.Well for those who have been wanting to have a look at my wedding pictures since like 1.5 years ago, here are there...enjoy..I miss being an excited bride.

Cultural Revolution ( Part 1)

2008-10-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

A documentary film by Hu Jie about Bian Zhongyun, vice-principal of the Girls Middle School attached to Beijing Normal University, who was beaten to death by students early in the Cultural Revolution. Includes extensive commentary by her husband.
"Though I am gone"
Watch this when you are ready or in the day, I watched this at about 11pm and I went to sleep with a burden heart.
Asia Society

The 30s and 40s

2008-10-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

I wanted to blog this down because I felt so loved by god!

I met a nice Singaporean family from my BSF group and this nice lady has been taking care of me like a mother. Just over the weekend, she knew that it was hard for me to travel around New Jersey without a car. She offered to bring me to the Chinese Supermarket, an international market and then we went to my favorite supermarket TRADER JOE to get groceries. She also wanted to pick me up after church every sunday because she knew how infrequent the bus was on Sunday and I always had to take two hours to travel back from church to home even though they were pretty near.Of course I kindly declined even though she kept insisting. We chatted for three hours, i felt so great!! I like to always hang around with older woman because I felt they were so wise and there were so much to learn from their experiences. Their stories encouraged me to become a more stronger and mature woman. Now I began to realise that I have this tendency to join the woman's group which was for the mid 30s and early 40s because I just like to hear and share how these woman balance family and work, serve their husbands,children and be committed in church and social activities.They are such caring,capable and positive women who are so zealous of life that I look upon them as mentor.Some things about these woman who are so mature and stable that I am find it very attractive..

Anyway back to this Nice Auntie ( I don;t like to use Auntie because she is not Auntie at all), upon hearing that I have a stomach flu yesterday and have been staying at home because I have been vomitting, guess what, she asked her daughther to drop me at an email to say that she had left a box of curry and the BSF notes in the conceige. When I went and picked up the stuff,my heart felt snuzzy wuzzy. I felt so loved with the box of cooked curry nicely wrapped in a plastic bag and the bsf notes carefully wrapped in a plastic sheet. You can feel how attentive her little nice gesture were. I sent an email to her daughter, ming , who by the way was one of my fellow colleague at Teachers College ( Is such a small world..really)to thank her so much.This family is so sweet. God really knows how to place the right people at the right time in my life when I need it. Knowing this family recently really made my move back to New Jersey much more comforting and heart-warming. I felt almost wanting to burst out into tears.HE really provides!

In addition, my lovely friend from school just dropped me a card before she left.
In the card,it said," Hello! how are you doing? Well I see you often in the class but never got to share, so I decided to write. haha How's everything? how's your family ? How's your place in NJ? Well just wanted to say" hi" Love you in Christ, K. Isn't that sweetest thing you can ever receive?????I really really really felt so loved by god and his people. Seriously, two people showed me their love when I felt so sucky these few days....oh my gowd! God love me so much!

And then, this morning, I told my good friend,S. in mid 30s and said I felt very blessed to know her and thank her for everything she has done for me. Yes, she has been superb in helping me sorting out some logistic stuff during this period of time. No complaints, always ready to help and yes, I feel that she is always so available when I need to talk. Gosh....can you believe a mother of 2 with work to juggle and making me feel like she is always there...isn't that incredible?? I think I really have to give her a big treat to her and another woman in her mid forties..hehhe ( whom I will reveal more when the time comes)If this thing ever fall through, I feel god really has a plan for everyone.

So all these 30s and 40s woman appearing in my life and us becoming good friends, I thought to myself: god is indeed good...HE is indeed preparing me for my next stage of life as I approached my 30 and starting to have my own children. He showed me good role models...role models that I always aspire for: To be always ready to serve,care and love and invest in people's life because you never know how your little gesture can be of help to someone.

Thank you my lord,in the midst of uncertainty, there is calmness, love, assurance and comfort from you whom I only know can provide so timely.

My Hubba Hubs....

2008-09-04T04:39:00.000-07:00

If u believe it, this is my first time doing such test about BB....let me see how many did i strike?

1. He’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Soccer

2. You’re out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?He eats salad more in the states or whenever when we are out eating angmoh food in Singapore which is rare. But if there is the occasion,Italian Vinegerette or Asian Sesame Dressing to go!

3. What’s one food he doesn’t like?
Liver.Durian.Any food I like extremely, he doesn't like!!We are opposite.

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order?Any kind of beer!?Favorite any thing that is smooth and not Tiger.

5. Where did he go to high school?
ACS

6. What size shoe does he wear?

10? Am I right?

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?

He loves comics in the past and now he collects a lot of manga and animations CDs. He is a super huge fan of Fantasy books. He has a huge collection of it,some part of it...i have resold them on ebay because they were taking too much space when we were in the states. Am I mean or not??hehhe

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?

Ramy burger??heheh and anything that is huge with meat to fill his big appetite.No pickle and not much cheese especially goat cheese and blue cheese.

9. What would this person eat every day if he could?

Pasta and any kind of flavored rice!

10. What is his favourite cereal?

cornflakes with raisins?

11. What would he never wear?

He is pretty open to wearing anything but not a dress,g-string or tight briefs.Hahha

12. What is his favourite sports team?

Liverpool

13. Who will he vote for?

Secret.

14. Who is his best friend?

I guess me ...Hahaha

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?

Getting messy and unorganised or getting moody once in a blue moon

16. How many cities/countries has he lived in?

Singapore,America

17. What is his heritage?
Hainanese like me!!!Yeah

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?

I never bake him a cake on his birthday.Hhehehe but I bake cakes on a regular basis. Betty crocker chocolate,butter ,carrot and lots of muffins and cookies...all those that are fast and speedy to do...hehehhe

19. Did he play sports in high school?
Soccer,basketball,and did i tell u he is a dragonboater when he is in JC..ahhahah

20. What could he spend hours doing?
Playing games and hitting balls at golf courseHaha

Growing up.

2008-08-14T02:44:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine how I went thru my uni days back in NTU. Just today, while visiting NIE, I am thinking how on earth had I survived my three years in NTU.Thankfully, living in hostel had salvaged my traveling journey back then.

I felt really nostalgic being on the campus itself. The landscape still had a tinge of familiarity but on close scrutiny, there were a lot of new changes. Brand new blocks of hostels, a new research centre for the engineering school and being in NIE itself was different compared to the old days of dusty coridoors,WIP landscapes and inadequate facilities. I am so impressed by how things had changed .
Time flew,new changes, new improvements.

Walking through the coridoors of the academic professors' office seemed to remind me of how I went and visited my professor for the many meetings in his office with my group mates to refine our final year project. A bit de javu. But 7 years have passed by, this time round, I am meeting my friends who were lecturing there to seek career advice.

Looking at the young graduates who were rushing for tutorials and lectures, I just suddenly felt I had grown older. I was once that young!

Neigh....goes the Riders Cafe

2008-08-13T05:45:00.000-07:00

So my dear friend, Susan ,knew that I had been wanting to check out cool hang out areas in Singapore and kindly brought me to the Riders Cafe at the Saddles' Club for lunch. I love that place!It is situated in the lush greenery where you can spend a relaxing time chit chatting with your frens and be amused by an odd horse trotting by. Riders Café has a rare, rustic charm to it, considering the concrete jungle called Singapore in which we live. This casual eatery is in good stead for a successful future as long as it maintains its quaint and cosy allure.Food serve is excellent although I think is a bit pricey for a lunch menu. I will definitely visit it again for is relaxing ambience.Thanks Susan for this wonderful recommendation

Toothpaste,soymilk and exfoliator=love?

2008-08-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

R:I had some presents for you
Me:What?
R:Here,take a look..
I rummaged through the the NTUC plastic bag and found my favorite soymilk and also an exfoliator for bathing and new tooth paste.

I was grinning almost to heaven.Not that i had given instruction to him to help me buy the stuff. Since I am going to be back for just a month, I had not been on top of things and had been taking it really easy.That included compromising with my daily necessities such as drinking my favorite soymilk,my bathing toiletries.
Babyface was thoughtful to drop by the NTUC on his way back home to buy these stuff for me.Sweet.Sometimes, the smallest things in life can really made you happy.Thanks,babe.

Who builds the house?

2008-07-23T20:42:00.001-07:00

Just resting in the lord and knowing that he will provide all we ever need even when we learn to rest can be comforting.

Knowing that I need to constantly learn to depend and worship in him in my marriage and family and other areas of my life,

Knowing that he will always prepare me to be a good wife, daughter, daughter in law,sister and friend

Knowing that nobody but HIM will constantly provide me with the right seasons of rest where there will be gifts like physical /emotional recovery and spritual wisdom and vision, away from anxiety and worry, away from all the little snippets of fear that seeped into the many facets of life,

Knowing that I can always trust that he loves and always provide.

Thank you god that you are the one who builds the house.They labour in vain who build it.(Psalm 127:1)

Unless the lord builds the house

Prayer for Marriage

2008-06-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

Prayer for Marriage
Kay Arthur

(Excerpted from Prayers to Bless Your Marriage. Copyright © 2003 by Kay Arthur. Used by permission of Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. All rights reserved.)

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1

Earlier, we began a "Prayer for Marriage." Beloved, whether you're newlyweds just beginning to travel the road of life together or if you've been married for many years, learning to talk to your spouse can enrich your life and deepen the bonds of your marriage. God is the master communicator, and we can come to Him to be instructed and taught in the art of communicating effectively with the one He has given us. Let's continue this prayer:

Father, whenever we communicate, help us to uphold the priority of our marriage, permitting no other relationship to weaken ours. May the word "divorce" never be formed on our tongue, never pronounced with our lips. May it never be considered as a viable option-for it strikes terror in the heart, fear and anger in the mind, and anxiety to our souls. And it grieves Your holy heart.

May we always, in all our conversations, uphold the oneness of our marriage, understanding that what affects one always affects the other.

May we allow open and honest communication, encourage vulnerability and authenticity. May we never be guilty of breaking each other's spirit. Rather, may we affirm and strengthen one another so that together we can endure any weakness, any failure and not lose hope.

Father, help us to sharpen our communication skills. Teach us to communicate with our eyes-to convey our delight in the other's presence, to say, "I love you," to let our loved one know even in a crowded room, "You're special to me." Remind us to give each other the gift of our full attention when we talk.

Teach us to respond to what is said so that our mate knows he or she is being heard. Help us to keep a confidence, to build a wall of trust so that we are free to share all that is in our hearts. And as we listen, Lord, help us to avoid giving quick or pat answers. Help us to listen patiently. Remind us that our loved one does not always want advice. Sometimes we just want to be heard; to say it, and to get it off our chest.

Father, may we feel the freedom to open up and share our fears. Sometimes it is so difficult to admit weakness or fear, but we need to be able to talk to someone—and of all people, it should be our spouse. May we also know that we don't always have to dispel each other's fear-nor should we think we must have the cure. May we just learn to listen. . .listen and pray.

Father, we all need to have that sense of significance, of worth, of security, so teach us to continually look for ways, for words in private and in public, to build our loved one's self-esteem. When one of us shares with the other, may we learn not to attack each other verbally. May the goal of all our conversations be for the building up of one another, the healing of one another, and the encouragement of one another so our loved one will want to talk, to communicate. May our words never be demeaning or destructive.

And finally, Father, when our tempers flare, may we make it a practice not to lay our heads on our pillows and close our eyes until we have resolved our anger. You tell us very clearly, "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity."

As we look at the one lying on the pillow beside us, may we remember that this is the one to whom we made our vows to love in sickness and in heath, for richer or poorer, for better or worse until death do us part.

Help us realize, Father, that a marriage like the one we prayed for is a marriage that speaks to all the world of the power and indestructible joy of living in obedience to the Word of God. A marriage that demonstrates to the world that with You it is possible to have a marriage without regrets; a marriage that gives others a snapshot of the marriage of the Lamb and the heavenly home You have prepared for us.

Retrived from crosswalk

We are united as one!

2008-06-26T22:38:00.000-07:00

We are a team and the best partners!Thanks for being an awesome man of god!I can shoulder all your burdens through Christ!

Today's reflection on marriage refreshed on how I can serve and love BB more. I thought these 3 questions are good reminders for the wives:

1. What did I love about my husband when we meet?
My answer:
His steadfastness
HIs honesty
His integrity
His generosity
His patience
His gentleness
His compassion
His openess
His adventurous
His determination
His humility
( Wohoho.coming up with this list is effortless, BB)

2. When will I make time for him today?
Through prayers in devotionals

3.How can I show him that I love him?
By being a very good active listener ( WIP)
Be always encouraging and supportive in all things
Cook nice meals
Build a warm and organized home for him

Dollar weak, more visitors for me ..hoho

2008-06-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

Backtracking to Kenneth's visit two weeks ago. We were at Brooklyn bridge and had the best pizza in NYC-Grimaldi.
Clear sign of the US dollars going weaker and the economy going into recession---More visitors for me from Singapore!!Wohoho. More to come.

Susan Koman Breast Cancer Run

2008-06-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

On June 7th, I took a cheap chinatown bus and went down to DC Washington to visit Steve and Carol. I also took this opportunity to take part in the nation wide Susan Koman Breast Cancer Run. There were about 250 thousand runners that day and with the temperature hitting high at 40 degree celsius and relative high humidity, the initial start to the run was unbearable. But, knowing that I am running for a good cause ( all donations will be proceeded to Breast Cancer Research), I persevered. Along the way, there were a few times i wanted to stop.( I am not a good runner)But I thought about how mum had battled the fight and finished the race.And I realised I needed to run with "good faith" as well.So I kept visualizing that I would hit the finishing line and try to overcome this mental barrier. I am glad I did! Steve felt bad that he did not get me the pink shirt which said,"in memory of your love ones". I told him that its absolute alright. Because i felt it was not about the "physical material" but was the "spritual" that was more important. I felt her presence, her indomitable spirit when I ran.
She would always be with me wherever I go.
Pictures

After all

2008-06-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

Can't get over the song " After all".
Listen to the lyrics clearly and really want to make you cry.Video of the movie" Notebook" and Peter Cetera

Plus 1 again!Surprise Surprise

2008-06-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

So I am officially one year older on June 11th!!
BB made a video for me.Guess what's my initial reaction.
Me: Hey how come you put in all the fat and ugly pictures ??
BB: Hahah...Now it proved that I did not go by looks
Me: The video is not accurate. We had a longer history than that and they are not in chronological order...
BB: hahah,hey i can't put everything in lah..the file is too big to send over to you
Me: We definitely went more places than that..and also resolution very bad
BB: You come back and I show u the one on desktop
Me: And the words disappear too fast, I can't see some of them
BB: Mmmm....

Of course I ended off something nice..but not that nice as well
Me: Thanks anyway babyface...really appreciate it....though i think u copy my idea of doing a scrapbook for you on your birthday except yours is digital. ( competitive side of me emerging)
BB: Sigz.

hahah, can't believe I am so anal and notice so many things about the video. Actually, I am very thankful for this video because BB usually would not do such "creative" stuff so I really appreciate him for making an attempt amidst his busy schedule.As such, my acts of appreciation are:
WATCH THE WHOLE VIDEO FOR 15 TIMES CONSECUTIVELY
REPEATING THE LAST PART OF THE VIDEO WITH THE SONG "AFTER ALL" FOR 20 TIMES
TEARING AND USING UP TISSUE PAPER WHEN I THINK OUR JOURNEY WAS EXACTLY WHAT " AFTER ALL DESCIBE"
SEND HIM MULITPLE EMAILS AND BOMB HIM WITH MY SUDDEN SURGE OF APPRECIATION AND FEELINGS AFTER WATCHING THE VIDEO

And then, my friends gave me a surprise birthday celebration. I am so terribly touched and it really surprise me coz since young, I always prefer to be low key about birthday celebration. I had this weird phobia of people singing birthday song for me and hate to be the center of attention. So when I stepped into the room without realising anything, I was so surprise that I was almost speechless. Felt almost like a celebrity!Watch this video:
I just keep rattling on nonsensical stuff,mentioning how well Erica has lied through the entire thing.( Erica and I were suppose to just have a dinner plan together and she even made me dressed up. I guess I blend in with the hawai theme in the end. Notice how dark I am now...super duper hot now..39-40 degrees celsius )
I am so thankful that my friends made an effort to spend time to come up with a mini party for me. Totally unxpected!!And all the efforts in making the decoration,ripping my facebook profile picture, flowers, ballons, good spread of food and drinks and baking my first personal cake!!Seriously, I am almost move to tears!!Nobody has baked a cake for me before. And Vera took 6 hours to bake that super duper delicious cake. I am seriously touched.
Thank you my dear friends. You guyz had made such a memorable birthday for me this year. The past year has been rough but you guyz have been such a good support. I am so thankfulthat I met you all!!
More pictures here

Eagles Concert

2008-06-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Alright,my first concert in Madison Square Garden !Eagles Rock! Crowd was definitely different,I am almost one of the youngest there!But they were so good that i wished I had learn guitar and jammed their songs. Gosh,so good...and sad to say, my camera ran out of battery and I managed to find some videos online which were very close to the one I am attending.Enjoy Desparado and Hotel Califonia...Don Henley Rocks!

James' farewell

2008-06-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

We had another farewell gathering for James who would be leaving for a mission to Japan in two days time. Oh well...it seemed like people in our small group as what Bob had described were all around the world doing mighty works of the kingdom. First with Jane traveling to Honululu for her discipleship training and then a year mission in Southeast Asia, now James in Japan working with the high school students ministry and soon in later part of the year, Theresa will be in Jordan, Julie will be in North Korea and Bob will be in Australia!! I am so encouraged by my brothers and sisters.They really took a leap of faith and stepped out of the comfort zone to serve the lord and his people. SO lord,I prayed that you will bless my brothers and sisters while they are out of the mission fields with good health, boldness to reach out to people through your love and spritual discipline to keep rooted in your word.I also asked you to open doors of opportunities for me to serve you in any way in your timing.Prepare my heart,soul and mind as you geared me up for the work which you have prepared for me.Amen.p.s James just sent all of us his latest updates on his prayer request.In order to help us to remember what to pray for him, he sent us a wallpaper to remind us his requests:

Summer Central Park Walk

2008-06-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

You can imagine how much I love Central Park.Here I am with my friends again!This time round, with a change in weather, I started wearing my flowy sundresses and skimmers to get ready for the hot swaltering weather.Another reason for me to dress up for the season!Yeah!

Columbia Picnic

2008-06-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming. I love it because I love the sun!! We had been counting down to good weather everyday and with temperature hitting the 70s, we knew we had to head outdoors to enjoy the fabulous weather. As such,we went for our first picnic.We brought picnic mat, some home cooked fried rice and curry.YP brought her MAC along to play some Joshua Bell music.We happily lounged under a shady tree on the campus and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.CS and me dozed off after attempting to read our books while YP was busy working on her work.Ooohhh....I love having picnic and spending my time like this. This indeed is simple life pleasure.I want to do more of this!A picture of me feeling really please of myself during the picnic and after a run along Riverside Park before that..

Commencement 2008

2008-05-24T22:39:00.001-07:00

So on May 20th, some of the Singaporeans graduated. LC and WY finally finished their final lapse of the 5 years doctoral studies at TC. We had a mini farewell gathering for them to celebrate as LC would be going back to NIE to take on her new role in the insitution and WY would continue to stay on in NYC to look for a job. I had so much admiration for the two of them. I always wondered how did they handle balancing family and work. Especially WY who have two young toddlers to take care. Mind you when you are staying overseas, there's no such thing as maids as it's super costly to hire one.I always felt that doctorate students were always so focused, disciplined, capable and organized.This was something which I had observed and admired. You certainly need these qualities when you will be investing 5 years of your life,financial resources. Will I ever be ready for it if I decide to go into academia or will I still prefer to work in the front line with the children?

Food and Singaporeans

2008-05-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

CS just tagged me this photo taken during the semester. When Singaporeans gathered, there's always food.This kind of reminded me of college days when you would hang around in the hostel, cooked and talked and then stayed up in the wee hours to study.It's still the same even when you are in grad school.

I miss the BBQ

2008-05-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

I missed home and the activities I did with him and my family. Looking at these photos from Ian's website reminded me of how we first did our first bbq at my in-laws' place several years before he left for the states. How fun to have a few friends over and have a nice catch up.It felt kinda of weird that I am not around but at the same time, there was this sense of peace and joy to see that he and his family were doing well back home.Thank god for that.

Apple Crumble-Healthy Snack for everyday living

2008-05-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

Recipe:
For the lower layer:
6 cups of fruits
2 tablespoon of water
2 teaspoon lemon juice
Cinnamon ( vary according to your liking)
For the topping:
1 cup of oats
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter(softened)
Direction:
Bake 350F for about 25-35minutes.

Spring 2008 in NYC

2008-05-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

He was here for a week in the city!!I am so elated after three months of not seeing him. I am like recharged in the arms of love, soaring freely like an eagle,and zesty like a lemon. New York City is even more perfect with him around. We simply lazed around the Central Park for almost few days of the week, marveling at the cherry blossoms, oogling at the hot joggers around the Charles Dana,listening to the jazz band playing in the greens and just simply enjoying the warm weather!!I love Spring. Central Park is so beautiful...Alright back to mugging.another 2 days to go before I am free and start my summer vacation!!

A hike in somewhere near Paterson,NJ

2008-05-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Young was kind enough to invite us to his house for his birthday party. We had a huge barbeque with party games and a group hike out in the woods!!I missed the fresh air so much!!I am a country girl for sure...

Frank Sinatra - Fly Me to the Moon Lyrics

2008-04-03T21:55:00.001-07:00

The children sang it so well that I wanted to look at the lyrics further!!Did not know that the lyrics are so romantic!!Completely smitten by Frank Sinatra

Amazing!

2008-03-19T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hahah, god is so amazing. Sometimes, he just wanted to test if you would take a leap of faith and guess what this morning, 6 people turned up unexpectedly at her event and she did not need me to make up the numbers!!Hoo Hoo..that means even though I have to wake up early to go with her, I am now in the library working on all the assignments. Spring break doesn't look like a break at all!Thank god for making everything work for us and teach me a good lesson on putting others priorities above yours when somebody whom you are not close really need your help!Lord, you certainly have your own ways!:)

Dilemma

2008-03-18T22:19:00.001-07:00

God tested me today! Will I put other person 's interest above my priorities when I knew that by helping her, I will end up miserable and stress for the next few days?
Guess what is the decision. I did
Is so hard to come to this decision.My heart is unwilling but I am still going
God must have been so amazing to die on the cross for sinners just like me, someone whom he din even meet before.Can I do the same to someone who isn't close to me any all?

Yinan and Joshua

2008-03-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

8 March 2008

Yinan has left Beijing to join Lei. I can't believe how fast that was. Well, I remembered two years ago, when we were in NYC for a short summer vacation, we were in their apartment for two months. We ski with them in Vermont and had great hot pot prepared by Lei. Gosh, they were such a sweet couple. And now she is returning to Beijing to join Lei who has chosen to work in Goldman Sacs in China. Sad. One lesser friend whom I got along well in NYC. I wish you guyz all the best in your endeavors back home.

On another note, the evening concert in Carnegie Hall with Yvonne turned out splendid and made my day!Just because we did not expect that a student rush $15 dollars ticket,would allow us to watch the top American classical violinist, Joshua Bells, live in performance in Carnegie Hall.

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal
Kent Nagano, Music Director and Conductor
Joshua Bell, Violin

DEBUSSY Le martyre de St. Sébastien: Symphonic Fragments
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto
UNSUK CHIN Rocaná (US Premiere)
SCRIABIN The Poem of Ecstasy

Encores:
CORIGLIANO Excerpts from "The Red Violin"
BIZET Farandole from L’Arlésienne

KNICKS vs DETROIT

2008-03-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

7 March 2008

Okies I am not exactly a KNICKS fan. But since I am in NYC, I might as well be. But then, what a let down after all the efforts of getting a ticket to go to Madison Square Garden to watch them in a stormy rainy night!! After a close fight, they lost two points to the PISTON from Detroit. Alright, but it was fun just watching a live match in MSQ. The neon lights, the sound effects, the great band and cheerleaders and the whole roaring crowd made your adrenaline rush. Is an experience but I am not sure I will be back for another round of KNICKS game. Maybe if there is a L.A Lakers or Chicago Bulls,I might watch it again. Just to reminisce the old days in high school when I would only watch NBA because there were Michael Jordan and etc.Well, all for the thrill of it for a cheap ticket and an experience in MSQ. Anyway, the Singaporeans are going for Alicia Key's concert in June in MSQ. Dank!They would have so much fun!

True Discipleship Celebration

2008-03-14T21:05:00.000-07:00

2 March 2008

I felt really lifted up when we have the True Discipleship Celebration on the Sunday two weeks ago. It is a mid term progress celebration for all the four groups who have been doing the book on Gospel Transformation. A time to share testimonies and how the past half a year fellowship and exercises in the book have been withnessed in each other's life. It was great just seeing how everyone is lifted up by the studies. Great evening just immersing and spending time with these brothers and sisters in Christ even though there were tons of assignments undone yet.

Sese in NYC!

2008-03-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

1 March 2008

Sherine was here in NYC for her business trip over the weekend and we met up and I stayed over at her suite in Ritz Carlton for two nights. It was such fun meeting your secondary school fren and catching up on the silly stuff ever. I felt so sad when she had to leave. It was always nice to have someone familiar and endearing to you from home. I wish she can stay here for a longer period of time. Anyway,it was nice catching up with her and withnessing all her shopping treats along Saks Fifth Ave. Thanks babe for being such a dear fren. I wish I could be a better host in the midst of all these circumstances.I pray that whatever you wish for could come true. No worries and be happy.

Singaporeans' Evening with Bach

2008-03-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

An evening with Bach and Baroque pastoral at Miller theatre tonight with the Singaporeans. I love going to concerts!!!They made me whuzzy fuzzy.
My favories:
Sinfonia from Christmas Oratorio,Part 2
Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum from mass in B minor
MAche Dich,mein Herze rein from St Matthew Passion
Schafe Konnen ischer Weiden from Cantata No 208
Erbarme Dich from St Matthew Passion
Concerto in D major : La Pastoella by Antonion Vilvadi
Le {reintems from Les saisons amusantes by Vilvaldi

I want to be refine..

2008-02-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

REFINER

These [trials] have come so that your faith—
of greater worth than gold,
which perishes even though refined by fire—
may be proved genuine and may result in praise.
1 Peter 1:7

FROM THE FATHER'S HEART
My child, if I never allowed your faith to be tested, and if I never turned up the heat, how would you experience My deliverance? Would you settle for a dull finish, or would you rather reflect My light? Hold My hand tightly. We’ll walk through the fire together.

A GRATEFUL RESPONSE
Who wants to go through the fire, Lord? Yet, even in the hottest flames, You are with me. Sometimes it hurts when the outside layers are burned away. And just when I think I can stand it no longer, I see gold, Lord. I praise You for what I am becoming in Jesus. Thank You for being my refiner.

SIMPLE TRUTH

Whatever comes my way has already passed God’s inspection.

Will you be my Valentine?

2008-02-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

I like the artistic class I am taking.
Seriously made us reflect on our personal artistic autobiography.
Today, in class, we had to compose a song.I made a silly Valentine song with another of my classmate. My friend said the song seemed to be depicting what I am going through...I guess sooo...So here is a revise version of "My Bonnie" Lyrics inspiration: We were supposed to include the few candies which have words imprinted on them.

My lover boy, send me an email
My lover boy,said he missed me
My lover boy, asked if I love him
I said yes of course,I love you
Hug me and kiss me
When will I ever see you again?
Hug me and kiss me and
Only you be in my heart.

So i came back and sang eagerly my new composed song to my lover boy and on top of that I sent him two links: Praying through the deeper issues of lifeand How husband can inspire romance in the marriage which i thought were good.

These were my Valentine gifts for him.

If you have realized.....

2008-02-02T21:46:00.001-08:00

that i have not posted a lot of my pictures ..that's because our camera was down and it was time to get a new one. Well,trying to search for a new one because I really need one to take all the pictures of the classrooms which I have visited.Did I tell you the sweetest thing over this weekend was the children from MSC was so welcoming and loving to me even though I have not seen them from my last visit to the class? L ,my 5 year old who had slight physical delay came up to me and asked if I was sick. I was shocked that she knew and reckoned that the cooperating teacher has done a great job in keeping the kids in touch with me.She gave me a hug and said that she was sick and hoped that I was well. Then she went on and told me that she was sick but she still came to school. I was embarrassed. After a while, she came up to me and gave me another hug again, and said she wanted to invite me to her bday. I was so touched. Coz I had not seem this class for like one month and they still remember me!!!
Plus, A.,F.,and D. were really such sweet children, sharing their life with me.You know what, it is always interesting to talk to children coz u can never underestimate how much they have known at such a young age.One child said," I had no daddy but I had two mummies," . Another child said," We are not from the same father. She is my step sister. The third child said," I am Chinese even though my parents are Caucasions and American,"The fourth child said," I have a lot of play dates with my mother but I had very little with my dad. I only went to his house on weekends. i wish I had more time with him," It might struck you for a second if you are not prepared but when such statements came across, you must be quick to respond that all these differences are accepted in the classroom and that they would still be love and accepted by the teacher. That's the whole thing about accepting diversity is all about, accepting children of dfferent backgrounds, colors,social economic class, gender ,race and special needs and allowing them to feel integrated and be part of the classroom.They are all perfect in our eyes,When they told you such things, these information added to your pool of knowledge of finding ways of devising better instructional methods and designing curriculum taking into the context of their social cultural background.

With such a key important piece in mind, today's outreach in Patterson( a building across the local jail) with the Hispanic and African American kids made me want to read up more about them. I went for Hannah;s mission for the first day and I would be going on a regular basis to spend some time fellowshiping with them. Honestly, I am not sure of their family backgrounds but just culturally, i realized I have a bit of barrier initially of approaching them especially when I have known that they might be from low income families and I needed to be sensitive to it. But during the praise session, guess what, I told myself that I have to remove my" color lenss" and just be initiative and positive with them. They turned out to be such sweet children,seriously!! I pray god will use me to help children in anyway HE wants me to do,especially children with special needs and low income family. It just warmed my heart,knowing that their lives will have beautiful memories of having someone caring and loving them and impacting the way they see this world.

CNY 2008 : Year of the Mickey mouse

2008-02-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

I realized I have grown to be so much dependent on him over the past few years that his absence do make such a huge difference to my life. As much as I am super busy with my schedule, there were times when I thought if it was nice to have him around.On friday, i can't believe I felt so accomplish by crossing out my checklist. After student teaching in the MSC,I went to Cathedral Parkway to do grocery shopping at West side and then went to the bank and did my check deposits.After which I went back to my room, did some reading,went to the gym in the midst of the heavy rain and had a great workout. I felt so great at the end of the day. I wondered when was the last time I had been so independent. I guess it was about 1.5 years ago before we were married. Working out was great for me especially I had not touch the gym for the last half a year .My new fitness schedule is out. I am going to sign out for pilates class,swim once a week and hit the gym once a week, all in all three times per week of exercise.

On top of that, a lot of baking and cooking with the fellow singaporeans. In fact, we just had our CNY celebration just now. It was fun. We did silly stuff competing to find positive stuff to say during "lao yu shen," ,ate Singaporean food and found someone who graduated from Harvard who was as passionate as me in ECCE.So we went on chatting hours and hours on early childhood eduation which made me felt so fired up.

And that explained why I am so awoke at this late hour typing this entry.There were so many things to give thanks for this week. Truely blessed to have such great support while he is gone and god revealing to me little encouragements in this period of uncertainty. Just a while ago, he threw me the verse from 1 thessolanian 1:3-10. I was encouraged by them that they kept their faith in times of trouble and rejoice in the holy spirit which inturn become an encouragement to others.I must start believing even more firmly that all these things will turn out to be good.

Spring semester

2008-01-28T21:06:00.001-08:00

School started last week and it was another semester of "chionging" for all the courses. Each time, when things get a little tougher, I will remind myself how god has blessed me with this oportunity and how he wants me to use this knowledge to bless other people. I should be thankful of it and should be perservering in pursuing it. I realised that no matter what circumstances you are in, having a group of supportive friends do help you to pull through. But nothing beats being back home, having a little hug and kiss from the one you love so dearly. I started missing him already.This semester will be a life changing experience for me again. Truely,when you learn to battle each day, you grow stronger as a person.Isn't that wonderful?

When he is not there

2008-01-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

You never know till u experience it.
I know that for sure LOVE is the greatest thing of all.
Nothing on earth beats LOVE
In the days ahead, I know there will be no one moment which I will be unsure of what to choose.And I know LOVE is the greatest thing of all.

We have become parents of...

2008-01-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Mr Sadam. Okies. I am not kidding. I forgot to blog about this on Christmas Eve because of all the shifting again. He is 10 years old from Uganda, a country in Africa which is severely impacted HIV/ AIDS. In his community, AIDs has wiped out the whole generation of hardworking adults.Frightened children and exhausted grandparents rarely have money for food,school or medical care.My Sadam is in primary school and he enjoys Math. He helps at home by carrying water and likes to play ball games. He lives with his grandmother, 1 brother and 2 sister and is in satisfactory health.The reason we choose Sadam is because he has only 2 more years to be sponsored. World vision has a rule that all children can be sponsored till they are 12 years old.We made a commitment of contributing US $40 dollars each month to help him gain access to basic needs and learn about God's unconditional love for him. Despite being financially unstable ourselves, we think that coming up with 40 dollars is still within our means.Come to think of it. If you set aside 10 dollars each week, cut down on your minature expenditure on earrings,games and food, this amount is enough to save these children in these countries. I therefore urge you to do the same.Please click on this link to

WORLDVISION

find out more information on child sponsorship. You can also write to your child and visit him if you want. One day,if is in HIS will, I will love to to go to Uganda to visit Sadam.
"For we are God's masterpiece.He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

I have a feeling we are going to win...

2008-01-05T13:22:00.001-08:00

The bid of Youth Olympics 2010!!!Okies.I really love Singapore alot especially after being away for a while and i think is a fantastic city to live in.I am always so proud of it and think is a blessing to be part of this world class city.I can't descibe to you the reactions of the people whom I have met when I told them I am a Singaporean. They would always go," That's a wonderful place." " I wish to work and live there."

Singapore is one of the candidate city for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. We’re already shortlisted as the top 5 countries who will be vying for the chance to host the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010 and guess what, the recent update shows that we are second behind Moscow. Just SECOND. And this means that we have a high chance of hosting YOG 2010.

Won’t we feel proud about having Youth Olympic right here in Singapore, in 2010? Support the bid.

Miss Martha,Donna and Mr Jamie

2008-01-04T08:32:00.001-08:00

I have been really spending my time just oggling at all those nice recipes I have seen on the cookbooks.That day, I spent 5 hours in Barnes and Nobles browsing through all the cookbooks and taking down recipes.(One of my luxuries of spending hours at the bookstore during the winter break)I am so tempted to get all these books but I am worried to carry them all around with me especially we are moving around for this period of time. The
Martha Stewart Bake Book is really a fantastic book for an amature like me.Donna hay's classics have been great as well. One thing I like about all these books is they are really detailed in their description of the kind of ingredients,equipments and steps used.I think they are fabulous choices for people who want to picking up the fundementals of cooking and baking.
And just yesterday, I spent my time watching my favorite chef, Giada De Laurentiis on Foodnetwork. You see, I am especially into Italian food recently since Hubs praised that I have a flair in this area.:) And guess what, I discovered that Jamie Oliver will be starting his home show from Jan 6th onwards.I think Foodnetwork
is gonna be my favourite site and TV station

Thoughts

2008-01-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

Shifted out from our beautiful apartment and residing at Ivan's place in Dover. Very quiet area which i am still adjusting to. Not even a single soul in sight and the only thing you can see is the wiltered trees in the winter. Next week will be fine when we moved back to the city.

Giving thanks for 2007

2007-12-31T14:07:00.000-08:00

January 2007:
I am thankful we have moved back to North Carolina after a fruitful stay in London for 5 months.

February 2007:
I spent Valentine with Hubs finally after a two years break.
I met the nicest mummy I can ever hang out with! Susan and her two kids! I am so thankful that we have built a strong friendship despite such a short encounter. I am even more thankful that we are still in touch and talked often online!
I got myself rooted in the coolest Woman’s bible study group. Rene, my cell group leader has inspired me in so many ways, including housekeeping, baking and cooking!!

March 2007:
I went back to Singapore for a few weeks to spend time with my family and Jessica.
I celebrate hub’s birthday with him

April 2007:
Susie the coolest babe composed the ever best one time hit “A-Z love song” together with me! Thankful for friends who have been so helpful in my wedding preparation.
Thankful for the time I spent taking care of my niece, Shannice

May 2007:
Another chapter of Hub’s life. He graduated from Duke with a MBA and we had great fun with the in- laws when they were visiting us for three weeks and we traveled around in the Southern states
I spent Mother’s day with two great mummies!
I did my first strawberry picking!
I started driving for the longest distance in the states!

June 2007:
We had our traditional wedding in Shang finally! I did my first public performance and speech after 10 years!!
We had a family honeymoon in Phuket!
Spent time with Jess who left us for a greater other world.

July 2007:
Ron started his job in the Wallstreet.
I enjoyed my last few weeks of my “taitai” life.
We had great apartment with nice Manhatten view.

August 2007:
MUAK opened!!
Susie was here in NYC with me and Ronald. She was such a great comfort!
I met Cindy and she was another great lady whom I can relate to !

September 2007:
Began my dream in Columbia! Pursue my passion. Work in RGC. Met wonderful Singaporean friends and International friends.

October 2007:
Settled down in a American Korean Church and met more wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ.
Met Susan who drove up from North Carolina

November 2007:
Thankful for the surprise scholarship!
Thankful that god is with us in the midst of all trials and continued providence to encourage us.
A great Boston trip.

December 2007:
Private carolling and christmas quiz with hubs!
Wonderful Singaporean and cell group frens who helped us in moving.
Wonderful Chinese friends who helped.
Ivan Hohoho who is going to host us for three weeks.

November

2007-12-25T21:46:00.000-08:00

November is still a trying time. Not much news from recruiter even though the man is still under the payroll of the bank. It’s a bad timing in the financial market during this period of time and the hiring is kinda of slow at the end of the year. The Lows were terribly stressed. One with school work and balancing all the responsibilities of a wife. The other with work and career. To make things worse, there was a small minor accident with the car and the Lows had to handle all the traffic tickets and insurance coverage. When things seemed to be going in haywire, you knew god always give you a ray of hope to hang on. First he was gracious through the supportive cell group who had been so encouraging and fervent in their prayers for the Lows. Second, the man and woman’s friends and alumni had been expressing concern and support and had been really sincere to help to reach out to whatever contacts they had. Thirdly, the Low’s family had been just so supportive spiritually. Well, those loving, caring relationships were what kept the Lows sane for this month. You still see them with smiles because they had reached a point when they knew that everything was temporal and transient but what most important was friends and family who stood by you when you were in trouble. Life was certainly as such , isn’t it. The Lows knew that things were pretty out of their own control and they had learned what “total submission” meant at this point of their life. Only the almighty God could make what seemed impossible to be possible now. As such, despite nothing concrete has happened, the Lows decided to continue to trust that the Lord would provide. They continue to do their best and still make an effort to have some small gatherings over at their place for some dinner at times. Life still has to go on for the Lows. They went to Boston for a Thanksgiving and had a good break in that little quaint city for a few days. The woman also went to a church retreat at the ski resort over the last weekend. The Lows kept on praying but of course like all other human beings, sometimes, their flesh gave in to worry and doubt. This was indeed a tough battle to fight.

October

2007-12-25T16:10:00.000-08:00

October is a month when the Lows finally decided to settle down in Joy Christian Fellowship. The church has just opened up its second service in the Cineplex which is just 10min near their place. They find the church very homely and people are welcoming and nice. It is an American Korean Church so the Lows definitely has a fair share of conversation exchanges about Korean drama with their cell members. The pastor’s sermon was structured and easy to comprehend. The Lows decided to join the cellgroup which would be doing a book called “Gospel Transformation”. An excellent book which has been keeping them accountable to doing daily devotionals and keeping track of their spiritual life. Life in NYC was just too hectic sometimes. There were too many things which might distract and keep your focus on the lord. So , it was therefore good that the Lows were going through a book which had tremendous good exercises to work on that helped them to learn about the bible each week. Every Sunday, the Lows will spend almost the whole day involving in the fellowship and service. The Lows think that god has a purpose for everything. Just when they were all settled in the group and their apartment, they were faced with one of the biggest trial which both of them had ever experienced after their marriage. The man’s job was threatened by the Credit Crunch in the US market. This was the last thing they would ever think it could occur them. They were at a lost. The Lows was down for the last week of October. Everything seemed to be thrown in the vast ocean again. The atmosphere at home was no longer cheery. The Lows were thinking about their future, their next step. How could this happen to the Lows since they had been praying about their direction in life. After much praying, the Lows reckoned that this is going to be one trial the lord is putting them to a test. A test to strengthen the marriage even further to survive the ordeal as one, a test for greater faith and obedience in his sovereignty.
Photos of fellowship

September

2007-12-25T16:01:00.000-08:00

School started for the woman in Columbia. She met a few good Singaporean friends and definitely some international frens whom she had gotten along very well. Being out of school for a long time, the woman found it pretty hard for her to get herself organized in such a short period of time. But surprisingly, she did better than she had expected having to juggle working in a school and taking courses. Despite having overloaded herself with 5 courses (which many have warned that it’s going to be intensive but she still go ahead and take it coz the man was told that he might need to transfer to HK anytime), she had managed to survive this semester triumphantly and came out alive!! Well it hasn’t been the best easiest time. She felt she had learned to be very discipline compared to her early days in the year, fully utilizing every second of her life. She learned a lot, seriously for just half a semester. Her mind is constantly challenged by people who shared the same passion as her, people who wanted to make a difference to this world by advocating for the right of a quality education to all children in this world, people who yearn for educational equity, people who were serious about what graduate work is. It was indeed a life time experience for her to be in NYC ,studying in a reputable organization ,learning with so many people from all around the world. She was really thankful for this opportunity. The year ahead continue to be trying as she continued to balance between work and school.

South Street Sea Port

2007-08-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

Chanced upon this when I was waiting for my interview around John Street. I walked across to the other block on Fulton Street and came to this pretty lively place called South Street Sea Port.( Susie, I should have brought you here). Touristy but a nice place to hang around after you got tired of shopping at Century 21 in Lower Manhatten.:)

I am glad I went for the interview . It was a part time tutoring position with this school.I was hesitating coz i did not really want the job. Alright, I mean I kinda of decided that the position wasn't going to fit into my school schedule after I sent in the application and hence was hesitant about it.Anyway went for it in the end coz i thought why not gain some experience of having some interviews in America? Some parts did not go too well so i don't think I will get the position. But oh well, I am happy that I went through it at least.:)

ONE vs THREE?

2007-08-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

The only way when time seemed to run short and you want to make sure your husband has something to eat when he is back is to cook the one dish meal like my all natural mushroom vermicelli soup ( Stock base: Ikan billis;soya bean;scallops, brew for a minimum of 40 minutes) and Aglio Oglio. I am in the midst of discovering more such recipes because lazy me can have more time to do other things.Somehow, i have not reached maximum efficiency in terms of whipping up meals. SImple dish like this , it can take me up to 20 minutes of preparation time, 20 minutes of cooking and all in all 40 minutes!!!Somehow, chopping the garlic,cilantro,ginger and stuff can take up so much of my time.

But then , there are times when i feel like just taking my time to cook. IS pretty theraputic actually. So when that is the case, you can see me preparing portions beyond what two people can eat!!Three or four dishes in a meal.Now , people who came to our house will understand why our fridge is always stocked up with so much food for just two people!

I feel pretty accomplished whenever I whipped up something nice coz I rarely did:P how about you?

How to make Chocolate Fondants

2007-08-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Since my last attempt to make Oats cookies last Thursday was a success ( after many times ), I decided to try making Chocolate Fondants.Slurp Slurp. After looking at the video, I was even more encouraged to do so.Check out!
If this is a success, it will be on my list for the Thanksgiving Dinner Menu!

Smilez at Ferry terminal

2007-08-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

I love BB's new pose for the day.And one of our favourite daily commute to the city takes us just 5 minutes. Lately, we have discovered more ways to go the city. We can take a bus which goes to 42nd Port Authority for just 10minutes and thereafter you can take the subway to anywhere u like ( Most likely will opt for this way to go to school). We can also take the lightrail to hoboken and thereafter change to Path. This will probably be great if we are going to WTC or Lower Manhatten.if not, we can just drove in straight to the city using the Lincoln tunnel which costs us 6 bucks each time.Or the last resort, drove up to edgewater ferry terminal and took a ferry across to to upper west side!!

Potato Marshy just like us!

2007-08-27T08:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, both of us worked in the kitchen together to whip up the dinner. Though there were small squabbles about how things should be done, we enjoyed the process of doing something together. So yesterday, the man did two pan fried salmon ( got them from Chinatown at a good deal) and I did my first attempt in whipping up mashed potato from scratch. Quite a successful attempt for the first time and I must say is easy to make. So everyone can give it a try.We deliberately moved our little dining table to the window ,lit up some tealights and while having our little homecooked dinner, we marvelled at the beautiful skylines of Manhatten and enjoyed each other company. I wished we could do this more often

We loved our new loft!

Asbury Park

2007-08-20T14:11:00.001-07:00

This weekend was pretty busy for us. On saturday, we decided to drive out to the beach since summer is going to end in two weeks time. After researching online for a while, Asbury Park is our pick!Being out in the Sun is definitely good for me. I am feeling so much recharged after working on my job search at home for the whole week.The gentle breeze and not so blazing sun coupled with some soothing Mediterreanean music from the nearby Carbana Store was heavenly.BB and I are such beach bumers.On top of that, BB has his AC fellow mate who will join us every saturday for some weekend retreat. "HoHo hocklicks" as I will like to call him is a super hilarious guy who likes to entertain us with his jokes.The day ended with a late evening dinner. The weekend chef whipped up delicious fish curry and stirred fried asparagus with minced meat and drowned his guests in his bottle of 2005 Califonian Zifandel. Our Chinese friends came over to our place to chill and the entertainment was our wedding video.Time flies, it has been two months since the dinner!

Sunday was our usual routine which we are still trying to refine. Church in the morning followed by marketing in Chinatown. I decided to shop in Chinatown because is way way much cheaper and I can get all my groceries done for the week at just 40 bucks.Good deal i will say coz the last time, i did it at the supermarket ard my neighbourhood, it cost me a 100 bucks!Henceforth, every weekend , we will be dragging our groceries, take the ferry and subway to head back to our place.BB is starting to complain that this is not an effective way and there is no way he will do this every week. So there we go again, trying to find a better way to do our marketing. Maybe is time to invest in a old granny pushy-trolley?:)or maybe I should start exploring other kinds of crusines...?:)