all for Jesus

2010-09-11T22:21:00.002+08:00

i'm now almost 6 weeks into uni, and it's been quite a struggle adjusting to the new life and new curriculum and LESS sleep. :( and since term break's only a week away, all the assignments are due and the tests are coming up, so it's been crazy and hectic. so many things to do!

still it's been such fun and joy meeting up with my fairfield friends. and i totally enjoy every single minute of it! :) really thankful that we can still meet up even in the midst of all our busy schedules.

cheryl's birthday :)

catching up with sam, whom i havent seen for months, almost 6 months i think!

and having 'farewell' dinner for enping, at sakae on thurs, as he goes to shanghai for 6 months. thursday was so fun! eating so much food especially bc the guys over ordered, and just hanging out and watching a movie together at my place! it's been such a long time since we've done that! we'll miss you enping!

and i've been switching off half during lectures and forgetting important things as my mind's been really preoccupied with school work and how i'm gonna finish it and also with youth camp stuff. heh!

still life is beautiful with Jesus! :)

2010-08-15T21:31:00.003+08:00

whoo! i'm finally posting again! i've been really lazy and have been procrastinating a lot. yes it's not good.

anyway since july lots of things have been happening. after i came back from 3 months in america and canada, i went to australia for 2 weeks. first week in sydney, for the HILLSONG CONFERENCE 2010! :) my! was that a dream come true or what?! :) really enjoyed it so much! then i spend another week in melbourne, just spending time with my relatives there! :) will post the pictures up soon.

then i've started uni as well. pretty intimidating, especially since i didnt go for orientation! heh. but GOd has really been gracious and merciful! :)

my missionary friends from philippines, came to singapore for the GOfest. and gosh it was so good to see them aft 2 years! :)

little josiah, who isnt so little anymore! he's four now. the last time i saw him, he was 2. and he has grown so much! and he speaks so well now! :)

demie! :) special mention because she's so shy in front of the camera. pretty proud of myself that i got this picture of her! ha!

my cell kids! :) mark's farewell.

CAleb's super belated birthday.

sorry caleb! it's been getting harder to meet since the guys went into army. but i totally treasure the times we get to meet and those times have been so much fun! :)

the gang! :)

2010-06-30T23:54:00.003+08:00

i'm back or have been back for almost a week. and i'm really glad to be back. i've been away for too long. miss my friends and there's so much to orientate to. especially my cell kids. my have they grown and mature!

totally melting in super hot and humid singapore. so i really cant wait to go to australia cause it's winter there and it'll be much cooler. and i'm so excited to go for the hillsong conference. it's like a dream come true! :)

i'm still suffering the effects of jet lag. and world cup isnt helping either. :S but it doesnt matter, world cup is once in 4 years. rooting for brazil and spain! :)

anyway i got the chance to meet up with phi, dan and enping last saturday. and we celebrated his birthday. :) i really enjoyed their company! missed it really!

dan's super cool hair! :)

alaskan cruise and whistler

2010-06-23T12:21:00.015+08:00

we went on a 8 days and 7 nights alaskan cruise. :) it was really cool. there was a lot of food! and for the night dinner, it was a four-course dinner. with tons of cutlery in front of you and waiters serving you! :) heh. nice experience. the ship did get rocky at times when the sea was rough and i did get seasick twice. but other than that, thank God for the calm seas! :) we went to 3 alaskan towns: icy strait point, juneau and ketchikan. and cruised by hubbard glacier.

bald eagle

hubbard glacier! it was so huge and beautiful! the ice was so thick and blue! this glacier is still growing and it's very big alr some 16 miles long or wide.

and i saw a seal! so cute! it looked really small from the top deck of the cruise.

at juneau, we took a HELICOPTER up to the herbert glacier and got to walk on it! :) super ultra awesome! never sat a helicopter before, it's really noisy but the ride was very smooth! and the view was fantastic! you just really stand in awe of GOd's creation! it's so amazing !:)

up, up and away!

the blue clear sea! :)

medenhall glacier.

herbert glacier

we were given special slip on boots so we could walk on the glacier! :)

and the water is so blue! :)

and we drank the glacier water! :) very refreshing!

ketchikan

our super nice and friendly waiters, carmelo and charles. :)

we decided to go back to whistler to sit the peak to peak gondola, since we missed it the other time we were there because of bad weather.

we dropped by stanley park on the way, to eat the super yummy maple walnut ice-cream that i mentioned earlier! and i remember to take photo this time! there's walnut in every bite you take, and the walnut is so nice and fresh! :)

it was still cloudy at whistler, but the weather was much better and we could see the mountains and snow. there's still so much snow, high up in the mountains. :)

after that, we went to eat sashimi! :) it's so fresh and thick here in vancouver! the quality is like super good! so yummy! :) starting from top, clockwise: salmon belly (it's smoother than the normal salmon sashimi), sockeye salmon and farm salmon (similar to the kind of salmon we get at home).

i'll miss the food here!

vancouver island: tofino

2010-06-21T14:38:00.005+08:00

so we started our next trip, to vancouver island!

we took a ferry from vancouver to nanaimo and drove some 3 hours to tofino. the ride was horrible cause the road was so winding! and it was raining!

the second best french fries i've tasted in this trip so far!

we walked around the pier and the water was so clear! we saw the crab (above) eating, and saw many jellyfishes too! so cool!

and we saw this cage full of big dungeness crabs! probably the fishermen's catch of the day!

we went whale watching! the sea was rather choppy! we managed to see maybe 3-4 grey whales. but just the top of their heads. and it was rather hard to spot them, cause they're almost the same colour as the sea and the sea was choppy, so their popping out to breathe wasnt that obvious. but it was still a nice experience. :) saw some seals too!

saw a baby bear too! :)

nanaimo

2010-06-21T14:01:00.007+08:00

went to nanaimo for two nights.

once again we had really good food! steak and beef with noodles and orange flavour, very refreshing! :)

super cool vintage car! :)

horne lake

we went caving! my daddy and i. it was really cool. the cave was really small and dark. so they gave us really smelly (sweat-smell! eww!) helmets with lights on top. and we had to go on all fours and our butts to get around the cave! :) revising more of my geography! lol.

calcium on the rocks! really smooth!

then we visited the beach! :) and the englishman waterfall! the largest we've seen so far! really nice! :)

more good food! almost everynight this trip, we've been eating japanese. sashimi and sushi! i've probably eaten more jap food in this trip then in the last two years! lol.

restaurant: firehouse grill

the sushi is so cool and creative! one of the highlights were the flashfried sushi. it's really well-done. the outer layer, cripsy and nice. and yet the inner parts were not cooked, so it's like normal sushi. so yummy!

victoria

2010-06-21T11:46:00.016+08:00

on the way to victoria, we stopped by a winery to taste some wine and have lunch there. they had really good food there! :)

salmon in 3 different, refreshing ways. one was like sashimi but meshed up. another was like quickly cooked like steak style. another salad style with some cool dressing! :)

nice, tender lamb shank :)

downtown victoria. the buildings are so nice! :) love the architecture!

visited this castle. so-called. it was actually a mansion owned by some rich man in the late 1800s. but its like a muesuem to show how the rich english lived, the different rooms and stuff. couldnt take so many pictures, cause there were too many cool stuff there!

dad and i went for another whale watch in sidney! :) and we sat in the zodiac style boat super cool! and we had to wear these warm suits! so fat! lol. the whale watch was so awesome! :) we saw porpoises and dall-porpoises. and super many orcas! some were like flapping their tails on the water, most came up to breathe. we saw a number in their little families of 4-5 orcas in a roll! :) and towards the end, all of a sudden, this huge male orca popped out from nowhere, right in front of our boat (like some 10-20 feet away only!). it was so cool! thank GOd for that wonderful surprise! his head popped out. it's called spy-hopping. where the whales usually do that to spy on seals, potential meals. so our guide suggested that the whale was checking us out! lol. i didnt get a shot cause it was such a surprise! i screamed in delight. too shocked to move! my brain was telling me like switch the camera on! but my hands didnt move! :( and thank GOd the sea was so calm and nice! :)

we also visited the famous butchart gardens in victoria. they had really nice flowers! but pity most of the roses werent in bloom!

and daddy and i, went zip-lining! :) aka flying fox! there were 8 zip-lines and 2 suspension bridges! and an atv ride up to the top where we start the zip-line down. reallay cool! and not scary! :) met this 12 year old girl, tiffany, in the group. so i had company! she's 12! she doesnt look 12 and she mentioned that all her friends in school were bigger than her! i was like on my gosh, i must be a dwarf there!

back to US again! :)

2010-06-21T11:28:00.006+08:00

we decided to go back to US to do more shopping! :) took another ferry from victoria to anacortes. the ferry's super cool and huge. we could drive our car in! always looked so cool in those movies! lol.

and we ate dinner at red lobsters! the lobster was so fresh crunchy and tender! :)

saw this cute vintage car along the way. so cool! but super slow too! heh.

2010-06-13T12:51:00.013+08:00

some other random pictures... :)

giant cookie! it's so huge! and super ex too! lol. it's like 5-6 canadian, which is almost ten sing! lol. but i wanted to get it!

they have boatbuses here in vancouver! transports exactly the same as the bus. super cool! :)

we had some really yummy organic pies too! :)

it was low tide and we saw so many cool stuff like this starfish! :)

that's the bottom of the starfish!

saw this family of geese (i think!). so cute lah! see if you can spot the babies, at first i thought they were just rocks!

a small suspension bridge

this is a dam.

this tree is so cute! like an umbrella.

my dad's uncle; my grandfather's brother; my granduncle. basically it's the first time our whole family met him. cause my grandfather's family is so huge, so keeping track of the siblings is crazy enough.

stanley park

2010-06-05T10:02:00.018+08:00

we visited stanley park last week or last last week. it's really preetty. we walked from the vancouver waterfront all the way to the park and then walked around the park. quite a few kilometres, about 5-6km or more.

i think this is the blue heron.

thank GOd for the nice sunny weather, cause the forecast was cloudy.

and the park had really nice views of the open sea and beyond beyondd... :) i love the sea/ocean cause it's so big, so wide and you can really see how far it is but you just know it goes on and on and on till super duper far. and it always reminds me of GOd's love. :)

we visited the vancouver aquarium as well, located in stanley park. this is the third aquarium we've visited so far. and really you will always marvel at GOd's creation. there are always so many different creatures you've never seen before in each aquarium. and each of the aqquarium we've seen boast of like a few thousand different species of animals or sea creatures. our CREATIVE GOd is so amazing! :)

puffer fish

catfish

they had bats there! so gross! lol. there were like huge cockroaches displayed too. like 5 times bigger than the ones we get at home! couldnt stand the sight of them. so no pictures!

stingrays with super cool patterns!

parakeets

arapaimas. my grandfather used to have two huge ones, about this size, in his pond at the back garden. and when i was young, my cousins and i will go feed them. and they always make this huge splash and sound when they eat the fish or bread that we feed! miss those days! currently, one has died and the other's at my uncle's house. but they're huge about 6 feet or longer.

caiman

colours of the sea :)

i think their worms. so cute popping out of the sand like that. at first we thought they were seaweed or something, but they were moving! :)

no idea what this creature is called, it's just super cool.

flatfish. they only have one eye on the upper side and swim sideways, where their body is flat.

spot the fish! :)

there were dolphins at the aquarium! :) they used to have orcas. but not anymore. there were cute otters and belugas too! but then right! my cam ran out of batt, so i used my phone to take them. will post them when i can upload the stuff from my phone.

stingray eating the squid. :)

oh yes! at stanley park, there's this place prospect point, a lookout point for lions gate bridge. and they have really good, yummy maple walnut ice-cream! the best i've tasted so far! :) it was so good, we dugged right into it. forgot to take picture! heh.

canadian rockies

2010-05-27T14:54:00.007+08:00

ok i can finally post the pictures on. we saw many many huge mountains and lots of snow on them. really pretty and magnificent! and we visited so many lakes, waterfalls and canyons! i divided up the different days to different post cause there's too many photos. heh.

so on the 14th of may, we went on a trip to the canadian rockies for 7 days. we drove from vancouver to kamloops first. just a stopover for the night. then from kamloops to jasper.

we visited rearguard falls along the way.

and mount robson. it's really pretty! :)

and we hiked some 4.5km in to lake kinney.

the water's really cold!

jasper

2010-05-27T13:37:00.007+08:00

it's our second day in jasper.

first up was the pyramid lake and mountain.

next up was maligne canyon.

and lastly, the valley of the 5 lakes. rather disappointing tho. we had to walk in really far. the water was super clear and green. we could see the fishes in the lake. but only 2 lakes had water, the rest were all kind dried up.

2010-05-27T12:27:00.010+08:00

we left jasper in the morning and headed towards banff.

our first stop was at athabasca falls. it was really pretty! :)

next was suwapta falls.

then we drove tru this super long stretch of road where the mountains were so huge and full of snow! :) and we stopped by at the athabasca glacier too! my biggest regret was not being able to hike in to see the glacier! :(

we went to lake louise. and the lake was still 90% frozen. in winter they can skate and ski on the lake. so fun! but we cant now bc the ice is too thin.

after that we went into banff to settle in.

the next day in banff

2010-05-27T08:40:00.007+08:00

we took the gondola up to the sulphur mountain in the morning. and the view there was really pretty! :)

then we visited bow falls.

and saw some wild animals on the way! :) not sure whats the name of this animal. some kind of mountain sheep or goat i think.

and we went to johnston canyon. it's really cool cause they created a broadwalk in the canyon itself, so you're walking next to the rocks and the rushing water is just beneath your feet. and at some parts, there's still ice and snow! :)

a litte squirrel! :)

they had this section where there was a small tunnel, leading to a small 'balcony' just next to the waterfall, so you really get wet! :)

more animals! probably a male deer or elk?

this one i know! big horn sheep!

the next day we drove down from banff to kelowna, which was a pretty long drive, so we didnt see much. and somehow we missed quite a few sightseeing areas. so the only thing we saw was the view of the kelowna town from on top of a hill. but we had super yummy ice-cream from d dutchman and asian dinner with super good sashimi, california rolls, vietnamese beef noodles and phad thai noodles! :) and all were so good, we dug right in and i once again forgot to take picture!

the last day

2010-05-26T23:39:00.006+08:00

at kelowna, we visited two winery. Quails gate and Mission Hill.

this is mission hill. was formerly a monk place. it's really grand. and we tasted their ice wine there, so sweet and nice! :) their 2006 ice wine won the world's best ice wine in 2008. pretty cool! :)

after the winery, we drove back to vancouver and on the way, we drove tru this really crazy stretch of road, where the sides where full of snow. the trees and all. the temp was like 2-3 degrees!

and later in the day, we passed tru another stretched that was storming! almost snowing.

we visited this canyon at hope. quite cool, cause the trial had 4 tunnels and it's pitch black in the tunnels. :)

after we reached vancouver, we returned to the apartment and settled in a bit. and then we found this korean restaurant which has superb, authentic korean food! :) and super spicy as well! :)

kim chi pancake

spicy rice cake (my favourite!)

mackerel fish. was super fresh and naturally sweet! :)

bulgogi beef!

fried korean noodles! i liked the noodles, super q and chewy!

for the price and quality of the food. super worth it! :)

gosh the food here in vancouver is just so good! much better than in singapore! better quality, and prices are about the same if not cheaper. :)

2010-05-12T13:45:00.005+08:00

we're in vancouver now. have been here for a week and a half now. reached here last monday. settled in to our nice cosy apartment. :) gonna be stationed here till june, cause my dad's taking some courses at regent college, here in university of british columbia (UBC). so yeah. and ubc is really so so pretty! :)

here's the outside of our house.

and this is my room! :) whohoo! i have a room of my own and can finally have some space to myself! :) and my parents are super jealous, cause our rooms are probably the same size, or their is smaller. so with their double bed in the rooom, mine room is more spacious and i even have a larger wardrobe! hahas! :)

here's the living room and kitchen. it's small, but cosy! and just enough for us. :)

so while my dad's taking his courses, my mum and i, we're just exploring more of ubc. there's like breathtaking views of the mountains just ten mins walk from our apartment. it's really pretty. and the beach isnt that far away also! :) i've been wanting to take pictures, but the day i brought my camera down, it was cloudy so coulddnt see the mountains, if not on the nice sunny days, i'm running along the beach and so i didnt bring my camera with me. will try and take soon!

and it's the tulips season now! so there's a lot of tulips around ubc campus itself, and they plant it in such a way that the colours match! so pretty! :)

and squirrels are pretty common. you see them running around. we saw this one on a tree eating the pods from the flowers, but when it saw us, it hid from us and cont eating. lol.

over the weekend, we went into vancouver town. and here's the steam clock. it's so cute, there's team coming out from it when it cchimes and plays music every hour or something! :)

and yes we've been eating lots of good food! :) especially authentic chinese and hong kong food! :) vancouver can be quite asian. there are like tons of japanese restaurants around here!

2010-05-04T12:27:00.011+08:00

we were in seattle for the past 3 days. been rather cloudy, super duper windy and cold!
we visited the zoo! :) i love visiting the animals and seeing them live! but i'm not convinced about having them in an enclosed area.

we met this beautiful peacock, on our way to lunch at the zoo. and he's feathers were wide open!

we saw many beautiful, colourful birds there! GOd's really creative. super creative! ten colours on one bird is crazy! :)

this is a lemur.

cute little squirrels hanging around the zoo, running about everywhere. dont think their scared of humans, probably used to having us around in the zoo, cause this one came up to my shoe! lol

i think this is a panda cow or something like that. panda cause of the way the white and dark patches are formed.

a super huge komodo dragon!

kangaroos chilling out.

wallaby! :)

we went up to the space needle after the zoo. :) pretty sights! but pity it was cloudy, so we couldnt see the mountains. :(

then we went to the seattle aquarium the next day! the sea creatures there are gorgeous and colourful! :)

sea otters! happily eating their crabs :) it was so cute!

we saw these two dogs at pike place market. both were owned by this couple, and they are freakin huge! like half my height or something!

and the market had so many flower stalls selling beautiful tulips! :)

at night, we went to this italian restaurant. had steak and their super duper rich dark chocolate cake! super yummy! :)

2010-05-01T10:51:00.009+08:00

we drove up to see crater lake. and oh my goodness, there was so much snow! apparently 3-20 feet of snow all around. most of it, taller than me! heh. but it was so beautiful! and the water in crater lake was so clear and nice. the reflection was rather clear too! :) and it was bright and sunny, yet cold! heh. :)

the day after, we drove to the coast of oregon. quite pretty, thank God that tho it was supposed to be rainy weather, we had the sun in front of us, and the dark clouds behind us. :) so we could enjoy some blue skies. :)

hahas we keep saying, we must take photos of the food we eat, and finally after like 19 days or so, one successful attempt. we always remember to take the photo, after we dig in. heh. but the fries were so so so cripsy! and the prawns and shrimp so cruncy, fresh and not over cooked! absolutely delicious! :)

we're in seattle now!

2010-04-26T13:18:00.015+08:00

we moved on to san francisco for about 3 days. totally loved the place! :) i like the lifestyle, happening, the people are rather conscious about their health. you see americans running and biking every hour of the day. very windy and sunny. but rather foggy too, which makes the beautiful sights it has to offer hard to see.

we visited muir woods. a really cool forest. :)

cute little deers and super tall trees! :)

and then we drove up some mountain.

san francisco! :) they do have really steep roads! like 45 degrees steep. tiring to walk up! heh.

this is supposed to be the world's most crooked road. cant really see but it's just really winding.

this is their cable car. managed to hop onto a stationary one to take a quick photo. :)

and we went on a 30-minute cruise

to see alcatraz island. i think it was some small little island which had a prison or something. the captain was telling us the history over the speakers, but it was too noisy. heh.

and we walked round fisherman's wharf! really nice place! :) super happening. they have lazy sea lions. and cool dudes doing their own stuns for entertainment.

the next day we visited the aquarium of the sea, at fisherman's wharf. pretty jelly fishes. so transparent.

they had some pretty cool creatures around. videos at the bottom. :) have super cute baby sting rays, that pop out of the water to see you! lol.

this is the exploratorium. :)

such big leaves! lol.

and the famous golden gate bridge :)

yepps, we walked on it :)

exactly 14 years ago, i was here in san francisco, as a little 5 year old girl, standing in the same place with the same background taking a photo. something similar to the above, except that i'm bigger now! lol. when i get home, i'll go find that picture. heh.

i have no idea what this place is called. but the building is so pretty. and seems like those olden roman palaces. :)

the coast in san francisco

after san francisco. we drove back to oregon. and along the way, we saw this beautiful mountain. i forgot the name of it.

2010-04-22T13:56:00.010+08:00

ok so last weekend, we travelled down to oregon. cause the shopping there is fantastic, with no taxes. :)

we drove along the columbia river gorge. well used to be a gorge but because over the years the floods and stuff made it into a river. a gorge is a super duper narrow 'river' betweeen like two steep valleys. heh the geog has come in useful! lol.

and we visited this dam. braford dam i think.

the next day we went to multnomah falls. a small waterfall, but you can get really close to it, such that you get wet. and we hiked up the moutain some 1.25 miles to see the top of the waterfall. it was really cool! :)

getting wet and it's super cold!

that's how high up we hiked heh.

this is the top of the waterfall. with the water gushing down. i think i turned the picture in the wrong direction. heh.

and we drove to mount hood too! it's like twice the size of mount st helen's. it's huge and so majestic! :) covered with snow once again! :)

then we spent some time shoppping in oregon! :)

after which, we took a super long drive to california, towards san franscisco.

below are just some sights along the route we took. :)

2010-04-17T22:05:00.013+08:00

the past two-three days have been really amazing. :)

for one, we drove over to US. will be touring around till may. and thank GOd we met this super duper nice customs guy, cause we heard that they can be quite dao and stuff.

we wanted to go up to mount rainier, but the road was closed, so we went up crystal mountain instead, which is on the same route. for that day, it was raining and i was super moody and sian, cause what can you see in the rain right? but GOd was so good! there was snow! fresh snow! (on the ground. lol.) but it was a pretty sight! :)

it's a ski area. and the little ang moh kids look so cute in their ski outfits! :)

and we saw more snow on the way to mount st helen's. it was so beautiful! :) i think it probably snowed the previous night. so the roads were a bit wet from the melting snow.

oh yes, these are the birthday photos i was talking about previously. :)

up, up and away! :)

2010-04-14T13:23:00.007+08:00

i'm finally away! :) it's the fourth day of my holiday, fourth i think. but let's start from the first day or even before. my dear friends, kinda like gave me a sweet surprise and celebrated my birthday early. will upload photos on that soon!

DAY ONE:
basically just flying around. we flew to taiwan first. and transitted there for like 6 hours! my mum and i spend the entire time like walking around the entire airport, like the entire transit section.

super cute phone at the taiwan airport! :)

and some flowers too! rather orchids! lol.

after that, we took a ten hour flight to vancouver. so vancouver's pretty nice. sunny yet cold! :) love the weather.

and they have cherry blossoms there!

so we spend day two lazing around the city and just sleeping cause we're seriously tired.

DAY THREE:

we went to whistler, the place where the winter olympics was just held! :") really pretty little town, but the weather was quite bad today, so we couldnt really see the mountains that clearly.

i love their buildings, the architecture is so cute.

those snow parts are like the ski areas. really high up. as high as 4000 feet!

nope we didnt ski. but we 'trekked' up the snow to the tube park! :)

it was really fun stuff sliding down in the snow, with the wind in your face! :) at least we got to experience the snow too!

2010-03-06T11:52:00.002+08:00

God is amazing. HE really is. :)

i got back my A level results yesterday. i did really well and really all credit goes to Him. it's such a miracle, because honestly it's pretty obvious that it's out of reach for me to get an A for Gp and econs. totally out of reach. i was barely passing econs in jc.

so i'm really so grateful! really such an outpouring of GOd's mercy, grace and blessings. so abundant! and my heart is so full of JOY. so unbelievable. sure it's a dream come true, something i would never have imagine will actually be for real.

throughout this journey, i've really experienced afresh GOd's grace and mercy. and i know i don't deserve it. and i've learnt to hold on to GOd's promises. because they will always stand. HIs promises will last forever, and as long as you cling on to them, tthere will be hope. :)

so i'm leaving for america and canada, on a holiday for like 11 weeks, in one month's time! :) really exciting. i can't wait!!!!!!!!!! :)

2010-02-16T11:33:00.007+08:00

daniel's birthday! :)

night cycling! :)

it was so so fun! :) except that our butts were so sore and painful, cause the seat was so hard. lol. but it was great, especially since i havent cycled in a really long time. no injuries this time, thank GOD!

2010-01-26T20:53:00.005+08:00

4f class gathering last saturday! :) was super fun! sorry the photo's blurrr.

i tell you. sometimes i feel like i'm wasting my life away. lol. somehow time flies. like january is almost over, and i honestly wonder what on earth i've done in this month. heh.

well my job's alright. you really just 'meet' some really interesting and weird people on the phone. lol. and honestly it opens your eyes to see how stubborn people can get. people can call up and ask to sign up for part time courses, when the dateline was like one week ago. seriously! like hello, there's a dateline for a reason!

one of the interesting calls i got. this woman called up like 3 days after the dateline and asked to sign up. as usual she pestered and asked if there's like ANY OTHER WAY. was tempted to say NO. lol. but i reluctantly told her that i could put her on the waiting list. which means like ONLY if we have vacancies in the course then we'll call her, tho it's pretty unlikely cause like we've had overwhelming number of applications. she wanted to sign up for an advanced diploma, in which you need to have at least a diploma or degree before you can sign up. so i asked what was her qualifications, in which she replied ite. so i was like mam' you're not eligible for the course. and i painstakingly explained to her why and all that sorts. so finally she seemed to understand me, and then she said, 'it's alright, put me on the waiting list, no harm trying.' -_-

oh my gosh! after i've said so much! lol. really, you dont meet the basic entry requirements, you missed the dateline, you're on the waiting list. what's the chances of you getting in? like erm, zero? so stubborn! it's one thing to be determined and all sorts. but it's another to be so dumb and keeping trying when it's alr a deadend. case close. just move on!

honestly, these kind of people, can really make us like lose our cool. which is actually really ridiculous, so get all worked up over some weird people you dont even know. maybe i should just try not to defend myself or my workplace or whatever so much, and just let them say what they want. then put down the phone. but i must add that just listening to their nonsensical comments can alr drive you nuts. oh well!

2010-01-01T22:38:00.006+08:00

it's the new year alr! 2010! which i'm sure will be exciting! :)

but back track a bit to 2009. it's been an amazing year, full of new experiences. and indeed GOd has proven faithful once again, and in this year, i've experience his grace and mercy a new, a fresh. and i'm so humbled that my Almighty King, Creator, will be willing to shower on me, blessing after blessings, mercy and grace. so really thank GOd for this amazing year! :)

december has passed really quickly. class chalet, youth camp, malaysia, and then i started work. it's been two weeks alr since i've started work. sorry the pictures are so late!

2009-12-01T12:40:00.003+08:00

well A'S IS FINALLY OVER OVER OVER!
honestly it hasnt really sunk it yet, but being able to play and watch my korean show is a great feeling. being able to wake up with out the sound of the alarm clock, nobody nagging at you to study, no rush for time. it feels great. being able to do all that i've wanted to do for so long. :)

A's started off with GOd's assurance and promise. on the sunday, before we started A's, He spoke to me tru Isaiah 40: 28-31. where no matter how hard, or tough or tiring the final lap's gonna be, He's gonna be my strength to carry me tru. and really that was encouraging, gave me the confidence i needed to get on with A's, and leave the worrying behind. He holds me in the palm of his Hand.

'Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and increase the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord, will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.'

the next day, my daddy send me a bouquet of flowers and a teddy bear, to encourage me. hehe so sweet! :) it's super pretty and cute! :)

really there's so much to thank GOd, so many instances where got proved faithful. most of all tru this journey, HE has revealed afresh to me, what it means to live by HIS GRACE AND MERCY. i realised that by being able to sleep at night, it's really by his grace and mercy. especially because during prelims, i had such a tough time sleeping at night. and helping me to survive that crazy econs paper 2, it was just amazing. honestly, i really didnt know what on earth i was writing, though i would like to think that what i wrote makes sense. heh. and it's by HIs grace and mercy that econs paper 1 was so much better. i mean for once, there was like some hope for econs. cause my econs is so so bad! and yes God has been merciful in just helping me tru each paper, as i studied and prepared. thank God that most of the papers went smoothly, whether hard or easy.

there's really so much joy in being able to experience his grace and mercy. cause after all, i'm the undeserving one. and really things could have gone so much worse for me.

it's hard to believe that everything it's finally over. in the sense, it's the end of this journey and a beginning of a new one to come. exciting yet scary, but i'm sure God's in control and more than faithful to see me tru. two years have almost come to and end, it's passed so fast, yet the things that happened in the two years, seemed to have occurred so long ago. such a weird feeling.

thank you God for bringin me tru. :)

for all honour and blessing and power,

belongs to YOu,

all honour and blessing and power,

belongs to You, belongs to You,

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living GOd! :)

yanling's birthday! :)

2009-11-26T20:11:00.002+08:00

we celebrated ling's birthday yesterday. a little surprise for her, which she didnt suspect. it's a great day of fun and catching up with the gang! :) we went to watch the korean movie, my girlfriend's an agent, which was absolutely hilarious! even at the serious points, it can still become so stupid. lol. but yes it's a nice movie to catch. :)

we decided to get her ice-cream instead, since she doesnt really like cakes.

and yes we bought her a skirt as a present! :) super cool and i think she looks great in it! :) perhaps you'll see her in it soon! hahas!

graduation! :)

2009-10-15T22:15:00.020+08:00

photos from the past one and a half years and graduation day! :)

michelle's birthday

econs mdm. she's super duper nice and patient

in the toilet

our super awesome class photos :)

smiley! hahs only vicky and nat sim didnt jump .lol.

this is the mini garden outside my base class.

mr chew :)

love this photo where only huiling, shuyi and i jumped :)

mac lab!

hHahas i love this photo, cause i stood up to block duong's face.heh.

toilet sisters

Kanin's hair

i think huiling looks super cool here:)

the scholars look hilarious in this photo!

cheers!

ruirui's birthday

shuyi

vicky

ruirui

michelle gwee

alicia

huiling

shuxian

the scholars were trying to micmick mr pat sum. heh.

chem mdm! :) she's super cute and nice and random! :0

my freakin smart and super sarcastic math teacher, mr keith tan.

hahas! nat sim looks great here!

my super joke form teacher, mr daniel tay

pw mates! :)

gp consult group! :)

miss HONG KONG :)

lemin

lina

scholars!

the classic vicky smile.... and she took this photo! lol

we had our share of fun in the guy's toilet too! hahas crazy things you can do on the last day of school! actually half way there was a guy who walked in and saw all of us, guys and girls. hehe.

the scholar's in oldham's girls toilet :)

tai-tai

i love my AC bear

rui looks super cute!

greatgreatgreat grandmother looks super cool in granny specs!

our family tree...

i'm the youngest, shuyi's my older sister, ruirui's my mother, alicia's my grandmother, vicky's my greatgrandmother, michelle's my greatgreagrandmother, huiling's my greagreagreatgrandmother :)

the many memories we had as a class over the past one and a half years! thank you SA1. while at one point of time i hated my class, i totally love it now. totally love it! :) had a blast on graduation! :)

rophi's birthday

2009-10-12T20:17:00.000+08:00

we celebrated rophi's birthday on wednesday. ling and i tricked her into saying we were having dinner with miss toh. heh. smart eh. we ate at manhattan fish market. it's pretty much like fish and co, while prices are cheaper, i still prefer fish and co. ling and i shared the platter for two. heh. we couldnt finish, too much! advice: sharing it with a guy would have been much better. but there were like 5 guys around, so no trouble finishing up the food. only that we were super duper full after that. thank God we bought a strawberry shortcake. so the cake was very light and we managed to squeeze it into our super full stomachs. and tho i'm not a fan of strawberries, the strawberries in the cake were extremely sweet! :)

Happy birthday rophi! belated...

caleb has this rather red and big pimple, right smack in the middle of his nose. hehe. pity it's not christmas yet. otherwise he might resemble somebody.... and so we tried to take a photo of him and his pimple, but it took many tries, cause caleb is so strong and none of us can pull his hand away from his nose. heh.

hai! pity i couldnt upload the video. dunno why also. probably too big or something. but yeah if you wanna see caleb's pimple, just ask me! hehe.

2009-09-08T22:27:00.002+08:00

it's the september holidays! finally!

prelims just finished. and really i've to thank God for bringing and seeing me through those tough times. prelims didnt start off well. in the sense that i guess cause i was feeling stressed and anxious i couldnt sleep at night, or even in the afternoon. had many scary dreams about my prelim results or like brainsstorming on econs and physics questions. yeah! so i was really tired in the mornings. but somehow GOd provides a way out. and He knows exactly what you need, and how much of it you need. like i think there was one chem paper, i was really tired and i really took some time to actually start the first question, longer than i'm supposed to, but after awhile, i became awake and i was alert tru out the entire papaer. once the paper was over, the heavy head came back. yeah it's really amazing! :) and so this went on for like two weeks. yes i was really tired. it came to the point like i was used to not being able to sleep. i screwed up at least two papers. math and physics. but i guess in the sense, it motivated me to study super hard for the next papers. and thank God they were better. so yeah! :) GOd's reallkyy amazing.

after prelims, finally got to go out to catch some movies. up and the proposal. :) and i got to really sleep! :) felt so good! :) so i've been watching my shows and stuff. and now studying again. another two more months, and it's a's alr. time passes so fast, yet so slowly...

2009-08-01T00:02:00.003+08:00

friday 31st july.

the day started off horribly. i slept late last night and was super tired this morning. and i kicked up a fuss of not wanting to go to school. honestly school's so boring! :( lectures and tutorials are all revision. so it's just more worksheets and going tru answers. i cant keep up with the worksheets man! hai. so yes i didnt wanna go to school. but in the end i still did.

but school turned out really fun and great. i really thank God for that! physics was exceptionally fun with the quiz thing that mr daniel tay came up with! :) hahas. and then after school, cause blur huiling forgot to take her book, so we brought it down for her with all her worksheets. shuyi and i decided to drop the worksheets down from the 2nd level. and it was so hilarious. you should have seen their faces, classic man! they seriously ran around chasing the papers in the wind, trying to catch them. hilarious! the video's just a short clip of how hilarious it was, pity could catch the facial expressions. lol.

oh yes and we have this family tree thing going on. lol. i'm the youngest, with shuyi as my elder sister. lol. ruirui's our mummy. alicia's the grandmother. vicky's the greatgrandmother. michelle the greatgreatgrandmother. and huiling the great great greatgrandmother. the slower ones at the top of the family tree. heh.

quiet time was great. and GOd once again reassured me and told me of how precious we are in his sight. how while we were worth nothing, made of dust, he chose to place value on us. making us princes and princesses! :) and that's really awesome. we're important and precious in His sight. :)

so i really thank GOd for this wonderful day and how when i was in school, i totally didnt feel tired at all. to the point that only after school did i realise how hyper i was. and thank God for huiling and michelle who always never fails to bring us laughter and joy through their funny actions. lol. :)

2009-07-08T22:26:00.003+08:00

Ok I’m finally blogging about guitar. Cause today was guitar farewell. So I’m in the mood. After today, I probably will be too lazy to blog about it. After all, I’ve dragged it over the holidays when I had more time. Heh.

I dare say that my guitar journey started officially last july in 2008. wont count the months from march to june cause I kinda ponned guitar a lot. To me it was like a total waste of time, just joined guitar cause it fit my schedule, and like they got Gold with honours in the previous syf, so probably will do as well, then it’ll look good on my portfolio.

At the beginning, the music pieces weren’t tough, but going tru the practices were much of a torture. So I guess I tried to pon as much as I could. Lol. I was super unethu, not passion, nothing. I guess towards the end of the year it got better. But I went for practices and dec camp cause I knew I had to, cause I didn’t wanna screw up my chance in syf. I guess xmas concert was quite fun. After all, xmas songs makes everyone happy. Love the mood of xmas! Awww! Wish it was here alr and A’s would be over. Digressing…

2009 started off pretty well is supposed. Totally enjoyed cny performance, I guess my first time taking guitar seriously. And then there were like syf auditions and stuff. and so I knew I had to buck up and practice like mad. Cause I would totally regret if I didn’t get into syf. Totally would have wasted my time in guitar. At the same time, the guitar ensemble was like going down down. Complacency I supposed. Everybody thot, even if I didn’t play, somebody else would, so it doesn’t matter. But actually it doesn’t make a huge difference, if everyone played the best. We went tru an entire mad period, which I guess bonded the ensemble more.

Auditioning to get the syf sticked to get into syf was the scariest thing! i mean I knew my stuff, but I could play it perfectly and there were some new fingerings that I didn’t know cause I was in Australia. I was freakin scared and I prayed super super hard! I didn’t think I played well, and mr choo even had to correct my fingerings! Embarrassing! But somehow, by God’s grace I made tru the first time. I was so surprised! And I really thank GOD! From then on, seriously, I practiced hard. And I guess I started enjoying the music we were making, and it evolved some form of passion for guitar. That’s the difference in 2009. that’s what made guitar in 2009 more enjoyable. In 2008, I’m pretty sure I was like dissing guitar during every practice. Poor joy had to put up with my nonsense! Heh.

Syf was a wonderful, first time experience. And winning the Gold made it all more fulfilling. But that was totally by God’s grace. Sure we worked hard and picked ourselves up from the pit, but in many other aspects, we were better by chance. Our combination of pieces was what the judges were looking for. (not that we knew)

Then after syf, the rush to prepare for ‘Glissando’. I had the privilege of being selected as Log i/c. and I think it was the right time. As in previously, I was so against guitar, asking me to serve would be so unwilling and awful. But having gone tru syf and everything else, having some passion, I could serve willingly, giving my hundred percent. If you asked me to do some guitar stuff last year, or even in the beginning of the year, sorry man I would not have done it. I know myself. I need to feel for something, before I can commit, and submit myself to such heavy responsibilities. And the experience was great! Some new that I’ve never done before, so it was challenging and I’ve learnt so many new things about stage management and stuff. very fulfilling. At least I did contribute a bit to my cca, at the very end. Heh.

The guitar journey was not only wonderful because of the various new experiences that I had, but more than ever, it was because of the wonderful friends I had and met on the way. They’re so important, cause they can make something boring so interesting.

first up, nothing is more comforting that having your old friends journeying on with you, especially when the going gets tough. Eunice is such a role model, so hardworking. JOy and Baoxian are fanastic section mates. crapping and enduring with me all the practices. we've definitely gone tru a lot. and i really thank God for putting us in the same section, things would never have been the same without you two and i probably would not have survived guitar. and of course, i've gotten to know my fairfield friends so much better too. :)

next up, the best student conductor! :) huiling, who's also my classmate. amazing person and friend. someone who influences others to do what is right. :) and she's passionate about music. thank God that tru guitar and class, i've got to know such a wonderful person. :)

thirdly, the best guitar prez! lidya. love this picture of her! hahs! but she's one passionate guitar freak! lol. always hear about how like guitar practically revolves around her life. whole day thinking about it, worrying about the troublesome members, etc. super luo suo, but funny and caring. :)

and of course, my section, G4! :) thank you sls: yanlin, peter and chorhao. thank you G4 mates: joy, bao, shaun, matthias and hesson. :) you guys brought so much fun into G4! :)

special mention: the best guitar conductor! mr choo. i have always enjoyed ensemble more than sectionals. because mr choo always brings a piece of himself into ensemble, and he makes it so fun and enjoyable. :) another person passionate about guitar. super talented as well. more than a conductor, he's caring and teaches you about life. yeah! :)

looking back, it's really amazing how far i've come. starting off, i couldnt even play a single note on the guitar. coming tru it, within only a year, managed to get by syf pieces! would have never imagined me playing such difficult pieces. would have never imagined that my attitude towards guitar would have changed. i've grown, grown to learn to love something that i once hated. it wasnt easy, but i dare say it was worth it.

acjc guitar ensemble, syf 2009, GOLD

2009-06-30T20:05:00.003+08:00

this june holidays has probably been the worst so far in my jc life. cause all the other holidays i've been away, out of the country. i guess it's great that i didnt go out of the country with the h1n1 thing going on. but life got really boring, just trying to study everyday, not to much success i must say. i've barely completed like half of my holiday homework. oh boy.

but today's the second day of school, term 3. honestly, it feels great to be back in school. i wanted to go back to school. and i was right. being back in school, the whole routine has kinda motivated me to get back to the studying and stuff, mainly because i've got work to do, if not i'll be behind in tutorials and stuff, and i totally hate that. so yeah. just getting back into the momentum, tho i dunno how long i'll last. heh.

i've been reading this book, (yeah i'm reading a book! gosh it's been so long since i've read a book), titled: Disappointment with GOd, by philip yancey. seems that many unfortunate things have been happening to people around me. things that seem unfair. and various questions have been bugging me. why does a loving GOd allow such suffering on HIs beloved children? people always talking about how good GOd is, tru the midst of their adversity GOd brought them tru, and in the end, the whole situation ends well. but what if it doesnt? how do we resolve or rather accept such seeming 'unfairness'?

i'm only half way tru the book, so hopefully the book discusses some of these questions. but i've accepted the fact that we're human. and it's not within our human intelligence or understanding, to even come near to comprehending the plans of our Great Almighty God. it's just beyond us, cause He's so great, big, awesome and marvelous. so mean while, i've just got to cont trusting in this great God. after all, being in a relationship with God is all about faith and trusting in an invisible GOd.

2009-06-11T11:56:00.008+08:00

i've been really lazy! from blogging to studying. yesh i've to blog about guitar. but it'll be some other time. cause i'm still lazy. anyway a quick update. from mid may, we celebrated shuyi's birthday. lol. it was really quite hilarious that she went to her birthday party in her school uniform. she apparently refused to change. lol. den my classmates were sweet to celebrate my birthday. for all who wished me and celebrated my birthday for me, thank you so much for making my 18th birthday such a memorable one! :)

den we went into term exams. which was madness. oh well. and then holidays, which was when i became really lazy. lol. watched a couple of concerts. ling's harmoc and ac's dance. and we celebrated ep's birthday! :) we got him a swensen's ice-cream cake, which was really good, just hard to cut. heh. and we got him this nice jacket which totally suited his outfit that night! :) and of course you've got to give credit to the people who picked the jacket! hahs. the only disappointing thing was that the service at swensen. it's was so horrible this time round. we repeatedly ask for the cake, plates, etc and they took so freakin long! and i mean we ordered a cake, den obviously we need plates and forks right? enping was so tempted to like go up to the waiter and say: "can i have my birthday cake?" hehe.

photos below, enjoy! :)

2009-05-18T21:08:00.002+08:00

guitar concert was really nice! :) realy thank God for how smoothly it went! :) and for helping me with all the backstage stuff. gosh that was madness! yeah! but it was a fun nice experience. :) thank you to everyone who came, you made the evening all the more special. i'll blog about guitar on a separate post. deserves at least one. heh. but guitar's over and so at least one headache down! lol.

the craziness from guitar left me really exhausted. and i woke up really tired this morning. really didnt feel like going to school at all. and on my mind, was how i'm gonna study for mid years which is in like probably TEN days time. and then came my cell and all my other church commitments. and how like the next half of the year would be another crazy mad time and how i'm gonna cope. so it just suddenly all came to me. exhaustion!

i liked chapel worship today. was really blessed by it. i mean the songs realy spoke to me. and i honestly was crying, trying very hard to wipe away my tears so no one would notice. the exhaustion and burdens just felt too much for me to handle, and i really had to ask God to take over, to carry me and run this race for me. but it really felt nice to be in HIs presence. i realise worship on sundays are really important to me. it's like a special time with GOd to connect with him. especially tru songs for me. and i missed yesterday's service so all the more, chapel worship meant something. it was important. it encouraged me. just allowing me to fall at Jesus' feet. to tell Him how i'm feeling. and i think the song still was really God asking me to really just to find rest in HIm.

and then devotion and quiet time was another encouragement from GOd. :)

trials can build character if we respond to them appropriately. our response should be of joy, finding joy in a relationship with Jesus and that hact that we have been counted worthy to suffer for him.
trials can build character if we accurately understand the reason for our trials. the purpose of trials is to produce patience and to alow patience to help us develop inot more mature Christians.
trials can build character if we rely on God absolutely. we should ask God for wisdom and answers as we go through various trials.

i felt so much better! as much as this morning was a tiring period, GOd really made this day wonderful. it was a really fun great day. from the flower that yun xin adn caroline gave me which brightened the day immediately. so our crazy high moments during math lecture and the breaks. cheered me up a lot. :)

'consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you knwo that teh testing of your faith develops perseverance. perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete...' (James 1:2-5)

2009-05-05T19:56:00.002+08:00

today's a happy day! :) cause i'm finally done with spa! :) finished my last physics skill a spa today. great feeling! hahas. and school today ended early for me so i could go home and sleep :)

i came home and went into my room, and i saw this bee at my closed window, trying to get out. i opened the window furthest from it, hoping that it would get out, but it didnt. stupid. so i got a broom and opened the window that it was at, expecting it to fly out immediately, since earlier on it was desperately trying to get out. but it didnt. i was like: " stupid bee, open the window for you alr, still dont wanna get out!" and it crawled to the other window that i had earlier opened and flew out eventually.

it was during devotions, that it suddenly dawned on me, how i've probably been that bee so many times in my life. where i'm struggling and i'm demanded a way out, but sometimes i'm so blinded by my circumstances to realise that actually GOd has made a way alr. it's right in front of me, but i dont see it. and sometimes when he has made that way out, i refuse to go down that way. how stubborn and stupid like that bee.

and then i realise that the bee being so small, it's view is limited, compared to me seeing a much larger scope, that's why to me the way out of the window was so easy. similarly, i'm so small, we're so small, compared to our Almighty GOd. and so once again GOd reminded me of how He sees the bigger picture, compared to our myopic vision and how we always like to think we know it all, know the best and like to be in control.

but since GOd sees the bigger picture. we can trust that HE is sovereign and He knows what's best for us and cause HE's in control! :) love you GOD! :)

2009-04-28T22:39:00.003+08:00

yesh yesh yesh! :) we got a GOLD! :) and i really praise GOd for that. it's a really memorable syf experience. we had our own share of problems, from complacency to various fears to maintain the award or even gettin into syf itself. thank God that we picked ourselves up, and started to get serious and we've improved tremendously ever since. more united. and by GOd's grace, we also had our own share of glory today. when we heard our results, we jumped, screamed, roared and cried tears of joy. that anxious feeling was madness and scary. but now, it's satisfaction and happiness. :) the journey has been tiring with all the practices, it has been tough and frustrating at times too. but really so proud of our ensemble, that together, we've made it so far! :) thank you everyone for your support and prayers.

today, today i live for one thing
to give YOU praise,
in everything i do,
yeah the praise goes out to YOU

to GOd be the glory, the best is yet to be :)

caleb's birthday! :)

2009-04-11T23:29:00.011+08:00

we celebrated caleb's birthday on good friday. it was another well-planned surprise! :) i really enjoyed myself! havent laughed so much in a long long time! we watched fast and furious 4. really cool show. vin diesel's arms are like much bigger than leb's! hehe. super buff! i think paul walker's hot thought! :) hahas! and enping lost his voice, super sexy. it was really hilarious. already in calling my name, he went off pitch! lol. but he was still talking non-stop, though most of the time it was hard to decipher what in the world he was saying. hehe. oh yes and i think, my brain's rather dead or something.

some crazy retarded things i said that day...
"Hey daniel, do you know what cake DANIEL likes?"
"oh! so after west mall, we're going west mall?"
well the list just goes on. i've been doing that quite often, even in school. weird!

anyway photos...

fish and co. it's the second yr we celebrate caleb's birthday at fish and co. lol.

there was some easter egg colouring contest. so we tried too. erm tho we might be over age. heh.

west coast apparently have these empty spaces with various displays. tho it's wasting space, but a great place to take photos! :)
and Caleb still thinks he is KING. lol

rophi's missing cause she had good friday service at night. but it's ok, derek and rophi's the same thing. heh.

bunch of posers!

the girls! :) sam couldnt seem to take control of his feminine side. hehe.

enping, trying to act sexy. LOL.

david beckham rawks! :)