Honestly speaking, the more I look at this picture, the more I love it. I dare say, the best picture I've taken so far.

This has got to be one picture where very few people would think is Singapore. But fact is, it is Singapore. It's Pasir Ris Park.

There's really something about Pasir Ris Park, on a weekday afternoon/evening. Love it.

Dear all,
Do you still remember McDonald's Seaweed Shaker Fries?

*And everyone shouts YES I DO! YUMMY!*

I have a packet of Seaweed Shaker Fries condiments - the one which you pour in and shake the fries with. Paper bag for shaker fries not included.
As you know, this special condiment is not present at the moment.
Meaning, suppy=ZERO.

So, what is your demand for it?
How much are you willing to pay?

p/s I MAY sell it to the highest bidder. The emphasis is "may".
p/p/s I wonder who will buy?
p/p/p/s I think this is funny!

I discovered a treasure in Singapore - Pasir Ris Park!

There, I spent a quiet Friday afternoon with my girls and a golden retriever.
The beautiful golden retriever, Jay Jay belongs to Isabel's friend, Trivia. I really like it a lot. Wouldn't mind having it but sometimes, the saliva is a bit too much. Hee.



It's such a serene place.
I simply felt at peace with myself as the wide expanse of the sky and the tranquil sea embraced me.
From where we were, I could see kelongs and airplanes.






I think I can just spend an early weekday evening there, at about 5pm, put a picnic mat, lie on it, enjoy my company with friends and have heart-to-heart talks about life and dreams.

That place is simply inspirational.

About 3-4 weeks ago, I dropped my handphone on the bus while on my way to school.
And a good Samaritan returned to me after a series of frantic phone calls.

Today, I dropped my handphone again!!!
I was on my way from school to Kembangan for a funeral wake and when I was happily seated on the train, I realise I couldn't feel the slimness and flatness of my mobile phone.

History repeated itself... I was like OH NO. I thought of the possibilities. If I were to lose my mobile phone, I would have to re-save all my contacts. I would have to spend more money to replace my SIM card, which I can't afford to do so given my current financial situation.

If I lose my mobile phone, the person who took it may look at my messages and laugh at the content.
Or worse still, take my picture, alter it and post it on some strange websites!

Surprisingly, I was pretty calm. I stopped thinking about it and even fell asleep all the way from Jurong East to Aljunied.

When I reached the station where I am supposed to meet Angie and Sihui, I saw the "Esther-did-you-lose-anything-and-where-is-your-mobile-phone" face from Angie and in my heart, I immediately said, thank you God!

It means that someone must have notified her that my mobile phone is found!

In the end, I thank God because if not for De Ren, who incidentally, called me at that time when I dropped my phone, the station control people would not have known who this phone belonged to.

So De Ren, realising that the person at the end of the line was not me, called my sis and told her to get my phone from Pioneer station. AND thankfully, my sis just got out of school, so she could get my phone for me. PHEW!

What a day!

Sometimes, life is mundane.
Sometimes, life is awfully, downright uninspiring.

Such days of uninspiring living is tiring.

You don't know what you are living for.

Sometimes, when my focus is wrong, I fall into living a very mundane period of time - where nothing happens, everything runs in its usual way, everything seems smooth. Maybe there is an occasional good news but it quickly fades into oblivion when my everyday monotony sets in.

Yet, beneath the everything-is-alright/life-is-good facade, something in me is filled with unrest, something that refuses to be sedated with my day-to-day routine.
It is boiling for something more, beyond what I am seeing now.

Mundane days, ahhh... They make me feel so tired sometimes.

But in my mundane days, when I meet God in my Quiet Time, I draw strength from His word.

"Be still and know that I am God"

Probably it can be a mundane day, filled with the usual assignments, Graduation Project stuff, but I guess, mediocrity is still a day worth living for when I turn my gaze on my loving Father.

And God gives me a friendly wink, telling me, "I am still here, my dear daughter."

Suddenly, life in its full glory of mediocrity, becomes a lovely day as the Lord walks beside me, nudging me along.

Yesterday's sermon message was so simple, I learned so much.

The message? Quit trying to turn water into wine.

Rev May Tan (If I am not wrong, she's in the top echelon of the Presbyterian denomination) used a well-known passage (so well-known and well-heard that it is becoming trite to me) in the Bible to bring out a fresh new perspective.

The Bible passage she used for the sermon was the first miracle that Jesus performed in his ministry.

In the passage, Jesus was in a wedding with his mother, Mary. But midway through the wedding, the wine ran out. Mary quickly went to Jesus and told him about the situation. Mary then told the servants to follow everything that Jesus tells them to do.

The servants said okay (very obedient. Mary must have been stern!).

Now in the past, every Jew family had water jars in their house for ceremonial washing (to wash their feet apparently).

Jesus got the servants to scoop water and fill the water jars to the brim. These servants have been doing this every other day so it was nothing new to them. The water jars have to be filled anyway. So they just did what Jesus ordered them to do.

Jesus then asked one of them to scoop the water out and let the master of the wedding banquet (someone like the wine taster - or somelier, if you want the contemporary name) to approve of the wine.

The servant did... and guess what the master of the banquet said to the groom?

"Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

And so, water meant to wash the feet became the best wine for a wedding. Such is the power of Jesus Christ.

Her sermon message in this passage was that we are like the servants... We just have to do what we usually do, the simple task of scooping the water into the water jars, be it serving in church and working in the secular world, and leave the turning of water into wine to Jesus. He is the one who turns our mediocre work into something exceptional.

The reason why some people may feel burned out serving/working is they try to turn the water into wine themselves, which of course, is futile with human efforts.

So in everything I do, I just have to do what I usually do, faithfully putting in effort, and let God work the exceptional miracle of turning my plain water into robust wine!

Ever since that faithful interview which Ris Low gave on Razor TV, Singaporeans have been quick to slam her spoken English. And hence, recently, there are many debates on Singlish.

Some say Singlish in a disgrace to Singaporeans because we can't communicate well, even when English is the first language in our school education.
Some say Singlish is good because it marks our unique national identity.

Honestly, I think we should just stop being uptight about Singlish. What's wrong with a little bit of Singlish? Are you ashamed of the language? Is it very low-class for you?
Then you must be suffering from serious linguistic insecurity.

But the tricky part is also, I don't think Singlish is appropriate for formal settings. Note that I said "appropriate". In other words, I don't object to Singlish, I just don't find it appropriate in certain situations. I think it is giving respect to others when you don't force-feed Singlish, our culture, on them by speaking to them in it.

In informal situations, oh, bring on the Singlish! Mix Mandarin, English, Malay... and my lahs, lors, mehs. It's our culture.

So for those who insists on speaking like Queen's English when you are with your friends, you should just get a life. Come on, be a Singaporean.

Anyway, here's a video: Engrish Test. I thought it was quite funny. Know the correct pronunciations. It will help in formal situations ;)

Today (in other words, 9 Oct 09), I had so many episodes of laughing really hard.

And when I say laugh very hard, I mean really, REALLY vigourously.

Episode #1 - While on my way home at night together with Yue, I was lamenting about the super loud announcements they have on the train. They are sometimes so loud, I cannot hear myself speak. Then Yue told me that The Loud Voice in the MRT has a name - Shata, which is inspired by the word "shouting" because the voice also seemed to be shouting at the passengers. PLEASE REPORT ANY SUSPICIOUS-LOOKING ARTICLES...!!

And the beep that sounds when the doors are about to close?
It's called Ben.
Sometimes Ben's voice drowns Shata's when it beeps really quickly.

I thought the names were funny. Never mind if you don't find it funny.

Episode #2 - For once in my lifetime, I see my bill read $0.00, of course, I will laugh loudly!
All these cakes and drinks at TCC... And we (that would be me, yue and char) pay nothing!




And the best episode?

Episode #3 - In the late afternoon, while on the bus after I visited SKS bookshop with Angie, we started talking about barbeques.
Then I asked her...
Me: For barbeques, you just need the charcoal and the matchsticks to start the fire right?
Angie: No... you also need stire farter.
Me: Stire farter??!
Angie: I mean fire starter!!!
Both of us: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

If you noticed my profile in my Facebook, I recently added a few MPs in my Facebook, became a supporter of Foreign Minister George Yeo and participated in REACHSingapore online (formerly known as the very uninspiring Feedback Unit).

So, has Esther gone political?

Before you think I am taking my first steps to be a Prime Minister, I shall clarify.

I am currently doing my Graduation Project on political sociology. I shall not reveal too many details to bore you all to death. Basically, I need to observe what they are doing (be a stalker!) and hopefully, secure interviews with them.

Now, only Vivian Balakrishnan has yet to reply to my request. I am patiently waiting.

If you guys know any MPs/Ministers on Facebook/Twitter, please inform me.

How I wish my favourite minister, MM Lee has his own Facebook account too!

Yesterday, my sister told me that she dreamt that I put on a lot of weight after I got married.

In fact, I put on so much weight that I changed my looks. On the other hand, my "husband" also became really rotund, but still didn't look different. For me, I changed... for the worst, until they couldn't recognise me. The key word is unrecognisable. I don't mind putting weight proportionately but becoming unrecognisable... *shudders*

It didn't help that recently, I realise I am eating slightly bigger portions.
Plus, I haven't had decent, regular exercise for 4 years already!

I wasn't a chubby kid (but I was a cute, chubby toddler), in fact, I was a primary school 100m sprinter! In secondary school, even though I was in Choir, I played netball for my class in inter-class competitions.
So imagine my horror if I were to put on weight and become unrecognisable!

Frightened, last night, I decided to run on the spot in my dad's room before I shower.... for 5 minutes. And while I am watching TV, I did crunches... 8 excruciating ones.

I felt lighter by 0.05 grams.

Maybe it's time to set in REAL exercise in my schedule before I graduate into the world of wonderful and yummy office pantries.

Have you ever felt like breaking the mould that everyone is encasing you into?

I have often thought about that.
I never was a rebellious child, never a rebellious teenager, never a rebellious daughter.

I wonder how it is like to live a life ungoverned by norms, to go against everyone and be a big bad meanie to everyone. Gossip about others... Quarrel with people I don't like...
I wonder how is it like to, for once, play like there are no consequences, party for the moment, run away from home...

Then, when I snapped out of this flight of fantasy, I realise it isn't really fun.

Reason #1: You go through unnecessary heartaches
Reason #2: Life has no meaning without a destination (a consequence)
Reason #3: The hardest part? Making up for the rebellion when you realise that everything you have done is not worth it.
You don't even know how long you will need to make up for it.
Or maybe you don't even have the time to make up for it.

In the end, I am glad I wasn't rebellious.

Enough of these random thoughts...

Tomorrow, it's mugging time for assignments.

Can't believe my recess week is half gone! :P

When I was a child/teenager, when people say 讲钱伤感情, I didn't understand this fully.
Today, I experienced the meaning of this maxim.

Nope, I didn't borrow money from anyone and no one borrowed money from me.

My parting shot for this post?

If you want kinship and friendship, don't talk about lending money.
Give the money within your means.

In my course of life, I have seen relationships sour or become awkward as a result of money-lending/borrowing. Too many times.

I wish everyone was communist.