Did you all have a merry Christmas?

I hope you all had! December has been a period of spending money, meet-ups and gatherings.
I have been enjoying and relaxing... maybe a tad too much. :P

Here are some snippets of the places I've been this Christmas season.

At the St George's Christmas Concert/Carnival organised by my church. This is Japheth, everyone's favourite boy!

Christmas floats go to the heartlands! It reads "Jesus has come to give you Peace". Indeed.

My girls at RGT on 25 Dec! Congrats to God's Dreamers (Rebecca, Alice, Szehui and Elissa)! They were even invited to play at the Sunday services!

That's my JC girlfriends :D

But well, we all need to rest well, fill our tanks and run a longer mile in 2010, right?

Am I anticipating 2010?

Can't say much for now... 2010 will depend very much on the choice one makes.

My senior pastor gave a series of sermons which spoke to me deeply. Just have to try and digest them more and translate them into tangible actions.

Shall ponder about this when I'm in Shanghai lah... haha! See you all again. Will be back on 7 January 2010.

With high spirits and a bunch of young company on 22 December, I sauntered down the bright and cheery streets of Orchard, marvelling at the lights, the sights of the Nativity story and the sounds of God's people singing of his goodness.

I felt that the committee of Celebrate Christmas in Singapore has truly brought Christ back to the CHRISTmas - that we celebrate Christmas because the greatest gift Man can ever get, Jesus, is born!

Jesus... the mere name elicits warmth in my soul. Having Him in my life is all that I need, really.

So, anyway, on the 22nd, at about 10pm, a bunch of us (T. Xinyi, Szemin, Jimmy, Senhui, Sebastian, Sarah and me) were still on the streets of Orchard after our Destiny programme.

Suddenly, I heard a group of Indonesian people singing. I was drawn by their awesome rendition of "I am a friend of God" and stopped. Can't helped but grooved to the music and praised God! Random people were also grooving to their music and singing too, in the bustling night of Orchard!

"I am a friend of God" is one of my favourite Christian songs because it conveys this simple truth of me being accepted as a friend of God!

As I pondered about it... I wonder what is it like to be called a friend of God.

You know what is the implication of being called a friend of God?

It's like Obama calling me his friend! It's like someone so powerful and with so much authority willingly addressed you as a friend even though he doesn't need to.

Who am I that You are mindful of me
That You hear me when I call
Is it true that You are thinking of me
How You love me it's amazing

(Chorus)
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
He calls me friend

Here is my favourite version! It's worth the listen, really!


Indeed, who am I?
Mere human. Not amazing compared to God, who created the world with just His words, who can part oceans and stop time.

But still, he calls me Friend.

I just bought a packet of Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, Hot Buffalo Wings flavour from Candy Empire. I started popping them when I was walking home just now after the ChildAid concert. Boy, it was soooooo tasty.


You know, before I get old and have my teeth too weak to bite, I should probably eat more of these hard pretzels and risk getting my braces-aligned teeth being out of shape again! :P

So, Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, here I come! (Going to get the Honey Mustard and Onion one)

Random: My sister just woke up, thump her bed on the palm a few times and mumbled some rubbish about not seeing my Ah Ma (grandma) and not bathing. I teased her a little before she dropped back down on her bed again, as if dead. Hahahaha.

She is too tired.

The Dirty Old Man tarnishes the reputation of good, kind elderly men around.

Here is one I spotted at Bugis Village last week.


I saw him first when I started strolling around Bugis Village and complained about him to Angie and Sarah (with Lydia in tow). He was peering into a sex shop and jotting down notes.

But after an hour of shopping, I passed by the same place and saw him still there!!! Still staring into the shop and looking at the undesirable sex toys on display. Yucks!

So I decided to snap him.

I was just plain disgusted. In fact, I'm just plain disgusted with a concept of a sex shop.

God has created sex to be such a beautful thing, a natural union between a married couple... but people just to mar this by selling sex objects to others, putting unrealistic expectations in others' minds.

If only the world wasn't a fallen one.

I had my first Singapore Flyer experience last night because my little cousin from Thailand is back in Singapore for a holiday, so the three jiejies (me, Angie and Sarah) have to play hosts.

First gripe: That place is simply too inaccessible. So many constructions going on around that area!

Second gripe: The entry fees are exorbitant for a 25-minute ride! For an adult price ($29.30), it's like paying about $1.10 for every one minute you are on the Flyer.

Wah heart pain lor, especially for an undergrad like me who can just afford to spend $11 per day (which is arrived after my meticulous management/calculation of my money).

Thankfully, the Flyer people are not so heartless. Because Singapore values education, there is a special price of students. *heaves a big sigh of relief*

So, for students, it's only $10.

For $10, I get to go onboard the Flyer to take these photos with my Lumix LX3... Wish I knew how to make the camera work better for me.






Many people told me that the Flyer is really boring. They usually get excited for the first few minutes when they ascend but after a while, they just zonk out and become bored.

Personally, I thought the whole experience was an eye-opener, probably because the night scenery is better, with all the city lights sparkling. I was quite engaged throughout the whole turn, trying to spot hotels and buildings.

Getting onto the Flyer was already exciting enough. Because the Flyer is always moving, you have to be quick enough to step onto it and to get out of it, before it moves away from the platform. It is not an easy task when you have about 15 other people trying to do the same thing.

Most of the nicer and sharper photos are with Sarah. Her Canon G1 helped a lot.

So my experience on the Flyer at night? I rate it 3.5/5. Wish I brought binoculars!

A pastor once told me personally that "there is a season for everything".

Perhaps, it is time to let go and move on, to focus and know that what should count for eternity, knowing that this is what God wants me to do.

I have learned a lot throughout the years. 7 years, in fact.
Thank you for the wonderful memories and opportunities.

I am ready for the new season.

I'm entering into mid December. Soon, it'll be the end of the year and 2010 will come!

10 years passed so quickly... It seemed like yesterday that we were all so worried about the millenium bug!

Interestingly, I learned more about myself this year.
Here are some random facts I found out about myself throughout this year.

#1 I have PMS, and De Ren & my family are often the victims of my short temper. Must learn to control those spurts of emotions, lest I regret and become guilty for the things I say.

#2 I cannot breathe properly through my nose when I sleep. I realise that when I wake up with my mouth open and my throat becomes dry.

#3 I really like to read about perspectives and opinions on global issues, and people who are passionate for the world around them. Favourite sites for intellectual stimulations include http://www.ted.com/ and http://www.foreignpolicy.com/.

#4 I process things very slowly. That's why, I can't respond quite well if I were only given 10 seconds to think. I usually take half a day to 3 days to digest a certain idea, before I can come up with an intelligent response.

#5 I like buffets! Not because I am a glutton, but simply, because there are many CHOICES. I like to taste a bit of everything.

#6 I am not great at sustaining attention with children.

That's all for now... Maybe I will think of more things I have learned about myself in 2009 when December reaches its end.

Ever thought about the story or the meaning behind your name?

Recently, I have a friend who posted on Facebook that her name was inspired by a US air force base - Nellis!

I've wondered what my name meant, especially my really guy-ish Chinese name.

But do you know why my dad named me "Esther" and my sister, "Sarah"?

I can tell you that these 2 women in the Bible played pivotal roles in the Jewish nation.

Sarah - she is the wife of Abraham, who is described as the "father of all nations" in the Bible. Without Sarah, Abraham wouldn't have so many descendents, which later became a huge Jewish nation.

Esther - in the Bible, she was the woman who trusted God to save her people (the Jews) from genocide, by risking her own life. She was a heroine, because she used her royal position for God's purpose.

Well, look how great these women were in the Bible.

But you know what Mom said when I asked her why Dad named us this way?

It was mainly because these two women were also physically very attractive.
So my dad wanted us to be beautiful too.

I was like -.-"
I thought he named us because these women were noble or something. Something great, you know.
The last thing I expected was that he named us after gorgeous women. To me, beauty seems so trivial.

I'm thinking... If we were boys, my dad would name us as either David or Joseph, since both of them were described to be handsome dudes in the Bible. Hahahaha...

On second thought, is being inspired by beauty really that trivial? Is it shallow for women to be beautiful? I guess the media has made us think this way.

Beautiful = bimbotic
Plain-looking = intelligent

But this is a gross stereotype. God loves beauty, not just inner beauty but also physical beauty. If God loved only inner beauty, he would probably create many more lizards which arguably, has more inner beauty (ie. more helpful - can eat flies) rather than create roses or sunflowers.

Fact is, He loves to see us be like princesses, make ourselves beautiful, but then, not to the extent of obsession. It is absolutely okay to be attractive.

Hmm, after much thrashing out of thoughts, I guess it's okay to be named after beautiful women.

Hi, my name is Esther, and I am named after a beautiful Jewish queen! ;)

I can't help but lament about how much people are using the schools you have been to, as a benchmark to judge a person's capability or character. It is disturbing and I'm very sure God is sighing up there.

I was disturbed because of last week's release of PSLE results - which made me realise how parents are so uptight about which secondary schools their children go to.

PSLE, to a lot of parents and students, is very important as it determines which secondary school you go to, which inevitably will shape an apparent critical stage of your life. If you go to RI, people will be like "wahhhhh" but if you go to a neighbourhood school, people will like "ehhhhh".

However, is it really that critical? Does the school you go really determine your capability or character? I can't deny that it does.
But how much do other life experiences in other areas shape you as well?

I went to a neighbourhood secondary school - Riverside Secondary School, as I scored 238 for PSLE. It was the best secondary school in Woodlands but every time I tell people about it, people will scratch their heads and go "huh?".

But so what?

So what if I went to a neighbourhood secondary school? Does it diminish my capabilities as a human being?

Maybe my IQ isn't as fantastic. Maybe I don't have a lot of latest knowledge about what's going on in the science/financial/arts world...

But, one thing I am sure of is that I am not just defined by IQ. There are so many dimensions to me which you will discover once you truly know me.

If you choose to judge people according to the school, be it secondary school, junior college or university they go to, I say, you better go get a real life and stop being so one-dimensional!

Hence, from today onwards, I am going to quit asking people which school they have been to.

Because there are simply too many things in life that will define you rather than the schools you go to.

Having said these, I must also say, don't be mistaken that this post is to speak up for those from neighbourhood schools. What I mean to bring across is that even if you are from a prestigious school, I will not use a skeptical perspective to see you.

In essence, I hope to know someone, not by knowing which school you go to/have been to.

Afterall, when we go back to heaven, I 100% doubt God will question: "Which secondary school did you go to ah?"